moviegal

Yeah, just sailed Panorama and the off-site parking was a MESS. We ended up flying in and taking an Uber. Make sure you ask to be dropped at the QUEEN MARY, it's so much faster. It's a short walk over to the cruise check-in terminal. I would not deal with the current parking situation there if you can avoid it.

Lots of useful information here, thanks everyone!

Not a stupid question, I actually was wondering the same! Thanks to the person who answered! (Although I have some big bags, so will probably just Uber to the port instead).

....

Thank you all so much for the replies! I appreciate it very much! I know drink packages are outrageously priced, but we've come to enjoy getting them just because it adds a lot of "no worries, more fun" to our cruise. Excited to try RCI again, so you'll probably see me around these boards. Thank you again!

Oh my gosh, that sounds so neat!

I don't know who is running the IT department at Princess, but they need to find some new folks. This is really outrageous, and frightening.

Hi Everyone!

I'm coming back to RCI after a 15 year hiatus, so it's like a "new" cruise line to me. I've been mostly sailing on Carnival over the years, and their Cheers beverage package costs more per day on shorter cruises that it costs per day on longer ones. Does RCI's work the same way, or is the price the same per day no matter if the cruise is 4 days or 14 days?

We always tip $5 to whomever brings our room service order. Note: we never order a ton of stuff, nor anything complicated, just continental breakfast or maybe a cheese plate in the afternoons.

On 7/20/2024 at 1:22 AM, bobk57 said:

Is it worth it to upgrade from the plus package to the premier package?  Are the alcohol upgrade worth it?  How about wine choices? Overall is it worth the extra $20 per day.

I'll keep my answer simple: if you care about good wine, then YES it's worth it.

Frequent Carnival cruiser here. Discount codes for the Cheers package rarely ever happen.

This actually happened to me, so I called them (1-888-687-2277). The AARP person told me that if you wait TOO LONG to use the gift card, it will sometimes read as invalid.

I bought a $500 Carnival gift card through AARP last fall, and went to use it a couple of months ago. It said no balance. I called, and they sent me a new one. It's a fairly common thing that happens, apparently. So be aware if you give one as a gift to somebody!

Hope this helps, but don't worry. Like I said, the exact same thing happened to me where my card said it had a $0 balance but it really had $500.

Oh my gosh, THANK YOU to everyone! I really appreciate it! You're all the best. 🙂 

12 minutes ago, slavigne5577 said:

I wish I had not investigated our cruise in 11 days. I don't think we will be spending time in piano bar. This is sad news, we usually love it.

Oh no, why? Bad entertainer?

My husband is also a CPAP user, and even if you forget to fill out the form prior to sailing (which we've done before, oops!), a quick call to your room steward will get the water sent to your room. Have never had an issue on Princess, and have only been charged for it once.

We love it, but when we travel with our extended family, some of the older members of our party hate it because they want stick with a set meal time that they're used to. The best tip I have is this: check in on the dining app at least 30 minutes BEFORE you are ready to eat, or try to plan your meals at "off" times. If you want to be seated at peak dinner times, you will need to be prepared to wait.

It's high tourist season in Alaska so pretty much all tours are expensive. We tried to rent a COMPACT car in Skagway last July and Avis was charging $687 for the day!! We were like, "no thanks!" Even if you look at non-excursion local tours, they're almost always just as expensive (or close to it). We tend to look up walking tours and do our own thing, exploring local foodie places, etc.

Hi Everyone!

I have searched for this and can't find anything and wondered if it exists - sort of like a list of current Cruise Directors on each ship, is there something that will tell me which ENTERTAINERS are onboard specific ships? Like, who is the current piano bar entertainer on the Firenze, or what live bands are currently on the Vista, or is there a guest entertainer on the Panorama now and who is it?, etc. etc. 

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction if there is a site or something that will tell me this info.

I have sailed with a drink package and without a drink package, and I will never sail again without one. Yes, it is very expensive. Yes, it's sometimes not easy to "get your money's worth." But I see it as entertainment, and there's value in that.

When I cruised without a package, I had planned to buy what I wanted and not worry about the price. Well, that didn't happen. I ended up getting one coffee, a couple of sodas, and maybe three cocktails the entire week. With a drink package, it's always fun to try new cocktails (no anger at wasting money and no obligation to drink them if I don't like them, and it's a great way to try new things), and I constantly have several espresso drinks / special teas / water and sodas per day. I also love fresh juice, so that's a plus.

I guess I see it as entertainment value, but I like hanging out at the bars and chatting with people. And I find it fun to try lots of new liquors and cocktails and the like.

Disappointed they've moved away from the Pommery. So how's the new Jean Haton? I've never had that one before.

Oh, and to add to the answers to the original question: yes, it's easy to find the champagne at the "big" bars. They always had it in the atrium bar at any time, no problem getting a glass or two (or three, LOL)! Only place they didn't have it was at the mojito bar.

I eat mostly vegetarian, and I love making my own burritos at Blue Iguana. I get the wheat tortilla and load it with veggies (peppers, onions, lettuce, corn salsa, tomatoes, black beans, etc). Really good and much healthier than cheeseburgers, heavily breaded chicken tenders, and french fries (not that I don't love those, too, LOL)!

For dessert, it's always easy to get some kind of fresh fruit at the buffet (oranges, apples, etc.). And the toppings bar by Blue Iguana almost always has freshly sliced watermelon!

Hello everyone!

I'm new to Royal and will be sailing this fall. I plan to buy the deluxe beverage package before my cruise. I have read a bit about how people buy the package online and if there are any sales or price drops, they cancel it and rebook. Could someone who sails RCI frequently explain briefly how that works, and how you do it? Is it easy to do? Can you do it online, or must I call in for an agent to help?

I don't want to buy the package and then have a lot of hassle if it drops in price. (Right now, it's $72.99 per day for my 4 day cruise, is that a good deal)? What price would you hold out for?

Thanks so much, I appreciate any guidance and help any of you can give.

On 6/22/2024 at 3:53 PM, stobe1 said:

Is there actually any money to be made in those? Serious question. Unlike slots where you at least have a chance or table games where it is a combination of luck and skill, I cant see a big return for anyone on those. Or any return for that matter. 

We once collected all the chips to spell out B-O-N-U-S. I seem to remember it paid $100. This was from saving up those chips from various cruises over the years. And take note next time you see one onboard: they rarely have the "S" chip in any of the machines!

I love packing light AND doing laundry (for real), so I even go so far as to book cabins by the laundry rooms. Makes it SO easy.

And this is crazy-- just today, I also got the same form letter, same $50 OBC offer -- for a complaint early last year about being charged $13 for a drink I didn't order on the last day. I think $50 is pretty awesome for that complaint, LOL, but not so much yours.