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We stayed at Villa Europa for a few nights pre-cruise two years ago. Loved it. Small family owned motel.

We are about to do our first on RCCL. One of the things we like on NCL is the anytime dining and not looking forward to fixed times on RCCL To each their own, right?

 

It's called My Time Dining on Royal. Maybe you can still book it.

Royal's "My Time Dining" is totally different than NCL or Carnival's anytime dining where there are absolutely no reservations - you arrive at the dining room whenever you want, usually with no wait to be seating, unless you arrive at prime time, but even then we have never had to wait. I have read so many posts from people having long wait times with RCI's ATD if they don't make reservations - which is totally contrary to ATD IMHO :(

Anyone ever lose their cup? We are getting the soda package on Freedom for our teenage son and his friend. I'm worried they will leave their cups sitting somewhere at some point in time. I wonder if lost cups can be deactivated and another issued?

For those suggesting corner balcony aft cabins paired with an inside cabin nearby. The system will not let me book a D1 or E1 balcony cabin for only two people. I have read on other threads that this is a new policy. Too bad:confused:

 

I'm not sure what to do. We were excited about the large balcony but did really like having two seperate rooms/bathrooms on our last cruise. Guess I'll leave it for now since these rooms are hard to get and see and watch for future promotions. Right now with BOGO being applied to 3rd and 4th passengers, this is the best deal if we want a balcony.

If you call RCI directly they may be able to book you in with only two people. Some sailings are capacity controlled but not all. I could not book two people in the corner aft on the website but I called and they were able to do it.

I've booked the International Palms for our cruise next year. The only real complaint I have read on tripadvisor is that it is old and needs refurbishing. Well it is undergoing renovations now and apparently they are saying it should be finished by mid summer so if you are travelling after that I think it is safe to say the rooms will all be renovated and there will be no more complaints of it needing updating. It sounds like a fun place with an outdoor bar and live music, nice themed pool area for kids, right on the beach and in close proximity to lots of restaurants and shopping. Perfect for us for one night prior to our cruise :)

We have a corner aft balcony and the oceanview next door on deck 7 (not connecting but because they are beside each other it meets Royal's requirements for kids in their own cabin) booked for our Freedom cruise. The corner aft has a huge balcony that will be large enough for us all.

As asked above, how do we get our Mlife status matched over to RCI? We are doing our first cruise soon

Call or email Crown and Anchor. I just emailed them. They require full name, address, DOB, gender, MLife number and current booking number if you are already booked. I received an email a few days later containing my Crown and Anchor membership information.

crownandanchor@rccl.com

It is cheaper to pre-pay the tips. For 12 days ours was $283.88 CDN total for the 2 of us.

Our prepaid grats are $76.87 CDN per person for 7 days. I don't know how that is seeing as they are supposed to be $84 US for 7 days? I thought maybe it was because I had booked back in the fall when our dollar was a little higher than the US $ but I did a mock booking last week and it came up with the same amount.

Why not? :confused:

If you book your cruise in US$, your OBC, and everything else bought through RCI for that booking, needs to be paid for in US$.

i wont be abusing the system i would like to keep this rate going for a while for all us Canadians . I just took enough to cover my expense for a normal cruise.

Us too, we just purchased enough OBC to pay for the premium beverage package for each of us - hoping the cost of the package doesn't increase too much in the next year :)

I usually book my cruises over a year in advance so nobody wants to talk about or listen to my excitement that far in advance! Thank goodness for Cruise Critic. I come on here and follow live onboard trip reviews of the ship I'm going on, check out the excursion boards, etc. When I talk about it at home so early I can tell it goes in one ear and out the other and they just make it look like they are listening :D When I asked my son if he was ready for another cruise before I booked, he said he was but I was not allowed to talk about it until it was almost time to sail!!!

After a bad experience with a TA years ago I swore I would never use a TA again. I did all my own bookings and friends bookings as well for whatever travel we did. I recently booked a cruise using RCI directly but then transferred the booking over to a TA for incentives. I recently had an issue and this TA was able save me a few bucks (I've read many times on here that what he did cannot be done). Now I will probably use him for all my vacation bookings. I was fortunate to find a TA who will go above and beyond, but if you can't find a TA like that then my feeling is that it is better to go on your own.

I had a very bad experience with a TA years ago with a WDW booking and sore off them completely until this recently booked cruise. I had initially booked it myself but because of an incentive I decided to transfer my booking over to a TA. This TA was able to do something for me that know I would not have been able to do myself (and I've seen on here many times saying it couldn't be done) which saved me a little chunk of money. Now I'm sure I will use him whenever I book a vacation. I guess it all depends on the TA - if you can find one that will go above and beyond that is great, if you find one who makes the reservation and then does nothing else, you are better off on your own.

Love camping - we do it in the spring, summer, fall and usually once out during the winter for New Years (think cold and snow). We are heading out in 3 weeks for Easter weekend and there is still snow on the ground here :D We try to cruise once a year in the dead of winter - February.

How far in advance should I purchase OBC (especially at these rates?)

Would you buy OBC now for a cruise in Nov? Or do you think I should wait?

Looking for anyone's opinion / thoughts.

 

 

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I don't ever purchase OBC but at the rate RCI is charging now, we purchased some for our cruise next February. We are planning on purchasing a beverage package once on board and as of the rates today at a CND bank, we will save $80 each on a beverage package by purchasing the OBC now. I wouldn't take the chance that these rates will be available closer to sailing (or next week for that matter).

DKNYC/Canadian Tyler: a lot of times the promos have a not eligible for cancel and rebook clause in them

A 24 hour hold is not considered a booking. It expires if you don't pay for it within 24 hours or you can cancel it manually. It is not like having a booking which you have applied a deposit on.

Regarding formal night: it's not what you think, or what I think, or what anyone on this thread thinks; it's what the head waiter/ maitre 'd thinks as you come in the dining room without a jacket. Many ships don't care; some do. So, it's a slight gamble as to whether they will admit you to the dining room without at least a jacket.

Where do you see it stated anywhere that a jacket is required? Royal Caribbean has SUGGESTED GUIDELINES and suggestions are not rules or codes. There certainly is no gamble incurred in showing up to the MDR on formal night without a jacket as it is totally acceptable to the cruise line.

The Royal Replenishment package includes bottled water/soda/sparkling water/premium coffees and frozen non alcoholic drinks along with fresh squeezed OJ.

Royal Replenishment isn't the same as the soda package which is called the Royal Refreshment package. Names are pretty close though. Refreshment package includes only soda (and what can be had out of the freestyle coke machines).

If you are on a ship with Freestyle coke machines I believe they have flavoured water.

Our next cruise is with RCCL and these posts have been very helpful. Just wanted to pass along the fact that I now booked a cruise on the Norwegian Gem in CAD and the exchange rate is also 10%. They have a great deal on right now too with great free offers of OBC, beverages, dining, gratuities depending upon your choice of cabin.

I had heard before that you can request CAD rates from NCL but couldn't see anywhere on their website to change to CAD $. Did you have to call them or can it be done on their website?

I have a TD Bank US $ Visa so I am thinking if I use that as my credit card on account, any left over OBC will be credited back to it and I will have a credit balance on my card. It isn't cash but I can just use the credit card at ports or after the cruise knowing that it is already "prepaid". I think this would work better than standing in a long line the last night of the cruise to get it back in cash?

I think the ability to try whatever drink I want, whenever I want and how many I want makes it more than worth it even if we don't break even monetarily - but I'm sure we will :), if I try a drink and don't like it, I can go get another and no worries about the huge bar bill at the end of the week.

Lanyard - I do not leave home without it! I am not looking to make a fashion statement. They are extremely convenient IMO. Did you know you can pick one up on board at the shop? They even have some that have bling bling.

Me either. I don't have pockets in all my shorts and I certainly do not carry a purse around the ship! Convenience tops it all.

I've never considered anyone who wears one a dork or a nerd either lol :)

I have 7408 booked on a future cruise because of the large balcony. We are travelling with 6 people altogether (with teenage son and his friend in the oceanview beside us). There is no way 6 of us could fit on a regular balcony but we will have plenty of room on this balcony. There is always the chance that DSs friend will cancel and then we will move DS into 7408 with us. I'm not too thrilled with the bunk overtop of my head either, but I think having that huge balcony will be worth it.

One year today - 365 long days!