colesc15

I submitted my Royal status of diamond plus to Virgin. We'll see if that does anything 

We've always been onboard Royal ships by 11 am or so, but it appears boarding is later for virgin? What's the earliest people generally board? 

Is 8am generally the earliest? 

Hi. First time cruising virgin. We normally carry off our luggage on Royal and many times are off the ship and through everything by 7-7:30.

Assuming no unusual coastguard delays/clearing the ship, is there a similar process in virgin when we can carry our luggage off and be off the ship by 7-7:30? 

Thanks. 

Hi all. Considering our first virgin cruise. If I book one, and do the status match after the fact using our royal caribbean status, will the status match still work and I'd get the perks for that already booked cruise, or do I have to do the match before booking? 

Thanks. 

Has anyone used Port Canaveral quick shuttle? I found them online and reviews seem decent on Google but not so much on trip advisor. It looks like $40 pp for one way

9 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Yes, anything on hangers you can just leave in the closet and everything else must be packed in your suitcases. Your stateroom attendant will move everything at some point on the morning of turnaround day. When cabins are ready around 1:00pm (just like on any other cruise), your things will be waiting for you in your new cabin.

To piggy back off this since it'll be our first b2b, since we have the same cabin, after doing the quick walk off and back on, even though cabins aren't open, since we have the same one, do we still have access to our cabin throughout the morning even though the hallway doors are closed until 1?

Just now, bajathree said:

LOL....I just went through this just now with Club Royale. Saw your post and decided to call and give another go at upgrading my comp interior on the 3 night to be in the same OV balcony as I am in on the 4 night. They originally told me $472 to upgrade. I asked how are you coming up with that...he tells me that is the upgrade fee for both of you combined. I said that sounds high and lets do a breakdown...I looked up pricing myself and came up with $267 total for both of us. He says yea but then you have to add on port fees and taxes...I said we already paid port fees and taxes. He does the math again and comes up again with $472. I said what aren't you getting...if I paid port fee and taxes on the interior why would I again pay port fees and taxes on the balcony?!?!?

Finally after going back and forth he agrees with me and says see your point....so the upgrade would be $267...THANK GOD....felt like I was talking to the wall. In any case decided to go for it since both the wife and I get the same offers and for the 4 night we were able to both use our casino comp offers and book 2 connecting OV balconies along with double FPsince we each got our own cabin. So long story short....we will be in the same OV balcony now for the 3 and 4 night and have the connecting balcony for the 4 night also.

It never fails lol. I hate when the category you're booked in is sold out because then you're at the mercy of what they're telling you vs doing the math. 

My 4 day was the $60 each and the 3 day, my interior was higher than the Ov balcony so he originally told me I couldn't upgrade unless it was more expensive but I knew that wasn't correct and finally got him to confirm like 3 times that I'll have the same cabin before he starts making changes. I wasn't 100% confident until I got my two invoices showing the 0 balance and same cabin number. 

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Glad it worked out so well.

I swear, if you call the casino 4 times for pricing, you'll get 4 different prices and you just have to take the one that you like lol. 

Circling back. I called a bit ago to check the upgrade pricing since my interior category is sold out and the only way to check is by calling the casino.. I was able to upgrade to an oceanview balcony midship near the elevator where I picked the cabin number for BOTH the 4 night and 3 night sailing getting the same cabin for a total of $61 a person.. So $122 to go from an interior to oceanview balcony in the same cabin for the full 7 days. I couldn't pass that one up! A week on utopia only paying port fees and taxes and the $122, yes please! 

I think unless the price drops enough where we can pick our cabin, which then I can pick the same Ov balcony for both, we'll stay with what we have. If we used the balcony more than a few minutes each day I'd be more pushing for the change but 

3 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Is it definitely an OVB or any chance of ending up with a boardwalk balcony?   

 

Are there obstructed OVB on Utopia?   If yes, would you be upset if got one?  

 

Would it matter what location you ended up with a guarantee cabin?

 

Just some things to consider.

Yes, it'd be a oceanview balcony. And no obstructed oceanview view balconies on any oasis class ships

44 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

That’s somewhat similar to how we wound up in interiors. My wife cruised as a kid & her parents always had a balcony. When we went on our honeymoon cruise (my first ever) we obviously got a balcony b/c my wife said that’s what she needs.

 

After several more cruises with a balcony we were exactly 4 points from Diamond. I suggested we go on the cheapest 4N cruise from PC (an hour drive for us) in an interior to get to Diamond then we could go back to the balcony she thought she needed. It turned out that she liked the interior & we never looked back.

 

We’ve had balconies since then on family cruises (a couple with GS’s) and confirmed that we don’t even use them when they’re there for free. We even missed the darkness & how cold interiors can get at times.

 

Anyway, that’s why I mentioned “if you value the balcony” in my response. It holds virtually no value to us and I wouldn’t get one just because it’s a great deal on paper, even without the switching cabin part, but everyone values things differently.

Agreed! We found ourselves using the balcony less and less, and loved how dark and cool the interior cabin was. We randomly had the virtual balcony on Wonder last month and that felt like a nice in between because I could at least see what it was like outside at any time instantly. 

21 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

If you value the OV balcony even the slightest bit I would upgrade.

 

I've only done one 3/4 B2B. We switched cabins and it wasn't a big deal to us.

Decisions decisions. I was shocked my wife and I didn't hate the interior our first time after 20 cruises of balcony or above 

3 minutes ago, bajathree said:

I have very similar choice...have Oceanview balcony comp for the 4 night and interior comp for the 3 night. However I was able to get the interior directly opposite the balcony...so very easy move and same room attendant most likely. But just like you....for like $10 I could switch to an Oceanview balcony Guar for the 3 night.

I keep going back and forth on it since I didn't mind the interior when I was 100% against it for years until we tried it. 

Currently, we're booked in a casino comp b2b in the same cabin. It's a virtual balcony, which we've had before and didn't mind. 

I can upgrade to an oceanview balcony guarantee for each sailing for about $30 total between the two sailings.. Obvious downside is not having the same cabin and having to change cabins. 

Would you just keep what I have, or get the oceanview balcony but have to move after day 4? The more we've done interiors/virtual balconies, I don't mind them, it's just so cheap to go to the oceanview balcony that it has me considering it. 

6 minutes ago, cmurchake said:

I was on Icon last week. I'm probably not the best to answer dining questions, but might be able to assist with others. Not sure how many people were onboard, but I was very pleasantly surprised how good the service was, how small lines were, and overall how efficient things seemed to run. 

Is all the Icon merch that showed up in the cabin in the beginning no longer a thing? Like the Icon hats etc. I'm assuming that stopped after the first few sailings. 

29 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

The inventory may change while she's in Europe. A generic list should be available in the app (under bars).

Agreed. I noticed that on the transatlantic last fall on Odyssey going back to the US. Many food items & drink items were different than the normal US sailings. 

Diet coke was "coke light". The hot dogs & sausages at breakfast were completely different, and not in a good way. Not a fan of Italian hot dogs lol. 

The one major win was the ice cream. The Italian provider ice cream mix they used blew the normal US mix out of the water! 

1 hour ago, Cruise a holic said:

Have dined at the Chef's table and it was horrible- had to dine after- a true waste of money.  Empire supper club looks interesting- however the menu is primarily seafood- so if you do not like seafood- don't go.  And the price!  Considering you have paid for dinner in the MDR price crazy.

Haven't stepped foot in the mdr in years. 

Anyone else with opinions on Empire Supper club and the steak? 

41 minutes ago, mramella said:

We were on the Icon last month (March) and we did ESC. We had the UDP, so it was a bit less. My wife and I really liked it. We would do it again. Very cool experience. Food was great. Drinks were great, and yep, we drank them all! LOL 🙂. You also have unlimited Champaign the whole dinner, on top of all the other drinks. Service was outstanding. Our table was right near the stage. Really cool! Below is a pic from our table.

 

Also, I asked our server if they were sold out for the entire week, and the answer was yes.

 

Did anyone in your party have the steak? Curious if you liked it since reviews claim that to be the only negative being the steak 

31 minutes ago, sharktums said:

Our friends just did ESC on Icon this week. When I went to book it for them on Day 1 after boarding at 10:30am they only had Day 1 available and were nearly sold out. They had UDP so it was a bit cheaper and they said it was one of the best things they've done and it was well worth it.

 

To the poster asking about the Chops Iconic Cuts menu, we asked our server and he was very honest with us and said the Wagyu wasn't worth it at all but that the other cuts were good.  We ended up not upgrading and the meat was the best we had ever had at an RCCL Chops restaurant. 

Did you do the steak at empire? Curious if you thought it was good since the video reviews seem to say the only negative being the steak 

Anyone here done any of the Iconic cuts on icon in chops? Curious if they thought the quality was above the normal steaks at chops 

15 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

If you want a great meal go to Chops and order off the Iconic Steaks menu.  Wegu Filet, 32 oz tomahawk....

Completely forgot about that being an option with chops on Icon! 

We've gone back and forth on trying it. The one thing that's surprised me is many reviews on YouTube talk about how their only disappointment was the steak. Which, I'd be ordering the steak because paying that price for a fish or rabbit seems over the top, so that makes me a little hesitant. 

A few videos I saw said they thought the filet in chops was better, and I've yet to be wowed by a steak in Chops.