DocLC

Generally speaking, food isn't supposed to be taken off or brought onto the ship unless it's commercially prepared and still in its original packaging.

Remember, breakfast there is complimentary.

I was giving the "raw" costs. If the specialty dining isn't at least $15 less than what I spend at home for a similar meal, then it's not worth the cost to me. I find the dining room food to be fine, but I'm not sure if spend $35 if it were on land.

That would be the fastest way to get to the hot tub on the balcony. ?

You've all just convinced me that I need to book the family suite in Symphony. That way, I'll have a big screen to watch movies on. ?

I think the value of the MDR meal is inflated. I really doubt cruise ships spend more than $25 per person per day for included food based on reports I've read in the past. In fact, Market Realist estimates that food only accounted for 6.6% of Royal Caribbean's costs in FY '13, with fuel doubling that cost according to the company's filings. Generally, I consider, dinner to be "worth" $15 when calculating the value of specialty dining. Generally speaking, I find value if doing a dining package. I don't personally find value when going a la carte. In addition, I think Izumi's prices are too high as they often charge more for the same items I can get at home for less money. I don't mind spending onboard, but I'm not going to spend more for something onboard when a food cost is already built into the fare.

If your kids drink a lot of soda, then it might be worth it. Alternatively, you can carry on a 12 pack or two for consumption onboard. Technically, it's against the written rules, but I've never been stopped in the past several years on many ships across multiple ports. Juice is available in the mornings and lemonade is readily available. There's usually some type of flavored water, too.

Good point. The Radiance class ships have a lot of covered tables just aft of the Windjammer. One part was converted to Rita's Cantina, but it's available for breakfast and lunch and the entire back is open for everyone 24/7.

Yes, and you can either carry it around with you or leave it in your room. On ships without the Freestyle machines, I see no reason to carry the cup around the ship with me.

The airlines don't seem to be having a problem with surcharges for luggage and the like as it makes the airfare look cheaper in the beginning. ? This is also how the budget carriers operate. Once one reinstates the fuel surcharge, they'll all do it just like with room service charges, upping of gratuities, etc. But I also agree that they're going to be conservative as bookings have been good and they don't want to jeopardize that momentum.

@JLMoran Royal did everything right and then some. There's simply no pleasing people. The only time I wish I had the option to move rooms was on a sold-out New Year's Eve sailing on a Holland American ship. The room smelled so badly of smoke that they had to run an ionizer in the cabin and replace the shower curtain on drapes just to minimize the intense smell of cigarette smoke. I would have downgraded from the balcony we were booked in if I could have. Fortunately, it's the only time we really had any serious problems onboard or even with smoke when it was still allowed in staterooms. On the Brilliance, we were on Deck 2 and had some toilet issues which our cabin steward said was an ongoing problem there. However, the office in charge of housekeeping tried to claim it was our fault and that we didn't know how to use the toilets. After a less than friendly conversation with him at the Top Tier C&A event, he changed his tone.

Origami lessons, movies, gym, mini golf, catching up on sleep, pool, sun, food, etc. While the ships are smaller, the offer much of the same except for the zip line, Flow Rider, and carousel.

Yes or order one from a waiter in the various venues.

From the story I read, the main had accepted an upgrade before this. When he complained, they offered to move him back to the category that he originally had booked and paid for before embarkation. He refused and then made a claim for the refund. Thus, he could have avoided the snoring neighbor, but he would have needed to give up his upgrade, which he didn't want to do. Thus, he pursued a refund for his "ruined" cruise.

That's possible, but it used to be on the invoice itself as you don't agree to the cruise contract until after final payment. I only have one cruise that I have an active/approved cruise contract for--Holland America--and the only fuel surchage mentioned is for airlines.

Personally, I like the grand, multi-story dining rooms. However, the upside of the smaller dining rooms is that they're a bit quieter. I also don't see Royal spending money they don't have to spend to reverse what they've done.

Don't forget Oasis and Allure. They sealed off the three story dining room and made them into sepsrate dining rooms in anticipation of dynamic dining.

The menus do not repeat except for breakfast. Dinner menus will not repeat and lunch menus will only repeat once. Breakfast can get a little boring, but there are usually enough different options for lunch and dinner to make up for that. The Windjammer was especially nice as there was a differentthem each night and cooked to order options. There will be plenty of activities to keep you busy during sea days. In addition, 5 won't seen like that much over 14 days and they'll give you a chance to relax and catch your breath between ports. That's about the same number of sea days that we had ok our Norway/Iceland cruise and they were very welcomed after long port days. Royal does not have self serve laundromats, so you'll either need to bring things you can wash in your sink and hang dry or use the landry service. About half way through the cruise, they'll also have a wash and fold special where you pay one price for a bad full of clothes. This is really meant for under garments, shorts, tees, and the like.

There's lots of love for the Rotterdam on the net and among the line's fans. I wanted to do the P'dam, but without a kids club it was a no go.

We are lowly 2 Star Mariners, but I'm looking forward to the K-Dam as it seems to be leaving towards the Celebrity styling. However, I adored the Maasdam and it was the perfect size for sailing from Montreal to Boston.

@Laurin On the three night package, you can eat twice at Chops and once at Giovanni's; you're not required to go to all three. When we did the five night package on Allure, we dined twice at Giovanni's and twice at another restaurant that's not on your ship. I just didn't want you to think that you had to go to Izumi just because you're on the package.

Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/royalcaribbeandining/

There is. One line will be for those without reservations and the other will be for those with reservations. On some ships, the port side will be designated as the side that those with reservations go to, while the Starboard side is for those without reservations. This will all be detailed in the Cruise Compass.

@Sunny9876 Perfect!

I'm pretty sure there is some type of booth at the dock, but I'm not 100% sure. There's also a free tram that will take you up to the forts, which are worth the visit but can be hot. We were there in early January and were surprised how hot it was.