lovethesealife

My husband and I did this tour a couple of years back. I don’t recall all the details, but I do remember that it was incredibly beautiful and probably the best excursion we did on our Greek Isles cruise. We even got to take a dip in the water, which was pretty cool but an awesome experience. I’d do it again if I had the chance.

I’ve been successful in my Royal Up bids 5-6 times in the last couple of years. I generally book Junior Suites and then bid for Grand Suite and above. I’ve received upgrade notices as early as 2 weeks prior and as late as 2 days prior to sailing. If you are bidding on the higher level cabins and the cruise is getting a few days out, check the cabin availability for those stateroom classes. If the suites are all gone, you can be pretty sure that you missed out even though they haven’t notified you yet.

I always book ship excursions for reasons of safety and convenience. My husband and I are very frequent cruisers on Royal, and I recommend booking tours as soon as as possible once they’re offered, especially during one of their ‘Cruise Favorites Specials’ sales, which pop up online for a few days every couple of weeks. The best sale time if the year is the Black Friday period. I often book my tours many months in advance. If a better tour or price comes up I cancel and book the better option. Bring retired, I have the time to watch prices diligently. The tour prices will continually go up, especially the more popular ones. They dynamically change prices based on demand; I’ve seen them double on many occasions. Also, these days, many tours sell out quickly, and the options are very few and very expensive once onboard. Bottom line: if you are able to lay out the money to book early, do so, and then keep watch.

It’s static

- on RCCL website, search for the cruise(s) you want and select ‘view x dates’ - click on the Watchlist icon for each cruise (up to 5) - to see your selected cruises at a glance, go back to the Main Menu and select Favorites and Watchlist, then Watchlist Good luck to you!

To keep an eye on prices you can setup a Watchlist for up to 5 cruises on the RCCL website. i have a Watchlist for cruises that I think might go down in price or where I want to see if a particular cabin type is available if I’m looking for a more desirable cabin location. I check this a couple of times a day, and often I luck out.

Shore excursions get more and more expensive the closer to your cruise. Also, popular excursions often sell out months before a cruise. It is always best to book them as far out as you can. If a price does drop you can cancel and rebook.