kawagama

I always remain on the phone with the agent until the confirmation arrives via email and then I immediately print it and then store it in my travel folder on my computer.

 

Call C&A if you booked with Royal and they will email you your customer copy.

Thanks! didn't use an agent. Booked and paid on-line. Will call C&A.

Try calling 866-562-7625 and pressing #4. You may be able to use the automated system to get an invoice sent via email.

Thanks! This is what I was looking for! I booked without a Travel Agent, and have never been able to figure out how to get a proper invoice from the website.

I just finished paying up my final payment and want to get the RC formal customer receipt. I've looked all over the website, but can't find how to do that. Someone had given me instructions and a phone number to get my guest copy when I had made my booking. Alas, I can't find that piece of paper anymore (sigh) and need a reminder. Help please?

You might also consider how many people you want to be competing with in the ports once you disembark, and the size of the ports. Are you going to smaller towns? If so, 5000 people might be a lot to have to compete with for scenic views, cafes, etc. I've never been on one of these mega ships myself, but the thought of so many passengers getting off and inundating a port all at the same time really scares me away from them. Even with the smaller ships, the number is high relatively speaking. I'd say a smaller ship is preferable if you are stopping at many ports during the cruise.

That's what I did for this first time this last cruise...due to the same reason. Disgusted with those mysterious

charges for mini bar use AFTER we leave the ship and AFTER we had received a final bill on disembarkation

day.

 

Worked great, cashed out to zero on afternoon before disembarkation day, with no lines...and no mysterious

charges.

 

Now, supposedly....those bottles of water are being eliminated along with the now history rest of the mini

bar stuff by July 1st. Hope that happens.

Does this mean that those fridges will now be empty of anything as of July 1st? On all the ships?

Very disappointed about this. We were thrilled that we could actually bring our wine to dinner, but alas....So, now if we pour a glass from our own bottles in our cabin is it okay to bring a glass to the dining room? If so, what happens to the glass when empty? Do we take it back to our room, or leave it behind in the dining room? Will we then get fresh glasses? This is only our second cruise (October 2017) so we are newbies and not that much in the know about this sort of thing.

I just looked at your ports--only 4? They are different than ours in October. I don't know about safety, but I don't think the ship would go there if it wasn't reasonably safe. Be aware of pick pockets when on shore.

When I looked up your sailing, still noticed them advertising tours in that area throughout July, so are you sure they are sold out? I don't think ours is sold out yet either as they are still advertising it as well. At any rate, don't worry about it. Fewer people on board might mean better service in general.

Could also be timing maybe. We are also cruising out of Venice, but not til October. Not sure of your itinerary, but it may not be one that people with kids would do, especially on this smaller ship. For the rest of us, July is very hot in that part of the world, and so we avoid the summer crowds with children, and go in the fall. Maybe that's why? But don't worry. You'll get more space and attention while on board, less crowding, and maybe even free upgrades!

You can get huge variations in weather--everything from hot to super cold. Be prepared for it all. Near the glaciers you will need a fleece, toque, and possibly mitts. Have rain gear too. And layers. Alaska will be light for a long time in June (especially towards the end of the month) and July and into August. Nights are almost non-existent. Therefore, if the sun comes out and it's warm, that warmth hangs around for a long time! We were in the Yukon at the end of July/early August and the sun was still shining at 10:30 PM! High in the sky too! It's a truly extraordinary experience.

Depending on your shore excursions, stick to the more casual side of things. Alaska is not formal or dressy. We found that needing to bring dressier clothing for the ship was problematic for our packing. We ended up with far too many things (this being our first cruise). Next time I will leave the dress, accessories, and shoes at home and opt for nicer casual attire for the ship. Have fun!

Don't forget a toque, mitts, and maybe a scarf of some kind. We went in May, but I think even June can be cool in places (glaciers). A lot will depend on your shore excursions too. If you plan to hike, then appropriate footwear is in order. Also if you're going to walk on glaciers. I think a decent hiker would be better than sneakers for either of those activities. If you go out whale-watching, wind jackets and pants for rain or spray. Sunglasses and sunscreen.

Alaska is casual and outdoorsy. There are no fancy bars or restaurants there. People dress for the weather. Packing dressy clothing for the ship caused us a lot of grief and suitcases that were much too large. I would know better next time and would leave all the dressy stuff at home, opting to eat in the buffet restaurant on the designated "formal" nights. It's just too much hassle for Alaska.

We did a Sandals in Varadero, Cuba many years ago. The grounds were gorgeous, the beach was lovely, and the resort was very clean. It was Cuba, so the food in the buffet restaurants was a la Cuba. But, they had enough specialty dining restaurants, that we ate at a different one each night for a week and that food (and wine) was amazing. After dinner it was possible to enjoy the cigar room (not my idea of fun, but....), and outside on the patio there was nightly entertainment and dancing. No kids, no drunk teenagers, just adult couples. It really was lovely and very relaxing. There was also a shuttle bus into Varadero every day and we went twice to enjoy a change of scenery and browsing in the market. It really was nice to know that you didn't need to pay extra for anything once you got there. We've only been on one cruise (going on a second in the fall), but I really don't enjoy all the extra costs involved and headaches about packages just to get a nice coffee. I feel that should all be included in the cost. Happy choosing!

Not sure if this has ever been addressed on this forum before. Sorry if it has. We are expecting yet another snowstorm tomorrow and are just soooooo fed up with winter.....

Has anyone addressed the whole zika thing when cruising to the Caribbean? My daughter and her husband are trying to expand their family, but are also craving a vacation somewhere warm. They didn't go anywhere this winter because of zika. I was wondering whether they would be "safe" from possible zika bites on a cruise--especially if they did not get off the ship on port days. Does anyone know anything about this? Thanks so much.

With most MDRs having three large levels, why not just make one level a formal night level, that can be selected at booking? It would do a few things...

1. Give those that want to do two formal nights (assuming 7 day cruise) a place to dine with those of similar mind.

2. Give RCL a true read on the demand for formal nights

3. Allow riff raff like me to wear more casual clothes to dinner. (I still say no flip flops, swimwear, or tank tops).

 

Thoughts??

Great idea!

We have only been on one cruise so far, in 2016 to Alaska. Because of the "formal" nights on this cruise, our packing was a nightmare as we needed clothing for that as well as all the outdoorsy stuff we were doing in Alaska. It was a pain. And, to be honest, I didn't notice a huge difference in the dining room, other than the fact that some of the options were fancier. It was still the same dining room, with the same table cloths, etc. (We weren't on RCI). Dressing nicely for dinner is fine, but the whole formal thing, to me, is just silly. I think that if people want to have that it should be set up in one of the specialty restaurants for those few who really truly want it. From what I have read on these boards, it seems that many of the "old-style" cruise options are long gone, making this form of travel more a casual event. People are looking for deals, cheap cruises, complaining about new fees and lowered standards--and yet want to maintain the guise of luxury and formality? That just doesn't make sense to me. A simple dress code is enough--long pants, proper shoes, and no baseball caps--would be fine in my opinion.

We went the first week of May 2016. Pros: we were the first and only ship in the ports, making the towns less crowded for us. Beautiful spring wild flowers everywhere! Saw lots of whales from the ship, but no other animals. Price was good. Cons: It was cool and downright cold on some days. We had 2 or 3 days with rain and mist which obscured the viewing.

Like others have said--it's a crapshoot with the weather. June/July will give you the longest days; May/September will give you the best prices and less crowded ports. Pack for all kinds of weather and you will be fine. It poured rain while we were sea kayaking, but we were well protected from the elements and all was good!

I know my input might not help because we did Alaska through a different cruise line, but the ship we were on was one of the smaller ones (approx 1900 people), so it may be the same size as the ones you mention (not sure as I am not up on all the sizes and classes of RCI ships).

We did a 7 day round trip out of Vancouver and stopped at Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway with a tour into Glacier Bay (captain did a few 360s in there). The ship was suppose to go into Tracy Arm according to our itinerary but just simply sailed right past it, which was disappointing (we were first week of May so maybe that's why). We enjoyed the ports we were in and because we were early there were no other ships in port at the same time. The passengers from our ship were enough to inundate these small towns. I can't imagine what happens when there are more in port at the same time!

We found that much of the "scenic cruising" was done at night, which was quite disappointing as we missed some of the really beautiful scenery. We left Vancouver at 5 PM and by the time we woke up next morning we were already in open water north of Vancouver Island. Missed all of the passage between the island and mainland which is gorgeous. The same happened further north too. We did get beautiful scenery, but also missed a lot during the night sailings. However, the distance the ship covers in a return 7 day trip is massive, so it can't be helped. I think a one-way trip would give you more of the spectacular scenery at a slower pace. If we were to do this trip again, I think that is what I would do, and I would choose based on availability, price, and flights.

Hope this helps a little!

Depending on ships, there are usually Cafe Promenade for generally cold food or Sorrento's which would be pizza.

Whew! Thanks. We'll be on Rhapsody.

So, I'm gathering there is no food available on the ships after 9 PM other than room service, which I understand now has a charge? Is this correct? Given you are done dinner?

Yes.

 

 

Try calling 866-562-7625, and press #4. This is an automated way to get your booking confirmation. If that does not work, try calling C&A or the regular RC customer service.

Thanks! I'll try that. I'm a bit miffed that this wasn't sent automatically by RCI. Pretty sure all that stuff was readily available with HAL last year.

Contact whoever booked your cruise and request Royal's Guest Copy of your booking confirmation. This is a PDF doc that will be emailed to you and has much more info than the web site.

We booked the cruise ourselves on-line. Didn't go through anybody. Should I just call RCI for this?

Try a different browser or do a print screen and print that.

I'm not all that tech savvy. What's a print screen?

That picture and video were taken in July on a Radiance of the Seas cruise. We did have to take a helicopter ride to a glacier. It was worth every penny.

Yup, pretty sure you would need to do that in July! Looks awesome and I bet it was a fun experience. I just mentioned the weather conditions because sometimes people think Alaska/Yukon are buried in snow year round when they really aren't!

After reading so many posts about issues with extra charges, changes, etc. I decided to try to print the summary of my payment history for my October cruise. So far I have only put down a downpayment, indicated that I didn't want prepaid gratuities to be added, and have not booked anything else. On my payment history, however, RCI automatically added the gratuities. Whatever. At least I want a hard copy of this statement to show that it'll already have been paid by the time we board the ship.

When I tried to print that page, however, I only got the header and the cancellation information, but a blank page instead of all the other costs. ?????? Anybody know how to print this page?

The cruises to Alaska go from May through the end of September. During that time you actually need to look for snow in the north. Depending on when you go, your days could be very long and very warm. In June and July there is barely any actual night time! Perhaps some of these photos shown on this thread were taken in higher elevations requiring a drop off with a helicopter. So, if you want a true dog sledding experience, you should probably visit Alaska (or Yukon, or both) during actual winter. Otherwise they have no choice but to run on dirt/grass because that's all there is!

We did an Alaska cruise the first week of May, 2016 and hiked a portion of the Chilkoot Trail out of Skagway. There were all kinds of wild flowers and plants blooming everywhere! Most of the stops (other than the glacier fields) for the cruise ships are in towns that are part of the more temperate rain forest.

We found our own excursions on our Alaska cruise last year. However, they weren't much cheaper than those offered by the ship. I guess Alaska is one of those places where the small towns you dock in rely on the cruise ships to bring in the tourists, so the private companies don't really offer great deals. We did, nevertheless, have two very small trips--sea kayaking out of Ketchikan where we were the only customers and got a private tour; and a hike and float out of Skagway. It was us and another couple only, so we got a lot of attention. I don't like the idea of big coach buses either. Now we are planning excursions for our October cruise that visits Greece. I've heard that in Europe it is quite a bit cheaper to arrange your own excursion. And like others have already said, if you are mindful of the time, you should be okay. The only real concern is if for some reason you fail to stop at one of the ports. I think if you are booked through the ship you will get a credit or a refund. If you have booked independently you may not get a refund. This happened this year to a Norwegian ship cruising Australia. It lost power and had to be pulled back to shore. Apparently all the ports for that cruise were missed while the ship was being fixed. Yikes!