nelblu

Senior and state discounts were more prevalent prior to the pandemic.  Very rare at capacity that Royal ships are sailing. 
I’m lucky that I’m eligible for the V&A solo supplement DP340 and even with this the fares are out of sight. 
 

5 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

Many RCCL ships have one Broadway show and up to 2 more Original Shows that are Broadway style and often Broadway caliber. You can usually find which show is on which ship by simply going to the ship's page on their website. I know Hairspray has been on Symphony, Cats on Oasis, Grease on Harmony.  

And the best Mamma Mia on Allure.

18 minutes ago, Laurely95 said:

If parents booked a junior suite and minors were in an interior cabin across the hall, do the minors also get double cruise points for the junior suite if they were listed in the interior room? I understand they get their parents status until 18 then they’re on their own for earning but kids were on same cruises as parents. Just wondering about double points. 

Parents in JS get 2x points, while kids in interior get 1X.  Surprised that Royal allowed minors with their own cabin.  When I booked 2 cabins on Eater Anthem sail for my daughter's family, I needed to have an adult/parent with each minor, even though I had connecting cabins.

24 minutes ago, crzndeb said:

See the edit. They changed the Title

The op should have deleted the entire or whatever was written prior. 

9 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Maybe. It totally depends on how well that sailing is selling close in (past final payment). The mins from inside to balcony tend to be lower than that ($825).

I have a guarantee inside cabin on August 26 4 niter on Utopia and will see what the Royal Up will quote me.  Bringing my son along as the Casino promo was free for me and discounted for the 2nd Pax.

I have a 3-niter preceding the August sail and was assigned a CP view cabin.  The damn airfare is so expensive that it was worth doing a back-to-back.  The present airfare for 2 from Newark to Orlando is much more that the cost of the combined 7-night sail.

Not to change the subject, but I just upgraded a Casino interior comp to an ocean view balcony sailing on Odyssey March 30, 2025 for $825 and was wondering if I could have done better with the Royal up.  Primary advantage is that I selected my cabin.  Sailing solo and wondering if anyone has any experience.

Is there something that I'm missing, what is the question/problem.

I booked Odyssey sailing March 30, 2025.  Advantage it gets me started on the following year’s points required. Upgraded to ocean view balcony for $820. 

29 minutes ago, Vibe said:

Has anyone also experienced that when you call 800-526-9723 for the Crown and Anchor department; it doesn’t do directly to them. You have to go through an automated voice response system.

 

 

800.526.9723 is the number that I call.  This number also gets you to the Diamond desk. 

I had a crazy and funny experience--I applied for Royal shareholder's benefits on my Odyssey January '26 booking.  I wanted the booking to be transferred to my TA.  It was denied by the Sales Dept as it was considered a Casino booking.  The booking had nothing to do with the Casino as the booking was done on board.  So, I call the C&A desk to get clarification/fixed.  The agent tells me with certainty that the system has identified it as Caino related.  Rather than argue, I asked if the agent could provide me with the direct tele# to the sales dept.  I call and I recognized that it was the same person that I spoke to previously.  So kiddingly, I said I don't think you are going to be of any help. 🤣 Called the Casino desk and got it resolved.  Still did not get a proper answer as to why it became a casino booking. 

Bottom line, I did not want to lose $350 in OBC provided by my TA. 

16 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

The current Crown Lounge typically hours are 5:00 - 8:30 for cocktail service and canapes.  

Check the daily compass if listed.  On recent Easter sail the Crown L. hours were from 4:30-7:30. Attendance was sparse, and the coffee machine was mostly on the fritz the entire sail.

13 minutes ago, scubaslayer said:

Well it might not be a worry anyway. The website and app both won't let me put it in the cart and check out. It is only being glitchy with this one thing, so I am thinking it might be booked or they reached the limit for the deal. I will try again in a bit but honestly the price today is only a dollar or two cheaper than it has been.

When I booked the Jamie's lunch on Anthem it was last year on Pasta Day and got it for $14.99 per adult and 9.99 for a child.  Couldn't pass up on the deal.

1 hour ago, nelblu said:

You can check in earlier than the 11am as they no longer check the time assigned.  A 12 or 12:15 lunch time is absolutely achievable.  However, why don’t you pre/book the desired times via the cruise planner. 
 

I pre-booked Jamie’s on Anthem for  a party of 8 with some children involved and not a problem in making the 12:15 pm reservations. 

 

 

 

 

 

I sailed on Harmony this past December and once you go thru security and check-in you are on you way to boarding the ship.  They no longer hold you in the pen and board you by C&A status.🤣

4 hours ago, scubaslayer said:

My family is sailing on Harmony out of Galveston in June. I was looking at booking Jaime's for lunch when we board. Our check in time is 11am. We get a very slight boarding group (gold) advantage. What time is feasible to make the reservation for? This group is 2 adults and 2 teens, so no small children to wrangle to get to Central Park but we have also never been on this class of ship. I was looking at 12:00 or 12:15 but am worried boarding might take longer and how long the walk will be. We also generally stop at the muster on the way onboard but we could also do it after lunch.

 

I had been looking at getting the Key for us but the price has stayed high. Does it ever drop in price closer to cruise or should I just give up looking for a price drop?

You can check in earlier than the 11am as they no longer check the time assigned.  A 12 or 12:15 lunch time is absolutely achievable.  However, why don’t you pre/book the desired times via the cruise planner. 
 

I pre-booked Jamie’s on Anthem for  a party of 8 with some children involved and not a problem in making the 12:15 pm reservations. 

19 hours ago, MJSailors said:

My DH saw some information online that recent RCL passengers were being required to wear masks.

I am not sure that he is reading the most recent cruise information.

Curious if this requirement,infdeed, 

 now exists on RCL ships. 
Thank you for your responses.

MJ🙋🏻‍♀️

Off Anthem Easter sail and no masks were required.  However, some staff and passengers had masks on.

49 minutes ago, Bertaelflamingo said:

For our sailing in June, Voom is currently on sale for 25% off.  Any chance the price will go lower?  

You can book at the current price and if it goes lower just cancel and reprice.

I find most of the times it’s the assistant waiters that are involved.Royal had stopped it some time ago and brought it back.  I truly enjoyed the flaming baked Alaska and staff dancing and singing and entertaining passengers. Alas, due to insurance situation that has since gone by the way of the Dodo bird. Miss those olden days of sailing. 
 

My favorite is Mamma Mia on Allure and Grease on Harmony.  Walked out on Flight and Columbus.  

7 hours ago, scubaslayer said:

Entertainment just became available to book for our upcoming cruise. We have MTD reserved for 7pm everyday, so we can hopefully arrange the same table and waiters since we booked this trip late and early and late dining were unavailable. I am trying to book shows but for some reason it shows a conflict with MTS, because MTD is for 5 hours and 30 minutes on the planner. Are were really not able to prebook shows or going to need to shift dinner way up or do walk in and hope we get in? I know the planner has had technical issues this week, so I am hoping this is just another glitch and will be fixed shortly.

Ship?

16 hours ago, LittleMissMagic said:

I've always thought bed by the balcony was the superior configuration. Gives you more space by the bathroom and entry door, and you don't have to squeeze by the bed to get to the vanity/sitting area. Also, you can lay in bed and look out at the ocean - so nice!

That's my preferred option.  When I first sailed on Oasis the bed was by the closet and it was quite tight as you mentioned.  On my most recent Anthem sail, I was in cabin # 12654 with the bed by the balcony.  I booked an Odyssey 11 niter while on board and asked for the same cabin # but was not available.   The agent suggested cabin # 12660 and I remarked that based on the Anthem configuration the bed would be by the closet.  She looked at her spreadsheet and confirmed that in essence the bed was by the balcony.  Royal must have added an additional cabin/modification to accomplish this.  I also googled the cabin # and sure enough it shows the bed by the balcony.

2 hours ago, island lady said:

 

That is what I do as well.  And half the time they send us the wrong wine, which I bring to the LA and ask them to switch it out.   If out of stock...it's my preference to choose another...not the beverage department.  

My request is white, but I constantly get a red and a white.  I visit the LA and he/she takes corrective action.  One time they left the red and gave me an additional white.  Go figure.

I called Royal yesterday to request an e-bill of my expenditure on recent Anthem sail and was asked by an automated voice the reason for my call.

7 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I haven’t been getting too many casino offers lately, but the ones I get are usually the ones like you booked. I refuse to book these offers because I have been spoiled, for lack of a better word, by much better offers in the past. My fear is too many people will book these offers and they will eventually become the new normal. 

I usually don't take these offers and take the $ off, but the bottom line price was too good to refuse and especially on a brand-new ship.  My only concern is that I usually book a balcony and this reserve is for an interior.

I've got a back-to-back 3 & 4 nights on Utopia in August thanks to the Casino promo of paying only for a 2nd Pax.  Taking my son along and the airfare for 2 from Newark to Orlando is almost double what I'm paying for the cruise fare ex PT&F.🤣

6 hours ago, SUgwoz said:

So should Royal lower standards to ramp up the Loyalty program even more then?

 

Loyalty program is not wrecking anything, but it is certainly creating headaches when there is a large volume of higher tier members on cruises which is why they are tweaking access to venues.  If they didn't create the voucher system, you would have as many as 2000-2500 people on some transatlantic cruises trying to go to Diamond/Crown lounge for happy hour.

 Maybe it's a problem on those sails.  My recent Anthem sail, the CL was a morgue.  Kids outnumbered adults.  Also, lunch with Officers, the Officers outnumbered the attendees.

On 3/22/2024 at 9:09 PM, grandgeezer said:

What makes you think I have $2,000,000 in my 401k? Not even close. The RMD is based on your age and account balance at the close of business on 12/31 of the previous year. Last year it was only $47,000.

I have never owned RCL stock and never will, even when it dropped below $20.  I’ve been doing stocks for over 35 and have been successful far better than I ever imagined. For me to buy a stock, it has to be a product I believe in and the management team has past experience in fairly treating their employees and customers, RCL is O for 2.

Why are you even on this board.😜

5 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Use Galveston Express from the airport to Galveston the night before.  The morning of... Uber is your best bet. 

 

https://galvestonexpress.com/galveston-taxi-rates-schedule/

Used them on day of arrival and departure.  Had a 10AM and return at 9AM.  Reasonable for the distance involved.  Mine (solo) was $35 each way.  My return driver was very knowledgeable of e roads as the main artery was backed up either accident or traffic.