vjmatty

In my case for an upcoming RC cruise, the onboard account will backed by my RC credit card, however I will have cash from unused OBC after getting off an earlier Princess cruise. Both sailings are in Europe so I can’t deposit the cash, and I don’t want to pay the exorbitant drink package prices of late on RC, so I’d rather have some extra OBC toward some pay as we go drinks.

Yes, when we board the cruise. I am talking about getting off the ship at home after the twelve day sailing.... there is no flight to return on and no foreign country for me to be stuck in. If they want us to stay on the ship for the next cruise I will be happy to oblige.

Thanks for the info, yes that helps. While I am happy with just a massive balcony instead of a super massive one, at least there is some cover on M108....and the closets being in the bedroom instead of the hallway aren't a deal breaker. Hubby will have to deal with my morning routine lol

Glad we're coming back to the US by transatlantic cruise in the fall.

Did you find the lack of privacy and shade to be a problem on M108? I always prefer L107 and 108, but only M108 is available on our next Regal sailing. I like the Lido cabins because they’re more covered, and I’m satisfied with a very large balcony instead of a very very large balcony on M108 since there are only two of us. Also, are the closets in M108 over by the bathroom like they are on L108, or are they near the bed? I’m a morning person and like to get ready without waking hubby up.

Unfortunately the Cruise Planner isn't listing dining options for this sailing yet, it is too far away. But I didn't think of trying the main commercial site which I never use lol

Thanks for taking the time to do this... that helps a lot!

And more of those certain things than any other cruise line....for example I can purchase OBC online everywhere, including Celebrity, owned by RCCL! But not on RC, I have to call them. WHY??

I am sailing on Brilliance for the first time next year and was curious about whether any of the dining packages would be worth it. This is Cruise Critic's list of dining options on Brilliance and the "*" means there is a charge, but they can't be all specialty restaurants, right? I have never heard of food at the pool locations or the Cantinas being for a charge. Which of these are actually special dining besides Chops, Giovanni's and Izumi? Bar - Pool Bar* Café Latté-tudes - Coffee Bar* Chef's Table - Gourmet* Chops Grille - Steakhouse* Giovanni's Table - italian* Izumi - Asian* Jakarta Lounge - Clubby Bar* Minstrel Dining Room - American Park Café - pastries Pub - Pub* R Bar - Atrium Bar* Rita's Cantina - Mexican* Schooner Bar - Nautical bar* Singapore Sling's - Aft-facing bar* Sky Bar - Pool Bar* Viking Crown Lounge - Iconic Bar* Vintages - Wine Bar* Windjammer Café - Casual Windjammer Café Outdoor - Casual Windjammer Café Veranda - Casual

Good to know, thanks!

When I first met my husband and he started staying over I had to buy an ironing board... he irons every day, even casual clothes. All my clothes are either dry clean or they just don't wrinkle.

Do you remember what brand those 3 in 1 detergent and dryer sheets are? I haven't been able to find them in a long time and they are so much easier to pack than anything else.

And patterned clothing, hides the wrinkles 😉

Knowing Royal, they probably have it set up in their system to charge more if you are booking two cabins and less if you are only booking one. So if you are booking two, I would book only one at a time :)

That's not exactly what the complaint is.... they're asking to be grandfathered in if the majority of the "under $12" Plus drinks all of a sudden become "up to $18" Premier drinks. If Princess is going to move the goalposts midstream I can understand the logic.

So the caffeine package includes everything non-alcohol? I don't see bottled (or is it cartoned now) water listed.

This is one thing I wish Princess would change to be like RC.... there you can get a non-alcohol refreshment package for half the price of the alcohol one, which is good for kids and those adults who can't drink alcohol because of medical reasons.

When you say "wrap" balcony, do you mean the corner? From what I remember of the corner suites on Royal class ships, there is very little shade or rain protection on the very very large corner balconies on Dolphin or Baja decks. On the corner balconies that are "only" very large, Caribe and Aloha, there is more shade. I believe there is one deck where the corners have almost no shade.... can't remember if it's Marina or Rivera.

Another incentive, along with OBC, to book longer cruises as separate B2B's.

Does it ever backfire on Disney though? (ETA besides EuroDisney) It’s been years since I’ve paid homage to the mouse lol

My bad…it’s 48.99 https://www.royalcaribbean.com/royalgifts/bombay-sapphire-and-tonic-package

With Princess I'd say there is a 50-50 chance of goodwill winning out over greed. If it were Royal Caribbean I'd estimate 5%.

I wasn't speaking for myself, I was thinking about the math, and all those who talk about how they get their money's worth out of the package no matter what the cost. I can't drink more than 2-3 drinks per day, both as a cancer survivor and because the last time I tried to get my money's worth on Oasis I ended up with the worst heartburn I ever had in my life. Probably the Miami Vices lol, between the alcohol and the fruit they tore me up. Since RC makes both of us get a package of some kind, we now have little use for RC's drink packages...even for hubby getting the deluxe and me getting the refreshment it's too much. I suppose I could get the soda package and so he could get the deluxe but even that isn't worth it. For our 12 day Anthem transatlantic in October I ordered him a few of those Bombay Sapphire and tonic packages for $45 and five bottles of the $30 sauvignon blanc with the cheese plate. I'll preload some OBC so there isn't much of a balance at the end of the cruise and that will have to be enough.

I would recommend also packing a light cardigan or other type of cover-up because ships tend to be over air-conditioned, especially at dinner time.

Newer ships always seem to cost more for the beverage package and Cocoa Cay, not sure why. I will say Princess beverage packages are a lot cheaper, but they have a 15 drink limit per day so it probably comes out even. If the beach club is sold out that price will probably never drop. One thing I find particularly annoying is that you can't check the prices after booking a reservation until you pay the deposit. I booked on Anthem just to see the prices in the Cruise Planner, having a week to pay the deposit, and found out without tying up money I can't even check it out. And if I went for the NRD which they always set as default, I'd lose $100pp. I don't know any other cruise that does this secret squirrel crap.