RosemaryMN

The deluxe package has been reduced to $51 for our January cruise on Mariner, looks like they're trying to make it more palatable that all adults now have to have the same package.

We've ended up opting to both get the package. It came down to about US$40.60, so it seemed worth it. I probably won't save money this way, but DH probably will, and I don't have to deal with the hassle of tipping (the Aussie website auto-adds gratuities) and I can try a few different things without worrying about the cost. Thanks for the advice all.

I see lots of people talking about these promotions for specialty restaurants, but have been checking for our sailing and they never appear. Are they only available for Americans? (we are Australian.)

Sorry to contradict you Bob, but the Royal website says it doesn't.

Thanks Rosemary, that does look like it might be a good way to go.

Stupid question from a non-tipping culture - do I tip cash each time I use the card? And do I calculate based on 18% of the menu price or the price of the card (wish they'd just include it in the darn price).?

Are prices the same for Asian sailings? I know alcohol is lot pricier in Singapore than the Caribbean.

Marvellous! Thanks for that, makes planning a bit easier.

We're traveling with young kids, and I can't find any guidance about luggage. I've seen a few comments in posts about putting a luggage tag on a big box of nappies, but I'm also considering a car seat for the baby, and a pram (or do Americans call them strollers). Ideally, knowing how long embarkation took at Singapore last time, I'd prefer to take baby through in his pram, but is that allowed?

Thanks for your help.

I'm planning for our cruise on Mariner in Jan, and discovered we are affected by the new rule that all adults in the room have to have the same drink package. Previously it was a no-brainer that my husband would get a package and I would just pay as I go, that worked perfectly for us last time. Now we are not so sure - he loved the convenience of the package and probably just broke even with it, but i don't drink soda or juice, prefer to use my own water bottle, and limit my alcohol quite strictly. One thing I do like is proper coffee, drip coffee is just not to my taste. (that's putting it diplomatically). I could MacGyver myself something I would enjoy, but I'd probably enjoy it more to just buy them at the cafe, so the package may end up making sense for me too, especially if I can catch it on sale.

Can anyone post a recent example of drinks pricing for comparison please?

So there are more than 2 sessions for skating, yay! I think it's what my little girl is looking forward to most..

Next question, how early do you disembark? We might be flying home the same day and want to make sure we aren't in a mad rush to get to airport.

Brilliant, thanks Ken. Good to know I'm not missing out by not making reservations, will try to remember to email the reservations closer to sail date. I thought that might be the case with the skating, I'll just have to make sure I don't oversell it to my daughter. Hopefully we catch the rock climbing this time if I keep a closer eye on the compass. I'll keep trying with the excursions, though I think I was searching by port, might have to resort to calling rci.

Thanks again for the tips.

5. We have the early seating in the MDR, on our previous sailing we were seated with an elderly couple who spoke Mandarin, and and their middle aged, and child-free sons. We were very uncomfortable with our then 3yo being a kid (not badly behaved but not perfect table manners) and also that we could either talk to the sons and leave the older couple out, or not talk to them and feel like we were ignoring them. We did ask for a new table, but preferably with another family but it seemed like a very challenging request for the MDR staff. We found staff in the MDR generally pleasant but certainly not accommodating the way others say they are in the American market. Very few options on the menu actually appealed, so we ended up going with the buffet later in the cruise, as preferable to the awkwardness and very average food. Would love to know how others found the MDR on Singaporean itineraries.

6. Similarly to the dining staff, we had lots of issues with getting info on... pretty much everything. None seemed to know what was happening or when, particularly for the kids club, where we got different answers from different people and things one person assured us of just didn't happen (like the kids coming down to dinner). It was really hard to find out basic things like when we could go ice skating, the staff just didn't seem to know much about the ship. This was a couple of years ago now, and I guess the Singapore routes were still fairly new, so has that improved?

Obviously we still enjoyed ourselves, we wouldn't have booked the same ship from the same port otherwise, but i am hoping that we can avoid some of the disappointments this time around.

We have just booked our second ever cruise, family of 4 (2 kids aged 5 and 1yo). We've booked a very similar itinerary to our first cruise, as the choices in our neck of the woods - we are Australian - are relatively limited if we want to avoid long flights. So we have chosen a 7 day cruise on Mariner OTS out of Singapore, with stops in Lankawi, Penang, Phuket and KL. The itinerary looks great, but I want to make the most of the ship, having been a bit let down by some aspects last time. So I'm hoping I can draw on the extensive knowledge base here to minimise hassle and maximize fun.

So, questions ;

1. Evening entertainment- do I have to reserve shows? Can I even find out what is on ahead of time? There is nothing showing on the website.

2. The ice rink and climbing wall are big attractions for me, but last time access to both was extremely limited, there was one opportunity to skate, and i never saw the rock wall open once. Is that typical? Should I set my expectations low?

3. Some of the excursions on the downloaded brochure aren't available to book on the website. Am I better off booking a second choice that is available or wait until we're aboard and hope the one we want appears?

4. How does royal babies work? What about booking babysitting? We will want to use this at least a little to have a bit of couple time during the cruise.

To be continued... Baby is calling...

On the same topic, how long does it typically take to tender at Phuket? We've booked a second cruise on MOTS with a similar itinerary to our first cruise a few years ago, and and we found it took up most of the day waiting to get to shore. Not sure if that is typical or if things were just unusually bad when we were there. We didn't go on a ships excursion last time, and trying to decide if we should do this time so we get to shore more quickly.