CarynRenee

Familygoboston and Host Clarea - thank you both for your replies.  We'll work around a plan to be out by 8-8:30.  Planned this trip only a few weeks before departure, so scrambling to get all my ducks in a row...

Hello. Can anyone tell me what time you are required to be out of the cabins on debarkation day?  I saw the departure information, but didn't see that detail listed on the sheet.  I'm trying to figure out what time to arrange our transportation pick-up from the port.  Our flight isn't until 2:15, so no big hurry, but when it's time to go, I'm ready to go - not a fan of just hanging around killing time in lounges.  Thanks. 

5 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Have you tried contacting a Travel Agent who specializes in cruises?  

 

Thank you for the suggestion.  We have an MGM casino offer (my husband and mother-in-law both have the same offer) that we are trying to use, so we have to book through specific Casino Royale reservation office.  I've called 5 or 6 times...some agents are definitely more useful/helpful than others.  Unfortunately, our desired sailing is in late June so limited availability for many reasons.  (Our schedule is not very flexible this summer, unfortunately.)  Not sure we'd be looking at all if we didn't have the offer, so if it doesn't work out, it's not a big deal.  Mostly, I'm just baffled about some of the occupancy/availability and pricing policies that I've encountered. 

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You could pay the premium and book 2 rooms for 3 with one room having a fictitious name that would end up being a no show at the pier. That persons port fees and taxes would be refunded. 

That's an interesting thought, but we'd still have to pay for the fictitious third person, right?  That's an extra $800-1K or so for most of the rooms we've looked at.  If we're going to pay that premium, would probably just opt to go up to the suites where we'd pay more but at least get something for it.  Thanks for the out of the box thinking, though...

I have been so incredibly frustrated in the last couple weeks trying to book a cruise for our family.  We need one room for three people and one room for two people.  On several sailings, I got that same message that there were no rooms available for three, but I've also experienced the opposite.  When I look at options of cabins for three people, there are say 20 available, so I pick one and move on to the cabin for two people, and there is no availability or only a few rooms to choose from.  If a room can hold three people, it can hold two people!!!  This exact assignment of guest numbers to each cabin is making it remarkably inflexible and difficult.  In fact, we've pretty much given up and likely won't sail at all because we can't find something that fits within our parameters.

You are correct, you cannot earn MLife tier points from your play on RC. Also, if you are on an MLife comps/reward cruise, although you may earn points, they will not be used in tallying your Club Royale status.

Can you please clarify this statement? We will be sailing on a cruise that is a comp/reward from MLife. While we are in the casino on the ship, all points earned will go to the Club Royale program, right? I have assumed that any gambling on board will only affect status/benefits in the the RCCL casino program and will have no bearing whatsoever on MLife points/status. (It's the "although you may earn points" part that I didn't quite understand.)

I had a problem a few days ago when I was trying to complete my online check-in. I eventually got around it by using a link to what seems to be an older part of the website. It required me to login again with reservation number and additional information, but it got me back to the check-in information. Try this link (I don't think this is specific to my ID):

https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/beforeyouboard/boardingDocuments.do?icid=hpnvbr_pagehe_nln_hm_awaren_954

Are these treatments meant for people who have curly hair? My hair isn’t really curly, kind of wavy at the roots, and frizzy and coarse until I blow dry and flat iron. I would love to not have to flat iron as much, but don’t want to damage my hair either.

I agree with what Lmm79 said. I probably didn't describe my own hair well - it is not nice curls, it is more wavy, coarse, frizzy like you describe. In theory, the treatment would allow me to just wash and go and it would dry straight - it doesn't work quite THAT well for me, but it is good enough that it takes much less effort with blow dryer and flat iron to keep it nice and smooth. I'd definitely do it at least a week before you sail, though, because you have to wait like three days without getting it wet before washing it the first time.

I will be getting my hair (long, thick, curly) professionally straightened using a Keratin treatment from a local salon prior to my upcoming cruise. It makes it much easier to dry or touch up with a flat iron as needed. I usually get it done about once a year at the beginning of summer and it lasts a few months. (I also only wash my hair a couple times a week because of the time and effort it takes to dry, but I hate shorter hairstyles on me.)

Hello. We are sailing soon on Allure using an offer that we received from an MGM casino. Does anyone know if that will give us any tier status or benefits in the RCCL casino program to start or if we'll have to earn the points on this cruise prior to receiving any benefits? Don't really care too much, mostly just curious if they do any matching, particularly because we are sailing on a casino offer.

Thank you all for the quick replies. I knew I could count on this crowd :)

I know that we will have access to the Coastal Kitchen restaurant. However, the menus I've seen so far don't appear to be our style. We tend to be pretty basic in terms of food preferences. I will certainly watch the menus each day and hope that I'm pleasantly surprised because I definitely love the location relative to our cabin!

Thanks again to all of you for taking the time to reply.

Hi All. We are boarding the Allure in a couple weeks and just booked the cruise recently. I’ve been trying to search for answers to many of my questions, but with limited time to do research, I was hoping I could get some more pointed help here.

I have sailed RCCL twice in the past, but it has been more than 15 years, so I’m essentially starting new here. It has been nearly seven years since we’ve been on any cruise.

We booked through an offer from an MGM casino and were able to get an affordable upgrade to a Crown Loft Suite which we are very excited to experience. Here are my random questions…

1) What is available in the Suite Lounge? I’m really only interested in soda and water since that is what we consume the most. Can suite guests get cans of soda or bottled water from the lounge, or is it soda/water in a glass only? I’m trying to determine if it makes sense to purchase a soda package or cans of soda and bottles of water for the room.

2) With the Soda Package, can you get soda at any venue even if you don’t have the super-special mug with you? My husband is pretty clear about not wanting to carry that around with him.

3) Are there separate player’s cards for the casino, or does one’s room key work as the casino card as well?

4) For My Time Dining, will we need to make reservations for the Main Dining Room to avoid a wait, or is it a benefit of being in a suite that we would be given priority seating when we arrive?

5) Likewise, do we need to reserve a time for Mamma Mia or just show up to the suite seating area at our preferred time?

I’m sure I’ll probably have more, but those are a few that have been in my head recently. Thanks in advance for your help!

YankeesFan - I'm working my way through the check-in process right now and remembered seeing your comment earlier today. I am seeing a link "Add and pay for guests in another reservation." Just below the box where I entered my credit card information, it says "Would you like to add and pay for other guests in your reservation?" and there are checkboxes for the people on my reservation. Then below that is the link that says "Add and pay for guests in another reservation." It would be easy to overlook because it just looks like a sentence and nothing particularly obvious, but perhaps that is the piece you need to be able to set up the rest of your family members. (I did not click on it to see what info is needed, probably reservation number.)

Of course, just checking in at the terminal is perhaps the easiest answer at this point as others have suggested. I haven't sailed RCCL in 15 years so it's all new to me, too...

Have a great vacation with your family!