mlbcruiser

3kidsandcats (That could have been my screen name in the past, lol!), thanks for that information. Generally I just take a photo for my phone of things like that. I’m sure it’s quite efficient to store it in the Apple wallet, though.

Thanks a bunch for the information! Just to show you how and technical I am, I have never ever used Apple wallet. So I did go to settings and opened it, and it looks more like something you used to pay for things. Is it an actual app also that I needed to definitely download? Maybe that is the problem. I know you all have mentioned downloading the app. (Yes, I’m dense as well as technically challenged!) There was a button that said cards and passes. I clicked it but I never listed any cards or passes so there weren’t any. I actually had thought about trying to scan the barcode off of a computer by going to the RCI site and was able to pulling up my sign and sail pass that way. But knew there must be some easier way to do it on your phone. I’ve actually had iPhones for years now. Don’t use half of the things they can do. But again, thanks very very much for the help!

Hoping someone can give me a tutorial on how to scan the set sail pass if the only way I can see my set sail pass is on my iPhone? I am definitely technically challenged! I have not yet filled out our check in documents. Our cruise is barely over a month away. The of the cruise payment has not yet even been posted to our credit card, so even if I filled in the necessary information to cruise, I’m sure we won’t know anything for a while. I know how to use my phone to scan a printed out barcode to download, say, a restaurant menu or something. What I don’t understand is, if I am looking at my set sail pass on my own phone screen (once the pass has been issued), how can I use my phone to scan the barcode I am looking at on my phone’s screen? Is that even doable? Thanks for any helpful information.

I have a feeling it just depends what your cabin is under. Could be someone gets lucky it is under a non-noisy spot. But someone else winds up under a very noisy spot. So we were on I think it was the carnival destiny years ago when she was a new ship. So my brother probably went to bed around 12:30 AM. 1:30 AM and we were still hearing the crew party on the pool deck directly above our cabin. Finally I called down to the customer service deck and asked how much longer it would be going on. Within five or 10 minutes it had stopped, thankfully.

I agree totally with brillohead and Sunshine 3601. You need to know the wifth of the scooter ahead of time. You can also get the cabn door size from Royal Caribbean’s accessible dept. You should call them anyway and tell them the cabin you would like so they can check on the bed configuration. That’s the key to using a non-fold up scooter and being able to keep it inside the cabin. Beds must be on far side of canin. Not near bathroom. After renting a regular scooter 3 times for cruises, we purchased a Pride fold up travel scooter for my DH. . It rolls & folds up into about the size of a medium rolling suitcase. There is a similar scooter called an EV Rider that’s about the same size and weight. So handy!

Oh thank you so much, SplashOfWater! I hope they have that 10 PM Grease show on our cruise. Works best with regular seating if you’re doing late dining. We’be tried Anytime dining a few times and there are often waits & lines if you haven’t made a reservation, or even if you have sometimes! The other thing is, Royal isn’t big on grouping strangers together. At least when we do the same seating we are usually seated with people so we have others to talk to. Princess is a very good about finding those who would like to dine with others seats in their main restaurants but RCI avoids it. Princess asks everyone being seated on any time dining if they would like to dine with others or not. Therefore people who prefer not to have strangers at their table don’t get stuck with any.

Thanks, WackyWayne. Those were helpful but I’d love to see a schedule that is much more recent. To top it off, in our case we are just doing a five night cruise this time. It’s been many years since we have done a short cruise and I don’t know how that is going to affect what shows are shown when. Or even if they will all happen. We were on the Symphony the first week of March this year. Hairspray had been paused for s while. Unfortunately I can’t recall if we were able to find out the times of the other shows before embarking but I thought we were (?). know for sure that on the other 5 Oasis class ships we did, we always got the information well ahead of time. That was the thing I did not like about that class of ship… Having to play around with making schedules to be sure you got in the shows amd had dinner when you wanted to. Most of the time we do regular late seating but once on the Oasis several friends went along. One of the wives made reservations for all of us at various times for dinner ahead of time so as not to conflict with any of the shows we wanted to see. We never had to wait for the programs pictured above to know showtimes and set up a schedule around them before sailing.

OK, I just got off the phone with RCI. I was certain there have been a couple of times when we did not get the balcony discount inside of six months. That is true. However, the customer service agent I dealt with looked everything up. He himself wasn’t sure of how it was supposed to work at first. As it stands, the reason we are not getting the discount is because of the current 30% off flash sale across the board. Now this “flash” sale has been going on for at least a couple of weeks. In fact, it was just extended either over the weekend or on Monday. (Flash to me should refer to a sudden one or two day sale. Not one that has gone on for over a week or more. ) He said there are other sales that nullify a diamond level or higher discount as well. It just depends on the particular sale. I am quite sure we have booked many times during a sale but I guess those particular sales allowed the discount. There can be other reasons the discount isn’t given on particular cruises or itineraries as well, and some things have changed from the way they were, which could also enter into it. I guess if we were paying full price we would get a discounted discount if booking within six months (as some of you have said). Some of this can be found on the Royal Caribbean site under find a cruise, then discounts, then exclusions and then I think you have to scroll down and also look for special wording such as “combinable with all discounts.” I didn’t try this myself but just asked how to find it. Now I know what to look for in the future. Thanks for spurring me on to find out what the whens & whys are. Hope we have your experience, sormekun, if we get deck 14 & can’t switch! Although we have had balconies on the ocean side several times, on the Oasis class we’ve generally had CP balconies and, like you and Orange jeep, We have really enjoyed them Usually deck 9 or 11. Thanks for the tip Ourusualbeach, but I ALWAYS put our C&A # in during a cruise search, as well as check military, senior citizen and the state we live in to try for any available disounts. It can often make a difference for sure.

Just looked at a rollcall for a cruise beginning in a couple of days. Someone posted that you don’t get access to the show schedule until you are in the terminal. At that point you can access the schedule with the app. Kind of crazy to be scrambling to make show and dinner reservations when you are trying to board the ship!

Breezy1234, I was just searching through this board hoping to see something about showtimes on the Harmony. Lo and behold, I saw your post. I just booked today. My DH and I usually go for a regular late seating. However, on Oasis class ships this could be tricky with staggered and varying showtimes. I planned to go online tonight and try to choose our shows/show times. An RCI agent told me that they no longer release the showtimes ahead of the sailing. I mentioned that maybe I could find out some likely times from someone on cruise critic who was on the same ship now or just sailed on it. He thought that might be a good idea even though it wouldn’t mean for sure the shows will be the same time on our cruise. Perhaps it is because too many shows got canceled last minute or weren’t being performed at all in earlier Covid days. Not knowing sure messes up dining plans, however. If anyone out there has insight on how to find showtimes currently please post!

brillohead, I wish! Royal started the six month deadline for a balcony discount a few years back. Since then, I’ve only ever gotten it when we are booking farther than six months out. Definitely have when we have booked more than six months out. We are diamond but after this cruise we’ll be diamond plus (didn’t get that status quickly by booking suites or anything, either). I believe there’s a $25 difference in the amount of the discount between those two levels, though. I booked today and did not get it. Even when you book online with an agency or through RCI, the balcony discount will automatically show up before you finalize the booking if you put your C&A # in first. If you have been getting it inside of six months, please tell me your secret! For the record, I even actually booked through the cruiseline this time, too! Thanks for trying to help me out though. I do appreciate it.

I even wear them every night at home! Of course I can still hear with them in but they do muffle the noise a bit. Thanks for replying.

I think it’s definitely a trade-off to get any kind of a balcony versus an inside cabin when you could end up in an inside or ocean view far forward on the ship. At least for me. One problem about the noise is it used to not matter so much but my husband takes a lot of naps! Plus I turn in later so I am rarely out of the cabin before 930! Sometimes 10:00. I certainly appreciate the replies. A lot! Thank you!

For the first time in many Royal Caribbean cruises we are likely going to book a Neighborhod GTY cabin. Cruising in a few short weeks so won't get the usual balcony discount as we're booking far less than 6 months ahead. There aren't all that many cabins left in ANY categories even the ones you choose yourself. So it looks like there is a very good chance we'll wind up on deck 14. If you have had a neighborhood cabin on an Oasis class on deck 14, how was it? I have noticed the sports deck is right above deck 14 and the basketball court seems to be above the aft Boardwalk balcony cabins. (Scared of hearing thumping all the time!) As for Central Park, the pools are just above those cabins (I don't recall what else) and in THE past, we've never chosen even deck 12 for that reason. I will be holding my breath to see where we end up if cabins on deck 14 in these areas have problems with lots of noise or other unpleasant issues. Hoping some of you who have deck 14 neighborhood experience will see this soon and reply! I tried to do a search and I know this topic has come up, but? . Thank you SO MUCH for any helpful replies. Counting on the CC community!

Thanks for the replies and info. We were on Symphony in very early March last year and h Jairsprsy was not playing. We had seen it already but were looking forward to it again. I know around that time shows were just beginning to return to a few ships. Wind prevented the ice show all except for, I think it was, the very last night. Our dinner was over just as the show was getting started. The crowd of people who had been unable to see it all week wete modtly standing, covering at least a third or maybe even half of the boardwalk. Many of them couldn’t see a thing and we certainly couldn’t so we left. Thus the teadon for my questions. Thanks again.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Though I’ve looked at the rollcall for the sailing we are considering, I had not thought of doing it just to get a handle on peoples’ experiences. Thanks for that suggestion, Letsgogogo! I also looked up some reviews on the so-called discount cruise and vacation website. Admittedly, I overthink everything, lol!

Thanks for the input. I have not been on her except during late October/early November. Royal Caribbean has always been number one in my book for entertainment, with NCL a nice second. Even though I am a senior citizen, I still like current music, etc. The NCL ships I was on about 10-15 years ago had a slightly younger bent to the entertainment which I really liked. The very small size of the cabins was annoying, though. At least according to Kevin availability right now, it appears the ship will have a pretty good number of people on the two dates we are considering. Glad to hear of others experiences though.

I have been reading some Summit reviews and there really aren’t all that many recent ones. Of course Covid had cruising shut down for a while and when it resumed, there were a lot of things that weren’t like they were before. Most ships were short staffed and so on. Mainly what I have seen are reviews done in July and August. Lots of complaining. I would love to hear a report from anyone who has been on the Summit in the last few weeks. Especially now that school is back in session and the latest round of the newest Covid variant is starting to calm down a bit. Was the ship generally in good condition? Did they have much in the way of shows and entertainment at night? Please comment on the selection of food and it’s quality. Hoping someone with recent experience sees this and can offer some good information. Thanks for any info!

Looking at various ship reviews the last couple of days, I’ve noticed that there aren’t many that are all that up-to-date. Probably because the stoppage and lull due to Covid for a while. There is a smattering of reviews for mostly August and July. Among a couple of other ships we are considering sailing on NCL’s Sky fairly soon. . Haven’t been on it in a number of years but the last time was a Halloween cruise. I do recall even without a lot of children on board it was very difficult to watch a show in a lounge that passenger traffic had to pass through because there just wasn’t room for all the people trying to see it. I think the layout of the ship may have changed since then but I did just read many remarks about the lack of seating in various places on the ship because there were just too many people on board. Since most of these reviews were quite old or from just this summer, I am wondering if anyone who has been on the ship recently has found crowding a problem? Please don’t hesitate to add any other comments such as food or show quality. Thanks for any info!

Was lobster, usually a formal night entrée, ever served in the main dining room, even though it was just a five night cruise?

Wondering if recent cruisers on Royal Caribbean ships have found most of the shows have returned and are back in operation? We were on Symphony OTS at the very beginning of March. We were told that due to Covid a lot of the performers had left and some just didn’t want to come back. In tbe case of Hairspray, particularly, performances had been stopped while new casting and rehearsals took place elsewhere. I have read reviews of ships of other lines these last couple of days and it sounds like many ships are not back to their former performing schedules or number of entertainment options. Most newer reviews I see for any line, and there aren’t many, contain lots of chatter about the covid issues encountered on board. Also most of them were written in July and August. Hoping someone who has been on a Royal Caribbean cruise in the last month can comment on the entertainment situation. Thanks for any information.

Basically it sounds like it’s possible on a six night cruise, rarely possible on a five night, (depending on weather it follows a longer cruise), and never for three or four night cruises. Thanks for the reply!

Sunshine, when was your cruise? I thought I had heard that it wasn’t served on three and four night cruises but again that was sometime ago. Thanks for the replies. Maybe more people will respond who has had recent experiences one way or the other.

We’ve cruised many times, especially on Royal Caribbean. However, we haven’t done a short cruise on any line in quite a long time & are thinking of doing one. I remember hearing that Royal Caribbean did not serve lobster on short cruises. How many nights long does a cruise have to be with them for free lobster to be served in the main dining room? (I know lots of people will say it’s ot good lobster anyway, but I still want to know.) I realize this topic has been brought up before because I’ve seen things about it - quite a long while back, but I can’t find any of those posts at the moment (although I searched). Thanks for any information!

Thanks and good to know. We have a two-story home so have to go upstairs all the time. My husband should be able to go into the home. Now lots of steps with no banister or anything to hold onto can sometimes be a problem. Otherwise not so much.