ShillyShally

4 hours ago, Kezzie62 said:

No they follow the law of where the cruise departs from. That’s why all the ship that sail from Europe have smoke free casinos. 

Thanks, I've updated my brain - now if that sticks... 🙂  

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

They just need to rename Jr Suite to something else to eliminate the confusion.

 

Maybe rename it a Crown Balcony cabin since that seems to be the rage.

DPSWICNME Balcony? (Double Points Spacious Walk In Balcony Not Much Else)

Just now, Ourusualbeach said:

There are many rules that they must follow based on where the homeport.

 

Drinking age for North American sailings

VAT charge on certain European itineraries

gratuities included for Australia and Casinos for Australia are just some.

 

 

 

 

True, that makes sense!  I was thinking more of just smoking but while I would love for it to not exist anywhere, that won't likely ever happen!

3 hours ago, bretts173 said:

They can't allow it if it is not allowed. Australian laws do not allow indoor smoking other than private residences.

Royal follows where they are registered, not where they are sailing, so they can allow it even if the ports they are going to don't.

19 hours ago, benkon said:

  This whole time, I kept a mock booking open on my computer and refreshed it occasionally.  The advertised price never changed.  I hung up and still felt as if I had been wronged.

 

Did you screen shot it and reference it on the call?  When I saw a suite guarantee for my cruise next week I kept the screen up and pushed until they also verified they could see what I could see and I got the upgrade for the price I expected.  They will work hard not to give you pricing but patience and pointed suggestions help!

2 hours ago, timf2001 said:

The big advantage to this would be if you lock in the drink package price but don't have to pay for it until final payment.  It also looks like they may be offering 30% off at the time of booking, which would be as good as the best Cruise Planner sales.

Reports are saying you still have to pay in full for the package even if done at booking, but you’d still be able to cancel/repurchase later if needed.

1 minute ago, rockon391 said:

This change was tactically made after they took all our money and far before weather could even be a remote reason for the change!

It's due to the ship not being able to go as fast due to propulsion issues - it wasn't a money grab gotcha tactic!  It's also not an unsafe ship, just a slower moving one.  

I get that you had lousy responses and treatment from front line phone agents - that seems to be par for the course for ALL companies these days.  I'm always happy when I actually get a knowledgeable and helpful one at the start.  

Also you do not get double points if you Royal Up to a suite from a non-suite - if that matters.

Price drops can be your friend though - no you can't get anything back after final payment but you may be able to upgrade for lower than a Royal Up.

Our cruise next month I stalked the prices - finally a suite guarantee opened for less than my comfort price (I had an internal "if it goes lower than X, jump") so I did that and was assigned an expected JS - I then bid and won for a GS on a "weak" bid.  Thrilled we won as it's a birthday/anniversary cruise but was happy either way.

Prices for everything will change daily - beverage package, Voom, private island options, Key, etc.  Buy when you're happy with the price and check for better prices where you can cancel and rebook.

57 minutes ago, Gerbilicous said:

while I know the age restriction is the easiest way to do it, I feel it should be more a ‘quiet zone’ policy. I have seen adults in their making more noise and distractions than the kids in the other pool areas. And that just ruins the tranquil solarium experience for us. 

I agree with this too!

7 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I would think it could be dependent on ship and sailing and even staffer. Don't teens registered for the teen club wear bracelets of some sort? People (snarky passengers and crew doing things by the book) could be on the lookout for those, especially early on.

Only one of my 3 ever used the teen club and I don't recall a bracelet but she's now 28 so there's that lol!  And mine always looked older too, heck these days everyone looks young to me but I'd only ever call someone out if it was noise or obvious they weren't meant to be there!

21 minutes ago, mkmaj said:

I'm personally very irritated by this. We are sailing in 5 weeks and I was very much looking forward to quiet reading time with my quiet reader 16 year old. It feels like my whole cruise plan has been sabotaged.

As before, I don't expect they'll boot out anyone quietly reading with a parent.  I get it, I had one who very much appreciated the solace at that age.

Interesting, I always felt badly for the teens who wanted a quiet area as the solarium never seems to get rowdy (why we stay there) but I can also appreciate the age restriction and want to keep it quiet.  I expect it will be as usual, they won't monitor it unless someone is making it obvious or acting up. 

9 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

It's why I think I'm sticking with the little guys for upcoming sailings.  This is nice for some but would be useless for the husband and I.

Yep we prefer the non-Oasis and above ships and expect we'll stick to those unless we need to go bigger for an extended family trip!

14 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

The hideaway this post is about is a section of Coco cay.  I didn't realize Icon had their own hideaway.

I didn't either - but sheesh, both of those on the same cruise would get pricey!

Just now, molly361 said:

Doesn't matter what time you get there.  At PC they charge for both arrival and departure day.  They also do that at the offsite parking lots

Perfect, that's what I figured and had pre-budgeted for!  11 days to go 🙂

5 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Port Canaveral is easy to navigate. 

Yes to arriving just before your boarding time.  

One odd thing about Port Canveral:  you pay for parking when you enter the parking deck, not when you leave.  They have no attendants, so have your credit card ready.  

Thanks!  Do you know if you enter at 10AM - does it presume/give you until 10AM on your exit day?  I'm assuming for a 6 night I'll need to pay for 7 days most likely though 6 - 24 hour stretches would be more accurate!

19 minutes ago, KirbyMcK said:

Is it worth it purchasing The Key?Other than priority boarding/tender/debarkation, what is the deal? 

It's all subjective.  The priority boarding/bag drop off may be of value to you. The internet per person may be of value to you. The skip line access to ship features may be of value to you. The priority tender or debarkation may be of value to you.  Only you can know what is of value to you.  That said, see what the current cost for internet only is and compare the price of the Key.  For our upcoming sailing we're in a suite so I cancelled the key (we upgraded from a balcony), because it overall would have been less value to us.  The lowest Key is for our sailing was $24.99 and I got Voom for $15.99 a day.  

18 hours ago, fsjosh said:

It varies, by ship, itinerary, and cruise length. No one can tell you the lowest yours might get down to.

This.  We can't tell you it may go down to $XX because your cruise may be completely different.  A 12 night in Asia is going to have a much lower price per day than a 7 night in the Caribbean.

1 hour ago, Monk86 said:

Am I right in saying most cocktail offerings are now $15 and the drinks package only goes up to $14 which would mean paying a dollar on all those drinks?

No, it includes the now $15 drinks, it just hasn't updated the language.

1 hour ago, Qwltngcruiser said:

But you have to have a pic of your passport in order to check-in on the app. She doesn’t have her passport because she had to send it back to the passport offices to have it fixed. Doesn’t she have to check in prior to being at the terminal?

You can use the app to choose an arrival time at port and come back later to fill in everything else, or just leave the rest for the port.

13 minutes ago, pinnacleguy2023 said:

looks nice but i wish it was 21 years and older 

I do too, and while it's not my vibe, I'll likely try it once to see how it is, depending on pricing.  I don't have a cruise headed there though after this year so I'll be able to read first hand reviews.  

I'll report back on what I get on next month as we'll definitely be packing snacks, and while most will be sealed, some may be extra food from meals pre-ship.  I haven't had any issue in the past bringing on items, but I know every sailing can bring a change!

1 minute ago, Lakelife4me said:

We got a BOGO for Wonder in March. Booked back in April. $77.99 a day per person. Curious if royal offer a better black Friday deal?

If you see 30% off that's the one better than BOGO

Carnival limits drinks to 15 a day. Royal does not.  

https://www.royalcaribbeancertificates.com/