Threedrones

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Not sure about this. Cruises are listed by number of nights, not days. The app calls it "Day 8" on a 7-night cruise, for example.

 

People may expect it because you were given new vouchers on disembarkation morning in the past.

However, the C&A states vouchers are good each DAY of the cruise. Vouchers reset daily at 5:00 am and are good until 4:59 am the following day. It is in footnote 5 of members’ benefits.

On 5/16/2023 at 10:52 AM, Cigar King said:

You realize that your responded to a post 3 months *after* the OP finished their cruise.  

But it still helps future cruisers.

11 hours ago, robmtx said:

Actually, and I did not know this, it's 24 hours, and it just says "charged a minimum of $10" if you cancel within 24 hrs.. whatever that means. Anyway, maybe it's a bargaining chip.

 

Here's their policy so you can take this to them, clearly stating 24 hours.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/specialty-dining-restaurant-cancellation-policy

 

 

It really stinks, but the policy would seem to hurt your case rather than help it. It makes a distinction between precruise and onboard reservations.

Thanks for the review. We are on same ship and itinerary in Sept. We, too, are from Cleveland and will be embarking on the 18th (Browns-Steelers MNF). Hopefully, the game will be on somewhere on the ship. We fly to Nashville after the cruise and will be at a Browns Backers bar to watch the Browns Titans game which is in Cleveland. What were the chances…thanks NFL. We really enjoyed the review.

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

Do you have the email? I've never heard of a fcc that never expires, only that the date was extended. What was the exact wording? 

I finally located the policy statement online and the info concerning the incompatibility was correct. I still haven’t found out why my FCC expired even though RCL emailed me to ignore the expiration date. But at least we’ll be cruising again.

Just returning to cruising and getting info from RCL that has me wondering. We went to redeem our FCC and we’re told they expired. We mentioned that we received an email from RCL stating that we should ignore expiration date because they no longer expire. Went to resolution and were told we could use them if we booked today (yesterday). We did, since we already had a cruise chosen. Then we tried to use our mycruise points to get the companion fare. Back to resolution who said it was not compatible with FCC. I’m rethinking my loyalty to RCL. Has anyone had similar dealings? 
 

3 hours ago, rockmom said:

I understand, but it's a battle for your TA since you booked with them.  FYI, if you book directly with Royal, they don't call it a 'room selection fee'.  There are usually two options, but not always.  One is choose your room, the other is a guarantee room and they choose.  Sometimes the guarantee room costs more than choosing, which seems silly, but it happens.  I think what it comes down to, is did they move you into the exact same category (example a J4 to another J4, or a1D to another 1D)  To them, that's the 'same room'.  

 

“To them, that’s the same room”. But their website doesn’t say pick your own category….it says pick your own room.

Sailed in February. Received points in about a week.

I did this in the past, but do not see it listed in cruise planner for upcoming cruise. 
 

Definitely see the benefit of being served. That being said, having one server handling 10 different stations is not efficient. Also, self serve is not a death trap as some here imply.

There will be plenty of soccer to watch.

For all of the “enlightened” people on this thread calling those they disagree with “Karens”…. you should reflect on the term. A “Karen”, in contemporary terms, is a middle aged, white female ( you can look it up). Therefore, you are guilty of racism, sexism and age discrimination.

43 minutes ago, outtoseacruise said:

Not on Indy last weekend. Hopefully gone forever since they really made no sense for adults.

Since there were exemptions for documented medical and religious reasons, the wristbands did make sense.

Reminds me of “the Key” offer. I’ve received emails telling me it’s on sale. Web site says it is online purchase only. Go to “the Key” online and it says “not available, check onboard”

Agree with CM1984. Island Wings was out favorite tour out of all we’ve taken.

3 hours ago, ddcruise1018 said:

What about the formal night question.  Do people still dress up or is it a mix?

Just off 4 night FOTS last Friday. Formal night was day 2 for us, though it’s now called “dress your best”. While I went “smart casual “ with tie, people were dining in shorts and t shirts. The only people I saw turned away were a couple of guys wearing sleeveless shirts. I’m all for comfort on a vacation, but I think things have gone too far in the MDR as far as relaxing the rules.

26 minutes ago, allisonb22 said:

Do you know what the earliest debarkation time was if you did self-assist departure? We want to do so and get an uber to FLL airport. I would like to pre-schedule it now so we don't have to worry. We are sailing this weekend on Freedom.

 

Also if anyone has any other better recommendations on getting from ship to airport after self assist departure, LMK!

Self assist started at 7:00am. By 7:30, they were already calling by number. Very smooth and efficient.

1 hour ago, Shona_winelover said:

So do you still have to make an MDR reservation even if you have My Time Dining? 

Yes, MDR was by reservation, but they were easy to get. We booked our times for the entire cruise on the app weeks before the cruise. Same table and wait staff each day. Shout out to Antony and Majob for their great service.

13 hours ago, davekathy said:

Bummer the stench is back. I blame RC for this.

 

Did you receive the daily Cruise Compass in your cabin each evening? 

The Compass is on the app. But if you want a paper copy, just tell your cabin attendant for daily delivery or pick one up at the desk. We used the app, but like the hard copy much better

They have already brought back the smoking in casinos. I don’t recall it ever being as bad as last week on Freedom. Saved us a lot of money, though. We never went back after day 1. They didn’t even have a non-smoking section.

Our sailing was at 60% capacity. Dinner in Main Dining was by reservation, though we saw people come down and get a reservation for an hour later. Don’t know about breakfast in main dining room because we mostly had room service. Currently, Continental and American breakfast is free through room service. It arrives on time and hot. Windjammer was available for all meals, including dinner, without reservations. It was only closed for lunch when we were at Coco Cay.

This is the test we just used for 2/21 Freedom of the Seas. Ours had same notice but no problem for RCL. Easy and convenient.

2 hours ago, dman1 said:

This was on my CVS test reservation. Think I heard the test will be fine to board but just want to make sure…

We were on FOS 2/21-2/25. Enjoyed getting back to cruising. Rather than a review, I’ll just give a brief synopsis. Covid pre-test was a breeze. We made an appointment at CVS and the process took less than 10 minutes for both my wife and me. Results were received in about an hour. We had a 12:30 boarding time. We arrived at 12:10 and were in the Windjammer before our assigned boarding time. Entire process took 15 minutes. We were concerned about the mask issue, but it really was not a bother. With few exceptions, it seemed like a normal cruise. I know that RCL has loosened their protocols already since our cruise, but  even if they hadn’t we would be very comfortable cruising again during Covid.