jani

Has your FCC been issued in NOK or in USD/EUR? If in NOK, you may have no other option than going through the Norwegian call center (although I would still call back and insist that this is should be allowed as Royal does allow it in other markets and ask to speak to a supervisor). If issued in EUR/USD, just call the general  Royal Caribbean non-US customer number +1-305-341-0204.

I just used an FCC (issued in EUR) through them as a deposit for a cruise, no credit card needed at all. They put a hold booking on the cruise for 5 days for the FCC to be applied by the right department, but it was done in less than 24 hours and I received a new invoice with no additional deposit needed and no other payment due before final payment next year)

-jani

Just received a welcome email from Junior Flores for our Transatlantic cruise leaving May 5th.

-jani

We have been waitlisted for MTD probably 6 or 7 times in the past couple of years. The waitlist has cleared every single time for us (as Diamond+) with the exception of once (when we booked 3 days before the cruise), but even that one was fixed in 2 minutes by the Maitre D' once onboard.

-jani

2 hours ago, Ashland said:

Since the OP already accepted compensation in the form of an additional (inside) cabin...isn't the door closed for anything further?

No,  the inside cabin they provided  to sleep is not compensation...it's the bare minimum they had to do to try to fix a small part of the issue (sleeping being impossible). It did not fix the issue. 

Partial refund (unlikely), FCC (expect around 30% based on previous similar expeerience) , etc... will be the compensation.

-jani

On 4/11/2019 at 6:17 AM, Ourusualbeach said:

 On the old package it listed Hibachi as specifically being excluded.  With this new package it only lists Chefs Table and Culinary experiences/activities which now in hindsight I would not be surprised to see Royal claim Hibachi is a culinary experience.  

 

 

Cruise planner for upcoming cruise now lists the Unlimited Dining Package.....but also the only Izumi that can now be booked separately in the planner is ....Izumi Hibachi Experience. So most likely still excluded ☹️

3 hours ago, jgoodm said:

Is there LTE available?

2 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Nope.

LTE/3G was definitely available on at least one of the Haitian networks last September and was able to use data through the phone. Not the fastest  LTE by any means but perfectly usable. WiFi from Oasis did not reach even barefoot beach.

Call to Diamond+ desk yesterday was routed to Guatemala...

-jani

9:00 would definitely be too early. You would just end up sitting/standing inside or outside the terminal for an hour waiting for check-in to open and then another hour waiting to be let on the ship.

Personally we try to time our arrival around noon to have lunch and then be able to drop our carry-ons in the room at 1:00pm when they open the rooms.

If you want to board as early as possible without waiting around too much, I would suggest a taxi around 10:30am if the drive is only 15 minutes

-jani

1, On embarkation, can I take bottled water on board?

Officially no, in practice yes

2, If not, we have purchased the Deluxe Beverage Package, so does this cover bottled water?

Yes it does cover bottled water (500ml non-branded water). You can get bottles at any bar

3, And if it does, where do we buy bottled water on board - is it just 'the shop', or is it available in bars as well? (we're used to P&O where there seems to be a single 'buy everything' shop from toys to toothpaste).

See answer above, at any bar. There is a "General Store" as well, but not for water

4, In terms of the Deluxe Beverage Package, is it obvious what is covered and what is not? I assume it's available in all bars? And is automatically added to your account, so when you buy a drink and present your cruise card it's all sorted at point of sale?

Available at almost all bars ( main exception is the Bionic bar but as you are sailing from the UK, none of the ships there have one). Covers wine/beer/cocktails/mocktails/soft drinks and other drinks up to a certain amount (typically 12/13 USD, but I believe it may be slightly higher on UK cruises as I think the published prices include the gratuity). You will probably have the information in your room when you board, otherwise just ask any bartender and they can tell you the limit). They will sometimes print out a zero $ slip, but often not and just hand you the drinks.

5, Finally can you buy 2 drinks at the same time (1 for me and 1 for Mrs BanburyBlue), or do we have to buy them individually to get them covered by the Deluxe Beverage Package?

You can have 2 drinks at the same time as long as you have both your Seapass cards with you when you order. (also they will often allow a bottle of water in addition to your drink with only one card)

Apologies for the basic questions. I can't seem to get clear answers on the RCI FAQs page, and a lot of info on this site was posted quite a few years ago.

Not to worry, the package is very easy to use. :) Enjoy your cruise!

We used https://www.suntransfers.com/ in April for our Symphony cruise and the experience was very smooth (not to mention relatively cheap). Usually we have just taken taxis in Barcelona but wanted to try something else for once.

-jani

I believe that there is a non refundable deposit on cruises booked in Europe due to their different consumer laws.

Only in some European countries. UK for example has a non-refundable deposit, but some others do not.

-jani

I'm in Spain ,Only seems to be one number here and closed weekends

You can try calling RCCL international reservations at +1-305-341-0204 and they may be able to amend your reservation. Just select Europe from the prompt. They are open during the weekend too.

As prices can change daily...might be worth a shot.

-jani

It's only the security personnel and they are very clear about the fact that you are being recorded.

Exmaple: The hairdryer in our room triggered the fire alarm on Navigator (in Grand Suites the hairdryer is in the vanity next to the bed and there is a fire alarm right above the vanity). Besides the immediate (within 5 seconds) phone call from the bridge (we explained the hairdryer situation and they stopped the alarm), a person from security came to check within 1-2 minutes that indeed everything was ok in the room.

He did not enter the room at all before stating clearly that he was wearing a body camera. I guess this is due to the fact that your stateroom normally has no cameras in it ;)

-jani

Is anyone interested?

YES! :)

We are going to be in Star Loft 1720 in September and look forward to reading your review.

-jani

Misplaced our Set sail passes and of course when leaving home it was within 3 days so could not re-print. Printed the first pages of the cruise docs instead to enter the terminal without a wait (otherwise they have to look you up) and no delay whatsoever at check-in. From taxi to onboard in less than 10 minutes (this was in Barcelona).

Nothing to worry about :)

-jani

Yes there is a shuttle, but unfortunately not free (can't recall the price as we did not use it). At the nearby West Terminal, you also have public transport and taxis available.

... or in case of nice weather, a pleasant 45 minutes walk to the market square. ;p

The shuttle or taxi should not take more than 15-20 minutes depending on traffic (count 30 minutes using the public transport).

And yes the market place is the perfect location to start the day. Helsinki is relatively small and the market square area has most of the Helsinki sights within walking distance.

Hope this helps.

-jani

Thank you for the B2B answer!

-jani

Laura, thank you for the pictures and the review! We will be doing a B2B2B on the Jewel later this year and was wondering how the turn-around day between cruises was handled for B2B cruisers?

Thanks!

-jani

Or you can use a shared shuttle. http://www.civitavecchiacabservice.com/ for example charges 65 Euro for 2 pax. We have used them several times and they are very reliable. Much cheaper than the cruiseline's transfers (and a small minivan instead of a huge bus...)

-jani

We are Elite with Celebrity, Gold with Royal so we get an automatic upgrade to Gold with MLife.

A little unrelated, but just wanted to let you know that if you are Elite on Celebrity, Royal will automatically give you Diamond instead of Gold. You just need to contact C&A

-jani

Barcelona is very easy and a noon flight is absolutely no problem. We have even made an 8:45AM flight out of Barcelona with plenty of time to spare (self disembark at 6:30 AM and in the airport lounge by 7:15...)

-jani

11 night cruises typically have 2 formal nights

-jani

We always use http://www.civitavecchiacabservice.com/ . They do both private and shared transfers. Airport to port is 65 Euro for 2 pax on the shared shuttle service. Definitely more expensive than the train, but a lot more convenient.

-jani

Feasible? Yes

Reasonable? No

So many things can go wrong and you need to be checked in 90 minutes before the cruise (3PM for a 4:30 departure) or be denied boarding. A 45 minute delay on the flight and you won't make it.

Way too close for comfort and not worth the risk unless there is no other flight option (night before?)

-jani

From personal experience, we have cleared the waitlist before the cruise every time (about 6 or 7 times now) except one. The only time we did not clear before the cruise, it was fixed in 2 minutes by the Maitre d' on embarkation day. So success rate so far 100% :)

But first of all, do make sure that you are on the waiting list. If you are correctly placed on the waiting list, it shows in your Cruise Planner on royalcaribbean.com. In preferences and requests it should show your current dining assignement and the waitlist for My Time. This is also where you are able to check if you have cleared the waitlist (the dining room assignment will change to My Time). If it does not show a waitlist, contact whomever you booked the cruise with (travel agent, royal, etc..) to fix it.

Second, in case the waitlist does not clear, on boarding day, check the Cruise Compass (and/or welcome aboard letter) and check for the desk hours of the Maitre d' and head to him as early as possible.

Enjoy your cruise!

-jani