buzzard05

8 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Actually, you need to pay your cruise off so it will deduct from there first, the gratuities will show up in a separate line item as "additional charges" and can be paid well after the 90 day deadline for the cruise fare. 

So just adding them to my total isn't considered "prepaying"...I actually have to pay off the cruise, and then pay off the gratuities?

Just curious...can you prepay gratuities before your final payment? I can see where I can add the gratuity amount "to" my final payment amount...but not anywhere I can just pay those off now.

Thanks.

Can you book on the app?

I was literally only over there for about 20 minutes.  It stopped raining at around 5:30...I ran off the ship, had a beer at the bar, and ran back on before the 6:30 call.  It was my impression that this area is first come first served...but it may be different on a busier day (there were only a few people in the pool area when I was there).  

One thing to be careful with as you walk around the shops, are the little "fountain" areas between the sidewalks.  If you aren't paying attention, it would be very easy to just walk into one of them (you will see what I mean when you get there).

We were there last week...though it rained most of the day.  I jumped off the ship and ran over to the port for a quick visit once it stopped raining and took these photos.  It seems like it is a really nice place, and would have been fun to spend the day there.

If you are going definitely going to get a package, get it before you get on the ship.  It is unbelievably more expensive on-board (learned that the hard way over New Years.)  Also, if you are a little ways out from your cruise, you can buy the package you want at the prices you asked about, and then cancel and repurchase later if you see them cheaper (on the Cruise Planner).

Another thing to be aware of...

If you buy the digital package, you don't get a USB drive anymore with the pictures (at least we didn't).  You get a link that you can use while on-board to download your pics to your devices (on the ship's wifi).  Once you are off the ship, they send you an email (it took a few days to get it) with a link to an online gallery where you can download your pictures for 30 days.  After 30 days, the link expires (and I am assuming, so do your pictures)...so make sure you go on and download them quickly.

I totally agree about O'Sheehans.  It is nice having a "restaurant" type venue with a good variety (wings, reubens, hamburgers, etc.) available for "free"...and being open 24 hours.  I really wish Royal would get "on-board" and come up with something like that.

When we were on Oasis over New Years, I always waited until the end to look at the desserts and place my order.  Our server didn't seem to mind at all.

That is the cheapest price I have seen in awhile.  I got our drink package for that same price for our NYE cruise and it never went lower after that.  I am looking at prices for a June cruise we have and have yet to see them go under $61.

One thing to remember when you are calculating if it is "worth" it or not, is that the Deluxe Package covers everything on board (except Starbucks).  So if you drink a soda here and there, specialty coffees, etc. combined with a few beers/drinks throughout the day, it really isn't that hard to get "your money's worth".

I was just on Oasis over the holidays and Guest Services has a self-serve punch right on the desk (so you don't have to wait in line).  Now with that said, the Guest Services representative I was working with showed me how to do it (there was a certain way to place your card in the punch)....but I came back later and did all of our cards and they all worked great all week.

I cruised pretty much that same route in December last year and found that between New York and Florida it was cool and a little rougher.  Once we got to Florida and south, the seas smoothed out and it warmed up significantly (shorts/tee shirts).

You know your kids....if they fight a TON, then maybe not.  If they get along good....then it is no different than being in their own bedroom at home.  They have a curfew for kids under 18, so they can't be out roaming super late at night.  To be honest, they might like the "freedom".  The biggest issue will be their mess with clothes everywhere (at least it is with my two boys).  We have always done separate rooms and had no issues. 

We had a great cabin attendant on Harmony a couple of summers ago (Miss Marie) who was like a second mom.  She always kept tabs on the boys for us and let us know when they came and went (they tended to sleep later than my wife and I did).

We did "self-carry" off Oasis in Miami and it was extremely quick. 

We used ShoreExcursioner.com the first time and JamaicaCruiseExcursions.com the last time we went.  I think ShoreExcursioner might have included transportation in the price when we went a couple of years ago.  JamaicaCruiseExcursions had transportation for us...but it was $20.00 each way for 4 people.

Also, ShoreExcursioner's driver met us inside the port area (in the area where the independent tours meet)....the JamaicaCruiseExcursions' driver met us outside the gates at the Court House.

It is a fun resort and pretty close to the port (maybe 15 minutes away).  You have full access to the place when you are there as well (pool, waterslides, lazy river, beach, indoor buffet, etc.)

I'm not sure if others using scooters have run into this issue or not, but on our recent cruise one of our friend's mom was using a scooter provided by Royal.  On the ship it was great, however they wanted to take a taxi to a resort for a day and could not find a cab that would take the scooter (which I found surprising given the age demographics of a lot of the cruises).  Anyway, they ended up not being able to go to the resort.  It might be wise to have transportation lined up prior to arriving in port to ensure that you can get the transportation you need.  (The port we had issue with was Falmouth, Jamaica.)

7 hours ago, OSUZorba said:

Did you find out if you could book directly with the resort?

I ended up using a third party that I found that was operating on that day.  With that said, we had some friends that were going to join us last minute and my wife talked to the front desk and was told they could purchase their passes at the resort (they ended up not being able to get a cab at the port, so they didn't come).  The only snag might be is that you have to pass through a guard shack to get onto the property and they ask your name to let you in.  Since we had reservations through the third party company we were on their "list".  I don't know how that works if you plan on buying the passes directly at the resort.  If possible, it might be best to call the resort to see if they could put you on their access list to get onto the property.

15 hours ago, uvadover said:

There are no power outlets anywhere near the bed.  So anyone who likes a phone or tablet plugged in will need to place it on the desk across the room.

 There actually is an outlet by the bed...though you have to disassemble your bed to find it.  If you go on one of these ships again...look under the mattress and there is a plug on the wall under the bed.  It was tough to get to, but we were able to plug a multi-port charging block there and use/charge our devices in bed.  Somebody pointed this outlet out in another thread and said it was put there for CPAP users. (Sorry, just saw somebody else posted this same info above.)

I remember reading somewhere that there was a way to do this on a slot machine too (load all your OBC onto the slot machine and then cashout??)...but don't remember the details.  Anybody know of how you can do this or if you can still do this?

Thanks

Does anybody know if you can buy a day pass directly from the Royalton White Sands? 

We are going to be in Falmouth on January 1, 2020 and I am finding (so far) that the tour companies are off that day for the holiday (I'm still looking).  I am wondering if we can purchase the pass at the resort and then just take a cab down there.

Thanks

We have cruised on three different lines and found each of them to be incredibly sensitive to my son's food allergies.  We have always gotten extremely personalized service in the main dining rooms and the waitstaff goes out of their way to make sure my son has everything he needs/wants.  I would agree with being careful at the buffet...but there are usually other made to order options available on the ship where you can find something to eat.  I also believe they allow you to bring some food onboard (such as bars)...but you may want to check beforehand.

I have been doing some pricing on a cruise next year on the RC website and every so often I get a "Deal50" coupon code that comes up that knocks $50 off the price.  Is there any rhyme or reason as to why/when this comes up?  Is there anywhere to enter a coupon code when booking?

Thanks.

In looking at a cruise for next year, I can see several cabins (even an entire category of cabin) as available when looking at that sailing on the UK site.  However, when I try to go and book those cabins on the US site...they aren't showing up as available (the entire category isn't even showing up).

Why is this?

Here is my "dilemma" now....

We are going on a NYE cruise with Royal this year....

Will I get more bang for my buck if I book our next cruise (using these gift certs.) by booking on board, or is there really no advantage to that anymore?   Also, if I book on board, do you think they will accept the gift certs?  (Not sure why they wouldn't since I am booking directly with Royal).

Thanks

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Varies by travel agent.  Good service, no need to wait on hold for a Royal rep, some give perks such as OBC, gratuities, specialty restaurant, etc.

Good to know.  I just always figured you had to initially book with them to get those perks.  Thank you!

58 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

As long as the booking is less than 60 days old, and not paid in full, you can transfer.

I have never transferred a booking to a TA.  What are the benefits of that?

Thanks