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I would never do this. This is how some of the crew get paid, and I would not want to jeopardize them or their families' financial security.

Just ask when you call, saying you want to be guaranteed to pay the pre-Nov 11 price. I prepaid all my booked cruises, which extend out to Jan 2025, BUT I have already paid them all in full early (to get points and statement credits on my credit card). I had to pay the tips immediately. I saved $196

My sister and I had lunch in Chops on embarkation day last March on the Vision. Just as we sat down, the waiter came over very, very nervous. The Coast Guard had just come on board and were doing an inspection, and no food could be served until the ENTIRE ship was cleared. We had free wine for about 45 minutes though.............................

I was on a ship last January when the new menus started. Quite a shock, and I b2b with another ship: even worse. So, over this past 10 months I have learned the "good nights" vs "bad nights". Good nights are when they have salmon, bad nights are when they have proteins I don't care for. I now order the dessert fruit and cheese plate as an appetizer with every dinner. I also will make an entire meal of salad and appetizers, telling the waiter to bring them in any order he chooses. I also order an appetizer size portion of pasta to go with my entree, and that doesn't seem to cause any problems. There is one night's menu where I end up with all shrimp: 2 appetizers and 1 entree. Annnnd, there's one night I go to the Windjammer and eat unlimited appetizers, because there is NOTHING on the MDR menu I want. Having said all of this, I have to add that when it comes to food, I will eat anything except lamb, wax or lima beans. I'm actually easy to please when it comes to food and movies................

I actually ate one of those monsters in May 2023. It was FABULOUS, and put me off desserts for the rest of the cruise.

However, if you track the prices it can be worthwhile to purchase the UDP. I did with my sister on the Vision last year, and we averaged $15 per meal for both lunches and dinners combined. Right now I'm tracking for all my booked cruises, and it's running between $24 - $35 per meal. This is lunches and dinners.

Not silly at all. Yes, you can also do this, but best to arrive when they first open. If you go into the Cruise Planner, do a "ghost" purchase of the restaurants shown for specialty restaurant lunches, you can see what's open on which day, then cancel out of the purchase. This is how I determine how many meals I will actually get when I buy a UDP. I have one cruise where Giovanni's is open every day for lunch, and Chops 6 days.

I was referring to those who choose to remove their tips, RCCL "supposedly" compensates for the missed tips up to a guaranteed amount, and RCCL ends up with a LOT of people removing tips because of the increase on 11/11/23. That's the "dry spell" I was referring to in my other post. I just feel that removing tips from one's account may end up negatively affecting the crew, and they are not the ones we want to include in this struggle with RCCL over the tip increase. The crew should not suffer financially in any way because of this business policy change by RCCL.

I wasn't very clear: the plus one is someone sharing the same cabin, or identified as a travel companion.

My thoughts exactly, but I won't take the chance that the crew have any "dry spells" while this gets worked out. So, I'll continue to pay them. Actually, I just got all the invoice updates for all my cruises with prepaid tips. I saved $196, but will pay that out in cash tips over the next 14 months.

Nothing shady about this page in their FAQ's. Very clear in the second paragraph: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/onboard-service-gratuity-expense

As I see it, passengers who remove their tips are ENCOURAGING RCCL to include the tips in the cruise fare. It was explained to me that tipped crew members are guaranteed a certain amount, and RCCL makes up the difference for the "tip-stiffers". But, if that amount gets prohibitive, they can very likely move to including tips in the fare.

Several D+ cruisers I know book dinner for one in the Cruise Planner, pay for it, show up with a plus-one, use the BOGO coupon, and the other person is free.

I ALWAYS give my cabin steward an extra cash tip. If I win anything with my measly free $8 in the casino on the first 2 days, the cash tip immediately goes to the cabin steward. Otherwise, I'll use my own extra cash I brought with me. HA! On my last cruise I did this on Day 1 after my visit to the casino. I was BURIED in the upgraded toiletries for the rest of the cruise!!! He was such a sweetie, from China, and said I reminded him of his Mom.......ummmm.....look at my avatar???????

This is great news! I don't have to also pay for specialty restaurant lunch on embarkation day, and then request a refund because I have the UDP. Also, I don't have to burden whomever is at that restaurant's podium to book all my reservations for the whole cruise.

Interesting. I did the exact opposite: I notified my travel agent to prepay all my (15) booked cruises' tips. I see tipping as part of the price of cruising, and have always, and will always, support the crew. If that's the RCCL business model in-place, then that's the way I roll, too. If they include it in the price, than I'll roll that way, too. It's ALWAYS been part of MY budget model to include tips as part of the price of a cruise.

I was able to book 2 Giovanni's lunches for 2 people on the Freedom: Day 1 and Day 6. $16.50 per person. Same price for Jamie's on the Navigator, too. If I go to my local grocery store's deli and get a large sandwich, a bag of chips, and a soda, it's over $20. Giovanni's and Jamie's for $16.50 including tips is a bargain!

This is an insurance issue, not an RCCL issue. Homeowner's, condo, credit card travel benefits: there's several ways to get reimbursed for the cost of having luggage returned to it's rightful owner.

I got off the Adventure on 9/30/23. She's in great shape. Great crew, too.

Hopefully you will be on Mystery Island at high tide. Walk to the other side (it takes about 2 minutes....literally), and sit on the beach. The waves crashing over the coral reef edging the lagoon are hypnotizing.

Thank you, my friend!

Is this a refundable or non-refundable obc? Also, if I don't use the entire obc should I cash it out in the casino? Thanks.

The overnight tendered ports, and non-tendered, usually have operations going until at least midnight. I seem to remember it was not available during the wee hours, but started up again 6-7 am. It may be different now. P.S. Loved Vanuatu. P.S.S See if you can get over to Mystery Island; it's a tiny jewel.

I was checking in for cruises leaving in November and December, and was smacked in the eyeballs with CocoCay cabana pricing at $1,700. It was a spit second seeing it, and another split second thinking "gouging". A 5% discount is actually insulting, IMO.

If you used a credit card to pay for the cruise, have you contacted them about this? Many credit cards come with trip cancellation / interruption coverage. Here's hoping you can get some of your money back. And, don't do an online "bot" chat: speak to a human customer service staff member.