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First time cruiser here on royal!

socbay3

By socbay3,
in Royal Caribbean International

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socbay3

socbay3

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Hey there! I’m a seasoned cruiser with carnival and decided to jump ship ( pun Intended) when carnival service has gone to poo! We are booked on liberty of the seas. We want to do the drink package but my travel agent said that the packages sometimes go on sale, anyone experience this? With carnival they have gift cards I can purchase at Lowe’s and then I would use them to buy the packages, are there gift cards for Royal I can purchase anywhere? Also I will have two teenagers with us, any and all suggestions are welcome!

 

 

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Robo1098

Robo1098

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If you are comfortable with the price of the drink package now go ahead and purchase it. Keep an eye on the prices. If it goes down you can cancel and repurchase the package at the lower price. Royal does not limit the number of drinks like Carnival does. It does have a much lower limit on the price per drink though.

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TEXASMUNK

TEXASMUNK

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Drink Packages: Frequently go on sale beginning on the weekends. Note, on Liberty, your drink package begins the minute you step onboard, not like Carnival.

Not sure about gift cards.

For your teens, there is a club, but their is also the flowrider, rock climbing, the ice show, some very good main stage shows (professional).

Welcome, you have come from the dark side...:-)

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socbay3

socbay3

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If you are comfortable with the price of the drink package now go ahead and purchase it. Keep an eye on the prices. If it goes down you can cancel and repurchase the package at the lower price. Royal does not limit the number of drinks like Carnival does. It does have a much lower limit on the price per drink though.

 

 

 

Thank you I can do that. With not having a limit I’m ok with $10 fruity drinks and my husband can have his beer all day. We never did beer because it didn’t even out to just drink beer on the card with carnival.

 

 

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socbay3

socbay3

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Drink Packages: Frequently go on sale beginning on the weekends. Note, on Liberty, your drink package begins the minute you step onboard, not like Carnival.

Not sure about gift cards.

For your teens, there is a club, but their is also the flowrider, rock climbing, the ice show, some very good main stage shows (professional).

Welcome, you have come from the dark side...:-)

 

 

 

See carnival said it was a Texas law! They would not even allow us to use the soda card part of until the next day! I’ve been on 22 carnival and this last one we went on did me in with the service! It just keeps getting worse and worse! I’m looking forward to this cruise!!!

 

 

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Biker19

Biker19

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I’ve been on 22 carnival and this last one we went on did me in with the service! It just keeps getting worse and worse! I’m looking forward to this cruise!!!

Keep your expectations in check - some long time RCI cruisers may say the same thing.

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hucifer

hucifer

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See carnival said it was a Texas law! They would not even allow us to use the soda card part of until the next day! I’ve been on 22 carnival and this last one we went on did me in with the service! It just keeps getting worse and worse! I’m looking forward to this cruise!!!

You should post a review when you get back and share your experiences with us. I hope you enjoy RCI, I've been a loyal customer since 1999.

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bigairboarder44

bigairboarder44

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See carnival said it was a Texas law! They would not even allow us to use the soda card part of until the next day! I’ve been on 22 carnival and this last one we went on did me in with the service! It just keeps getting worse and worse! I’m looking forward to this cruise!!!

 

I believe the gist of the law is that anything served while "in Texas" (read: in Galveston port) must be purchased from Texas. That stops once you get into international waters which is around 20 miles off the coast give or take a few. To minimize revenue loss, ships don't purchase much alcohol from the state.

 

I have yet to experience it (we will March 19!!!), but I've heard Royal serves an abbreviated list of alcohol until a few hours after departure from Galveston. I'm not quite sure what that list is though.

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GTO-Girl

GTO-Girl

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Hey there! I’m a seasoned cruiser with carnival and decided to jump ship ( pun Intended) when carnival service has gone to poo! We are booked on liberty of the seas. We want to do the drink package but my travel agent said that the packages sometimes go on sale, anyone experience this? With carnival they have gift cards I can purchase at Lowe’s and then I would use them to buy the packages, are there gift cards for Royal I can purchase anywhere? Also I will have two teenagers with us, any and all suggestions are welcome!

 

 

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Before you buy a bunch of gift cards check with Royal. I read on another thread a lady found out the hard way they could only be applied at time of booking.

 

Not sure how all of that works, but just be sure to check ahead of time!!

 

Have a wonderful cruise!!

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EllaDuChien

EllaDuChien

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Before you buy a bunch of gift cards check with Royal. I read on another thread a lady found out the hard way they could only be applied at time of booking.

 

Not sure how all of that works, but just be sure to check ahead of time!!

 

Have a wonderful cruise!!

 

Royal gift cards do not work like Carnival's do. You cannot use them to purchase anything except a new cruise. You cannot have them applied as OBC or use them to purchase beverage packages. They are really restrictive and, IMHO not worth the effort. I sail both lines frequently and use Carnival GC's all the time. I wish Royal would change the way they do this, but hey...I still sail both of them!

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socbay3

socbay3

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Keep your expectations in check - some long time RCI cruisers may say the same thing.

 

 

 

I get that! We just need change of scenery. We aren’t hard to please we can have just about anywhere.

 

 

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socbay3

socbay3

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You should post a review when you get back and share your experiences with us. I hope you enjoy RCI, I've been a loyal customer since 1999.

 

 

 

I will do. I’m not a huge reviewer but will try lol

 

 

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socbay3

socbay3

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I believe the gist of the law is that anything served while "in Texas" (read: in Galveston port) must be purchased from Texas. That stops once you get into international waters which is around 20 miles off the coast give or take a few. To minimize revenue loss, ships don't purchase much alcohol from the state.

 

I have yet to experience it (we will March 19!!!), but I've heard Royal serves an abbreviated list of alcohol until a few hours after departure from Galveston. I'm not quite sure what that list is though.

 

 

 

Thanks for the info! Makes sense! We go March 17!

 

 

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socbay3

socbay3

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Royal gift cards do not work like Carnival's do. You cannot use them to purchase anything except a new cruise. You cannot have them applied as OBC or use them to purchase beverage packages. They are really restrictive and, IMHO not worth the effort. I sail both lines frequently and use Carnival GC's all the time. I wish Royal would change the way they do this, but hey...I still sail both of them!

 

 

 

Darn it! I like buying some here and there and making the stink less painful when I purchase the drink cards lol. Thank for the info!

 

 

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BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

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Hey there! I’m a seasoned cruiser with carnival and decided to jump ship ( pun Intended) when carnival service has gone to poo! We are booked on liberty of the seas.

 

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I love the Freedom class, please come back and let us know how you do on the cruise., I also find the comparisons fun reading. So far all I've cruised is Royal. We were supposed to do a Family Carnival cruise, but the organizer died suddenly in the early planning stations.

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socbay3

socbay3

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I love the Freedom class, please come back and let us know how you do on the cruise., I also find the comparisons fun reading. So far all I've cruised is Royal. We were supposed to do a Family Carnival cruise, but the organizer died suddenly in the early planning stations.

 

 

 

Oh no!!! So sorry to hear that! I truly had many cruises with carnival! I k ow everything changes in time. But I think just a change of scenery will do some good!

 

 

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