katjoeus

I saw this company mentioned in a ship review; the reviewer had used them and was very happy with them. I just started looking into what they offer, seems like a good choice at good prices.

Has anyone on here used them before, and if so, was it good??

Ah ok, so I'd have to go to one of the bars to get a soda?

Ah ok, well that's understandable, I guess - otherwise, they'd probably have to employ hundreds of staff just to bring people their drinks ;-)

Good to know! If they make a problem, would I just order one and then the second one right after they bring me the first one? Sounds like a waste of their time; it's not like I'm getting stuff for someone else...I read that there is a time limit with the soda dispensers, one has to wait 15 minutes between fills? Does the Adventure even have those dispensers, does anyone know?

I do think these drinks packages are rather expensive, so I intend to make the most of mine :-)

Another question: can I get someone to bring me stuff from this package to my room free of charge (I know there's a charge for late hours), and in that case, again - can I ask for a coffee AND a water? Will the coffee even be hot when it gets to my room - I think our room is quite far away from everything....

So with the Royal Replenish Drinks Package, can I get a specialty coffee and a bottle of water at the same time? I've read one can only get one drink at a time, but surely that would be a little stupid if one couldn't get a coffee and a water (or another drink and a water) at the same time?

I did get this package for myself because I think I'll make good use of it - I love coffee and sparkling water and I'm planning on getting lots of bottles of still water, too, so I have plenty in the cabin and when I leave the ship.

Just out of curiosity - I don't think we'll necessarily do this - does anyone know any details about this package? I couldn't find ANY information on the RC website - all it says is it's "dining at three specialty restaurants".

I wasn't aware there were three specialty restaurants on board the Adventure? I'm only ever seeing that Italian place Giovanni's.

As I said, I don't think we'd want to spend the extra money if we can have dinner in the main restaurant for free, but can anyone provide details and if anyone has done this, would they say it was worth it? Obviously, the $70 pp doesn't include wine - is the wine list the same as in the main restaurant, or are wines in the specialty restaurants even more expensive?

Thanks up front for any info!

Kat

(going on the AOS from September 10 to 17)

Correct!! I believe ours does,too, but will find out for sure. I just always dread calling them...

This would cover treatment on the ship, too, if it were necessary, right?

My wife and I have been cruising quite a bit and we hope to continue. We have always bought cruise insurance from Royal. But with expecting to cruise 8 or more times a year. I am thinking about buying annual trip insurance. I'm 68 and my wife is 61. My wife is a cancer survivor with the cancer in remission for almost 2 years.

Any ideas which plans would be better for us?

Can you adopt me, pleeeease

So this is included with your regular US health insurance plan, you just pay up front and get reimbursed later, right? But it doesn't cover transportation?

Well I think our definition of "decent" isn't quite the same - Blue Moon, really? Blah...and what's so special about Stella?

Anyway, I'm not getting the drinks package, that's why I like the Foster's cans

Haha thanks for doing that - I always find googling stuff more fun than working LOL. I had an inkling it would be something like this! in a similar vein, Americans always calls Pimm's "Pimm's Cup". I don't even try to explain that the drink itself is just called Pimm's (choose your battles :-) )

Great, good to know they'll let you bring water on board - and the two bottles of wine, already planning on that for some relaxed sipping on the balcony :-) Wonder if one could take them to dinner? I read that RC did away with the corkage fee...

Is the water ok tasting, did you also just drink the tap water in the cabin? I just remember that smelling pretty weird on previous cruises...I think I will actually spring for the Replenish Drinks Package for myself as I'm a big drinker and that also includes sparkling water (which I'm very partial to!) and specialty coffees, which I also like. it's nice that RC doesn't require both parties in the cabin to get it as hubby wouldn't make use of it!

If you think Foster's is really THAT bad, you've obviously never had Bud (Light), Corrs (Light), Millers etc.

I'd much rather pay $8 for 24oz of Fosters than $6.25 for 12 or 16oz of that stuff. At least it has SOME flavour!! Would I prefer Weihenstephaner or Ayinger or something like that? Sure, but beggars can't be choosers and I have every intention of enjoying a few cans of Foster's on the ship.

Can anyone tell me why they are called "oil" cans??

In my (not so humble :-) ) opinion it's not great, but it still beats the likes of Bud, Corrs etc. by a long shot - plus, I like the size!! 16oz is for sissies :-)

Honestly, it's very drinkable when it's cold and you're having it on a cruise ship. I hope they have it on the Adventure when I go in September!

I don't know, but the drinks with the BANG you refer to seem to be at least $12 a piece, which I find outrageous!!! I do hope they have the large Foster's cans. When you say drink the ship's water - do you mean as in iced water in the restaurant which yes, we will do FOR SURE!! or do you suggest drinking the tap water in the room? Is that really an option? I might get a couple of those Brita filter bottles for that purpose...I guess we can at least get ice, right??

Bummer about the Evian, yay for the Foster's (I know it's not the greatest beer in the world but I like it A LOT better than the likes of Bud etc. AND the size makes more sense to me!!!)

I was really hoping they'd be 1.5 litres, but I guess not...a liter is NOTHING!! This is so bloody expensive, it makes my toenails curl!!! And I guess they won't let you bring your own water bottles back on board, right?

At least Carnival was just a couple of bucks for the big 1.5l bottles, if memory serves me right...

Hi, I'm trying to get some more information drinks prices on the Adventure (or RC ships generally, they are probably similar for all of them?).

I don't think a drinks package will be worth it for us, even though if it is true that one can now get a drink package for just one of the passengers in the cabin, I might look into it...but probably not as we prefer a bottle of wine with dinner and getting a measly 20% off is ridiculous in my opinion..

we might, however, do the Evian water package as we are big water drinkers and I take it they are even more expensive if bought separately?

Does anyone know how large the 12 bottles in the $39 package are - are they 1.5 litres or just 1 litre bottles? I truly think it's such a rip-off that they won't let people bring water bottles on board, I HATE how they are able to force people to buy their overpriced stuff - extortion!!!

Also, does anyone know if they have the big Foster's cans on board the Adventure? I saw it mentioned somewhere but not idea if that was recent / reliable...

I could kick myself for booking directly with RC - I have read so many times about people getting this thrown in as a perk by their travel agents...

Anyway, thanks very much in advance for any info you could give me on this!!

Kat :-)

I guess once could do both - walk to the downtown area first and then go to that Boatyard Beach, right? That sounds like a nice day. Will look at Google Maps to see where that Boatyard Beach is - we don't mind walking, we actually like it (and will need it, what with the constant eating on board!!)

Gotcha!!

Guess I misunderstood your original post which asked if anyone had used a local company, which I interpreted to mean you were interested in a local tour company.

Yes, sorry, you are right - we would consider booking a local excursion, we just wouldn't want a one-on-one situation...It sounded like this lady is a private guide??

LOL Hank

We were considering taking our own GPS, but that would really only make sense to me if we rented a car in a number of places - which we might end up doing....For us, the stress is partly due to the fact that my American husband is unable to drive a stick shift, which pretty much means I have to do all the driving in Europe as automatics are hard to find and/or exorbitantly expensive! I just found a really good offer for a car in Monaco - a little over EUR 40 all inc with NO EXCESS; unfortunately, the rental car office closes at 18:30 (and our ship isn't sailing out until 23h!!)....Also, on one of the recent itineraries, people weren't able to go on land because of the waves being too high for the tender boats....We are also supposed to tender in Monaco during our trip, and I'd HATE to book a car and then not be able to actually get it!!!

I wish someone would make all these decisions for me...unfortunately, hubby is used to me organizing everything. BTW, what does "DW" stand for? I do realize you're referring to "She who must be obeyed", but what do the actual letters stand for??

Hm, we must have been doing something wrong, because we thought Civitavecchia was an armpit when were stopped there a few years ago! There was nothing to do, and like others have said, for an Italian city, there's a remarkable lack of charm...Glad others had a better time; we'll be there again soon and are definitely going into Rome this time - been there several times before, but can you ever go to Rome too often???

We were considering Menton, but I'd really like to go up into the Provence hinterland - I can't remember if I've been to Eze and/or Saint Paul, I think I've been to at least one of them but it was ages ago so really wouldn't mind going again - and hubby has never been :)

I have a childhood memory of going to one of those places and buying a little terracotta hedgehog, you'd sprinkle grass seed on it and then it would grow grass (in lieu of the spikes!!). I loved that thing!! Would be awesome to grow cat grass :D. I also remember sitting on a wall, eating fresh baguette - SO, SOOO good!!!