TwoMisfits

I actually disagree. Don't buy if you don't like the price. If folks all book at the high price, it will never be further discounted, so you'll never get to cancel and rebook. However, if RCCL has no one buying the package, then it will be forced into a further discount. Get the crowd into a "no buy" stance and you win the pricing game. Give in and have the crowd do the same, and you lose.

There are a lot of ways to save on those types of vacations, especially with a party of 6, like my crew is, that are not available as savings for cruises. For a similar driving vacation (which my future cruise in 2024 and my land based vacation in 2023 was), I can price all the different components for land based and get best value. For a cruise based, I'm getting all the pricing from one company for all the components, so it's harder to get best value. For the record, my 2024 cruise vacation will be my most expensive vacation of the past few years (aka - post Covid), and that includes a themepark vacation (Universal) to Orlando (with air) in 2021, a trip to Las Vegas (with air) in 2021 (with 2020's vacation money), a trip to Colonial Williamsburg/Busch Gardens in 2022, and a Myrtle Beach vacation in 2023. But the cruise was at least close, and being close, I find a lot of value b/c I wanted to give my kids the experience b/c they like going international and they like being on a boat as a change of pace vacation where the fun is brought to them vs going to the fun. It's our 1st cruise since 2018 (where we had cruised 5 of the previous 7 years then) just b/c we waited for pricing to match value and convenience. PS - Since the price of the cruise has more than doubled since I booked it, it would no longer be close, and thus in 2025, at this pricing, I would not book another. I know I can find a better value land based vacation that will make my kids and my wallet just as happy.

I also got my cruise for next year at a wildly low price compared to its current booking price. And this cruise (a holiday week) I'd never book at its current prices, so I'm not planning on cruising in 2025 or beyond til the value (pricing meets benefits) links up to what I have for my 2024 cruise. I went through a few dry spells in cruising and have switched between 3 lines, so I have no loyalty and no real loyalty benefits to lose, so it's very easy for me to find equivalent value or better land based fun.

Yeah, add me to the never paying group. Of course, that's b/c with my allergies, I can't eat pizza. But even if I could, I'm not paying for crappy food court pizza on a cruise ship. Next, they'll want me to pay for the crappy hot dog, too. My kids will adapt and find other food - or wait for the next day's breakfast and go to town. Royal's choice, although some of those breakfast proteins can get pricey, especially compared to pizza slices.

So, the fast lane...does that mean for all open previous Key activities, my kids will get to never wait in line more than 5 minutes? That would actually be a much bigger perk for them than the dedicated single hour per activity that doesn't tend to be when they might want...

Does anyone know what the currently included Symphony of the Seas Key-only activities and times are? I'm sure it will change before my cruise, but I've tried google searching to get an idea, and everything is a Covid-era cruise, so I'm not sure it's on point. Thanks if anyone has info!

Or they planned to heat and plate X dishes per hour, and had too many show up (or too many requested and eaten) the 1st few hours, getting behind and having to cut short full heating times for the later diners...

Thank you for this email...since I had to have it for personal peace of mind to avoid crowds for embarkation, 1st day lunch, and debarkation, I did jump on the Key. More than I wanted to pay, but 1st sale since I booked (and it was a full 25% off), and looking at last year's Black Friday, not sure it will get better on an enormous new ship during a holiday week sale. It helped the kids told me they couldn't believe we might live the week without internet when they have phones and boyfriends to talk to...and a spouse who also felt like he was gonna need to be connected. Then, it wasn't just me avoiding all the mob scene crowds of the 1st and last day. They are uber-excited, and we booked crappy cabins so I originally could get this for me - then we saw the original price ($44) and waited and waited...I just wish it was under $30/person/day and not $32/person/day...but if it was, maybe it would have sold out before I saw this post. And selling out would have made my stress level for the vacation skyrocket. PS - My daughter did make the point that if I waited for Black Friday, with inflation, it might not get any cheaper anyway, and it's not like her dad's salary goes up between now and then...I did also tell the spouse when we are old enough to go as a twosome, this will be much easier to buy. Oh well...at least the kids will love skipping lines for the activities!

I think the preciseness is in RCCL labeling the area "gluten free." If they do, they are guaranteeing zero gluten, not "small enough you won't notice" amounts of gluten. So all folks can trust the food they are eating there, no matter the severity of their need to avoid gluten.

Aldi's sells a "Crispy Rice" generic cereal that is fully gluten free...I'm betting it's that (or another generic version of the same)...

I tried to book the $199 UDP error, just to see. It was impossible. Ah well, I didn't need specialty dining, and now I probably will not book it on principle unless it gets that low again. My price went back to normal ($260.99) a few hours after the error.

I'm hoping 1st night dinner was horrid b/c the kitchen never caught up after inspection, and that day 2 onward was much improved!

And to give you hope, they do normally grow out of it. Peels weren't vomited instantly around age 7...and now peels are happily eaten as a teen (although I still peel almost everything out of habit). But I had 2 picky eaters out of 4 (although only one insta-vomiter) - by age 10, most of the worst of it passed, and now they eat almost everything (although textures are still one reason they don't like things, which comes from my spouse, who won't eat raw bananas and tomatoes just for that reason)...

OP, I would just plan on paying the child fee for the older child. It's $10, and it makes everything easy. If your children eat nothing, and the waiter/manager decides to pixie dust you after eating, all the better. But this way, you don't have to worry about...anything...related to dining there, separate than your kids' needs. And I do get kid sensory issues. The Easter holiday of vomit at the Outback b/c my spouse didn't stop the waitstaff from putting apples with peel in front of my son fast enough will forever live in my memory. The kids don't mean to be difficult eaters - they just are:).

Yeah, I don't know why they'd match anyone anymore with the diamond vouchers usable anywhere...all they are doing is giving money hand over fist to folks who didn't "earn" it with prior spending. It's not like there's really anything that now splits a family on board if someone has status and someone doesn't. And the drink vouchers can be shared with other people, so if an adult kid wants a drink, the adult parent can still give them a free one from their own benefits...

If it were me - Ask for it served family style - you'd like the plate delivered with each person's solo entree b/c you will share it at your table...even if you don't.

Spectacular. My fam and I swim on a cruise (not lay out), so we only need 1 chair for all 6 of our stuff, and we just find one when we arrive at the pools. It would be nice to not struggle to find a chair.

And now it's officially a full 2K less...another sale, another $120 ($20/person) increase. Crazy!

I booked my May 2024 cruise on MLK weekend 2023 - every week I see this cruise climb higher (and yet, if I try to book a room, there are tons of my type available). I'm glad I got in at the price I did, which is about $2K less than it would cost me for the same 2 interior cabins for 3 now...

Since I have 2 cabins and 6 total people, I always prepay to keep the daily bills cleaner, so errors are much easier to spot (I have had to fix 1-2 mis-bills over my cruises)...

That's my sale price, too - $169.99. It does make this an easy pass for my family, too. Reg price is listed at $179. I told the spouse I'd spend $2K extra on special stuff for the spouse/kids (since we already have the cruise and grats prepaid). There are 6 of us, so that's not as much money as it seems. But it appears that with RCCL's "extras" pricing, that money is gonna go to the ports, b/c my value bones just can't spring for things tons pricier than NYC/Las Vegas. Which is okay, b/c it's been 6 years since we've been on RCCL (once we cruise), so everything, even the free stuff, will be brand new (especially since this is also a new ship for us)...so free stuff only it might be, which I'm okay with... But I hold out hope for Mem Day/Labor Day/Black Friday/New Years deals...

Thanks, I actually have a few base dishes, not just a salad, that would work in my mental mind...some even fit the food theme nights (like another could be a raw bruschetta topped grilled protein with a white bean ragu and a macedonia fruit salad for Italian night, vs "have a vegan pasta" - I did this for a murder mystery dinner party for chicken breast, chicken thigh, and roasted portobello b/c I had folks who only ate chicken breast, folks who only ate chicken thigh, and folks who ate vegan - and one person didn't eat the topping, but since it was raw topping and added after the protein cook, that was an easy leave-off - see component cooking at its best)...

My Time Dining rotates time and wait staff, while traditional dining does not. So, it's probably 2 reasons why customers are not allowed to opt out. 1. There is no singular waitstaff to blame for bad service since patrons experience so many. 2. The percent who were opting out of automatic tips after choosing MTD was enormous, so to shut that down, they include the inability to opt out, as they do on some international cruises.

There's a restaurant I frequent in Williamsburg that is on the top 10 allergy places to eat in America that does this. It's genius to have a "make your own" dish that can be pieced together, and that was the one thing that shocked me that wasn't on the menu. Even if that dish is a main course "make your own salad" with the ability to add (say, like select up to 3 - grilled steak, fish, chicken, tofu, portobello mushroom, cheese, eggs, chick'n, etc, etc) to a salad of raw and/or cooked veg with an oil and lemon or oil and vinegar dressing...

Key for my cruise is $42.99/person/day before tax...that's too rich for my blood right now. I told the spouse it would have to reduce by at least half for me to buy it...just b/c I'd be buying for 6...so the internet included is only so valuable... Although it was nice the price started so high. It took the "do I buy" decision right out of my mental calculus b/c at that price, it was so obviously no. Same as the all-in alcohol package - right now, it's "on sale" for $79.99/day plus tax/tip. Spouse told me at that price, he'd rather just stick to a drink a day and a coffee out of pocket. We'll see if that one drops later... I guess it's nice the May 2024 prices are so high...it keeps all the money in my pocket for things I don't actually need to enjoy the ship...