RFerrington

Don't forget. "To enhance your cruise experience....".

EEUUUUWWHHH.

There's boarding time and then there's arrival time, which is basically the time that the terminal opens up and you are allowed to come inside and wait until you board. The time that you are assigned at check-in is actually arrival time, not boarding time. When you are in a suite or Pinnacle, you are basically permitted to enter the terminal whenever it opens, regardless of what your published "arrival/boarding" time says...which, historically, is somewhere between 10-10:30 AM. Then some time after that (usually not very long if things are going smoothly) they will begin boarding and again Suites and Pinnacles are usually allowed to begin boarding first (wedding parties will be first on if there is a wedding party). Next will usually be The Key and then general boarding (GenPop) in whichever order they designate (usually first come, first to board)...although I think some ports are still boarding by C&A status. Not sure about that one. Most ports have gone away from that. It has been my experience that Suites/Pinns don't usually really get any kind of head start in boarding, They basically allow both Suites/Pinns and GenPop to start boarding at the same time, but from different directions (different lines). It's usually a race to see who will actually get to the gangway first....but you will still be among the first to board if you are in a suite.

Technically, you must wait until you are onboard to book your BOGO meals and pay the full onboard price. Additionally, per the rules of the program, all BOGO meals must be booked and consumed on days/nights 1 and/or 2. While we always adhere to rule #1 (book once onboard) we do fudge rule #2 whenever we can. We will always use one of our BOGO on night #1 or 2 and then book the second of our BOGO for later in the cruise. Every ship handles this one differently and sometimes they handle it differently even on the same ship ! Sometimes they make us pay for the second BOGO (the one we use later in the cruise) NLT night #2 and sometimes they allow us to pay for it when we use it. We just never know how that's going to go until we get onboard. Regardless, BOGO is still a very good deal even when you have to pay full onboard price....which ends up being 50% off.

I agree that specialty dining for lunch is one of the few bargains left anywhere on Royal. I hope nobody from headquarters reads this....LOL...but the lunch specialty dining is still a bargain....especially with the recent sales (which have now ended).

You don’t need to do or tell anyone anything. Just check in at your assigned time. If the check-in person asks where the other passenger is, just tell him/her that the other passenger has a later check-in time. When, eventually, the ship sails without the other passenger, a refund of taxes and other port fees will be initiated. Those will be credited back to the original form of payment.

We normally purchase a 3-day dining package plus our BOGO (1 each) so that we typically only have 2 nights to do MDR or WJ on a 7 night cruise. I really dislike the Welcome Aboard menu so we will use one of our BOGO for night #1. In general I usually choose Italian night and Royal night (lobster) as my 2 MDR options and the rest are specialties.

This has been our experience on most of the ships. I think they realized soon after implementing this new modified MTD that they were missing a lot of opportunities to seat people so they began allowing early MTD folks to sneak (just kidding) in. Some of the ships are still holding fast to the 6:45 start to MTD but it seems so silly to me to do that. I know...their ship, their rules....but it's so easy to just fill in those vacant fixed dining tables with random MTD folks. We have been very fortunate. We have never had to wait for a MTD table regardless of when we arrive.

This really sucks ! I'll bet you could find a friendly full WC bubba to smuggle one onboard for you !

😇 Not really. This is the first RU that we have actually won in a year. I actually have very bad luck with RU....I will just count my blessings with this one.

Lately my RU offers have been coming immediately after check-in is completed. Example - yesterday was check-in for our 2-22-24 Radiance sailing, which I completed mid-morning. In the early afternoon I got a RU offer which I submitted immediately. By dinner time, I got the notice that one of the RUB had been accepted.

Sorry, but I don't believe this story, either (as it related....only playing $20).

Hallelujah. About time.

Yes, the production shows also do not require reservations (on Mariner). i believe, but do not know for sure, that D+ are still allowed to sit in the reserved section for theater shows. Don't quote me on that...I just can't remember....but I think it's only the ice shows where they (sometimes) restricted D+. Best to just ask the Crown Lounge Concierge.

Everyone is invited to watch any ice show, regardless of C&A status. Since there aren't any reservations needed (or even available, for that matter) on Mariner, it is strictly first come, first served. In the past, D+ were allowed to use the reserved seating area but on some ships that is no longer the case. I can't recall whether Mariner still allows D+ to sit in the reserved area or not but even if they aren't, there are plenty of good seats as long as you don't wait until the last minute to get there.

One comment re: Room Service. I have been on over 70 Royal Caribbean cruises over the past 18 years and never ONCE have I been able to get through to Room Service on the phone. The line is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS busy. The only times we have ever successfully gotten room service was when we asked the Suites Concierge to order it for us. Granted, I have never tried to get room service in the late evening so maybe things slow down later on, but during normal daily hours, F'AGET ABOUT IT !

I think most of the ships do an escorted embarkation for the RS guests. That’s about it as far as I know. Nothing like dining or beverage packages or internet (unless your suite already provides you with internet as a Suites perk, which Vision does not).

😵

Yes. As long as you can get a reservation, you can eat in any specialty restaurant.

We just got off Adventure for 2 weeks and have very few problems with internet connectivity. I would say in 2 weeks the internet only "dropped" us maybe 3 times and these were for very short periods of time (less than 1 minute each time) all during very yucky weather. Our location may have had something to do with that as we were all the way forward immediately above the bridge so I suspect that this area probably had very good coverage.

Yes, you can move the furniture around any way that works for you and for which there is room. 2 weeks ago we moved our couch from one side of the room to the other (standard JS) so that our power cords would be accessible to us while sitting on the couch. We switched spots with the arm chair and the couch but did not try and move the bed, for what it's worth. The cabin attendant never said a word. When we left, we moved everything back to its original position. BTW, we have recently stayed in both the Ocean View Panoramic Suite (no balcony, category VP) and the Spacious Ocean Panoramic View (category 1L) both on deck 12, forward and we loved both of them. The views are spectacular and both have a lot of room. Frankly I'm not sure there is enough room to move the beds about but we didn't try that so maybe there is. In the VP you also have the TV console to deal with which would probably make moving furniture very difficult to impossible. The only downsides to these cabins/suites are the fact that you feel EVERY single dip and swirl of the ocean (lots of motion) and the fact that we prefer being aft to being forward due to the location of the CL/SL which we like to frequent. You DO get tired of trekking the length of the ship several times per day.

To answer your question regarding being reimbursed, the answer is "no". In order to use your UDP you would have to make the reservations once onboard (or have the Concierge make them for you, if you are in a suite). Have others prepaid and been successful in being reimbursed ? Probably....but I certainly wouldn't count on it. That's not the way the program is intended to work. I have never failed to get reservations on boarding day so it's not really difficult to do.

Royal does not care which cabin any of the guests choose to sleep in so you can swap around any way you choose….but that will have no bearing on the purchasing requirements for the DBP. If one person on a booking wants the DBP the other person on that booking will be required to purchase either the DBP or the refreshment package. Regarding complimentary drinks in the casino, it is my understanding that only persons with a casino rating of Prime or above are entitled to complimentary beverages. Some non-Prime customers may have gotten lucky and been given complimentary beverages but that is not the way it is supposed to work. I would not go the casino and expect the non-Prime guests to get any complimentary beverages.

Yippee !

Waaaytooo young. Sorry to hear this.