Mim Lloyd

Gladly .... as long we have the drinks package! 🤣

little britain, thanks for the heads up on this. I've just rung Cruise 118 and the person I spoke to knew about this. He said he's instructing RCI to add it to our booking. He said RCI are responding quite quickly and we'll receive an updated confirmation shortly. We're Diamond members so get 4 free drinks per day anyway, but I used a couple of online drinks calculators to double check if the £43 per day was worth paying and they both came out as us being better off getting this drinks package whether or not it's a sea day. So again, thank you! 😊

Great, I'm going to ring my TA now. I'm on a 2 week B2B on Explorer next September.

Before I ring to get this can someone clarify whether this offer is for ALL RCI ships or just those listed on the flyer?

Could we ask at Guest Services when we first board if we can move cabins if the same number is available for both weeks?

I rang my TA today to get them to ask RCI if it was possible to change one of the cabins so that we're in the same one for both weeks. RCI said we can't do that as we booked gty cabins only. I don't know whether this is because it's a UK booking, changes without penalty are difficult when you book in the UK.

Hi, we're on a B2B on Explorer next Sep/Oct 2023. We booked guarantee junior suites for both weeks and when I checked my cruise planner earlier it now shows suite numbers assigned for both cruises on deck 10, the second week's suite is about 8 doors away from the first week's. My question is, now that suite numbers have been assigned will they stay as those suites or could they change? It seems very early to already be assigned the rooms.

I wasn't even considering The Key for my Explorer cruise next year, but last week it was actually CHEAPER than just Surf & Stream by over £5 per day (approx $6) so we bought it. It's still cheaper now.

On our first cruise back in 2004 we bumped in to old workmates on the 2nd day. Us wives headed off to bed about midnight and left them to have (supposedly) one last drink. Neither of them gamble but they decided to have a few minutes in the Casino before going off to bed. Well, they unexpectedly won a large amount of money and weren't happy that it had to be credited to their onboard accounts. So they decided to stay in the Casino bar and have more drinks, as after all they were 'free!' Me and the other wife were each woken in the morning by 2 members of the crew propping up our husbands. They were so drunk neither of them could remember where they were or where they should be sleeping. I dragged him into the room and apologised profusely to the nice people who had escorted him. I shut the door and turned round just in time to stop him mistaking the wardrobe for the toilet. 🙄 He suffered all the next day and couldn't face using any more of the OBC!

Not in my case. For the B2B cruises I have booked on Explorer for next year, the 2-device Surf & Stream is £273 for each week. The Key for both of us is £232 for each week ... an £82 saving over the 2 weeks.

Well over year ago I booked a P & O cruise on Arvia for March 2023, it included £400 OBC. Last week I noticed that if I booked it now the overall price would be £100 cheaper and would come with £800 OBC instead of the £400 I had. So I got P & O to move my booking to another random cruise and then immediately move it back to the original cruise in the same cabin, this meant I didn't lose my deposit and got the cheaper price and the £800 OBC. I was on a 2 week B2B RCI Caribbean in January and after I paid my final balance I noticed that the cruise prices had plummeted since I booked at the beginning of COVID. Luckily I'd booked while RCI were offering their price promise and they refunded me £1900. Couldn't believe it!!

I was just going to buy Surf & Stream for my B2B Explorer cruise. When I logged into my cruise planner I found that The Key was actually nearly £6 per day cheaper than just the Surf & Stream!

At the moment my cruise personaliser shows the Key to be cheaper than Surf & Stream. I'm thinking of getting it and see that it includes an a la carte breakfast on disembarkation day. I'm curious as to what the a la carte breakfast is and where it's held, any info? 🙂

Oh, one more question about guarantee cabins. How soon we will find out the cabin number for the first week's cruise before we board?

Yes I think we can do that, it's something to keep in mind. Thanks!

I think they must be twins separated at birth, Dave is exactly the same! 🤣

Unfortunately, as I've booked in the UK I can't take advantage of price drops as you can in North America. The price we book at is locked in. Last year, RCI did extend price drop changes to us Brits for a short while to encourage bookings while the COVID pandemic was still rife, but that's now sadly ended.

Thanks folks, I've booked the guarantee cabins. The saving far outweighs the convenience of staying in the same cabin. I don't think it will be too bad for me as I can easily live out of a suitcase. It's my husband who packs far more than me and has to put everything way properly in wardrobes and drawers! 🤣

We're thinking of booking 2 B2B cruises on Explorer next year in a Junior Suite. The Guarantee cabin price is almost £500 cheaper for the 2 cruises rather than us actually choose the same cabin for both cruises. My questions are: what is the likelihood of us being able to stay in the same cabin for both cruises on a Guarantee fare? Does RCI take into account the fact that we've booked a B2B trip when allocating the cabins? When would we find out our cabin number(s)? We'd like to try to avoid having to pack after the first cruise only to unpack in a different cabin, but £500 is quite a saving.

Brilliant, thank you!

Great, thank you!

Anyone know if Sparkling wine/Cava/Prosecco included as one of the 4 free drinks you can get at any bar for bring a Diamond member of C&A? And is Captain Morgans Spiced Rum included too? Thanks!

Thanks for all the replies folks, I really appreciate your input. I did a dummy booking on the RCI site and I quoted my C&A number and got a £181 reduction on the suite price but no OBC. I then did a dummy booking NOT quoting my C&A number and although I didn't get the £181 suite discount I got the OBC of $550. My TA rang RCI and they confirmed that if I didn't quote my C&A number I would get the $550 OBC but not the points. They said that unless my C&A status was recorded when booking the cruise I wouldn't get the points. I was actually considering a B2B so the points are 28 and the OBC would be $1100. I would happily forgo the C&A discount on the suites if I could get the OBC and points. Would it be worth getting my TA to try again with RCI? I really don't know what to do at the moment!

RCI have a promotion here in the UK giving $550 OBC for booking a cruise in a suite. So I was going to book one today as the double points would put us very close to becoming Diamond+. But I found that if I use my Diamond C&A status for the small discount on the booking and the associated C&A points I don't get the $550 OBC. If I DON'T use the Diamond C&A status I'll get the OBC but no points. I'm very disappointed in this, it seems that RCI is not valuing loyalty at all. 🤨