cruisegirl1

OP – the only thing worse than a four night cruise is a three night cruise. I fear you will be disappointed on a four 4 night/3 night Utopia cruise. Three night is billed as the ultimate weekend party. m

OP-you are not wrong. I am finding Royal Caribbean passenger behavior becoming increasingly rude, and often confrontational. I don’t sail many other cruise lines so I don’t know if it is specific to Royal Caribbean or across-the-board. I don’t know if this is a trait of everyone these days (on a cruise or otherwise.), or just a decline in behavior of the Royal Caribbean passenger. I can’t understand the selfishness of someone who would think everyone around the pool wants to listen to their particular music. Sorry you had to experience this on your vacation. m

I've only gotten one, and it was the day prior to sailing. I usually get the rejection email boarding day afternoon or early evening. I've never heard of anyone getting the royal up after boarding, but I guess it can happen. M

OP - Sorry I provided incorrect info. Must have gotten my ships confused. M

OP - if it matters. please be aware the Izumi is not Hibachi, only sushi, with perhaps a hot item on the menu (generally chicken or steak teriyaki). If you are a new cruiser, you might enjoy the dining room or Windjammer with an occasional specialty dinner. You can pre book a particular venue at a reduced rate. Or, they generally offer a discount for single restaurant once on board (ranging from 20-50% off). If you cruise frequently and are tired of the MDR menus and want something different, then specialty is the way to go. We have experience with unlimited dining packages but generally on Oasis class ships with a different restaurant every night. We've never done dining with such limited options. enjoy M

For those who remove auto tips. do you generally have the same money allocated for tips? So, for a family of 4, who removes $18/pp/day ($504) are you actually tipping those who serve you for dining and cabin service directly at $72 each day. This doesn't include tips for bar dinks, specialty dining, spa, etc which are not included in the $18/pp/day auto tips Or, do you find you save money by removing auto tips and generally don't tip direct staff who serve you a total of $72/day. What do you do about the server who gives you ice cream at the pool, pizza at Sorento's, brings you an iced tea in the buffet. Do you provide tips for those individuals as well? Thanks M

Agree. Has anyone taken a look at the mess a young child leaves after a meal? M

Sets are harder to find. If there is one, it is often not complete. Or, someone takes it to their cabin so that they have it when they want to play. You can purchase a deck of MJ playing cards, the same size of a standard playing card. A little cumbersome to hold and rearrange 13 cards but a great substitute to a set. I hope it works out for you. M

I suspect the tuxedo is the backpack. What other reason is there to bring a huge backpack to the dining room? M

I've been told alcohol, especially at night, can be a trigger. Use those free drinks for water. 😀 M

I didn't but I see lots of people wearing them on board on shirt collars, hats, lanyards. If they like it, why not. M

Year ago, I turned D pins into cufflinks ( take off pin and glue front to blank cufflink found at craft store. The was way before Amazon). That was a time when men wore tuxedos for formal night so the cufflinks got a good deal or wearing. I have one D+ pin as a fridge magnet. ( take off pin, glue to magnet) M

You can make dinner reservations using the planner on the website.

I wonder what that guy in the orange shirt has in that stuffed backpack. Perhaps it is his tuxedo. m

There was any implication that the $25 voucher was to cover any specific meal. It can be used towards a dinner meal as well, and that certainly is more than $25. $25 towards a $30 lunch is a nice benefit. m

Correct. I forgot to include grats. I didn’t purchase it so didn’t get a chance to look at the final price. Seems to be popular. I don’t get the appeal.

After reading this, I checked for our January Utopia, and there is availability on every day of the cruise. Price is $119/pp. OP, thanks for spreading the word as lots of people are looking forward to dining there. I didn’t book.

You mean, I can’t say that people take short cruises often drink and want to have a fun time? I’ll be more careful. m

Many new cruisers try a 3/4 night cruise. I never understood why Royal used old worn out ships for many of those cruises. Using Utopia for short cruises is a great way to introduce someone to cruising. So new and so much to do, they want to come back for more. M

If you bid prior to the assignment, once the cruise is assigned the bids will be automatically cancelled. You can bid again after the assignment. M

I hear you! Plus, pre cruise hotels, an extra day away from work etc. So much harder for us non Floridians to hop on short cruises. Full disclosure, we can drive to PC in 8 hours and do that rather than flying. We've done a few short B2B2B (mostly 4/3/4 rather the 3/4/3) but the turnaround days are somewhat wasted and then you have taxes and fees for each cruise. It adds up and often a 7 or even 10 night cruise is a more attractive option. Plus, and I know I'll catch heat, but I really dislike the weekend cruise. Seems like a contest to see who can party the hardest and get more wasted. M

Same for Icon. M

The timing is correct. Once the ship leaves, the captain will generally announce when he expects to go under the bridge. If you miss it, you can catch in when you return, about 4 or 5 am. M

for Utopia, you need to scroll across the dining tabs to get to "Loyalty and Suites". Select that and Coastal Kitchen and Suite Sun deck will populate. M

Good plan, and what we do as well. M