Atlantix2000

22 hours ago, mugtech said:

Good reason to reach Diamond on Royal before doing a Celebrity cruise, as you can only use your Royal status once to jump into a Celebrity status.  Some of their best cabins get 8 times the points of an inside.

Huh? Celebrity gives you status based on your current Royal status (and vice-versa).  It's not a one time thing.  If you move up in one program, you'll get higher status in the other as well (except the highest level in each program.  That you have to earn the hard way).  Your actual points for each cruise line are earned separately.

5 minutes ago, fsjosh said:

They just spent a week at a shipyard. They would have loaded up everything they needed there rather than making a wasteful stop on the way. 

I would say some of the supplies they need couldn't have been anticipated until recently.  They could have sourced some things needed for the repairs in San Juan.  Why have them shipped to Europe when you can pick them up and get started while sailing?

20 hours ago, matj2000 said:

First.   Nobody is going to drink a case of soda on a week cruise.

 

Second.   Bring the extra 12 pack if you must.     If they take it, you are out and entire $3.

You've seriously never met anyone that can drink a case a week?  The normal size drink at any fast food restaurant is 20 oz and most people won't think twice about refilling it.  With ice, that's close to equaling 3 cans of soda in a single meal!

11 hours ago, Maui Girl said:

 

Your dining choice is listed in the email invoice that you received from Royal. I have never seen that info online. 

 

Tree_Skier,  the only email I have ever received was a confirmation of my deposit payment with the reservation number and telling me to create an account online which I did.  No “ invoice “ per se.   Online, all it shows is my reservation number and cabin number.  

I've heard they don't automatically send the invoice (which is weird in my opinion).  But it's easy to get.  Just call the main customer service number and one of the automated options is to be emailed a copy of your current statement.  I've seen lots of people recommend doing this after each payment just to have the records.

On 2/20/2019 at 4:09 PM, johnjen said:

Yeah, it's not very well explained....just my luck they'd put us in Izumi.....not worth the risk. Besides, takes us away from our table mates the first two nights - then when you show up at the table, everyone's like "who are these people?"

If you combine specialty dining with my time dining, you don't have to worry about missing your table mates or your assigned wait staff.  In my experience, there are a lot of half empty tables in the main dining room anyway.  It's just as likely you'll be alone at your table on night 3 because that's when your table mates decided to do specialty.

52 minutes ago, frito58 said:

They have done HOW many refurbishments .. 1000s ?

Exaggerate much?  Historically, Royal Caribbean has a total of 34 ships (26 current and 9 former) including 5 that are less than five years old. Based on years of service, even if I count all the required drydocks (once every 5 years, then once every 2.5 years after a certain age, 20 or 25 I think) as "refurbishments", I barely get over 100 drydocks and most of those were simple marine inspections/updates with nothing major done on board.  Some of the announced Royal AMPings will not coincide with the required drydock schedule but still...

Yes the coupons are one time use, but since you said "We have Gold status", remember that BOTH of you will have the coupons loaded on your cards.  So each of you will be able to use each coupon once!

Accessible cabins are slightly larger than the standard cabins right?  Just speculating here, but while US law might say RCI has to sell them for the same price, maybe for non-US customers they are allowed to say bigger room = bigger cost.

On 1/20/2019 at 8:27 AM, coasterj said:

Does this mean the package would not include most drinks of the day or deluxe drinks?

I don't think anyone else addressed this part of your question.  The "Drink of the Day" is typically discounted ($9-10 as I recall) because they have premixed it in large pitchers and just have to pour.  You'd pay a couple bucks more for the same thing on a different day because they have to make it from scratch.

9 hours ago, Atlantix2000 said:

Thanks for the highly detailed update.

9 hours ago, CC Help Jenn said:

 

Sorry!  You caught us testing something and I forgot to delete this reply -- feel free to ignore it

I guess my subtle dig over the continued lack of information about what is going on was just too subtle.  Let me be more blunt.  You really need to open up about what is going on before we decide it's just not worth wasting time here anymore.

1 hour ago, LauraS said:

Error messages

Thanks for the highly detailed update.

2 hours ago, vacationlover_mn said:

It makes me so frustrated when people skip them!  The hand washing stations are such a good thing!

2 hours ago, h20skibum said:

We noticed people skipping them, as soon as someone wasn’t monitoring the line.  Don’t know what is wrong with people.

It's possible to wash your hands elsewhere and walk to the windjammer (or MDR, etc) without touching anything.  I often pass the hand washing stations because I've just come from the bathroom and washed my hands there.  I get that many people have poor hygiene but let's be careful about over-generalizing.

Right but when they punch more than once per beverage, the math no longer makes sense for purchasing the card.  If you drink large or extra shot drinks you save money by NOT buying the card.  That doesn't make sense.

Can you really chain your loyalty programs like this?  In other words, if I get MLife status through RCI, would Hyatt actually recognize that status or would they say we can't honor that because it's a complimentary status not an earned status?  I'm thinking the latter is more likely unless Hyatt also has a relationship with RCI.

1 hour ago, Keri's Cruisin' said:

Wait?  I don't understand.  So if my final payment is due on March 6th and I pay in full that day, I can still take advantage of price drops all the way up until we cruise?  I thought once you'd made your final payment you couldn't get any price drops?

No I was trying to say paying before the due date doesn't prevent you from getting price drops.

So to use your example, if your final payment is due March 6th, you can get price drops up until March 6th even if you made your final payment in January.  But once you hit March 7th, your price can't go lower.

On 12/12/2018 at 9:44 AM, aflyingbuttress said:

 

‘I was thinking the actual process of getting onto the ship would take less time. I don’t particularly care when I get on, except I’d want to make that chops lunch. I was hoping to minimize the amount of time from parking to walking on the ship. I guess it sounds like that wouldn’t be the case though. 

The earlier you get there the better but priority boarding really only means something if you arrive AND get checked in before boarding starts.  That's the trick.  If you finish checking in and boarding has already started, you just get in line for security and walk onto the ship.  If boarding hasn't started, you sit around and wait for them to start.  They'll call various types of priority boarding (Wedding parties, Suites, Pinnacles, Keys, etc) in some predetermined order.  As your group is called you get in the security line and walk onto the ship.  This description may change slightly depending on what port you are using (maybe you can do security first and then wait to board somewhere, maybe security happens before checkin somewhere, etc).  But in general priority boarding sounds better than it is.

17 hours ago, Ramjet1997 said:

The reason I bring this up is the recent announcement concerning the "for a fee, the KEY" program.  I noticed that at least 3 of the Key benefits listed were items which had previously been included in your "Diamond Plus" benefits:

 

1.  Priority Boarding (thought we already had this)

2.  Reserved seating at shows (thought we already had this)

3.  Priority Debarkation (thought we already had this)

 

And the "complimentary internet" is NOT complimentary if you are paying $25 per person for "the Key"!!

Do you really think anyone who is Diamond Plus is going to purchase the Key?  It's obviously geared toward new cruisers.  They pay directly for a few perks.  You already get those perks due to your cruise history.  I don't see any conflict here!

How are you supposed to track your own points if you can't get a printout from each cruise?

Well, yes you only need to 2 cocktails to break even on the price difference of the Deluxe Package IF you're already planning to use the Refreshment Package to its fullest.  Some people don't want bottled water, fresh squeezed juices, or specialty coffee so the Refreshment Package (or those parts of the Deluxe Package) are useless to them.  That's why some people figure 4-5 cocktails/glasses of wine or 6-7 beers is necessary to break even on the Deluxe.  You have to do the math based on what you will drink not what others will drink.

Based on reading these forums, I think the number of people that think 5+ alcoholic drinks a day is shocking is actually smaller than the number of people who are shocked that some people don't want bottled water!

1 hour ago, Keri's Cruisin' said:

And wait to make final payment until it's due date for this very reason. 

You can still get price adjustments even if you've fully paid for a cruise.  The rules change after the due date not after the day you make the final payment.

9 hours ago, Bloodgem said:

Where is the best place to get a virgin mudslide on Explorer?

Tired a virgin mudslide from the WJ bar on Navigator and basically it was a brown slushie.    

A mudslide is ice, vodka, Kahlua, Bailey's Irish Cream, and chocolate sauce.  Some recipes say add a little milk or cream.

That means a virgin mudslide is ice and chocolate sauce and possibly some milk or cream.

What are you expecting other than a brown slushie?

3 hours ago, asalligo said:

Who gets the 18% they added to my soda package since I fill it from a machine with a chipped cup? Is it just distributed among the tip receiving crew or is RCCL keeping that for machine costs? 

 

Somebody has to fill that machine with the syrup containers or your cup would just get carbonated water!

I agree with others that you will probably eventually find that all of this was the pre-authorization daily "charges".  It would temporarily look like you have been charged twice.  For this reason, the use of debit cards is strongly discouraged because you could overdraw your bank account.  But this is not unique to RCL or cruising, it's just how those cards work.  I've never used a prepaid card but strongly suspect it works the same.  Even with a credit card, you could hit your credit limit and have charges denied.  That's also annoying but you're not actually out money.

There's a good length thread going already...https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2601591-new-program-called-the-key/

But the direct answer to your question is no one has used it yet.  "The Key is being tested out on Liberty of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas for sailings beginning November 25, 2018 through the end of March 2019."

Symphony has definitely been on it for weeks, maybe even months now.