MandyMooToo

I can’t say 🙄 I have gotten two warnings for even alluding to it…😆

A few years ago I was "bonged" getting off the ship and pulled to the side to meet with customs. I had not made any purchases and was scared to death! The officer would not tell me why but did let my husband come with me off the ship. They took us down a back elevator and into a room where they separated us and I met with the customs officer alone. He said, "What's your password?" I thought he was crazy! Then it dawned on me...I had been a victim of identity theft a couple years before and the person had gotten a driver's license in my name so I was able to get my real license flagged in case of charges being placed on that ID for an imposter or any traffic violations that were not mine. I gave him the password and he told me to have a nice day and to expect this every time I came back into the country. It happened on our next cruise (we were with friends this time) and they held the entire ship until we/I was cleared! Our friends said an announcement was made after we got off the ship about late debarkation due to customs needing to clear two passengers...with the facial recognition at the ports now I have not had a problem in recent years (knock on wood). I assume it is because they know I am who I say when I board.

This!! Royal cannot expedite removing that hold/charge, it is up to the banking institution/credit card company. They were wasting their time calling Royal.

Sheesh, that is crazy.

$83.99 on Mariner right now. Is it possible you were seeing the prices for the CocoCay Beach Club instead?

We keep getting emails for it, Mariner cruise 9/24, but it is not available in the planner so I imagine it is sold out. May check when we get onboard though.

Our sailing is 9/24 and the roll call on another place (that cannot be mentioned) is blowing up with people reporting on successful RoyalUp bids. We bid from Jr Suite to all four available "real" suites. We still haven't heard and all bids are showing as submitted only though our son and daughter-in-law received their acceptance today.

We use Shiseido sunscreen. It is more expensive but it says it is ocean safe and it is Hawaii compliant. It goes on well and does not break me out, which is amazing for me because most sunscreens do. I am sure someone can find an ingredient in it that is on a list somewhere but I feel like if it is Hawaii compliant, doesn't break me out and I don't burn (I am pretty fair) then I'll take it.

Thank you! Going on Mariner in two weeks so this was perfect!

I am not in the same situation by any means but I take my security pic with my hair down typically and when on the ship it is up under a hat or cap. When getting back on the ship from ports I always have to remove my hat or cap for them in security. Sometimes I have to remove my hat or cap when ordering something at a bar by the pool if I haven't met that bar tender yet. Just a heads up.

If you have an iPhone you can add your seapass to Apple Wallet and the last four digits of the barcode is your gty cabin number. If you have an Android use a barcode scanner.

No one really knows who is chosen for what reason. If your friends didn’t get the email they can go to the RoyalUp link and put in their reservation number and last name to see if they are eligible.

Unfortunately some of us have to use a carryon, my husband's meds and CPAP machine have to be carried on. Otherwise we would tip and drop before getting on the ship😂

Oftentimes it shows when you board the ship. I found this on the website though: Any redemptions made within one week of sailing date will need approval to be applied to the reservation by calling Royal Caribbean at (888) 305-4626. You may have redeemed before the 7 days but this is at least a number you can call to ask questions.

Someone posted the Key was at a much lower rate Sunday for our Mariner cruise 9/24. I looked for the heck of it and it was $17.99 which makes it a total of $25 more than what we paid for just the internet package. I booked the Key and canceled the internet. Being able to drop off our carry-ons and have them delivered when cabins open, plus the Chops/MDR lunch is worth it for us. Looked again a few hours later due to a post about prices changing again and it had gone up to $28.99!

That’s what the eDocs say.

My son and daughter-in-law booked a GTY inside for our Mariner cruise next month. Their sea pass says deck 10 but they do not have a specific cabin number yet. By the way, this is is not the time of the Titanic. A lower deck does not mean lower class...we prefer the lower decks as we are prone to motion sickness plus the cabins are darker and typically a bit cooler. You also have easier access getting off the ship for ports and close to the MDR and they are usually quieter and it is easy to get an elevator when you decide to use one (those nights with 4 inch heels!!).

Tom Ford travel size Soleil Blanc. Sephora online carries it. For me it is the perfect warm weather scent, I actually wear it year round because I like it! A large bottle is very expensive but the travel size is refillable.

I got a pop up/message after check-in, a few days after when I went back to look at something, that said to bring the vaccine cards.

I love all things truffle, my husband not so much, lol. I also have the Truff hot sauce and put it on everything! We are dining at Jamie's next month on our first Mariner cruise.

We log into the WIFI plan and put our phones in airplane mode. When you do this you are only using WIFI but keep them in airplane mode!! The messages will be sent automatically, through iMessages, like at home. There can be a short lag depending on the strength of the internet but I have even taken WIFI calls sitting in the Schooner bar on ships before.

If you all have iPhones you can iMessage with the internet package. If you don’t all have iPhones then download WhatsApp and you can send texts back and forth with the internet package. Our oldest son has an android and we all have iPhones so we use WhatsApp.

This is something I agree with. When we cruise we can fly in, cruise for 7 days, hotel one night before, drink package, internet (yes we use internet and don't "unplug" while on vacation---because we want to, that's why😁), pay tips, etc. and still come out cheaper than an AI in Jamaica (our favorite resort location). We have an AI trip in March 2023, the room (just an ocean view, nothing fancy), is over $4500. Flights are almost $2000. Typical cruise with all added amenities is about $3000 for us, total. Obviously we book inside, balcony or maybe a JS if it is a good price, but an equivalent...ish room. The AIs are nice but the food there is mass produced, they aren't getting all the top shelf liquors either and staffing is not up to par. We have been twice this year to an AI and one cruise so far, another cruise next month which will be our third since restart. I realize many have done way more cruises than us since restart but we found that there was not a huge service difference, at least not enough to hamper our cruises. Same with the AI trips. That being said, OP had a crappy cruise and that sucks, no matter how good my/our experiences have been.

Ahh, but this is exactly what happens in many restaurants. I waited tables for years in college and my mother managed restaurants for more than 30 years. Many, many establishments make servers tip a percentage to the house to be distributed to the bussers, hostesses and bar tenders. So really you have no way of knowing where your restaurant tips go either. Once I worked as a server in a Japanese steakhouse. We were forced to tip out 15% to the chef/cook and a smaller portion to the hostess. Funny thing about it is the chef/cook was the owner of the restaurant so not only did he get all the money from food sales he also got 15% of his server's pay. Tipping of the chef/cook by servers in Japanese steakhouses is or was common then but the owner?! Total jerk. I was young and dumb, ha ha.

As does my husband, the comment was just meant to be an amusing response to the poster who brought up shorts in the MDR.