3kidsncats

Mine doesn’t, and neither does my friends on a different sailing.

We have, so far, always been able to adjust the day one reservation once onboard via a host/ess at whatever restaurant has been designated as handling embarkation day dining reservations. (Both time and restaurant). Once you can access the ship’s WiFi you can book all the other reservations (or have the host/ess help you)

Looks like I need to download Firefox, lol. ETA: no change for me. Still getting a blank screen

I checked in roughly a week ago for our 10/31 cruise (gty) and am getting the same thing. So if you just checked in, sit back because it may be a while. Planner control me is annoyed, but logical me knows that it will not stop me from getting on the ship lol

☝🏻This

You will still get C&A coupons for things like 50% off a glass of wine/beer, that are not the same thing as the voucher. There is no longer a free happy hour in the DL other than appetizers — any drinks you order during the happy hour will either be using a voucher or charged to your account.

I hope there is at least a moderate level of festivity on our Halloween cruise — I’m having fun planning our costumes after years of not bothering.

If you want it to be a surprise, I would arrange it onboard. Otherwise it could show up on their planner if you book in their names, or on a card in their cabin — can’t remember if my specialty dining bookings show up in the pile on the desk. I’ve previously purchased specialty dining for others before the cruise, but never as a surprise. If you book it in your name, you might or might not be able to have them use it.

I am getting the same for our 10/31 Navigator sailing. On the app when I try to view set sail pass it says I have to proceed to the check in counter at the port. If I try the website I just get a blank screen. As you say, we will know eventually but I’m also impatient.

Seems like you are easily taking offense, and the ignore function works for you as well. Is there some issue that you have that I agreed with portions of your comment? That’s taking being easily offended to a whole new level.

Those require more manpower — they would have to be taken down and put back up daily or the fabrication would deteriorate and need to be replaced more frequently. They also would blow around quite a bit, as I’ve observed on NCL ships. And depending on the fabrication, especially more durable synthetic blends, there can be an effect of trapping heat. They certainly can help with shade management but not without another set of issues which maybe RCI decided they didn’t want to get into.

I would at least log in on the website and see what shows there — not something I’d want to find out upon arrival was actually some weird glitch and my booking had been accidentally cancelled.

Given that the earth rotates around the sun, kind of hard to provide dedicated shade unless you include walls, but then you get no breeze or view, so might as well be in your cabin. Some prefer bottled water, which is not free, and that is what is included. The onboard tap water makes me swell at this point in my life, so yes, I will have to pay for water somewhere. We do enjoy cocktails on vacation, and although our vouchers will most likely tide us over, others may count the included cocktails as a positive. I bet that button attracts a bar server a lot faster than a hand, especially on a crowded pool deck. Maybe you have a phone you are ok with leaving unattended, many are not remotely ok with that. And lots of people these days live on their phone, sadly, even on vacation so charger access out by the pool might be handy for those passengers. I disagree with your blanket opinion that liking the idea of a casita reservation is an attention seeking choice. I’m sure for some people, it is. But I am also sure that plenty of people just plain like the convenience it offers. Maybe they just want to splurge a little bit on their vacation. If you can afford it, and want to book it, great. If you think it’s a waste of money and aren’t interested, don’t book it. Not sure why you feel the need to read this thread if you have so little interest in them, or why you choose to basically insult anyone who is interested, but whatever.

The photo is not exactly accurate for what you pay for in that a paid casita includes an ice chest table with water bottles inside, two cocktails, a coded locker to store your phone etc while in the pool, a button to call for drink service, and a charge outlet. So not worth it to me to pay $180 on the sea day on my upcoming sailing (or $140 for the port day) since we don’t do the pool all day. If we were on a 7 day, I might go for it as it really is quite nice to have a dedicated space to come and go as you please with no issues of it being available for you. I think another factor is how booked/crowded is your sailing? If it’s at or close to capacity, this could be a better value.

I will add to the opinion that San Pedro is not a hub of activities. If you are there for a full day, consider an outing somewhere in the greater LA area, with the understanding that that would involve traffic, and most likely a drive of some distance. We often stay at the CrownePlaza the night before and get their parking package, and walk to the Green Onion (I think that’s the name) for dinner. We aren’t going ahead for our upcoming trip though, as the package value is not there when doing a shorter cruise (parking cost at World Cruise Center vs cost of room/package). You could go over to the Long Beach area and visit the Queen Mary and some attractions over that way.

This has not exactly happened to us, but on Anthem in January we bought it, and our friends couldn’t. They were able to buy it later when it was showing on the planner again a few weeks later.

It’s the Aperol — I will ask for mine without. My husband fell in love with the stuff when we were in Europe several months ago but it’s a hard pass for me.

Was looking at booking one myself — just not sure if it is a good value for us since we don’t spend a whole day pool side. Wish they offered half day reservations. Imagine we will pass on this trip, unless I notice the price dropping to make it appealing enough.

We are booked on the 10/31 sailing and received the email invite this morning. Hopefully you have received one by now. We also booked direct this time since it was a cheap, short cruise, although usually use a TA that participates.

San Pedro is also my home port, and we have done this itinerary at least 5 times. We have also done (and have one booked end of next month) the shorter 3 or 4 day trips. But, we don’t book a lot in the way of excursions. I did a very extensive review on our NCL trip back in 2016, which has a lot of port stuff if you feel like checking it out, link in my signature NCL Jewel Haven 2016 — just scroll past all the ship stuff. Be mindful that there has been an uptick recently of violence in these ports (Mexico generally, but lately even in Ensenada, Cabo, etc) — so pay attention to advisories, and don’t explore on your own anywhere that isn’t super touristy. In Cabo, you will be bombarded by hawkers selling boat transport/tours, jewelry, “the best restaurant” etc. The further you walk from the ship, to your right and around the harbor, the better the pricing becomes. We had a great experience and pricing by walking about halfway around the harbor to the less frenzied tour people. (This is included in the review I mentioned along with Divorce Beach and the arches). We have a pretty casual routine with our friends at this point of just hitting Cabo Wabo (I like their shrimp tacos) right at opening, then a few specific shops as we walk back. Mazatlan has the Blue Line from the port entrance that you can walk to take you to the center of the historic town (in review). At the end of the line, you will find a group of expats with maps and helpful info for you. The cathedral is lovely, as are some of the squares where you can have a nice meal outside with very festive atmosphere. Puerto Vallarta I suggest the Malecon (in review 2016) via cab. We took the bus, but these days I would opt for the taxi instead. There is also usually an excursion to Las Caletas that we LOVE. It’s pricey but worth it. We’ve done it a couple of times now. The kids will love it, no beggars, tour operator is safety conscious and does a great job. Included food is very good, massage upgrade was awesome, but I did drink way too much tequila (open bar included). They have a website where you can get more info, just google las Caletas.

Makes me glad that we had already decided (without having looked at current pricing) that we would not opt to do specialty dining on our upcoming quick local cruise (3 night out of LA for belated husband’s birthday trip). We did the unlimited package on our last cruise — a 12 night on Anthem and truly got the specialty restaurants out of our system. Between being Diamond now and having the drink vouchers, coffee machine and snacks in the lounge (we enjoyed our experience in the SL, so assuming DL is similar) and it being such a short cruise, we figure we will stick with a full on low budget quick getaway. I do think I will be bidding on, or outright upgrading us from an interior to a balcony though, lol

So glad we did our major travel year during 2021 and early this year (but booked in 2021). Our Adventure cruises (B2B) out of Nassau last August had water park passes at about $35, the cabana option was $399. We booked Beach club for $99, and an over the water cabana one day for $998. We booked an OS for the current pricing of a JS. And it’s not just RCI jacking up prices — it’s throughout the travel industry. We had the most incredible 3 week trip to Europe this past spring, with several high end hotels mixed in that I booked in Nov/Dec that are all now double or triple regardless of what date I look at — even the moderate hotels. People told us we were nuts to take these trips, but we are happy we did because we couldn’t afford them now. Oh, and did I mention no crowds. Sorry OP, that you are facing this kind of pricing. It’s possible the prices will drop, so just check regularly and maybe you will luck out.