cj_one2000

7 hours ago, Norwich Cruiser said:

We’ve booked a few guaranteed staterooms and never been disappointed.

 

Our daughter on an extremely late booking ( about a week before departure date ) got a junior suite when originally booked an inside guarantee.

Was that recent? With the Royal Up program across the fleet, seems to me the only way to now get a higher category than what you paid for would be to bid on it. 

3 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

This balcony room is $348 more to simply pick your own cabin. That’s $696.00 more to be able to pick your own room for a cabin of 2. Regardless of whether you want to classify it as insurance not to get bumped, or whether you want to call it something else. I am not going to book a room that they choose for me and I’m not going to pay that much extra so I’ll be looking at alternative vacations or alternative cruise lines. Our TA may be able to help with a group booking (we saved $1400 on a recent Oasis booking). I stand corrected on the gouging comment I made in the initial post. Perhaps a better description would be their lack of transparency in pricing and advertising. Regardless it's tougher to find affordable cruising for our family. Maybe with all the new ships coming out, the supply will outweigh the demand and pricing will be more in line with what my family can afford.

In years past, I noticed that the pick your own cabin price was on average $40-$100 more for a stateroom with an occupancy of two adults. It was worth it to me back then so it was an easy thing to pay a little extra for the exact room we wanted. I think what the premise OP is trying to share is that now the pick your own room option is triple to four times that amount today.
 

It’s definitely a consideration when booking because the upcharge from lowest fare truly has increased in relation to the listed GTY fare, enough to make people nervous that if they don’t spend that extra cash, they are going to end up with (possibly) a crappy view/location for that category. That $100 pre-C versus ~$400 now, well it does make you think it’s a heavy increased upcharge.
 

Our last booking, I know that I felt cornered when looking online to cough up even more for a cruise vacation than in the past, on top of knowing the decline of overall service and product quality post-C. I researched other options and went with a TA that got me the room we wanted that thankfully was in their inventory without the upcharge RC was presenting on their website. We all know the upcharge is there and optional but the increase in cost can be notable to someone who pays attention to trends in the industry. 
 

Getting bumped is an extremely rare thing overall but it would make sense as a business RC would bump the cheapest rooms to make room for those who paid more. As others have stated though, I’m not completely convinced though that booking GTY significantly increases your chances of getting bumped without direct proof that’s really what RC is doing. 

32 minutes ago, jagsfan said:

Mostly they serve soft rolls, including on Allure last summer. 
I ask for the hard rolls, and can usually get one or two. For a table if 6 or 8, that can be a problem. 
I have gotten Savoury Bites since COVID, so always ask. 

Hard rolls, like brötchen? Those are hubby’s favorite. Others said a definite nope to savory rolls but I tend to think positive that they might have them by miracle 😊

We’re just now able to afford Oasis class fares. 🤣 I’ll probably be able to book an Icon balcony in oh, about 15 years? 👀

13 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I'm glad to read this review... I read the other review that is on the first page today and was quite surprised to read such a negative review.  I've sailed Navigator 3 times over the last year and half and had a really good time.  I thought the food was decent in the MDR, as well was Jaimies and Chops.  I didn't eat in Hooked.

 

I've got two more scheduled in early 2025 and may be booking more yet.

Same sentiment. I have a feeling that post was by a person who will hate any vacation, land or sea, always find fault with everything. Interesting way to spend your time off just complaining. To each their own I guess. I haven’t been on Navigator in years. Is Hooked a speciality restaurant?

33 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

 

Taking his buddy’s card, that’s has the DBP, to the bar. 

Not a bad guess! Might work if his buddy is his identical twin brother 🤷🏼‍♀️

3 hours ago, scubaslayer said:

My experience is it is never the full price. There is always a "sale". I am not sure the current rate for drinks but a couple of years ago it was about $15 for a cocktail. At that price, you would need to drink 5.6 drinks per day to break even. Is that worth it to you? I am well aware you can get more than alcohol with the package but that is generally the most expensive item. If you don't drink more than 1 a day, the refreshment package might be a better deal and just buy shots to add to your drink. I am in no way saying the drink package isn't worth it for some people but it is worth looking at the overall value of the drink package (including convenience). If this seems like an ok value, I would purchase and then cancel and reorder if the price drops before sailing. I have never seen it be lower once onboard.

So the sale price in reality is that you’re just paying full price 🫠

3 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

You definitely can get free wifi in Nassau Bahamas.   If you walk along town there are several places that have signs saying free interent (Dunkin Donuts & McDonalds are 2 of them).   You might even get free wifi at their new Welcome Center at end of the pier. 

 

CocoCay - No free wifi

Labadee - 99.9% sure No free wifi

Jamaica - if docking at Falmouth you should be able to find free wifi at the cruise port or you may find a cafe / bar offering for a nominal fee. 

 

Please be careful using any public wifi access, be sure to use a trustworthy VPN to block cyber criminals stealing your info. Hubby is a techie with a hacker background so he knows how easy it is for bad people to take advantage of tourists using free WiFi. So we use SurfShark to protect our devices and accounts when using public wifi. 

6 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

I would love to know what the OP is trying to get away with. 😉

Hmmmm, same here 😂

On 9/10/2022 at 5:23 PM, nelblu said:

Wonderful savory bites ever night

 

I love bread (amateur baker myself) and I haven’t tried these yet. I do love the dinner rolls with the cheese and herbs on top. Super yummy!! Sailing on Allure in October. Will have to ask for these.

On 9/10/2022 at 6:37 PM, HicksRA said:

50 years ago before I had a career, I was a baker. We made”bites” like those out of chopped up scraps of overworked bread dough that was too dense to do anything else with and couldn’t throw it in the trash. 
This is what the “savory bites” remind me of. 
Did you know that apple fritters are made of chopped up donut dough scraps??  😁

My husband loves Apple fritters. Just told him this info and he said “that’s why they are so good!” 😬

38 minutes ago, blueslily said:

 

I think we were in the minority that thought that it was fine to add some type of fee for room service so that folks would stop being so wasteful with ordering so much food and then not eating it. The amount of food we used to see on plates in halls was crazy. I'm not a fan of a high fee, but just something that would reduce thoughtless ordering just because it was at no extra cost. 

 

Now, we are in the camp with folks that are saying hey, that's enough raising of prices overall (on everything), hahahaha. 

Well back before they had that service fee we’d just order a small plate of cookies or a sandwich something, not a large order. It made sense no fee and tip generously back then. Now they charge that fee for room service, of course you’re going to see people order a lot of food 😩 it’s the way people are when they are charged for something they will make the most of it. 

5 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You have 30 days to transfer to an agent.  Your agent will guide you through the process.  

If they did the last month and now January is almost over, they may have missed that 30 day window already. If they miss that 30 day deadline, is it absolutely a hard deadline or does Royal not care and let your agent help you transfer anyway?

After reading the entire thread, I have learned more about this new elevator system than I needed to know 😂 oy, I’m just happy to be cruising and use the stairs if I need to go down. Now, going up by stairs is a little harder, especially after a multi course dinner in the MDR. 

1 hour ago, earn said:

We've got flights booked, which makes that a bit more difficult.

If you didn’t purchase travel insurance but paid for the airline tickets with a credit card, see if you have coverage from your credit card for expenses incurred due to Royal Caribbean’s change. It might cover flight change fees. 

In recent years, the charge for room service food. Prior to RC’s change to having fee, we would tip generously when our order arrived because there was no fee. Then the service charge came along really made us cut back on late night treats. I read reviews that although the room service menu expanded a bit with the service charge, it really added up with gratuity on top. Reviews that had that bit included also complained that the complimentary late night food options were slim so the pressure to pay room service charge was greater when the only other option was pizza at Sorrentos. 

4 hours ago, jptoz said:

I wonder how much this cost.

 

My daughter saw this video earlier today and he posted it just 17 minutes before she saw it. She said “oh my gosh he already got 30,000 likes on this video!” She’s been to CocoCay so it was fun for her to watch the video. 

On 1/26/2024 at 9:35 AM, smokeybandit said:

People should always google their ports and view the area on a map for any new port. One person's version of "close" or "far" may not match yours.

This, so true!! A lot of the European ports require a lot of walking too, so some cruisers are not aware nor prepared. Some of the sightseeing requires an hour or more to get to by car/bus, not everyone understands that. 

Highly suggest you join the roll call for your cruise and visit the ports of call section on the forums, you have a lot of ports for people to comment on here and you’ll have a lot of info on the ports of call boards.
 

Junior suites and higher cabin categories have a coffee maker, if you are not booked in one of those rooms you can request room service for breakfast and they will bring you a pot of coffee. 

It’s been a while since we lived in Europe and did two Med cruises. Every port is unique so like others have said, join a roll call and research. We never used a ship sponsored excursion and saved money booking our own land based tours for sight seeing and enjoyed all of our experiences. They were reviewed and rated companies and all of them got us back to the ship on time.
 

We used euros for onboard tips to staff since we lived in Europe at the time so it was super easy for us. €1 and €2 are coins, so that’s a great way to tip if you get coins. 

Pack for comfort and the weather. We even made it on a 7 night Med cruise with just our carry ons. A baggage handler strike in Brussels (we took a flight from there to Rome) caused our checked bags to not make it to us in time. That was an interesting cruise 😂 but you will need good shoes for walking everywhere so keep that in mind. Sight seeing in most European cities requires a lot of walking. 
 

Happy cruising!

Love the suite life, don’t love the price though 🫠 we’ve only done it once on Liberty, a Royal Family Suite. Two teenage boys and a toddler. I needed the space and didn’t want to share a bathroom with the boys 😂

4 minutes ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

I know my sister had to wait over an hour on the phone hoping the room is still available..... Poor royal IT system. 

Royal Family Suites are great, there’s just not many of them and they go quick. I get it, being put on hold that long and not knowing if there’s one still available. 🥴

9 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Every time i have checked icon prices as soon as i add my 10 year old its cheaper the just two adults. I think and imgine rhe vast majority of rooms are 3-4 people and royal want to fill ever bed space. I could never understand how you can book a spacious interior room that sleeps six for only three people. Other cruise lines you can only book the rooms for the number of guests. 

What’s annoying is if you have more than four people, you can’t book online even if room has the 5+ symbol code on it. Royal makes you call. Or if you want a Royal Suite, can’t book those online, have to call. 

1 hour ago, Mum2Mercury said:

I'd go with two CONNECTING rooms ... could be insides, ocean fronts or balconies: 

 

- This configuration would give you two rooms and two bathrooms ... more space than most suites. 

- The older teen's friend, I assume, would be female?  My husband would not be comfortable sharing a room (changing clothes, showering) in close quarters with a female teen who isn't his daughter.  

- I wouldn't be willing to put the kids across the hall or anywhere not directly connected to my room ... too much can happen.  I would be willing to go with two balconies ... and have the cabin steward remove the divider between the two, which would give you one long balcony /allow you to come and go between the two rooms without going "out in public".  

 

Yes, if you're going to get connecting rooms, you'd better hurry.  They don't have that many of them, and you need to claim one soon since you're specific about your dates.  If you don't have a travel agent in mind, you can call Royal on the phone and make your reservations; it'd be smart to have a couple options in mind before you call. 

 

Agree with two rooms unless you are on a ship with Royal Family Suites, where it’s a very large balcony room with living room area and then basically an inside stateroom as well. That way teen girls have privacy and their own bathroom, the youngest can have sofa bed in living room and mom and dad can have their own room with locking door for privacy as well. If that’s not an option due to cost or availability, two balcony rooms next to each other is fine and being connecting isn’t super necessary and it’s more cost efficient anyway. 

We’ve always done one small rolling suitcase with medicines, essentials in case our checked bags get delayed. I usually carry a second shoulder bag with swim suits, towels and sunscreen so we can go to pool asap if kids are with us. In Windjammer, our luggage goes right under the table so it’s not blocking anyone.