Starry Eyes

Yes, she can share her D drinks with you. Her vouchers could also be used for non-alcoholic drinks….there might be something your wife might enjoy (mocktails/virgin drinks, fresh squeezed OJ, soda, etc) if you are not using all eight vouchers on more expensive alcoholic drinks.

Yes and the people who flew in the morning of the cruise will also be standing outside the terminal waiting for things to kick off. Though CruiseCritic poster may not recommend flying in day of cruise, plenty of people do it. Add in all the people who drive and arrive early (they built in extra time in case of flat tire or traffic snarls) and there would be loads of people waiting for check in to start. How late would luggage delivery take if boarding starts later? If luggage starts coming too late, likely more people try to take their large luggage on board with them, further slowing security and congesting terminal and ship until cabins are ready. The ships would still pull into port early as many guests want to get off the ship early to catch early flights or get on the road for their drives. They have work or appointments the next day. The docking noise plus all the guests leaving probably wakes the people who’d like to sleep in on debarkation day, so guests will still be unhappy🤪. As embarkation starts later, it also ends later, so the ship is in homeport longer. That means higher port fees for everyone. Bad idea

Even then, some ships manage the self-debarkation line pretty well. We are early risers (especially DH), so we often can be found near the front of line. It is generally a breeze.

I wonder who is the “they”, LOL? The travel agency or RCI? Perhaps the travel agent does not enjoy spending time on price drops or other services on existing bookings…Or seeing their commission fall a bit with the price drop. Maybe that TA is trying to make you feel poorly so you won’t keep calling for service on your booking. I would not book with that agent again.

I read that they will test the system on Wonder before rolling it out on other ships, including Icon. (Naturally they don’t want to deal with a reservation system failure on a wide scale, but certainly not on the brand new ship.) The tech for pre-cruise reservations is shoreside. If I want make a Chops precruise reservation today for my December Wonder cruise, I do not believe I will communicating with the ship.

Hey Ken, did you down your four drinks right before you typed that or did autocorrect go crazy?🤪🤣

Yes, we had that experience on Jewel. It was made worse because that dining room has a single entry/exit. By the time each side of that entry hallway is lined by queued MTD folks (reservations on one side, no reservations on the other) there is only a narrow middle aisle for those exiting the MDR, those returning from rest rooms and people trying joining their MTD friends already in line. It can get too crowded, increasing the grumpiness. If Royal would get it’s IT up to snuff, that issue would be solved with a virtual queue with MTD signaling for tables via the app and if there is a delay waiting comfortably in a bar on their balcony until being notified via app that their table was ready. Also traditional diners could have the option to RSVP, so when they have other plans the seats could immediately be released for MTD diners.

We had a “what's the point of picking your dining time...” experience today. We had confirmed early dining for our Wonder cruise (never waitlisted). We wanted to check our table location when we arrived on the ship, but we discovered we had somehow been magically moved to MTD. Ship personnel blame shoreside. I don’t care whether ship or shoreside or IT is to blame. We are inconvenienced as we do not currently have a table.

Of course, when one is willing to stay over 100 miles from the port, the number of pre-cruise hotel options is far greater and thus one is more apt to find a variety of price points.

The 1 billion was the profit for the 3rd quarter, not for the 12 months. Total revenue for 3rd quarter was 4.2 billion.

It sounds like your dd has earned lots of points, perhaps as many as her parents if she went on just as many cruises. This thread is not talking about kids like that. There are people who have only been on one or a few cruises as minors yet they are D+ (for example) because their parents made D+ before the child turned 18. They can pass that status to their significant other.

I’m not aware of such a tool, though some people track prices on their own cruises Prices can vary by ship and sail date (dynamic pricing), and generally prices have risen over the last couple years. If you really want the 3 day or UDP, you may have to buy it at the best price you see for your cruise and consider that the best deal you can get. Alternatively, do some math (adding up the value of the specialty meals you really want), decide what the package is worth to you, and only buy if it meets your threshold.

95 cruises all over and I have been asked for ID as well as seapass card….Most recently we were asked for photo ID to re-enter port area in Bermuda just weeks ago. There were passengers digging ID’s out of their beach bags as I sailed by with my ID ready, as I knew Bermuda checked ID. Each time the Bermuda authorities looked me in the eye and addressed me by name after checking my ID.

Well, by that same logic they could make everyone D+ after one cruise, because then they’d be inclined to book another Royal Caribbean cruise…Is that actually how loyalty programs are supposed to work?🤪

They opened it at about 9:40 for our late October cruise.

Newbies without a D (or higher) spouse book cruises. For a newbie with a D spouse, it is a better value. Other loyalty programs do not give spouses and GF or BF matching status, yet those businesses manage. If the couple is having marital problems, they should see a counselor not a TA.

I’ll go further. Linked accounts should not gain status, so de-linking would not matter as much. A new spouse or relationship can be gold while the partner is D, D+ or whatever. The latter could use their vouchers to buy a drink for the newbie. With the vouchers lounge access is not such a big deal. The minor children can earn their own status based on the number of cruises they actually sail rather than automatically gaining the parent’s status; many kids cruise enough to earn status anyway. Notify the current ones that their status will be grandfathered for specified length of time (a year or two, perhaps) then they will revert to their own status based on their own earned points.

I’d point out those cruise were released for sale some time ago. If certain cruises sell better than other, the prices of the remaining cabins on those high demand cruise will be higher than cruises experiencing lower demand. Sometimes the cruiseline anticipates higher demand before releasing the cruises, in which case the prices are higher from the start (holiday cruises, special itineraries, for example). This longer itinerary may have started with slightly higher prices, sold well and now have substantially higher prices. Also, google to see if there is a partial ship charter. Sometimes a big group willing to pay $$$ can influence the pricing and perhaps even the itinerary.

I did not want to imply the kids could not handle an embarkation meal at Chops.😉 My question was whether they’d really enjoy the long meal right then or be itching to explore. I meant take the personalities and past cruise experiences into account.😀

That was true many years ago when MTD was first introduced. The policy was changed several years ago. Royal evidently was not scrubbed the old info from the internet.

If your party was all adults, the Chops plan would sound great. With so many kids, it is less certain. So kids would enjoy a leisurely meal at Chops as soon as they board while others kids would probably be antsy. As you seem to think the kids will want to explore, I’d go to WJ before it fills and perhaps select a different day in Chops.

If you were referring to my post, I wonder if you were intentionally missing my point about logo items. I’m not going to look for them on eBay.

Yes. I assume the personnel would be very careful, both to care for people’s property and because they will be blamed if a bag does go home with the wrong person or is missing. Such diligence would make for a slow process. No wonder the poster who suggested such a system does not want to pay for it or participate in it.🤣🤣🤣

If the port hires personnel to check luggage tags as you suggest, the port will increase port fees on all passengers to pay those personnel. So even if you roll your own bags off, you would pay if your suggestion is implemented.

Yes, I remember those gifts and the snack boxes. I never complained, though at the time we had more hats than we needed, lol. I think we still have have a couple of the hats. I think those hats were a very good investment by RCI. We often wore them while doing yard work and such. Over the years at each of our homes neighbors who know we are cruise enthusiasts also likely also know that Royal Caribbean is a favorite cruiseline. They are less likely to know the cruiseline we sailed a lot back then that did not give us that wearable swag. Those hats lead to many conversations about our Royal Caribbean cruises. It was probably the cheapest, longest advertising Royal Caribbean ever purchased. I think Royal Caribbean should try to inexpensively plant it’s logo on the heads and backs and living rooms (as hats, t-shirts, collectable coasters, etc) of it’s most loyal cruisers.