NateUpNorth

To answer my own question..... should anyone wonder the same... no day pass required.

We bought the retour cards at the bus terminal by the cruise port with USD.

Exactly how I was going to respond so I'll just use the quote instead.

Awesome!! Jealous you've already got one booked! I was sad we didn't get Bonaire on this trip. (think Harmony is too big to use their pier) If you're into snorkeling it's AMAZING. "World best" site. Woodwind tour provider comes highly recommended here and elsewhere. We used them for a morning tour and I can't say enough good things about them.

Thanks for that. Your middle paragraph has actually completely added a new perspective for me. Looking at it as a reward, not 100% an incentive approach. I think I now understand better some of the replies I've received. Not too proud to say you've enlightened me with some learning!!! "Have a fantastic holidays" to you and everyone else here. This site continues to dispense tips, tricks and valuable information everyday!!!

Edit - In the interests of not assuming I'm always correct I've just google'd it and found this from February that says only 4 total but I will confirm 100% that the one at mini-bites exists also bringing absolute certainty to 5 total minimum. And the google quick hit says this:

I want to say....... and I'm not 100% certain..... but you can walk off with your luggage at any point in time after the ship "clears" in the morning. IIRC it's the "self assist" option.

Ok. I'm getting destroyed in here by the regulars over this. *shrug* All I'm saying is that A) if it was working so well, why the revamp? B) if RCL has a loyalty program running they likely are not of the same opinion of many here to "try other lines, we all do it, everyone should do it"..... isn't that the opposite of what a corporation hopes will happen? C) yes I agree - the ships and entertainment are what draws people in 100% but the loyalty program as it stands, doesn't keep them from looking elsewhere too Anyway, I'll leave it there. I'm sure there will be more threads about it in the future. It's, what do the corporate's like to call it, an "evergreen program"?

Apologies, I should have said 3 locations.... Buffet, Sorrento's and Mini-Bites. There was 1 at mini-bites 2 at Sorrento's with frequent lines. (granted people did take their time choosing which probably contributed to the line, and they're in a really bad spot on the side of the pizza line there, about 3 feet in front of tables where people are eating) Windjammer - I'm gonna say 1 at each end? I honestly don't know, we sat same side same area when we were in there. I'll defer and say your estimate is probably better than mine.

Honest question, learning here, is it combinable with all the "dynamic sales"?

Agree completely, however as I've said, C&A dept would be fired if that was their strategy. I seem to have opened a can of worms here. lol

I agree completely with your sentiments. The point I'm making is if the company IS looking to swing people to RCL over an AI or other lines.... this program currently isn't doing that. I don't think marketing operates on "If it happens to be us that's great"! Again I understand completely. From a corporate profits standpoint the goal should be enticing people to get there. The "loyalty" rewards under discussion don't do that. The ships.... sure they do. Yep. But again I don't think RCL marketing and finance are employed to bo OK with that.

No offense, and with respect and sincerity..... "20 night b2b in a JS" is not your typical RCL passenger. I'm just giving the perspective of the slow and steady once a year cruiser. Which I suspect is the majority of the clientele.

We're talking RCL here. I don't know what other lines offer.... but the point is there's no incentive to stop me (or others) from thinking about finding out based on the "stay loyal to us" program RCL is running. And that is a realization the C&A team is employed to navigate around. We're at 31 nights, by now they should have me hooked. They don't. Perhaps we're the exception? I don't know. The family we last travelled with is in the 20's and they came away saying "maybe CCL next time" I'm not trying to be confrontational, this is just the reality. "The ships sail full right now" and "Enjoy other lines, bye" are not sound business plans.

Hear me out. Average family takes 1 big vacation a year. 7 or 8 nights. Diamond is 80 nights. The "loyalty" program basically says "give us 10 years of your vacation time and then we'll toss a few drinks your way" If that IS the enticement to stay loyal to royal.... it's garbage. Good luck to them. And this is from a fan of RCL. No offense but if you're already Diamond, Diamond+, Pinnacle.... you're likely locked in. The "loyalty" the corporate coffers need is from the lower levels. What in the Gold, Platinum, Emerald categories screams "don't shop MSC, or CCL or Norwegian" to you? Yes the ships are full but they need a way to make sure it's not 6000 one and done passengers each sailing.... times how many ships fleetwide? Maybe a "loyalty" revamp will help.... can't hurt.

They did. It opened at night from 7 and ran till 10. Kids can stay after 10 but there is a fee. I forget the fee but you'll get charged at 10:01. They mentioned that several times at sign up. Each night has a "theme" or activity and you can grab the schedule. For example "movie night" or "games night" and "carnival night".... there's also coloring and other "solo" stuff to do. Video games are in there, I think 3 sets. (Just asked the boy, he says Mario, Minecraft and Basketball were the games.) Oh and the staff will lead organized games like dodgeball. I will tell you it is LOUD..... so they're obviously having fun in there.... LOL Above the age of 9 you can choose to allow, or prevent, your child from signing themselves in or out. Our guys were only "allowed" limited time at the fun club but when they were there they loved it.

From a lowly Gold who turned Platinum on Sunday, and who just filled out my post cruise survey.... I included the commentary that the C&A rewards are no incentive whatsoever below Diamond. So whilst those in our category appreciate being regaled with tales of free booze and tote bags and bath towels....... perhaps they're gonna do something to entice those down in steerage to stick with RCL to actually get to the Diamond level? I won't hold my breath!

There were a pair of pineapples upside down via magnets on a stateroom door on our floor last week. It could have been the scenario you've indicated.... magnets not quite strong enough to keep them upright.... or a joke. Who knows... we laughed and moved on.

ooops - i think i mentioned, but not sure, and I sure as heck ain't reading that again to listen to myself pontificate about RCL...... I have the Cruise Compass for all days but Day 1..... will scan next week (probably Wednesday) when back at work with access to a scanner... so lookout for them... or remind me by posting a request. Thanks!

Things Harmony/RCL does best: To start, they hit perfectly what are probably the two most important things you’d think a cruise offers: Amazing service people MDR food was great The shows, waterslides and Flow Rider are a “must experience" and more than enough other activities to keep you busy. Something for every demographic. This review hits the middle age with younger kids category, however I know we have done this class of Ship with my parents (Oasis) and they found things to do every day also - trivia, tours etc etc etc Things that could be improved: The C&A rewards aren’t amazing right now for us lowly Gold’s. In fact if I'm honest they don't really scream "rebook with us" until you get to Diamond. We're over 30 nights now..... so that's another 50 or so nights away. Included food options outside the MDR/Windjammer could have a little more selection and longer hours– looking at you Sorrento’s/ Café Promenade Charging for popcorn? C’mon Man. Nickel and diming at its finest. Non functioning arcade. Expand the soft serve times. It’s vacation. A 9:30 soft serve isn’t killing anyone. The sum total grand finale: OVERALL RATING – I’m gonna give it an 8 1/2. For our family, once the Explorer is Amp’d, that’s the class that hits our sweet spot. We’ll drop down a size or two. (Navigator/Freedom/Explorer) Price paid hit the value mark perfectly. Got what was expected, possibly a bit more, with a few misses on the way. Next up we’ll be looking to do the Caribbean Saint’s itinerary. Likely with RCL for minimal overlap of where we’ve been so far. After that… who knows. I’m not sure C&A points and levels where we are will be enough to keep us Loyal to Royal. Just an honest opinion. Maybe they’ll revise the program, who knows. If you've made it this far........ this is the internet..... this is when you begin to tell me how wrong I am and where I've gone astray. I kid. I kid. Feedback on any of this is welcome. We'll sail again and use it!

Onboard Shopping – Our friends bought Invicta watches. All I told them was “be happy with what you get and what you pay for it”. That’s a discussion had a great length on these boards and what I’ve distilled the conversation down to in one sentence. The onboard Liquor shop……. Meh…… decidedly meh. Usually I’ll find something onboard I’ve never seen before. (I shop for scotch or bourbon) There were the obligatory ridiculous priced Macallan Enigma’s, Johnnie Blue was a 2 for $450 deal etc……. but other than that - well nothing made me pull out the Seapass. Oh and there was the Balvenie Pedro Ximinez ($200) and a Balvenie 15 Medeira Cask ($118) available too. The “highlighted in a fancy holder” next to the cash register was Kentucky Owl Confiscated Bourbon. Meh. Not saying these aren't all fine tipples but I passed on purchasing. I'll hit the bridge Duty Free in Queenston/Lewiston to peruse their selection. Coffee Punch Card/ Drink Punch Card – No evidence of availability on this sailing. (Coffee card was in the Planner pre-cruise however).

Bar Service Review – Generally there were lines, but service was efficient and moved things along. We were presented with a receipt to sign for every drink we ordered. (No drink package). RCL should give some serious thought to a drink menu of all the frozen/mix drinks they can make. There were times we though “oh I could go for a drink” but literally couldn’t come up with what we wanted. Perhaps there is a drink menu poolside we didn’t see/ know about? Café Promenade – As the “other” after 10pm place open for food we found it to be lacking in choice. The kids had a billion cookies. Raisin Oatmeal and Lemon something or other were available every day. Coconut cookies depended on the day. I did not see a Chocolate Chip cookie anywhere on display all week. They also had small sandwich bites and some Brownie type treats. Elevators – busy after a show and arrival/depart days…… other than that……. They were fine. No crazy waits. I will say elevator etiquette is dead. People – when the doors open and you want to get on….. stand back and make sure no one is getting out first. The amount of collisions was hilarious, possibly only to those not involved. Pools and Hot Tubs – We used the “everyone” pools where kids are allowed. Yes there were kids, yes they splashed a bit, but yes the lifeguards were on those that were playing on the ladders and put a stop to any jumping into the pools quickly. The human soup bowls….. I mean hot tubs…… same thing. We had a group of kids in a hot tub using cups to pour water over the side to flood the deck. All we needed to do was say “guys, not appropriate, please stop” in a friendly manner and they stopped. No biggie and it didn’t ruin our day. Chair hogs – yep. Here’s the breakdown. If you go topside before 9 – loads of availability. 9-10 they start filling up. If you look for chairs post 10AM… no chance. I’ve intentionally put Elevator and Pool reviews back to back. Why? Here’s two photo’s. Tell me when you see it……. LOLOLOLOLOL Service staff – 10/10. Amazing. Dining Room, Windjammer, Room Attendent…….. they’re all getting 10’s on the survey…… oh which reminds me…. We had 1 “we aim for 10’s” speech in the dining room on the final day… and this is a first – the Windjammer also had the speech on the second to last day when we were in there. But I digress. The staff were amazing. Extra tips were envelope’d to all. MDR overall – all right, I hate to break it to the Tux and Ballroom Gown crowd but fancy dress dining is dead. Finished. The breath of life has ceased to exist. The parrot is nailed to the perch. (Monty Python anyone?) Regardless…. This is coming from us - a shirt and tie on Dad/Son, dress on Mom/Daughter for the MDR. So we were….. bemused. There were shorts. There were hats/ballcaps. There were fancy flashing Xmas sunglasses. There were sandals, flip flops, running shoes everywhere. Even on formal night. For some there was apparently a textile shortage at their city of origin and only half a dress was available to obtain. Yes, even a pajama spotting. The MDR is GREAT for people watching because some of the sights were incredible. But yes – Fancy MDR formal for all is dead. That being said – Formal nights were 2 & 6. There was also a “white” night and a Caribbean shirt night. Also to mention – we had the early seating…. So when we left each night the line for MTD was out the door, around the corner and past the elevators. I’m not sure what happens here but perhaps some of the more seasoned among us can explain the tips/tricks to MTD? Food – MDR food was FANTASTIC. I was somewhat leery having read reviews before our sailing, but there was nothing to worry about. I had two appetizers, a main and two desserts most nights. And the main I ordered usually ended up a double. Our waiter would bring the main and then 5 mins later show up with an extra portion of lamb/beef whatever to load onto my plate. This was only possible to consume as the apps were fairly small in size as were desserts, and I didn’t fill up on bread. If I may be so bold, do you think RCL has ever thought about giving each table a pepper mill though? Food gets a 10/10 for me. Photos – We purchased a photo package through Black Friday sales. 10 photos. Is the photo quality worthy of placement in the National Geographic photo of the year competition? No. Is it half decent and good for the price paid? Yes. However (for us) anything over 10 photos and the value plummets drastically. I wouldn’t even dream of shelling out for the “all inclusive” package – lineups could get long for the photo spots, and the hours of operation were 5-10pm only at the “assigned backdrop” spots. The app – It’s functional. The ability to add events to your daily schedule is a nice touch. Charging for the chat feature is a joke. We also had some technical glitches occur. (see scheduled debarkation issues). Overall I’d say it’s a work in progress. At this point it’s close to a “must have” if you like scheduling your day in advance or have specific thing you don’t want to miss. It – sometimes – even gives a “you have plans soon” pop up notification which is nice also.

Day 10 Fort Lauderdale – Re-read Day 1. With exception of the stop at Topps/CVS it was pretty much identical. Back to beach using bus 10. A walk on the Broadwalk and a last goodbye to the Ocean. The hotel was also able to schedule us a shuttle back to the airport – AT 4 AM!! – who booked these flights? Oh, we did. I would also like to mention FLL airport is the COLDEST airport on the face of the planet. Seriously. Who controls the thermostat A/C??? Shuttle cost was $40 and to my surprise showed up a 3:57AM. Seeing was believing!!! This is where the review is almost over. I’m gonna drop some miscellaneous items down below.

Day 9- BOOOOOO it’s “Leaving Day.” So earlier in the week we had chosen the latest walk off possible in the App. (review coming later) So right on cue the app indicated that we had been given the earliest walk off possible. With a quick trip to guest services this was fixed and we ended up with luggage tags in the 60’s. Which brings us to time to depart the ship. We forgot what our actual assigned number/waiting station etc was. I though my wife knew, she thought I had checked. So regardless we paid it no mind as we weren’t in a hurry, woke up 7:30ish, hit up the wind jammer for a quick breakfast. We left as they were shutting it down at 8:30. We thought about asking guest services where we should wait to leave the ship, if it was important that we stay in order etc etc, but one look at that line and we figured we’d be enjoying the sail away party that night by the time we spoke to someone. There was a line leaving the ship right across from guest services so we waited till it cleared and followed the last person out. BOING – that Seapass sound that signals the cruise is over. It was again about 5 mins into the terminal…. 3 minutes to spot our luggage……. 1 minute through customs and we were on the sidewalk. I seriously cannot believe how quick, efficient and painless boarding and departing were. I shoulda bought a lottery ticket that day to see if my luck would hold out!!! We had also prepaid the shuttle service used by La Quinta for a trip back to the Hotel - $15per person. We placed a quick phone call to let them know we had been thrown off the ship as our onboard spending account was no longer sending donations to corporate head office. 15 mins later we off to La Quinta again.

Day 8 was our final Sea Day. Also known as the last day. Many decided to make sure the Excel spreadsheets were hauled out and the race to break even on drink packages began. Bar lines were LONG in our experience. A few tipsy passengers were spotted. It seemed like the day was ready to bubble over but fortunately everyone kept a lid on it, so good for you all you Mr.& Mrs Getmymoneysworth! Halfway through the day was the Men’s Belly Flop Competition. There were a few dudes that went in with a thrust and a gyrate and a different sort of flop (Q-tip to brain time!!) and a few dudes that went in with winning via bellyflop in mind. Good fun, great laughs. I shall now mention the Flow Rider. In order to convince my daughter to have a go at the boogie boarding……. I hurled my pride overboard, cinched my suit strings as tight as they’d go….. and dropped in on my elbows. And then the Flow Rider beat the living daylights out of me. It was AMAZING FUN. This convinced my daughter to have a go…….. and a MASSIVE shout out to the staff because they were patient, kind, fun and enthusiastic about every single person that tried this thing out. From the experienced showmen/women to the “3 seconds and wipeout” attempts they were above and beyond great at the guest experience. Wait times were about 30 minutes and the line was approx. 9-10 people long. If you’re on the fence about trying this – DO IT. Don’t worry about dignity, professionalism or what the people in the bleachers think. You won’t regret it. I’m also going to throw the zip line review in here. Yes it’s about a 10 second ride. Yes it’s only about a 10 storey height over the Boardwalk. No it’s not terribly fast. But for being on a Cruise Ship in the middle of the Ocean I’m giving it a 9. I think this was the day we also attended the towel folding demonstration thing for the kids. 3 room attendants, each created 2 towel animals. Not sure what else to say. Kids liked it. There’s a reason I don’t even remember which day it was. LOL That evening we went to the Cabaret Show with the Cast of Grease. This is where (6?) of the performers came out and did songs they enjoyed performing from other musicals and/or theatre events. Quite enjoyable. Couple other “not first person” reviews. At some point during the week the friends we were with did the Izumi Sushi/Sake pairing – they gave it a 10 out of 10. They also did the Ship Tour Brunch – they said it was very interesting but they likely wouldn’t do it again. So there’s that.