CodyC815

Can I get a days refund if I have to buy the whole discounted week long package?

10 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

How was the weather?     Were people hanging out by the pool or mostly the solarium?

Mostly solarium on the sea days, but we could still find chairs any time we were looking.  It wasn't really outdoorsy weather, it rained on both of our excursions and during the sea days.  Not rain that would stop us from doing anything, but occasional 3-4 minute showers that we had to duck under cover for.  Temperature wise it was great, especially coming from a Texas summer.  Hung around 65 degrees the whole time.

5 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Thanks so much...would appreciate your info for the Dog Sled. We'll be there with extended family in Sept 2022 that includes two kids and hoping we didn't have to take a helicopter to do this...a bit of fear for some of us. So ground transportation sounds great.

 

Did you book this with the cruiseline or privately?

 

Hoping that by the time we sail WJ will be open again for dinner....I can't imagine by then it won't.

 

 

Oh yeah - it was only a 15-20 minute drive by van up to the camp.  I can't imagine them adding a helicopter up to the site, there wasn't anywhere that we saw to land up there.  You also get a nice tour of an old gold mine and learn some history behind it on the drive, so that was nice.

We booked directly with RCL after we boarded.

47 minutes ago, Ashland said:

What company did you use for the Sled dog excursion and what sort of transportation was used to get there?

 

Was the WJ open for dinner at all during your cruise?

It was JU54 - Dog Sled Summer Camp.  I believe it was hosted by Gold Rush Dog Tours, I'll check the business card they gave me when I get home.  They picked us up at the port in a van and drove us up a mountain to their camp.  Not going to lie, the drive up the mountain made me a little nervous, but I don't like heights and everyone else seemed to be having a good time.

I only tried to go to the WJ once for dinner and it was closed.  My partner said that it hadn't been open for dinner all week.

1 hour ago, BigDawgRonAZ said:

Hey Cody, were there any formal nights onboard?  Thanks

Yes - there were 2.  We picked those nights to do our specialty dining as we didn't really pack any formal wear, but there were definitely people dressed up for the dinners on these nights.

13 hours ago, suncityga said:

Hi Cody,

 

Thank you for your posting and for your willingness to answer questions. We are doing the same cruise in about 3 weeks.

 

Did passengers on your cruise have to submit a 'negative test result' prior to boarding or was the jab card all that was required?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Whoops, sorry for the double reply - was on a plane and it didn't look like anything was going through.

We had to submit a negative PCR test taken within 3 days.  We found a local clinic that would do them in 45 minutes and just charge the insurance.  We didn't see any other passengers who didn't have a test in time, but we heard one of the cruise director staff say that they got the wrong test before boarding but were able to take one at the pier.  Not sure if that was just for the crew or an option for anyone.

As for the cover band - I'm not really a music person, but my partner is a trombonist in a local band and he was really impressed with them.  

19 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

With so few kids did the cruise revert to rules for 95% vaccinated.  If not what venues were Vaxxed only that allowed for relaxed masking rules.  I seems to me from looking at their posted list that there weren't near as many as I would have expected.

There were several areas for vaxxed passengers only.  The first floor of the theatre, the casino, Vintages, the Diamond Lounge (along with the whole VKL) We’re mask free.  Additionally there was no enforcing of a “remove mask only to sip or bite, then return your mask over your face” rule.  We saw several people order a single drink in the Schooner Bar or Safari Club and keep their masks off for hours.  

12 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

With so few kids did the cruise revert to rules for 95% vaccinated.  If not what venues were Vaxxed only that allowed for relaxed masking rules.  I seems to me from looking at their posted list that there weren't near as many as I would have expected.

The bottom floor of the theatre, Casino, Diamon lounge (pretty much all of the VKL), and Vintages were all for faxed only and allowed the removal of masks.  Plus you could take your mask off if you essentially had food or drink anywhere near you, they weren’t enforcing a “remove mask, sip, return mask” type rule like some places.  I saw quite a few people keep masks off for an hour or two at a time while only having a single drink over the course of that time in places like the Schooner Bar or the Safari Club.

12 minutes ago, TickledBlue said:

Thanks for offering answers.   I will be on Serenade in 3 weeks.

 

What is the general condition of the ship?   When I saw a picture of her in July before her first sailing, she looked rusty on the hull.

 

Were there many kids under 12 onboard?  I understand that they would be the only allowed unvaccinated onboard.

 

What did you do at Icy Straight Point and Sitka?   Were things open there?

The inside of the ship was in pretty good condition.  One elevator was down for about half the cruise, but besides that you couldn’t tell her age.  The crew was always busy painting some part of the exterior.  It looked like the spots around the anchors had had their paint stripped and were ready to be repainted.

I probably saw less than ten kids under 12.  The balcony of the theatre was reserved for the unvaccinated and I only saw people up there once or twice.  

Icy Straight Point didn’t have a ton besides shopping and the zip lines.  I believe there was a cannery you could tour, but for the most part it’s obviously a new port without much developed.  In Sitka we did the kayaking adventure offered through Royal.  It took a little effort but was a great way to see the local sea life.  There were some shops open in Sitka, but the kayaking adventure took most of our time.

Currently sitting in the Alaska Lounge at SeaTac waiting on our flight back to Dallas.  We booked a 9:51am flight thinking it would be tight, but we were able to walk off the ship and pass CBP quickly.

Overall the changes weren’t so bad.  The crew is handling the new world terrifically and everyone was grateful to see us back.  I overheard in the diamond lounge that the ship was sailing with about 900 guests onboard, a little over 100 of which were Diamond or above.

We took advantage of quite a few deals for this trip, including Royal Up (we weren’t sent an email to check, I had to search for the cruise to put in an offer for a spacious ocean view balcony which was accepted about a week before the cruise).  

There were plenty of places designated for vaccinated guests only where we were allowed to remove our masks and I didn’t see any passengers resisting any of the rules.  There were masks provided to us in the room and the gift shop has some nice Royal Caribbean embroidered ones for $10.  

Our rooms were still cleaned twice a day, which is refreshing as I have been traveling for work and hotels are still resisting going back to cleaning rooms more than once every 3-4 days.  

The ports were good.  Lots of stores and restaurants at the major ports were still closed or out of business, which is definitely sad to see, but we still found plenty to do.  I will say to double check excursions once onboard, and perhaps daily. We found a “Sled Dog Ride and Play with Sled Dog Puppies” excursion the day before we got to Juneau (which was terrific because my partner’s dog passed away a few weeks ago and I wanted to surround him with puppies, I highly recommend this excursion to any dog lovers).  

We had the deluxe beverage package, but we never got a paper receipt to tip with unless our wine was over the allotted amount.  We ended up getting cash and tipping all our staff on the last day since we couldn’t tip our bar staff with the SeaPass.  We also got some $20s and handed them out to the crew that we have seen working tirelessness to clean the ship all week.  I will note that the casino ATM ran out of cash on day 3-4, and the guest services ATM ran out on day 4-5.  Luckily we had casino chips we were able to cash in for tipping money.

We dined at Chops, Izumi, Giovani's, and Chef’s Table if anyone has questions about those establishments.  

Lots of onboard events weren’t present, such as the captain’s champagne toast and Quest.  The captain did host the Captain’s Corner on the last day, but for the most part they seemed to be keeping officers separate from passengers and the rest of the crew.

Those are the highlights - but happy to answer any more questions people might have.

Cody

Hi All -

Apologies if this has been asked before. I tried searching the forum, but I am on mobile. 

I thought i remembered reading that the $35 credit that comes with the Ultimate Dining Package could be used for the upcharged items in the MDR. Is this true? And if so, does anyone have a source to that?

We opted to dine in the MDR last night on the Oasis to eat with a friend who didn’t have the package. We wanted the Surf and Turf and was told the credit didn’t apply. I find this odd since the Surf and Turf is priced exactly at $34.99. We were told that the credit did not apply in the MDR and could only be used in the other restaurants. 

At the end, it didn’t matter because they were out of the Surf, but just wanted clarification for the future. 

Thank you!

Hi all -

We just booked an Atlantis charter cruise on the Oasis of the Seas this fall.  We booked two cabins, a Boardwalk Balcony and an inside cabin.  The inside cabin we were assigned is 7281.  It doesn’t appear on any deck plan (I’ve checked the future ones as well), but it’s clear where it would be if it did exist.  When we inquired about it, we were told this is a cabin that isn’t sold on a regular cruise and is instead reserved for entertainers. Its up to the charter company to sell it or not.  

This is a long shot, but does anyone have any insight about this type of cabin?  Would it be worth trying to move to another cabin, or is there a chance it’s superior to a standard cabin?

Thanks!

7 minutes ago, hannibal54 said:

I was on the Mariner last month and I submitted my photo. They didn't retake my picture and the lady thanked me for uploading my photo. If you can help the people behind the desks in anyway, I am for it.

Same here. I travel a ton for work and I’ve become an expert at taking bland, passport like photos. Our checkin lady said they were perfect and thanked us for saving her time. 

Why would you think your drink package covers a non-drink item???

The shareable bowl is an alcoholic beverage meant for 2-3 persons served exclusively in the bamboo room. It’s on the drink menu someone posted on here awhile back.

Hi all! We’re heading out on the Mariner next month and had a question about the “Bowls for sharing” option on the drink menu in the Bamboo Room. The menu says the bowls are $35 and serve 2-3. If we are a group of 2-3 people who all have the deluxe beverage package - are we able to combine our cards to cover a bowl - or do we only get $13 off and have to pay the remaining $22? I would assume we couldn’t combine - just odd that the menu nor drink package FAQs cover it.

Side note - the drink package FAQs say sharing drinks purchased from the drink package is strictly prohibited. Does that mean we could potentially get into trouble for sharing a “bowl for sharing” if we purchased one with the drink package?

Worst case I’m assuming we can each pay for an indivual drink and they can just throw it in a giant bowl instead of three individual glasses - just wasn’t sure if they had worked out a policy for this specific case yet.

Thanks! That would make more sense. The website itinerary still shows the 8am arrival. Hopefully no one else buys morning excursions.

My friend recently booked a 4 night cruise on January 19th on the Brilliance from a small travel agency doing a partial charter for a comic con thing. The booking site is more focused on the comic con part of the cruise, and lots of the info/pictures regarding the ship are inaccurate.

I was looking over the itinerary and it says they'll be in Key West until 5:30pm on day 2 and arrive in Cozumel at 8am on day 3. This didn't really add up, and I couldn't find the exact cruise on Royal Caribbean's website to verify, but all other 4 day cruises for the Brilliance are only scheduled in Cozumel and only stopping in Key West on the 5 night ones.

It shows the ship being in Key West on January 20, but none of the port schedules I've looked at collaborate that. I'm no nautical navigator, but if its 455 nautical miles from Key West to Cozumel, and the ship travels at 25 knots, is this timetable even possible? My primary concern is him buying some excursions not sponsored by the cruise or charter and having arrive late or skip the port completely.

Of course, my math could just be completely wrong and I could just be paranoid, it's his first cruise and I don't want him to be disappointed.

When I had my first big win in the casino (royal flush in video poker with a max bet), I was slightly intoxicated and ended up running to my cabin, giving all the employees in my path $20. Other than that, I don't think I've ever tipped except during debarkation.

That is pretty awesome. I will guess that was mounted on something?

 

How are the stll captures from the video compared to something like an 8MP iPhone photo?

They're good. The black edition shoots at 4k, so theyre not bad at all. It's just kind of cumbersome to shoot stills with, especially if you wanna go back and forth between stills and video. I'm on my iPad now but can post some examples later.

There are several mounts on their website. For that one I used the flex clamp mount. I stayed with it at the front when we sailed out of Tampa, then put it on our aft balcony and left it to record while we went to dinner (I tied it with a shoelace to the balcony just in case it fell off).

I am thinking about getting a Go Pro but need to research how good it is as a non-video camera. (stills)

It's not the best for stills. I usually record video underwater and take stills from that. I also love it for time lapses. This is from my recent Brilliance cruise out of Tampa.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/apf9v4jlwkpbcj7/Brilliance%20Sailaway.mp4

I needed four more points to become diamond, so I thought I would take a quickie on the Enchantment. I just put a deposit down on 7006 on April 27 and noticed something odd. There are two versions of the deck plans

18-Jul-2014 to 27-Apr-2015

And

01-May-2015 to 29-Apr-2016

Should I be concerned? Will there be construction on board? I just found it odd that my cruise fell exactly between those two iterations.

Also, I was wondering if anyone has stayed in 7006 before. The stateroom looks like it was put it recently and may be deeper than the other ones. If anyone had some pictures or insight, I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

Greetings all,

I've been looking at some taking a cruise through an organization which charters an entire ship once an year. If I do, will I still receive C&A credit and will I get the same benefits that I would on a normal cruise? (Priority boarding, robes,etc).

Thanks!

Great cabin! Though I did break up with my significant other in 7688 on the Navigator, but other than that nothing but great experiences :p

I believe the V stands for Vitality, their healthy menu, not vegetarian. I believe that's another symbol.

Everyone in my party is having the same issue. I've printed off our setsail pass, but no one else has been able to. We sail in 12 days, hopefully we can call and get their documents emailed. This is getting ridiculous. I understand a 24-hour glitch, but this is going onto the fourth day and it seems like tons of people are impacted. RCCL needs to get their act in gear.