BTHodgeman

Generally should be no issue. Unlike Carnival, there are no official time limits or number of drinks per day limits, so RC is a lot more flexible. Personally, I would start by getting to know your bartender(s) and then working your way up to two at a time.

On the topic of safety... We left cell phones and other minor things (sunscreen, small amounts of cash ($20-30), etc. in a bag on both our beach and pool lounger. As others have said, your primary/only concern is other cruisers. I wasn't too worried.

On ‎10‎/‎31‎/‎2019 at 5:58 PM, mickeygirl78 said:

Well I haven’t used it on Mariner, I did use the plan on Harmony. Embarkation lunch was included. For Izumi - the sushi side is ala carte so you get a $35 credit. For the hibachi on Harmony it covered one protein and you had to pay an upgrade to get the combo. I hope that helps!

Just last week on Harmony, it no longer fully covered single-protein Hibachi at dinner. It covered $35, and since one protein is $45 or two are $49, you would need to pay a $10-14 to upgrade for dinner. Lunch pricing is $35/39, so at lunch it covered one protein, but to upgrade to two proteins was $4. (To get around the $10-14 dinner upgrade charge, we ate Hibachi for lunch and sushi for dinner. The lunch and dinner menus are the same, other than Hibachi being $10 cheaper at lunch, and we got plenty of sushi, sides, and soups for $35 each at dinner.)

Chops and Jamie's are cover charge restaurants, so it would cover your full meal except for the seafood tower or lobster upgrades at Chops.

Also on Harmony last week, we were told at Chops (while making all our reservations for the week) that embarkation day lunch was not included because we had 3 sea days. Others on our Roll Call reported being able to get lunch on embarkation day and all of the sea days.

One final comment - we were not allowed to use UDP for the upcharge chicken wings/French fries on Coco Cay.

Admittedly, I wasn't looking for it, but I do not recall seeing it. The only thing similar that I did see was Truly sparking alcohol waters (but they are not sweetened like Smirnoff Ice).

2 hours ago, BND said:

I know what the app is.  I have it and have for a long time.  What no one can clarify is IF you can use the app on the ship, but as I said, we didn't try, even though I use it ALL the time normally.

The barcode in the app is directly tied to your gift card. Yes, it can be used. Yes, you earn stars. No, you cannot redeem stars or qualify for other promos (Star Dash, etc.). 

As stevea36 said, the fee is rarely charged, especially if you bring the bottle down already open and have a glass pre-poured. Now, if they are putting your glass on ice, opening it, and pouring it for you, you may be charged.

On ‎9‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 3:16 PM, MD_Dan said:

Maybe there could be a section of the main dining room for people who don't want to dress.

Probably the most reasonable compromise I've ever read on these boards! I think this would make sense. Maybe a formal "level" and a "casual" level. That way everyone gets what they want!

15 hours ago, starrcards said:

Excuse me for being cynical but TWO RCCL private islands on the same cruise.   Huuummm.

I don't really see it that way... Especially if you have a drink package because then their costs actually go up with people drinking more of their liquor for the same amount of money collected. Same with food. When in port, not many people stay on and eat RC's food. When in an RC owned port, everyone is eating RC food -- again without a revenue increase.

Sure - some people will partake in activities on CocoCay, but if someone is just looking for a beach/pool day, that is totally free.

I think the biggest reason for adding in one of their own ports is operational flexibility. It has to be a lot easier for them to add CocoCay, which they own/lease forever than to add another port where they may be competing with ships from other companies, etc.

Not sure where you're located, but I found stuff cheaper online through FragranceNet or Perfumania. Even on the last sea day when stuff was on sale, it was still cheaper online. I was looking at a handful of men's colognes, but I would imagine women's perfumes would be the same. (Note - I've always gotten authentic stuff from FragranceNet, but I have sometimes been disappointed by Perfumania; however, they have always allowed a return or taken care of me.)

2 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Wondering how they are handling the half day passes that they already sold....

Converting them to full day passes for no additional charge. A lucky purchase! 🙂

I received a similar survey; however, mine was not for an overnight stay, but instead a stay later into the evening. One of the names was "Perfect Day and Perfect Night," and the other was something like Junkanoo Jam or something. Same as yours - the itineraries were identical just with different names.

Brent

Honestly, it's not even a data/technology issues. Royal does it. On Labadee, some of the bars have registers and some just have paper pads. The drinks package is valid there and, presumably, the drinks are "rung in" when back on the ship. The only difference I can tell is that RC doesn't have a per day drink limit and Carnival does, so they would potentially have no way to enforce the drink limit...

As others have said, I think it is a matter of making more money by not honoring the drink package on land. I can't entirely fault them, but I do understand that people would be disappointed...

@mitsugirly You can also wire funds to the casino. Depending how much you’re spending, this may be somewhat of a hassle, and also may have a fee, depending where you bank.  

I will find the link when I’m at an actual computer but basically you wire the money, and then submit a form with your reservation number, sail date, etc. and then you can get the cash from the casino cashier. 

1 minute ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Yea, you really don't want to get a message on here. 😉

Haha! I can only imagine.... At least the message I wanted to send was a good one! :)

13 minutes ago, BTHodgeman said:

I'll send you a message through here

Actually, I can't... An error message pops up saying I am only allowed to send 0 messages per day. haha

Here's the high-level overview for how we did the pub crawl:

• Entry fee is $20 per person
• Participants will receive their first card and 4 "tickets" upon paying their entry fee (we gave each participant two 2-part raffle tickets, but any four random slips/tickets would work...)
• Tickets can be redeemed in any order at any bar (i.e. you can take all 5 cards at once if you want, or go the traditional route and get one card per stop.)
• Cards must be signed with a Sharpie in front of the organizer to keep things fair
• High hand gets 70%, low hand gets 30% of all money collected
  • Note: we played with multiple decks, so technically the highest hand would be 5 of a kind (typically a royal flush would be highest possible hand). Aces play "high," so the lowest possible hand would be an unsuited 2-3-4-5-7.
• Be sure to set an end time where everyone must be to compare hands so the winners can be determined and paid out.
• The organizer can play, but we let other participants select our cards to keep things fair.

One thing we didn't call out is that anyone can join the group -- even if they're not playing or drinking. The primary goal is to meet other people and have a fun time.

Let me know if you have any questions!

1 hour ago, Grand & Nana said:

 

Hi Brent...I've been searching for you.  It's Nancy from the RC Navigator cruise.  If you have a minute, can you tell me the guidelines you used for the Pub/Poker Crawl?  I just booked us on the NCL Sun - November 9th (5-day includes Cuba). I'm thinking I need to coordinate such an event. It was quite smooth and you seemed to have it all together...need your tips.  I remember the two sided tickets, the cup, signing of the cards in your presence, etc., any recommendations or am I missing anything to keep it as well organized as you did?

 

Nancy

Hi Nancy! Nice to hear from you!!! 

I'll send you a message through here, but basically you have it all right.

14 minutes ago, ShillyShally said:

I get that!  If you find a quiet time at the bar ask the bartender to get creative - just a splash of some mixes can achieve a much lighter drink 🙂  Since they have the strawberry daiquiri mix and mango up there, they may be able to use a touch to create your new ship go-to 🙂

Absolutely. I pretty much hate drinks that are overly sweet, yet I love the concept of a rum punch, rum runner, mai tai, etc. At the pool bar, I would regularly ask for just a dash of the juices/sweet liqueurs and for the drink to be topped off with soda water. They always accommodated, and the drinks were refreshing and not sweet or overly heavy.

On ‎3‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 11:50 AM, Host Clarea said:

 

Best snorkeling on Bonaire:  https://www.woodwindbonaire.com/

Agreed! Plus, plenty of shady places on the boat to sit and relax while others are out snorkeling. I am not sure if they have beer, but I know that they offered several other beverage choices. And the price is only $65 for the 4-hour tour.

On ‎3‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 9:53 PM, Lionesss said:

Well Labadee is on Island time, nothing moves fast it is like it is a time warp. The locals work at their pace, and the ride only can handle its set pace.

 

Yea you might get lucky and get to ride the coaster with minimal lines ahead of you, but there is still a wait.

 

The workers make you re-watch the safety video, and you have to wait in your individual car till the car ahead of you almost reaches the top of the mountain.

The all-day pass is usually only a few dollars more. In all, we rode it 9-10 times. There was never a wait of more than 2 minutes. Granted, we were the only ship in port that day... Also, the attendants never made us watch the video after the first ride. It took longer to walk from the exit of the ride to the entrance to ride again (about 30 seconds) than it did to get on the ride and enjoy it all over again.

With multiple rides, you can have multiple experiences... Ride to the top, and slowly make your way down the track... Ride to the top and use no brakes on the way down... For the extra $4, we go our money's worth on the coaster!

1 minute ago, Sancho_proudfoot said:

True enough,  but my point (probably clumsily put) was that  an expiry date can be coded into the bar code, making it easier to 'enforce.

Totally agree with this. The only gray area being that the front side of the ticket (with printed barcode, machine number, date, time, etc.) says "valid for 30 days," and the fixed text disclaimer on the back says "valid until the end of the current sailing." I would imagine that the barcode on the front would be tied to the 30-day disclaimer printed on the front, but I would also not be surprised if the casino had a way to nullify any unredeemed tickets after the end of the sailing, and they probably actually do so in order to close out the books and determine profitability of each particular sailing.

One way to test it would be on a back-to-back with a $.25 ticket. :)

3 minutes ago, Sancho_proudfoot said:

 

I think it's coded into the bar code. I had a cash out ticket from the MGM Grand in Vegas, it went past the expiry date and the slot machine just spat it back out as "invalid - expired".

Difference being that for MGM Grand, unclaimed tickets are a liability on their balance sheet (due to Nevada laws that require them to hold them for a period of time after expiration, and eventually require that the funds be turned over to the state). Las Vegas casinos are quite happy to redeem via mail and well beyond the expiration date. No gaming laws at sea, so I would imagine there is not the same 'incentive' for RC to want to redeem expired tickets and/or mailed in tickets.

2 hours ago, itsmeagain said:

You now have avoided the 5% fee and any fee your credit card company would have charged you.

 

 

 

Since the charge is identical to anything else you charge to your room (drinks, merchandise, dining, etc.), RCI bills it the same way. Your credit card company has no clue how the money was spent, and RCI does not code it as a cash advance, so there would be no additional credit card fees. (This can be a major benefit of being Prime and then earning credit card rewards on $$ download to the slots.)

6 hours ago, Sancho_proudfoot said:

I think  the slots vouchers are ship-specific (so you can't use them on another ship) AND carry an expiry date.

That is correct. They are ship-specific, and while they do say "expires in 30 days" on the front side, if you read the fine print on the back, they say something along the lines of "all tickets expire on the last day of your current sailing, and they cannot be redeemed via mail." Not sure how strictly they enforce that...

You can use your Sea Pass. If you're not Prime or above (earned 2500+ points in the casino Apr 1-Mar 31), there will be a 5% charge assessed. Unlike Carnival, the money is not in a separate bank. Whatever amount you charge to your card will load to the machine, and like most land-based casinos, when you cash out, you get a ticket. Any amount charged is charged to your Sea Pass account.

Depending on what you're going to spend, it may be cheaper to use the on-board ATM. I think the fee was $6 on my last cruise... so if you're spending more than $120, it would make sense to take out a few hundred or whatever you plan to spend rather than pay the 5% fee.

We did a TA in 2016, and while I didn't necessarily notice too much added, there was plenty to do. One thing that I haven't seen otherwise on Carnival was the addition of an enrichment speaker. We didn't love his topics, but I think he did 6-7 lectures during the sea days. There also was lots and lots of bingo, trivia, dance lessons, etc. 

As @cellfree mentioned, the sea days went by quickly and we never really just hung out or had any downtime.