ToothDoc78

Hello!  Our family of 4 (myself, husband, and kids, ages 16 and 15) are frequent cruisers with Royal.  We are looking at booking 2 rooms for our next cruise on Harmony with adjoining (not connecting) rooms, one grand suite and one junior suite.  We'd like to put myself and hubby in GS and kids in JS.  I know JS will have priority embarkation and dinner in Coastal Kitchen, but if we book this way, would kids be denied access to suite lounge or Coastal Kitchen for breakfast/lunch?  What about other benefits like priority tender or debarkation?  Just trying to see if we can make this work.  Thanks!

My family of 4 all reached Diamond Plus on this last cruise.  I know we get one free laundry bag per cruise now, but is that per person or per stateroom?  Trying to determine how much less I need to pack lol!  Thanks!

We’re sailing in August and November (Owners suite and Royal Family suite)and we’re wondering what changes were made. Hoping at least the beds are comfortable! Anyone know if we can do a rollaway bed in the owners suite? Trying to see if my kids don’t have to share the sofa bed lol. Thanks!

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Check with your carrier too - we have Verizon and can sign up for their international plan that just includes Canada and Mexico. I think it was maybe $5/day for their Travel Pass? That allowed us phone usage in Mexican ports to check in. I don't think it was something you had to permanently add to your plan.

I think you should be fine as long as the cut off is 11:30 - I would double check as we've had different cut off times on different ships (I think it was 1 pm at the earliest when departing Seattle). On our last cruise, the cut off was 12 pm and our flight left at 11:56 and they would not let us sign up. It is a regulation by the airline that sets the times, not the cruise line. The concierge tried to get it changed for us with no avail. :)

You could buy a car for less than that! Is there a different company to try?

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Try using a different browser. I often have trouble with Royal’s website when using Chrome- Firefox seems to be less buggy for me. It may just be the site having temporary issues too.

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The pool at the W looks amazing! We stayed there pre and post cruise last November, but that pool was still under construction. :( At least now I’ll have an excuse to go back again!

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Do you tip the casino host (or is this even allowed)? Obviously if you're not spending time in the casino it would not apply to you, but on our last cruise, the host went out of her way to make sure we got our VIP status, as well as applying an additional obc to our account as a "thank you." We always tip our servers and dealers well, but it never occurred to me if this was customary or even allowed with the host. We did mention her favorably on the survey as well. Thoughts?

While I've never sailed Disney, I can give a little insight on cabins. We've done several room types with our kids, ranging from a junior suite, connecting balconies, and the 2 bedroom royal family suite (now called the 2 bedroom grand suite).

The junior suite worked fine when the kids were younger (first cruise they were 5 and 6). There was a pullman bed available but the two of them were small enough and got along well enough just to share the sofa bed for a week. The junior suite gives you a larger room, larger bathroom with tub, and a very nice walk in closet for storage. You also earn double Crown and Anchor status points and get priority suite check in on embarkation, which can be helpful depending on when you're sailing. You do not get any other suite benefits, however.

We did connecting balconies last year (kids were 8 and 9) with DH and I in one and the kids in the other. This was a great setup, especially having 2 bathrooms when my DD got a stomach virus the last night of the cruise.

:( I was not concerned about my kids leaving the room unsupervised, but a little wary of who could enter while we were asleep. With the deadbolt locked, however, this is not an issue. You can get an actual door alarm to bring with you, or as another poster suggested, barricade the door or attach something that would alert you if they tried to open it. Balcony doors are very heavy, and when locked, I doubt a child would be able to open it on their own. We were able to open the balcony partition to make one large balcony, which was very nice. It was great to not have to tiptoe around the kids after they went to bed, or if one wanted a nap. We kept the dividing door open pretty much the entire time and it made it feel like we had our own suite. Disadvantages were the extra cost of 2 rooms (depending on the sailing this may be cheaper than a junior suite though), not getting the double points or priority embarkation, and no bathtub/larger shower.

This past cruise we had a 2 bedroom grand suite (formerly royal family suite). This is a suite with 2 bedrooms (inside room with bathroom for kids, plus master oceanview room with bathroom. It also has a separate living area and very large balcony. This was an amazing setup for our family of 4. It also allowed us full suite benefits, including priority embarkation and debarkation, concierge lounge, reserved pool seating, and more. The main disadvantage here is cost. I was able to get a great deal during a kids sail free promo, otherwise I would not have been able to afford this option (price decreased from over $8,000 to $6,000, still significantly more expensive than previous cruises.

My kids love the kids club on Royal, but they have nothing else to compare it to. Know that the age groups are divided as under 3, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-11. They will be placed by their age at the time of sailing and they are strict with keeping kids within their age group. Depending on the ship, some do not have a supervised program for kids under 3. They do mainly crafts and sports activities (gagaball and dodgeball seem to be favorites). Older kids in the 9-11 group can sign themselves in and out if you give permission (we did not). I can't comment on kids club meals as my kids always ate with us, but I think they normally take the kids up to the buffet as a group.

Let me know if you have any other specific questions.

Thanks for all the info! When I priced it out, I don’t think it’s enough of a savings. Now we’re trying to decide if we want to fly or drive. It’s about 10.5 hours each way from southwest Michigan to the port. Even with gas, tolls, parking, etc. it would save about $1000. We’ve taken many long distance road trips so that drive doesn’t seem too daunting. Going to look at the hotel suggestions- thank you! Even if we drive we want to get in the night before.

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I had this happen where website showed the $400 obc but when I called they said it was only $100 (booked 2 br GS on Adventure). Was on the phone for almost an hour while rep and her supervisor figured it out. They were able to get it changed to the $400. They used a different booking code that made the overall cruise price go up by about $40, but it then gave us the correct obc amount.

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We got the free cruise oceanview cabin certificates last cruise (DH and I each got one). I believe it was 3600 points. Its a free cruise in an oceanview cabin on select sailings (they give you a list) or $750 off (per certificate) any cruise. When you call to book, you call a special number and book through Casino Royale. They often have additional "casino rates" too for some rooms/sailings. We were able to combine our 2 certificates and are sailing on the Brilliance in February (4 night) for free, just paid taxes, fees, and gratuities (about $270 for both of us).

We tend to play 2-3 hours a day in the casino on sea days, usually less on port days. We play some slots but tend to play tables more. You do get rated better for slots than tables, however. Remember points are not based on how much you lose. If you put $20 in a slot, you're getting points for every so many dollars you play, so if you're going up and down on that original $20 for a while, you earn more points then if you keep betting and lose it all right away. The past cruise, we actually walked away just about even on our gambling budget, so I can consider the certificates a bonus. If you lose, obviously you may be paying for your free cruise (and then some!). We have a separate budget for the casino for the week and when it's gone, we don't take out more.

You would be refunded taxes and port fees I believe if he is a no show at the port, and could cancel any prepaid gratuities, excursions, drink packages, etc. As far as the rest of the cruise fare it would be non-refundable. I do not believe there are any penalties though.

Yes! I think that with any vacation, it is what you make of it. Don't let little (or sometimes not so little) issues get in the way of enjoying yourself. A few times I found myself humming along to Frozen's "Let it Go" in my head on one of our previous cruises, but I found if I didn't dwell on something that didn't end up the way I was expecting, it was easier to enjoy myself and relax!

Thanks, Bob. Will try that!

Anyone done this? Is it a huge pain to get to the port? We are flying in the day before (a Thursday in August) so at least we wouldn't have to worry about being rushed, but I'm wondering if savings in airfare would just be eaten up by cabfare/car service to get from hotel near airport to the cruise port. Thanks!

I've had the issue with the CC account. When I called tech support they told me that RC's website does not play nice with several browsers, particularly Chrome. I tried using Firefox instead and had no problems. Just something to try! I've also now switched to using Firefox any time I navigate their site and it seems to work much better.

Thanks, Ken - I was aware they were supposed to be the same status but haven't been too concerned since they're normally in the same room with us so it's not a big issue. They'll be emerald on their own after our Aug. 2018 when DH and I make it to Diamond. I'll be sure to call and make sure the accounts are linked properly.

It was a tough decision, but for our family, the larger room was important. We just got off FOS a couple weeks ago and had a 2 br GS and it was great. Sometimes 4 in the same cabin can be a little too much family togetherness, lol! We try to avoid internet and "unplug" so wasn't too concerned with that. I will be bummed to not try Coastal Kitchen out though! Will definitely try to get back onto the Harmony at some point. We've been on Oasis already and really enjoyed it.

Thanks for the suggestions! Would love to stay at the Waterside Marriott but don’t want the nearly $500/night price tag since we won’t be there long enough to really enjoy it! I’ll look into the Courtyard.

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Ours all went up too. Ended up cancelling/rebooking our November '18 cruise switching from Harmony to Adventure though. Same itinerary for 8 days. 4 people in GS on Harmony was $6800 (inc. gratuities) when I booked initially. Was able to switch to Adventure (same week and ports) for $6300 inc. gratuities plus $400 Obc for a 2 bedroom GS! Smaller/older ship but we decided it was worth it to save $900 AND get a much larger suite!

We're sailing on the Brilliance Feb. 8th. We've never sailed out of Tampa before. Which terminal will we leave from? Any recommendations on nearby hotels, preferably either SPG or Marriott brand (have points to use)? We're flying in late, so just looking for a clean and comfortable place to sleep and maybe somewhere with a free breakfast! Thanks!

I called and was told since the documents had already been issued, they could not change it. [emoji849]

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For our last cruise, my 10 year old DS was somehow listed as the first person on the reservation, so our set sail passes and luggage tags all said platinum (he and my DD are platinum while DH and I are emerald). Our sea pass cards did have the correct designations. The issue with this was when I went to fill out all the info prior to printing the set sail pass, DS was the primary and all charges went through his name (my credit card was used). It wasn’t a huge deal as I know he wouldn’t be running around on his own buying things, but it was really annoying that RC couldn’t remedy this and not have a minor listed first in the reservation. I was told it’s completely random which name is listed first.

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