LisaT91403

Has anyone seen JS rooms when doing mock bookings?

 

I've been monitoring since the room categorization changes (since Symphony itineraries were released last week) and under 'Suites' I am getting everything BUT a JS, even for bookings that had just been released. This is on US and UK RC website. Just wondered if anyone else has actually seen any JS pricing online.

 

From the sounds of things, we'll probably have to book over the phone when we do finally get the release dates to get more details (since cabins are going quick!) but just have been surprised not to see any JS's!

I booked a couple of Junior Suites (J3) on Symphony. Or are you talking about other ships?

We aren't really room service people. We used it a few times when my son was younger so that we could feed him before he went to the club (and we went to late dinner).

Having said that, we tried to use it on Harmony in December. We just wanted some cookies and milk in the evening. Once, they told us it would be 1.5 hours for it to be delivered, so we cancelled. A second time, they took the order...then called back and said that they weren't going to be able to deliver it because they were too busy.

I'm thinking that the $7.95 charge will shorten the wait times, so think of it as a benefit ;-)

We have a group sailing on SOTS over Thanksgiving, 2018. I didn't realize that the sailing had to be "open to groups" in order to take advantage of any group offerings (I thought you just needed to have 8 cabins and that was that).

Our sailing is not open to groups at this time. Has anyone had experience with this previously? Does the sailing typically open to groups later on, or if it's a holiday sailing (such as ours), it just won't open at all?

Anyone knows the next promotion at RCCL when this one ends tonight???

Not that it matters (because it's a fake sale anyway), but the promo is 30% off all guests, not just the 3rd & 4th.

We did it in December, no problem then.

My family has sailed on the Freedom class ships a few times but never on the Oasis class. For those who have sailed on both types of ships, what are the main differences, which do you prefer, and why ? We generally do spring break cruises with Royal, traveling with a ten year old and a seven year old.

Your kids might like the waterslides and Abyss on Harmony. My son was 8 when we sailed, and the slides were a big hit.

I will let Lisa know, even though it isn't up to her meat and potatoes lifestyle. :)

 

 

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For Lisa's sake, I recommend Coastal Kitchen on Night 1. The filet was very good, and the pork belly appetizer too.

They are up on the royal site, ther is one doc with all the decks on one sheet as well

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/symphony-of-the-seas/content/uploads/2017/03/SY_DeckPlanMarch7.pdf

That one doesn't look right. It shows 8642 & 8644 as connecting JS's. They do not connect. If you look at the plans on the Royal site, this error has been corrected.

If you want to guarantee that you keep the cabin then have the 5th just be a no show at the pier. You will be refunded taxes and fees.

So we would just pay the cruise fare for the 5th person, even though he's not sailing. Is that what you are saying? That would make sense. Thanks.

What happens if...you are booking almost 2 years in advance, and you *think* you are going to have 5 people in your cabin (e.g. Royal Family Suite)...and then final payment eventually comes along and you only have 4 people? There might not be other cabins available for you to switch to, so that might not be a solution. Does Royal force you to cancel?

Are people calling the C&A number, then pressing "1" to book a new cruise?

If not, what is the correct way to get through?

We are trying to decide which Symphony sailing to do. Part of me wants to try a TA for the first time. So will see what prices look like. Otherwise maybe the new Western Itinerary.

 

The bathroom is nice and spacious and the double sink is great. The closet in the GS is not in an optimal location next to the Bar Counter, but no where else it could go. We originally had a JS booked but switched with the then "great BOGO sale". Yes the walking closet is great.

 

If the price is great and you can swing it, go for the GS, The added perks with the suite lounge, costal kitchen anytime and etc was very good, The loungers on the balcony were very nice too. Did you have one in your JS. I recall on Oasis that not all JS had loungers. Only the bigger balcony JS had them.

We took advantage of the "sale" as well, but opted for the price drop rather than upgrading to a GS. We really wanted connecting cabins, and that's one reason we stayed put. Of course, the best laid plans (only to find out that there was no connecting door once on the ship!)

Our JS had 2 chairs with ottomans. So they weren't loungers, but we could still kick our feet up. They didn't have nice cushions like the GS, though! I will have to see what the pricing is like before I decide.

Hi Lisa - We were on the same Harmony cruise.

I remember! We are looking at Thanksgiving 2018 on Symphony. Any interest? :-)

We had a GS cabin and yes there is a wall that splits the living area from the bedroom. The good part is it allows for privacy in the bedroom if one wants to sleep late or if you have more than two guest and have to use the sofa bed in the living room. Also with the wall you have two flat screen TVs on either side. The not so good, is it does make the cabin look smaller and tight space with coffee table in the middle. We moved the glass coffee table to the cabinet under the living room TV just to create a clear path in the living area. Every time we did that our room stewart would move it back to the middle. Then we would move it again. After a few times she got it and left it in front/under the TV. That was better flow.

Makes sense. It looks like get a bigger bathroom (double sink!) in a GS, and a bigger balcony with a table. But you lose the walk-in closet from the JS, and I really like my walk-in closet. This is a tough one.

On your second question, I am not sure why that cabin is with the suites. I was thinking it could be because of the new categories but it doesn't make sense.

Puzzling, isn't it? Then again, nothing surprises me. When we boarded Harmony and found that they forgot to build the connecting door for our connecting cabins, I decided that nothing Royal does would surprise me anymore.

Two questions about HOTS suites:

1. The Grand Suites have a wall in the middle of the cabin. I've only seen pictures, but doesn't this make the cabin feel really small? I was in a JS, which seemed quite spacious...but the GS looks cramped with that wall there (?)

2. If you look up Harmony on the Royal website, then go under Staterooms/Suites, the last cabin type listed is Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony. Why is this listed in the Suites section?

AO was open from 8:00pm - 10:00pm on our Harmony cruise in December. I guess that might be too late for you to have dinner, but I wanted to point out that it was, in fact, open on night 1.

Does anyone know what the difference is between a J3 and J4?

Looking for some advice from anyone who has experience with cabanas at Barefoot and Nellie's beaches.

 

I have done the cabanas at Barefoot Beach in the past but on our upcoming cruise no one is staying in a suite so I'm looking into Nellie's. I'm still grappling with the price increase on cabanas since I last booked one- but aside from that I am also wondering if there is a big difference between the experience at Barefoot versus Nellie's. From what I can see in past threads the main difference is private versus public beach and the upgraded lunch.

 

Any other major differences? Do they still provide you with floating mats for each person? Any input is appreciated!

We had a cabana on Nellie's in December. We received 2 floating mats for the cabana (not one for each person). There was also a cooler with several bottles of Evian. The "public" beach didn't matter to us, as we were mostly in our cabana anyway...and used our ramp to go straight into the water.

Interesting to see Deck 8, cabins 8642 and 8644. They show as connecting JS's, which also showed on Harmony's deck plans. However, when we sailed Harmony in December, we found that there was no connecting door.

We reported the problem, and followed up with corporate to get the Harmony deck plans corrected.

So now I wonder...will Symphony have a connecting door per the deck plans, or are the deck plans wrong again? Another way to phrase it might be were the deck plans wrong, or was the ship built incorrectly?

I'm surprised to hear that you can book with so few people. Just 2 people in a 2-bedroom suite? Does Royal hold them back, and then allow fewer passengers to book if they don't fill it with a bigger party?

Is there an age limit for this? If not does anyone who did it think ages 13 and 14 year old twins could do it with us?

 

 

Thanks!

I believe you have to be 14 or older to participate.

When my family did the trip, there was absolutely no time to do a second ride. It might depend on how crowded it is the day you are there.

That is true as Harmony was included in the 30/30 sale back in June/july 2015 when we booked for this upcoming Spring Break cruise on 11 March. We paid $3900 including taxes for Oceanview Balcony which then soared to a high of over $6000 at one point...crazy stuff.

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We found that to be true as well. We initially booked our December HOTS sailing on 4/7, and the fare was $1899/person (excluding taxes) for a JS. Then in June, the price dropped to $1330/person.

I watched fares go up from there. I think I saw it hit $5000 at one point, but it could have been higher as I didn't check that often.

We went to Paradise beach. For our group (DH, myself, DS(8) and Grandma), it was the best choice because we did *not* want an all-inclusive. It was $15 for the cab ride over for the 4 of us. It costs $3 per person to get in, but they ask that you spend $10 per person on food & drinks (that was easy for us to do). It's an additional $18 if you want to use the inflatable water park, kayaks, etc. DH and DS did that while Grandma and I relaxed. They have all of the regular beach rentals (wave runners, para sailing, etc.) and massage available. We found the service to be excellent, and the food was very good too. DS loved both the inflatables and the gigantic pool...couldn't get him out of that pool!

We found the facilities to be very clean...they have bathrooms, showers, changing areas, etc. WiFi is also included in your stay.

Have fun!

DH and I did this on Harmony in December. We did not know anyone else in our group, and had a great time. The room itself is really well done. As others have said, you really do need to work as a group in order to be successful. We've been on a lot of cruises, so it was really nice to experience a brand new activity, even if it had a nominal fee attached.

Is it just me, or does it seem like everyone here on CC has solved the puzzle? Does *everyone* escape?

Just a comment on the slide. I'm of the belief that it is a dry slide, not a water slide.

The Ultimate Abyss is a dry slide.

There are also 3 water slides up at the pool.