pinkrosesdeb

I am 65 years old and am thrilled with the new "chic" dress code. I think for those of you noting that Celebrity should not be alienating their large majority...where & when does that change to the "new generation" of Celebrity. As much as we don't want to deal with it, we are getting older and our days of being the "majority" are becoming numbered. So, I see this as looking to the future whether we like it or not. I welcome the younger cruisers just finding the total enjoyment we have always had onboard. We have had some incredible times meeting these new young friends. Let's hope we can all find something to love on our cruises. I certainly won't let the way anyone else chooses to dress affect my good time.

cobeck, this is why I feel bad when people find the need to comment on other's attire! Cheers to you for making the very best of a bad situation. We would have welcomed you at our table for sure. Live life and make the best of every minute no matter what others think. We actually don't care any more what others think of us we don't know them and will probably never see them again. And, we do follow the rules but would never impose our standards on anyone else...or let it affect our enjoyment of our time onboard. Again, so glad you were still able to enjoy your time as it would have been very stressful for most of us.

We haven't done what we would call "formal" for years! Always in a nice dress, sparkly shoes etc and hubby in dress shirt and dress pants. All the rest on vacation is overkill for us and we have never been turned away from the dining room. In fact, our waiters make a point every time to tell us to please don't miss formal dinner if we are not dressed formally. I see far more people dressed similarly than I see formal diners any more. I guess the masses have spoken and Royal has finally listened.

When we first started cruising with royal they sold a 12 drink package, been too long to remember cost but we bought it every cruise. We have not purchased any of the current packages because hubby is a recovering alcoholic and I have at most 2 to 3 drinks per day. I would love the choice of a smaller package available. Say something that would limit drinks per day maybe. I like the idea of this one if it works out I think. You never know until you actually experience it for yourself.

I can't compare the 2 since this is also our first Celebrity cruise but we are Diamond Plus with Royal. We have had some of the BEST SERVICE onboard in both the diamond and concierge lounges on Royal. We have enjoyed getting to know them and they are absolutely incredible people. We did appreciate the vouchers when we sailed in a suite and our daughters were not in a suite. We are still able to enjoy pre dinner drinks with them.

Funny, we have never been offered "family style" anything. We have eaten there at least 6 times on different ships and we have always just received our own plate. Do you have to ask for family style? BTW, we had the best filet EVER onboard Freedom at Giovanni's and our most favorite server ever as well. He made it so wonderful we went 4 nights and we have never done that before.

this used to be done onboard all Royal ships on the first night. You could go to the liquor store onboard and take a bottle back to your room after paying a $10 fee. They haven't allowed it for years now.

When I first saw this post I really thought someone had a spelling problem! Made me laugh...thanks for that. Living in Florida we are used to periods of heavy seaweed. Luckily, it doesn't usually last very long. I would not cancel a cruise because there is a very good chance it will be gone before you get there.

Sailing a longer cruise or in a suite with Royal gets you double points and depending on the promo sometimes triple points. This could explain reaching Diamond so quickly or they could have a spouse who attained the level and that makes them diamond as well.

We have had several cruises where it was impossible to book a specialty restaurant after we boarded. We tried several different days with no luck. I also believe that unless you are within a few weeks of your sail date you can definitely cancel your reservations. I would suggest booking for just 2 of you and then trying to add the kids once you board.

Ron Jon Surf shop can be a fun time. There is a mall but about 4 miles away. Really not much close by

We always find a porter and have them cart our luggage to the shuttle. If we could manage all our bags on our own, we would just walk off the ship. We have been able to do that the last couple of cruises and it worked pretty well but if we send luggage down the last night it is because we feel we couldn't carry everything on our own. I never realized some people thought porters were just for them.

We cruise mostly with Royal and this has been done with them for quite awhile now. It seems like at least 2 years. It hasn't bothered us at all because we are usually asleep. I know it must be worst for the night owls just looking for a "little something" before bed. We would usually grab something elsewhere and take it back to the cabin but I know that doesn't solve your craving in the middle of the night problem. I sincerely hope it doesn't affect your enjoyment of the cruise!

I think you are "assuming" Blu is healthier...from the menus I have seen I think you can find as healthy or healthier options in most venues onboard. I am not sure why you are so focused just on Blu...is it just because you know you can't go there? As many have posted, we have always seen the "healthy option" posted on every menu on Royal Caribbean so I wonder if Celebrity might not have the same thing?

We would love to have the nicer atmosphere and more comfortable surroundings while we are waiting for our rooms to be ready. Plus, we would eat LESS because we would not be tempted to return to see "what they have". A salad, a cup of coffee and a dessert and we're good.

Just an FYI, I did exactly what a few of you are suggesting and booked night 1 for myself at Chops online. When we showed up for dinner it was NOT a great experience! We were on Freedom and excited to be there. When we showed up, 2 of us, the woman at the desk scolded me and told me my reservation was only for 1. I explained why I did what I did but she continued to tell me I did it all wrong and had caused her "to have to cancel my reservation and rebook and issue a credit" I didn't understand why she needed to issue a credit since I had only paid for 1 person but she went on and on and on even followed us to the table later to let me know I should hever do that again. Soooooo, now I am hesitant to prebook. I am so happy to hear that quite a few of you are successful in doing that because we had also had done it a few times previous but she was not about to hear it. Did not get us off to a great start but we loved the rest of our cruise. We switched over to Giovanni's and had incredible service on 3 more nights but would not have gone back to Chops. Thanks for all the great information here.

Our next cruise is Celebrity for a change of pace and nothing else booked on Royal right now but still like to stay in the know!

It is sad to be disappointed by something you have loved for so long. I wonder if the line actually reads the feedback. I am reading quite a few more unhappy posts than before. We are really loyal Royal cruisers at Diamond Plus level but have no cruises booked with them at this point. Our next cruise will be Celebrity Equinox because we have never tried them and are also becoming a little disillusioned with Royal. We still love to cruise and have always had at least 2 or 3 cruises pre-booked but just aren't finding the same excitement. So still waiting to get the "gotta get onboard" pull that makes us put a cruise on hold. I sincerely hope it comes back soon.

It would allow you to hold several cruises at a time which is what we usually do to get the special deals. So if I am holding 4 cruises without having thousands of dollars in limbo that is a huge benefit to us. I get to tie into the offered promo and not have to lose the use of more of my money. We pay our cruise just before final payment is due.

So glad you had patience enough to get what you wanted. I really hope you love your cruise, you will need it after this. But, we have always had a good time once onboard. Sad but true that you have to keep calling until you get the answer you want. You would think the answer to the same question with the same company would be the same...but, it rarely is. Congrats and enjoy

It does seem that when they do this the price for the first cruisers goes up substantially so when you get the BOGO it really isn't 50% off of the price you could have gotten booking at normal rates. It might still be a better deal if you can keep up with current pricing. I have been online looking at a cruise and the rate jumped a LOT while I was trying to book. Within 5 mins the price went up by $300 per person. Timing is everything, just keep checking and come back here for advice because this group has the best advice always.

Thanks just when I think I know all the rules...they change them on me. Like I said I learn way more here than thru RCCL.

They adjusted the price on our Freedom cruise when the price dropped before final payment and we kept our onboard credit but I know if you want to do a different promotion you would have to rebook. We usually just book another cruise and change the dates because we cruise usually twice a year and we always have a couple on hold but I have also heard you might not be able to do that any longer either?

I am talking about the Diamond discount. That is never included in any of the promos. It is a perk of being diamond or diamond plus and has always been added after booking. I have always had to call the diamond desk to have it applied after I booked. If this has changed, I better make sure I do it the right way now. Thanks for the heads up. Our next cruise is on Celebrity so I haven't experienced this change yet personally. I always learn more here than I do from Royal's customer service. Thanks again.

Debj14, as a rule, that discount should NOT have changed your booking. It is the normal Diamond discount and they apply it once your cruise is booked. HOWEVER, I understand your caution since this whole thread is about what CAN happen. As I said before, I have called back 3 or 4 times with the same issue and gotten 4 different answers. I do suggest that as a new diamond you call C&A diamond desk and ask them directly. You really should be entitled to that discount from now on. Good luck and congrats on the new level! Deb

Come on, Newby_Cruiser is just expressing bad feelings for what sounds like pretty bad customer service. We have all had it at some point but it is especially bad when it is your FIRST impression of a new line. I can't imagine any of us who would willingly give up $100 not matter what we paid for our cruise. $100 bucks is $100 bucks and I would welcome it! I don't understand why we "Loyal to Royals" feel like we have to make excuses for everything they do. I hope you get this resolved to your satisfaction, Newby_cruiser, and that you will end up loving Royal the way we do. I can definitely suggest that you call several times because we all know you will get a different answer every time you call. Welcome to Royal and hang in there if you can. I believe you will really enjoy the ship and the trip if you can work it out.