tallpaul86

Hello all, hope you’re doing well!

Me and my wife are booked to go on a Royal Caribbean cruise in and out of Southampton port to Spain, Portugal and the Canaries and was wondering what the deal is with duty free shopping on board (specifically liquor/alcohol)

Any cruise I’ve been on involving Europe (regardless of departure port) means there is no traditional duty free shopping like liquor/alcohol and tobacco on board the ship at all for the entire length of time the ship is cruising around Europe.

I assume this is still the case?  Ive gotten into bourbon and was looking to take home a memento!

Quick question - is anyone who is a vegan had any issues eating in the Main Dining Room?* Or were you essentially forced to eat at either the Windjammer or the cafe on board?

*

Asking on behalf of a friend

 

Apart from Saab944's comments, currently there's absolutely no evidence that Spectrum is going to spend a full Southampton season in 2019.

I seriously doubt Spectrum will spend a season in Southampton also

Don’t get me wrong, if that was an Apple like “Oh one more thing” bombshell announcement I would welp with joy for approximately 3 weeks straight!!

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Royal Caribbean U.K. twitter said the rest of the schedule will be released in March - no date in March mentioned but keep your eyes peeled as it will be soon

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Tweeted RCCL UK for an answer as to what the big announcement was meant for 19th December

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So for those here in the UK who book using a US Travel Agent, what protection do you get for those bookings? Obviously when you book via RCCL UK you are protected via ATOL and ABTA - so I’m also assuming the terms and conditions are different when booking via a US Travel Agent?

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We're also in central Scotland and now book with a US TA as prices/conditions much better. We would also never let RC book our long haul flights as much more expensive. Norwegian are also doing good flights to NY from Edinburgh if you decide to book that cruise. Airport they use is further out of city but doable.

 

 

 

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I wouldn’t mind personally however with my partner being disabled, the long transfer time would be an issue - she was broken enough when we went to Newark in Jan 17 with the 30min transfer time to Manhattan so I’d hate to think how she’d be with the transfer from Newburgh to Manhattan...

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Big fanfare for nothing.

 

First I looked at on the site, 8 day cruise in May from Southampton , balcony cabin for two £400 a day. Its cheaper to fly to the states for a cruise very disappointing.

I’ll try to remain not as salty as some D/D+ members but this right here ^^^ is what really annoys me about Cruising from the UK

Our options are quite pitiful here in the UK: -

P&O Cruises

Fred Olsen

Cruise and Maritime Voyages

With the seasonal deployments from NCL and Royal Caribbean of course...

If I look for a 2018 cruise out of Southampton during what I would have classed as quiet (I.e. not during school holidays) I get

Independence of the Seas

6th October 2018

14 Nights Canaries cruise

Cruise, Return Direct Flights from Edinburgh to Southampton and Gratuities pre paid in a GTY cabin?

£3252.30

Or I can book this: -

Anthem of the Seas

10th December 2018

11 Night Eastern Caribbean cruise with 2 night pre-cruise stay at 4* Wall Street Hotel

Cruise, Return Flights from Edinburgh to NYC and Pre-paid gratuities in a Virtual Balcony Interior Room with DELUXE DRINKS PACKAGE?

£3702.16

Difference of roughly £225 per person, I’m on a newer and better ship, all inclusive in a cabin I can pick as well as being on a long haul flight on a proper plane? Compared to a bog standard interior room, hand picked by RCCL algorithms with no drinks package flying to Southampton in one of Flybe’s premier Bombardier propeller plane who’s principals of flight and takeoff success rate depends on where a passenger sits on the plane?!?

Bit of a no-brainier for me personally - granted I could save money by driving down but fuel, port parking costs as well as an approx. 8 hour drive does not appeal to me in the slightest (being as geographically disadvantaged as I am here in Central Scotland)

First World Problem vented!!

So still no concrete announcements for UK departure from 2019? Wouldn’t be surprised if RCCL pull out of the UK market altogether due to this Brexit nonsense

Looks like it’s the inconvenience of short haul to Europe or Long Haul to US East Coast... Yay for living outside of London :-(

Loving this ship so far - currently docked at the Port for Toulon (which after finding out from a crew member that today is the only time Toulon is being visited as every other 7 day itinerary goes to Marseille instead of Toulon

Which is a bummer - but them lava flows though!! #Killer

Oh and those Coca Cola Freestyle machines should be a mandatory installation on all RC ships, both future and current alike - no queuing at bats like an animal!!

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Hey guys, quick question - is it mandatory to deposit cash on the first day? We have On Board Credit however no credit card so just curious if it's mandatory to put a cash deposit down?

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Hey guys

Going on Anthem this Saturday coming - anyone who has had a Select Drinks package have the upgraded to the Premium Drinks package at all?

And if so, how much did it cost if you don't mind me asking - I understand prices are fluid per cruise however it would be great to know a rough ballpark area

Hey guys - quick question for you all

I have a Pre and Post Cruise Hotel stay (at same hotel) with Doubletree by Hilton in NY... has anyone had any luck linking their reservation booked via RCCL with their own HHonors account?

Thanks for all the replies guys! I thought that was how you did it...

On the United website where you select the seats, I see the blue seats indicating Economy Plus and the orange seats indicating Business First however when I try to click on either nothing happens - it's like you're merely clicking on an image

I suppose the thing preventing me doing this is possibly down to the fact that the reservation isn't ticketed yet so my guess was I'd have to wait until the reservation was ticketed before it will let me book Economy Plus

Has anyone got any experience on upgrading their United Airlines flight from Economy to Economy Plus at all?

My partner tried calling Royal Caribbean (as everything was booked through them - flights, hotel stays, transfers etc) to request this however the agent bombarded her with information about cancelling the tickets and then re-booking them however this would not be guaranteed...

Does the request for Economy Plus upgrade be processed by Royal Caribbean or do we deal directly with United Airlines for this?

Any help would be appreciated!!

Hey guys, just asking a question I "think" I know the answer to but just wanting to double check with someone else that may be a bit more eagle eyed than I am

I was looking at Shore Excursions for an upcoming Cruise next in Rome and looking at the Royal Caribbean Important Notes and this is what it says: -

"Please note that due to the Jubilee Year, special celebrations and events will take place at St. Peter’s Basilica: overcrowding and possible closures at any given time and with no previous notice should be expected Due to the recent events, please note that more accurate security controls should be expected at the various sites visited Travel time to and from Rome is about 1-1/2 hours each way, subject to traffic conditions."

Google is advising me from the search results that the Catholic Christian Renewal celebrations for the Jubilee only last from May 23rd to June 4th and cannot find anything for September 2017 - do you think this is a typo or is there a special celebration event I'm unable to find?

Thanks in advance

Well I have to admit this is a massive blow to me and my partner - not only would this have been our first time on Anthem of the Seas but also our first time trying something new in terms of Dining

Flying a roundtrip of 6,700 miles from Edinburgh to New Jersey to now have the same experience I can get from either UK or European embarkations is a major blow to our choices. Granted we are going to the Caribbean on Anthem in January but St Lucia has also been kicked off the itinerary in favour of Martinique :-(

This sounds like proper First World Problems but still expectations are wildly in flux regardless of when you book a cruise with whoever...

Well I've tried calling to see if I can get it via a stateroom upgrade and was told it "could" be done but it involves outright cancellation of the booking as well as rebooking the same cruise and paying for a deposit for that separately

I'm hoping I can change it without too much of a penalty as it was a NextCruise booking so I'm hoping I can wangle a fly wee upgrade for not too much

Emailed them explaining that it's a NextCruise booking and "hopefully" it might be done!

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I booked a Navigator cruise for September 2017 and the deal was Free Flights and Transfers however I am curious to see how much the same cruise will cost when RCCL's upcoming offer of BOGOHO and All Inclusive Drinks (the new Deluxe package taking into effect soon)

Trying to weigh up whether to keep the Free Flights and Transfers

OR

Modify booking to take advantage of Free Drinks and BOGOHO

I have taken screen dumps of current prices for Balconies/Suites to compare what the prices are before and after the new campaign launches. Originally this booking was a NextCruise booking so I understand I can change this without penalty but was wondering can this be done to simply modify the current booking so that the cruise is the same but change the offer associated with it?

On a final note the PDF document states that all the revised drinks packages do NOT include the gratuities

So I'm reading that add you pay you're daily rate for the drinks package and then when you're onboard you pay 18% gratuity on every drink you buy? Kind of defeats the purpose if you ask me!!

Can't comment on whether this offer will be applicable outside the UK but guess you'll all see on 6th September

Well that cruising power website certainly is a treasure trove for us in the UK!! Just seen a flyer stating that from 6th September there will be BOGOHO as well as free Deluxe Drinks package... I may even change my booking in September 2017 if the price is right!!

So I suppose the best way is to enquire via Next Cruise desk or TA and not online directly via RCCL then?

A B2B cruise was always something I fancied doing but was put off by prices here in the UK - I assume the prices will also be affected by your C&A ranking as well?

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The coupons are automatically loaded.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=50334258&postcount=24

I assume the offers are the same fleet wide? There's no ship specific offers?

Thanks for the speedy reply!!

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Anyone know what the preloaded offers are onboard Anthem for Gold members? Also do I need to request these at the loyalty desk or are they automatically loaded on?

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