Toddcan

Depends on how you view "value". We have 14 of us going on a family cruise in August, and 5 of our group signed up for it. Young kids often don't assess the "value" of activities. They just know they are having fun making cupcakes with Mom and Gramma. I suspect it it will end up being a core memory when they grow up. And because of that, I assign value to it.

Royal got their money for the cabin. You're generous enough to reimburse your friend. In effect, you're paying for a double fare now. Royal won't care, since it's after final payment. Kinda sucks though, if you were looking forward to sailing with your friend - that's the only downside here. Enjoy!

After reading some other people's experiences, I have to say that your experience is very dependent upon how early in the day you head over. If your ship is one of the first in port, and you can be on the first few ferries to the Blue Lagoon, then you have a very high chance of getting a decent lounger location, and perhaps even an umbrella. We got their late morning (just before noon), so it was already packed, making our experience horrible. The ocean side beach will close if the waves are too high. It's very pretty, but unusable when there are waves of significance.

We love the beach, but hated this excursion. We did it in March this year. I would avoid it!! There are a ton of ferry's that go there - so when you get off the ship, you find the correct tent where they check your name, and give you a bracelet. Then you stand in line for 30 minutes or so to wait to board the ferry. You need to take the same ferry back, since some of them go to other locations (I think), and some go to cruise terminals. However, if you find one going back to the cruise ports, they might let you on early. It's about a 30 minute ride, but the ferry traffic isn't meant to be a come-and-go shuttle type of service. But the experience on the island is horrible. We arrived late morning, and the beaches were all full. had to stand there and wait for people to leave to grab 2 loungers. There are hardly any umbrellas so you are at the mercy of the sun. It was overcast that day for us, so it was ok. The lineups for the lunch were always very long (20 mins at least), so we never did end up eating. It's a nice enough place (note: there is a strong current that flows through the lagoon). But, you feel like cattle.

Since you attached your comment to the "Supply and demand" comment, I'd argue that's your question in context is irrelevant. When it's your only option, it's a binary decision.

Just like $3,499 for the floating cabanas on CocoCay. Just like the Hilltop cabanas at labadee. They keep upping the cost, and people keep paying. Like @Dewaldcruiser said, once they hit a number that is too high, people won't pay, and prices will drop. But, with cruise demands way up - they are cashing in.

trying to bring the topic back around to the original question... hence the winky face

Yes, not a problem. 😉

Quick question - was any of this related to a Future Cruise Credit associated with any cancelled Covid cruises? Reason I am asking is that it was a nightmare for me as well to get the correct balances to show after 3 or 4 cancelled covid cruises.

odds used to be good for the "roughriders" 😛

Only in the CFL can you be on the 1 yard line, and call a long pass play 🙂 The endzone goes on forever.

Hardly anyone in Canada watches CFL, so I'd faint if I saw it onboard any ship, even for the grey cup.

As long as the food is sealed in retail packaging, it won't be a problem. We often bring our fav snacks. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/food-drink-onboard-policy

I agree- crazy crazy pricing. With people cruising in full force again, I am convinced that FOMO is a real thing - I gotta buy that package, or it will be gone tomorrow, and people are "revenge travelling" (whatever that means) so the cruiselines are pushing crazy prices out there to see who bites. I remember CC freaking out when OTW cabanas in Labadee went up from $250 to $500. They are now $1,499 and $1,049 for the regular beach ones ... crazy, but people are paying.

We had one of the large balconies on Anthem in March. It's considerably larger than the standard one. The room is slightly smaller from what I read, but we never noticed. We spend a lot of time on the balcony, so it was awesome.

One of those things - done it lots of times, but I cannot remember this part: I know you can start your online check in 45 days before the cruise (well, at least on our sailing), but you can add only partial information and add the rest of it another day. But, am I able to pick my terminal arrival time right away? OR.. do I need to complete the full online check in full before selecting arrival time? EG: If I add everything except my passport, or my onboard account credit card - can I still pick my arrival time right away, and log in 3 days later with the incomplete information?

As Ken mentioned - the Key includes internet access for 1 device. So factor that into the total benefit.

We did this one in March this year. I would NOT go there again. IT's a high volume people-in-and-out exercise. We arrived later in the morning, and the place was PACKED. We could not get a chair for about 20 mins of looking and good thing it was overcast - no extra umbrellas. The lunch line up at the chow line was always long - we didn't even try . The adult only area across the bridge had lots of seating, and they have their own eating area - to me, that might be worth the extra $60. You'll feel a lot less like you're in a mass of people.

2-3 hours between guests is actually closer to 6 hours. Some people get off the ship at 7am (or earlier), and when they log out, those rooms are available for cleaning and prep. It's a LOT more than just your room steward working on rooms this day- the halls are full of staff. And, cabins don't open until around 1pm (ish), so for a full 6 hours, tons of staff are prepping. Having said that... I hope you're not thinking that the rooms are sterilized? They do a quick clean, dust, vacuum, wipe down.

Meaning... Cruise Critic Royal Caribbean general chat forum might not be your best source for a discussion on those specific questions.

Probably wouldn't. But look at a map. Historically the north has FAR less protests/riots. Almost all of the problems are in the Port-au-Prince-Gonaives corridor. The major city of the north (Cap Hatien) is a gorgeous "rich" city with FAR less problems. And even so, getting to Labadee is a tough haul across horrible roads. Knowing that there are armed guards there combined with the tough journey to get there - I feel safe.

I remember "the days" when there were more options. I also believe they were managed by a 3rd party supplier. It was in your cabin when you arrived. I used to order lots of those in cabin gifts - it was like a nice surprise when you open the cabin door for the first time. Now, my experience is that the selection is much reducd, but even then, it's a crap shoot if the ordered item even shows up. Eg - we ordered the towels, but they had non in stock, so nothing showed up. We went to guest services on day 2 and asked about them, only to be told they had none, and would refund the money.

Do they still close the doorways to the cabin hallways until the rooms are ready? (for us, it's normally around 1:30pm - but I've found that it's plus/minus 30 minutes. We changed the way we manage our embarkation day. We always try and be at the port so we check in and are waiting for the boarding to start. We bring a carry on beach bag with our bathing suits. As soon as we board, we head to a specialty restaurant to book our times (we normally purchase a specialty dining package), and then we head to the WJ for lunch (timing is usually perfect for this), and then we go to the solarium bathrooms and change into our bathing suits, and will stay in the solarium until the cabins are open. NOTE: Something we noticed on our last 2 cruises: your luggage is likely not going to be in front of your cabin - it will be in the general area - so be prepared to look up and down the halls in close proximity to your cabin.

Ken, I always appreciate your knowledge base! In your experience, is there any way to change this? We have all our kids and grandkids coming on a cruise in August with us, and we bought OBC (not gift certificates) by calling the Gifts & Gear phone number, so it's all good there. We've told our kids that they have this OBC, but if they want to reserve something in the cruise planner - they cannot use this money - I find that odd. Is there anyway to change this? Or do I just make sure to bring all the records of purchases and hope that the OBC shows up on their individual accounts on day 1? To me, it would be beneficial for Royal to make it available in the planner - more opportunity for revenue. To pre-empt the smart-alecs in the crowd (you know who you are - or maybe... you don't actually know...) - no the word "on-board" is not lost on me, lol. I've have OBC through the cruise line that is spendable in the cruise planner.

You will need(and pack) 18 outfits. But you wear only 6.