Goodtime Cruizin

Two things about Sabor...

1. The best Margaritas on the ship!

2. It's not really a Tex Mex type of Mexican restaurant but it was delicious food & provided excellent service.

I rev'c $100 for a 7 day, Adventure in Oct 2016. The RCL rep explained that the OBC was based on size of cabin and length of cruise.

Hello all,

 

We usually cruise UK/Med and we absolutely love dressing for dinner every night, and then really going to town on formal night. I have no issue with what anyone else chooses to do, this is just what we enjoy personally.

 

This summer will be our first caribbean cruise, and also the first time where we will have to take into account luggage restrictions. Therefore my thoughts have turned to what sort of clothing we will need for the evenings.

 

It's easy for me as a female as I will have a selection of pretty knee length dresses and heels which will be fine. For my husband, he will take a suit/tux for formal night, but will dark, smart jeans be ok for the other evenings? Is a cotton polo shirt (collared) acceptable in MDR on non-formal nights, or would a cotton shirt be more appropriate?

 

Not trying to start a debate (there's already one of those running!) just looking for some genuine info as we haven't cruised in warmer temps before with RCI.

 

Thanks all, happy sailing! [emoji2]

 

 

 

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Dress how you wish! I can tell you that when I sail out of Galveston, I wear jeans with confidence. Most on the ship are fellow Texans and jeans are very sociably acceptable. I'm sure it's that way in Florida as well. Having said this, on formal nights, I wear dockers or a dress slack.

For two people, 7 day cruise, the premium beverage pkg is a total of $908.60 and this includes the 18% gratuities for both pkgs or $770 for both pkgs minus the 18% gratuities. My invoice was rounded to $909. You should get a credit of $200 for the bev pkg and 1/2 off the cruise fare for the 2nd person.

You will not get the 1/2 off on the gratuity for the 2nd person.

There is a difference in a SALE price and a PROMOTIONAL price. Sale prices generally occur after final due date has occurred while promotional prices are before. I have watched prices go up and the different tactics of bait & switch etc., but some of you are just absolutely wrong in the belief that you can't find good deals on RCL WITH the 1/2 off the Bev Pkgs. They are out there. You just have to find them.

And good luck w/ going to another line. I price Norwegian the other day. They were offering free bev pkgs but their fares were as high as the same cruise I have booked.

I think many are missing out in that there are more people desiring to go on cruises these days. The economy is much better today than it was 4 & 5 years ago. The days of any cruise line offering $100 day balconies are getting slimmer & slimmer. We have to book our cruise 12 to 18 months in advance to capture good pricing.

Good cruising to everyone!

It's great time but is nothing like a caribbean cruise. There is so much to see and so little time to see it. Our cruise was very port intensive, 5 ports, 7 days w/ no sea day in between. Our feets were tired and we really enjoyed it.

Enjoy your cruise and plan, plan, plan!

What are they selling the word WOW? :) :D :confused: ADD a thousand Dollars to what you paid last cruise,and you bought the word Wow. :)

Not for me! :D

What if we booked a month ago can we still get the OBC discount if prices have remained consistent since we booked?

Yes, it should be OK, if there was not a price increase.

I think the problem is that RCL is raising the price, then giving the BOGO deal, which really isn't a sale after all.

This would not be correct in all cruises on the RCI schedule. I just booked a cruise w/ the BOGO50 (buy one Premium Bev Pkg and 2nd person gets it 1/2 off) that is priced lower than the two cruises I have already booked. And... it has one extra port. My point is that there are some deals out there that can offer last May's pricing and the 1/2 off 2nd Bev Pkg. You just have to dig a bit deeper when researching and plan waaay ahead. :D

It's my impression that the BOGO50 sale is for new bookings only. I'm sure their might be a small percentage of previously booked cruise that may qualify all based on pricing of the cruise fare etc.

I attempted to add the BOGO50 to my current booked cruises and was told by RCL that I would be required to cancel and re-book at current pricing. Which would not work for us as current pricing today is about $1800 higher than the cruise fare we booked.

However, I was able to find a future cruise that fit our schedule and desired itinerary and yesterday we booked the cruise while taking advantage of the BOGO50. The cruise fare along w/ the BOGO50 Bev Pkg will cost less than our Oct 2015 cruise.

Checked the BOGO for our March 2016 cruise. Pricing the same, but they did add $200 OBC. Might be worth a call.

Definitely call them and grab the $200

If you look further out in 2016 ( the new release dates), the pricing isn't too bad for some cruises. For example, we were interested in doing a Southern Caribbean cruise out of San Juan. We found that we could book a cruise, Adventure of the Seas w/ the BOGO50 sale prices that was actually cheaper than a cruise we have coming up in Oct 2015 and we both get the premium bev pkg. BTW, we booked the Oct 2015 cruise at its lowest price since the cruise date was announced.

There are some decent prices out there, but you have to look/book way in advance! At least for this cruise anyway.

...and comments like yours really go to show that there are some real winners here on CC! :rolleyes:

It's all good. I'm harmless.

I just noticed that Carnival cancelled your upcoming cruise and you're going w/ RCL in a coplue of days. What's up with the Carnvial ship?

It really goes to show that some selectively follow the guidelines from RCL.

If everyone treated the dress code in the MDR and/or the smoking guidelines like they do the embarking times then we would have less threads with complaints. :D

I post this with personal experience. Just be patient, sit tight and watch it unfold. And I'll throw in, don't worry and enjoy the ship as best you can.

I was on the Navigator in March of last year. We could not sail due to an oil spill and by Monday during dinner, the Capt announced the sailing was cancelled and everyone would be getting a 100% refund, in addition, a 25% discount on a future cruise. Further he stated that everyone could stay on the ship if they so desired to enjoy all the ship could offer. Although there was no Casino.

By Wed morning, 1/3 of the ship's passengers had left. And then the Coast Guard released the ship to sail so the Capt announced the ship was sailing to Cozumel, basically, 3 sea days and 1 port day and the 100% refund was still in play, plus the 25% off a future cruise.

Keep in mind this was not even a Royal issue/problem but rather the Coast Guard shut down the port. I think you're in good hands. Sit tight.

I have no idea what they heck is going on at RCCL lately, but I've HAD IT. First of all, their website is in complete shambles. I've logged on to find that my PAID FOR reservation is not showing up. I log off and log back on again, and voila, there it is. Dinner reservations that I've made and paid for are gone. Only to reappear sometimes--not all the time. Forget shore excursions. I can't even log into the program to reserve those.

 

Dynamic Dining? They can keep it. I want to enjoy my vacation, not schedule every minute of it.

 

Reserving at a speciality restaurant? The reservation says "$0" for Sabor. Great. Only after reading these boards do I find out that I'll have to pay when I get onboard. OK. That's fine. But could you please TELL me that on the reservation page so I can plan accordingly??

 

But today was the last straw. I called RCCL to request luggage tags. The agent told me that effective March 1, 2010 there is a $5 fee for luggage tags because everything is online now and I should print my own. I have cruised RCCL since 2010. NOT ONCE have I been charged for luggage tags.

 

I'm done. If this cruise wasn't non-refundable at this point, I'd cancel. Royal needs to get their act together FAST if they want to retain their client base. I'm a Diamond member, not new to cruising. I'm watching the decline in customer service, and I'm darn angry about it.

The horror. Printing a luggage tag(s).

If I recall correctly, in about 50 days when this offer expires is just about when the low prices begin in May 2014 (after 2015/2016 sail dates were announced). They only lasted a few days, but they were pretty decent fares. Maybe the same timing will occur again. If not, I'm moving on. I won't book RCL on these prices.

Is anyone able (allowed) to tell me the Fish name site I pay for to track prices.

I have three cruises booked and think this will be a good tool for me.

Do you think the site I am asking for is worthwhile?

Thank you all very much.

I love to CRUISE. Take it from there.

For the record, I'm tracking two cruises and neither has changed in the past couple of weeks. But it could be because the rates are a whopping 60% higher than they were when we booked them.

Probably dating myself here but who remembers nickel beer night at MLB games?:D

Those same beers are $8, $9, and $10+ today. At a ballgame no less.

The package includes glasses of wine and cocktails up to $12. One or more beers are not included. One beer that is not included is the 750ml Chimay.

 

Same price before or on the cruise.

For some reason, on the Navigator March 2014, Guiness was not part of the pkg. But in March 2013 on the Mariner, Guiness was included. Things change from year to year and perhaps ship to ship. Odd as it sounds.

That's exactly what happens. Everyone makes excuses, little do they know their money is flying out left and right; and will continue to do so more and more (for a lesser product),while they're defending the cruise line. I don't get it.

 

Some increases, I get, to keep up with the times. But they're taking it to extremes.

There is no doubt that increases in any product from any establishment is a calulated risk of sales and income for any business. Having said this, I'm not too concerned. If I decide to buy, I buy. If I decide to walk away, I walk away. What I don't do is worry about someone else's money and whether it's flying out someone's window. My point is, that this is not a big deal unless you pay for drinks by the order vs the package. Even then, you & I have the ultimate voice/decision, not RCL. We either buy it or we don't. And we either cruise with another cruiseline or you don't. All based on our choices. I do agree that increases in fares, specialty dining, drinks etc has will have an impact on many cruisers going forward, including your's truly. So something must be up. We don't have the knowledge that RCL has. They must have more people cruising than they have cabins for. Increases in the qty of ships and the size of the new ships tells us this. It must be a nice problem to have.

BTW, When on the Navigator last March, Sabor was selling Margaritas for $12, plus tip. I had a few throughout the cruise using my premium pkg and paid the $2 difference.

Some of the ports are breath taking views which we enjoyed the moment we woke via the use of our balcony.

Works fine for me. The only problem that I see is that there still appears to be an issue with the pricing. The site is still showing huge increases even with a BOGO pricing. Perhaps this will be corrected soon.

Thanks for the replies and comments. I called the Hotel direct today and set up, breakfast, shuttle to port, and a tower room on the 12th floor or higher. I was already a member of the Hilton Honors. So we're good to go... at least I hope!

Thanks again everyone!

We declared ours in handbags. It was painless.

I think the OP was expressing his or her frustration with what appears to be more gouging by RCI. As far as anyone caring, this is a public forum for people to post their opinions and thoughts. That's why there is a cruisecritic and other forums like it - to post your opinion, just like you did.

Actually, RCL is not gouging anyone. Each of us has a choice to either book Chops or to not book Chops. You can't be gouged if you don't buy. Even then, gouging would be considered one's personal opinion based on budget of the cruiser and the experience that one receives. $39 seems a tad high to my value but the price of red meat has literally sky-rocketed the past 12 months.