PMGS247

Appreciate the on-going review and photos! I'll be on board 7/15. First Royal cruise. I'll reserve final judgment for my actual experience but based on this review and plenty of others I have a feeling I'll walk away saying the crowds are a bit much, but still, it looks like it will be a blast to experience the Oasis class. Can't wait!

There's 100% an ulterior motive. They're trying to rack up as much casino points as they can. It borders on operating their own business on the ship but ultimately I don't mind this as long as they're up front about it. If there's enough demand for 4 slot pulls then so be it. It's not like they're doing nothing to earn those points....a well run event is a lot of time & effort. If they're a good organizer and promoter they'll do quite well and people won't mind. The worst part to me is that they're coming in late and stepping on the toes of pre-existing slot pulls and creating confusion. It's definitely unethical and I'd be judging that person left & right without blinking an eye but I'm not sure there's a lot to be done. You just have to rely on the participants to make the right decision as best they can. Clear open & honest communication from the original organizer is all that can be done. Some may opt to bow out and not deal with the drama and some may stand up and say hey mine was the original slot pull, it is still being held, please take this into consideration when considering your options. Then let the proverbial chips fall where they may. Stay away from slot pulls if this type of occasionally inevitable drama arises and it's enough of a turn off.

I used to see $189/$199 on these. I got $207.99 on my most recent booking thinking I'd see be able to cancel/rebook at a lower rate but it's only gone up. The $208/$219 may be the new normal. As always, waiting is not necessary unless you're 100% sure that you're absolutely not willing to pay the current price. You can always cancel & rebook if it goes down, but can't get it back if it goes up.

I think the best advice is to pay as early as you're comfortable with the price. Based on my experience the early days pricing may not be the absolutely lowest that the fare bottoms out at, but it's a safer bet to toward the lower end of the spectrum than holding out on the chance that the cruise ends up with last minute deals. If I had no repricing options and didn't have a deep familiarity with the cruise lines tendencies to run certain specials at certain times per year I would book on the early side to snag the cabin I wanted and bank on the fact that in most cases the price I'll be getting at that time is going to be towards the lower end of the spectrum, even if it's not necessarily the absolute optimized bottom-out point.

Yep, overall I agree in theory even though dropping testing would increase cases...at this point to me it is what it is, people aren't generally getting seriously ill from this especially when you combine it with the vaccine requirement, but I can see why the cruise lines do it. The reality is cruising gets closer scrutiny in the public eye and attracts instant negative PR every time a ship comes back with a bunch of cases. It's not fair..this is happening everywhere it's just only tracked on cruise ships, but fair or not it is reality, and as a result there is a strong motivation to keep cases as low as possible. Hopefully this dynamic evolves and more logical thought can prevail, but we're not there yet.

Makes sense. Thanks. Entirely curiosity; I'd be in Divorce court so fast my head would spin if my wife and I ended up in this situation and anything other than "both cancel" was the immediate response 🙂

So that would be if the negative person elects to go, it classifies the positive as a no show. That's a lot riding on that negative tester given the policy below pretty clearly states the entire traveling party is eligible for a full refund.

Interesting..almost doesn't add up..the negative testing person can opt to not go and both get a full refund?

On a societal scale, sure...but it still spreads pretty quick, especially in an enclosed mask free environment.

This isn't wrong but oversimplifies things a bit. It's not a matter of whether it does or does not prevent on-board Covid. It's not a yes/no situation. It's a matter of volume. Virus spreads exponentially. Even a small reduction to your starting number of cases has a significant impact on your ending number.

I had a good experience with this recently: TLDR/Key Takeaway: Calling to book a new cruise and tell them I want to use FCC that was currently "in process" within the 30-45 day period lit a fire and got it done a lot faster. They like selling new cruise bookings. First week of May: Cancel a mid-May cruise under Cruise with Confidence. I'm told FCC can take 30-45 days to come through. No big deal, no idea when I'll be able to cruise again anyway. Late May, ~2 weeks later: Situation changes. Decide to re-book on a July cruise, but there's very few staterooms remaining this late in the game. I want to book quickly, but I don't have the FCC yet, and as close as it is to sailing, payment is effectively due immediately. Called RCCI to book the new cruise and inquire about solutions to make sure I can ultimately use the FCC that is "in process". Agent takes a payment for the difference between the cruise total and the FCC in process, notates the account, and extends the due date by a couple of weeks. I am told she has escalated my FCC processing with the appropriate team and instructed me to call back closer to the new due date to get it applied; she was very confident it will be processed by then. First Week of June: It's about a week before the date I'm instructed to call back, but I realize that check-in is about to open up on my sailing and I want to be able to secure an early boarding time. To be honest as I sit here right now I still don't know if I have to be fully paid to check-in and reserve that time, but I went with the assumption that I did given how close this was to the cruise. I call up to see if the FCC had come through and while it was a little concerning at first that the new agent seemed a little lost/confused, she seemed to work it out very well while I was on hold as she was able to pull up the new FCC and get it applied to my new cruise. I saw the remaining balance disappear in front of my eyes on the account and I was able to check-in to snag a 10am boarding time without a problem when check-in opened a day or two later.

Interesting. If it's not a 7 day cruise then it's just coincidence that the numbers are so close and we're comparing apples to apples. My UDP came out tor $490.84 which follows the gratuity math on a base rate of 207.99 x 1.18 x 2. I don't have a huge sample size as I've never actually taken a royal caribbean cruise but thanks to covid cancellations I've fully booked 3 separate cruises worth of on board packages and excursions through the cruise planner. The UDP has always worked that way, same as DBP. Starting to feel like I'm at work with all the acronyms LOL

I'd be surprised by this. It could be your original price was actually 207.99 (Common "50% off on board prices" number for UDP) * 1.18 Gratuity. I'd double check your order history, see what the "% off" number is and compare it to the currently offered price. Not sure if this is checkable after the ship has sailed (pun intended) but I thought I'd chime in since it lines up very closely with my own UDP numbers, which definitely do include 18% gratuities.

It's just middle school math. X drinks per day at $Y Price = total cost of paying out of pocket. Take this cost and compare it to the cost of the package. If it is greater than the cost of the package, it is savings. My personal math: 6-8 vodka/tonics per day, 1-2 sodas, 2-3 bottles of water, 1 premium coffee. Out of pocket this is $750-950 for the week. My package cost me $591. This is a savings of $160 to $360. Some might find this amount of alcohol too much for themselves. Fair enough. Those people should not get the package. For me, on vacation, the drinks start at lunch. If you consider that noon to midnight, 6-8 alcoholic beverages is one every ~2 hours. This is not a lot for me. I always recommend it to anyone who's going to be close with their out of pocket. It's nice to not have to worry about it and not get a big bill at the end, but it's not that hard to calculate whether you're going to be egregiously overpaying with the package, in which case you should stay away. Basic Math. Really easy. It does work for some people. It doesn't for others.

Been a few times on Princess Cruises. Love it. It's a very simple stop, primarily just a beach and chairs. Tender boats take you from the ship to the beach. When you arrive there are a few small shops selling souvenirs. Overall there are 2 lunch spots where they serve barbecue/burgers/hot dogs during set hours and a couple bars scattered around as well as waiters/waitresses on the beach. To be honest the food kind of stinks. Some opt for lunch on the ship, which is definitely a better option if your desire for a good lunch exceeds your desire to spend time on the beach. With princess you use your ship account to make drink purchases and your drink package is valid...I feel like I've read somewhere that this was not the case when carnival ships go there, but I've only been with Princess. They typically offer a couple simple "excursions"...things like glass bottom boat, banana boat rides, or probably most notably a swimming with stingrays experience which is very highly regarded anywhere I've seen although I haven't personally done it. There may be a catamaran tour or something similar as well. Clamshells and snorkeling equipment can be rented for a fee. Plenty of Beach chairs. The photos I've attached are from the lesser used South end of the island. A little further from most of the shops but typically less populated and has a bar.