DocLC

Received a price drop yesterday for my Jewel cruise in January and could have even bumped up to a D1 from an E1; that parts all good. Unfortunately, Royal made us cancel the cruise and rebook, stating they couldn't adjust the price any other way. As a result, all of our prebookings were lost, resulting in a slight increase in cost of the Royal Replenish package and the need to rebook excursions and redo all of the online booking information. TA spoke to several different people at Royal and they all insisted this was the only way to make the adjustment.

 

Is this normal for Royal or was I an unusual case? We have a couple of other cruises booked; is this something I should suspect in the future if there's a price decrease?

 

Kris

Book fixed dining and request a large table. I'd also suggest going to a site like Cruise Critic and joining a roll call so that you can meet some people in advance and perhaps share an excursion with them.

I've also found them outside the medical center in a dispenser on some cruises. I also heard about Motioneaze today and might give that a try for my wife in case she needs it.

When we went on the Legend years ago out of Tampa, the DoubleTree offered a shuttle to/from the airport and to/from the port.

 

I'm on the Jewel this January and have read there are Freestyle machines onboard.

Just booked Liberty of the Seas for 1/03/16 out of Galveston.

I've never had any issue on any cruise line with flexible dining to get a table for two or three even without a reservation. Even with fixed dining, we've been able to get tables by ourselves without much of a problem with an advanced request.

I'm doing 8-night on Quantum for the Royal Caribbean Blog group cruise and thought that was a good schedule!

So wish I could join you guys on the Quantum. It's during my Soring Break, but not my sons, and I'm pretty sure my wife wouldn't be happy with me going solo.

I just wanted to tell you that some 7 day cruises are Saturday-Saturday like Oasis of the seas for instance. It has never been only Sunday-Sunday... I happen to be taking an 8-night cruise that leaves on a Friday and so I don't have to miss work thursday I am taking a 6:00 AM flight on Friday so there is the option to do that as well...

 

I personally love the Saturday to Saturday cruises as it gives me an extra day at home before having to return to work. I've also done 8-night cruises that are Saturday to Sunday, which are nice because you get an extra day of cruising without having to take an extra day off of work. Those ships usually alternate with a 6-night sailing that follows.

The ship was the most important thing for me early on after my first cruise. Lately, it's been Itinetary that's mattered more. In 2016, I plan on placing ship choice first since I haven't yet sailed the Voyager, Freedom, or Oasis class ships.

January 3, 2015, Jewel - Southern Caribbean

July 29, 2015, Brilliance - Norwegian Fjords & Iceland

I was able to book my specialty dining for the Jewel about 100 days out. However, I noticed that the only times available for Portofino or Chops were 6, 8, and 8:30. Is this normal? Doesn't seem like a lot of flexibility in the dining times and similar to fixed dining times. Also, when I booked Portofino and included my son on the reservation, I had to pay as if I was reserving for three adults in spite of RCI stating that children eat for less ($8 according to the email I received). Is the difference refunded onboard or do I need to call to have an adjustment made?

 

Thanks for your advice.

We pretty consistently do the specialty dining, regardless of the cruise line, on the first and last nights; that way, we avoid any conflicts with entertainment, formal night menus, etc. the first night is usually an Italian specialty restaurant as they're less formal restaurants which works well with my 7 year old since the kids programming isn't in full swing yet. We save the steak house for the last night to cap off the end of the cruise.

Reason 13 to not use travel agents!

I'd argue that it's not a reason to use that travel agent. When you find a good one, s/he is worth her/his weight in gold. When I ended up in the hospital 12 hours before my flight to Disneyworld and our cruise, having only one person to call instead of the airlines, Disney, hotel, and the cruise line was a blessing.

Royal is offering a percentage off on my Jewel cruise if you book three or more nights in specialty restaurants.

We had a similar conversation in my family after sailing the Disney Fantasy and Carnival Breeze, which are both the biggest ships for their respective lines. With all of the added features, poolside movies, water parks, etc., we said we'd never cruise a smaller ship. However, we then ended up on the Celebrity Century, a much smaller, 20 year old ship because of the itinerary. Because the itinerary was so great, we really ended up not caring because we didn't have any sea days. We had a similar conversation regarding Europe as Allure will be there next summer. However, we opted to save Allure for a less boring itinerary so that we'd have more time to enjoy the ship.

It's been nearly 10 years since my last RCI cruise, but it have two upcoming and am looking most forward to trying:

 

1) Chops Grille

2) Giovanni's Table

3) Portofino

4) Seaview Cafe

5) Izumi

 

I've also heard amazing things about the roast beef sandwiches at Park Cafe, so I'll need to try those, too.

I agree with Bryce G. I am price conscious and often book interior unless an ocean view or balcony are only $100 or so more per person as my family does use our balcony nearly as much as we use to when my son was younger. However, in Alaska, you miss out on a lot of scenery without a balcony and you're going to fight your way for rail space when viewing the glaciers. It was also nice to have a room to retreat to. We also ordered room service to enjoy when visiting Glacier Bay.

As of right now....

 

1. Sabor

2. Chops

3. MDR

4. Portofino

5. WIndjammer

 

I reserve the right to change this  :lol:

No Izumi (the sushi restaurant)? The sheer number of times you've eaten there should place it in your Top 5. :)

I've done Alaska twice on two different lines from Seattle. It's a great trip and one of my favorite itineraries in all of my cruises. Canada/New England would be a close second, which I've also done twice. The scenery is amazing and the glacier viewing is something that I think everyone needs to experience at least once in their lives.

 

Seattle is a great city, as is Vancouver, but Seattle is easier and much more affordable to fly into. The downside, though, is that you'll likely sail outside of Vancouver Island. As a result, your "Inside Passage" cruise is significantly truncated as a result as you don't cut into the Inside Passage until after you're past Vancouver Island. From Vancouver, you're always in the inside passage. Also, depending on the ship and itinerary, you may have a very late night port of call in Victoria for the required foreign port stop, which doesn't really give you a lot of time to enjoy the beautiful city.

 

If I had to do it over again, I'd fly into Seattle and take the train or the shuttle services, some run by the cruise lines, to Vancouver to get the full Inside Passage experience and to reduce costs compared to flying in. However, there's a lack of convenience as a result. In addition, the cruises I've priced out of Vancouver have always been more expensive than out of Seattle.

 

Let me know if you have any specific questions I can answer.

I have done both the discount bag and self-service laundry - I bring those little laundry detergent pods with me in a Ziploc and just check on it every once in a while - note though, don't get rooms near the laundry rooms unless you like to be hot all the time

I've never done the laundry bag for fear that they'll boil the laundry in scalding hot water. However, with fewer and fewer ships having self-service laundries, I'm going to need to rely on the discount bag.

Thanks for the shameless plug!

It would only be shameless if you were plugging yourself. ;)

I have rulled out the alcohol packages, I just don't think I would get my moneys worth without drinking the entire cruise. I have been debating the Royal Replenish package. I am not much of a soda drinker, but I drink water all day long. The replenish says it offers bottled water. Can someone that has purchased this package tell me the pros and cons. Looks like it will cost $306 for the two of us to have this package. Will it be worth it. What are your drink options without a package?

We did the equivalent package on Celebrity and figured we'd only break even at best as it was a port intensive (7 ports in 7 days) cruise. However, I figured the convenience and having it paid for upfront would be worth it. In the end, we really saw the value in it. I would start with fresh squeezed orange juice and a sugar free vanilla latte in the morning, have an ice-blended coffee when we returned, a couples of bottles of water on excursions, a soda or two with dinner, cappuccino with dessert, and a nonalcoholic cocktail with the show. In the end, it more than paid off.

 

We're doing the same on the Jewel this January on another port intensive cruise. I'll consider it for our European cruise, too, if it's offered as I hear they raise the bar prices when the ships are in Europe.

I've actually been one to do laundry on a cruise a couple of times as we had an extended precruise trip and needed to do essentials. Fortunately, that ship had a laundromat. I'm glad to hear that RCI does the discounted bag of laundry as we'll be needing to use it next summer.

 

Thanks for the info and for asking the question.

If you're not getting enough of Matt on the blog, the discussion boards, or through the podcast, check out this week's episode of The Weekend Travel Show. Doug Parker interviews Matt regarding the Quantum of the Seas and Matt identifies what he thinks are the ship's Top 5 features.

I've never had it happen on any cruise line. However, I'm also very picky about my cabin's location, so I would not allow for automatic upgrades anyways.