*twinkle*

If you ask for Canadian bacon in MDR, that is equivalent to British back bacon.  

We are on Jewel of the Seas 4 nights from Rome on 12 June.  We have a balcony #9000 (not great).  We have been offered:

JS £235pp

Ocean View Suite (2 Bedroom/no Balcony) £155pp

Spacious Ocean View Balcony £35pp

We don't want/need the two bedroom with no balcony.  What do you think of the other offers?

The Deluxe Beverage package includes bottled water (still and sparkling).  Why not wait til you are onboard to see if you can request Evian?  If not, it may be a brand that you are happy to drink.  You can always buy any drinks package once you are onboard, even midway through your cruise if you like.  They have "welcome desks" on embarkation selling as many dining/drinks packages as possible.

It is included now for all UK bookings. Look on the website for the all inclusive package for details.

Thanks Keith.

I saw it on their website, but with the dreaded * , and I couldn't see what the * meant anywhere! That's a refreshing change, as these "deals" are not available to Royal Caribbean customers if they book a guaranteed cabin rate.

I might just go back to NCL for a while! :)

I haven't sailed with NCL for some years, and just wondered if the Premium Drinks Package is included on bookings for guaranteed cabins....

I am a Silver Latitudes member, are there any discounts or OBC these days?

Any info gratefully received!

Tipping for Brits in general is not a typical occurrence in the UK.

They may leave a pound or so after a meal if they're feeling generous.

Oh dear, that's a bit of a sweeping generalisation there....

That's not my experience, but I live in a city... We DO tip here in the UK. Generally 10% of the bill for a meal. Remember our restaurant staff are paid a salary, and don't solely rely on tips. We don't normally tip bar staff though, unless they are serving us at our table. Taxi drivers and hairdressers normally receive tips too (as well as other service providers). They would only expect to get a couple of £.

Here's an anecdotal story you may be interested in - My friend who is a London cab driver says that our American visitors seem relieved at not "having" to tip him, and in his opinion, generally are the worst tippers! They tend to give him a few pennies (if anything) and a big smile.

So I suppose, it's a learning curve for all us travellers, what you may read in a guidebook (or on the internet) may not actually be accurate, and I would say that Brit's not tipping at home is not what I experience in my everyday life here.

Twinkle, where did you find the $39 + 18% gratuity package

When I logged into MyCruises on the RC website. You can pre-purchase shore excursions, drink/dining packages and other stuff. I believe there was a special offer on (thank you cruise critic members), so I just decided to go for it. You can cancel and re-purchase if the price comes down again (it didn't in my case, it went up to $42). There is also a package for drinks + WiFi, which was an extra $10 a day. WiFi purchased onboard is $12.99 per day.

Hope this helps!

We booked two balcony guarantees on Indy last year. The first was all the way forward next to the door for the bridge (deck 11)?? The other was all the way aft on deck 7. Massive balcony but with quite a lot of superstructure on view.

This thread - at 33 pages - with post after post after post - tells me there is something more here than a simple "mistake."

Agreed!

I've just come off Anthem too, and can confirm that "anything goes". There only seemed to be two suggestions either "casual" or "formal night" on the daily planner. There doesn't appear to be "smart/casual" anymore.... :)

Lots of people dressed extremely casually (like beach wear shorts/tshirts) at all times. Other people in jeans/short sleeve collared shirts, and others a bit more sparkly. Jeans with anything perfectly acceptable.

You will not be turned away from MDR no matter what you are wearing - I promise!

I was actually quite surprised that mostly everyone really dressed up for the first formal night. It was lovely to see all the families getting their photos taken. The second formal night was a bit more smart/casual.

No pressure tho, everyone just did what they felt comfortable with, and a great time was had by all!

Enjoy your cruise, and make sure you book the i-fly and North Star ASAP. We nearly missed out!

Loyalty in this sense is a one way street. Not just with crusing but any industry. They want our business and info and shower us with a few trinkets or a % off on some things.

 

Wait did we not get Manhattan for a few trinkets

:D:D:D

Did you get Diamond Trinkets on your last cruise? We got nothing, except some chocolate strawberries one night. My son got a C&A swim bag delivered to his room, and older son (who is 20) got nothing, and the bank of mum and dad got absolutely no trinkets whatsoever! My mother and father have had some fabulous Diamond gifts over the years (including a lovely shower bag, that I have now stolen from them). The best "perk" is the free photos, but the quality of the photography is very poor IMHO.

On our 2016 cruise, I recall we again were charged on the final morning for drinks from the last night of our cruise in the Izumi restaurant. We did dine there, but did not drink anything outwith our package. Interestingly, the only other patrons that evening were a large group of officers.... Draw your own conclusions, but we thought this was more than a simple error.

Thanks. As I said I'm still holding out hope that I can get a better rate (74.29 Canadian at moment is about 58 USD) Which is a bit much to me for convenience sakes cause we won't drink that much to make it worthwhile at that rate. Knowing that its quite easy just using setsail pass is good to know.

We paid $39 + 18% gratuity per night (prepaid online before travel) on our recent Anthem cruise. I believe this was a 33% discount. It was full price onboard.

If it's convenience you are after, it makes no difference if you have a package or not. They swipe your room keycard (SeaPass) for every drink, and you pay at the end of the cruise. You will need to sign the receipt if you don't have a package, but that's the only difference. Even with a package, you sometimes need to sign anyway...

You can pre-register a credit card if you want to just auto checkout at the end of the cruise, or join the queue to pay cash etc.

Hi [emoji3]

 

I was reading in a post that luggages are delivered to your stateroom based on your crown and anchor status. I also read that if you write on the tag " deliver it fast" you will get it faster in your stateroom.

 

Do you use any tricks to he them fast?

 

Thank you [emoji847]

 

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I suspect if you wrote "deliver it fast", it would be delivered very very slowly :D

Ok, so why mention your status? I don't think status has anything to do with the mini bar charges after a cruise.

 

 

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I don't think my Diamond Status has anything to do with minibar charges either. So, just to repeat myself, I was attempting to demonstrate that I am a regular RC cruiser, and have noticed this practice the last few cruises I have taken with RC. If I was Gold, or even a first-time cruiser, I couldn't make that comparison, as I would not have experienced enough cruises with RC yet. Maybe you would have been more comfortable if I had simply said I was a regular RC cruiser. Sorry if I hurt your feelings!

I started my own thread, not knowing this was an ongoing issue. Just thought I'd copy it here to make you aware this is still happening (on Anthem anyway)

I am a Diamond member with RC, and have noticed the last few cruises that there always seem to be small mystery charges to my SeaPass card on the final morning printout or after I return home.

 

This past cruise, we departed on Saturday morning, and noticed a charge in the MDR from previous evening had been added. Had to queue up (glad I wasn't in a hurry) to get this removed. It was for a bottle of wine (we were on the drinks package, and didn't dine in the MDR that night).

 

Arrived home, and received an emailed invoice (maybe this is a new thing). We had been charged for the minibar after departure.

 

We have had everything refunded now, so no problem really. However, the same type of thing has happened on three previous cruises, and just wondered if anyone else has noticed this happening?

What exactly does being Diamond have to do with unknown charges on your Sea Pass Cards. I believe the mini bar charges happen to even those low Gold members and first time cruisers.

 

 

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I was just trying to demonstrate that I am a regular cruiser with RC, and have noticed this happening on my last few cruises. I actually find the "Diamond" benefits of little use, and don't feel at all special or valued by RC.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2434965

Thank you, a very active thread, and seems like a lot of people have had the same problem.

I am a Diamond member with RC, and have noticed the last few cruises that there always seem to be small mystery charges to my SeaPass card on the final morning printout or after I return home.

This past cruise, we departed on Saturday morning, and noticed a charge in the MDR from previous evening had been added. Had to queue up (glad I wasn't in a hurry) to get this removed. It was for a bottle of wine (we were on the drinks package, and didn't dine in the MDR that night).

Arrived home, and received an emailed invoice (maybe this is a new thing). We had been charged for the minibar after departure.

We have had everything refunded now, so no problem really. However, the same type of thing has happened on three previous cruises, and just wondered if anyone else has noticed this happening?

Thanks for that information. I hadn't thought of carrying a cup around with us all day while we are on the ship.

We may decide to give it a miss.

Thanks

 

James

Hi James - you don't need to carry the cup around (it is huge). Your room keycard is used for all purchases onboard. If you go for a drinks package, your card will have a sticker on it, and you just get this swiped when you order a drink from any bar. They will serve draft fizzy (coke, diet coke, sprite etc) from a gun into a glass. If they don't have what you want on draft (eg sprite zero), that is poured from a can into a glass. They don't give you the rest of the can to take away. If you don't take a drinks package, you can buy cans of fizzy for approx $3 + compulsory tip.

Hope this helps!

 

If it's cozy, what would u suggest (if we still want 1 cabin...)?

 

I agree, this will be super-cozy and you will have absolutely no privacy, and very little space between your bed and the sofabed. Think of a tiny hotel room, with a Kingsize bed and a sofabed right next to it.... IMHO there is barely enough space in a standard cabin for two people, never mind three adults and a child.

 

However, I'm sure there are "Family" type staterooms on Indy that have bunkbeds in a curtained-off area for your daughter and grandson. If the grandson is too young for his own bed, you could get a baby cot put in? Unfortunately, I have never stayed in one of those cabins (they are hard to come by).

 

As a family of five, we always go for two interconnecting or adjoining rooms. We then get the benefit of more space for everyone, and two bathrooms. Of course, we then have to pay full adult price for all five of us, which can be a bit of a shock to the system.

I don't know who told you that

I called the C&A ambassador onboard about whether my 14 year old was eligible for the free photo (he didn't get a "junior" welcome aboard C&A letter, so we had nothing to refer to), and she told me the age was 21 and over.

Unfortunately, our son who is 14 and also Diamond was not allowed the "free" photo last week on Indy. We queried this with the C&A ambassador onboard, who confirmed this is correct. So they simply put that picture in the bin. What a waste!

Our two older sons, 19 and 22 were allowed their photo, however, if it had been a US based cruise, we were told the minimum age is 21!!

We are just came off Indy on Saturday.

You could still buy the dining packages onboard, I think it was $70 for a three night package and $100 for a four night package.

Chops Grille is $35 and Giovannis is $25 for a one night experience.

They were still selling excursions onboard, and actually have an excursions desk on deck 5. I think you can also book through the interactive TV in your room? Their excursions are very expensive compared to DIY, as are their shuttle buses, which are sometimes ridiculously expensive compared to a private taxi. The only exception I have come across was Valencia, where the shuttle was €5pp for a 20 minute journey. It was the same price in Barcelona, but only a 5 minute journey. There are normally local shuttle services available at the port at more reasonable prices.

Do your homework on the excursions, there are normally plenty of people on your roll call wanting to share private tours, which seem to be better value.

I hope this helps - enjoy Indy!

We have always purchased a soda package for our kids, they can then just go to the bar and get a drink whenever they like.

Most of the time, it is fountain soda, but if they order something like a Sprite Zero, they pour that from a can. They don't give you the can to take away though.

My son loves Shirley Temples (Sprite with Grenadine) and Royal Rogers (Coke with Grenadine), and these are allowed on the soda package.

If you don't buy a drinks package, you will get a can of soda, and it's approx $3 + 18% service charge. If you in Spanish waters, they may hit you for an additional 20% Spanish tax as well.

If you are in the UK, it may be more reasonable to pre-pay for the soda package online in GBP. If you buy onboard, they add on 18% gratuity.

Of course, if your child is happy with iced water and all the other types of drinks already listed, there is really no need to pay extra for soda. There is a sugar free "diluting juice" in the Windjammer at lunchtimes - Strawberry/Kiwi and Mango, which I found very refreshing.