jbrinkm

We had separate breakfast and lunch menus last April on Allure. We really enjoyed the lunches in the MDR and I also see only brunch on current Symphony menus I've been looking at in anticipation of our March cruise. I still enjoyed dinners in the MDR and haven't complained about the new menu there, but eliminating MDR lunch is extremely disappointing to me. There were some items that were only on the lunch menu that will be sorely missed - in particular, the apple blossom dessert.

It is usually at the beginning of the month, the month before you sail (i.e. If you sail Feb 18, start looking at the beginning of January). It is not always the 1st of that month but it is usually within the first few days so you have to keep checking. You'll see the entertainment screen change first but you won't be able to reserve anything (I can't remember what that change is exactly but I remember thinking it looked like an IT glitch). Check back throughout the day because they should appear later in the day once you see that change.

My parents booked a GTY and I found their room number assignment four months before our sailing by booking specialty dining (for our whole group - we're linked). Their room number showed up next to their names on the app when I went to select who I was purchasing for. Obviously not all cruises would assign this early, but it doesn't hurt to check! You don't actually have to purchase the meal; you just need to get to the screen with the names.

Aruba also has a pretty robust and inexpensive bus system: https://arubus.com/ that goes north to some of the most popular beaches (Eagle, Palm, Arashi). It is hard to say which is the best beach. My advice would be to just do a web search and read about different beaches and figure out which one meets your needs the best. Eagle beach seems to be a popular choice but might be busy.

How long does it take to do a walking tour from wherever Royal Caribbean docks to the Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge and the Handelskade neighborhood? We have plans (diving) in the morning, but I'd love to be able to walk out to see just a little bit of the town after we return and change. Also, any good audio options online that can help explain things to us with a self-guided tour?

Sometimes the one in the large theater is family friendly where the one in the smaller venue is adult only.

We're not there until March, so I cannot update the thread yet, but we also rented from Top Drive (minivan because there are 6 of us). I just wanted to let people know that there is a "beach package" you can add on to your reservation that includes chairs, a cooler and snorkel equipment for $20.

You can go in the app and see some of the entertainment for the next 6 night on Adventure OTS (switch the sailing you are looking at) but the Dec. 2 sailing is a bit skewed because there are a bunch of holiday special events in the daily planner so that might mess up the normal entertainment schedule. And it doesn't look like you can see the schedule yet for the sailing on Dec. 16. You could theoretically plan based on the entertainment schedule from the Dec. 2 sailing with the understanding that it might not be the same and you'd have to try to move things around? I think that is the best you'll be able to do until at least one 6 night sailing schedule populates for January (even then, it could change again before March - we experienced that for Allure - had a whole schedule laid out from the week before our sailing but when we got on board, it had all shifted).

I just checked the app for Odyssey and it looks like it follows the same pattern as we had on Allure in the spring. Pickleball will be in the morning, either starting at 8am and running for 2-3 hours, or starting slightly later and running 1-2 hours. Maybe an afternoon session here or there. No sign ups. They are also offering a pickleball class on my upcoming March cruise - which you DO need to sign up for and pay for (extra $$) but that would be a special class, not just open play.

It varies by ship and sailing (dynamic pricing). Seems to typically fall in the $70-90 pp/pd range, sometimes you might get lucky and have a lower price than even $70, but lately anything below $75 also seems rare.

Right now during the sale, the Internet is showing as $20.99 pp/pd if you only get one. However, we bought the 1 person, 4 device and the pp/pd came down to $10.75. This felt like a real sale to me because I was watching it and it was $29.99 since we booked, coming down to around $18-20 pp/pd if you added the other devices. We're on Symphony in March. The BF sale ends tonight (advertised), although there may be a similar sale for Cyber Monday? There will be another "sale" - just can't know if it will be the same as this one.

I got a dining "credit" from my TA last year that was an actual paper certificate. The value was theoretically $50 (from emails before my cruise about the promotion our booking qualified for) but when we got our packet in the mail from the TA, the dining certificate just said "a lunch or dinner for two". I had to book once I got on the ship. It might have been tougher if we wanted a dinner - but we just wanted an embarkation lunch (we enjoy going to the MDR for dinner) and we had first boarding, so I was able to easily make the reservation once I got on board.

I have read - and it held true for our last cruise (on Allure) - that it is often at the beginning of the month prior to your cruise (i.e. if your cruise is February 18, start checking at the beginning of January). It most likely won't be the first day of that month, but within the first week. Just before they release the schedule, something will change on the entertainment screen, and then usually later that day or the next day, the reservations will be available.

I haven't seen it for a while either. It was available at one point before my last cruise back in April, which was also around the time of that Starlink switch, so I agree with @LeeW. I remember it distinctly because I originally bought the combo for my kids, then cancelled it once we decided to get the refreshment package and 4 device package instead. Then sometime between November '22 and April '23, the swap to Starlink happened and the other options went away.

My Norton Password Manager won't autocomplete either. The Chrome/Google password system will fill in - but only if I click in the box exactly the right way, and it won't add my username, just my password. The other thing that is super annoying is that I can't stay logged in, no matter how many times I click the 'stay signed in" checkbox. So I have to do the click & fill dance EVERY SINGLE TIME I close the page and reopen it. Other websites stay logged in just fine until I clear the cookies.

Yes, they are different purchases in the planner and have slightly different price points. The Dragon's Fire is the "Superman" position where it is like you are flying, and the Dragon's Breath is the more traditional, seated zip line position.

Glad that one of them worked! Although - irony - the one Royal said would work, didn't, and the one that was just supposed to be for a payment - worked. What is the difference between your total cruise fare price and the payments you've made towards the cruise? (I'm assuming several of those are Planner purchases...)

I can't test this myself because I use a TA but I did see someone mention on another board that there is an option on the bottom of the homepage on the right side under "plan a cruise" that says "make a payment" and it might show you more about your account. I also see these directions from Royal: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/how-can-i-make-a-payment I know you are not trying to make a payment but step 3 says, " Find all the information, including payment details and due date."

I don't, but if they go ahead and pay the full $500, the rest might be credited towards OBC. Was the balance reduction due to a new (lower) price on the cruise?

No, when I check on the Royal site (booked via TA) there is only deck 3 available for ocean view. I did move them down the hall via our TA once the room was assigned but no other floors were available (and only a scattering left on floor 3 - I felt lucky that we were able to move them towards the center a bit! Thanks! I thought I remembered going to something on the other end of deck 3 when we were on Allure - maybe the ice skating? I guess I could check the floor plan 😂 I may try to bid on a Royal Up for them just to see if we could get them a slightly better room, but it is good to know that if we don't get it, that their room shouldn't be too bad...

@Saab4444 How close were you to dining room or theater? My parents booked to go with us, but did it late and prices were high so they did a GTY oceanview and had their room assigned to floor 3. I am a little worried about crowds and noise for them.

We loved 9 because of the little balconies overlooking Central Park. And upper access to Dazzles. It was convenient and quiet. We had aft - but close to center - rooms.

We're brand new, recently PADI certified divers. I'm booking our dives for our cruise port stops in March and wondering what I should estimate the time range to be for a typical 2-tank dive? I know people go through air at different rates so there will be variation, but I'd love a general idea of what to expect. My parents are cruising with us but not diving and I'd like to figure out when we might be able to meet back up for the rest of the day.

We have a party of 6 and will do a tour of the island on our own with a rental. We'd love to go into Arikok but NOT with a minivan 😂. Is anyone aware of a rental for 6 people on Aruba that is 4 wheel drive, or could handle the off roading conditions of Arikok? We'd love self-drive but would also consider a private tour for a few hours if anyone has a recommendation (we want to pick our destinations).

When you say "hire a guide" - are there guides just waiting there (at the visitor center?) that we can pay to take us further into the park? We'll have a rental car but with 6 people, I cannot find a jeep or other 4x4 that will fit us, so we will most likely just have a minivan. I'd love to be able to drive there after visiting the donkeys and then hire a guide with a better vehicle for this tour.