Goodtime Cruizin

Do whatever your personal standards and moral beliefs allow. Regardless, using YOUR soda cup for your kids is technically "theft." If you get caught, there could be consequences such as you losing your Drink Package. So you know. If it were to happen (everyone on here would be shocked if it did, but it could), don't come on here complaining.

So, why do we NOT advocate sharing packages? Well, IMHO, that is why we now must ALL in a cabin buy a package or NO ONE in a cabin buys a package. It screwed us all! Because of so many on this forum bragging about sharing packages. Am I sure that's the reason? No, of course not. But I'm willing to bet it is the big reason. It was highly bragged about and encouraged, just like so many are encouraging you give your kids your soda cups. Next thing you know, the Freestyle machines will disappear and everyone will have to show their Seapass every time they get a soda.

So, my point. Do as you wish. But PLEASE don't advocate or brag about it, and don't ask CC for "permission" to violate the rules. It will likely end up changing a good deal, like it did with the Drink Packages. And that affects us all.

Please stop the theft and intimidation tactics.

OP, let it be known that you will NOT lose your privleges of a drink package because you've allowed you own kids to use your own cups (for which you bought & paid for). It's this type of BS on cruise critic that is falsely attempting to intimidate you and others.

As to the recent change back to all persons 21 yrs or older must buy a alcohol bev package if one person in the cabin does has now been proven to have changed due to a desire to increase revenues and not because of sharing. Although, RCL did use the 'sharing' as an excuse. Many fell for it. If sharing was the real cause for the change, one could not call RCL direct and receive an exception to the rule change.

Come on folks, lighten up.

Apparently you are not familiar with our friend matj2000.

I lurk often and read all the drama and bug tussle between you, him, and a few others. My point is, sometimes both sides of this tussle can throw up good responses. Whether you like his board personality is not the issue here.

The OP is buying two drink packages and does not plan to use the cups for which they were bought and paid for. Yet someone wants to call her a theif for giving the cups to her kids. It's silly and ridiculous. Not to mention out of the realm of reality.

My kids are grown and can/do buy there own drinks, but when my grandson begins to cruise w/ us, y'all are cray/cray to think that we won't allow him to use our cups for a soda or two a day. It's foolishness to do otherwise.

Theft, nice... I know few ships without the Freestyle they check cards, don't just assume you have a cup you paid for Soda plan...

If the bartender serves you a alcohol drink and a glass of soda at the same time without charging your sea pass for the cola, is it theft? No.

If you bring on a case of water or cola onto the ship, is it theft? No.

Some on this board need a life beyond this board as they are too judgemental. There is no need to name their names, they know who they are.

Of course you do. And of course you brag about it.

Lighten up Francis.

I personally don't find it to be bragging. A question was presented to this board community and while your response might be different, he answered it honestly based on his experiences. I'd do the same & I find it foolish to not allow the kids to use the cups. With free juice, milk, and water on board for the kids, a soda a day is not going to hurt neither the kid or RCL.

Good morning,

 

I never thought I'd debate in my head so much the pros and cons of purchasing a drink package.

 

Anyway....I am going to call RC for the Delux and Refreshment for me and the hubs, as suggested on here. However, I have a 6 and 9 year old who will drink water, juice and (9 year old) occassional soda. Do you suggest packages for them or can I get away with just the two packages for us? When ordering, will they allow me to purchase drinks for our kids with my husband and my cards or will they charge for the kids as well? We can give them our soda cups when we get them as neither my husband nor I really drink soda.

 

Thanks!

Theft? LOL Don't listen to this emotional guilt crap.

Of course give them your drink package cups! Enjoy the cruise!

No.

 

Why would you push such a thing?

 

<smh>

^^^^ Couldn't resist ^^^^

I don't think my liver would survive a 14 day cruise.

Me neither. But I surprised myself. :p

13 pages over something that happened three years ago and a lawsuit that will likely never even make it to court in the first place. Royal will write a check and settle out of court is my guess, we will likely never hear the outcome and ALL of us will pay for it in the long run. Anyone have an idea of the monetary amount they are seeking?

This. So much.

Lots of people jumping on OP for the heart attack thing. I think she's got the point. Although, I'm not a worrier in any sense, but I seriously was thinking "When does one mentally just decide they aren't having a heart attack and don't need assistance if they think they are having a heart attack?"

 

But I'm going to wait for more trip report info.

I'll answer that, but first things first. OP, it's great news to hear all is well. A heart condition is nothing to ignore.

I don't want to hi-jack the thread but for me, I just knew. Call it scared or whatever. It wasn't a 'grabber' but rather a tremendous amount of pressure. Like someone sitting on my chest. I could barely breath. And for some weird reason my jaw muscles began to ache. I drove home though persuading myself not to go asleep for fear I wouldn't wake up. So I quickly googled symptons of a heart attack and I had 7 of the top 10. I asked the wife to take me in. They immediately identified a heart attck not by EKG, but by enzyme levels in my blood. Boom... stint city here I am! I'm better now w/ my blood pressure under control, stopped smokng immediately, and a better diet. It's been about 15 months, or by my count, two cruises. LOL

Now back to the review.

OP, you know your health more than me or others, but if you haven't had a thorough detailed exam since this 'attack', you're playing with your life. If you haven't as of yet been examined, I encourage you to go ASAP. That 13 yr old will be 14 next year and he needs you in his life.

Would you be willing to pay a few hundred dollars extra on you fare to cover 24 hour monitoring of security cameras. Place a security guard in every area of the ship, 24/7? I suspect not.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

3200 passengers @ $200 ea = $640,000. That's alot of security guards. My point is, it appears that every time an expense is thought to be warranted, there is at least one poster that throws up the arguement about additional costs on their cruise fare. Most of which does not equate accurately to the arguement.

This will be settled out of court. Yes there is a level of responsibility to the parent or guardian, but bottomline, RCL did not enforce THEIR own policy and therefore are negligent. This will not go to trial.

The night before the first sea day

Agree with the recommendation for Bernard's tours in St. Maarten! We've done it twice! It's a great way to get a little taste of several different spots on the island.

 

I HIGHLY recommend the Old San Juan Food Tour from Flavors of San Juan. It was one of my favorite island experiences ever!

I second this.

Hump cabins benefits...

Close to elevators.

Mid-ship offers less ship movement

Some balconies are a tad larger.

Balcony protrudes out offering great views

Generally centered to major venues (less walking)

Maybe Royal offered a Drug package that's like Alcohol package. A Pot package, "Coke package'... But nice, have a 3 week TA on Vision coming up, now I'll have these images in my head when I board...

I'm not into the 'Cocaine' scene, but a 'Deluxe Marajuana Package' if priced right and the inclusion of edibles would be worthy of exploring. I believe the MDR would have a completey different take on desserts. ;p

Halloween will be a one day focus as the ship will be decorated overnight. Costumes will be the norm for most. The suggestion of reaching out to the roll call is an excellent idea. Suggest to them to bring a bag of candy. I'm not positive but I think the Adventure Kids will have a special day as well. Get them in costumes. They'll have a good time!

If anything was to happen, what will she do?

If all goes wll most likely smile like crazy and set in motion the process of spoiling.

Why would the dog have to wake him up while taking the ride in the car???????

This.

It's expected to landfall on 6/17 Sunday father's Day. They may delay in going out on Sunday if they decide to not dock that morning and ride it out in the gulf. It's way too early to say at this point but the news is beginning to ramp up a bit here in Houston and telling all to pay attention and begin early preparations for the storm season.

Here you go. While standing outside the airport waiting on my Uber, a guy next to me w/ a small poodle wearing a red vest was carrying his dog in his arms. He also had a small collapsible, flexible type pet carrier. The dog was not on a leash. His Uber driver arrived before mine. Said driver jumped out to greet & assist the man w/ his luggage and quickly saw he had a dog. It went like this..

Uber - "You're going to need to place the dog in that carrier."

Man - "This is a service dog."

Uber - "I understand but he'll need to be in his crate or carrier. My car services 100's of riders per week and I can not afford to have dog hair or accidents in my car."

Man - "But this is a service dog. I need him out of his carrier."

Uber- "What is the dog trained for?"

Man - "I have Diabetes and need to take medications in a timely matter. He's trained to wake me up when I'm asleep and my alarm goes off."

Uber - "That's nice. But you'll to stay awake for this trip as your dog must be placed into his carrier."

Man - "This was not required when Uber brought me here."

Uber - "Sir, I will be more than happy to assist you in what capacity I can but your service dog must be contained or you'll need to cancel."

Man - "No problem."

Uber driver grabs the man's luggage and places in the trunk while the man places dog in his carrier.

Win for Uber driver as he gets a fare.

Win for man as he gets a ride w/ his dog.

Win for future Uber riders as they don't have to deal with potential dog hair, urine, or poop.

I thought Uber handled this very well. He did not doubt his rider's need for a dog. He only asked what the dog was trained to do. He then stood firm on his request while not denying the man a ride. All the while showing restraint, compasion and offered an explanation for his request.

Wow.. things have greatly changed since May 1st. We carried our passports and they were absolutely requirred. Mine was greatly scrutinized via magnifying glass. In addition, we had a private tour and we were one of the first groups off the ship! For those going to St.Pete soon, I would not hesitate/wait. I'd go as soon as my group was gahtered and ready. No one was questioned and/or asked if we had a private tour and/or RCL booked tour. By either RCL or Russian customs.

Sorry. I didn't meen to hi-jack the thread.

We never get the alcohol drink package. We're always cruising with our kids and I would be passed out trying to pound 7-8 drinks a day (#lightweight). Also I try to keep calorie consumption in check, which is hard enough with food alone. I may indulge and have one or two frozen drinks by the pool during the week or a beer with dinner one night, but in general I'm not a huge drinker (college years excepted).

 

DH does get the soda package. My kids don't drink soda, so they don't. It's not a big deal to purchase a couple of virgin frozen drinks for them during the week. I brought a bunch of Starbucks cards that we had accumulated and used those to purchase coffee. We also brought a few large bottles of water onboard and mini cans of soda for DH to have in the room.

I'm not sure where one would get this number. Prices vary from ship to ship but not too drastic. Here are the approx $$ one will pay for alcohol & 18% gratuity on RCL.

Beer $7-$9

Liquor $10-$14

If you plan to drink approximately four drinks or more, per day you will indeed hit the $$ figure of the Deluxe Package. That's all one really needs to know. If you plan to drink less then you might start trying to figure it out. But if your plan is to drink four or more drinks EVERY day of your cruise, you're an idea candidate for the package.

Happy Cruising!

I have a weird funny feeling that the wine was meant for you Mom!

We’re going to Symphony in a month and this

convinced me that it was a good idea to get the package.

We will drink water a lot (and take the bottles with us on the land) and only 3,3 alcoholic drinks per day isn’t that big of a deal :D (we paid 55$)

Yes, those prices are expensive. We actually had the package when we did the Liberty out of Barcelona, but we wouldn't do it again. Five days in a row of ports where you get off the ship at 8am and return at 5pm left no time to drink really but at night. We grew tired by the 3rd day. We didn't stay up late during this time knowing we had another full day of touring the next day. For us, the European cruises are sooo different than a Caribbean cruise. Completely a different vibe w/ a lot more walking & exploring. But that's us. Enjoy your cruise!

Topside.

Very under rated post.

When cruising, the Top Side is ALWAYS the best side.