ShillyShally

2 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Just got our "Congratulations" for our UpBid on our Canada N/E sailing on Liberty Oct 5th

JS to the OS. Bid was $625 pp. 

Congrats!  We're doing that sailing next year for 9 nights and have a suite guarantee for now.  I expect to land in a JS so will be trying to Royal Up too unless I see the fare drop between now and then to pick my own!

6 minutes ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

As far as the virgin drinks go, I already looked into this. I'm turning Diamond on my next cruise and even though I'm over 21, I don't drink. I was told I can get mocktails loaded onto my card instead 

It's always been 4 of any drinks so you can use them for a bottle of water, a mocktail, a cocktail, milkshake, etc.  Obviously best value is to use them on cocktails but however you want to use them enjoy them 🙂

26 minutes ago, island lady said:

Another related thing....keep a watch on the "my cruises" section.  Scrolling down I found a balance due on one of my paid off cruises.  Called to check on that, and was told they were refunding just over 3 bucks for port fees, but when doing so....kicked out my whole payment!  😮  

 

If it had gone past final...would have lost my cabin.  

Ugh, thanks for that tip too!

7 hours ago, volk904 said:

I actually said this wrong. My daughter & her new husband are in room 1, My wife and Grand daughter of the daughter in room 1 are in room 2, Right next door,  My daughter has taken the name of her new husband so her last name is different than her daughter.

Always bring whatever is needed to connect all names from child to parent.  I always did, rarely needed them, but when I was asked I was very happy I had them!

11 hours ago, volk904 said:

We have a cruise in 3 weeks.  My daughter and her husband in 1 room, my wife and granddaughter age 5 in 1 room and I am in a 3rd room.  My wife is divorced and jus remarried. We are checking in together.  She is bringing granddaughters Birth Certificate but she has a new married name. What else does she need?

Marriage license

28 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I thought that to get the parent status the child had to be in the same cabin as the parent, but I'm sure others can correct me.

I'm pretty sure the child doesn't even have to be on the same cruise while they're under 18 to gain advantage of parent status when they cruise.

Both of your children should both show as diamond when you do - not sure on timing after cruising but you can always call C&A to confirm.

1 hour ago, JAMESCC said:

We have bids in for 1 bedroom Grand suite, 2 bedroom Grand suite and junior suites for next months cruise. There aren't any junior suites left but a ton of grand suites. Do you think we have good shot at a win here? Both 1 and 2 bedroom Grand suites. 

I did too, then, stalking the guaranteed suite rate it was within $800 of my balcony so I upgraded our room and cancelled all bids. Got assigned a JS a couple weeks later, resubmitted bids and got awarded a GS! All in paid less than picking my own JS location and perfect for an upcoming anniversary/birthday cruise! First suite with all perks 🙂

Great tip! Having a seat upgrade refunded was how I knew our cruise flight had changed a week before the airline told me!

4 minutes ago, Ashland said:

There isn't...Poster was right to add another card with credit available for this purchase and correct information.

Good to know! I just got a bid accepted and had seen someone else have this issue so I triple checked my info! Hope the new card works for them!

14 minutes ago, KKB said:

OK...

Got an email that our upgrade payment was declined (NO idea why...I must have entered the number wrong).

As soon as I saw the email I hopped over & put in a different credit card.

All other offers show expired, but that one still shows Pending.

Do you think we are still getting the upgrade?

Interior to balcony would be nice for Alaska!

(cruise leaves the 18th)

 

I’d call if there was a phone #!

2 minutes ago, nelblu said:

Compared to the cost of the entire cruise a few bucks per bag provides me with some sense of security.  Call it insurance.

 

There was a thread a few months ago, that compared the porters at Miami Port to the Mafia.  Very interesting comments.😄

 

 

Yep, I also hate that sort of confrontation and want to start my cruise on a positive note, that tip usually turns everyone into smiles, far easier than feeling awkward as they stand there staring me down for one.

4 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

We never tip porters, and have never lost a piece of luggage; come to the dark side. 

Ha, my life events have shown me not to tempt fate on some things! Its cheaper now that it’s usually just DH and I cruising and we have fewer bags than when the kids would come along! And we pack lighter, but it’s a $5 I won’t miss!

2 hours ago, nelblu said:

I tip the porter at check-in time due to my concern that my bags will not make it to our cabin.  Mind you these guys make a hell of a livable wage.

Ha, same. I consider it part of my cruise fare and  I consider it a preventative measure. Sure it may make no difference, but so far, no issues, so I’ll keep on keeping on!

2 minutes ago, brewcrew said:

We will be sailing on the Allure out of Port Canaveral this winter.  It’s a 3 day so we were not planning on getting the DBP because it seems ridiculous for us.  I was looking at the refreshment package though because i love fancy tea, coffee drinks and my husband likes shakes.  When I went to add that to my cart today, it didn’t require me to buy it for both.  Is that because it is not the deluxe beverage package?

Yes, only the deluxe alcoholic package requires all those over 21 in a room to order. All other packages do not.

Just now, colmenares3 said:

Not until November, our check-in date is Sept 22. Good to know that you can do that at midnight, I'm assuming eastern time? 

Yep, and the app makes it easiest - if you click the person icon in your app for your sailing it should give the option to start check-in and you can simply choose your time and save and come back later to add ID data, etc.  Though it's also super easy to scan passports if you're using those.

It's always the time zone for the port where the ship is leaving from, so yes, for PC it's EST!

5 minutes ago, colmenares3 said:

That makes sense.

Do you have any thoughts on when we should get to port? I was thinking by 11, but now I'm seeing people getting onto the ship earlier, and like I mentioned, one of my cruisemates wants to optimize our ship time! Who doesn't, right? 😊

When is your cruise?  If within 45 days, your time options may be limited.  If beyond 45 days, make sure to check in as soon as you can on the first day you can check-in.  We do like to get on early, since that is day 1 of the cruise to maximize the time we have on board - check out the ship, grab a drink/snacks, etc.  The earliest slot is typically 10:30 a.m. but you usually have to check-in just after midnight on the day check-in opens to grab that.  

12 minutes ago, colmenares3 said:

OK, reading this as a suite newbie, looks like we check in 45 days before our cruise and get a check-in time, but are eligible to board as soon as boarding starts because of our suite status? 

We're sailing Mariner of the Seas from Port Canaveral, and trying to figure out when/if to book a breakfast at Disney LOL. One of our group wants to board as early as possible, and I'm trying to avoid getting there too too early. 

 

I'm not sure I'd recommend trying to do breakfast at Disney the day you are boarding!  Just getting out of Disney and then to the port could be problematic.

Also just note, open balconies remove privacy if you keep your curtains open to see the ocean 😉

7 minutes ago, TwoMisfits said:

 

Nah, parents HATE charged ice cream, just like they hate charged popcorn and hate charged pizza (which did not happen).  Parents want kids to eat free on a cruise b/c they paid for them and kids like cheap foods anyway.  Charging for the cheap kid foods is like sticking it completely to the parent who already paid for 3 square meals a day for the kid, but all they end up eating is the extra charge pizza, popcorn, and ice cream (which is the hallmark of almost all kid birthday parties, if you add cake, too)...

I never hated the extras since I didn't have to give in to them, and there was more than enough free indulgences.  Mine still remember when my youngest was excited to order cookies from room service - now that would be an issue since they charge for room service lol!  I treated that same youngest and his GF to the DBP our last cruise in 2019 - now that's too steep for me to treat anyone to it lol!

8 minutes ago, bouhunter said:

No one is on the ship and they're free there.  Also plenty of free ones on coco cay if you get there on time.  RCCL must get a good laugh when people pay for a chair.

The number of newbies I see on FB who really think they have to purchase something in advance shows they know what they're doing in marketing but I and many others do try to let them know you don't have to spend a dime!!

Eh, doesn't impact me, but I can also see this likely reduces waste (those self serve soft serve were not pretty!), and parents likely appreciate the opportunity to decide to buy or not buy. 

3 minutes ago, texangal39 said:

Crossing my fingers for ya! I hear the Grand suites are fabulous!

Thank you!  Am so ready to just sail away I'll be thrilled wherever we land 🙂

1 minute ago, texangal39 said:

I checked the website and apparently the Jr. Suites get double points too, so you should get double points with your JS GTY booking.

Yep, sorry, I meant I was happy to know no matter which cabin we end up with we'll get double points 🙂  I'm fine with a JS since we've never had one - and when I just checked, only suites for booking were Grand 1 and 2 bedroom so I expect if they can get people to Royal Up to those or book them directly, we'll get a JS - but the price was great (I expect a fluke actually lol) and it's a big birthday/anniversary cruise 🙂

4 minutes ago, GimmeOcean said:

 

I guess you can't get any sale prices doing it this way, since most of those seem to be for a discount on the 2nd package?

Yes, you still can, because it always shows the per person price, even if it's based on "buy one get one half off" - so they'll look at the current pp price when you call in (and/or bring it to their attention if they're seeing something else but usually they can see what you see).

4 minutes ago, nolegirl01 said:

What about if your wife is pregnant or if your spouse is a recovering alcoholic? I would think that Royal would let one person purchase the drink package and the other purchase at least the refreshment package, like others have suggested. Has anyone actually tried this? 

Yes, that's what been stated multiple times.  You have to call in but they will let one purchase the deluxe and one purchase the refreshment package.