ARandomTraveler

They weren't sailing full a year ago though

The hibachi upcharge is for an upgraded menu. I don't recall what the difference is but for the sake of example, hibachi comes with a menu of "steak and chicken" but the upgraded menu with the $15 upcharge comes with "teriyaki steak, chicken, and shrimp" or something like that. This past week there was a really good sale on the hibachi. Someone posted that they saw it in their cruise planner for $28.99/person when it's normally $55 or $60, and then a bunch of other people looked at their cruise planners and saw that they also had the sale, so they jumped on purchasing it (myself included). The sale has now ended (some people think it was a glitch but I think it was just a sale cause it lasted a couple days). That being said, it seems like the hibachi is often fully booked before 11am on boarding day (it was on my last cruise), and now that there was such a big sale on buying it ahead of time, I wouldn't be surprised if that continues to be an issue for people who are waiting to book onboard. If you have specific restaurants you want to go to, and you'd be disappointed if you weren't able to get a reservation, then I'd suggest paying full price and booking it ahead of time. Buying the discounted packages is a risk. I do both (buy the dining package, but also book restaurants that I want to be sure to get a reservation at for full price).

When I was on symphony in November there was a live band in there, I think every night. It went until 11pm, which I know because I could hear it in my room which was right next door 😂

😂 thank you

I believe that the cruiseline insurance only gives you a future cruise credit, but not cash back. If you buy an independent travel insurance policy, you can buy one that has "cancel-for-any-reason" coverage, and in that case, you can get 75% of your cash back for whatever you lost from a canceled cruise. However, if the cruiseline (or airline) offers you a future cruise (or airline) credit, then the insurance company will not consider you to have lost money. For example, if you put a $500 non-refundable deposit down, and you canceled and lost the entire $500, you could make a claim against your independent insurance for 75% of that $500 (so you'd get $375 back). If you changed your cruise date instead of canceling, and you lost $200, your independent insurance policy would pay you $150. In both of those cases, the insurance policy will probably have cost you more than it was worth to get such a small amount of money back. I just always book refundable, and I buy the cancel-for-any-reason independent insurance that will pay me back 75% of the entire cruise fare that I could lose after final payment date if I can't go. I never buy the cruise line insurance because I don't like being limited to only getting my money back in the form of future cruise credits. Plus, independent insurance policies can give you a bunch of other coverage that you might benefit from, such as paying you money if your cruise itinerary gets changed, or payment if your flight is delayed 6+ hours, coverage for sports rental equipment (like jet skis and kayaks etc).

Yes, you can convert it to non-refundable as long as the final payment date hasn't happened yet. You'd be making the gamble that the non-refundable price is gonna be lower than the refundable price you booked months before. You cannot do the other way around (go from non-refundable to refundable).

I know, I was shocked at the prices. $8800 for a regular junior suite for 2 people. Over $6k for a balcony for 2 people. Grand suites are $9900 PER PERSON! This is the most expensive cruise I've ever taken, not even including the airfare. I wonder why the summer date is so much more expensive, given the weather is a lot more pleasant in Sept/Oct. I guess it's the same as it is in the US, where it's busier during the months where kids are off school.

I'm doing that route in august. It's mostly sold out, and insanely expensive, but there's still rooms available. The sail date is actually July 31st.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Thanks for the update. Do you have a website for where you purchased the Vietnam visa? I've looked online and it seems like there are a lot of websites offering to sell them, and I can't be sure which is the "official" site.

The key is a waste of money, that's what it is.

Are you sure this wasn't an issue with the travel agent? Or their booking system? Maybe the way they do their bookings and collect payment make it confusing on RC's end. EDIT: Just finished reading the thread and see that the OP got an explanation.

Yep I did this on the symphony in November. I knew it would likely book up before I got on the ship so I paid the $130 for us to go, on top of having already bought the UDP. When at dinner I asked the waiter to refund my money since I had the UDP and he was really confused, so he got the manager and she fixed it right away. It really didn't take that long, but I was willing and prepared to not get my money back when I made the booking, knowing that it might not work.

It's also nice to have the reservation because the hibachi seems to sell out before you can even get on the ship to book it with the UDP.

We didn't find this to be true on Symphony (regular balcony room). We had to leave both of our large suitcases out in the open because they were too tall to fit under the bed.

I don't have answers to all your questions, but as far as #2 goes, absolutely, 100% get 2 rooms. For one, having 3 adults in a room is too many. That's at least 3 full sized suitcases, 3 adults who need closets and drawers to store their things. And when all 3 are women, you'll most likely also need extra counter and shelf space in the bathroom. For two, a 3 year old is going to need a lot of quiet time, which isn't fair to the 2 adults who the 3 year old doesn't belong to. Way too much tiptoeing around during naps and bedtime for your sister and mom to be able to enjoy their vacation. If you're paying for everyone, they can't really complain about the accommodations, but if it were me, and someone invited me on a cruise, with the caveat being that I had to share a room with 2 other adults and a 3 year old, I'd pass.

Has anyone ever been to the Hot Pot? That's also showing up as $28.99/person, when I've seen it before for $45 or $50. It might not be on any ships besides Spectrum. I know what "hot pot" is, I'm just wondering what people think of the ship-based one (if anyone has eaten there).

Great price! Thanks for the heads up. I booked the hibachi 2 months ago on my symphony cruise for $60/person. I just looked in my cruise planner for my Spectrum cruise this summer and lo and behold, $28.99/person. Booked it. Might book it twice 🤔

I assumed that they could see if you had a reservation at a specialty restaurant and therefore would know you weren't coming to regular dinner. We had specialty dining reservations every day, never went to the dining room, and nobody called us. I guess they weren't as eager to have us for dinner as they were to have you 😂.

We used the starlink internet on Symphony to stream a football game through the XFinity app on our phones, which lets us watch live TV just like we were at home. We had no problems with that and didn't use a VPN. EDIT: Oh Jesus Christ, I didn't realize I was responding to a 4 year old post until I saw Bob 🙄. Who resurrected this? 😂

If you want a really good deal on a high end purse, go to Paris. You can get a Louis Vuitton bag for half the price as what you'll buy in the US, AND you'll get the tax refunded to you when you leave the country. The cost of a round trip flight is still less money than 50% of the bag. I wouldn't waste my money on a Coach bag from the ship. I highly doubt they're offering anything that would be considered a real deal.

I don't even consider the non-refundable price when booking. It's easier to book refundable if you have your mind set to thinking the listed price is the discounted price that Royal Caribbean will give you if you're willing to sacrifice flexibility, and the "real" price is the one you get at the very end of the booking once you get to the shopping cart and can click the box for "refundable deposit."

There are insurance plans that offer this as a benefit. You have to read through the full policy to see if "loyalty points" is a benefit. I don't think the policy that Royal Caribbean sells will cover anything having to do with your airfare, but the private policies do.

I would book A&B in one room, and then if C&D can go, they can get their own separate room at whatever the price is at that time. I wouldn't risk my own pricing in order to wait for 2 people who may not be able to go. Why penalize yourself? I also wouldn't sail 4 adults to a room.

I was surprised to login to my cruise planner this evening and see the deluxe beverage package listed for $54.99/day. I've never seen it that low. Still not worth it to me, but kind of refreshing to see a price that doesn't have a "7" in front of it. Granted, it's for a 12 day cruise, plus it's in Asia where people drink less, but for people who usually buy it at $72.99 on a 7 day cruise, it's not that much more expensive which is nice.