LACruiser5

3 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Yikes!  I missed that price!  2K for 4 nights?  No, that's not a great deal ... is it for Presidents' Day or something?  I can't understand why February would be so expensive.  

That does include the cabin (but not gratuities) plus the wifi and 2 non-alcoholic beverage packages and the beach thing at CocoCay, but yeah, for a 4 night trip I still feel like that is a lot. It was $1500 without all those things 😞  I've always wanted to do CocoCay, but not thrilled with options in the Bahamas.  No way I'm paying $500+ more to spend a day at Atlantis 😞  I didn't realize it would cost so much. By the time I'm done, I almost could have booked an all-inclusive for longer.

16 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Keep an eye on your booking; it's possible -- but not probable -- you'll see a last-minute price drop. 

These were Black Friday prices so...If the price goes down, will they give me back the difference?

Hope I don't end up canceling. 

3 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

My upcoming NCL is about 1400$ solo for 15 nights OV including grats, specialty dinning, wifi (enough to check in a few times a day on sea days), $50 per excursion.

I looked at NCL since they had the great Free at Sea offers but they only had a 7 night that would work for me.  It was proportionately about the same as the 4 night I'm booked on with RC, even with the freebies.  It might be because I'm just now booking for this February. Seems like you get better deals when you book further out. 

48 minutes ago, Scottee25 said:

 I still remember the midnight buffets. Oh yeah, those are gone too.

Bummer, but who needs more food at midnight anyway? 😂😂  17 years ago they were just starting the freestyle dining with the different restaurants but we didn't pay extra for MOST of those either...Things change 🤷‍♀️ I'm just not sure that $2000+ for 4 nights is a great value (at 30% off no less) for a vacation. We've mostly been doing All-Inclusive resorts since my husband swore off cruising and we've gotten some amazing deals...we shall see!  I'm just hoping we picked the right cruise to jump back in on cruising...

45 minutes ago, SG65CB said:

Your ship from 17 years ago will probably fit in the basement of your new ship.

Now that had me curious!  I'm glad to hear they've gotten bigger...maybe less seasickness?!?  17 years ago, we were on the brand new Norwegian Pearl that had the first ever bowling alley at sea. It was pretty big back then, but you are correct, Allure of the Seas is even bigger!  Definitely a good thing. 👍🏻

45 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

Also, you should price it out but at least the alcohol package is expensive on RC and its possible you'd be better off just purchasing your drinks individually based on how much you expect to drink.

We don't drink...I might have one, but I'm just as happy with virgin drinks so we didn't even consider the alcohol drink package, just the refreshment package (no alcohol).  Not even sure we will both keep that, but maybe 🤷‍♀️

21 minutes ago, Scottee25 said:

Then your waiter was giving you something free of charge that was not intended to be free of charge. Consider yourself lucky. We all got some indirect perk from a bartender or waitstaff but if we didn't, it wouldn't matter because it was not supposed to be included. Like I said, only time we ever got lobster free was on lobster night or our last cruise when we were Star Class.

This was 40 years ago.  There were no surcharges for food of ANY kind. You could pretty much order anything you wanted in the main dining rooms and if they had it, they served it to you. This was on Holland America and NCL which is what we cruised on mostly. 

1 minute ago, Scottee25 said:

Don't believe that has ever been included except on lobster nights. Not sure if OP was implying you could get surf & turf for free? If so, that has never been a thing as long as I have been cruising over the last close to 25 years.

Yes, we were definitely able to get surf & turf outside of Lobster nights back in the day.   We would just ask our regular waiter and he would bring it to us with a wink as long as they still had some (they usually did). I cruised a lot as a teen and young adult with my family. This was in the regular dining rooms when they still had formal nights. 

56 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

I never have difficulty finding a quiet (free) lounger and umbrella on CocoCay, but I'm trying Hideaway Beach in March, because it was so cheap.  (I got it for $18.99) 

Wow! How did you get it that cheap? I thought the black friday price was good, but not that good. Still not sure we will keep it but at least I have the option for $28.99 ea which is *supposedly* half price...

51 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

17 years ago, there was no wifi.  And the dial up service wasn't free.  (and you don't NEED it for a 4 night cruise, but certainly should buy it if you want it). 

😂😂  Correct! There was a dial up internet room and you usually had to pay for larger packages but on NCL we got 4 or so hours free on our 10 day cruise, which was enough for checking on the kids with grandma back home 🙂     We DO need it on our 4 night cruise.  We work and run a corporation so can't be out of touch even that long unfortunately.  

8 minutes ago, SilkySal said:

As the poster mentioned above, lots of free beach options on CocoCay, unless you want a designated cabana, beach bed, or reserved chairs. Any drink packages are also honored on CocoCay.

The only reason I booked the Hideaway Beach for $58 total was that it is Adult only and we are 'resting' from kids/grandkids 😂😂. It was half off so I booked it before the sale ended thinking we would have the option to cancel. Are the other beaches overrun with kids? Hard to get a lounge chair?

Wow, times have changed since I last cruised! My husband and I took a 10 day cruise 17 years ago and it was his first (my 7th). He got Norovirus on day 3 and was deathly ill the rest of the trip. I got it on day 9.  I've finally (kind of) convinced him to try again.  

We are booked on the Allure for a 4 night cruise. I booked during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales & it seemed like a decent deal at first.  

Once I booked, I looked at the add-on options because it was the last day of the cruise. WOW! They now nickel & dime you to death! Everything that was once included is now extra.  By the time I finished with just "basic" upgrades (Wifi for 1 w/ 2 devices), 2 Refreshment packages (non-alcoholic), and  Hideaway Beach passes ($58 total-1/2 price) for CocoCay and my "total" expenses are up to $2042 for a 4 night cruise (including gratuities). Then I noticed that there were 8 restaurants not included for dinner and I've read that things like sushi and lobster are no longer served in the "free" restaurants at all. Years ago, you could order surf & turf every night...on the menu or not. Is this accurate? 

On the refreshment package, would I be wise to cancel one of  those? My husband normally only drinks plain black coffee, sweet tea, water or the occasional Ginger Beer (do they have that & is it included?).  He might enjoy a milk shake a couple times. Any idea of the price of a milk shake? I, on the other hand, don't drink any soda, but love my coffee drinks and can drink virgin pina coladas and daiquiries all day long so I think it's worth the extra $120.00...maybe?  

24 minutes ago, GJustice said:

Hadn't seen this here, apologies if I just missed it. Probably more to the story coming.

 

https://www.foxnews.com/us/royal-caribbean-cruise-vacation-florida-turns-deadly

 

Very sad 😞  Literally just booked the central park overlook room this evening.  I feel so bad for his parents.