S.A.M.J.R.

Why not get a travel pill container? Like this: There are all kinds of sizes. Even if your family sees a pill container, they'd have no idea what's in it.

Because they're not advertising for the cruises sailing this week, the next week, or even the next month. They want to get people hooked going forward. Same reason Disney advertises. Their parks are full, and they're spending money. Advertising to is KEEP the people coming. You don't stop because you currently are filling the ships.

Just doing the math... $14 drink. Add the automatic 18% = $2.52. Add $2 and you're at $4.52. Thats a little over a 32% tip. So yes, they're definitely getting 20%. Not saying you shouldn't give however much you want. Just pointing out the math.

THAT explains why the ships are so empty!

No one said there weren't. But people have their reasons for not getting one. Usually 1)Money and 2) Not NEEDING one. You may disagree, but those are valid reasons.

But you can't swipe through the pouches, so you would have to take them out to get into your cabin (if the cabin door requires a swipe), and don't some bars do a "swipe" vs a "scan"? We had some success with these on our last cruise: https://www.amazon.com/Gripper-Holder-Plastic-Standard-Thickness/dp/B0B4VP78PV/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3I5RORNPY887M&keywords=card%2Bgripper&qid=1684672770&sprefix=card%2Bgripper%2Caps%2C203&sr=8-3&th=1 You can "offset" the gripper so the cards can be swiped on machines. It's wasn't perfect, but better than a pouch or keeping the card loose IMO.

I understand your concern, but is it really that much of a problem? I mean, does anyone on here really know how many "non-diamond" diamonds there are on a cruise? Next, under your suggestion, you'd be relying on Royal IT to be able to track people getting status then losing status. Last, as has been asked multiple times now, how many get this "temporary" status in a 'travelling group'? That could actually end up being more people than the "non-diamond" diamonds on a given cruise.

Where exactly are you seeing a "checkout time"? 10a-11a is about the earliest CHECKIN time I'm pretty sure (could definitely be wrong).

So no one lost Diamond status (as the title says), right? Your son had Diamond from cruising with you, his wife just didn't "inherit" Diamond from him until they talked to LA. Do I have that right? I'm pretty sure that's how it's supposed to work. Child takes first time cruise with parents at age 17.5. Parents are Diamond, so the Child "inherits" the Diamond status. After the cruise (let's say it's 7 days), the child has 7 points, but is Diamond. He will remain Diamond until he gets to 175 points. I guess Spouse inherits status level, so that's why the LA moved her to Diamond. She can't get to D+ until either she gets to 175 points OR she sails with her husband after HE gets to 175 points. Am I wrong in my understanding?

Agreed. I also wondered if the fascination with "cleanliness" actually worked against us when Covid struck. I mean think about everyone who does everything in their power to stay away from germs. Did that mean our bodies couldn't fight back as well when something serious hit? I've wondered that. 🤪

Doesn't really answer my question though. Let's say a ship has 100 rooms. That allows 100 "groups" to EITHER select what room they want OR choose "guarantee". Once 100 groups have picked their rooms, there's no guarantee availability. OR, once 100 groups have told Royal "pick my cabin", there's no rooms left to select. Unless the "overbooked" rooms are guarantee (which I guess makes sense). So the question would be how many "overbookings" do they plan for a cruise? 1%? 5%? 10%?

How are there more guarantee rooms available than regular rooms? Can't ANY room be either? If eight families book the first eight, does RCI say "only guarantee left?" Why would they do that?

BUT, how much are they spending on making it up to those they bump?

So why does Royal overbook? I think airlines will give credit to those who cancel (or business folks will book refundable air), so I don't think it's an apples to apples comparison.

Did Royal always offer NRD for a cheaper rate? It would be interesting to learn whether they're selling more NRD or RD. Also, if you have a refundable deposit, when can you cancel/what do you get back? Can you cancel the day before and get everything back (or just the deposit)?

Did they do over bookings before the pandemic? I think I've seen threads regarding 3-5 just this year alone. So, did they overbook in the past and did better at predictions, or did they not overbook and this is an attempt to squeeze more money (that I'm guessing is backfiring)?

BUT, if someone cancels at the last minute, Royal still has their money (because they're not getting refunded). Surely the amount of money spent on board by the "new" person is made up by the amount they have to pay people to cancel.

I would assume that meant they got enough people to switch from that overbooking. Depending on how many had 3rd/4th berths would determine why the got to 98% vs 100-104%. Count me as one of those who don't know how they overbook a ship? Are that many people cancelling cruises last minute that they need to oversell? And even if someone DOES cancel, RCI still get their money (granted, not on board spending).

How the hell did it do that? Surely SOMEWHERE there had to be a login/reservation number for the app to know what to associate with.

Not the crew the tip would go to. That would be like the bartender screwing up your drink order and you withholding the tip from the server.

Free.

They said they've tried on multiple cruises with multiple calls and have never been successful... "Two cruises DH and I wanted, DS is disabled and does not drink. Both cruises they gave us so much trouble, multiple phone calls, elevated, more calls. We then had to get a doctors letter stating that he could not drink and had to submit that to another department. Finally they gave in, although on the 2nd cruise they made him buy the non-alcohol level package above the soda. So we got him every mocktail and juice we could to give us our monies worth. I've heard some say it's not a big deal but it was a huge deal to us on two cruises. It was beyond bad customer service!"

If that's all you're drinking, you may want to consider just purchasing the drinks a la carte when you need them. I will say I mentioned the suggestion to call on another board and was told by a poster they've called multiple times and have NEVER been able to purchase a single alcoholic package (even when purchasing a separate refreshment package). I have no first hand experience, just relating what someone else said.

"Color indicates deck accommodations shown in our brochure." It's at the top of the table.

It can. If you have it, use it. If you're thinking about getting it, get it. If you'd only use it for this single trip, I'd suffer through the normal line.