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.

You should get emails re excursion sales if you sign up for promotional emails on their website. If you signed up and are not getting them send an email to Customer Service about it. They are usually very good about responding.

I would be very careful about using your points to pay toward a cruise. They apply the  points value as a discount of your cruise payment and THEY HAVE NO CASH VALUE. This means, if you change your cruise you could just be out the points. Last time I did this I was on a cruise where a 20% discount of cruise fare paid was issued to everyone due to missed stops and other problems. My 20% was based on the fare minus the amount paid with points. I cancelled my RCCL card after that.

Benefits are an OBC (which doesn’t amount to much unless you are booking a suite and/or a long cruise), plus a reduced deposit. I don’t book a specific cruise while onboard. I buy ‘decide later’ reservations at a price of $200 per cabin for two. This allows me to book a cruise of any length without having to pay the full deposit (regularly $500 for a 7-day cruise or $900 for a longer cruise. As I recall (it’s been so long), if you book within 30 days you get the onboard booking credit as well, and you must book within 1 year or you lose the deposit you made. As soon as I can get on a ship (hopefully in August) I’ll buy several of these to have ‘in my pocket’. My husband and I are retired, we live in Florida, and we cruise ALOT, so these are a real advantage for us.

I have had numerous bookings with onboard Credits attached to them either as an Onboard Booking Bonus or some Redeployment situation. These have moved around and around as those cruises were cancelled. They will not let you transfer your cancelled  reservation number to a new cruise. To retain your OBC you must keep track of the last reservation number that had the OBC and ask to have that OBC applied when making a new reservation. I watch these like a hawk every time I make or change a reservation, as they could easily be lost.

My husband and I often buy the coffee card in order to get good coffee. The coffee in the lounges is from a machine and we don’t like it. We only use it for 1-punch drinks. The card can be used by anyone, so don’t lose it! These cards never go on ‘sale’. If you buy one for a US based cruise they will charge you gratuity, if for a European cruise they will not charge gratuity but they will up the price. Also, you can buy the card on one cruise and use it up on other cruises.
 

Tour prices change all the time, mostly going up. I try to book my tours when there is a Cruise Favorites sale (I get email notifications), which is usually a 4 day or more period that happens about every 3 weeks. I book my tours as far in advance as possible, recheck prices if there is a new sale, and cancel/rebook if lower.

I am on the August 15 Allure sailing.  On June 7 I was advised that Labadee stop was being cancelled due to COVID. They changed the whole itinerary, and we are now going to Costa Maya, Roatan,  Cozumel and Cococay in lieu of Labadee, Nassau and Falmouth. Looking forward to a much better cruise.

The Refundable Deposit option allows you to get your full deposit back if you cancel, but there is a steep price for that. Under the Non-Refundable Deposit option, you would normally be penalized $100 per person if you cancelled or changed your cruise, and the remainder of your deposit would be a credit for a future cruise. However, under the current Cruise with Confidence program Royal is offering, there is no cancellation penalty for any cruise booked before July 31, 2021 and taken before September 30, 2022. Therefore, you would have your full deposit amount to apply to another cruise.

As for Prepaid Gratuities, you can call and add that in at anytime up to 3 days before your sailing. There’s not really any benefit to doing that except you will not see charges for tips on your account in a daily basis.

You can decide about whether to take insurance up to the final payment date for your cruise. You also decide to add insurance now and then take it off before your final payment date. Of course, you would avoid future price increases if you opted to add it now. But, bear in mind, under the Cruise with Confidence policy, you can cancel your cruise up to 48 hours before your sail date. You won’t get your money back if you can’t cruise, but you will get full credit for anything you have paid.

Good luck!

Royal has been having a ‘Cruise Favorites’ sale with discounts in excursions, dining, etc About every three weeks, usually lasting for about five days. The last one, about a week ago covered cruises sailing up to 5/31/22, so about a year out. Sign up for emails and you should hear about them. Also, go onto cruise planner for your cruise on their website and you will see if a sale is on. Book your tours as early as possible, as prices usually go up. 

Yes, you can back out, up to 2 days before sailing, for ANY reason whatsoever. The Cruise with Confidence policy applies to all bookings  made before July 31, 2021 for cruises scheduled up to September 2022. You won’t get your money back, but you will get a credit to book another cruise (must book by April 2022 and sail by September 2022). 

It doesn’t matter that Royal says that 90% of its passengers are vaccinated. Royal must certify that at least 95% of passengers are  vaccinated, or they will be required to subject all of us to protocols demanded by the CDC. Vaccinated people are unlikely to be harmed by those who are unvaccinated, but it is a pretty safe bet that our vacations will be diminished by them!

All but 2 of the 14 cruises my husband have reserved were booked under the ‘Cruise with Confidence’ policy which allows us to cancel 2 days ahead of the sailing and receive a credit for a future cruise. We are retired and have a lot of leeway, so we are not concerned about cancelling if we don’t feel it will be an enjoyable experience.

I am furious that Royal has chosen this path. As a vaccinated person, I am not concerned about my safety around others. What concerns me is the probability of being subjected to onerous regulations put in place because the CDC threshold for vaccinated persons is not reached. I could not enjoy a cruise if I were required to were a mask anywhere on board. It would be okay If people who will not certify that they are vaccinated are restricted to certain areas on the ship, but I don’t want them ruining my cruise! I want to be able to socialize while onboard, and if I find the protocols are too restrictive, I will cancel my cruises. 

Hello there! My husband and have been loyal Royal cruisers for 17+ years and are looking forard to joining the Pinnacle Club in Feb 2017. - just before our first trip to Australia.