sugarcubesea

Is it possible to get the balcony discount for a cruise already booked? Here is my situation. I booked a JS for a 2015 cruise on board last year while at Gold status. I will get to Platinum status after completing a cruise this May. My 2015 cruise will still be 9 months out at that time. Will I be able to get the balcony discount applied to that cruise?

This is my situation as well,thanks for the info

Yeah, if you want to book a Two Bedroom suite and it's not listed, you'll need to call (you can look online to see if they are sold out or just unavailable for online booking). We've done one on Brilliance before (9656... 3 adults, 2 kids) and it was quite fun. Many people will tell you to skip 1054 due to its proximity to the Centrum, which can get noisy when the band is playing. Personally, I think the ones on the aft are much better anyway.

Thank you, so I will stay away from 1054 and see if any on the aft are available.

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/cabinclass/cabinTypes/cabinType/cabin/home.do?shipCode=BR&cabincls=D&cabinType=TS&br=R&deckCode=07&shipName=Brilliance+Of+The+Seas++++++++&cabinTypeName=Two+Bedroom+Suite+with+Balcony

 

I would look at cabin 7672 or 1054

Thank you for the help, I think this is the category I need but can not figure out how to price and or book it?

Pre-planning – I know some people don’t like to pre-plan their cruises but I do. For sure, the Allure/Oasis, it’s helpful to pre-plan at least some of the events to try to get the most out of you trip but there’s certainly no need to do the extreme level that I have done. Having said that, with the “dynamic dining” coming in 2015 to Oasis/Allure (whenever they decide to implement that), at least to me it would be helpful to track when and where you will have dinner nightly and when you want to watch the shows.

 

One of my favorite travel book series is the “unofficial guides” to the Disney theme parks. We are big Disney fans and for couple years, we had annual passes to Disneyland. Using the book’s suggested plan to tour the parks, I planned out our daily activities while we were there and then use the real time apps for the cell phone to know what the queue time for the next ride while we are in line for the current ride (just think Commando dad invades Mickey land). I typically don’t use this approach for the other cruises I have been on but for this cruise, I modified that schedule to use for our purposes.

 

It should come as no surprise that I am using Excel schedule to do this as every finance person uses Excel. It has 101 uses (102 if you use it for work). Anyway, I am attaching it as a template for anyone who wants to do a schedule for their trip.

 

 

Like I said, not necessary for those that like to “wing it” (like my wife) but I am anal. Maybe this set up will help someone else. Color coded by flights/port time/tours/activities. If you have little ones, you can even add stickers or pictures to them.

 

Of course the first question to ask if did we do all the things on the list and the answer is “of course not”. That’s OK as you can plan all you want pre vacation and when you get there, you can choose to follow the schedule or just modify things as they come. You don’t have to be slave to your own schedule. This isn’t work. I will discuss at the various points later where we deviated from the schedule.

I'm a Finance Manager and I'm very frugal and I love your spreadsheet.

You can bring two bottles per stateroom, each no larger than 750ml. You can use carry on or checked bag, but I prefer carry on to avoid breakage and potential delay in receiving checked bags.

Wow, thank you, can you room steward open these for you, or do you have to bring your own opener?

Sure! What's not to like! Plenty of space! Enjoy!

Thank you, since this vacation is costing so much, I want to ensure that its perfect.

We stayed at the embassy suites west shore...lots of places you can walk to ...walked to subway for lunch and to walgreens to grab our wine for on board... and some nice restaurants around for dinner a..great breakfast included and managers reception at nite with cocktails and pickies ...nice pool

Are you allowed to bring wine on board? How many bottles can you bring? Do you bring it on the carry on or the bags that are delivered to your room?

Just booked this and I'm now 2nd guessing myself. Will this be good for a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 kids - aged 17 and 20

If you go the first day of the cruise, they usually have a package at the spa. (Like around $100 pp for the entire cruise.) Otherwise, if you don't buy the first day you'll need to pay for use. I've used the one on Brilliance, and it is nice.

 

This is one of my husband's and my most favorite cruise things to do. It is so relaxing and nice--totally worth the money. I'm bummed our next trip doesn't have a thermal suite!

 

XO,

DG

From reading the link that the other poster provided upstream, it sounds like its hot beds to lie in? Do you have to pick this or Arabian cleansing ritual of chakra muds and aromatherapy that is also described for this area? I'm just trying to figure out if its just beds to lie in or if it includes more things ?

When you get onboard, where do you pay for use of the Thermal Suite? Is it the spa or guest services?:)

Go to the Spa.

Can you do that prior to boarding thru your Concierge? Can just one member of your room do this?

Magnetic Clips - like the ones you put on your fridge to clip papers with!

Your cabin walls are all metal. They are great for keeping the compass up out of the way and easy to find. I started bringing 4 or 5 to keep the cabin nice and tidy from all the papers!

I love this idea, thanks

Just use Royal's website as if you were booking the same exact cruise and category. Be sure to check the apporpriate boxes regarding state of residence, Senior, etc.

Thank you for this help and one question: If I find that the fare gets lowered, do I just call RC, since that is who I booked the cruise with vs a travel agent…Since I'm a newbie at this,I want to make sure I do this right.

I think it was the pixie dust we threw into the air while clicking our heels together three times while rubbing the lamp...

OMG, that was a hoot, thanks for the laugh.

Hi Neighbor-we're in Lewisville...

 

You are so right. Last cruise we had booked a JS and got upgraded to an Owner's Suite-our first! Let me tell you, 2 TVs in a room is a little silly but it certainly spoiled us. We sailed at Halloween and the ship didn't really do anything for it so we got a blankie from our room steward and watched a scary movie, cuddled up on the couch.

 

In the past we got a bottle of evian on boarding day for free. This time it was free the whole cruise. They just kept giving us another bottle everytime we finished ours-no bev pkg, nothing. Never had a charge. The minibar guy did do inventory and we got charged for the stuff we took from there but never the water.

 

I did notice things like room service and maintenance requests got done right away when we were called from the suite as opposed to longer waits when we've been in a JS or D1.

 

We've also sailed in a RFS with just 2 of us. My wife LOVED having her own bathroom. We used the 2nd bedroom for luggage and laundry. Grandeur's wrap around balcony is nice.

 

We've never done Allure or Oasis or the new ships but I would love to try the Sky Lofts or some of the other new ones, including the spa jr suite which I still haven't seen pics of.

 

Enjoy your GS but like Michael said, you'll never be able to go back to an Oceanview on deck 2 or an interior again...

How does one get upgraded from a JS to an Owner's Suite?

Here's a similar thread ... http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2166889

 

We all know that it's simply a marketing gimmick, designed to attract new cruisers, families, and those who vacation infrequently.

 

Nothing's changed for us ... we book as we always have. In fact, when we sit down at the Future Cruise Desk aboard ship, all of us (including the FCC) concede that we're pretty much paying the same (and in some BOGOHO cases, more) irrespective of how it's packaged. Ultimately we end up with the lowest price available, be it at the time we book or sometime down the road when fares drop.

 

Apparently the campaign is working, as RCI's stock has virtually doubled over the past year ... and if the shareholders are happy, it's all good.

 

Al

I went on my first cruise last week and I booked another at the Future Cruise Desk aboard ship on our last day as they were offering $400 OC for a sailing in 2016. How do you find out if the price drops?

The Residence Inn, Tampa Downtown, has two bedroom suites that might be convenient for your family.

Thank you!!!!

We live in the MidWest and I want to fly in the day prior to the cruise just to ensure we have no weather delays. What is the best hotel for a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 kids, 16 and 19?

We sailed right next door #1554 on Serenade last year (same floor plan) and will be again in February. Loved the double sliding doors and balcony!

I wish I had known this when I booked by 1/30/16 cruise, I will be in 1534

a fantastic CL...with its own bar with bar stools ~ very roomy with numerous tables & chairs ~ panoramic views ~ CL outdoor deck with tables & chairs for CL only Guests to enjoy....:)

 

Anis was our Concierge....he was fantastic.....ask and you shall receive....:)

 

our favorite ship....both the CL and Anis are heads above some other CL's & Concierges we have experienced on other RCL sailings....:)

I'm so excited to hear this, I booked while I was still on the EOTS last week to take advantage of the $400 OC I could get if booked while on the ship. What really sold me on the suite, was the CL on EOTS. I loved going up there each night at 5:00pm. This sounds like it will be a fabulous trip.

We were on the 1/30/15 three night cruise, and we not able to stop due to wind. We instead went to Nassau early (arrived about 3pm) and stayed until the following day around 3pm.

We just got back from a 4 day on the EoTS and we did not stop but to winds.. I was bummed