Escape room now $20 on Harmony

[StarAFire]

Just a minor note. We're on Anthem now as well.

 

Northstar and ifly could only be booked once onboard, either in person or via the Royal IQ app. Puzzle break can also be booked with the app.

 

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I think the app probably worked better for you then us. Whenever we tried to book a reservation to anything it gave us an error and told us to try again later. After trying several times across the first few days, we gave up.

 

Btw, my sister did manage to get a North Star reservation before we boarded. But by the time I logged into my cruise planner they were no longer taking advance reservations.

[StarAFire]

I can't give you a first hand answer as we were delayed in NY traffic and didn't board until 1:15. [emoji33]

 

From what I hear though, boarding started in the 11:00 to 11:30 range.

 

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We were there at 10:30am and walked on within 15 min. We were not the first, so I assumed boarding started before then.

[Mechman1971]

So just a dumb question from someone that has not been on Harmony.....is this an actual escape "room" or just a lounge area you sit in and figure out puzzles? I've been to escape the big top on the Getaway, and I most certainly would not pay $20 (or $9) for that if I knew what it was going to be.

 

and while I am at it - does anyone know if the escape the big top is the same puzzles on the Getaway as they are on the Escape? We did them on the Getaway last year, and if they are the same on the Escape, then I'd rather not waste our time.

[Biker19]

So just a dumb question from someone that has not been on Harmony.....is this an actual escape "room" or just a lounge area you sit in and figure out puzzles?

Google is your friend (most of the time): https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2678

[Grandma Petania]

My adult daughter and I did the escape room on the Harmony @ $9 each, and we had a blast! Had so much fun that we did a land based one with 7 family members. We had a good group on Harmony, even though they were all strangers to us. Having to pay for it in advance eliminated “no shows”.

 

We’ll sail on Symphony in December 2018, and were looking forward to that escape room (which is supposed to be a different design from Harmony). I hope it won’t cost $20 each, though we still might do it. If they don’t get enough takers @ $20, maybe they will offer BOGO or at least a discount for 2nd person, or if you book in advance.

 

There’s no way to guarantee that you’ll get a good group, but everyone in our group on Harmony had a lot of fun, and we made it out with less than a minute to spare.

[Ourusualbeach]

So just a dumb question from someone that has not been on Harmony.....is this an actual escape "room" or just a lounge area you sit in and figure out puzzles? I've been to escape the big top on the Getaway, and I most certainly would not pay $20 (or $9) for that if I knew what it was going to be.

 

and while I am at it - does anyone know if the escape the big top is the same puzzles on the Getaway as they are on the Escape? We did them on the Getaway last year, and if they are the same on the Escape, then I'd rather not waste our time.

 

Yes it is a actual room. The fixtures and decorations in the room do form many of the clues and are integral in your escape from the room.

[3CatsInMA]

I think the app probably worked better for you then us. Whenever we tried to book a reservation to anything it gave us an error and told us to try again later. After trying several times across the first few days, we gave up.

 

Btw, my sister did manage to get a North Star reservation before we boarded. But by the time I logged into my cruise planner they were no longer taking advance reservations.

I was actually very impressed with the app, especially with Royal's ongoing IT challenges. Sorry to hear it didn't work as well for you.

 

Curious about how far in advance your sister was able to make the Northstar reservation? I never saw that option even weeks out...need to be ready for the next time!

 

Thanks for the more accurate boarding info. ..

 

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[StarAFire]

I was actually very impressed with the app, especially with Royal's ongoing IT challenges. Sorry to hear it didn't work as well for you.

 

Curious about how far in advance your sister was able to make the Northstar reservation? I never saw that option even weeks out...need to be ready for the next time!

 

Thanks for the more accurate boarding info. ..

 

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My sister was checking each day on the cruise planner and it happened that a spot for 2 opened up and she grabbed it about 2 weeks before we sailed. I went in literally 5 min after she booked and it wasn't available again. I have no idea if it has opened earlier for others. But on embarkation day there were plenty available. But I heard soneone mention in the elevator that they went on the 2nd day and nothing was available.

[endorphin8]

Royal Caribbean has just more than doubled the price of Escape the Rubicon for 2018. Originally a complimentary activities, they started charging $8.99/pp, and starting January 2018 they are now charging $19.99, plus also charging $7.95 for Room Service. I currently have Platinum status and love Royal Caribbean but may not continue to sail with them as I hate feeling upsell to do many activities onboard. If they continue to have passengers willing to pay higher fees we can expect they will slowly begin adding additional fees for activities as they have recently added Room Service charges. Below is a message I sent to RCI. For those who like all-inclusive cruises and not feeling like they are charged fees for more and more activities onboard I invite you to also send a letter to RCI. Below is message I sent to Royal Caribbean.

___________________________

RCI you just WOW'd me... unfortunately not a good WOW! Our Harmony cruise in January may be our last on RCI. So tired of new charges that keep popping up. I was online looking into booking a large group for Symphony in Jan 2019, and noticed in Cruise Planner for our January Cruise on Harmony that Escape the Rubicon has increased from complimentary to $8.99, and is now more than doubled the fee to $19.99. We were excited to try the Rubicon and planning to book our small group on this upcoming cruise for $8.99/pp. but for $19.99 we will now forgo doing Rubicon as we are not willing to pay double what was already an up-charge. Bad business RCI. And charging $7.95 for room service now? STOP adding new "nickle and dime"ing fees to guests!!! Royal Caribbean and a few others are starting to ruin the cruise experience.

 

Your executives can commend themselves for gaining $100-300 per passenger in new up-sell revenue onboard, but they most likely will only gain a small amount from our group and others still choosing to do activities, but will loose $1000s from us as we are now planning to take our next cruise and future trips with large family and friend groups on other cruise lines or to all inclusive resorts instead. Sad to see RCI so short sighted as we have loved RCI ships. Your reservation and loyalty desk agents were not even aware of the new Jan 2018 Activity price increases until they looked up an existing January booking.

 

We understand fees for Specialty Dining, Spas, alcohol, and other "services", but a bunch of "extra" charges is ruining RCI. Bring back "all inclusive" style cruising, or risk losing us indefinitely. We would rather pay a reasonable cruise fare upfront and not have to worry about more and more extra charges for every activity. When are they going to start charging extras for flow rider, rock climbing wall, zipline, carousel, mini golf, basketball, and to swim in the pools? Sounds ridiculous, right? So why are they charging for Escape of the Rubicon that requires as little or less staffing than the flowrider, rock climbing, or zipline? And Room Service fees? I might order room service 1-2 times at most on a cruise so isn't much revenue gained for RCI, but that and charging crazy upsell price for Rubicon will be $1000s lost from us and what causes me to book groups elsewhere as a matter of principle. I hate feeling nickel and dimed and all inclusive is what has been what we have liked most about cruising over the years.

[rukkian]

I understand your sentiment, but actually have no problems with what they have done. If they do not charge for things that some people choose to do, them the price of the cruise has to go up to get that same revenue.

Luckily, there are other options. Some lines will have more inclusive, but free over the amount of options (free or otherwise). And the cruise that are truly all inclusive are so much more expensive and have so many less options on board.

 

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[Ourusualbeach]

Existing thread.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2557165&highlight=Escape

[LMaxwell]

Inb4 "If you can't afford $20, then you shouldn't be cruising! "

 

 

 

[emoji12]

 

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You chose a forum CLEARLY not in touch with IB4...I feel bad for you. Not as bad as I feel for the rest of them. :')

[LMaxwell]

Royal Caribbean has just more than doubled the price of Escape the Rubicon for 2018. Originally a complimentary activities, they started charging $8.99/pp, and starting January 2018 they are now charging $19.99, plus also charging $7.95 for Room Service. I currently have Platinum status and love Royal Caribbean but may not continue to sail with them as I hate feeling upsell to do many activities onboard. If they continue to have passengers willing to pay higher fees we can expect they will slowly begin adding additional fees for activities as they have recently added Room Service charges. Below is a message I sent to RCI. For those who like all-inclusive cruises and not feeling like they are charged fees for more and more activities onboard I invite you to also send a letter to RCI. Below is message I sent to Royal Caribbean.

___________________________

RCI you just WOW'd me... unfortunately not a good WOW! Our Harmony cruise in January may be our last on RCI. So tired of new charges that keep popping up. I was online looking into booking a large group for Symphony in Jan 2019, and noticed in Cruise Planner for our January Cruise on Harmony that Escape the Rubicon has increased from complimentary to $8.99, and is now more than doubled the fee to $19.99. We were excited to try the Rubicon and planning to book our small group on this upcoming cruise for $8.99/pp. but for $19.99 we will now forgo doing Rubicon as we are not willing to pay double what was already an up-charge. Bad business RCI. And charging $7.95 for room service now? STOP adding new "nickle and dime"ing fees to guests!!! Royal Caribbean and a few others are starting to ruin the cruise experience.

 

Your executives can commend themselves for gaining $100-300 per passenger in new up-sell revenue onboard, but they most likely will only gain a small amount from our group and others still choosing to do activities, but will loose $1000s from us as we are now planning to take our next cruise and future trips with large family and friend groups on other cruise lines or to all inclusive resorts instead. Sad to see RCI so short sighted as we have loved RCI ships. Your reservation and loyalty desk agents were not even aware of the new Jan 2018 Activity price increases until they looked up an existing January booking.

 

We understand fees for Specialty Dining, Spas, alcohol, and other "services", but a bunch of "extra" charges is ruining RCI. Bring back "all inclusive" style cruising, or risk losing us indefinitely. We would rather pay a reasonable cruise fare upfront and not have to worry about more and more extra charges for every activity. When are they going to start charging extras for flow rider, rock climbing wall, zipline, carousel, mini golf, basketball, and to swim in the pools? Sounds ridiculous, right? So why are they charging for Escape of the Rubicon that requires as little or less staffing than the flowrider, rock climbing, or zipline? And Room Service fees? I might order room service 1-2 times at most on a cruise so isn't much revenue gained for RCI, but that and charging crazy upsell price for Rubicon will be $1000s lost from us and what causes me to book groups elsewhere as a matter of principle. I hate feeling nickel and dimed and all inclusive is what has been what we have liked most about cruising over the years.

 

 

 

Your last paragraph says it all, we liked the mostly inclusive nature of cruising. A la Carte style just nags me. Everything in life is a la carte. For a week away I don’t want to be sold every step of the way. I want to walk into a nice resort and have features and amenities and good service if or when I need it. Brand cheerleaders rationalizing loss of value to the rest of us are another big problem. They pretend they are the CFO, say please and thank you as the fees get added, and race back to book more. Why would the company do anything but raise fees then?

[Merion_Mom]

Your last paragraph says it all, we liked the mostly inclusive nature of cruising. A la Carte style just nags me. Everything in life is a la carte. For a week away I don’t want to be sold every step of the way. I want to walk into a nice resort and have features and amenities and good service if or when I need it. Brand cheerleaders rationalizing loss of value to the rest of us are another big problem. They pretend they are the CFO, say please and thank you as the fees get added, and race back to book more. Why would the company do anything but raise fees then?

I am just happy that I did the escape rooms on both Harmony and Anthem before there was any hint of charging for them. Once is enough, since they don't change. (and we did them in record time, of course. :D :D :D)

[endorphin8]

I HATE feeling nickel and dimed. I was planning to book our group for $9/pp on our January cruise and was excited to try it. When I saw in Cruise Planner they over doubled the price to $20/pp, not only will they not receive any revenue from us now on the Escape, I was about to book a large group on Symphony for 2019 and now booking that trip on another cruiseline. It's not about the $20/pp, it's about feeling like Royal is trying to overcharge for the little stuff that should be free or $5/pp just to discourage people not showing up or going multiple times and limiting others. Bad Business Royal Caribbean. Is trying to make a buck for little activities onboard worth making regular cruisers hate your business practices, loosing guests for life and having them book family, friends, and work groups on other cruiselines. $7.95 now for Room Service too??? And overcharging for zipline and other activities on your "private island". I don't mind paying a reasonable price but feeling overcharged just because you have monopoly makes me never want to give you another penny. Royal needs to fire their Executive team making these decisions. Yep, you are WOWing your customers Royal! How much are they going to start charging for Flow Rider? Zipline? Mini golf? The shows? Main dining? If Royal is hurting to make a buck, just charge each passenger another $20-30 on cruise fare and stop with the upcharges onboard. Just went on Princess and Carnival and had several 12 or 24 pack of water delivered to each of our staterooms when we arrived for cheap, $3-4/case. It was so nice to have them already available in the stateroom. Royal wants $39 for 12 litter bottles, and $69 for 24!!! Royal is causing me to hate them and want to be more loyal to Carnival, Princess, and Disney. None of them are nickle and diming even close to what RCI is doing.

[endorphin8]

Your last paragraph says it all, we liked the mostly inclusive nature of cruising. A la Carte style just nags me. Everything in life is a la carte. For a week away I don’t want to be sold every step of the way. I want to walk into a nice resort and have features and amenities and good service if or when I need it. Brand cheerleaders rationalizing loss of value to the rest of us are another big problem. They pretend they are the CFO, say please and thank you as the fees get added, and race back to book more. Why would the company do anything but raise fees then?

 

I could not agree more. How are they so dumb to recognize this. I go on 1-3 cruises a year, maybe 7 have been on Royal. Others have been on Carnival, Princess, Disney, Costa, NCL, and others. I have loved the new Royal ships and have never stayed at all-inclusive resorts. After recent Royal pricing I plan to go on this last trip and be done with Royal and will book our groups on other cruise lines and now thinking about booking our next large group and trying an all inclusive resort. My bet is however that their executive team will track their new revenue from onboard activities, and not have a clue how much revenue they are losing from others like myself who will just stop cruising on Royal.

[endorphin8]

Just booked the Escape Room on the Harmony for $8.99 a person. Happy it was not $20, if it was probably would not do it. Must be cheaper to pre-book it then to book it onboard.

 

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Yes, It has been $8.99 onboard and pre-booking. Starting Jan 2018 pre-booking is $19.99. Royal Caribeen agents were not even aware of price increase until they looking into it and compared Dec 2017 and Jan 2018 cruises. The price increases for January 2018 cruises, and possibly other fees increasing like new room service charges I previously mentioned in post. I am going to research what other services and activities they are increasing and may post a price comparison of findings on this and other cruise sites. Their increasing prices after we booked this ship rubs me wrong and as much as I am excited to take our group of friends, who have never sailed before, on Harmony, I would have booked on another cruiselines new ships in hindsight which just makes me feel burned by Royal.

[Speirbhean.pa]

Not worth it. It was just an "ok" experience when it was free (did it on Anthem this past January). There are three of us - no way I'd pay $60 for that.

 

 

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[mardukeme]

Yes, It has been $8.99 onboard and pre-booking. Starting Jan 2018 pre-booking is $19.99. Royal Caribeen agents were not even aware of price increase until they looking into it and compared Dec 2017 and Jan 2018 cruises. The price increases for January 2018 cruises, and possibly other fees increasing like new room service charges I previously mentioned in post. I am going to research what other services and activities they are increasing and may post a price comparison of findings on this and other cruise sites. Their increasing prices after we booked this ship rubs me wrong and as much as I am excited to take our group of friends, who have never sailed before, on Harmony, I would have booked on another cruiselines new ships in hindsight which just makes me feel burned by Royal.

 

I curious to know, what will be increasing to. I first started sailing on Carnival long time ago being young, and it was the fun / party cruise line. Continued going because of friends, but kept noticing quality just wasn't what it use to be, while prices rising. This year went on the Harmony, Allure, and Harmony again next week. Really enjoyed my time on these ships, and had a great time on them.

 

I guess this is what happens when accounts move up into management. Hopefully this trend doesn't continue.

 

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[rukkian]

I curious to know, what will be increasing to. I first started sailing on Carnival long time ago being young, and it was the fun / party cruise line. Continued going because of friends, but kept noticing quality just wasn't what it use to be, while prices rising. This year went on the Harmony, Allure, and Harmony again next week. Really enjoyed my time on these ships, and had a great time on them.

 

I guess this is what happens when accounts move up into management. Hopefully this trend doesn't continue.

 

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Not sure how long you have been cruising, but even with the added costs, cruising today is much cheaper than years ago, especially when you figure in inflation. While it sucks to pay more money than you want, in the end, you are still getting a huge value imo.

[mardukeme]

Not sure how long you have been cruising, but even with the added costs, cruising today is much cheaper than years ago, especially when you figure in inflation. While it sucks to pay more money than you want, in the end, you are still getting a huge value imo.

Been cruising close to 30 years, first cruise was as a kid with my parents. It's the little charges here and there they get annoying. Similar to when flying luggage use to have a weight limit of 75-100 pounds, and was included in the flight fair. Now it went down to 50 pounds, and you have to pay for it. People are going to still fly, and still cruise.

 

Just wonder what amenities they'll take away, and what that was free will they charge for. I remember you use to have a bowl in your bathroom with toothpaste, mouthwash, motion sickness pills, and other stuff. Those days are long gone for non suite rooms.

 

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[rukkian]

Been cruising close to 30 years, first cruise was as a kid with my parents. It's the little charges here and there they get annoying. Similar to when flying luggage use to have a weight limit of 75-100 pounds, and was included in the flight fair. Now it went down to 50 pounds, and you have to pay for it. People are going to still fly, and still cruise.

 

Just wonder what amenities they'll take away, and what that was free will they charge for. I remember you use to have a bowl in your bathroom with toothpaste, mouthwash, motion sickness pills, and other stuff. Those days are long gone for non suite rooms.

 

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That is the thing - all of that comes at a cost, either you pay for it as you do it, or the overall cost has to go up to cover it. In the end, cruising is so much less (even with these fees) than it used to be, which is why more people are cruising. There are lines that offer all those things, but also cost allot more to cover it, and most do not have ships with the entertainment options and activities that many want.

[silentbob007]

I will wait and see if it is discounted once onboard to fill capacity. I’d rather have a specialty lunch than Escape the Rubicon.

[mcatmcat]

0$-20/30-50-100$

I don’t have 1 hrs to waste on that room during sea days

They can have it

 

 

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[jamesr3939]

Pay $0 (no incentive to show up) place is empty, i.e.: wasted space and staff, pay $9.95 (some will show up most won't) still not cost effective. I am guessing they are trying to find the "break even" point where people will pay and show up.

 

We haven't tried an Escape Room yet, but they are opening one next month near us and are looking forward to giving it a try.