SRV FAN

1 minute ago, AshleyDillo said:

 

There's a sign at Port Everglades to direct you to the Expedited Check-In entrance.  No need to go there unless you have Expedited Check-In printed on your SetSail pass.  Only difference between expedited and normal is that you don't really have to check in with anyone once you get to the port.  You go through the security scanners and then to the seating area.  

 

It only takes a few minutes to check in at Port Everglades, so you won't be missing out on much of a time savings anyways.

 

You can still use the app for your SetSail pass if you don't have Expedited Check-In.  Or you can use a paper one..or you can not use one at all and they will look up your name.

So what is different about checking in via the App vs Online? I guess I should have just checked in via the app...….. I hate inputting credit card & other info (lots of typing in info & I always mess it up at least once!) on my phone.

So...I guess another question I should have asked is:

Can I go to the expedited check-in line even tho I checked-in online.... since I have my Set Sail passes on the App? 

Just now, Host Clarea said:

 

You should be able to go back into your online check-in to add a photo.  However you should know that many report that even though photos have been uploaded, they are asked to take another photo at check-in. 

Thanks...I have heard that about the pictures.

1 minute ago, bouhunter said:

We've been on appx. 25 RCCL cruises and check in with a paper set sail pass has always been quick and easy.  Just don't see the reason to mess with this stuff.  Especially the photo.  Of course we're always at port around 10:30, so check in is complete before they start boarding regardless

Well, us too...but I am trying to get more with the times...… 

I am so confused now...……. 

I checked-in for our upcoming cruise from Fort Lauderdale online a long time ago. I did not upload a picture. I knew at the time I could have checked in via the Royal App to get "expedited check-in" at the pier, but I didn't feel comfortable doing that.

I do have the Royal App.... and when I go there to see my upcoming cruise...I see my set sail passes, with a barcode, but no where can I add my photo. Now that I see how the App works, I'd like to use it instead of the paper Set Sail pass to gain access the ship.

So two questions...

1) Where do I go once I get thru security at Ft Lauderdale? I hear there is an "expedited check-in" kiosk, so do I go there or to the regular desk area & do the normal check-in process? 

2) How can I add my photo to my Set Sail pass now? Maybe go back in to my cruise online? Or just wait & let them do it? 

TIA! 

2 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

This has not been Royal's policy for around 10 years.  No refund or credit of any kind after final payment date.  The only exception would be if the price dropped within 48 hours of initial booking.

Hum.....ok... 

58 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

I went to a cruise travel website, saw that there were still a CL available, called my TA to see if what I was seeing correct, she called her contact at Royal,,, called me with Royal on hold and asked if we wanted that cabin ., I said Yes. She called back after it was all done and said we would get a $400 refund to our cc.

I don't know the hows or the whys,,, it just did.

Typically, if you change your cabin after final payment and book it cheaper than your original price, you will get onboard credit, not a refund to you CC. If a Royal rep told you that you would get it back on your CC...and they are correct, that's great! But if not...check once onboard to see if you have any OBC...because you will have to spend it onboard or loose it as it is not refundable OBC. 

Now if you did this prior to final payment, then yes, you'd get your monies back on your CC. The Rep may have been confused about that.... 

2 hours ago, 5thgirl said:

It was decent for a one night stay. Very close to a lot of restaurants of various $$ levels, Walgreens across the street. The pool was not fancy, but it did the trick for us, and there was a hottub with a mild jet (could have been stronger). We did not eat there, just a cocktail or two in their lobby bar which was comfortable. They have a cruise shuttle service in the lobby for $6pp I think, and can also provide airpoirt shuttle back from Port Everglades if you wish to do that. Nice people.

Oh THANK YOU! The shuttle info is nice to know! We usually just do cabs...but will check out the options once there.

On 9/7/2019 at 9:00 AM, 5thgirl said:

 Hotel was just fine for a one day stay. Lots of restaurants nearby, Walgreens and short distance from airport and to Port Everglades.  We got in around 2pm, headed across the street to 17th Street Thai Sushi for a late lunch/early dinner - it wasn't too bad at all, but a tad pricey. Was a bit cloudy but still very warm. We decided to hop into the pool - it was pretty empty so we got a chance to enjoy it to ourselves for a bit, but began to get more crowded as folks started checking in late afternoon. 

 

Rest of the day we relaxed, stopped at Walgreens for a snack fix (!) and DH and I had a drink in the hotel lobby bar. I was SO ready for this trip and needed the relaxation.....little did I know that my habit of overpacking would come in handy this time around! 

Hotel pool

 

 

 

We are booked at this hotel for our upcoming cruise on Allure! Was it a nice hotel? 

46 minutes ago, 5thgirl said:

Looking back, what is really funny is that the FIRST change (months back) when St. Thomas became San Juan, Puerto Rico due to Allure propulsion issues is what upset me the most - at that time. The entire itinerary change from Eastern to Western, and the additional days at sea did not upset me as much, believe it or not. This is because IMO, those 2 were out of RC's control, whereas the propulsion issue, I still believe they knew about and could have better handled. But that's water under the bridge and I've gained experience from it.

All the upcoming sailings for your original itinerary have been changed to San Juan as well (we're on one ourselves) ..... they are going to address the propulsion issues at dry dock in the spring of 2020.

I am learning that lots, if not most of things are beyond our control and we learn great lessons in dealing with them. I used to get all upset at things like that...now it just is what it is. I would have LOVED to have been booked on your sailing, but I'd have been sad if I had been booked on the following one.

I have cruised enough to know (at least to me) it really doesn't matter what ports are on the itinerary ...it's the time on board I enjoy the most. I'd be just as happy to sail around in open water & back again. 🙂

Tell us more about your experience.... I really am enjoying hearing all the insight... good & bad. 

I kept up with the "other" live review on your sailing & it was awesome to follow along...now I will follow along with your review! Enjoying your review! 

20 hours ago, barbeyg said:

 

Thank you! We were 13 days out when the email came. Just after 7 pm on a Friday. Others (in a private group) on our cruise have been awarded up to balcony cabin level, and a few were loyals as well. No Jr Suites yet, but we are hoping for several of them. 🙂

 

Here’s my theory, which is worth about 2 cents: if they think we might actually book the category we are RoyalUp’d to, they award it if the bid is good enough. With us, they are right. I am going to surprise my husband with this RoyalUp, then at the end of the cruise when he is prime for it, will tell him I already upgraded us to a GS on our 35th anniversary cruise next year. AND I will bid for the higher categories if offered and the price is right. 

 

Good luck again! 🙂

Fingers crossed! THANKS!! 

1 hour ago, parrotfeathers said:

 

To a certain extent, I certainly believe this to be true.  But, I have cruised with RCL for 10 years (one Celebrity) and was upgraded from GS to OS with minimum bid.  I do believe they accepted this because they are attempting to get other cruisers into a GS (that haven't booked that before) to get them hooked into a GS and above.  I'd love to know how the "machine" works that figures out the maximum profits (should we accept this crummy bid on an OS to get this better bid on a GS which ultimately brings in more revenue after it's added up).

 

This is my first OS and it will be interesting to see if it changes my preferences.

CONGRATS on your winning bid!!

Agreed... we are in a GS on Allure upcoming.... we have SKY suite perks. The only upgrade that made sense to us was to get into a cabin that offered STAR perks. The first cabin category to get that level of perks that was offered was the Aquatheater 2 Bedroom suite. So, that is what we bid on. It sleeps 8...there are just two of us.... so I doubt VERY SERIOUSLY that we'd get the upgrade. But, like you said they could resell our GS if they did accept our bid. We're happy with our GS, so it's no big deal if we don't win the bid...but it sure would be FUN if we did! 

There appears to only be one interior cabin left for our sailing. So who knows how THAT works when there are "no cabins" left to upgrade to, yet they still show them as an upgrade. 

Like you, I'd so like to know how it all works...…. 

Just now, barbeyg said:

 

We are also seasoned, and loyal to Royal, but our bid was accepted for a GS on our cruise this coming week. 

 

Hope you get your RoyalUp.

THANKS!!!! But you just blew my theory! LOL!

CONGRATS!!!! Enjoy your upgrade! 

We are 22 days out & still nothing. No cabins are showing as available for over a month now... We are perfectly happy with the cabin we currently have...but we played the game & now the wait is killing me..... 

6 minutes ago, cured said:

I am going to have to agree with you 🙂 While we are new to cruising, we are certainly not new to travel. It all works the same.

 

We figured we won the RoyalUP bid with the perfect storm of opportunities. We had one of two larger family suites in the back with only 4 people in it, it was an Autism of the Seas sailing, and we were newbies. While not sailing with AOTS, we were traveling with our daughter with Ds and one of the reasons we picked that cabin was for the room.  So we figured there was probably a whole slew of strong bids for our cabin by all different families.  That is why we went ahead and just booked the CL outright on the next cruise as we did think our chances would not be as great to win a bid.

 

And unfortunately, or fortunately for RCI, we were suckered in big time.  I think we now officially belong to the Loyal to Royal club as I cancelled a Celebrity cruise and rebooked with Royal. I know, same company, but I looked at those measly 7 points in my account and thought what the heck, better to build on that rather than keep jumping cruiselines. The nice thing was the CL was still cheaper than the cabin on Celebrity.

Again...so HAPPY for y'all! How exciting! I know Royal has changed some of it's perks, but hey...we still enjoy cruising with RCI! As for Celebrity.... we have never sailed with them...but priced a few & decided our monies are better spent with Royal… a little more bang for the buck.

1 hour ago, cured said:

Actually, you and I are on the same page.  I had said that Costco's gift card was not worth transferring my reservation to because they opt out of RoyalUP. 

 

We have only been on one RCI cruise, 2 cruises in total, so are complete newbies.  But we were spoiled on our first RCI cruise. We put in an extremely ($100 over minimum) weak RoyalUP bid on a Crown Loft suite only 11 days from sailing on what had been showing as a completely full ship for weeks. We were in a Ultra Spacious Ocean View with large balcony.  I almost didn't bid because I didn't want to lose our ocean balcony and get one of the suites in the back which is why we bid at the very last minute. But what the heck, I bid because I really, really didn't think we would get it.  Surprise, a few days after we bid, we got the acceptance letter.  But darn, it was one of the ones on the back.  

 

We loved it.  The view of Naples spread out behind us when we docked was breathtaking. Having coffee on the large balcony overlooking over Barcelona with a perfect view of La Familia Sagrada was wonderful.  And yes, we were totally spoiled.  I don't think we can ever go back.  I booked same ship, same cabin for next summer as we want to explore this beautiful ship more since we didn't get to much with such a port intensive cruise.   

 

Loved the game, loved the results. 

The Royal Up process did what it was designed to do with y'all...…… 🙂

You are fairly new cruisers...so not totally "Loyal to Royal" yet...they dangled a carrot & you took it (at a GREAT price). You got a sweet upgrade & discovered aft cabins are really the BEST...now you are hooked.... 🙂 Crown Loft already booked again! Happy for you! 

We are seasoned "Loyal to Royal" cruisers & I "feel" like they won't accept our upcoming bid because of that. I think they look at the cruise history of the bidders & offer the upgrades, no matter how big or small to the newest cruisers, to "wow" them & get them hooked. We're hooked without the upgrade...but it sure would be nice to win one once! 

Congrats!!! 

3 hours ago, niksmom630 said:

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Beautiful photos! Where are all the people tho? I never get shots without people in them! 

Thanks for taking us along... we’ll be on Allure in a few weeks... safe travels home. 

4 hours ago, anankae said:

 

I recently got an interesting premonition that Liberty would be leaving Galveston.

 

Last year my Vision cruise for this year got cancelled, I rebooked on Enchantment, that cruise is departing this Friday! Yay.

 

But. About a month and a half ago my Enchantment cruise for next year got cancelled. Grumble. I grumbled about it to the Royal agent and said screw the small ships, I'm rebooking on Liberty cause she's been so reliable these past few years. To which the rep said absolutely nothing. It wasn't till later it dawned on me that he must know something that he wasn't allowed to mention. Like Liberty's leaving Galveston. My rebook is for October 2020 so I'm hoping she'll still be around in a year.

 

As for Liberty's replacement, I'm betting on Allure.

A little insight to as to what "may have happened" to your Enchantment sailing.... She was there to do 4 & 5 niters.... in March, onboard the rep found us a Bahamas 7 niter on Enchantment for next July 2021 from Galveston.... there was only one 7 nite sailing at that time... a few of my friends friends had booked several 5 nites sailings.... and they all got cancelled.... so I went to check the website...low & behold...they had opened up six 7 niters now...….. so they cancelled some of the shorter cruises to make room for the longer ones (that go to Coco Cay btw)… 

Adventure is coming in to replace Enchantment too...….(don't remember what timeframe tho)

As for Liberty leaving Galveston...I am with you...I think she will be replaced by ALLURE as soon as the new Terminal is complete.... they say late 2021. 

So...2021/2022 brings Galveston The Adventure & The Allure or similar Oasis class...….. Now if they will continue to add more Bahamas sailings from there THAT would be awesome! 

Port Everglades went to Condition ZULU at 6:00pm today... which means CLOSED. Gail force winds are expected within 12 hours. Dorian models indicate she will turn north soon... without making landfall on Florida... but ya just never know... plus the winds are 185+ and reaching many many miles from the center... so even tho she may not hit Florida, her winds & HEAVY-HEAVY rains will. She has slowed to 7 mph now.. so it may take a few days for her to get outta town .... Time will tell if y’all will get into port on Wednesday as planned... finger crossed for all! 

My heart bleeds for those being affected directly. 

1 hour ago, gammite said:

 

i usually sail freedom class ships.  and MTD was not guaranteed when trying to switch once on board.

 

is your experience with oasis class ships different?

Have never sailed on an Oasis class.... but it’s the same fleet wide... just go to the MDR as soon as you board the ship & verify or change your dining choice. No worries. Easy peasy on any ship, I promise. 

14 hours ago, gammite said:

Thanks for the feedback on the points. I figured as much. 

 

Can anyone help with the MTD question?

Don't fret about it now...just go to the MDR kiosk once onboard & inquire about what you have & if it isn't what you want...they will change it. No worries. 

5 hours ago, atush said:

Can you go there non AI?  Given there are prices on the menu was thinking there might be a possibility?

 

Dont want AI as i will only be there for a few hours.

You can go to Mr Sanchos which has an AI side & a pay as you go side...the food there is outstanding. 

12 minutes ago, CTCruiser76 said:

Hi - I have posted in other threads pertaining to GTY bookings and for help with possible RoyalUP upgrades, while everyone has been very helpful, I cannot seem to get the RoyalUP to work for our cruise. 

 

We were assigned our GTY Suite 14 days before sailing, which turned out to be a JS, which we are 100% happy with, but when I looked to see what was still available, there were 13 GS suite available for booking, so I thought we may be able to do a RoyalUP bid to sneak into a GS. 

 

Whenever I enter our last name and booking number, I receive an error saying, "Please ensure your sailing is within the next 30 days - Please ensure there are no errors in the information you entered" - Our sailing is 9 days out...so we are good there and I also spelled our last name correctly. 

 

The only thing I was thinking is that this was booked as a GTY through a TA, and not with RCCL - could this be the issue ? or Does anyone have any thoughts on what to do next ? 

 

Not that its a big deal, but if the $$ is right - we would absolutely love a GS....plus with Dorian here.....our cruise could possibly be light on people so.....just wondering.

 

Thanks 

Several posts have been made prior saying that you are not eligible for the Royal up Bidding if you booked with a TA.   

IDK for sure as we have had no problem bidding (never winning) for an upgrade we never use a TA... 

2 minutes ago, niksmom630 said:

 

Captain Tore

THANK YOU!!!!!! 

He's doing a great job keeping you all safe!!! 

1 hour ago, IrishLassie said:

I think someone said a few posts back that it was Capt. Johnnie, but not sure, if that helps!

I looked back thru the thread & found the Cruise compass that says Capt. Tore.... so now I am really confused. 

Capt. Johnny is on Harmony now

This is the "current" captains list for Allure...so it's one of these...

Allure OTS - Capt Ron Holmes (started rotation 8-26-18)

Allure OTS - Capt Tore Grimstad

Just looking for confirmation @niksmom630....