The Scurvy Pirate

Just bring a magnet you don't mind losing.  We had one that "disappeared" for about four days.  The room attendant could tell my wife was upset about its disappearance and had put out an all points bulletin to the other room attendants.  Eventually, it was seen in a cabin about 25 doors down.  Although the room attendant couldn't do anything, we did go knock and ask if they had seen one and it was the "oh, we saw it on the ground and so picked it up..." excuse...  Although customer service was nice, they said they couldn't really do anything, even though there was a camera literally right out side our door and you could have seen everyting.  They couldn't/wouldn't spend the man hours to review the tape even though we had narrowed it down to between 1:00 a.m. and about 7:00 a.m on a particular day, so would have take all of about 15 minutes to fast forward to see, but I don't blame them.  We got it back in the end, so all was good.

So has there actually been anything "official" from RCI about either skipping Labadee or substituting another port and how long, it at all, it will be lasting?  In other words, have only peolple with cruises in the next X months been notified of a change?

And its not how much you lose/win but how much you put "at risk" through the slot machine.  So, for every $5 played you get 1 point.  You have to put at risk $12,500 to get the 2,500 points to get to prime, which gives you the free cruise, free drinks while in the casino and a 30% internet discount.

They probably removed it to "force" the bartenders to scan each card.  I know sometimes in the past you could just show them your card and they would give you a drink without scanning it into the system.

1 hour ago, robmtx said:

If you choose to filter excursions by day of cruise, does it show which day G'town is, and is that the same day as your Labadee scheduled stop?

 

The documents say:                                        The Planner says:

Day 1 - boarding

Day 2 - Nassau                                                Day 2 - Nassau

Day 3 - cruising                                                Day 3 - Georgetown

Day 4 - Falmouth                                             Day 4 - Falmouth

Day 5 - Labadee                                              Day 5 - Labadee

Day 6 - cruising

Day 7 - debarking

So, not sure what to make of it.  I don't think you can make it from Nassau to Georgetown in that limited amount of time.  So, may just be an IT issue.

A day or so ago I booked a cruise for Feb 25 that is going to nassau, falmouth and labadee.  When I go to the planner for excursions, it is also showing excursions for Georgetown.  The only excursion for Labadee is a "coastal adventure", while there are several listed for Georgetown.  I have seen nothing about a change in the port but thought this was interesting....

I do not believe Royal will status match your casino player status.  What I can say is that on our last cruise my wife got to prime (2,500 points) and is now getting multiple free cruise offers (granted they are interior/ocean view) plus she gets all Prime benefits, including a free interior cruise for two we can use before next March 31, free casino drinks, 30% off intenet, etc.  On the last cruise I got all of 8 points, only 2,492 points from Prime (basically played my free credits everyone gets).  Last week I got a free cruise offer for an interior room for one person.  I was shocked I got anything.

They do sell the wine heat shrink wraps on amazon with replacement corks for less than $10.  They might be less inclined to check a shrink wrapped bottle of red wine than a screw top.

11 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I've also read of someone whose suitcase was under the one who smuggled the wine on instead of carrying it on. Red wine bottles broke and dripped into their suitcase.

 

This solves that problem....

https://www.amazon.com/UPGRADED-PROTECTION-Protector-Protection-Leak-proof/dp/B07VRMQ5KB?th=1

Although against the rules, I have heard some people who put two in the checked baggage and then carry two more in a carry on.  If you are D+, then you can also get a free bottle as your gift.  The 40% off lets you pay only about double for what some wines cost at the local wine store...

I will add, it depends on what you are looking for.  We were at hideaway last week with two ships docked and it was definitely crowded and the umbrellas do obstruct what could be a really nice view. We got it for about $28/pp.  I found it to be a lot louder than expected and had an adult spring break feel (older people trying to re-live their youthful days).  We were sitting between the pool (DJ) and one of the bars (live singer/band), so it could have just been where I was sitting.  Never made it over to the pool, but the protected cove was nice.  The food was o'k, but as others said it was limited, athough the funnel cake and brownie were both really good .  We have also done nothing (free), where we found lounge chairs in the shade near a bar, which was relatively quiet and suited us just fine (can't beat free!).  We have also done the Beach Club (around $90/pp).  We both thought that if we could get the beach club at that price, it was definitely worth the $60/pp+ more than hideaway.  The lunch menu was much better and it was comparatively quiet with way fewer people (probably not even 1/2 full with Oasis and Freedom class docked).  A completely different ambiance than at hideaway.  Again, it just depends on what you are looking for.  As our children are grown, we have never been around any of the water slides, etc.

My only suggestion would be to purchase the at the lower price and then cancel the old one.  I have seen people who cancelled the old one (at a decent price) and then went to buy at the lower price and then got the dreaded "no longer available" and it was now even higher than the original purchase.  Not surprisingly, when they called RCI there was nothing RCI could do because the system was only showing the newest "higher" price.  Of course, with the constant sales (hoping the diamond/diamond+ 35% off deluxe comes back) you could probably just wait a couple of days and the sale will be back.

On 4/3/2024 at 8:59 PM, cruiseguy1016 said:

 

That changed a couple years ago. The shareholder benefit is now combinable with any other discounts.

I was denied when I had a "free" club royale cruise that you sometimes get from time to time ...

I've gotten them 60, 45 and 30 days out.  If you go to the royal-up page and type in the name and reservation number it will either show it as open for bidding, or to come back 30 days prior to your cruise date.

Has anyone ever called to get the deluxe and refreshment package and then tried to cancel the refreshment through the planner once it appeared in your order history?

We ate there on our early February 2024 cruise on Radiance.  We walked in for our 7:45 reservation and were one of only 3 couples in the restaurant.  We were the last to leave around  9:00.  Food was really good, but too much.  Only ate about half of what was served.  Would do it again.

I put this magnet on our door so we know which room is ours.  The room attendant is always leery on that first visit...

Just remember, at the beach club, if you are sitting on the beach in a lounger, there is attached to the lounger a little green flag you can put up and someone will quickly come check on you and take a drink order, which is great if you have the deluxe beverage package.  I have a cruise coming up in April where two months ago the MSRP for CCBC was $249.  A couple of weeks ago it dropped to $139 with a sale price of $110.99.  We hadn't been to Hideaway yet so are going to try that this trip (on sale for $30.99).

Having watched enough shoot 'em up movies and read reports of kidnapping in many areas of the caribbean, I could understand why the jet skis might be cancelled, as people are out in the middle of the open water (not behind a fenced in area) and a some gang members in a faster boat try to corral the jet ski riders as hostages.  Of course, that could happen any day, but with the heightened activities in Haiti, I could see not taking the chance.

11 hours ago, why2klisa said:

What’s the trick? 

Load the sea pass card in your apple wallet.  It will show the cabin number as the last set of numbers under the bar code.

I did ask about possibly paying for the upgrade and they said I could but that I would lose the GTY credits.  Since it is such a short cruise (4 nights) I thought the credits made more sense to me than paying for a JS upgrade.  Basically, they are paying me to go on the cruise.....

1 hour ago, RFerrington said:

I guess I've never even heard of a casino comp offer for a GTY room.  It must be something new.

First time I had it offered as well.  The flyer offered an ocean view balcony where I could pick my room.  When I called about four months ago to book they said they would give me several hundreds of dollars as casino credit if I booked a guaranty.  Seemed like a no brainer.  Hopefully, there won't be that much noise from the hot tub as it seems to be semi-enclosed with windows... 

With Club Royale I received a “free” cruise on the Allure.  As part of the offer, they gave me additional casino credits if I booked a guaranteed ocean view balcony.  The cruise is about 30 days out and the room has not been formally assigned.  I can see the room number with the apple wallet trick. I have a connecting room on deck 14 right under the hot tub on deck 15.  I am not sure I want to be under the hot tub with possible related noise while sitting on the balcony.  Will they let me switch rooms before it is formally assigned? If I switch rooms (and move to an non-connected ocean view balcony), will they remove the casino credit?

So, in summary, it appears that the safer course is if you have prepaid them you need to cancel before you get on the ship.  It is unclear whether it is refunded as an OBC or to the original payment type (i.e. credit card) (possibly dependent on how far out you cancel them?).  If you have not prepaid them, and they are charged daily to your on-board account, then you can go to guest services to have the gratuity removed/cancelled.  To the extent they were already paid, they would be refunded as an OBC.

Just now, firefly333 said:

If you scroll back on this thread, last weeks release was postponed to this week....waiting... 

impatiently waiting.... thank you!

Any word on the 2025 long caribbean deployment?  The brochure seemed to indicate it should have been posted last week, but I am still not seeing anything.  Was thinking Freedom may be a part of that, but RCI is still showing no sailings after April 2025 for Freedom.