fsjosh

12 hours ago, grimpil said:

If all the palapas are taken do they have umbrellas for rent?

There was someone renting umbrellas just to the south of the palapas in January. 

On 3/6/2024 at 6:51 AM, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Thank you! How was the tour?

It was fun. Lots of neat stuff to see. Snorkeling with the turtles was the highlight. Point of advice though, don't plan on getting food or drinks at cas abao. You can, but the line to get either was 45 minutes. I talked to the driver about it and he said its regularly like that. Also, take water shoes. the beaches are all rocky out in the water. 

On 3/1/2024 at 11:54 AM, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

Do all of their tours pick up at the port? I'm interested in the one that does caves, turtles, and beaches but was not sure where you pick it up. 

We did that tour and we were instructed to meet them at the merch tents at the port.

11 hours ago, firefly333 said:

You call your credit card company to dispute the charge once it's actually been billed to you. Cant dispute until you are actually billed and it's been thru the complete billing cycle so its billed to your card. Mlre than likely they would write it off which affects your numerical value with the cc. They have a cut off value where they have decided it's not worth the salaries of people to write to the merchant, wait the number of days for them to reply and all that stuff. Probably around $100. That's why above I asked how much you are disputing.

But, as another poster stated, if you dispute a charge with your CC, and Royal gets a chargeback, theres a chance they refuse to allow you to book future cruises. Going through the CC is the last resort, and only if you don't care if you go on another cruise with them. 

3 hours ago, djvcr said:

I could see them developing something private over in the western gulf like NCL's other private island so they could add more ships out of TX as well. 

I really expect to see more "coco cays" developed. Gives them more ports they control and make all the money on. 

On 2/6/2024 at 8:26 AM, BecciBoo said:

That sounds really helpful.  In 31 cruises there have been many time I've walked up to where my cabin was and realized, wrong end or side, etc.  Usually do my baby flip flop magnet but its getting old 🤪

Just got off symphony, had a room right by the elevators. Got backwards one day and tried to scan my card twice on the wrong room once because I walked off the front elevators instead of the back elevators lol

13 minutes ago, cruisinlawn said:

restrooms at Passion's?

yes, a set right by them. 

1 hour ago, TTEllis said:

Hey I have a question ok your chair was $10 what would the fee be for 2 chair's and 1 palapa? Thanks for your help.

 

It was $10 a chair. $70 for 7. We were under 2 palapas, but I got the impression those were first come first served and not charged. I think they are publicly owned.  I'd assume $20 for 2 

I got the lobster tail on our Symphony cruise and it's really not worth worrying about. I think I've had jumbo shrimp that had more meat than the tails were served. It definitely wasn't your typical maine lobster tail. 

3 hours ago, EMc&DrS said:

I think the confusion is because there are some posts & videos on this site that claim the bus first stops at "Eagle Beach" where it's more crowded and then makes a second stop at Amsterdam Manor.

 

Quick question--our ship is staying in Aruba overnight during our 24-hour stay, so we should be able to get off the ship early the next morning before the other cruise ships arrive in port. Do you have any idea how early we could rent chairs on the beach near Passions? 

Just on the south side of the passions bathrooms is a stand that rents chairs. Was $10 a chair. 

I will say that I had, we'll just say, an odd experience with them. We got there near noon. The beach was pretty busy. I walked up myself asking about chairs and they tried to send me down the beach to another vendor saying they were out. I was about to walk that way when my wife, daughter and her friends walked up with me and they miraculously found a couple empty palapas and plenty of chairs near their stand. Not a big deal and there were no other interactions with them once I paid for the chairs, but it was an eye roller. 

Irie Tours offers it as a part of their tour. 

https://www.irietours.com

2 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Very much a possibility considering the much higher prices which the ship is commanding today.

 

I am hopeful that Royal considers that this cruiser was 'loyal' enough to commit to what was at the time a premium price excited about a cruise only based on it being "Iconic". Royal has to appreciate such loyalty which would lead to more good will and publicity about the cruiser's experience concerning this special occasion.

 

My opinion was that it was the start of a mutual negotiation.

 

If Royal thought that my offer was a bit extreme, I might counter-offer that the 20% could be credited as "On board credit" knowing that Royal was getting the money in their pocket and maybe just costing them an actual of "10% cost".

 

It is a starting point in a mutually beneficial negotiation instead of an outlandish demand of "I want my cruise and a 1--% towards a future cruise credit" which might be a non-starter and lead to your outcome.

 

You have an absolutely plausible outcome but I am trying to offer an alternative to a flat-out "NO".

 

 

 

 

It doesn't hurt to ask. Worst they can say is no. I'm betting the options you are presented with are accept the room with their sincerest apologies, or get a full refund and your cruise is cancelled.

Now if you are a super double pinacle and have your own personal agent you deal with, there might be some wiggle room, but your run of the mill cruiser isn't getting anywhere I bet.  

7 hours ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Since the view blockage is estimated at 20%, I think 20% of the current cruise booking price would be appropriate and reasonable as a future cruise credit.

More likely, if the situation isn't to your satisfaction, they will give you 100% off. And then sell your cabin at the 2-3 times rate you paid that they are getting now.

On 1/31/2024 at 5:08 PM, TTEllis said:

Where exactly is Giannis from the port? Thanks 

Its across the street from the Hilton in the Palm beach area. 

5 hours ago, jptoz said:

In the next 10 yrs RCI will have dispensaries onboard. They'll be selling the "ultimate weed package", which includes unlimited snacks. If the RCI bean counters think they can make money off something, you can bet it will be on the ship.

God, you think the Casinos stink now....

Had Chops last week. I had the Ribeye and was disappointed. It was cooked right, just had no flavor. Not sure if it was a bad cut or just how it was prepped. They present as a high end steakhouse, but it was comparable to what you'd get at a chain restaurant. The others at our table had the filet and said theirs was excellent though, so YMMV. 

3 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

we can agree to disagree

 

Hotels HAVE gone up in price, whether or not they pass that to housekeeping who knows

 

On a recent cruise, my husband accidentally DECIMATED the soap dispenser in the shower with his elbow and the room steward was so kind about it, brought us little tubes of product, we got a cute little towel animal every day and our room was cleaned really well the one time it was cleaned. I also talked to a family and they said that their room steward did set up/take down their extra bed and would kind of tidy up in there when he was in there. 

 

I guess I still don't understand why a room steward is needed in a room 2x a day beyond the setting up and tearing down of bed(s). What exactly is there for them to do? I try to make sure my clothes are put away and such because I don't want to have them touch things like that. Most of what I see is done is making the bed, giving towels, vacuuming, emptying the trash cans, cleaning the bathrooms a bit, all of which once a day seems fine to me still

 

Also, I want to say that I understand and agree about being salty for paying more for less service, but seems to be the norm right now. I've decided I can either be grumpy about stuff like that or just accept that I have no say in most things and just live my life as happily as I can. 

I didn't care that much about losing the 2 a day. It was nice, but typically, at a hotel, I request no service for my entire stay. So not a huge deal. Once a day would have been more than sufficient. The issue, to me at least, seemed like with twice the rooms, they were stretched on time. In the past they seemed to know when we weren't in the room and would clean/do turndown when we were out. Now, if we were in the room when he came through, he didn't clean that day. There didn't seem to be further attempts that day. But it's just something we either have to get used to, get a suite, or find something else to do. 

4 hours ago, Morecruisesplz said:

Her dog has a passport?

Funny thing. You don't have to provide that till you show up at the port. And if they "couldn't make it", there's no reason to bring their passport to the port. 

17 hours ago, Morecruisesplz said:

Maybe we can afford it then? Anyone want to rent their kids names and info?

My mom booked my dog in her room. 

Popping this back to the top to relate our experience with this on our first cruise since the change. 

Met the steward first day and told him we'd like our service while we are at dinner. Was told nope, Service times for evening are 5-8. We had late dinner, so no go. Told him then I really don't know what time would be good, so we'll have to play it by ear. We had 4 people in the cabin with different sleep and getting ready schedules, so no times really worked out every day. Even the days we were off the ship all day in port, we didn't get cleanings because, by the time he came by, we were back on the ship. We ended up with two cleanings on an 8 day cruise. They were just when we happened to not be in the room at the time he came by.

Not a big deal really. We don't care to reuse towels and don't need a spotless room, but it definitely gave it a different feel to the cruise. The main reason for my post is to give those who have the same idea we did about service during dinner to make alternate plans. 

1 hour ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

I find it interesting that this subject even came up after last year's record breaking prices that saw absolutely no price drops before final payment. In every case, they seemed to soar upwards.

 

 

I got my room repriced downwards 3 times over the last year. 

2 hours ago, soremekun said:

Should we be tipping the towel person?

I bring towels from home to give them. They are so appreciative. 

11 hours ago, Biker19 said:

As mentioned, that is likely a pricing glitch that will likely resolve itself. What sailing date?

As mentioned, not a glitch, its about available inventory. Our Symphony cruise over the last year had the 2 person rooms consistently rise in price and the 3/4's drop. It got to the point where you could add a kid and pay less than 2 people and it stayed that way through final payment. With the bulk of rooms on Icon being 3/4 person rooms, it's about inventory. 

We did basically the same tour with Irie. Kenepa was rocky with the small coral once you got into the water, but cliff diving was a blast. There were 3 different jumps to do depending on how brave you were. The beach itself was nice too until you went into the water.

Cas Abao frankly sucked. Pretty, but the water was similar to Kenepa. Rocky. The biggest problem though is their beach bar is chronically understaffed. 45 minutes to get a drink or food. We won't go back there.

If you do the tour take water shoes. I forgot mine and regretted it.

Shete Boka was nice. Lots of good picture opportunities with big crashing waves. But you aren't doing anything more than that there. You aren't getting in the water. Too rough and all rock. 

The flamingos are just a quick stop for pics. Probably 5 minutes. Ok, but was underwhelming. 

Playa Piskado was probably the highlight. You literally snorkel with big turtles and fish. You could reach out and touch them they are so close. It is a fairly short stop though and theres not really much of a beach. Its more of a fishing dock area. I'd never snorkeled before and had problems with the supplied gear. Water kept getting into the mask at my mustache, so I couldn't do a whole lot. There's apparently solutions to that problem, but I'm just including that so you can be aware in case you are in the same situation I am. 

We didn't stop and eat at Playa forti, so can't comment on that. 

You do spend a lot of time in the bus between the port and between each stop. So be prepared for that. We got back with only an hour left, so we really didn't have time to shop or explore.

Overall we had a good time. It was fun and our guide was great. Glad we did it, but its not something we'd do again. Mambo beach is a nicer beach, even if it is a little commercialized and in town, so consider that if you are just looking for beach time. But if you want to see some of the island and try some new things, it's not a bad tour. 

Kenepa and Cas Abao were both rocky to the point that I wouldn't go back. We were last there 5 years ago, but mambo was a non rocky beach and had a great beach bar then.