karmacats

A couple of quick questions, if you don't mind:

1. Since Saturday Night Fever was moved to night 2, did they move In the Air to night 5? or did they choose a different night for it? (I hope it's still there!)

2. On some Bermuda sailings earlier this season, a couple people reported Chops specials - if you booked onboard it was $20 rather than $35, and was not limited to the first night like the specials sometimes are. Did you notice anything like this?

Thanks! DH and I have been on Liberty before but never to Bermuda, and this will be my mom's first cruise, so I'm trying to make sure she doesn't miss anything major like the shows or Chops. :)

The $1143 that is stated per person for a superior balcony is the highest price listed. However, when you click on the area where it states view summary of charges it shows $1409 per person. Both prices are without the taxes. If that is not false advertising, since you are not getting the second person half off since they raised the amounts of each person to a different amount to cover the so called half off at check out, then what would you call it?

The $1143 already includes the discount. So when you go further in the booking, the price shows at $1409, but then when the discount is applied you're back to the $1143 price. Long story short, the discount isn't off the originally-shown price, but rather the originally-shown price already includes the discount.

I don't think it's false advertising, but it is tricky. i don't know why royal feels the need to go through the charade, when in the end you're going to see the actual price, and then decide whether it's worth it or not.

"they've been hacked" was my first thought, too. i agree using the aqua theater as the launching point doesn't make sense. using the sports deck makes a lot more sense. i wonder if it's just a case of whoever's in charge of the twitter feed hasn't been on oasis or allure and just can't figure out the deck plans. we all know that most royal customer service agents haven't even been on the ships - this could be a similar situation, where the tweeter (is that the right word in this context?) just can't visualize where the start of the slide will be.

those other three tubes kind of look claustrophobia inducing. i may be rethinking my desire to try one.... :eek:

That still wouldn't be 10 stories. From the sports deck to the boardwalk is 10 stories though, so that may actually be the plan.

That would make a lot more sense.

OMG! Time for me to book Harmony!

 

But wait... The Aquatheater and boardwalk are on the same deck. ????

maybe the "launch" platform will be waaaay up near the diving platforms?

if this wasn't on royal's actual twitter page, i'd think it was a joke. maybe they got hacked. :p i just can't figure the logistics.

if it's true, it'll be cool, but probably too scary for me. i'll stick with the wimpy waterslides over central park!

btw, love seeing her name finally painted on in lloyd's pics. yay!

The Horseshoe Bay Beach shuttle is $16/person round trip and leaves from Zone 6 at the port. It takes you down to the beach entrance at the bottom of the hill and also picks you back up there as well.

 

The ticket also comes with a BOGO for a Dark n Stormy at the Frog and Onion.

 

 

More expensive than the bus, but it's only a 20 minute ride. We were told from people who took the bus that it took about 90 minutes each way because of all the stops (plus the stop for the beach is at the top of the hill).

Yes, thanks! that's the shuttle i meant. i knew it took you to the bottom of the beach, but not much else about it. this is good info for us to have for our upcoming trip, too. :)

Thanks for the post - yes, we are following you. In reality - it is called able to afford another cruise since we don't have to pay to fly to Florida. We have sailed every class ship except the Freedom Class - so I am very anxious to sail the Liberty. In a junior suite this time - will miss our Grand Suite - and all the windows and the huge balcony. I think you were kind person that sent me all the pics before we sailed. Are you in a grand suite again?

i know - sailing out of NJ is great. i wish they could get a bigger ship into baltimore, as that's only a 1-hour drive instead of 4 for us. i'm sure we'll try the grandeur out of baltimore one day, just for the convenience, even though i generally prefer bigger ships.

yep, that was me with the pictures of the SGS on anthem. we're in a balcony for this upcoming liberty cruise, though it's center-hump so i can't complain too much. :D last time we were on liberty we were in an OS, which was great, but the sailing this summer is so expensive that the balcony is costing us $500 more than our OS did last liberty cruise (same ship, same length, though different itinerary). :eek: we're in an OS with a wrap-around balcony for anthem later this year, though - right above our old SGS location on quantum, in fact. we generally go back and forth between balconies and suites, depending on price.

if you're looking for a good deal, check out feb 25, 2017 on harmony. it's out of florida, but dirt cheap. i got a crown loft for i think $4800, and friends were getting balconies for $1600-ish total for 2 people. i haven't checked it for a few days but for some reason prices on it have stayed low even as other harmony prices have risen.

i hope you love liberty! this trip will be our 4th time on her, so yeah, we like her just fine. :p

We are sailing Liberty of the Seas to Bermuda - years ago we were able to purchase tokens for the bus to Horseshoe Bay onboard to save time. Is this service still offered?

Treacher, are you copying me?!??!? :D first quantum, now liberty to bermuda (we're going in august).

just an fyi that there's now a shuttle that goes directly to horseshoe bay and back from the pier. it's apparently pretty new, so not sure if it was there last time you were in bermuda. i haven't been to bermuda yet myself so can't be much help about where to pick it up or pay, but there's info about it on the bermuda board.

What's a fish extender

A gift exchange some guests do on the disney cruise line. each stateroom has a little hook (originally shaped like a fish, hence the name) outside their door, and passengers hang little gift holders out there (they kind of look like hanging shoe organizers), and others come around and leave little stocking-stuffer type gifts. if you do a google search for "fish extender" you'll see the gift holders/pockets - these days people go nuts getting them customized, and there are a lot of people on craft websites that make them.

In what way did it sound like I was refuting that, when I started with "that's right"? Just curious. I was assuming that the poster meant for two people, when saying, "the cost of my soda for a week would be almost $100," as that would be about double the cost of one person. But, based on that assumption that it was for two people, I stand by my statement that "that's right." :D

I think the confusion is that the OP was looking at a two-week cruise (though they did say "a week" later on). The soda package is about $100 for one person for two weeks (or, as pointed out, two people for one week :) ).

ANYThiNG. else I CANT do on RCI? Ugh.

I think i saw you on the transatlantic harmony roll call, which would explain the 2-week cruise.

halfway through the cruise royal generally offers a laundry special where anything you can fit in a laundry bag they give you (decent-size, though not huge) is a set price of maybe $25 or $30 to wash. they won't wash everything, but will take underwear, shirts, maybe shorts. someone who's used the service before should have more details. it's pretty standard, even on 7-night cruises, so i have no reason to believe they won't offer it on harmony, especially for a 13-night cruise.

i've never embarked from barcelona before, but in florida and nj we always bring on at least a 6-pack of water and no one has ever said anything. some people put luggage tags on cases of water and it makes it to their room. i have a friend who only drinks pepsi products (royal has coke) so she brings cans of soda - again, no problem. obviously no guarantees, but having an issue is rare.

as for soda, the package would be $6.50/night, so about $85 for the 13 nights (forgive my math if it's wrong....). with built-in gratuity, it would be about $100. not cheap, but certainly not enough to make up the difference in price from disney. :) also, unlike disney, where you have to get your soda from the soda station by the pool and if you get it in the dining room or from a bar you will be charged, the royal package covers soda from anywhere except room service - dining room, bars, etc. if the harmony has freestyle machines (i think she's supposed to) you can get hundreds of drink combinations.

Some things i miss from disney when i'm on royal - fish extenders, aqua duck, rotational dining, split bathrooms. that's about it. and seeing as the harmony will have water slides and our roll call will do a gift exchange, i might not even miss the first two so much. :p

i hope this is helpful.

Virgin mocktails were around 5 dollars in April. Freedom of the Seas. I didnt purchase but talked to a lady in the elevator that had a virgin daquiri. She was rather happy that it was only 5 bucks.

awesome. thank you! that's really cheap for where i live (dc-area) so i'd also be pretty happy if it stayed around $5. :D

i think i may skip replenish on the aug 8 cruise. we'll be in bermuda for 2 full days so i probably wouldn't get full use out of it. i can certainly handle five bucks a pop for a drink.

thanks to the OP for the report, too, and everyone else who commented. i've been on liberty a few times but this upcoming cruise next month will be my mom's first and i want her to enjoy a great ship and crew!

Here are some approx. prices that I saw last week.

 

The Drink of the day was $8.50 or $10.03 with tip.

Craft beers (12oz Bottles) ranged from $6 to $7 or about $8 plus with tip.

House level wine was $8.50 or $10 with tip.

Mixed drinks varied from $10 to $14 with Tip.

 

We brought 2 bottles of wine on which saves a few bucks.

 

I find those amounts to be quite high.

Did you (or any other recent liberty cruisers) happen to notice if the virgin mocktails (like non-alcoholic pina coladas etc) are still $4 or $5? that's how much they cost on my last royal cruise, but that was in january, and it seems prices overall have gone up by then. we'll also be on liberty on aug 8 and are trying to decide whether to get the replenish package.

I logged in tonight to see our total had gone up $120 from when I made a payment last week. We've not booked anything at all, so I'm not sure what it is from.

 

Has anyone else had this happen?

Royal's computer system is awful, and sometimes when you make a payment it reprices the balance at the current rate. If you call royal they should be able to fix it quickly - they're used to it. :rolleyes:

If you got Evian you got lucky. They *sell* Evian (and it's in the water packages) but with the drinks packages they give more generic spring water.

This. we've always gotten crystal geyser spring water. those were on cruises out of florida, where crystal geyser is the norm - if you're sailing out of a different area, the brand of water may be different.

evian is not supposed to be included in the replenish package. on allure, i would generally get my water in the viking crown lounge, and they weren't stocked with crystal geyser for the first couple of days so they gave me evian. once they got the crystal geyser in, they switched to that. so it's not unheard of to get evian, but don't expect it. it's more of what's convenient for the bar staff.

On disney you can wear water shoes on the slides and the aqua duck. so maybe they will allow water shoes on the slides on harmony. misters are good, too. i've also been to some water parks where stairs were clearly treated with some coating to stop them from getting too hot.

if they don't do something, maybe i'll be going on the slides at night - i'm a wimp and hate stepping on hot pavement. :D

Seats will open up about 300 days before the last day of the cruise. The same as most airlines except Southwest Airlines. There might others that open 180 days . Some airlines open at 330 days .

 

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thank you!

some of the prices on here are crazy low. we'll be flying from the east coast to barcelona, so hopefully it won't be too bad.

They charge $15 per person for domestic flights and $25 per person for international flights.

That's not bad, considering the usual price difference.

Is there a set time the bookings open up, like 1 year before sail date or something like that? i tried checking prices to barcelona for the Harmony TA in oct 2016, but kept getting no results despite trying from 4 different airports. i'm presuming it's just too far out....?

We booked this cruise with our agent and at the time was told that only Dynamic Choice dining was available. Has anyone that's booked on the transatlantic been able to book Dynamic Classic yet?

My confirmation says Dynamic Dining Classic 2, which is the 8:30 slot. I booked the first few days of June, directly with royal (booked through the website, but due to a computer glitch had to pay my deposit over the phone with C&A).

Thanks Bob but since I've never been in a Cafe Promenade I don't know what they offer. That's why I was asking if it's worth it and maybe people could tell me what kind of drinks the Cafe Promenade has.

Pretty much everything on that cafe lattetudes list from bob, plus frozen coffee drinks (like frappuccinos). also, if you like chai, they will generally make your chai tea lattes hot or cold, as you prefer. there are also usually a ton of syrups behind the bar, so you can add flavor shots to pretty much anything - i did the package on liberty (indy's sister ship) and every day would get a frozen coffee frappuccino-type drink with both chocolate and caramel syrup. (i've never met any food that's "too sweet" - i don't even know what that means! :D ). they can also make the frozen coffees with decaf - i figured i got enough of a sugar high that i didn't need the caffeine, too.... :p

After I just put a courtesy hold on a cruise, I received a call from a certified vacation planner. Although I could have just completed the reservation myself, I ended up booking through him as he offered to send us a bottle of wine, a fruit and cheese tray, and a birthday cake for my DW to our cabin. He said it was Royal Caribbean's way of saying thank you for choosing to sail with them again. I was pretty impressed, considering I will probably never cruise enough to have any type of significant loyalty status. He was very helpful as well and gave me a direct line to reach him at if any needs arise or for quick price adjustments if/when the fares drop before final payment. I have dealt with the same PVP at Carnival for a while now and have never experienced this kind of service.

Wow, that's pretty great. When we first starting sailing royal they would call us all the time but most seemed pretty clueless, and they certainly never offered us anything, so we never bothered to use them. enjoy your perks!

i was finally able to pay the deposits for my cruises today. the C&A supervisor who took over my case had to call the travel agent listed in my reservation to confirm she'd never heard of me (she hadn't), and then had to change the agent to some miscellaneous internal vacation planner. for some reason they can't release it completely, so it still looks like i have an agent, and i'll have to make my final payment online. but at least i was able to put down my deposit and secure my room!

Based on what we are reading in this thread, can you say, something 'immediate' was done by the parent....I sure cannot.

In post 16 the OP says they talked to the shore excursions desk onboard. So they didn't just wait until they got home.

Not criticizing what you said - just wanted to point that out as it seems to have gotten lost.

The first time we went to the market area on labadee in 2008 it was lovely. there was haggling, but nothing crazy. when we went back in (i think in 2010 or 2012) it was a zoo. i can hold my own in a market, and have been to plenty, but it was way more aggressive than the usual. since then, if i feel like buying anything, i do it in the enclosed market where prices are set.

OP, glad to hear a mostly positive review of indy, though. we are on her for the first time next feb. :)

As of earlier this morning, the feb 25 western caribbean was still super-cheap. CL for $4800, the new aqua-theater suites at the back for $5300, SLS for about $7500. non-suites were still way down, too - i just don't remember what they were because we're in an L1 CL and were trying to decide whether to switch (ultimately decided not to).

I guess not many people are booking that sailing. Our roll call only has 4 people, and 3 of them are from my group of friends. :p So, if you're flexible and want a deal, that's where to get one!

We thought the timing was perfect, as we'll be back in florida just in time for some spring training baseball games and the epcot flower and garden festival before we head home to DC. :)

Hi guys

Can anyone advise how they found the suite benefits versus previous.

I have heard a rumour that a gold pass overrides the lifts, is that true?

Also can we rely on the concierge to book the dinner reservations if we don't book in advance?

Has Anyone stayed in the Owners Loft Suite yet?

Is the Coastal restaurant only for suites and would you recommend it?

Any other perks to expect such as bio sun decks etc?

Looking forward to ours this August but still so much to learn about the added or new perks, so any feedback a big help. Thanks in advance

We were in an SGS on quantum last january.

most suite perks were comparable to allure or oasis - two concierges, and a beautiful lounge. reserved seats at shows. pre-dinner drinks. etc etc. there is a suite sun deck above the sea plex. it's nice, but was actually crowded for our cruise - first time i ever had trouble finding a seat on a suite sundeck.

one perk that's a little different is room service, because of dynamic dining - you can order dinner from any of the five main restaurants (coastal kitchen, silk, grande, chic, american icon). also, although most of the regular room service menu has charges listed, suites get the food for free (the usual stuff still costs extra, like drinks or alcohol, and the late-night fee). i've heard you can also order room service dinner from any of the pay restaurants and just pay the cover charge, but i didn't try it on quantum. if you are late eaters, be advised there is no light on the balcony - that messed up our dinner plans one night. :p

apparently there was a glitch the first couple of quantum sailings where gold passes may have been overriding the elevators. not any more! (i'll admit, i tried it in january. but late at night, when no one else was on! :o ).

concierge can book dinner reservations for you. we had them change our dinner time at the grande when i hadn't been able to do it online previously. that said, on our sailing there was a party of 16 or 18 or something who had not pre-reserved anything, and then were annoyed when the concierges couldn't get them in anywhere. so, if you're in a large party, book ahead! to be honest, i'd probably book ahead anyway and just use the concierge for on the fly adjustments if needed, but i'm a planner that way. concierge can probably get you what you need if you're a solo, couple or small party. they also got us spa reservations exactly when we wanted them.

coastal kitchen is only for suites (and maybe pinnacle? i'm not sure, as i'm a lowly emerald!). we ate lunch there i think 3 times, and dinner once. it was fantastic. lunch was just walk-in; dinner we reserved beforehand, but it wasn't full so that probably hadn't been necessary. we liked dynamic dining as a whole, but thought coastal kitchen had the best food and service by far of any of the complimentary restaurants.

I hope that helps!

What is Puzzle Break? Is it something that everyone can do?

It's a puzzle room, almost like a live video game. you get "locked" in a room with a group and have to solve puzzles and look for clues to get out. Takes about an hour (i presume they will kick you out then if you haven't solved it :D ).

If you watch the show "the big bang theory", there was an episode this season where they were all in a puzzle room. it was pretty funny.

Here's the company that installed it on anthem:

http://www.puzzlebreak.us/

early reviews said it's really cool.

I was curious if anyone has noticed a weight limit? The iFly in Toronto doesn't have a weight limit per se, but they charge extra for people over 230lbs.

On quantum the weight limit was 230 lbs for people under 6 feet and 250 if over 6 feet.

I'm not sure about going more than once - the policy seems to keep changing. :rolleyes: