RobInMN

Interesting. Could that be less on official policy and more at a CR's discretion ? All listed documentation I have seen, including on my old cruise documents, only points to what I would consider a standard definition of "Non-Refundable". That the $100pp change fee is just that, for changing dates and/or ships. Nothing about a "change" including "Cancel" such that you can cancel minus the $100. Even the Cancellation schedule, which is still the same pre & post pandemic, implies that you will loose your NRD. BTW, Yes, Unfortunately, like many of us, I was forced to do the whole FCC re-book thing during the pandemic also. But hey, in the end I parlayed everything into a good portion of a B2B 24 night total Arctic Circle and Iceland & Ireland.😁 that we just returned from about a month ago.

I believe I read that is also correct. I should have added something to that effect.

No. This has not changed. I believe the OP was confusing cancelling with changing (as well as CWC). If you look at your cruise receipt or google the RC website, the $100pp change fee to change date and/or ship is still there and valid.

I didn't catch this statement earlier, but that could be true depending on exactly what was booked (OP didn't specify). I believe everything above JS does not allow or have the option for a refundable booking, they are NRD only. Refundable deposits are only available on JS & below. According to another popular blog site, the elimination of refundable deposits on suites was made in summer 2017.

I'd like to hear from someone that flat out cancelled a cruise with NRD pre-pandemic. Everything I have seen in my past cruise statements states that you can either pay $100 change fee to change ship and/or date, or you loose your NRD to cancel. There is a cancellation schedule for how much you get back of all paid amounts above the NRD from 100% (minus NRD) before final payment to 0% within 30 days. And that hasn't really changed. No where has it ever mentioned getting any form of FCC. AFAIK, FCC only existed as part of Cruise with Confidence and the pandemic changes/promotions.

I am pretty sure the OP is confusing the $100pp change fee with the ability to cancel a NRD booked cruise.

I never tried to cancel a cruise pre-pandemic, but from my understanding of the definition of NRD, this sounds correct to me. If you want to cancel out-right, you loose your deposit. I would believe that this would have been the result for years pre-pandemic. During COVID, they added additional flexibility to encourage people to continue to book cruises, and apparently they don't feel like they need this anymore. However, a change should still result in the $100pp change fee. This is probably what you were thinking of when you thought you could cancel for $100pp. The change fee would be for changing your booking to a new cruise (you are booking as part of the change), and as such, it would make sense that they won't let you merge the value into another already existing booking. This I did do once pre-pandemic. Obviously you are currently upset, but if RC has been your go-to for over 20 years, I would just sit on the existing booking until you find another cruise that suites your schedule and pay the $100pp change fee. From my most recent updated Cruise Vacation Receipt 10 days ago: "These deposits are non-refundable and a change fee of $100 USD per guest will apply for ship or sail date changes."

When COVID started, and all cruising was shut down, all amplifications where postponed/cancelled. There has been no word from RCI about any rescheduling of amplifications of any ships. Originally, Explorer and Allure were scheduled for 2020 and Liberty and Adventure for 2021. Allure has just 3 unaccounted for days between now and 2024. Adventure has 0. If the previous schedule holds, and they do Explorer and Allure the first year (2024 at the earliest), then that would put Liberty and Adventure at 2025 at the absolute earliest. Now, if you go and read the RCI stock threads, those days could be optimistic due to debt load and profitability. Above copy-n-pasted from here:

@Russ Lomas posted while I was typing this. I think we're thinking the same way, but I'll leave my post as-is. It's somewhat redundant. What I think happened with MTD was that too many people were trying to get in from 6:00-7:00 and they could only get 1 seating. So now, as others have explained, they get the early TD seated, and then start back-filling with MTD as the early diners start leaving. And yes, we started seeing this on ships pre-pandemic also. I think it's basically a feedback loop. Limit MTD, increase Early TD, which causes MTD to be pushed back, which causes more demand on early TD, etc. I also think that there is such an increase in demand for the early seating because if you want 6:00-6:30, and you can't book a MTD until 6:45-7:30, your best option is to book early TD. That's what we ended up doing. 5:30 is a little early for us, but we also do not want to start dinner at 7:30 or after. No thank you. I will say that on a couple cruises at limited capacity during the pandemic, we really had zero problems walking up at 6:00 and getting seated almost right away, but come 6:30, the wait list line was pretty long. This was when the first reservation times were about 6:45. At full capacity, I don't know if that would really work IMO, they have just really screwed up MTD.

Thanks! I really wasn't sure, but other posts made it sound like that might be the case. Glad it's not.

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but if I understand correctly from other posts on the boards, if you change the number of people in the room, they will re-price the room at the current room rate, not the rates at which you booked?? In many cases, it may actually be cheaper to just have #4 be a no-show. This would be especially true if you booked super early, and only cancelling the person with a couple months to go.

I don't know if any ships still do it the "old" way with 1 code for each purchased device, but on the last 5 or 6 cruises we have been on, yes. One person connects to the WiFi and it will ask you if you are creating the account or logging in. First time you will create and and you log in with your last name and cabin number (or something like that). It will then have you confirm your plan (or change it??), and then you will create a username and a password. Then on every other device, you will choose the login to an existing account option using the username and password. This way you can use the WiFi before getting to your room. And remember, it's simultaneous devices. You can use more total devices over the course of the cruise. Can't delete, so I'll just leave it here. I first read that as a question. I now see that you quoted the OP and prefixed "This:", which answered the question, not posed a new one.

Royal Mystery is a game. Not sure why it's listed as 18+. We've played it a few times. It's a series of puzzles of all different types that will lead you to figuring out who committed the heist at the museum. It's pre-packaged, and single use. Pretty sure it's the same answer every time. Usually the prizes are pretty good. Like all the logo prizes. The backpack, plus hat, water bottle, the pen, highlighter, keychain, and zipper pulls! Want to know who did it?😉

You create an account and 4 devices can be logged into that account at any one time. If a 5th device signs on, one of the others (random? oldest?) will be kicked off. You can can actively log out of one device before logging in with the new one and that will prevent the random disconnect. While technically against the TOS, I was able to let my wife keep one connection, and then I would use the other on my phone, and use it's wifi hotspot to share the connection with my tablet, and occasionally my laptop.

Absolutely! Norway was one of the most stunning places we've visited. And in our opinion, the Arctic Circle, which aptly goes north of the Arctic Circle and up to Honningsvåg is better than just hitting the lower fjords only. Plus you can take the excursion to Nordkapp. I almost wish the cruises were reversed, with Iceland first, then Norway, because while Iceland was very cool, we felt it really sort of lost that "WOW!" factor after having just seen Norway.🤣

Jewel is definitely doing some amazing itineraries the next couple years. We just did a 24 night B2B, Artic Circle and then Iceland & Ireland 20-Jun to 14-Jul. Overall, I thought Jewel appeared to be in pretty good condition. Very few minor maintenance and wear issues. For instance, the cabinet with the fridge, one of the doors was a little wonky, and the fridge was not screwed down properly. She was clean and still a beautiful ship. Did a bunch of trivia, and I'd say, the Schooner bar was probably one of my favorites on any ship we've been on. After doing Symphony and Odyssey in the last couple years, I can't say that I felt that Jewel was dated in any way. over 20 years ago, we did a weekend Monarch, and I could not imagine being on that ship for even a week. Since then, we had never done a Radiance class, just Voyager & Oasis classes, and recently Freedom (stretched Voyager) and a couple months ago Odyssey. Oasis is our favorite by far. I say that, because we were really concerned about being on such a "small" ship for 24 nights. But our fears were never realized. We could have kept going and still been having a great time. Obviously there will be turnover by the time you sail, but the staff was awesome. Hello Cloe was a great CD, the CD's entertainment staff was some of the best we've had. The dining manager was great, and I liked the captain, however his daily announcements could ramble a bit. Probably the only complaints we have are: They still operate with the old giant photo walls. Even the photo staff sounded like they hated it. I really don't think it would take much to convert to those digital photo kiosks. Seriously. The only Coke machines (the only place you can get Dr. Pepper) on the entire ship are in the back of the Windjammer. It would be nice if there was one near the coffee place or something. Smoking in the casino. The casino could really use doors. There were times that the whole atrium reeked of cigarette smoke (it's basically a chimney), and when that would happen, it would leach down the cabin halls some. This is a known issue with this class ship. The only other thing I think we really missed (just missed, not a complaint) was El Loco Fresh But honestly, we never went hungry, and I gained 10 pounds. And my wife didn't like the pizza as much as what you can get at Sorrentos. But some of that might have been supply chain issues. We had a very informative discussion with the dining manager on what they've gone through trying to source products in Europe since the supply chain issues are preventing them from getting their normal shipping crates of stuff. Oh! cookies. Cookies were in very short supply, they were having a hell of a time trying to get the same quality results with locally sourced ingredients.

Some helpful threads:

Partially true. It's only true for 15 & younger. 16 & up (as per OP), while still "minors" are 10 years.

Existing Discussion threads. Not exactly sure which one "Summer 24" would be most appropriate for:

I just don't understand the mentality of risking it. I would rather be overly cautious. Just get a government issued photo ID, and you'll never have to worry about it. And, as a bonus, if you go the passport route, you are set for any international travel for the next 10 years.

I would be surprised if any school ID has any form of security measures. I think that's the point of being Government Issued. My daughter didn't graduate that long ago, and her school ID was no better than something I could make in Microsoft Word, even 15 years ago. Plus, a government issued ID is easy to identify. Even if you are not familiar with it personally, there is a government website that will show you what it should look like. Can you imagine trying to validate any school ID out there as not fake? Relevant links on the RC site. Note that the first link only says that a minor child needs a birth certificate, no mention of a photo ID. However, why on earth would anyone risk it? Just get a government issued ID. Peace of mind. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/minor-identification-forms https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/united-states-citizen-travel-documentation https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-travel-documents-are-required-for-cruises-from-united-states-ports

It's good for 10 years, so $16.50 per year for peace of mind and never needing to worry about what ID combination may be accepted. Plus, it allows for other travel & cruises outside of the United States. Most driver's licenses (or state IDs) are only good for 4 years. In Minnesota, it's $21.50 for an ID, $50.25 for a DL. So multiply those by 2.5 for the same amount of time the passport is good for. Chances are, if they are on this forum, they are not 1 & done on cruises. They will cruise again.

Welcome! Answers: No No (but at one point I believe South Hampton was mentioned, but even then unclear if just an inaugural season or it's initial designated home port) Yes (but not me, so I can't answer #4, but looks like it might be). Here is the Icon discussion thread: and if you are interested in the next Oasis class ship (Utopia), that discussion is here:

That's so awesome! We just did the 12 night Arctic Circle B2B with the 12 night Iceland & Ireland from Jun 20 to July 14. Norway was absolutely stunning! Anyway, I would also be available for specific questions. My favorite space on the ship was the Schooner lounge. One of the nicest on ships I've been on. Big trivia fan.