HappyTexan44

Is this what you would recommend to maximize the points earned / dollar lost?

Can you explain in more detail what you did? Also how much money did you start with and how much did you win/lose overall?

The lines by boarding times sound ideal. You want to arrive early, you get in your line and probably get on much earlier. No one with an early time is stuck waiting behind someone that arrived very early. On the other hand, you can't blame people for ignoring their assigned time when Royal also ignores it. Maybe Royal is happy that enough people pay attention that it spreads out the crowds to a tolerable level. I say this as someone that plans on using my Disney World acquired skills to get an early time.

As far as excursions, somewhere here is a thread on how to look at the cruise planner for another cruise than yours. So, you find one same ship same ports that is fairly soon. Then you use the format in the thread to finangle the webaddress to see the excursions for that cruise. Won't help with purchasing, but it will give you an idea of what is available.

As far as them having to share their cash tips too. I agree that you can't really go by what anyone says. But, the lawsuits are convincing. When people are upset enough to sue about being moved from a cash-tip position to a behind-the-scenes position, that tells me that the cash tips aren't being shared.

How does that work? I can't see how paying cash for dinner causes extra handling expenses.

Good idea: Basic hot dog and hamburger buns are universally awful. At home I'll use homemade flour tortillas instead of hot dog buns. That sourdough has to be fresher than the hamburger buns.

And you already did something to make you less attractive as someone to bump. Even though you didn't do Air2Sea, you still have a flight. Australia they targeted locals.

That is how casinos work. They want to comp the winners, not the losers. They want a crack at getting that money back.

What is it that makes that brand better?

How much does the vanilla cost, for example, Los Cinco Soles vanilla? I'd like to buy as much as I can carry and I don't want to come up short on the $.

So not really unlimited. What if someone wants to go to Playmaker's late at night after having had dinner earlier?

That is wild to think that only $50 of the pay for non-tipped positions comes from the cruise fare, with the rest from the prepaid gratuities. Not sure how I think about that. One thing with tipped positions is that you can have a direct and large impact on your own pay. There are limits of course, if there aren't many customers, then your pay is limited. But, a really good waiter can regularly earn double of an average waiter on the same shift/restaurant. But with this pooled auto grat., the crew has the worst of both worlds. They have zero impact on their pay, but they also have the uncertainty of fluctuating pay. On the other hand, I get why Royal would like it this way, Any $ they can push off to 'optional' makes the cruise fare look better in comparison to other lines.

There is something to the special status of the crew. When I was a waiter, if I'd been asked to clean the toilet, I could have walked away. The crew can't do that. I did change jobs when I felt that the required prep work had gone too far.

That is odd when you think about it. Maybe the over temp is too low? But it isn't like the ingredients for pizza dough are costly.

I doubt it. It took me cumulatively 12 hours at the DMV to change from maiden to married name. I was 10 months married and 8 months pregnant. Only the thought of them insisting on my maiden name on daughter's birth certificate motivated me to go to DMV. You show up and you get your number. I had to do three visits before it got done because the first two I couldn't wait any longer and had to leave. For the third I planned on just sitting there all day if necessary. The third time, when my number was about 10 people away, I look up and see a sign that says, "Cash Only, No Change." I'd planned on using a card. So, in a panic I run out to my car to find any ATM. I'm driving around looking for an ATM and I get pulled over. I told the cop why I was driving funny and he just let me go. Even he understood the misery of DMV.

Thinking about this, Royal created this problem by having everyone and their dog included in the 'tip' pool.

I don't consider it unreasonable to want a freshly cooked burger instead of a cold and hard one. For any crew that has a problem with that, I really don't care what they think. There is a reason that the "Have it your way" was a huge thing and even McDonald's backed off on their previous, "Like it or Lump It" philosophy. If cruise food is compared to a crappy drive-thru, I'd hope the cruise would come out ahead, but that seems unreasonable to you.

Passport cards have their place, but I'd never do non-driving international travel on one. In addition to drives across the border to somewhere near the border, they are a good first ID for kids. Around the same cost as a non-driving state ID, proves citizenship, and takes less time to get. By time, I mean time you waste in a government office, not time to get the card in your hand.

@gmerick Could you explain more your understanding of that lawsuit? It sounds like it is about some positions getting much more than the minimum. That doesn't make sense to me. Or maybe it is some complaining that others are getting paid more than them? It also jumped out at me that extra tips added to the bill were added to the pool. That would tick me off.

To me, that is flat-out skimming. Laundry is not a tipping position. Maintenance is not a tipping position.

That is what attracted me to Royal. I set out to find a ship with a big water slide that 'nickel-and-dimed'. Even included we wouldn't drink much or use the internet. I once went with a group to Sandals. Liquor was watered down and wine wasn't even cooking quality.

I am shocked at some of the judgmental responses. Not everyone uses their phone the same way and that is OK. For some people their phone is their end-all-be-all, and that is OK. I know people that don't have a home computer because they do everything they need on their phone. I know several other people that use flip phones. The only reason DH doesn't use a milspec flip phone anymore is that the batteries became too expensive. For me I use my phone for calls, texts, camera and audiobooks. For our phones I've made them 'a little dim', for security purposes. It was amusing during the lockdown when waiters were confused that QRcodes don't work on our phones to get the menu, and therefore we needed a paper menu. I already have the app, so I'm not anti-app but there is no call to dump on people that don't want to use their phone for everything.

I also think that Royal won't do a crack-down until it effects their bottom-line. People raising a stink when they can't use their balcony because of the smoke. People telling them they booked an interior because their friend told them about the smoke on the balconies. When I was very young, I was a bit of a turd about my mother's smoking cigarettes. I used to do things like leave lung cancer pamphlets on her smoking chair on the back porch, and wave menus at her when she lit up in a restaurant. I've apologized to her, and she quit a long time ago. Maybe some public shaming is in order for those doing it in public areas. Unlike my mom, they'd deserve it.

From the WSJ article, this guy needs a slap upside the head, in addition to a lifetime ban. "A 25-year-old TikTok influencer from Orlando, Fla., says he was asked to disembark in Jamaica from a seven-day Royal Caribbean cruise midway through the trip after he was caught on surveillance smoking marijuana on an upper deck of the ship. The man says he has a medical-marijuana card and had previously sailed with products containing THC without any issues."