cmich068

FWIW, I got off a January 7 cruise and my points posted after a week but my status is still reflecting old level despite crossing the threshold on my last cruise.

Any idea how I can earn negative 6 nights quickly? 😆

12:12pm on the return trip, final sea day and we're pretty much dead centre of the Gulf of Mexico right now

Plenty warm for this Canuck but lots of seats open on the pool deck

Get your reservations linked together - if you booked directy with Royal call them, if you booked with a Travel Agent then call your agent - and give them the reservation numbers of everyone you are travelling with.

If you booked all the rooms together it's possible the booking agent may have already linked the reservations. 

On 11/26/2023 at 12:30 PM, Fouremco said:

Of note, however, is the fact that the initial notification letter had the signature block of the "Director, Trusted Traveler Programs, U. S. Customs and Border Protection" but had the Ottawa Airport address of the CBP. 

This email will typically show the address of the last enrollment centre you interacted or interviewed with, even if that was 5 or 10 years ago.

Wouldn't surprise me if they are going to change ice cream suppliers once they exhaust existing inventory - the penny pinchers at HQ may have got a better deal elsewhere 

We have the same situation, we're just going to buy day passes for the United Club at the airport and camp out there.

On 11/26/2023 at 2:04 PM, breathesgelatin said:

I'm on the December 31 sailing of Harmony out of Galveston. I'm getting $19.99/day internet offer. That's not likely to go down I guess? Thinking of booking today...

We are on the sailing after you and it hasn't dropped that low for us in a while. Currently $20.99

I've done the TO-NYC drive several times during winter.

Thruway (90 to 87) all the way is the best idea if weather is a concern.

If weather looks good, I prefer to go 90-81-380-80 through the Poconos. 

90-81-86/17 is another popular route, and probably the most direct of the options, but very few services or towns along 86/17 so again, not my pick for winter. 

Biggest change if you haven't been through in a while is the kiosks used to enter the US have shifted to using facial recognition. All you do is stand in front of it and it takes a photo of you - may have to hit the start button, but other than that no answering questions, no inserting the card or passport, etc

The Canadian kiosks, in constrast, will require you to scan your Nexus card, and if its the first time you've used them since they upgraded from iris scans, you'll have to scan your passport as well so have both accessible. 

22 minutes ago, IceChick said:

If someone could please let me know what percentage off are you seeing?  I'm Canadian and at 25% for Black Friday it is $30.15 per day for 7day in Jan on Harmony.  Just wondering it it is different percentages or if they are using "RCL math" to calculate exchange rate🤨.

My January Harmony Cruise is showing $20.99 USD per day at 25% off. 30% off ($34.99 USD) for 2 devices, 45% off ($39.99 USD) off for 3 devices, 55% off ($41.99 USD) for 4 devices

Definitely some RCCL math that goes into the exchange rate, and nearly always in their favour. This time I booked with a US travel agency so all of my cruise planner items are in USD and I can use my no foreign exchange fee credit card instead. 

I enjoy the drink package. I bought it on my last Carnival cruise and had it in my fare on my last Celebrity cruise. On Royal Caribbean, a bit harder for me to get value out of it, partly because the daily price trends higher than the other lines and partly because I already get the four Diamond vouchers plus access to the coffee machine in the lounge. 

So on Royal, I just get the Soda package instead (with the freestyle machine basically covering 99% of anything non-alcoholic I want), and pay for any additional alcoholic drinks beyond my four included ones. And I obviously make some behavioral changes - drink the tap water or soda water from the fountain gun instead of bottled water or a sparking water from a can. If I really want a milkshake or a red bull and don't want to burn a voucher, I just pay for it. 

56 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

Does anyone know how long this Black Friday sale is supposed to last? Will it still be going on on Black Friday?

Knowing Royal, the sale will go three weeks past Black Friday and the prices will change 17 times between now and then. 

Ontario eligibility for XBB and Flu Shot expanded to everyone on October 30. Got both of mine on Friday at Rexall. 

"Balc Suite NRD" in this case I believe refers to the Crown and Anchor discount for Balconies and Suites with a non refundable deposit. 

22 minutes ago, vacationlover_mn said:

Weird thing- we have 3 upcoming cruises, with prepaid grats, and didn’t get the email?

I suspect the email was specifically targeted at people who haven't prepaid.

If you've already prepaid then the change doesn't affect you at all, you're already locked in at the old rates.

Called my agent and prepaid for my upcoming cruise in January.

Not sure it's worth giving Royal Caribbean a two month loan for $28 in savings, but more about the principle at this point anyways.

1 minute ago, cruiselvr04 said:

In addition, they used to waive the increase if you booked before a certain date and prepaid. No mention of that in this email.  
 

That's exactly what the email says - "If you’d like to pre-pay your gratuities at the current rate before your sailing, we’re happy to extend this opportunity to you"

Happy to prepay but wish they would put it on cruise planner so I wouldn't have to call in

On 9/22/2023 at 4:58 PM, J and G said:

We are booked with Native Choice for December.  This was the map they provided.

 

Just for the benefit of anyone reading this, I recently booked with Native Choice for January and my confirmation says the Tower exit shown in your map is no longer open. Here's the version of the map they provided in my confirmation for reference. 

On 5/7/2023 at 9:51 PM, brillohead said:

I haven't done the iguana park.  If you've never been to the island and you have in interest in how they live, the island tour on the way to/from the animal park is worthwhile, IMO.

Thanks for sharing, we just booked the Island Tour and Hangout directly through Daniel Johnson's for our upcoming cruise 

1 hour ago, dog said:

Is this a shared shuttle or limo for 4, you booked?

the $28 per person is for the shared shuttle operated by Galveston Limousine 

I have booked them for an upcoming trip in January but have no personal experience with the service yet. 

Yes, flying out of YTZ will mean a connection (and likely terminal change) in either BOS or EWR between Porter and JetBlue

YTZ is more sensitive to hour by hour changes in the weather due to a short runway and the connecting airports add more risk.

BUF is less sensitive to normal fluctuations in the weather but if the city happen to get a bad storm it can shut the whole airport down for days. The headline causing lake effect storms are usually much earlier in the winter though, by March it would be highly unlikely. 

12 hours ago, Fouremco said:

According to their website, you can book a flight to FLL for as early as tomorrow:

 

 

It looks like Orlando flights start September 1.

Those are codeshares with JetBlue with multiple long connections, etc 

The non-stop flights begin operating on the dates I listed 

Official now

YOW-MCO starts Nov 21

YOW-FLL starts Nov 30