cruzinlisa

I don't drink alcohol, don't even drink coffee. DH does. On Anthem in Feb 2018. If they extend this I guess he wont be getting the package.

Nothing booked but I agree

DD went on Carnival Nov. 2016 for honeymoon...her husband wanted the drink package she didn't but they require both to get the package. They said they didn't come close to drinks $700 so next time they will just pay as they go.

 

 

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One of the things I liked about RCCL. This past cruise we both got it. DH got his money's worth (and mine to). I probably broke even, but that was really trying. Even if I had gotten a drink every time I truly wanted one, it would have been cheaper than my drink package. I ended up breaking even by getting things like Chai Latte or hot chocolate, which was fine, but could have done without, extra bottles of water, strawberry mimosas at breakfast (again good but could have done without) or sometimes a 2nd or 3rd drink, when one would have been good (like at Dinner)

Sorry and Thanks--Yes I am the OP-----I was crazy busy at work!! OK it is MY fault--I did get an e-mail and a phone call--I did not recognize the # and let it go. MY Fault------I am so Grateful to the 67 responses... Here is the update

Got another call from TA -since we booked with 4 other couples AND cross referenced all four bookings-mine was the only one cancelled-BUT the TA and her company Pres put some pressure on RCCl--informed them of the July 4 Holiday and other factors. RCCL lived up to the original booking and I paid in full immediately. Thank You for all the responses-and debates. Cruise Critic is wonderful!!!

Good to hear that they took care of it for you. Sometimes life just happens. I am always on top of everything, but this month, with the 4th of July Holiday and making last minute plans, I completely forgot to add in my variable monthly bills in my bill pay. I remembered it on the 4th, being a holiday that meant nothing would post until the 6th. Cell phone bill and internet/satellite were due on the 4th. 11 years with this cell phone and never been late- until this month.

I think sometimes too many people rely on TA to do things they can do themselves. Putting your faith in another company to act on your behalf.

 

I book everything myself. It just makes life easier to be in control.

True, but if you book with a TA, you expect a certain service. I don't think a reminder about final payment is too much to ask.

Not exactly the TAs fault because its still OPs responsibility to see that it gets paid, but I would expect that if I am using a TA and giving up control, I am going to get some sort of service from it.

I think a good TA would have been on top of it and at least sent an email about final payment. I have used a TA on 3 cruises and every single one of them, they told me when final payment would be due (which was about 1-2 weeks before cruiseline) AND that it would be charged to the card I used for the deposit unless I contacted them in advance and made other payment arrangements. I had to accept a bunch of terms and conditions and believe it was also in those. Of course I still checked to make sure the final payment had gone through, because that is me, a control freak, but I would have expected that if it did not, an email or call.

I mean, why use a TA if they are not going to do anything.

I saw a newborn baby without any bottoms on swimming in the Solarium Pool on the Harmony one time. And he was smoking a cigarette. The parents were nowhere to be found.

They were probably at guest services removing tips or something.

I'm guessing the issue would be while the older child was in the pool. And they were equally unwilling to keep them both away from the pool decks the entire time. That would really limit your options.

 

I still wouldn't get off. I'd just plan on maybe more drinks. That was a very drastic response.

 

 

 

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Yeah, but there were 4 adults and 2 children. So couldn't one of the other adults either hang out with the baby or the older kid for a bit? Before DD was potty trained we just avoided walking around in the pool area. And this was a ship (Carnival) where the only way to get to the buffet area was either the aft elevators or walking through the pool area from the forward or mid ship elevators. We just made she that we went all the way to the aft elevators. If DH wanted to go to the pool, he did it without us around. I am not sure she even noticed there was a pool.

I suspect that Royal is risk averse to the swim-up bar thing. There is a reason that you do not see swim-up bars in the CONUS. Liability insurance. The whole "pee" thing is a real turn-off but the real reason is too many stupid drunks with an easy means of drowning themselves. I love a good swim-up bar but I doubt we will ever see them on a ship or in the US (I've seen them in Puerto Rico but never in the CONUS).

I am pretty sure they had one at Moody Gardens in Galveston when we stayed there in May.

These are three things that I have been thinking for awhile that Royal Caribbean should put on their ships. Now these are just my opinion and it could be debated whether these would be paid or free experiences, but I just thought I would throw them out there.

 

1) Virtual Reality Experience. When you're stuck on a ship for sea days, or sometimes even many sea days, you want to find things to do that are out of the ordinary. Virtual Reality Companies like The VOID (https://www.thevoid.com/) have incredible virtual reality experiences that would be perfect for cruise ships. They only require a small stage and the actual experience is mind blowing! If anyone were to adopt these types of experiences, I would think it would be Royal Caribbean, since they are always looking for the next innovative thing to put on their ships.

 

2) Snow Cones. How nice would it be to relax on the pool deck with your kids and let them have a snow cone to cool off. My kids LOVE "snowies" as they call them, and I think just about most kids do. This would be a pretty cool addition to the ships.

 

3) Big Lazy River. I know a select few of the ships have a miniature "lazy river" in the kids play area, but think about if they had a lazy river that went around the whole ship! Yes, you would likely need more lifeguards, but how fun is the lazy river, just sitting on a tube or hanging out in the water with your kids being pushed along, and the cool views that you would get as you go. I think this would be pretty cool, even just for a select few ships that are big time family ships, maybe.

 

I have quite a few more ideas, but I just wanted to share these few and see what people think.

 

Do you have some ideas as to what you would like to see on there ships? Please feel free to share!

Good ideas. #1 could be a money maker for Royal, especially if they can use a venue that is normally empty during the day- multi-purposing

#2- if they make an alcoholic version it could increase drink sales. Slushie type of drinks are super popular, especially when its hot. Plus I imagine that snow cones are super cheap.

#3- love the lazy river. Not sure about the logistics. If they added a bar that might increase some revenue, if nothing else due to the novelty and captive audience. I could see spending the day in the lazy river

I would also like to see self service laundry like some other posters mentioned . I have used them on Disney and Carnival. Its not super cheap so its not like they are going to lose that much money. And there are some people that are not going to pay for the wash and fold service but would do self service, even though the price is high compared to Laundromat, just to come home with clean clothes.

It is different than the MDR menu. I know there is steak on it, my daughter ordered it. They also had apps and desserts, but I don't remember those. I do know about the steak though because since it was First Night Done Right, we paid $15pp including for our 6 year old. So since we paid the same for her as for herself, DH wanted her to order off the adult menu. They said if we wanted to, we could but they would also bring the kids menu. It was adequate for her purposes, so we ordered from the kids menu.

When we sailed on Liberty last month DH had the filet and I had the osso busco. Both were on the menu. Some of the apps that I have seen listed on the online menu were not on our menu. Octopus was on our menu as an app. It was interesting.

My DD is 6 and we just recently sailed on Liberty, which she absolutely loved. The best thing for her was the kids water park area. She is very small for her age so she was too small for one of the 2 kids slides, but not the other. But she had a blast. I think that class of ship is good.

On my first cruise I only had a couple of drinks. I would not even pay for the soda package ;p. Now, well things have changed LOL! The biggest problem we have now is we take longer cruises which really pushes up the cost of the drink packages.

Isn't that the truth. My first cruise I went with my mom. I probably had 3 drinks that cruise. The sign and sale bill was on her credit card and I paid her back and I don't think my share was more than $75, including the tips.

When I pay out of pocket, which is most of the time, I don't drink that much. Probably less than 8 on a 7 day cruise. Last cruise we had the drink package. I got my money's worth, but had I paid out of pocket, I probably would have averaged less than 1 per day (some days none, some days 2). I drink more with DH than I would on a girls cruise or with my mom, probably because DH drinks quite a bit. ;) But the drink package (post tax and grats) for the two of us on our cruise was a little under half of the base price of the cruise for all of us (excluding taxes/fees)

I find it very interesting that Bacardi 8 is $9.00 while a Cuba libre with Bacardi 8 is $14. That had better be some impressive lime juice.

 

 

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LOL. No kidding.

Just got off Ovation cruise around AU.

 

Deluxe package brought on board was USD65 per day and included drinks up to $14. Surprisingly most bars/restaurants had Kim Crawford Sav for either $13 or $14 so all within package.

 

Another weird thing is that most bars didn't have cocktail menus. Some places had their own unique menus (eg: Schooner and Boleros etc) but none of the pool bars or casino bars. Made it hard to choose what cocktail you wanted when you were feeling indecisive.

I noticed this as well. It was kind of frustrating as a cocktail drinker because I am not all that creative. I ended up drinking the same few drinks over and over. Its good for them that I was not paying out of pocket, or I probably would not have ordered many things. Its enticing sounding drinks that get me to buy a drink, not thirst.

As far as the signing receipts- it was hit or miss. Sometimes they did and sometimes they did not. Even at the same bar. About the only bar I consistently got a receipt to sign was the pool bar- which was the most annoying, because it would fly away.

I also agree about the wine drinkers having less options. If I am drinking just to have a drink, it will be a cocktail, but I like wine with dinner. Most of the time there were only a few wines under the package amount. And they tended to be something I would not drink. I did find a Moscato at Giovannis and then later a Reisling or Moscato in the MDR on the second formal night. I don't recall seeing it in the MDR on the other nights, but I could have missed it. I only looked one other time I think.

It's pretty clear they're driving you to the drink packages. .

DH and I both commented on this. My observation was that very few people (at least at the bars) were paying by the drink, they were either using drink package or not drinking. And I know this because the people would sign the slip and lay it down on the bar in front of me. And I could see it said $0.00. And YES, I am nosy. I was running out of drink ideas so trying to check out what other people were ordering and the price. :)

We did the character breakfast last year, and my 6 year old enjoyed it. They had 3 characters come around for photo op, and the kids get to get up and dance with them, two songs. We attended a couple of the character parades. They will be listed each day so that you don't miss them. They were fun!

We did not do the breakfast with our daughter (who is also six) because it was so early. I am kind of glad we didn't because our one MDR breakfast experience was not positive and I certainly would not have wanted to pay $10pp for it, even with characters. We did end up going to a parade- I think it was near the end of the cruise. that was a lot of fun and enough for my DD.

I saw very few people with tuxes or suits on our last cruise (May- Caribbean). Most of the men had dress shirt and tie on formal nights. I did not see many in jackets. Women wore dresses or pants. The one person I saw in a tux was an older gentleman. He commented on those "Texas boys" not getting dressed up. I am not sure if our cruise was typical or more lax because: 1. it was May- less crowded, 2. It was from Texas (apparently they do not like to get dressed up there according to the elevator man) or 3. It was Caribbean. That said, I think you would be okay as long as you are nicely dressed. DH opted for the shirt and tie because he had to pack some shirts anyway and a dress shirt and tie takes up the same amount room as a polo. I would not wear jeans or shorts on formal night. I don't really know that I saw many wearing shorts on any night- definitely not formal night

Wow. It sounds like you had a very bad experience. I would have went to Guest Services. We had a small group (3) and a couple hiccups with reservations, but nothing too bad. I made reservations for both formal nights but none of the others. The first night we were told it would be an hour wait. I pointed out (again) that we had a reservation. She looked again and found us. The second formal night she said we did not have a reservation. Then looked again and found it, but said it was for a different time (15 minutes later). I had an email back in my room with the time on it, also had made the reservations for the same time. I figured we would just wait a few minutes, but they came up with a table for us. I would expect MTD could be an issue with larger groups, but the reservations should have assisted with those issues.

Kids club not open until later 8- maybe.

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Generally I feel like the 8-5 port times, which has pretty much been standard for the Caribbean cruises I have been on is long enough. If its shorter or off times (like once we had 6 a.m. to 1 p.m) in Nassau- then I agree its too short. It probably also depends on what you are doing in port. Most of the time we are doing beach or shopping so 7 or 8 hours in port is MORE than enough time for us. I am not sure which ports I would really want to stay much longer in anyway- except maybe Cozumel.

Not a problem at all. I bring snacks every cruise that we have our DD. She is 6 and is a snacker. Plus they are good for ports, And variety.

No worries about the questions!

 

I only booked the room online via Hotwire, got there and found out all this *after* arriving, so it was not pre-arranged and I did not purchase any kind of cruise package. Basically, when we first got there I parked it in the parking lot by the water park (not a very far walk). But then on departure morning, I took it to the valet guys and told them I was doing the cruise parking and that was all they needed to know. From there it was valet parked the entire time and they had it pulled up front and waiting for me when our shuttle got back. I don't think the length of the cruise affected the pricing - it was going to be $50 either way.

 

Hope this helps again. :)

This was our exact experience as well, but then again I believe we were on the same cruise. I also booked my cruise via on online TA and only learned about the cruise package after booking.

OP- you fill out a paper and show up at the meeting on departure morning, that was not really a meeting but more short appointment talking to the guy at the desk. Turn in your form, answer a few questions and pick a shuttle time 9, 10 or 11. Try to get there a few mins early or the line gets long and you might not get the time you want. We all walked down about 5-10 minutes before the meeting time. DH and DD went to the car to put some dirty clothes in the car. After I was done with the meeting, I called DH and DD who were still at the car and told DH to bring it up to the valet. The "meeting" was about 5 minutes- I was second in line.

Cocoa Beach is nice. We stayed at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront. They had a shuttle to the port for $5pp.

Thanks you for update. I would guess that someone passed away in cabin under suspicious circumstances and that is why it is padlocked until authorities can see it. This is just my opinion.

Crime scene came to mind.

I LOVED the Twilight Zone frozen drink. It's the only drink I've looked for the recipe after. Me and wife would order a bunch of those every day on the ship. But really it's always up to your tastes. I didn't find many drinks I didn't like.

Interesting. What is in it. I have never had one? Is it one of the blue drinks?

That's only partially correct. It's when the customs/ port officials clear the ship for debarking. In some ports that's an easy thing, in others it takes more time. Smaller ships may clear quicker than larger ships. Sometimes a ship gets cleared early and a week later gets delayed. That's why they can't tell you exactly on any website.

This. A couple of years ago I went on a cruise that went to Cozumel and Key West, but Key West was the second port. So everyone had to get up and go to the lounge and show ID/passport to Customs officials- I believe since we had went to a foreign port first and then to KW. That took a bit of time and they would not clear for debarkation until it was all done. (And we had to go early in the AM which was not too fun). I don't recall if they advertised the arrival time as the actual docking time or an estimation, knowing that they would have to wait for this process. Its been a couple of years.

Can't go wrong with a Funship!

This

Kiss on the Lips

And this. This one is my absolute favorite