Spurschick

5 minutes ago, mpdog42 said:

Thank for the good advice!!

You are welcome

14 minutes ago, mpdog42 said:

Do you have to do that before your cruise starts?and how do you do that?

The a la cartes are normally just walk in. The restaurants depends on ship. Which ship are you on? 
 

if you are in a suite you can book through concierge. If not then when you get to port you can connect to ships wifi and book. 
 

normally embarkation day I have never seen the specialty restaurants full or overcrowded, so you can just turn up when you get onboard. 

Correct it is only payments made to Royal directly that are double points. The parking is not operated by RC. 

5 minutes ago, mpdog42 said:

Do the people with UDP get in on this as well?

I do not believe so as this is a key lunch in MDR - however if you have UDP you can book chops for embarkation lunch (or any of the specialty dining restaurants) or even depending on the ship an a la Carte and get a per person credit.

12 hours ago, LAWISE5210@AOL.COM said:

Hey Everyone,

How many people have cruised in February? Did you like cruising in February? My hubby and I are planning to cruise from Baltimore to the Bahamas and CocoCay  on Royal Caribbean for 8 days. I have been on many cruises but none in the cooler months.

Go for it - it will be nicer weather once you get further south. But cruises much more relaxing with far fewer kids. 

29 minutes ago, George C said:

I wish celebrity would join them, I am happy rccl has a newer oasis class ship Harmony coming to Galveston next year . With the price of airfare there will be lots of Texans wanting to cruise from Galveston . 

My Celebrity BDM said no intention of sailing from Galveston any time soon. 

13 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

I'm not so sure Royal Up is the way to go these days. Right after the restart I was able to get a good deal on a JS using RU. But now when I check the price on an upgrade on my upcoming cruises, the price is way lower than the lowest bid price on Royal Up. 

Agreed that’s why when I see it lower I just call in and upgrade myself. The other ones are normally because the categories are already sold out.

On 10/4/2022 at 6:59 PM, Tree_skier said:

5 cruises so far since covid restart and I haven't won a single one yet.  Two were weak bids but two were considered strong.  Apparently I'm just unlucky!

We won 1 out of multiple cruises since restart. Have actually upgraded prior to cruise for less than the bid amount as well and withdrew my bid lol.

We moved to fl from tx but was very frustrated with the RC options out of Galveston when we lived there. Prima looks nice but isn’t there long either. Galveston needs fresh blood. 

Unfortunately they can change itinerary’s (and even ships) any time. We were doing Explorer to Aruba this June and unfortunately a Tropical Storm came through so we ended up in Jamaica. 😢

3 minutes ago, cruisegus said:

As someone who stays in a suite and loves Barefoot Beach, I have no problem sharing it with someone that is willing to pay those cabana prices.  I believe there are only 8 or 10 Cabanas that have access to the area and the last time I was there, in February they were a hefty charge and only half occupied.

Last week on Harmony there were several empty as well which surprises me as they are a lot cheaper than the Cabanas at Coco Cay.

21 hours ago, beccafries said:

Hi...do you have to make reservations for shows ??

Pompey Sailor is currently in time out! Was in Yacht Club so did not need reservations as there was a YC seating area in theatre. 

From LA on Harmony last week

11 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

Which is better?

Harmony of The Seas "Love at Sea" vs Regal Princess "The Real Love Boat"?

 

 

Love the Harmony, but really enjoyed Royal Princess (sister to Regal) unfortunately our regal got cancelled due to Covid 

23 hours ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

While the boarding pass / set sail pass is available on the phone app, having a printout backup copy is advisable in case there are some snafus with the phone.

Or you can add to wallet as a back up 

16 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

As a suite guest what did you have access to and what did you have to pay for separately?

Beach area with Buffet there is a bar with to pay for drinks. 
there was a water and I think fruit punch dispenser at the buffet.

loungers and umbrellas in the middle are included. 

if you are suite guest there is a barefoot beach shuttle as well - which was fun last week when the concierge had us counted and lined up for the next shuttle and as soon as it pulled up people just walking by just pushed in front and got on it and the poor concierge had to explain that we were all waiting and it was a suite guest barefoot beach only shuttle. 🙄 

2 minutes ago, poocher said:

Thank you. I was thinking more of the shuttle driver knowing where to drop us off. I’m sure we can handle it,  thanks everyone 😘

The shuttle driver will know - the ships and terminals are digitally signposted entering the port., and they will have already been picking up departing guests that day.

have a great trip.

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

Well...anyway...there were no bananas!!  😅

Does that mean no one could find the ketchup then 🤣😂🤣 
 

in answer to the OP we thought food was very good, and we would do again at the right price. We have seen prices over $200 pp which we will not entertain but closer to $100 we would.

1 hour ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

Well i guess if you printed out your sail and sign you could do it but if you didnt and you refuse to turn your phone on.

 

it was nice of you to say its false without elaborating why. Didn’t really help the OP.

It is done on set sail pass not room key. 
 

if you don’t have printed copy and refuse to turn phone on to scan then you won’t be on the ship in the first place. And no you don’t have until sailaway to complete as they won’t sail until everyone has completed. 

9 hours ago, little britain said:

When I fly to Barcelona again in a few weeks, I will again watch it in the cab to port and check. 

I’ll try again when we are on Symphony soon. I know it didn’t work when we were on Oasis last year. Didn’t bother trying it again as it was painful trying to watch it multiple times wondering why it wouldn’t check off so when told had to connect to ships wifi just went into automatic mode every cruise there after so as to not have to keep repeating the exercise lol. Will be interesting to see how it works on Celebrity cruise we have upcoming seeing as it’s basically the same app.

either way it’s a lot lot easier than doing the very painful muster on MSC 🙄

4 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Lucky or not, have been successful 6 times since the inception of E Muster watching the video prior to arrival at the terminal. 

Per ourusualbeach looks like it has changed since we restarted cruising. On our first cruise back after restart we literally watched it multiple times and when couldn’t work out why was still showing incomplete was told had to be connected to ships wifi. Didn’t think it would change but then with RC IT anything is possible. 

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Your experience is unique, lots of reporting being able to get credit hours before getting to the pier not connected to the ship wifi.

I guess we started back cruising when it was required to be connected and per ourusualbeach this has changed. Was unaware it had changed so we always connected in the same way.

5 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

That was my experience a year ago when I first used it but the last few cruises it has been fine doing it from the hotel

Thanks, 

maybe because when we started back cruising last year we were told that was how it had to be done as we were wondering why it was not marking off as complete and were told had to be connected. We didn’t know it had changed more recently so we have always automatically connected to wifi to complete as never saw reason to think it had changed. 

On 10/2/2022 at 7:26 PM, brillohead said:

 

 

I agree, @Spurschick has incorrect information.  You can watch the safety video and listen to the emergency signal ON EMBARKATION DAY, regardless of being connected to the ship's wifi.  

I did mine on Saturday in my Airbnb in Miami before getting on Explorer.  

Again I never said you couldn’t watch it I said it won’t mark as complete - there is a difference

i just watched my one for March at home but guess what didn’t mark it as complete. When you are connected to ships wifi it will then come up green once you have watched it with completed next to it 

On 10/2/2022 at 6:28 PM, not-enough-cruising said:

Sorry, but that is simply not correct.

Well I have been on multiple cruises since this inception. Yes been able to watch multiple times from wherever but not once has it marked off complete unless I have been connected to the ships wifi. Maybe you got lucky that it marked as complete for you but it certainly has not on any of our sailings