Mollycat

You remain on ship time (est) the whole trip.    Not sure how to answer the question about the 3rd party.   The ship recommends to change your phone, and smart watch to not allow automatic changes in time for time zone changes. 

We are going on a dialysis at sea cruise Jan 26th on the Allure.   My father-in-law is on dialysis and hasn’t been able to travel in three years - he is excited for the opportunity to travel.   We are going as a family, my in-laws had to book directly with Dialysis at Sea and my brother in-law and my husband and I were booked through RCL by our travel agent.  I’m not sure of the cost, but I know it is quite expensive.   There is apparently a nephrologist and 2 renal nurses on board for the sailing.   
 

My in laws are also sailing on a Dialysis at Sea with celebrity the week prior.   Google them and you can see available dates.

I may be of more help after we return in February.  

I’m going to be in the same position in January.   Actually dreading it a bit.   Travelling with my in-laws and spoiled brother in law and his girlfriend.   My husband and I booked our own excursions on our own to ensure a break.   I got a good laugh though, seems eerily familiar.   Lol.  

Thank you for the great review!  Sounds fun.  

Hi there, I tried searching the forum, but couldn’t find an answer.    
 

my husband and I are going on a cruise with his family.  My father-in-law booked us all through a travel agent.  I am used to making my own travel plans and am having a hard time letting go 😊.   The travel agent states that she has us booked in for my time dining at 6:30 pm, but it’s not showing up on my cruise planner.   Would reserved my time dinging usually show?   Under dining options, it is still giving me the choice to select my time dining.   We will have 3 staterooms, is it possible she booked it under my in-laws name and therefore would not show up on my planner?  I don’t have 100% confidence in this travel agent, but it’s who my in-laws chose.  
 

thank you! 

Thank you for the help!  I think I will buy the refreshment package now and cancel and buy again if the price drops.   If I get buyers remorse I can always cancel 😊

1 hour ago, Tree_skier said:

I'm a dual resident and use both currencies regularly.  If, when you look at the cruise planner, it shows a CDN $ price you will be billed in CDN $.  If it shows USD $ then you it will be billed in USD $ and your CC provider will convert it at their rate.  In in my experience it is always better to do it in CDN $ unless you have a USD$ bank account with a CC attached to it that prevents the conversion.  The disadvantage of of paying in USD$ and having your card convert it is that usually your card will charge an exchange rate premium when converting to USD$. When you cancel and rebook to get the lower price you are credited in USD$ which, when converted, will be a discounted rate.  So you lose on both ends of the transaction.  

 

Example... Assuming 1.32 mid market rate.

 

Typical credit card will charge a 3.5% premium on the charge and a 3.5% discount on the refund.

 

Say you are buying the DBP @ $52 a day per person.  For two people on the seven day cruise your price will be a $859 USD which equals $1163.95 CDN

 

You see a price of $48 on the Black Friday sale and you cancel your existing purchase and repurchase at the new, discounted rate

 

Your credit card will be credited $859 USD which will convert back to CDN as $1103.82

 

Your new purchase will be $792 USD which, when it hits your card will be apx. $1073

 

You end up saving only $30 by taking advantage of the new discounted price when you should have saved $90 had you done it right. Unfortunately, I made this mistake once and learned this all the hard way.  Sometimes there are reasons that you may want to use a Canadian CC but you need to understand the pitfalls.  

 

Also, it's good to know that RCi usually converts their prices from US to CDN on their website at the mid market rate which is a rate you could never get no matter who you use for conversion services. This is significant for Canadians used to getting hosed by US exchange rates. 

 

If you are booking a cruise direct with RCi on their website you must click on the little flag in the righthand corner and manually select Canada.  Canadians going to www.royalcaribbean.com will default to the US site.  Their site does not recognize a Canadian IP address and default to a Canadian pricing structure like most US online shopping retailers. It will give you US prices and allow you to go all the way through to the end and purchase in USD.  If you are speaking to an agent on the phone you must specifically tell them you want everything done in CDN$

 

Once your currency is set it can't be changed after the fact.

 

$29 CDN is not a bad price for the RP.  That equates to $22 US best I've seen in the last year has been $20 USD.  2018 I got it for $18 USD

Very helpful!   Thank you so much.   

Hi there,

A question for fellow Canadians.   I read suggestions of buying a drink package or excursion if you think the price is good and cancelling and rebooking if a cheaper rate comes up.  I know the prices on the planner are in Canadian dollars, but on my Visa card, will charges show up in USD for the equivalent of what I locked in, or just CDN dollars with no exchange?  I’m wondering if I have to pay a foreign transaction fee each time if I cancel and rebook excursion/drink package?

That being said, I'm going on the Allure in January and wanting to get the refreshment package as we are not big alcohol drinkers.  Showing up now as $29 plus gratuity and I’m debating about purchasing at that price or waiting to see if it goes lower.  Or booking and cancelling depending on the answer from the above question.   
 

thank you! 

4 hours ago, LeeW said:

The comedy venue is very small and show will be similar each night for adults only.  They also have a show at the end of the cruise in the theater that is cleaner.  Aquatheater show should open up soon for you, and they have a "diving competition" on the last sea day with no reservations.  As Bob said, you can only book one of each show but they open the venues to anybody about 10 minutes before the show. 

 

Aquatheater is very popular, so get there around 30 minutes before your reservation if you want seats with a back instead of bench seats.  You may or may not know the headliner in advance.  In our case it was a singer.

 

Sometimes the ice and water venues have a second different show later in the cruise with no reservations.  Did not in October.

thank you so much!  

Hello,

 I am looking to book entertainment for my upcoming cruise in January.   Are all the comedy shows the same, with the same comedian?   I understand that the later shows may be more of an adult show, which is okay.   I’m just trying to figure out if I can only pre-book comedy for one night?   Same with the “headliner showtime”?  The way I see it, there are only 5 different shows for a 7 night cruise (Mama Mia, Blue Planet, ice games, comedy and headliner).   The aquatics show is not showing up to book.   I am going with my in-laws, who typically expect to see a new show each night.   We have never cruised on such a big ship.  

Thank you 🙂

I’m interested in this tour as well - with the same questions.  I don’t care to wear a wetsuit and we are bigger people, but are descent swimmers.  

I worked on a Cruise Ship back in 2001, at that time I was 22. It was the best experience of my life, and wouldn't take it back for the world. I met so many people, and had the chance to travel and see so many new places. I'm from Canada, and at that time changing my American paycheque over to Canadian was fantastic. I didn't have to pay rent, didn't have to buy groceries, didn't have to pay taxes because we were on International waters.....what more could I ask for? I did work 10 hour days five days a week and a 6 hour days 2 days a week....but I did get to spend time in port aswell, because we had split shifts, and could get off the ship during a 4-5 hour afternoon break.

As for the Americans, I think there was only 1 or 2 that I worked with (I was part of the Childrens Program). The reasoning was the taxes that they had to pay. The Cruise Staff do have the better deal, as we had access to passenger areas, were able to go to the shows, use the pools, and go to the bars. All other staff had to stay in staff only areas while on time off. Sorry, I was a bit long winded.