RoperDK

What happens if you cancel a specialty dinner that you reserved prior to sailing, but decide to cancel once onboard?  Do they cheerfully refund your money or are you out of luck?  I'm not talking about just not showing up, but canceling morning of.

We've been on 3 Royal cruises and have never been to the MDR.  We've either done specialty or Coastal Kitchen or weren't very hungry and just grabbed a snack.  We are on Odyssey next month and will try MDR then.  I have a couple of questions.

The Chops upcharge steak....is it as good as in Chops?  Is it served hot and properly cooked?  I've had bad luck with upcharge steaks on another cruise line. 

Fish choices.....are they good quality and cooked properly?  I am picky about my fish because I grew up on the water and we ate fresh off the boat.

I know the MDR isn't 5 star, but just want to know what to expect.  I can skip the fish and plan a night at Chops instead of ordering a filet at the MDR.   

6 hours ago, George C said:

You will get breakfast in a specialty restaurant , happy hour with free drinks in suite lounge from 5 to 8 , you get 5 free drinks for diamond plus, drinks in suite lounge don’t count against your five . Concierge can help with problems, love barefoot beach 😁.

We are also on Mariner in a GS in May.  I was curious about the suite lounge during the day.  Is there coffee and continental breakfast available in the morning?  Any snacks available during the day?  Most importantly, can we grab complimentary waters during the day.  I drink a lot of water and am hoping that I can get my fill there.  We aren't diamond yet, so no other freebies for us.  Trying to decide if the drink package is needed.  Thanks!   

8 hours ago, brillohead said:

Regular casino players do get offered free cruises, and those rooms accumulate points just as any other room would.  

Linked accounts are for married/partnered couples and any minor children.  They all share the same Crown and Anchor Society level as the highest person in the family.  

If all three of them go on a weeklong cruise together in a standard room, their points would increase to Mom=187, Dad=67, Son=14, and they would all have D+ benefits on the cruise.  If they took Son's friend along with them on that same cruise, the friend would NOT have D+ status/benefits just b/c he's in the room with them -- the linking/sharing only extends to members of the same household.

When Son turns 18yo, his account will be unlinked from his mother's, but he will retain his D+ status.  However, he cannot advance to the other levels (340, 525, and Pinnacle) until his own earned points reach those levels -- he's still at the 14 points he was at before.  

Hope this helps -- let me know if anything is unclear. 

Thank you brillohead!  That was a great explanation and now everything makes sense to me.

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

We are on for four weeks, same GS cabin.   Love it!  On board to bring her into new home port PC.  🙂 

That is great! Can't wait to hear all about it. 

24 minutes ago, island lady said:

The other interesting thing is that all GS cabins are now on one deck...17.   I like that one!  🙂 

Yes, I like the layout difference, too.  Can't wait to see some pics and hear reviews.  Have been eyeing the GS, but a bit pricey for us.  I guess we will have to wait until she's not the new kid on the block.

Fairly new to Royal and am getting a bit confused.  We get casino cabins on another cruise line often, but are wanting to switch to Royal.  Do casino offers/free cabins still get full Crown and Anchor points?  We usually book a suite and get 2 points per night.  If we use casino offers will that affect our point accumulations?

Would someone explain linked accounts?  How do the accounts get linked?  Does anyone sailing in a cabin with lets say a Diamond member get the same benefits as the Diamond member? That doesn't seem right.  

5 hours ago, orville99 said:

The categorization of JS on all Oasis class ships apparently can (and do) change based on when the cruise sails. If you are looking for a JS for two people, your selection will be limited on certain sailings. For example we have JS booked on a B2B in April 2023 on Wonder that was categorized as a J4 when we booked it, but when we tried to book that same cabin for a B2B on Wonder for January 2023, it was categorized as a J3.

 

To see what JS are really available, change the number of passengers from 2 to 3 or more and see what pops up.

Bingo!  That is what's going on.  The lower deck JS's show available for 3 or more people.  The higher deck JS's show for 2 people.  Funny, I thought all JS's had a sleeper sofa.  We've never had a problem getting any JS before.  

2 hours ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

If I’m looking at the deck plan correctly I see 106 Junior Suites (+ 2Accessible). They appear to be spread out pretty evenly on all floors, other then 6 and 9. It looks like there are:

 

8 on deck 6

16 on deck 7

16 on deck 8

6 on deck 9

12 on deck 10

16 on deck 11

16 on deck 12

16 on deck 14 (+ 2Accessible)

 

But with so many lift and shifts, rooms held for reduced capacity, and ridiculously low prices combined with a shortened Caribbean season (6-7day & 1-5day cruises before returning to Europe), they have been going fast.

I thought that they were all booked up, too.  However, on most Caribbean sailings the cabins on the upper decks are all available.  Seems strange that everyone would book lower decks and no one would book upper. I have been looking at sailings out of Port Canaveral for Jan thru May 2023.     

Why can't I find any available on the lower decks?  We like deck 6 or 8 and the only ones showing available are always on deck 10 and higher.  I have looked at multiple sailings out of Port Canaveral.  What am I missing?

I understand that the TVs on Odyssey have a streaming service selection on the main menu.  How does the process work to watch something like Netflix? Is the app loaded on the TV already and you just sign in?  Do you have to "cast" to the TV from the app on your phone?  If so, what is the process to do that?  Is it possible to watch YouTube TV?  I have the Voom Surf and Stream package.

3 minutes ago, GranysT said:

Glad to read that most of Royal passengers are Vaccinnated.  I can understand the children. But under 5 may be coming soon. 

Carnival is letting both onboard, and not separating them at all. I like Royals rules much better. 

Please check your facts.  Carnival, like RCCL, requires everyone 12 and over to be fully vaccinated.  There are a few exemptions for medical reasons.  Well over 95% are required to be vaccinated, including all children.    

11 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Heading out to the "other" terminal area for favorite restaurant, Pancho's Back yard for lunch.  Have been several times to the original downtown location, but actually like the view and the nice walk to the second one, which is right on the water.    

We love Pancho's Backyard!  Both locations are great.  Love the water view and the iguanas at the port location.     

11 minutes ago, BennyBrun said:

 If only Carnival can improve on the service and increase the crew count but then so will their cruise fare.  So if you are looking for a better service experience at the buffet and MDR then Royal will be better than the Mardi Gras on the Oasis class ships.  Of course if you are looking for even better service I would look at Celebrity but the downside is that there will be less OMG entertainment options on Celebrity.

 

You have to think about what you want more out of a cruise line and decide which one will be better for you.   Forget about the free stuff they offer unless it’s OBC.  That’s just noise and distraction.

Thanks for your comparison.  I have cruised on Carnival for 20 years and I used to love the experience.  Good food, good service, loads of fun, and a fair price.  We are giving Royal a fair shake again and revisiting Princess.  Would love to try Celebrity, and probably will, but can't shake the feeling that we will be bored.  Appreciate your live reviews.  So much great info.  Thanks again!  

Enjoying your pics of Windjammer and MDR dinner.  We are mostly Carnival cruisers looking for a new home.  We gave up on the Carnival buffet and MDR and chose different options. I know you recently cruised on Mardi Gras.  Can you share your comparisons?   

22 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

Day 1

 

Sorrento’s Pizza

Is that grilled veggies I see?  As an added side to the pizza?  I love that idea? 

I have a new knee and am awaiting a new hip.  I can walk a bit.  How much is the walk to town over the bridge?  Is there a way to get a taxi/shuttle back to the ship if I can't make the distance?  I thought the trolley would be interesting, but does the ship's excursion take you there and back? Thanks! 

We just booked a JS on Odyssey for March.   This is an out of the blue booking for us.  Can you tell me about the JS booking situation for CK dinners?  Any idea if we will have a chance to book for all nights at the beginning of the cruise?  Will there be someone outside CK during embarkation lunch to do reservations?  I would hate to have to go begging each day for dinner reservations, but we do enjoy CK.    

Is the casino open in Labadee also?

We have 3 cruises booked that fall within the next 7 months.  Does the drink package usually trend higher the closer you are to the sail date?  Do shorter cruises generally have a higher per day rate?  Are there any other rules of thumb for pricing or is it really just a roll of the dice? 

22 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Use the Americano button

Lol, is it really that simple? 😂

10 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

This is in the SL, they may have a similar on in DL, I haven't visited yet. Obviously need to be at least Diamond in C&A to use DL

 

This one was very nice.  JS and higher have a Lavazo espresso machine in room. Made a decent lungo yesterday

 

 

Our next 3 cruises are in suites.  Dumb question.  If I want to have a cup of coffee from the machine in our suite, how do I make a plain old cup of American coffee?  I have never adapted to all of the fancy sugar filled coffees and can't handle the caffeine jolt from expresso.  Just want to wake up and not stay jacked up for hours.  Thanks! 

Looking forward to your review.  First time on Mariner in a few weeks for us. 

3 hours ago, Valentina84 said:

What about cruises that are at end of february? legend feb 20-27?? Does this also qualify for the new requirements excuse for a full refund? I did not get any emails from them.

The "letter" that is being referred to is for cruises departing 4/1/2022 or later.  A cruise leaving through 3/31/2022 is covered under another "letter".  I can't say for certain, but I believe Feb/Mar cruises were allowed to cancel for refund.  Someone else may chime in.  You may need to call Carnival to find out for sure.  

What is the first available time? We are on Mariner out of PC and in a JS.