Jcol5786

I tend to think it might be an issue with new employees not being fully up to speed yet. Long time till October so I'll keep and eye on it and try again if the new lower price keeps coming up.

Last May while on Adventure we purchased a 7 night cruise on Oasis leaving October 2022. The cruise price was $1805. We also became Diamond on the Adventure cruise and the NextCruise person indicated that we would get a larger balcony discount and that we would be able to reprice the Oasis cruise once our diamond status was posted to our account. A few weeks after our return we checked and sure enough the cruise price with our balcony discount had dropped to $1635. We phoned and got it repriced to this lower amount. We were emailed a receipt showing this new amount. Yesterday we noticed that the cruise price had dropped to $1512 so we phoned in again. The first call we used the C&A number. The person checked and indicated that our cruise had not lowered. She indicated that she was not seeing the new total I was quoting her. I had this happen once before on a reprice so I thanked her and hung up. I waited a few hours and phoned again. This time I was told that yes our cruise had dropped and it could be repriced. I asked what the new lower total would be and she said $1635. This is the amount that we had previously repriced to. I asked her what her system showed to be our current price and she quoted me $1805. Even though our cruise planner and our email receipt shows that the cruise is currently priced at $1635 she insisted that our cruise was still priced at $1800. At this point I gave up. If the CSR's can't see the correct amount of our current booking how can they be expected to accurately do a reprice based on a lower website amount. I'm wondering if the transition to diamond has somehow messed up this booking in their system? I may try calling again but in the end I'm happy with the current price we are paying. I just hope that we don't have problems with our final payment when it appears that their system thinks we are priced at the original amount. Any advice will be appreciated.

Question - My wife and I will be taking our first cruise as D's in October. It's a 7 night cruise on Oasis. Since we both will receive a $25.99 credit is it possible to combine the two credits and purchase 1 package onboard? This would result in 5 days for the price of 7. I suspect not but I thought I'd ask.

Thanks for the quick replies.

Just got our Diamond status and after reading for sometime about the Diamond perks I thought I would go to the RC website and try to find a complete list. I found the chart but it doesn't include some of the perks that I've read here on CC. I then went on a search of CC and found a post which shows a page left with a Diamond person in their state room. It had some additional perks not mentioned on the RCI chart but it doesn't cover all of the perks I have read about. Based on the chart from RCI and the state room page I have a couple of questions. The stateroom page mentions 20% off any glass of wine, beer or soda. Is this for just one beverage one time or is it 20% off the price of all beer and wine throughout the cruise? If it's throughout the cruise do you have to let the server know about the discount or will it be applied automatically? In the main dinning room they list wine by the bottle - does the 20% discount apply as well or is it just for purchasing by the glass? Is the free day of Internet access per state room or does each Diamond guest get a day? I have seen it mentioned that there is a 30% discount off the price of the DBP when purchased onboard. I've not found this at the RCI list or the stateroom sheet. In addition I have seen people mention discounts for the purchase of dinning packages but I don't see that mentioned anywhere either. Do some of these perks vary from ship to ship or sailing to sailing? If there is a complete listing of all perks that someone can point me to I'd appreciate it. If not any clarification of the above questions will be appreciated. Thanks

Labadee ended up being our favorite stop. We had been there twice before and have done the zip line and the jet skis. This time we opted for nothing and had a great time. We got off the ship and walked the pier to the island we looked around a bit and jumped on the island tram (tractor pulling open cars) and rode it around the island. We would normally walk but we were tired after walking the day before throughout old San Juan. We ended up getting off at Columbus Cove which is the last stop on the route before it turns around and heads back. This was around 10 am and we had our pick of loungers with umbrella's already setup. We picked a spot under a palm tree for additional coverage as it was very warm. We were 30 feet from the bar and restroom. There was a small island band playing all acoustic instruments who provided a nice back ground for the morning. We were the only ship that day so the area never got crowded or busy. My favorite part was the beach and swimming. The beach was smooth and the was calm and water luke warm. As you walked out it gradually got deeper and there was lots of room. In the salt water I was able to float without much effort. We spend a lot of time simply being in the warm water. The cove had it's own lunch area not far away and again it was not busy. Lots of covered tables available. The food was the usual island fare but after spending so much time in the water we were hungry and the food was satisfying. We normally head back to the ship on island days to take advantage of the ships pool with fewer people on board but this time there was no need. We stayed on in our spot for a couple more hours. It was a wonderful experience. Note that there are many local venders who will try to sell you things. The tram takes you through the market area and if you like you can get off and shop but you don't need to. The venders are well mannered but once the think you might buy something they can be a little persistent. Have a great time.

Yes that's correct $40 USD per person for uploading the same documents you need to give to Royal anyway. I don't understand why the Bermuda TA can't be harmonized with the RCI boarding requirements.

AOS quick summary part #2, the Bermuda Story As I mentioned we had great weather throughout the 9 days. Our first stop was Bermuda. A lot has been posted about the Travel Authorization and as many other have stated it seems like a pointless additional layer that one must navigate through. This was our 3rd post Covid cruise so we are pretty got at getting vaccination and Covid tests booked and uploaded. This is what happened to use. We both booked a local Covid test 2 days before the cruise left. After getting our results by 10 am we up loaded our proof of vaccination and negative Covid test results to the Bermuda site using the link provided. My wife got her authorization form at 9 pm the same day. I did not. The next day we drove to Bayonne. We arrived about 4 pm and were sitting in our room looking at the airport. Having still not received my authorization form I decided to try calling. I was #71 at 4:15 pm. By 4:35 I was still #71 so I gave up. I didn't want to sit on the phone all evening after having just drove for 6 hours. I hoped that I would get my authorization later in the evening. We went out for dinner and when we returned still no authorization form. Feeling somewhat concerned we went to bed. Remember that without the TAF I wouldn't be allowed to board the ship so I was starting to get worried. The next morning I woke up early and checked my email and there it was - an email from Bermuda! However it stated that it was a provisional approval which allowed me to board the ship but I still was not approved to get off the ship in Bermuda until my documents were reviewed with Bermuda representatives who were to be on the ship and returning to Bermuda with us. I found this unusual since my wife submitted her documents the same way I did and hers was approved. Something seemed off. But at least I could get on the ship. Boarding was on Thursday May 12. Our arrival in Bermuda was scheduled for Saturday May 14'th. No problem I thought. Since we got on the ship before noon we explored, had lunch and as we walked past Guest Services I noted that there was very few people in line so I thought I'd stop by and ask about when and where I would be meeting with the Bermuda people. Well the person at Guest Services knew nothing about anyone from Bermuda being on the ship let alone when and where to meet them but I assumed this would get sorted out fairly quickly and it would be communicated to us. Remember that we only had Friday to get the documents reviewed but I was on the ship and all was good. Friday morning after breakfast I went to Guest Service again and asked and again the person knew very little about what was happening with the Bermuda authorities. She took my name and cabin # and asked it I have access to email (no) so she suggested to check back in our room periodically to see if a message is left. Mid afternoon I made another visit to GS, I received the same vague responses. At this point I asked to speak with a manager. After about 5 minutes someone came out and asked what the problem was. I explained that I had a provisional approval that stated that I needed to speak with someone from Bermuda who was supposed to be on the ship. He was aware of the Bermuda people but explained that it really had nothing to do with RCI and he had not received any specific information about when and where we were to meet these people. I was polite but very frustrated. He took my name and suggested that I be in my room between 5 - 5:30 and that I would receive a call. I wasn't happy with this but I did end up waiting in my cabin between 5 - 5:30 and guess what, no call. Since we were getting close to dinner we left for the Schooner bar and then our early my time dinning. After dinner we went back to GS and spoke with the same person that we originally spoke with. After a short conversation she produced a list and asked my name and cabin #. She found my name on the list and said good news, you are approved to get off in Bermuda!! I couldn't believe it. I was happy I finally got the approval but resented the time I wasted trying to sort this all out. My provisional approval document clearly stated that I needed to present myself to the Bermuda authorities, not simply wait for them to review and approve. The next day we both got of the shop and spent a couple of hours exploring the area. Bermuda was nice but I won't be back for some time. More to come.

No, we didn't notice any staff shortages. The number of passengers was only 2300 which is less than 50% capacity so there was lots of staff. We also didn't note any staff disappearing during the cruise. Not sure why there were so few passengers when we had heard that most cruises were now going out at nearly 100%. Wondered if perhaps the Bermuda TA caused some people to cancel??

This cruise was the first of the season for Adventure of the Seas out of Bayonne NJ and we had a great time. The itinerary was Bermuda, St. Maarten, San Juan and Labadee. We drove from Kingston Ontario and did the park and cruise at the Embassy Suite in Elizbeth NJ. We had an 11 am boarding time and arrived at the port around 10:30. We were in the terminal by 10:50 and were on the ship by 11:20. The weather and the seas were good for the entire cruise. We were told that the previous cruise had a very rough trip back to Bayonne but ours was smooth. We had a panoramic OV on deck 12. The views from the room were great and I almost liked it as much as our usual balcony room. I understand these rooms were added during a dry dock a few years ago and they did appear to be very current in their layout and styling. We did early dining and purchased a 3 night specialty dining package. We did Giovanni's the first night, Izumi the 3rd and Chops the 6'th. Our favorite was Izumi followed by Chops. Giovanni's was a distance 3rd. I was expecting an upscale Italian restaurant and for me it just didn't seem to deliver that experience. We went to most of the shows including all of the RC production shows as well as a couple of headliners. We had just done Anthem and Oasis which both have large broad way style shows and while AOS doesn't have this type of show it was nice to see something different. The AOS orchestra was very good and played for most of the shows. They also brought in a singer Paul Hughes and a joggler and a comedian for additions shows. All were very good. I'll do another post covering the ports and some other observations. Please ask any questions and I'll try to answer as best I can.

This is an excursion offered by RCI on our upcoming visit to St. Martin. Described as a narrated scenic 2.5 hour drive to both French and Dutch sides. Specific stops are Simpson Bay, Marigot, Orleans and Grand Case. Mentions photo stops, beaches, shopping stops, carousel and more. Assume this is by bus however the mode is not mentioned. Just wondering if anyone has done this tour and if you have I would appreciate your comments. Thanks.

Hello, My wife and I enjoy cruising and have recently retired so we are planning to do some additional cruises. We love the idea of a TA cruise but the logistics of getting back from a one-way cruise are a little daunting. We have done all of our cruising on RCI and want to stay with them because of the perks that have accumulated. We live in southern Ontario and have been cruising quite a bit on Anthem of the Seas out of Bayonne NJ. It's a 4 - 5 hours drive for us and we use the park and cruise packages offered by the hotels in the area. Anthem does a TA repositioning cruise to Southampton on May 1st next year and we are considering taking this cruise. The price is reasonable but we would need to get accommodations for a day or 2 after we arrive and then get a flight back ideally to Newark airport which would be very close to our hotel where our car would be parked. We have never travelled overseas so we are a little nervous about the simple logistics getting to and from the SH cruise port to hotel to airport etc. I guess this is probably a job for a travel agent but it anyone has any suggestions or advice it would be appreciated. Thanks

Hello, We have sailed three times on Anthem and have always done GTY rooms and our rooms have all been fine. Have never been put on deck 6 with the obstructed views. We are on the March 6'th sailing and just got our room assignment - 13158 (2D) which is a connecting room. I'm happy with the higher deck but have never had a connecting room and have heard mixed reviews about noise. I checked and there are no non-connected 2D rooms available to move to. I'm assuming that since this cruise will go with reduced capacity we probably will not have a neighbor in the connecting room? Not a big deal if not but I just wondered if anyone has any similar experience with GTB assignments and connecting rooms during these reduced capacity sailings? Thanks