IntoTheOcean

Thanks for posting this info. It never ceases to amaze me how poorly some businesses fail to understand the value of corporate good will.

This is exactly it. If RCI's stance is that they are within their legal rights, then they have truly missed the point. The companies I choose to do repeat business with are ones that have earned my trust; companies that I feel treat me with respect, as I do them and their representatives.

While I am sure RCI is well within their rights in making this change, their lack of effort in transparently communicating this with adequate notice, along with their apparent desire to ignore the concerns some of their clients have, has me questioning whether spending my hard-earned money with them in the future is a smart choice.

Let's face it. RCI never gave the WOW Bands away. The cost has been factored into the overall price you pay for the cruise. So with them changing their policy for those already booked, it appears that everyone is still paying for it, and those who wish to try it will have to pay twice. And while I realize $5 is such a small amount in comparison to what I paid for the cruise, it concerns me that RCI seems so willing to sacrifice the trust of some of their clients over it.:(

While I respectfully disagree with RCI's decision to charge for the bands and think if they more fully committed to them (i.e. Portable terminals for every server), they would pay for themselves (with accelerated adaption, increased revenue and more detailed data on guest patterns and flow), I have two specific issues with the way they went about doing this:

- The change in policy should not have applied to guest already booked, or at the very least, to those already paid-in-full and past the payment due date.

- As the bands are marketed as a guest convenience, there should have been an option, put in place in advance, to pre-purchase the bands and have them waiting for you in your stateroom (as they were when they were included at no extra cost), so you would not have to be inconvenienced by possibly having to wait in a long line to purchase them.

It just feels like the move was so poorly thought out.

This is just my opinion.

I had sent an email to RCI, regarding a different Voom Internet question, and they included these paragraphs in the reply I received today:

"Below is our pricing structure for our VOOM internet service:

VOOM is available for only $15 per device per day plus a second device can be added for only 50% more.

2 Device Unlimited: $22.50 per day

1 Device Unlimited: $15 per day

Daily: $29.95 per device (24 hours of continuous access)

Kindly note, the $15 price range is only applicable if the package is purchased on Day 1 and must be purchased for the duration of the cruise. After that, the package price stays the same so the price per day becomes a bit higher. There is no pro-rating."

Thanks for the information Kadota.

Thank you chengkp75.

Would it be okay to show up in suit pants, a dress shirt and a tie, but no jacket? I am not really a fan of packing a suit jacket for an island vacation, but don't want to offend anyone or be turned away.

How does that work if you are on a drink package paid for ahead of boarding?

The last person I spoke to at AT&T wireless was in some sort of "International" department where they deal with specialty packages like the purchase of a cruise ship add-on plan. I kept telling the original agent, who wanted to transfer me to this department, that while I was interested in the cruise packages, I wanted to know about the wifi calling first and wasn't sure if that department would be the right department to start with.

When I spoke to this "International" department, the representative seemed to be comfortable with the subject of wifi calling. When she explained that wifi calling was only available from the United States, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands (territories the AT&T wifi calling webpage mentions as being included in US coverage), I asked, "So if I try to make or receive calls or texts from the ship with cellular service shut off and wifi on, if it works, it is included and if it doesn't the wifi is originating from outside those territories?" or something along those lines. She said, "Yes." I then said that based on that, if it worked there would be no possible way to get hit with extra charges and a huge bill. She confidently backed my assertion. But as this is so new, and nobody seems to have any first hand knowledge of this, I am still a little skeptical.

I also asked about the cruise ship packages and how they worked. Her explanation was in line with what I have previously read. Basically, even incoming calls that go to voicemail are charged as one minute but incoming texts are free.

My final question to her was if I waited until on the ship and at sea, if the wifi calling did not work, would I then be able to sign up for a cruise ship cellular calling package or would it be too late? Also, at what rate would that initial call to 611, to set up the package, be charged? She said the 611 calls are always free, regardless of where you are, and that I could sign-up for a cruise cellular call package while at sea.

So this is what I found out, but take it with a grain of salt:

I called AT&T and they said that the wifi calling would only work from the United States, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands.

I called Royal Caribbean and they said that the Anthem's Voom Internet Point of Presence (at least for the cruises from Cape Liberty to the Bahamas) was in the United States.

So basically, if everything I was told is correct, if you are on one of these cruises and purchase a Voom package, you should be able to turn off cellular service while keeping wifi on and then will be able to make and receive calls and texts on your compatible AT&T phone without any additional charges beyond what you would pay US national coverage plan (assuming you have a US plan with AT&T).

FYI: you must activate the wifi calling service from your phone (a one-time process) ahead of time. There is no charge for this.

I hope this helps others. If anyone has heard anything that supports or disproves this, I would be very interested in hearing about it.

Oops! I should have mentioned that I am inquiring about Voom from Anthem of the Seas once it is traveling from Cape Liberty, New Jersey.

Does anybody know what country the Voom spot beam Internet service connects through? Also, has anyone tried AT&T wifi calling and, if so, did it work?

Thanks!

Where in the Cruise Planner will the All-access Tour be listed? Perhaps Activities?

I am also curious about this.

Thank you.

Does anyone have a phone number for contacting the RCI disabilities access for excursions team?

Per RCI's instructions, I sent them an email regarding my excursion request and attached a completed Guest Special Needs Form. They have since sent me an email asking me to answer several questions that I already answered on the form. I would like to call them so we may quickly get on the same page as opposed to playing email tag.

While my first cruise on Royal Caribbean (Anthem of the Seas) has not arrived yet, the information below is from what I have read and experienced.

While companies such as Disney open different types of reservations (i.e. dining, shows, tours) a specific number of days out, RCI has a vague window as to when various reservations may be made.

I was able to make reservations for complementary and specialty restaurants at about a year. After making them, I tried many times to make changes to two of the reservations, but my efforts were unsuccessful. I would either get an error, or the website would say the change was confirmed, yet I would never receive a confirmation email and my cruise calendar would remain with the old reservation details. At around 90 days, I was able to make changes to dining successfully.

I believe spa services became available at around 180 days, but I might be off on this one.

Some excursions started to show up at about 180 days, with more trickling onto the website over the next 90 days.

Entertainment and activities, such as shows and indoor skydiving, became available at around 85 days.

I have heard that items such as, "behind-the-scenes" tours become available sometime between 45 and 30 days out.

WayTea,

Thank you.

Just curious as to where muster station D04 is at on Anthem of the Seas.

SausPud, I throughly enjoyed your review. Thanks for taking the time.

Can't wait for our upcoming trip on Anthem of the Seas!

Thanks again SausPud!

I was able to book the three "big" shows at about 80 days, but haven't seen any tours yet. Good to know it may happen around the 45 day mark. I will keep checking.

In general, we really enjoy behind the scenes tours. I am especially looking forward to this one because it will be our first cruise ship tour and I am a bit of a techno-geek.

Thank you for the info!

How long before your cruise did it show up for online booking?

How much was the All Access tour and is it booked on board or may it be booked in advance?