KroozNut

"You should be at the airport by 8;45 and most likely before 8:30" This is the key point in this entire scenario..'should be'.. My advice is to always build a reasonable amount of wiggle room into your departure timeline, which will help mitigate any unforeseen hiccups in the process.

One's mileage will always vary if there are ANY glitches in the process from debarking the ship to arrival at the airport for a flight. The potential for unexpected delays in the process is real, and can really mess up the perfect scenario.

Thanks @Bocker3 and @ARandomTraveler for the advice. Their countdown clock for the 1-day sale says it will be there for another 12 hours, but I think I'll go ahead and pull the trigger on it soon so I don't risk missing out. After all, $100 is $100, right? 🙂

I just canceled my original DBP purchase because today the total price (for us) dropped by nearly $100 (1-day BOGO 50% off sale). 🙂 Is it pretty safe to wait to re-book at the lower price, so that my refund/credit gets processed correctly? I'm somewhat concerned that an immediate re-book might muck-up their accounting dept with a quick cancel/re-book transaction scenario. Again, for you RCI veterans, am I overthinking this? Is my concern unfounded and I shouldn't be worried about them crediting and recharging at the new price without a hitch? Thanks much!

I'm not really sure what a 'Plan B' might entail, other than trying to get re-booked on another (later) flight after you miss your original one. But that goes without saying, and can be a major hassle, not to mention potential additional expense. Not much of a Plan B IMHO.. The alternative is to book a later outbound flight in the first place, which allows ample time to make the flight, and considerably reduces the need to even have a so-called Plan B.

Sorry, it's absolutely possible, and I've done it for each of our bookings for the past 25+ years of cruising.

Actually, I prefer to be my own TA representing my own best interests and dealing directly with the cruise line... no middleman/woman/person 🙂

I have the exact same scenario as @RoundGuy2771. We have confirmed MTD reservations for 6:45pm each evening of our Apr '24 sailing. Our booking invoice shows: Dining (Waitlist): MY TIME() MY TIME()

I just finished booking 6:45pm reservations in our cruise planner for every evening of our 9-day sailing next April. No problem at all..

Probably.. but personally, I wouldn't schedule any outbound flight from a returning cruise before 12pm, but that's just me.

Okay, got it.. and thank you for the clarification. 👍

Awesome, sounds like a great venue!

And you (we) sure got it, didn't we... in spades! 😯

Thanks, is that venue open to all guests, or only to high loyalty tier folks?

Thanks, and I have to agree, I also had a bit of sticker shock when I saw the grand total at checkout! 😬 If I recall, I believe the 18% is added at the end, and not part of the advertised price up front.

Okay, so you don't pay ahead online when you make the reservation? Because it does list a pp price in the app (~$36 right now I believe). Is it just a reservation pre-cruise, and payment is made onboard once you dine? Sorry for the confusion..

For an RCI newbie, can you translate 'VCL' for me? ☺️We'll be sailing Explorer next spring and am trying to learn as fast as I can.

I'm also new to RCI, and am still trying to learn the various nuances of their DBP. When you mention 'pre-18% service charge', and if we have the DBP, that 18% service charge is factored in with the price of the drink, do I have that right? Because, I recall that I paid the 18% service charge at checkout when I purchased the package.

@JustUs275If you do give it a try, please let us know how it goes. Similar to what poocher described, we're planning to book Izumi online for dinner in a few weeks for a future sailing, so would be interested in how it works.

Dare I ask you to elaborate? 😬

I believe OP posted that their $1 bribes worked for extra drinks, but other than that...nothing.

Which bar on Explorer is considered the pseudo 'sports bar'?

And you're not Jen and John now? 🤔🙂

Well, you have to admit that your username could cause some folks to be suspicious of your loyalty to Royal.. 😉

This is not unique to RCI. All cruise lines have their steadfast loyalists, who continually lament the 'downgraded experience' with their cruise line of choice.