cruisetorelax44

no, there's a special key line. you can get into the terminal when they open it up to the suites. i've sat on chairs right next to the suite people, and once boarding begins, you walk on right after that suite section empties. they've never once looked at my actual assigned check in time, just the key .

If anyone is considering the key for the Dec. 4th Harmony cruise, jump on it now! We originally had a 2-device internet package for $197 and change. The Key is just $237 and change now for the two of us! So $20 each for all of the extra benefits! The early boarding alone is worth it 🙂

three of us booked all of our alaska excursions during last year's black friday sale, for our sailing last month. we probably saved $600 total between the three of us, over the prices that we saw later. it all depends on your individual sailing, and how far out it is. i'm sailing the first weekend in december this year, and am not optimistic we'll see any good black friday sales for that though...

I actually asked someone on board about this. They said, "yes" to the question about whether or not someone asked you to fill out the survey. But they said no one should be asking you to rank them a 10. The surveys really do want your honest opinion. One other thing, try to remember extremely helpful workers names. If you shout them out on the surveys... they get "points" and a certain number of points can help them get time off. So always note who gave exceptional service if you can 🙂

It's super odd. I have two sailings which include Labadee, one in December, tye other in January. The December one has a giant list of excursions. The January one only lists the cabanas at Barefoot Beach. I've never been, so I'm not sure what to expect.

Thanks everyone. No need to break any laws or fake sick. I guess we'd just "suffer" with a few more days on the ship lol 😆

we did that one already lol.. the ones that go up to Quebec have a bunch of ports we haven't seen, and that are super tough to drive to.

A friend and i are looking at the 10-day Fall Foliage cruise for Oct 2023, which leaves from Quebec. We live in Boston. We were thinking about booking the trip, and then only doing the first 8 days.. just getting off in Portland and then not getting back onto the ship. Just hopping onto a train and going home. We would skip Bar Harbor and a sea day, and then not have to worry about transportation from NJ. Anyone ever done anything like this before? The destinations in Canada are really long drives away, and we'd love to see them, but don't have the vacation time needed for the entire 10-day trip. Thanks!

the problem is.. even if we got that breakdown, we wouldn't be able to just do a $2 daily surcharge for those impacted if we wanted to. It's all or nothing. and considering we overpay tips for dining and for the room steward.. we call it a wash. There is no need for the dining staff to get our tip dollars when we never see them.

I always used to prepay tips, but now i have them removed. My friends and I do the ultimate dining, which we pay an 18% service charge for. We never even walk into the dining room and rarely are in the buffet. So we tip $10 in cash, per person, each meal we eat, to the server we actually see. And we each tip $10 per day to our stateroom attendant at the end of the cruise. That's more than the steward would see from the daily tips. I don't understand why a head waiter, waiter, and assistant waiter in the main dining room, who we never ever see, should get any of our money. We tip those show serve us... and i understand the "behind the scenes" argument. That's a royal policy that drives me insane. We don't know how much of the daily tips goes to the people behind the scenes, or who qualifies.

all depends on the ship. the last time i saw hot rocks on the menu was on Navigator in Dec. 2019. but i know some ships still have the option.

i always ask our stateroom attendant for a mattress topper on the first day. if the bed still isn't soft enough, i often will ask for an extra comforter to be used as additional cushion.

thank you

Do bars charge for soda water? I know you can get a glass of water for free (not a bottle). A friend is trying to figure out if she should buy the soda package, because she mostly just drinks soda water. Thanks!

I was on Allure in May. It was sloooooowwwww. Anything we tried to watch and stream was buffering constantly. We eventually just gave up trying to watch anything.

Hi! We sail next week (EEK!!) We leave from Vancouver, then have the land tour after a week on the ship. While we've booked all of excursions for the actual cruise, I know there are also optional land tours in the post-cruise section. Anyone know what they are? How much they cost? We haven't gotten any information at all and we're just trying to plan and budget. Thanks!

They aren't. The only excursions offered are for the actual cruise. But I know optional things exist for the land portion. Royal even states "or take an optional excursion " when listing free time to explore some of the areas.

I know there are optional land tours in the post-cruise section. Anyone know what they are? How much they cost? Just trying to plan and budget. Thanks!

Correct

There was a mountain tram offering through royal caribbean. It was like $55.

When we're in Icy Strait Point, my friends are doing the zipliner. I will 100% not be doing that. 🤣🤣🤣 I booked the wildest kitchen excursion, because I like to cook, but some reviews are pretty negative. Anyone have an experience they'd like to share? I still have time to change to the mountain tram to check out the scenery....

I would only do it for Oasis class... the early boarding is 100% worth it alone. And the reserved show seating is a bonus.

Even if it's a different time zone?

We live in Boston and are sailing out of Vancouver for an Alaska cruise this month. We have two days in Vancouver before we board (fly Wed, board Friday), and we wanted to take our covid tests before we leave for the airport. Do we need to wait until 3am to take the tests, because the ship sails Pacific time? Do they teach time zones at the port, or just look at the date? Is the time of the test based on the result or when the appointment starts? Just want to make sure we don't screw anything up. Thanks!

if there's a haunted room on board.. i want it!