Starry Eyes

Many newbies have never been on a ship galley tour and don’t know that, unlike land restaurants, their waitstaff may have to wait in the galley to pick up orders. I’d rather they read here why their waiters might not always be visible. I believe they are also short handed and covering more tables. Usually I can still see my waitstaff when they are covering other tables. When one reappears after a period of visual absence, they are usually pushing a cart of food.

If the galley was slow getting item out, each waiter is stuck in the galley line longer trying to gather their order. The slower the galley, the longer and slower the line of waitstaff trying to pick up items for you and guests at other tables. Perhaps that is where they were during the long periods when you could not see them.

No, the cruiseline won’t drop the destination in the near future. If one does not wish to deal with Bermuda’s rules, simply don’t book a Bermuda cruise. Leave those cruises for people who want to go to Bermuda enough to jump through whatever hoops are required.

That happens to everyone now and then. It would have been great if you’d found an earlier trick.

I wonder there is a miscommunication here. The barcode I use is on the set sail pass; one obtains the set sail pass when one completes on-line check-in (which typically opens 45 days before the cruise). Where did you find a barcode to use for the barcode trick 1-1.5 weeks before online checkin opened?

Some people have mentioned on cruise critic that errors have been caught and corrected on C&A accounts. Still I suspect you have a good chance of retaining these points.

Theoretically any gty assignment can be changed anytime, but the the cruiseline very rarely changes them.

Yes, solos often receive offers, but your bid, like all other bids, will be doubled as if two people are in the cabin. The doubling happens regardless of the number of people actually in the cabin, whether 1, 2, 3, or more. Just expect that, and bid if it is worth it to you.

That is a long-standing frustration though I don’t know the solution.

Yes, you will get the extra points as you booked a JS, whether you RoyalUp to a full suite or stay in your JS. I am also bidding on suites via RoyalUp, but I am starting from a balcony. I will not get extra points if I move up. That is the difference

Summer cruises are sailing full. What happens in fall when the kids are back in school, hurricane season is at/near it’s peak, and competitor are not requiring tests? Will they still be full without major fare cuts? 🤷‍♀️

I think you are correct: the cruiseline can still chose to place you in a higher category if they wish. With RoyalUp, the odds that they will do so are probably lower now. Certainly I would expect an inside cabin assignment if I booked an inside gty.

Oh, try not to let it drive you crazy. Though you do not know your cabin number, you will be on the ship. Though unassigned, you can still participate (and potentially win) RoyalUp. You are not alone. I am waiting for gty assignment (XB) 8/28 on Harmony. Hubby and I both check regularly (in barcode) but neither of us are going crazy. Our RoyalUp bids are in, though I don’t expect to win as odds are lower with fuller ships now.

Sorry if I misunderstood. So, party A moved from one available cabin to another available cabin on the ship. Of course somebody else would end up in that vacated cabin; it happened to be assigned to party B via the gty process. But why did they imply the movement resulted in a “quick” gty assignment for party B? Royal could theoretically have held that cabin (or any other) and released the assignment just before the cruise.

LOL, the person you heard certainty could have “wanted” their gty cabin to be near fellow passenger, but if it happened it was good luck. They could have been assigned the furthest away cabin in that category (or higher). I do not believe there is any mechanism to make requests for gty cabins (be it a high deck, close to elevators, or a location close to/far from😉a linked reservation). Nor do C&A member get (or deserve) better treatment than newbies. Those of us who book gty all seem to roll the same set of proverbial dice. I’m pretty flexible and have overall been happy with gty cabins over the years; sometimes just satisfied, sometimes very, very happy. Sometimes I have swapped cabins within categories.

Oh, interesting…. I’d forgotten there are a few JS’s on deck 11 on Adventure. They relocated me to deck nine.

Real foodies will probably be happier in the specialty restaurants than in CK. We are easy to please but seek variety. We cruise fairly often, so having different experiences on different cruises is nice for us. We eat mostly in MDR on one cruise when sailing in a balcony, use CK a lot on the next cruise when sailing in a suite, back to a balcony cabin using mostly specialties with UDP on next the cruise, then back to MDR again.

Were you aware that people booking from other countries may not be able to swap like those of us in North America? Be careful about posting generalizations. Others may call, make the same request only to be told they can only swap if they pay a substantial up charge. Remember to be grateful not only that a better cabin was available but also for the kind booking rules that allowed you to switch.

Oh, the drinking age brings up another point: try be match cabinmates with same beverage package purchase ideas. For example if perchance your wife is not planning to buy a drink package, don’t match her with a cabinmate who desires beverage package….or vis versa.

Have you tried deleting and reinstalling the app? That worked for me when I had a similar issue a few cruises ago.

Do you have kids under 18 going on this family cruise? If so, they can also be linked C&A members with your status and perhaps could be booked in the third cabin (with some other adult/s) to secure the balcony discount for that cabin. I’m not sure if you will be able to apply a higher C&A discount (when you reach D) without triggering a re-pricing of the cabins (if cabin prices have risen in the interim).

I am also sailing on 8/28 and my questionnaire is also open. The questions have changed. They now only ask if I am fully vaccinated, if I am boosted, and if I will be 23+ weeks pregnant. As the answers to those three questions will not change, we answered the questions and submitted the questionnaires.

Vaccination disappeared from the app for our Harmony 8/28 cruise, too. We had green check marks for vaccination previously; now the category is gone. Looking forward to 8/14 announcement…

You never know. When we started cruising, DH and I kinda laughed together at the reward program presentations. We really enjoyed those early cruises on various lines but could not imagine accumulating that number if cruises on any single line. Nonetheless the cruises added up even though we have sailed different lines. We have been D+ for a while and probably will make Pinnacle eventually, though we are not gunning for it.

One of the new deck 11 forward facing balconies on Voyager. During my call regarding price protection I was told they run out of balconies, resulting in the upgrade with price protection, a lucky result for me.