Starry Eyes

Since there isn’t a view, those deck 4 lounges do not seem to be especially popular spots to spend a lot of time during the day. Many people are in and out in a short time.

On cruises with lots of loyalty members, it is pretty common for multiple people to enter after one person swipes a card. Or for a server to hold the door for an approaching guest. So, it is probably pretty easy to enter the lounges if one acts confident. The D concierge could ask to see the cards of guests the concierge does not know. The crown lounge waitstaff could be instructed only to serve D+ and PC (and potentially monitored for D card swipes from 5-8). It might not be much fun stay in a lounge for long if you cannot be served.

I agree. The attendants were giving slips of paper for the dash with ship name and date, though I’m not sure how/if the slips are being monitored in the garage. We were booked for only an eight day cruise and parked with the slip on the dash in T5. While on board, we booked the subsequent sailing, turning it into an impromptu B2B. There was no request for additional payment on the parked vehicle.

As of our last entry on 9/29, T5 was pay as you enter with attendants taking payment at entrance to the parking ramp. Perhaps the pylons&loop arrangement to enter the T5 garage is being done to keep those attendants safe and keep all vehicles in an orderly line for them. Maybe the upgrades will be done in time for your late Nov cruise. Exiting T5 garage after a cruise is nicer now

We also like to go straight to parking and often arrive around 9:30. As a side note, at PC terminal 5, they have not allowed us to go straight to parking for the last couple times. The direct parking entrance was blocked by pylons. All vehicles were directed through the drop off area then looped to the parking entrance.

For our recent cruises the “perks” were not in the old “letter” form. Instead they were in a folded “welcome aboard” from the LA with a chart inside. The generic exclusions were listed on mine (There’s no Hooked Seafood on that ship but it is listed as an exclusion). The D concierge letter was separate. Below is from Mariner LA.

It varies. A few assignments come early, but most are after final payment. Lately of mine have been with in 45 days of sailing and often (not always) I have a clue from the barcode on my set sail pass. A few assignments came right at 30 days. Others came closer to sailing.

We have also had such an announcement for a missing teen.

With the new, colorful edition, we will be happy to collect two blocks from the same ship if one is the older style block and the other the newer style block. That will call for a large shelf.

Also shortly before your cruise (2-3 days IIRC) watch for an email with a link for several stateroom requests. I think “separate beds” is among the requests you can check via that link. Perhaps if you specify on your booking and on that link, your beds will be separated when you arrive. If not, the steward will re-do them for you. We also find separate beds to be an efficient set up in small interior and OV cabins.

LOL, you are the predictable one. It is also predictable that you would not be able to defend your previous post when the flaws were challenged.

You don’t know what that later booking will pay or what they will want. They may also book gty. They may pay even less. Or maybe they are paying a higher rate and really want connecting cabins, in which case it will be better if the op has moved. Royal put all 3V cabins in the same category because Royal judged the equivalent. Thus it is just personal preference.

Rather than a just a “boot”, I’d like to see the offending “vehicle” towed out of the hallway to a secured “lot.” The hallway would be clear for others and the “release” fee could be paid at the “lot.” I assume the Philadelphia Parking Authority could find an appropriate payola scale for towing a stroller🤣

Apparently not yet😇

I’ve seen worse obstruction than the one shown in that picture, so remember it could have been worse. We can’t guess when Royal will make that cabin assignment official. It might happen soon (in which case you’d have a chance to ask to switch to a less obstructed cabin). Or they could wait a while, and by then there might not be any remaining cabins you like better in your exact category (for example, I’m still in barcode status for my Oct 28 cruise; there are no remaining cabins in my category). If you have the option to bid on an unobstructed balcony via RoyalUp, you may want to consider doing so. Now that you know your cabin, you can use that knowledge to formulate your bid. As you said in your first post, bids are not a sure thing, but they are another shot at a different cabin.

First, let’s find out about your cabin, then you will be in a better position to decide what to do next. If your set sail pass has a deck number, there is also a cabin number hidden in the bar code. This cabin has been picked for you even though it is not officially assigned. On CruiseCritic we call this the “bar code trick.” If you have an iPhone, put your set sail pass in your apple wallet. Then in the wallet, look at the numbers below the barcode. To the right of the dash (-), you should see numbers…that is almost certainly your future cabin number (theoretically Royal can move gty folks anytime, but functionally that is rare, so expect that cabin). Android users do the same thing using a barcode reader app rather than apple wallet. Once you have a cabin number, you can google it and search here on CruiseCritic for info on obstruction. Come back for advice when you know more and have thought it over a bit.😀

Hmmm, that might convince recalcitrant parents to store the stroller inside the cabin in the future

Do look at those deck plans. I find deck 6 very convenient on Oasis class ships. It is one of my favorite decks.

Oops. Thanks for correcting that.😀

Unlike the newer Celebrity ships, your connecting door will be inside the cabin. As I recall, on Allure the connecting doors are close to the bathroom/entry. That means there’s impact on the size of your cabin’s furniture, and probably less noise transmission than if the door were across from your bed. I’ve been assigned connecting cabins multiple times from gty bookings without any major issues so far. Often times your neighbor is hoping you will be considerate as much as you hoping they will be. In any case, your TA has chosen the best option currently available. You can do mock bookings to see if a better cabin in your category comes available and if so call your TA to ask for a free swap.

There’s still plenty of time before your Nov 6 cruise. We have a gty booked for Oct 28. Though we can detect an unofficial cabin number in the barcode, we still do not have an official cabin assignment. We are not concerned though; 99.9% sure the cabin assignment will be official sometime in the next 18 days. Then we will be able to print luggage tags. If not, we will have the porters check the manifest before we hand over our bags. I suspect your assignment will also appear before your cruise. And air out that “sour luggage”, LOL. Autocorrect can be funny.

Even with the “Stay Awhile” program offered in some European cruises, passengers still must be out of their staterooms early, as stewards need yo prep those staterooms for new guests. From the original post, the OP does not want to vacate the stateroom early. The stay awhile program might cost more than the “even for a small fee” the OP imagined. Personally, I want to board a ship early on embarkation day and access my cabin relatively soon thereafter. That means I must vacate the cabin early at the end of the cruise so it can be prepped for the next cruise. Judging by the rush of people to their cabins as soon as they are available on embarkation day, many people want early access to their cabins. I suspect the current system will remain, even if the op does not like to get up early.

Another option to consider: find another adult to join your group. That adult could stay in the balcony with two teens. You, your wife. and other two teens are in the suite. That way the teens in the balcony (which is not adjacent to or across the hall from your suite…it is probably far away) are actually supervised by an adult. The teens might hate that….

Since ships have been at full capacity, we have not won a RoyalUp bid for a suite on Oasis or Quantum Class. The minimum bids are also much higher. We moved from a JS to a GS on Mariner last month. I think my odds are very slim for Wonder in Nov and Dec.

Fully acknowledging Royal can manage each cruise differently, I’ll still share the timeline for my for my 11/5 XB booking. At check in 45 days out, no official assignment though cabin # was coded in bar code. Cabin was assigned at 30 days…midship deck 12 My Wonder December cabin is still unassigned. Yours too? If so, happy stalking.😀