ARandomTraveler

Individual restaurant prices have gone up by about $5/person at all the restaurants in my cruise planner. UDP went up $100/person. I chose to book individual restaurants this time around because I felt forced to only eat at specialty last time in order to make it worth the money, and it was way too much food, and too much of my vacation hours spent having to sit at restaurants. By paying out of pocket for 4 meals, I saved more than half the cost of the UDP.

I should have provided context, sorry. It's a 12-day cruise on Spectrum out of Singapore, priced in US dollars. So it's not a terrible deal, but it's a lot more expensive than it's been offered in the last 8 months, and supposedly on sale. Spectrum also doesn't have that many restaurants, so it's not worth it to me. I bought the UDP on Symphony and enjoyed it, but even with all the restaurants on Symphony, I had to force myself to get full use of the package because I just can't eat that much food, plus the hours of time spent dining really took away from other vacation activities that I enjoy more. I don't plan to buy it for this trip.

The price for the UDP on my upcoming summer sailing was $315.99 for the last 8 months. It's never changed, no matter what the current "sale" is (not even Black Friday). For this weekends Memorial Day sale, the sale price is now $419.99 😂

I'm on Spectrum this July/august on a 12-night. The UDP is selling for $315.99 which is fine, but they don't have as many restaurants as Oasis class (it's missing Playmakers, 150 Central Park, Hooked, and Johnny Rockets). In their place it has Sichuan Red, but the menu doesn't look appetizing to me (spicy bullfrog for example). I decided it wasn't worth the money for the 3-4 restaurants I'd eat at, so I booked a couple a La carte. The windjammer and dining room menus have a lot of options that aren't on other ships (the windjammer is the only ship with its own Wok for instance). So I figure I'll enjoy the free food more.

They're calling that a "southern" route? That's garbage. Southern is my favorite but there is not even 1 truly southern island on that itinerary. I'd refuse to book it for that reason alone.

She lets you lay on the bed in your outside clothes? 😂

Our original itinerary had us stopping in Osaka and they changed it to Kobe months ago. They didn't say why. The cruise is in August 2023.

Royal Caribbean offers a shore excursion to Vinpearl Beach in Vietnam for $124/person. It looks like it's just transportation and entrance to a beach resort (no food or drinks included). Has anyone done this and know whether it can be done via private tour/transport? $124/person seems like a lot of money just to get me to a beach, but I'm sure I'm missing something here (like maybe it's a really far distance or requires a boat ride to another island).

Wow I can't thank you enough for this!

My itinerary and cruise documents don't say anything about the cruise line providing any visas.

I'm also on a cruise that stops in Vietnam and on the Asia boards, other people who have done those itineraries gave me this link, saying you need to apply for yourself. https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/trang-chu-ttdt

That is exactly my boat 😂 Airfare cost me twice what the cruise cost.

If you booked through Royal Caribbean and you have a receipt or email that says you booked a 0% obstruction room, and can show them that the room you got is obstructed, there should be no problem. Just ask them to change your room to another available one. If you didn't book through Royal Caribbean you're gonna have to take it up with whoever you booked with. Regardless, I thought you were allowed to call and ask for a room switch once your cabin was assigned, are they not allowing you to do that, or are they just telling you that they don't know what you're talking about as far as booking a "0% obstructed" room?

Oh ok, for 3 people that is a good deal, much better than the prices on my sailing (which is July/august so probably a really high demand time I guess). I'll be curious to see how it all works. I didn't book a suite because this trip is costing me $25,000 and it wasn't worth adding an additional $10,000 for perks I don't value at that price point, but it does seem that the ship itself is very compartmentalized into gold/silver areas. My sailing mentions both gold/silver as well as sky/star so it's quite confusing.

I haven't been able to figure it out either. The gold and silver class seem to either replace or overlap star and sky class, but all I've read regarding silver and gold is in regards to additional dining rooms and reserved space in the solarium. It seems like silver = sky and gold = star. I would assume gold/star also have the genie, especially since some of those rooms are priced at an outrageous cost (to me). The ultimate family suite on my sailing is $39,577/person! Grand Suite, $10,462. Owners suite was going for $18,000/person at one point but it's been sold out for a couple months now. $7500/person still seems like a lot of money to me for your sailing. Not sure which room you're quoting because on my sailing no room is called "Star class," but different rooms are categorized as star class rooms. $7500 for 5 nights wouldn't be worth it to me.

I've read about Playmakers being located in the seaplex area of other Quantum class ships, but I don't see it listed on the Spectrum. When I look at the deck plans and dining options on the app, I see the "knife and fork" symbol in the seaplex, but no label as to whether it's a restaurant, cafe etc. The dining list does not say Playmakers anywhere. I know this ship has a lot of different food options (different MDR menu, a wok and a noodle bar in the windjammer, a couple specialty restaurants that don't exist on other ships like Sichuan Red and Hot Pot, a French cafe called La Patisserie) but it also has several of the stand-by's like Chops, Izumi, Jamie's. Definitely doesn't seem to have a Johnny Rockets. Anyone know if it has Playmakers?

Online, and always at least a week before the final due date in case you have a problem.

Thank you

That's what I meant - the 31st. I'm starting my trip on the 26th and had that date in my head. I'm on that sailing too 😀

It's pricey - but the Marina Bay Sands is a conveniently located choice. There's a train station next door (I think it's actually attached to the hotel by an underground walkway). It's next to the gardens by the bay. We'll be staying here 3 nights pre-cruise. It's really pricey though ($800/night), so if that's a concern there's probably other hotels similarly located that aren't as expensive.

It sounds like you're on the same cruise as me (Spectrum of the Seas leaving Singapore July 26th?). We're staying in Shinjuku and plan to take a taxi to Yokohama station and take the train to Shinjuku station. I know that doesn't help you get to Ginza, but just thought I'd throw that option out there for anyone else who reads your post and might be trying to get to Tokyo.

There are a lot of reports of people being unable to book the hibachi if you get onboard after 11am. I'd read that before my last cruise, so I paid out of pocket to book the hibachi, even though I had the dining package, and was glad I did because I boarded at 11am, and the hibachi was completely booked the whole week. I'm sure there are sailings where that isn't the case, but it seems to happen a lot.

It'll probably be fully booked and unavailable anyway so it doesn't matter where you go, you're unlikely to be able to book it.

I wouldn't change anything. A lot of breakups don't stick the first time around, and they might get back together before sail date. If not, the girlfriend can just be a "no show" and you can have the 13 year old sleep in the brother's room, with no re-pricing risk. This option leaves open the opportunity for the 22 year old and his girlfriend to work things out and still go on the trip together if that's how it goes, without the pressure that everything gets cancelled 2 days after a breakup (let things process, it takes time and feelings can fluctuate in that 3 months, best to allow them space to do this).

I think for the most part, if the beach has services on it (resorts, beach bars etc) the sand area gets cleaned up in the morning, the problem is with the stuff that's still floating in the water. You can't clean that up until it's out of the water, and it makes the water a place you don't want to get into. The beaches I was at last week weren't developed so there was no cleanup, but from what I've heard from others that went to beaches elsewhere (in Florida and Mexico), those beaches got cleaned up every morning.