mheinrich

Came here for the same info. I won the entry this past weekend on the Conquest. Trying to find out if it's worth going on the dream for it.

How about the whole tag is upside down and it's 6995 LOL

I've sailed on both and, my opinion is the Divina is an absolutely beautiful ship...that I would never sail on again.

I enjoy the fun, upbeat, party atmosphere of a cruise. There really isn't any of that on the Divina. Dinner was an event in itself and if you're OK being in the dining room for 2 or more hours, you'll be fine. Again, not something I want to do. Food is subjective so I'll leave it at that. I've heard lots of complaints, but honestly thought the food was good...and I'm Italian with grandparents who were born and raised in Italy.

No piano bar, no karaoke. Lots of live music, but in my opinion, geared toward the older, sit back, relax and listen to "good" music crowd.

The staff is great, but not like staff on Carnival. They do their job, but they're not overly friendly and personal.

This is all just my opinion, but I hope it helps.

We dressed as gangsters one year and brought plastic blow up guns and were fine. Nobody said a word to us.

Thanks so much. That's the answer I needed.

Thank you! I did see that, but I was there in June (Carnival) and we were directed to park in an open lot and were bused to the terminal and the cost was a set price ($48 for 4 days). I wanted to make sure the garage that was posted was the right info to give everyone traveling with me. Thanks again!

Can someone tell me the current cost of parking at Black Falcon terminal in Boston? I tried a search, but it's giving me every roll call with thousands of posts. Thought it would be easier to just ask. Sailing this Saturday on the Brilliance. Thank you!

If you don't mind me asking....how much is this TA claiming is commission on ONE birth? Seems like such a small amount to even worry about when she's getting commission on the rest of the group. Unless she's trying to tell you it's a lot more than it really is. Not to mention, TA's who work on commission don't receive the entire 100% commission so we're talking a percentage of the small commission amount on one birth.

Can't believe a TA would risk pissing off customer who brought them a group for what $40???

I'm sorry you're getting so many different answers, but the reality is, there really ARE that many different answers when it comes to groups on Royal Caribbean.

To answer the question about commission on the free birth. The answer is no. Travel agents do NOT receive commission on that one birth (does receive commission on the booking because the second person in the room would still generate commission). I knew for sure, but looked at my last group contract just to double check....no commission.

Other than that, all travel agents have the discretion to offer groups in their terms. Royal Caribbean offers choices, it's up the the TA or the group leader to pick which choices work best for them, and then you hope the TA follows through with your arrangement.

Good luck!

Sounds like the TA is trying to take your GAP points for her own benefit.

To answer your question, the TA DOES receive standard commission for the booking. If they use the GAP points they can increase the commission.

Agreed, except if the travel agent tells you they have to take their commission out of the credit Royal gives you otherwise they have to waive their credit. If they are in fact waiving their credit, I would certainly at the very least want to be appreciative of that and thank them and have the option to still give them their commission. If in fact Royal is still giving them their commission then I don't need to give it to them also and they are not actually waiving their commission. Again, just so I know how things are really working. Thanks for your response.

This may also help you. This is the current list of GAP points. When you select a sailing, that sailing will have a number of GAP points assigned to it. The person booking the group gets to select how to use those points.

Just remember, not all sailing have GAP points and the ones that do can range from 2-10 or more.

http://www.cruisingpower.com/content/en_US/PDF/rci_gap_list.pdf

When you book your group, you're the one that picks the categories. Lets say you want 10 Cat K, 5 Cat D1, 5 Jr. Suites. You get a contract based on the specific rooms you're holding. Then the free birth is going to be based on the room you've sold the most of.

Now, that does not mean you can't BOOK other cabins, just means you're guaranteed to those cabins you're holding until the release date on the contract.

If you want/need a cat room that you're not holding, you just book that room and then have it pulled into the group.

Does that help?

Here's a link to the group policies. Hopefully it will work. Policies are not standard across the board. It will all depend on HOW you book the group. If I can answer any specific questions for you, I'd be more than happy to. If the link doesn't work, I can also email you the PDF if the link doesn't work.

I tried to upload it on here, but it's 6 pages long and says it's too big to attach.

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Groups/13033770_2013_Groups_Your_Way_Guidelines_FLYER.pdf

Does anyone know (or have seen) a brewcycle tour anywhere in Canada or New England? I'm looking for one of those 10-15 people "bikes" where you face each other with a small bar in between and everyone pedals to different bars. I'll be sailing on the Brilliance visiting Bar Harbor, Portland, St. John and Halifax.

Just a quick note on the "bouncing" the payment part. I was a travel agent for about 10 years. It happened a lot more than people would think. I had a lot of clients that would book their cruise and pay their deposit. Then the time would come for final payment, and their card would come up declined. Most of the time, they came up with a different method of payment. But once in a while, I'd have a client that just couldn't come up with the money. After getting extensions for them, eventually the cruise line would cancel their reservation and keep the deposit. Never did any cruise line (and I've dealt with them all) seek any further action to attempt to collect the additional payments or ban any of my clients from future cruises.

I never understand why it's so hard for some people to answer basic questions.

You say your ordered "gifts." Tangible items I have to assume. Did you receive them? If yes, you have to pay for them. If they were late and you no longer wanted them, you need to cancel them. If they show up, you bring them down to guest relations and give them back. Get a receipt and you don't pay for them. If you accept them, late or not, you have to pay for them. Once you accept them you're accepting the terms.

If you didn't receive them, and you paid for them ahead of time like your post suggests, it's simple. Call your credit card company and protest the charges. It's pretty simple to do. But remember, they're not just going to take your word for it. If RC says they delivered them, late or not, your CC company will have to investigate. If you received them, whether on your terms of theirs, please do not protest the charges. In my opinion, that is completely unethical and should not be done.

As far as the FCC's go. It sounds like you read the letter and the letter was pretty clear that they were not transferable. At your meeting, you asked a question to get the answer you wanted. Now you're mad because the answer is not going to be honored. If you knew the terms, asking to get someone to give you a different answer is just as sheisty as lying in my opinion.

In order to get good customer services, sometimes you need to decide if you're a good customer. That's always been my motto when I'm dealing with anyone.

OP - I was there in December and had a cousin who couldn't do the climb because of her back. We took a private tour and when we got to the entrance of the falls, there were two options, climb or watch/swim. The price for the non-climbers into the falls was lower (sorry, don't remember the exact cost). Just take a private tour and when you get there, buy the tickets your need for your family. It will all work out.

Inappropriate for some, so please forgive me if I offend anyone, but these were ours for our last cruise.....

Some bikes can be a pretty high end item. Maybe one got damaged or turned up missing at some point and that's why the rule was created. All it takes is one complaint and up pops a stupid new rule.