ZoeyVictoria

I had tags with the wrong cabin number after winning a Royal Up. I printed the old tag in black and white, used part of a post-it note to write the new cabin number over the old one, and used a marker to fill in the correct quadrant of the ship. If you have tags from another cruise, you could make it work. I didn’t want to deal with a porter, and I am retired with not enough to do, so this might not work for you 😂

Yes, I understand Royal Up. I was able to get into Royal’s site by googling “Royal Caribbean” and search for a cabin on my sailing without logging in. I tried entering my C&A number to see if discounts worked; the number was recognized and brought up a discount. I got up to the payment page before I backed out. Then I tried (again) to log in through my normal link and was unable to get in. So it is possible to book a cabin today, but not look at our account information.

I had a forward facing ocean view on the Harmony in April, and it was one of our best cabins ever. The bed was in the normal configuration, and the window was so angled it was almost like having a skylight when in bed. There was no noticeable motion, but we enjoy motion and would have been happy with it. I would choose one of those cabins over a balcony.

I received a Royal Up email today and was able to bid. I could also get into the website without signing in. I successfully used my C&A number to look at available cabins before bidding. Just can’t see my account.

We asked the guy in charge of that area to put it in the cart for us. He said he had stocked four pallets during the night and they were gone already (11 a.m.). Here we go again!

We need bottled water, just by coincidence, and Publix has Aquafina buy two, get one free. We are heading there soon, hopefully before all the people who panic when they hear “Florida” and “hurricane” in the same sentence. Meanwhile, I am checking on Bermuda again before I apply for the Travel Authorizations for October 16.

We use a KYSS bag (Keep Your Stuff Safe). It has two zipper tabs and a heavy-duty chain with a combination lock. We run the chain through the frame of two loungers and lock it any time we leave the area. It is available in different sizes and also as a backpack. It is great to use on excursions and at water parks.

We always take snacks with us - trail mix, granola bars, individual packages of nuts and cookies. They have come in handy while waiting in the terminal for delayed embarkation, on tour buses, on the beach, in the middle of the night after a light dinner, and in the car during a traffic jam on the way home. Only pre-packaged food can be taken off the ship in most ports, so it is best to take your own snacks rather than counting on the ship to have anything appropriate.

Quarantine would seem to be a bit extreme now that the unvaccinated can cruise with a photograph of a negative self-administered Covid test.

We like variety and enjoy the differences between ships (and between cruise lines). There is something to love about every one of them!

On our September 14 cruise on the Freedom, I had some cash to use in the casino. I deposited it, then purchased Carnival gift cards for 10% off from AARP. I also received 2% cash back from the credit card I used to purchase the gift cards. Once on board, I downloaded that amount of money into my casino account and applied the gift cards at my convenience, a few days later.

Speaking of portion sizes…. We were on the Freedom last week and equally puzzled and amused by the tiny bit of butter given to each couple to share. After the first round of bread, it was hidden away and never offered again. We had a really good cruise, but thought the rationing of butter was a bit strange.

That is good to know, thank you. Hoping Bermuda will escape any serious damage from Fiona, but worried.

I don’t imagine the fee is refundable if the ship has to change itineraries because of Fiona. We sail on October 16 and are waiting to see what Fiona does before we apply for the travel authorizations.

We just got off the Freedom yesterday. We really enjoyed the cruise, but we enjoyed the Magic a teensy bit better. The only problem was that the Freedom docked in both Amber Cove and Grand Turk after the Mardi Gras had docked. The pool in Amber Cove was wall-to-wall people and Margaritaville wasn’t much better. I will not book a Carnival cruise again before checking to see which other ships might be sharing ports.

We parked at an off-site parking lot on Monday and were the last two people to get on the shuttle. Our luggage didn’t fit on the shelves of the shuttle and were on the floor at the front, in our sight the entire ride. We sat at the back and were some of the last people off the shuttle, but our luggage was the first off (all luggage is removed before passengers are allowed to leave the shuttle). There was a group of people standing around the drop-off area, and our bags were just in front of them, basically unattended until we finally stepped off the shuttle. When we picked up our carry-on bags, we saw that one of them had been unzipped. Luckily, there was a large luggage strap on the bag, so the size of the opening was reduced and it would have been impossible to remove anything of any size from the bag. Nothing was missing, but it was disturbing.

It works on my iPad.

How many of us do you think are honorable 😂

We cruised on the Paradise for the fourth time in May. The previous time was in 2018. We have aged a few years since then, and were also spoiled a bit with post-covid reduced occupancy and upgrades. We enjoyed our cruise on the Paradise in May, but it will probably be our last time because we found the ship to be extremely loud - everywhere. We missed having a promenade deck for walks and quiet places to just sit, chat, watch the water, and read. After spending a lot of time on that cruise searching unsuccessfully for shady, quiet places to sit outdoors, we will be sticking to larger ships in the future. Service, food, the cabin, and entertainment were all good, but apparently that one thing is very important to us now.

The same nonsense as quoting prices on everything from groceries to houses as ending in “99”. We all know to round up prices in our heads, but it is dumb and we know it.

I think there is an age limit, possibly 16. But I am certain most children would be bored because of the amount of walking, standing, and listening.

I remembered this post when it was mentioned yesterday, but did not look for it. Early this morning, I wanted to check on Mitsugirly’s latest land trip and googled “Mitsugirly”. I clicked on one of the first links randomly, and found myself in the middle of a 58-page thread of her cruise to St. Kitts in 2016. It was a bit eerie to see Trainman a few pages later, posted by a reader.

This is the second time recently that it was reported Royal Up made an unusual error. The other problem was a guest receiving an email stating they had won a bid, then the “win” was reversed, back to the original cabin. Both of these happened fairly soon after the initial status of bids changed from “pending” to “submitted”. I believe other changes were made to their program that are creating double bookings that must be corrected somehow. I am certain that more errors have been made than those reported on CC, so possibly Royal’s resolutions department has been making adjustments to cabin assignments screwed up by Royal Up. I would try calling again and asking for Resolutions.

And by deciding to do a no show, you leave open the possibility of that person changing their mind and cruising after all, or someone else taking their place.