jules815

Is this the only port webcam that has sound?

I posted the times in the above thread Liberty is first

Just saw it, thanks!

watching now. what time do they sail?

How do you listen to their conversations?

*bump*

Yes, how do you listen?

I've enjoyed the MDR on both lines. I like the Windjammer buffet on RC much better than Carnival's.

I have a question about my price drop.

Because I thought the military rate was only for retired or active military, I never check that box. My husband served 4 years in the Navy and was honorably discharged, but he's not "retired," and he's not active; he got out in 1979.

When I do my mock booking, I check the "over 55" and then the state we live in. That's how the "exclusive rate" popped up. When I was talking to the RC rep last night, she read this same paragraph to me,

"Prices shown reflect the Exclusive Rate that you have selected. A valid driver's license or state-issued ID; U.S. or Canadian military ID; or U.S. or Canadian local, state or federal law enforcement, fire department, or EMT employment badge or ID must be presented at the pier to validate eligibility for the applicable Exclusive Rate. If eligibility cannot be validated, you will be charged the standard rate or otherwise will be denied boarding.

I told her that I didn't think we were eligible for a military discount, but apparently being honorably discharged after serving only 2 years, you are. But still, I never checked the military box.

So I guess I don't know what the "exclusive rate" is for, and it didn't seem like she did either. If you read the that paragraph, it covers military and residence discounts by asking for a valid driver's license. How do you find out?

I'm going to bring a copy of my husband's DD214 with us just in case, but I never checked the military box. And, I just did my morning mock booking, not checking military, and still am getting the exclusive rate, which makes me think it's for something else.

Does that make sense?

Got a price drop as well for our B2B in February!

 

 

 

 

I pretend booked online, called Royal and asked about the lower price. :)

 

 

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Congrats!

What a nice surprise. Logged in this evening to check prices for our B2B in September on FOS, and the price for our first week had gone down $240, and the second week had actually gone up.

Just goes to show you it's good to check a few times each day. The prices hadn't changed when I checked earlier this morning.

:D

Great review and pictures! Very excited to be sailing on FOS in September.

Question about Labadee. I've been there once before in 2007, pre- renovations. Has there always been a pier in Labadee? We were there on Mariner and I thought we tendered over. I know we for sure tendered in Coco Cay. We haven't been there in a while either!

After reading all of these comments, I'm so happy we booked FOS for our B2B in September. That's not saying we won't ever sail on an Oasis class ship; we definitely want to some day. We're already very comfortable with the Voyager layout, so I know we will with FOS. It will just be my husband and I (early 50's) looking for a couple weeks of r&r. We enjoy the MDR, with one night each week in a specialty restaurant will be just fine.

I came so close to booking Allure, it was literally a toss up. Allure was about $3300 more than FOS for a B2B in an ocean view balcony for our weeks, so that sealed the deal. And, we get to stay in our same room for both weeks. :)

Keep in mind that it does not always happen that prices drop after final payment. We are booked in a GS on a cruise where the final payment deadline passed recently. Just out of curiosity, I looked at current prices for that cruise. A JS now costs more than we've paid for our GS, an OS is twice what we paid for our GS (and some thousands more than it cost when we booked), and there are no GSs available.

 

Supply and demand works both ways! Let the buyer (and the waiter) beware!

 

 

D

I check for price drops at least 3 times each day. The price of our D2 hasn't moved, but I have noticed the price for a junior suite upgrade I'm offered each time has gone from $50 to $63pp/day. There still seem to be a lot of D2's available for both of our sailings, so I'm hopeful we'll see it go down at least once before final payment is due. If not, I won't be too disappointed, since September fares are lower to begin with.

This will give you a good idea:

 

http://cruisewithgambee.com/royal-caribbean-drink/

That's a great website. Thanks for posting the link!

Congrats! Makes me more hopeful that someday we might be lucky enough for a visit from the Upgrade Fairy. :)

Sailing on Freedom in September, and starting to think about which nights to book Chops and Portofino. We'll be doing a B2B, so wanted to do one night each week.

We've always done Chops, but have never tried Portofino. Look forward to it.

Also menus for Chops and Portofino would be nice, too.

cannot for the life of me understand the justification of continuing the refillable soda cup program. These cups go unwashed for 8 days and are refilled everywhere however, after one use of a juice or coffee cup we are encourage (rightfully so) not to re-use. Seems like these soda cups cannot be helping the problem.

 

I have often wondered about this, too!

Can you only use those cups with the Freestyle machines?? Is it still possible to get pop (from your package) from a bartender and not have to use the machine?

Good morning, and good luck with an upgrade!:)

It would be nice, but I'm really happy we were able to stay in the same D2 for both weeks. A price drop would be nice though. Seems like there's still quite a few left in our category.

I know this is a pretty simple question, but after a few cruises on Carnival, and now back with RC, I don't remember if their policy changed. I believe in the past we received price drops after our final payment due date, maybe it was given in OBC, I honestly don't remember.

Does that still happen, or is your price locked in after final payment due date?

There are two kinds of upgrades, revenue and C&A. The revenue upgrades happen first, and can go to anyone regardless of C&A level. If there are any staterooms left after the revenue upgrades, then they go by C&A points.

Good morning Bob.

I guess I'll have to keep checking those revenue upgrades then. Price on the JS upgrade for both weeks of our cruise is up a little this morning.

I wouldn't count on it. Like gerif says, usually if there are a number of suites available then the Diamond Plus and Pinnacle's will get upgraded.

Do they ever upgrade the lower C&A members, or do upgrades always go to the higher levels? :o

we saw adults lifting the ladel out of the soup and putting it to their mouths to see if they like it then putting the ladel right back into the soup, adults fingering the bread to get to the slices underneath the ones at the top, this was all at the windjammer,

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What the heck?! Who would do that?! I would have called them out. That's just totally disgusting!

After reading this I'm even more impressed with the upgrade I got last August - two D1's to two GS's on a 7-day cruise for $600, or about $14pp/day. The JS's were sold out so I have no idea what it would've cost to do that upgrade, but I was real happy with the GS's.

 

That'll never happen again, I'm sure..... :)

That's incredible!

You definitely win! :D

On a 7 day Mariner cruise, about $150 total difference, so around $11pp/day.

Okay, that's good to know.

I'm sure we'll be perfectly happy in our D2, but if I saw a deal like that, or for even a little more, I'd take it in a heartbeat.

We are set to take our first B2B in November,2014! We are so excited :D Glad to see so many recommend them.

Our last cruise was "the straw that broke the camels back" ... It was the night before :( and we were standing on the balcony enjoying our "last" bit of cruise. Our neighbors came out and we started talking about this being the sad part of a cruise ..... When he pipes up and says "We're on for another week !!" Fast forward to the next morning when the alarm went off at the _utt crack of dawn ..... I'm thinking they are still over there in the bed. Fast Forward again to where we are standing in a LONG line waiting to get off the ship for 2 hours & I'm thinking , they are enjoying a leisurely breakfast and getting ready to enjoy an empty ship!! :mad::mad:

Back at home, tired, grumpy and covered up in dirty laundry needing to be dealt with ....I march myself over to the computer and add a 2nd week to our already booked future cruise :p ...... Now I can be the one that gets to say "We'er on for another week!!"

Ditto!

I always get so depressed when you start getting the debarkation/customs forms. My vacations not over yet, and I'm already having to think about packing and going home! Hearing the announcement "for those of you who are continuing to sail with us" and wishing we were those people! The sad walk down the hall on the final night when all the bags are out in the hallway. And my inlaws ALWAYS saying, "I'm sure you're just as glad to be back home!" Umm...NO! We always tell them, "Well no, not really." "We could have easily done another week."

My husband and I will be taking our first b2b in September; eastern/western on FOS, same stateroom.

I don't think I've ever been so excited about a cruise before. :D

What's the best deal you've gotten on a junior suite upgrade?

When I do my daily price checks, I'm always given the option to upgrade to a js from our D2 for $50/day pp.

On the Allure last week they swiped for every drink and/or bottle of water, and asked for a signed receipt (everytime but twice for water only) . Your television will show all the transactions, all with a $0 amount next to it, but on the last day the balance sheet only showed what you were charged for - no tally of all the $0 drinks. So, unless you track the # of drinks from the TV, no other way of knowing.

This is good to know.

We were planning on getting the high end drink package for the first week of our back to back, tracking, and then deciding whether or not it would be worth it for the second week. Second week has an extra port, although we may stay on board in Jamaica and enjoy the almost empty ship.