KansasK

I enjoyed reading this. We don't live like this and it was fun to read about what it like! People are not usually this honest about what they have and spend their money on. We stay in balconies and on our next cruise, we will reach Diamond Plus on the fifth day of our cruise in April. It won't count on this cruise, though. We kept my last car for 19 years and my "new" car is now 7 years old. We are now retired and happy with as much as we have - I can still go on cruises - : ).

What you said "he had to be the cruise when we hit diamond or on a cruise with us as diamond before he turned 18 for him to keep diamond after he reached 18." is how my daughter got diamond status, I think. She was 17 when she cruised with us the first time and we got diamond status that year. She seemed to move up through the levels until the one before Diamond - Emerald, I think. She had gotten married and called to get her name changed. The next cruise she was Diamond. She did not have the points yet. We think now it was the fact that she cruised with us before she 18 and was supposed to have gotten Diamond then. If they take it away, then she will have the level she should be at.

I agree. It does look kind of petty. I guess they save money on free drinks, too. Notifying someone they lost their diamond status on board a ship seems like starting the cruise off on a bad note. My daughter is over 40 and is diamond from a while back. I don't think she has enough points to be diamond, though. I hope this new way to antagonize cruisers doesn't last.

I love champagne! I wish I would find a free one in my cabin!

I don't think the people who are enjoying the food are lying. I think maybe they got better food, maybe it was served hot/warm instead of cold, and maybe the kitchen was not inept for them. I don't think all negative reviews are honest. I thought that PCUR's post was honest, though. I'm 30 days out, so I am not far enough out to cancel my cruise, and do not want to, anyway. Hey, let's just all overeact and take offense at everything - not.

If I were going to pay extra, I would say $20.00 for the two kids. The cabin attendant will only be coming once, so that partly determined what I thought.

PCUR, thank you for your honest review of the food. I hope that it will do some good. I will be on the Harmony on April 15, and we have one dinner at Chops, and the rest in the main dining room. If the unacceptable food is to push us to the specialty restaurants, they would need a huge number of them. I think people will stop cruising who don't want to pay for specialty restaurants.

The basic tipping amount for each of your two children will be the same as for you and your wife. It will be added to your onboard account every day, unless you prepaid the gratuities. If your cabin attendant did all the extra things well, it is up to you if you want to tip more.

I got an email today for an April 15 cruise date on the Harmony saying the e-docs were available. They were on the e-mail as a .pdf file. I printed them. There was a boarding pass at the end.

I got up at 6:00 a.m. on check-in day, and the arrival time I got was 11:00. On my last cruise, I think the arrival time was first. This time it was almost the last thing to do.

They probably wouldn't feel out of place dressed up on formal night on Royal Carribean and that is what matters. Live and let live.

My daugher had carseats on our last cruise and she had them each in a big canvas bag for car seats because we flew and she did not want them beat up. She put a luggage tag on them and they arrived at their cabin with their luggage.

Thanks to you, h20skibum, and to littlebritain, who also replied with the above. I was confused by the Crown and Anchor Member Benefits page and it has a dot under Diamond Plus for "Milestone Recognition (Crystal Block)" but I failed to see the tiny 3 by it, which takes you to an explanation, like the one you both gave. I got the one for 140.

When do you get the block? We will pass 175 points on our next cruise on day 5 of the cruise. I know we don't get the additional perks for Diamond Plus until the cruise after that one, but do we get the block when we pass the number?

The test package has instructions on how to do the test. It tells you how long to wait for results. It might not look exactly like the one there was a picture of, but it will be similar.

My husband and I decided on evening for cabin attendant to come so we will get rid of the excursion clean up towels and the room will be put in order as well, although it won't be too bad to clean up. We think Royal made a mistake by increasing tips and reducing cabin attendant visits to one, but we hope to make the best of it. If I am sent a review to do after the cruise, I will let them know what I think. We have looked forward to this cruise for a long time and once on board I don't plan to let something that I cannot change impact my cruise too much.

We always left the prepaid gratuities in place and tipped extra with cash if the service we received warranted the extra tip, and it usually did. With our cabin being cleaned once a day instead of twice, and with the gratuity we pay still being based on the twice a day amount, I doubt we will tip extra for the cabin attendant this time. In this case, it is fair to give the set amount.

I may be wrong about this, but I thought we got to pick either morning or evening for the length of the cruise. I never intended to imply that I thought I could pick it by day, although I would like the magnet idea, if I lived in a different world.

We will decide on a time for the cabin attendent to come and ask for as many towels as we want until the next time he/she comes. I like to have ice and I wonder if I can take the ice bucket to a bar to get it filled since it will only be filled once. The cruise line just increased the time amounts, and in the case of the cabin attendent, cut the work in half for our cabin. I don't think we will tip more at the end of the cruise. I don't like less service, but other than state this on the review, there is nothing we can do.

My brother kindly is treating my husband and I to a dinner at Chops when we are on the Harmony in April. He paid for this and sent me the reservation information and it showed the cost and the tip he added. If we decide to tip additional, it would not be as much as the original tip, probably. Does the waiter know he/she has already been tipped?

I remember the robes were there when we arrived in our cabin for a long time, but now we always have to ask for them. I always ask and the cabin attendant delivers them the next time he or she comes.

I used to sometimes order a shrimp cocktail and a caesar salad for an appetizer. They would bring one and then bring the other after I finished the first. I don't think I can do this now without paying for the second one. I enjoyed it, but will be content with one. I think that waiters have to deny people if they order off the menu takes away from the dining experience. Our first cruise was in July, 1999, on the Enchantment of the Seas before she was stretched. On the side of the ship, it was painted "like no vacation on earth." They had a different approach then, I think.

We have a reservation at Chops on the second evening of our cruise, which I think is the formal night, or whatever they call it now. We will be a little dressier that night and since it is our cruise, I don't see why we can't.

Yesterday I found our check-in date after I logged into our cruise. It was in small print on the first screen. This was not on the app, but online. The date was 45 days before we sail.

We wore masks when inside the ship when we were on the Allure last July. We wore them inside except when eating. I saw someone every day with a mask on, but not many masks at all. We have a cruise in April this year and we plan to do the same thing. If you missed getting Covid, good for you!