Chipmoose

20 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Yeah!!!    Change it to "Dave's Place"....hey Dave...you got the stuff??!!  🤪

Dave's not here man! LOL

 A re-fare (to take advantage of a lower fare)on a cruise that was booked before sept 30 wouldnt affect the double points, would it?  The booking number remained the same so I assume it didnt change the double points.

Thanks!

Mike

I've done the rainbow reef snorkel on two occasions, and enjoyed both times. Lots of different coral and fish, occasional see turtle.  The reef gets a lot of visits, so recommend the earliest time slot if possible.

We were there last month and brought own mask & fins. Snorkel area is limited to keep snorkelers out of boating areas, I was hoping you could snorkel all over the island but no such luck.  There is a shipwreck with some cannons, I was told the airplane is no longer accessible in the snorkel area from the beach. The snorkel shack has you sign a waiver and take a vest (no cost for the vest), and there is a safety/instructional video playing a loop on the side of that snorkel shack. As others have said you don't have to inflate the vest if you want to dive down.  Lots of fish, not much coral or reef, some folks saw a sea turtle and rays.  Later in the day I saw some folks snorkeling without a vest and never  saw anyone stop them.

We did the Tulum excursion thru RCL from Cozumel and enjoyed the ruins very much, but we are both into Mayan history. The ferry ride was very much a vomit comet in the morning, and many were miserable, but the trip back  was not so rough.  We had enough time on site to tour with guide and explore a little on our own, and even stopped for a swim at the beach below the ruins, before going back. If you are into this sort of thing, I would recommend the trip to Tulum.  I recommend using RCL's excursion due to the distance.

Where are they kept and how are they distributed on those ships that don't keep them in the cabin? I guess they go over all that at muster.

4 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

So they want to open all 6 at one time? 

I have ordered buckets of beers several times and have never had to have them opened.  If you ask for a single beer unopened to enjoy on your balcony I can see no reason they would not do that, and the bucket of beers is buy 5 get one free, so its not like it is some huge discount off the regular price.  Some of the buckets come with a bottle opener on the side.

Does anyone know if the classic soda and voom package includes surf & stream or is it just surf?

It is priced similarly to the surf & stream plus soda, but on a recent grandeur cruise it was awful, and the package includes just surf, I would be better off buying the 2 parts separately than in this package.

We have sailed on both ships and enjoyed both.

Room size, numerous less  costly of balcony cabins are positives for Pride, but service seems a touch better on Grandeur.  Food is different on each but we enjoyed both. For us the Main Dining Room is a tossup, but If you eat at the buffet I think you may enjoy the Grandeur a little more, but I love the burgers and tacos on the Pride.

Most importantly to us, the itineraries seem more varied and go a little further regularly on the Grandeur, and that is the main reason we sail on her more than the Pride

1 hour ago, CruisinCrow said:

 

Yes, we had lobster but it wasn't on formal night, which surprised me.  Formal night was the second night.  Lobster night was the fourth night, at least on our cruise.

Yes, we just got off 5 day to Bermuda on Grandeur, and we had Lobster tails on Day 4, and I too was surprised to get Lobster tail on a casual dining night.

4 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 You have one year to use it from THAT date.

 

Sorry, I dont mean to keep beating a dead horse, but am I correct in assuming when you say "use it" within one year - means that the sail date on the new cruise has to be within 1 year, and that the expiration date does not refer to the mere act of applying that fcc toward a cruise  (perhaps to cruise setting sail 2 years from the canceled cruise for example).

On 12/13/2018 at 2:02 PM, SciFiGuy1960 said:

Non-Refundable Deposit Fares

Outside of final payment, when a non-refundable deposit cancellation occurs, you will receive a Future Cruise Certificate in the amount of their designated cruise deposit, less a $100 per guest change fee. Such Future Cruise Certificates can be applied towards your future Royal Caribbean cruise vacation when reserved within 1 year of the issue date. Thereafter, the Future Cruise Certificate will expire and becomes invalid.

 

Still confused about this part of the policy:

"when reserved within 1 year of issue date" - does that mean the reservation has to be made within one year, or the reservation has to be made for a cruise sailing within one year?

Thanks in advance!

On 2/18/2019 at 3:43 PM, Toftwood said:

I look to find cruises that have lots of sea days (T/Atls are the best), port visits are nice but not necessary. The best times are had on board, not ashore.

I guess that is subjective, because for me the opposite is true.  I like port intensive itineraries.

Seems to be happening every weekend now. Very frustrating and disappointing.

1 hour ago, mugtech said:

A positive way to say partly cloudy.

Or should that be Party Cloudy

Yes, this is getting old, the unreliability is quite a shame.

11 minutes ago, Smag said:

RCCL deliberately double/triple sells these popular dates (for families, these ones that are over Christmas break when the kids are out of school.

 

That is a pretty serious allegation you are making in resurrecting this 9 month old thread for your first post.

Do you have any proof that RCL (or any of the large cruise lines) is knowingly double and triple selling a cruise which they are in reality planning to charter, or is that just pulled out of thin air?

I think it will depend on the group, and the size of the group.  We unknowingly booked a cruise that had a bluegrass music element to it, and it was maybe about 15%-20% of the total passengers participating. I enjoy bluegrass, so it actually was a fun benefit.  There were a lot of 'closed' events in the theater, mostly during the daytime, but the regular evening shows always took place open for all.    We enjoyed the impromptu jam sessions that popped up around the ship, many evenings around the park cafe as we went for midnight snacks.  It was also interesting watching all the bass players self disembark on the final day!

11 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Just remember that "general questions" usually get "general answers."  T

 Thanks for all the info Hank. 

I put "general questions" to make sure all knew I wasn't asking for info on specific TA.  I should have mentioned the cruiseline I am booking is RCL, I was under the impression they had pretty firm pricing controls.

 I learned something new today, and I have you to thank for that flatbush, thanks for the insights!

I was under the impression that, for the large cruise lines at least, at any given time the price for a cruise from the cruiseline was the best price a travel agent would be able to get, an agent may be able to offer on board credit or other amenities, but the cost of the cruise would be no better.

But I have been able to book 2 cruises, with 2 different large agencies, at a lower cost than the cruiseline was offering,  by several hundreds of dollars.

After the first time I assumed that the agency bought a block of guarantee rooms at a low cost, and they were able to hold that cost as the cost of the cruise went up.

But the most recent booking, we were able to book the room of our choice, which was also still available on the cruiseline website, so it appears the agency had not bought up that specific room, since it was still available on the cruiseline website,  nor was this room a part of a block of guarantee rooms, since we were able to request that specific room.

So how does this work? How could the agency give us a better price on a specific room hundreds of dollars less that the cruiseline could?

Thanks in advance!

Isn't this situation common to some of the other cruise lines as well? I had a similar experience to the OPs with CCL, and after a few discussions on what they could offer me, it was apparent that my best option was going to be the full refund, as none of the offerings they made were as good a deal as the great deal I originally managed to book,  or if they were, they just were not what I wanted. 

I believe that most of these cancellations are for legitimate reasons, (Charters not included).

Perhaps if itineraries opened up for booking only a year out, these cancellations could be decreased, but I would rather have the off chance of a cancellation than wait until a year out to see cruises open up. 

Can the FCC be applied to an existing booking that will be taking place within a year or is it for a new booking only?

6 hours ago, setsail said:

What about the full refund choice?

Yes, usually the best option.

Those cabins are usually quiet, but if there are any tender ports, you may get some noise early in the a.m. as the ship drops anchor.