CruisingHogFan

I also don’t under the logic about being transparent about where the tips go. Do you question the overall cruise cost and where that money goes? Want to see the actual fuel invoice, how much each entertainer makes, lobster costs, etc to make sure you aren’t being cheated out of money?? It’s just all the cost of the vacation and shouldn’t matter.  We have had great and not so great cruises but not once did it cross my mind to remove gratuities or tip extra cash to some that we had direct service from. 

Some of y’all are just ridiculous in trying to justify in your head not having to pay gratuities!

It’s amazing the amount of selfishness and entitlement that’s in this group. I really hope I never meet a lot of you on a cruise that want to complain about a $1.50 per day increase or removing tips in general.
 

It’s embarrassing as a society and if you really can’t afford to tip maybe you shouldn’t be going on a vacation to begin with and save your money.

3 minutes ago, gavvy said:

Just had my E docs and it states that its now $16.pp per night.  If I booked before June 2022 I can contact my Travel agent and pre pay at the old rate of $14.50

 

 

As I had no notification of this I will remove all tips on my account and give the reason that RC increased them without my knowldge, I will then tip just the people who I have deemed given good service.

 

Im not against a tip increase, I am against it being shown in the small print of a 20 word document 4 weeks before departure, that is really bad form.

 

So you are going to punish the hardworking crew that makes your cruise enjoyable for a change they had nothing to do with??

That is really bad form and I would be embarrassed……

15 minutes ago, sherylc said:

We only booked them in the JR suites so they WOULD be able to join us for at least dinner in Coastal Kitchen. 

I would read my previous post. It’s a MAYBE not WOULD. A lot has changed in the last couple months. Used to be no issue but now ships are back over 100% occupancy and short staffed in a lot of areas. Again, our last cruise a few weeks ago no jr. suite guests were allowed into coastal kitchen the entire cruise. We know people that were turned away and tried to make reservations.

1 hour ago, sherylc said:

I am aware that Jr Suite guests are only allowed to eat in the Coastal Kitchen during dinner times by reservation. We are a group of 11 with 8 in Owner/Aqua suites and 3 in 2 Junior Suites. I'm wondering if exceptions are ever made during the non-dinner hours for the group to eat together -- whether we could pay extra or if accommodations are ever made. Totally understand and respect if the answer is just "no, those are the rules," but getting enough pressure from some in my group to ask if anyone has ever experienced any exceptions. 

I would tell the ones in your group to book a suite and remind them they may not even get in for dinner. Last month our cruise had people in jr suites that were turned away each night due to being fully reserved by the suite guests….

On 7/25/2022 at 1:44 PM, 1stcruise09 said:

I feel your pain! We live in Springfield, Missouri and are sailing on a 7 day Alaska Cruise in August.  We got a fantastic deal on a balcony stateroom but flights out of Springfield are a nightmare!

We basically got two for the price of one in comparison by making the 3.5 hour drive to Kansas City.

The good thing is that the KC flights are nonstop where the SGF flights have one or two stops. The bad thing was finding flights back to KC that got us back at a somewhat decent time in the evening and weren't leaving Seattle before we would hardly be off the ship!

 

 

 

Might check XNA out of Bentonville. We go back and forth between XNA and Springfield depending on prices/flight times. 

51 minutes ago, genealogyfan said:

I've taken them twice. I definitely recommend them. I believe we took the 1/2 day jeep tour which included Natural Pool and other locations. The lunch that was included was really good too.

 

ABC Tours let you ride in the jeep or drive it. When we took it 3 of our jeeps had drivers from the company, but one group drove themselves. We were amazed at his skills going over all the offroading, hills, rocks, etc..

 

Personally I'm not impressed with the Natural Pool, I think it's alot of work and not worth swimming in it.  I did swim in it the first time I took one of these tours, the first time I went to Aruba.  This company has been around awhile, and is reliable and I'm not surprised of all the good reviews on tripadvisor.

 

 

Thank you for the update! We are considering this as it’s our first trip to Aruba. I can see where natural pool might be a one and done due the the hassle! The tour I’m looking at goes there by jeep then you get 3-4 hours on the UTV and follow a guide.

Also considering just renting a UTV for 4-5 hours and doing the island on our own (just can’t do the natural pool) Price is about the same as the tour.

Either way we want to be done by noonish so we can go to eagle/palm beach on our own for the afternoon  before heading back to the ship to change/dinner. 
 

Is there much to do around port at night or have to taxis back to Palm Beach area?

Thanks again!!

28 minutes ago, imola said:

I have been looking at insurance and wow very expensive.  I don't know what to do.  We are doing a 3B leaving from Los Angles going through the Canal to New Orleans (first leg). Then the next two legs are going from New Orleans to Mexico.  Should these be booked as three separate trips?  They were all booked as individual cruises.    Cost is much less this way.  Or is it more a one long trip for insurance purposes?

I recommend calling the insurance company vs. an answer on social media. But my guess is one policy with total cost dated the day you leave till you are back home. I can just see things going wrong with claims with separate policies. 

25 minutes ago, MrsHFQ said:

Our travel insurance covers us for 'travelling on a cruise ship' and easily covers the emergency medical expenses requirements, emergency repatriation and Covid 19 etc. However, it specifically says it is not a 'cruise specific' policy as it does not provide for missed ports of call or missed excursions due to a change in itinerary ( not a problem). The email we had from our TA says it needs to be 'cruise specific' . Any thoughts?

I wouldn’t worry about it and that’s a odd comment if the TA is experienced. The dollar amount for changes in itinerary are usually  very low anyway and the polices are more expensive. Just a sales tatic.

The emergency medical is the important part for us and we use 3rd party like Allianz that has high limits.

1 hour ago, PGHProducer said:

I just got off Oasis and loved the ship. There were some issues that kept it from being a perfect 10, but it was great being back on a ship.

 

We are now looking at a cruise on Liberty for next year. I sailed on her years ago and loved the ship, but I’ve seen many reviews that she is showing her age and is in desperate need of the dry dock that was canceled because of COVID.

 

For people who have been on Liberty recently, what are your thoughts? Will I be disappointed by an experience that isn’t up to the standards I’m used to from Royal?

screen by the pool hasn’t been working in over 6 months and the flow rider is currently not working but is supposed to be fixed by next sailing.

Other then than that just normal wear and tear 

2 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

You could look at it this way: the total cost is still probably the same or less than it would be if your cruise fare was higher but the airfare was lower.

 

I think the reason some of these cruises are dropping prices is because they know demand is lower due to airfares. If airfare prices went down, the cruise fare would probably go up. 
 

That being said, it doesn't really seem to be stopping people from booking. Cruises are filling up to capacity and every flight I've been on has been full. 

Thats how I look at it. Doesn’t really matter if the cruise is $300 and flights are $1,000 or if the cruise is $1,000 and flights are $300.
 

Take advantage of the low cruise rates/high airfare or wait till it’s normal

Same vacation either way… 

6 minutes ago, LinRon3 said:

speaking of Magen's bay beach...anyone had a good snorkeling experience at one of the St. Thomas's beaches?  We're trying to decide on Megan's bay beach or Sapphire beach on excursions offered on Symphony In october.   We hear turtles show up around Megan's...but more fish [tropicals] perhaps Sapphire? Original asked about how long at Megan's on 'Discover St. THomas' excursion? I think that includes the sky ride [or does it]?  Anyone done thia, we too would like to hear how it was. 

If you are wanting to snorkel with turtles I highly recommend St Thomas Scuba and Snorkel!! We saw 20+ turtles for over 2 hours last month. Best experience of any cruise we have done!!

On 7/13/2022 at 3:47 PM, Lupush said:

Howdy All,

 

I primarily cruise NCL and book my plans well in advance.  I am looking at a last minute cruise with my Son on Freedom of the Seas on 8/8, and am about to pull the trigger on a Balcony Guarantee Stateroom.  This would be the first time I've ever booked a cabin without knowing the location in advance, and was hoping to hear if anyone has any horror stories (or positive experiences) to share.  Thank You in advance for your help!

I would be fine (and done them) on any ships but Oasis class. Just have to go into it knowing you could get a great location or  a bad one… I personally won’t book one unless I can save more than a couple hundred per person.

Haven’t seen much posted about them on here. TripAdvisor has them ranked as number #1 tour group and seems like a great company.

Just wondering if anyone has done the combo UTV/Jeep tour that goes to Natural Pool. Around 6 hours so seems like a great way to see some highlights of the island and still leave the full afternoon to relax on the beach. (In port from 8am till midnight)

3 hours ago, BND said:

Funny, last night I saw basically the exact same question, almost word for word on FB.  Person got the same answers there.  Now I can't find it to see more responses.

I think the OP has disappeared since no one would agree with her. 

3 minutes ago, susanf31 said:

This is so absolutely silly.  If your logic holds, then anyone who shows AFTER their assigned time  should ALSO go to the end of the line for the entire day, right? Because if you were supposed to board at 10:00 a.m. and didn't show up until noon, you would essentially be "cutting in line" in front of people with noon boarding times.

 

Personally, I think anyone staying in Cape Canaveral or Cocoa Beach the night before should board as early as possible and get out of the way. Then people with flight delays or if SR528 (The Beachline) has an accident and everyone arrives late and all at once, won't have so much chaos to deal with. 

 

 

It makes perfect logic for anyone with common sense.
 

Many of us have gave our thoughts but you are still trying to justify your actions. You obviously don’t get the rules and think you are above them by even arguing back.

Maybe next time check in earlier so you can get a morning time slot….

22 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Future topic ... "I showed up at 10 AM ... there was a huge line, I had to wait outside in the hot sun ... Royal needs to fire the security guard"

You forgot to add “I demand a refund”  😂

1 minute ago, CruiseWendy said:

If you're a suite guest you can arrive an hour early. From what I've read it's either no issue or you are stuck waiting in terminal and not allowed to check in. Flip of a coin.

Our last cruise they made people wait outside the terminal until check in. Hopefully all the ports continue to do this process. Makes things so much smoother!

6 minutes ago, susanf31 said:

How strict is RCL on assigned check-in times?

 

We have a check-in at noon, but would prefer to arrive at 10:00 am. Is that possible?

Don’t be that person….

11 hours ago, vegascruiser1 said:

We were on the Symphony in May. If I remember correctly most of the showtimes were 7:00 & 10:00. With the exception of a couple of shows in the afternoon. We had MTD at 7:15 and went to the 10 pm shows. 

Same for a few weeks ago. There were a few at 9:30. Seems like MTD around 7:00 to 7:30 works best!

Just be sure to book as soon as you get on or in the terminal preferably before noon.  We talked to a lot of people that boarded in the afternoon and a lot of the shows were sold out already since the ship is back to 100% occupancy.

1 hour ago, billslowsky said:

Tell us why it's "horrible".  Please be specific.

We buy 3rd party insurance for the high medical coverage and most people should also be looking at that aspect. Cruise line insurance focuses on cancellation/interruption coverages with small medical. Being out the cost of the trip wouldn’t be ideal and I would hate it but this would just a lost vacation financially and not hurt financially in the long term. (Should be this way for anyone or you are spending too much…..)

For example, cruise line insurance only has 25k of medical and 50k of evacuation coverage. This isn’t anywhere enough coverage if something happens. I’ve been on many sailings where people were taken off the ship in port for a emergency.

Fall and break something, heart attack, etc and you could be out $100,000s of dollars and trying to get back home.

13 hours ago, yogimax said:

So you will agree it's misleading advertising to induce one to place a bid?

Nope, pictures are generic. Same with a lot of hotels. It’s not hart to do a little research these days. 

I always buy 3rd party. Usually about the same price and a lot better coverage if you ever need it. Also have backup coverage through my AMEX card.

Look at the policy from Royal. It’s horrible!

Did interior once years ago and never again. Always book standard balconies as personnel thought best price for convenience/value. 
 

BUT we upgraded to a crown loft on our last cruise and we may stay with suites for now on. The perks are just too much to ignore and avoid all the crowds. 

Just now, baelor said:

I mean, that is a $13 drink with the 18% gratuity.  The price is still $13.  Also, what is crazy?  There are a lot of cities where $15 is cheap for a drink.

yep! Just went to Vegas and drinks were over $20. Same for Miami and most tourist destinations.