cruisegus

Can you blame them for filling the ships, they went 18 months with no income and still had to maintain the ships. Every single cruise line is experiencing the staff shortage. I have been told some of the issue is the US State Dept being slow on issuing visa's (don't know that for sure but i respect my source). That said next summer should look significantly different, that should then reflect our new normal. Just try to be patient and enjoy the fact that we can cruise again!!

Don't need to spend HOURS. 15 minutes a day, 3-4 days a week, for a month or so gives you the answer to most of these repeat questions.

Better this than the pre-cruise flight.

work around has been movies in theater and other smaller venues around the ship. other than that there is not much else they can do as a workaround.

it is Business if you double the cost and it cuts attendance in half you're still making the same profit. if you can even get 55% of normal attendance then you've turned more profit. Besides now you have even happier customers since it is less crowded

It is recreational use in many states now, so they are more likely to take the risk than in the past. Besides if they get turned over to US authorities with our liberal prosecutors they know they are just going to be told not to do it again and suffer no real consequences. Couple that with the fact that the ship authorities want as little confrontation as possible with guests

@brillohead Not my TA, me, I just didn't want to hassle her by asking her to go back and make the payment after she processes final, Yes she could have up until a few days before sailing (not sure of the exact cut off 2 or 3 days I think much like online package purchases) Yes you could go to Guest services and pay money on the account, CASH, they will not just do a credit card charge with out something specific to charge it to and that can't be something that has not yet posted to the on-board account. Even if you pay it in CASH you will still see all the daily gratuity charges on the bill, one line item for each day it is charged. Keep in mind you may see it on the invoice/bill as 2 separate charge on the same date but the are for separate days of gratuities. The reason a lot of people, myself included is the don't want to clutter up the invoice/bill with the extra line items for paying gratuities.

that has been my experience twice this year

And she could lose her package, without a refund if you get caught. In fact they would probably revoke yours also. I've seen people sharing and I also seen the bar tender take the time to walk over to them and politely but firmly tell them if the see it again they will lose their drink package. The experienced ones see a lot more than you might think.

I tried this last month as when I emailed my TA she missed the sentence to add pre-paid gratuities to my final payment. Guest services said could not do it as they are only set up to receive notification of pre-paid from shore side or bill it as the do on-board using whatever procedure they have in place on the particular ship. My experience has been it post the 2nd night for the first 2, then nights 3, 4 and maybe 5, then the next 2 or 3 all on the same night depending on which night and out they trigger it to post. Best bet is to make sure it is pre-paid at final payment.

this past February on Harmony, there was a lot of sport on at ON Air across from Boleros

my opinion is anything they would also wear to school is good for dinner

That is only because the cruise fare for that particular cruise had not changed. If you cancel a person from a cabin and that makes you the only person in that cabin, Royal will reprice you to the new price, albeit only if it is in there best interest, i.e. price went up. In your case ((current cabin fare is $3k more than originally paid)) you sliped through the cracks, as a shareholder publish you booking number and I will see that it is corrected 🙂

Yes if you cancel the 2nd person, Royal will reprice you at today's rate. That is why your TA said it is cheaper to just have the 2nd person No show at this time. Also as stated, it cost nothing to change the 2nd persons name, so use the name of one your neighbors children and pick a birth date that corresponds to their approximate age (they are going to be a no show anyway) that way you can buy the UBP for yourself and still collect the double points for cruising solo.

it more depends on the local CBP at the port, I have never left the ship in San Juan (USA) on my b2b's there, but have in Galveston, Ft Lauderdale.

Everyone HAS paid the gratuity on the dining package, the only question is does it show as a separate line item when you purchased the package or not. Either way your 18% gratuity is covered. The only time it would be added onboard is if you purchase onboard. They don't like to advertise the price on board with gratuity included it is always added separately to the price.

My TA say everything helps

My understanding is that if you are booked through a TA, i.e. they own the booking, even if you are the one that bids physically on the royal upland win, they get the credit for the increased base cruise fare. In other words they get their ~15% commission on the additional royal up fare.

Personally I think they should NOT allow anyone to remove the gratuities be they either the daily charge or prepaid. They also should change what they call it, to a "service charge". Most higher end hotels and resorts now have a resort charge. Most tours ie Trafalgar, Globus, etc allow you to prepay gratuities for the tour guide.

Expect this to be the new normal at least through the rest of this year.