aloha43

This was not a Royal Caribbean "non-refundable" cancellation fee.  I selected to pay more for my room so it could be cancelled if need be.  I would have preferred to pay the entire deposit and book with Royal then what I just went through. 

Yes...it is a non Royal site, and very sneaky about it.

I just say be careful out there.  

I am not complaining because this was my mistake.  I take full responsibility....but I wanted to warn others who might not notice this when booking.

I booked a cruise through a cruises website last year because it was a no deposit offer.  By reading the "terms and conditions", I understood that there was a $24.99 non-refundable processing fee.

I just had to cancel my cruise and they charged me a $100 cancellation fee also.

Because I was unsure, I went back and did a mock booking.  I read the terms and conditions and there was no mention of it.  

In order to actually see that the fee is mentioned, one has to start the booking, read the terms, choose your room, add guest info and then right by where you add credit card info there is a blue hyperlink that says read terms.  If you don't click on this link, you would never know this fee exists.

I'm just warning others of how difficult it was to find.  You have to read the terms twice to see it.

It actually cost me $124.99 to cancel. 

The worst part is that I talked 2 more family members to book through them, so I will have to take the dive on the cancellation fees for them.

Live and learn....just be careful who gets your booking.

If I book myself and husband, and he finds out later that he cannot go, will I be able to change my reservation to add my daughter instead? If so, there a fee to make this change?

Thanks a bunch in advance!:)

We will have 15 people for our family reunion on the Allure. Is there a table in the main dining room big enough to accommodate our large group?

Thanks in advance!

Everything I've eaten off of buffets on Royal is mediocre and yes, in my opinion garbage compared to other options. Sorry you disagree with me, but don't let opinions other than yours hurt your feelings or offend you.

 

Have a great day. :)

I don't agree with your "Garbage" assessment either.

Maybe there is something wrong with YOUR tastebuds, or you are just a complainer. Either way, it wasn't an appropriate way to describe it.

 

Now, after having lousy scrambled eggs (fake) on Freedom and Oasis in 2015 and 2016, I had real ones that were good on Majesty last fall. I did go to dinner at the WJ on Oasis and did find a couple of things I thought were really good. Jim Beam BBQ ribs for example.

Fake eggs? Where in the world did you come up with that? Did you have them chemically analyzed to determine which ones were fake and which were real?

Because I hate the small of cigar smoke. There is no odor anywhere in the world worse than the smell of cigar smoke. The smell of one cigar can contaminate at least several acres of open land.

 

You are free to smoke them anywhere that smoking them is permitted but just don't smoke them near me in a place where they are not allowed.

 

DON

Seriously? Have you ever smelled an open septic tank? :eek:

I don't like the smell of cigars or cigarettes. They both stink. But there are worse odors out there.

Other random thoughts. We ended up on the premium drink package, which for right or wrong really discouraged us from going to the nightly Elite event. We did attempt to go to the senior officer's event, but it just kind of fizzled (at least for us). We had gotten used to the Diamond lounge on RCI, which doesn't exist on X, but the drink package kind of offset that loss.

 

We are now Elite because of our Royal Diamond Status also.

Does this mean we will get the same benefit of 3 drinks per night on our card, as RCI does or will we have to go to the nightly Elite event to get them? Or do you think we should feel the need for a drinks package?

Thanks for your review!

I don't need to look at Hank's cruise history since it is way too extensive to list on a silly CC profile. We don't have any of our 65+/800 days listed either. So yes, I will praise the advice of someone who knows of what he speaks.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

You missed my point. It doesn't matter how many cruises a person has been on. Everyone's tastes are different.

You were the one who compared the amount of cruises that were indicated. One can praise the advice of an experienced cruiser but we all have different ideas of what tastes good.

There are things my husband eats that I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole and vise versa....and we've been married for 30 years.

I didn't mean to offend.

Unless you have many more cruises than are listed on your profile, your cruising experience is very thin.

 

Thanks, but I will take Hank's advice (who may cruise more in one year than you have in your cruising life) since he as always been more than forthcoming in his analysis--good and bad--of hundreds of topics. He graciously posts much information on ports, ships, different lines, and more.

 

I am confident that he really is in no need of crying for attention from you or anyone else.

Seriously? You are complaining about the amount of cruises listed in a person's signature, but praise the advice from someone who doesn't have even one listed?

In my opinion......NO ONE should go on the advice of what the food is like from any one person. Everyone's tastes are different.

I need to hear from a doctor who can show me where second hand smoke from outside air can cause this. Because I'm disbelieving.

 

Is your partner very obese? If so, it is more likely the ocean/sea distilled water causing fluid retention in the lungs, not second hand outdoor smoke. Talk to a doctor if he's obese because cruising may not be the best idea due to the water on board being desalinated but not 100% salt free. Even the coffee can cause this issue.

 

I took a large buddy on a cruise and he had similar sissies but no medical emergency. He takes a plethora of drugs to control his health issues related to his obesity and two of the pills say no added salt and his doctor told him no cruises due to desalinated water leading to a risk of fluid retention.

 

Smoking in balconies is wrong. Those cruises were a-holes. But I am doubting they put him in a medical situation.

Maybe you should do some research before you comment on something you seem to know nothing about.

Anyone with COPD will have issues if they have to breathe ANY smoke, whether they puff it themselves or breathe second hand smoke.

Yes! We have one for every cruise. I use a silver pen and write the year on every one of them! We have a lot of cruise ships on our tree. :D

Casey on the Freedom! He was the funniest all the way around!

The price of our Reflection cruise had a fairly large price drop today.........

THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

I went straight to the Celebrity site and got a $420 price drop for our cruise!

That is the savings of one plane ticket from the West Coast.

THANKS!!:D:D

Diamond to Elite booking...

I received a $225 discount C&A rate when booking on an RCI cruise. I didn't get this bonus when booking as Celebrity Elite equivalent.

Do we get this discount? Is this something I need to call for?

Friction. Tension. Disruption. Why?

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Sorry, I couldn't resist the irony of the rhyme......;)

Jeez folks...this is really a non-issue. The wind blows it away, so YOU aren't breathing it. Live and let live. I can't imagine spending my vacation time trying to "catch" someone doing something they aren't supposed to. Waste of MY time!~

You are wrong. Period. The wind doesn't blow it away. It blows it right into your neighbors room. How would you know if I am breathing it???

This is a BIG ISSUE for some people who are allergic or have lung problems.

No one is running around "trying to catch" them. But if it happens, You bet I would be reporting it.

As experienced cruisers, we know not to book early am flights on disembarkation day. However, due to an involuntary airline schedule change and other circumstances, we have no choice but to book a 7:50A flight out of FLL. Rebooking our cruise, flying out of MIA, taking a later flight or overnighting are not options at this point. We will also be packing light and traveling with only carry-on bags.

 

What else should one do or consider on disembarkation day in order to make the beeline?

 

Night Before: Pack Standard Sized Carry-On Bags

5:30A - Mobile Check-In via phone

6:00A - Line up for Self-Disembark

6:30A - Disembark

6:40A - Global Entry/Passport Control

6:45A - Taxi from Port Everglades to FLL Airport

7:00A - Check in Bags up until 7:05A cut off point (Otherwise, self-carry bags onto aircraft)

7:05A - Proceed to Gate

7:20A - Boarding

7:40A - Doors close

7:50A - Take off

I wouldn't do it. One 5 minute delay and you will be spending the night anyway. There are always delays.

Karaoke is a poor excuse for entertainment. We are paying top dollar to cruise and nobody wants to hear their cruise companions trying to provide an evenings entertainment.

 

In most cases the everyday cruiser cannot belt out a tune.

Lot's of people love the karaoke.....good or bad. That's part of the fun of it.

Don't knock it till you try it.

Does the Allure have karaoke booths? If so, does anyone know if they are in working order?

Freedom had two of them in January 2016 and neither one worked due to vandalism.

THANKS!

 

In addition to Adult Karaoke, they had one night of Family Karaoke on my sailing. Also, Freedom has Karaoke booths where you can go in at anytime of the day and do Karaoke. There won't be a crowd watching, but it gives you the feeling of doing it and is sometimes better for getting over stage fright for the younger ones.

 

Both karaoke booths were inoperable in January.

Does anyone have an update on them?

Yes, it is the largest. Rule of thumb, 1st and 3rd off the flat portion of the hump are the largest. The other two are large also, but shorter by just a foot or so in depth. They're great cabins also.

 

BTW, 7286 has the bed by the balcony configuration, if that means anything to you.

We have 1628. Is the bed by the balcony or bathroom?

That's 8$ for you + 8$ for the other person in your cabin X staterooms. That make for a big increase. If you read RCCI annual report (100 pages +), you will see gratuity mentioned 0 time. The gratuity you pay is included in the general revenue.

I still don't see the big deal here. It's only $16.00 to you......but for some crew members, that could mean the luxury of food for their family. Compared to what one pays for the cruise itself, what is $16.00 on a 14 day cruise? $1.25 per day, split between many people....it's a pittance.

Big increase? I don't think so.

Can we go onto the bow on the Silhouette or Reflection. Pictures never show people on them.

Thanks a bunch!

Just please don't get mad at people who don't use the non-effective hand sanitizer at the front of the buffet! It doesn't kill Noro Virus. Use these wipes prior to going to the buffet instead - they DO kill Noro:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Healthcare-Hydrogen-Disinfectant-Norovirus-Rotavirus/dp/B00BFFGJ6S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459630489&sr=8-1&keywords=noro+virus+wipes

It's not ONLY for Noro.

The sanitizer kills lots of germs that I may avoid, so I use it, and I wish others would too. If it helps from keeping me from getting the cold or flu, then I'm all for it. Better yet, use BOTH.