MindyJohn

Here's one labor-intensive way I've found to search for resident, senior or military discounts. Right now, from the home page, "Show results" delivers 821 cruises. When you check the box for military and/or senior discounts on the left hand side, nothing changes. However, when you start specifying search limits such as looking at all 5-9 day cruises for July 2015, you will see that some of the results delivered will include the notation "DEALS INCLUDED Military Rate".

From my point of view they hurt themselves by making the discounts difficult to find. Right now most people who find them are already looking at a specific cruise, meaning they're already interested. So sure, the discount gives them extra incentive to book, but many people are already on their way to booking, so RCCL ends up diluting revenue they would have gotten anyway. When it's easier to find lists of discounted cruises, they create many new bookers who might not even have considered a certain cruise except for noticing the discounted rates.

What if any are the rules on WOW cards? I know C&A members are given a card at the beginning of each cruise. Is it possible to give more than one WOW on a cruise. I'm on a back to back and gave out the first WOW at the beginning of the second leg. Is it still permissible to give out a WOW for the second leg?

 

Also, is it possible to get additional cards from either guest relations or the loyalty ambassador?

 

Thanks

Roy

We've been told these are only available at the port when you check-in although on one ship GS was able to scrounge one up, but it was a long wait and they said normally they don't stock them. On Serenade in March I was given the URL for the electronic survey and told it's "better anyway" to highlight the person's good service there - that they end up getting more recognition from management.

Yes, were told by our room steward that it did not "count" unless we turned it in to guest services. That was a few cruises back, but we always turn them in, but let the employee know also.

This is interesting. I'd never heard that and we've always presented to the recipient along with extra gratuity.

I agree, however, I went back and got the following results. The Freedom 7 day cruise on 10 May as an example.

 

Regular rate $599.00

Select Senior Rate $588.00

Select Military Rate $575.00

 

None showed resident rate which apparently means there are none for the selected cruises.

Can you please clarify exactly what you did to get the result showing the list of 3 different rates? I'm not seeing anything like that when I try, so evidently I'm not doing the same thing you did.

I live in Seattle and if you have no choice but to keep the 910am flight with Expedia, I would walk off the ship with my luggage at 7am or earlier and taxi to Seatac. You should be there by 730am and for me, I would be comfortable with that being in time for a 910am flight.

We were on Serenade in New Orleans a few weeks ago and "lined up" for walk off at around 620am. After waiting about 25 minutes, we were within the first 30 people to leave the ship and were able to taxi to the airport and fly out at 820am. It is important to line up early though.

This was my concern. An upcoming cruise we're doing will have both OBN and OBR for the first time (and it's not a group booking). So I want to make sure they use the OBN first so the remaining OBR goes back on our credit card after the cruise.

 

When we check the account in the room on the TV, does it actually display which OBC is being used up first (for excursions)?

 

Despite the many people saying "aw, just spend it!", I'm more practical than that. I figure every $300 I don't blow on things that aren't a priority for me adds up cruise after cruise and allows me to take an extra cruise down the road. :D I'd much rather take an extra cruise than blow it on over-priced treats onboard.

When looking at your account on the TV look for the N or R coding on the credits. If you have difficulty just stop at Guest Relations and they'll print it out and highlight which are which. We've always been assured the ships automatically use up the NR OBC first, and we've never had them make a mistake on that.

Would you please tell someone that the site is NOT working properly. The filters for military , senior and residency for one thing do NOT work. I know for a fact that there are cruises that hav a military rate available yet when I click on that my results are the same 614 cruises that are available without that button checked. Thanks

Amen - I have tried over and over to find ways to navigate the new site and formats. Because the BOGOHO pricing is so high, it's more important than ever to be able to search for special rates and I have not had any luck using the filters. It's hard to believe they've lost so much functionality with this "upgrade". I can't be bothered bumbling through hundreds of cruise possibilities with proxy bookings trying to ferret out a military or senior rate. Guess I'll have to find other sites to find affordable options on Royal.

When we were on Oasis OTS TA last fall, we had $950 of nonrefundable OBC to use up. In our experience we haven't had to monitor which OBC is being used. The ship has always used the nonref OBC first. Anyway, fortunately for us, they offered a special during the crossing when you could withdraw up to $300 pp cash from the casino against your OBC. Was very happy with that.

In the search box at the top of the page type the name of the ship you are looking for. From the results it will list all cabins from that ship. Then scan the list for your deck number and cabin number. Hope that helps.

 

 

 

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Should of thought of that - Thanks !

I am also close to the 125K level and was considering applying the free cruise credit to a cruise I have booked on Adventure of the Seas in March 2016. We booked a balcony cabin using BOGOHO sale, but from what I understand, if I call to apply the credit, they will reprice the cruise to regular price and then apply the $2500 credit? Is that correct? Or will I just not be able to use the credit at all because I booked with BOGOHO? If that is the case, I will just cancel the cruise and rebook when the sale finally goes away.

From what I was told by the rep, yes, they reprice the balcony to remove the BOGOHO discount. This leaves you with an inflated price for the cabin. Second, the amount of the credit depends upon the price of the least expensive Oceanview. So in order to have a $2500 credit applied, the Oceanview pricing would need to be at $1250pp or above.

Here they are

Thanks ! Wish I could understand it all better. :confused:

We applied the 15000 points for $150 per person ($300 total) to two separate cruises, Feb. 2014 and Apr. 2014. We made the reservations quite a bit before applying for the credits--in one case just before final payment and in the other case after final payment so we were credited $300 on our credit card. When I called to apply the credit the second time I had to argue with the representative and read their rules word for word to him---he insisted that I could just get a total of $150 for 15000 points. But he finally agreed to the $300 total, provided there was at least $150 price difference p.p. between inside and oceanview cabins on the cruise we were booked. I'm not sure if rules have been tweaked to prevent this now?

Where can I find the rules you were reading word for word? I'm not far from the 125k award, but yesterday an agent at the redemptions desk said that ever since BOGOHO he hadn't seen a single booking that made the free cruise attractive like it used to be - as in $2500 of value. This is due to the fact they re-price your booking to take away your BOGOHO pricing. I've always looked for ways to get more than 2% for the points value, but now it's not looking good. I have a Celebrity cruise in May, so perhaps I'll try to do something with that. If I can't do better than 2% I'm going to drop this card and switch to one with fewer redemption restrictions and complications.

We have been able to save $300 ($150 per person) by using 15000 points to upgrade from inside to oceanview on two separate 6-8 day cruises, thereby doubling the points value. The upgrade amount is based on the difference between an inside room and an oceanview room and it can be applied even for balcony and higher categories.

 

We thought it was a good deal to be able to maximize the points earned.

Have you done this recently since they began BOGOHO? Are you doing the booking and the reward redemption at the same time directly with the redemption desk? I'm interested in pursuing this for some of my current bookings, although I don't know how much luck I'll have since they're controlled by my travel agent. Thanks !

Has anyone found a good way to search this thread for a specific cabin? I've tried by number and found nothing and I don't want to scan 11 pages. Thanks!

you are absolutely right! Life is way too short for BS!

 

I hope everyone that books this ship will enjoy it as much as I have. It's really an awesome ship

 

 

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You took the words right out of my mouth ! We thoroughly enjoyed the beauty and novelty of Quantum, but are happy there's a variety of ships and styles in the RCCL fleet - keeps it more interesting for us. Here's to the good life and lots more cruising!

I really like your posts--which give you a clear sense of what it's like boarding a ship and getting settled into some pretty sweet quarters. Hope the robo-bar was working (even) better than during the trans-Atlantic.

Hope, too, our paths cross again soon. Mindy has just booked us an Azmara cruise in January out of Buenos Aires--around the Falklands and past Antarctica to the Cape before heading back to BA. Wanna join us?

Best,

John

Great review and photos! What kind of cameras?

One night in Grande on the TA the Captain was hosting 4 couples.

Hey Ken Jarvis - I approve of your review too ! Full of spot on observations and great pix - you rock! Happy Turkey Day to you and Paulette[emoji1]

Good job on some of the basics about Q. We were on the TA and I was glad our cabin was aft (being near the elevator was a plus). Your dining observations are similar to mine, but I know there are many viewpoints on that topic :D

Hi Liz! Here's my version of the same pictures.

 

Your pictures are the best I've seen, Bob ! Thanks for posting. I had blurriness problems with mine, but the excitement and beauty of the arrival will never be blurry in my mind :D

Hi Liz. Thanks for posting your objective review - nicely done ! It's a shame the motion of the ocean interfered with your holiday - but you made the best of it. I love your photo at the Masquerade Dinner - how did you know that butterfly mask would be so appropriate - you must be clairvoyant among your other talents ;)

To the poster who asked about mini-golf, no there's no course on Q. And for the question re curries, yes, there's quite a bit of selection at both lunch and dinner.

Was anyone going to post the cabin pics from your cabin crawl......thanks :)

I wish they would. Two people in our group took quite a few. I'll try to find a link for one of the guys who keeps a website of his travels, but I need to browse through the Rollcall and try to remember his CC name. If I find anything I'll let you know.

Good morning gang ! Where's my Mimosa and NYC skyline? That was a great ending the cruise:D So glad to hear you're OK Dan. What a shock that was for you !!! I've had an odd "balcony" injury to my hand. When moving the locking handle it popped into place with a lot of pressure and whacked the bottom of my pointer. In seconds it was swollen up like a new knuckle. Ice helped though and it doesn't really hurt. Sure ugly though, about a third of my hand is purple and puffy like a black eye.

Yesterday flying home we had a stop in Denver with a mini-blizzard going on briefly. I've noticed I'm still rocking a bit too. Haven't received my electronic comment form - anyone else ? I noticed Carolyn Brown has posted her official CC review of the crossing. http://www.cruisecritic.com/blog/index.php/2014/11/10/just-back-from-quantum-of-the-seas-hits-misses/

I'm going to miss everyone - Happy Trails to you !

Someone asked about commemorative gifts. Several books/booklets about the ship, lanyard, shopping bag, backpack.

Can you tell me if you toured a Family JS on the cabin crawl? I'm really hoping someone took pics! BTW thank you so much for spending your valuable vacation time with us all

Yes, we did, but I was not taking photos. A couple of others did, and perhaps they've posted on Shutterfly or FB or other blogs. It was one of my favorites on the Crawl, and I don't think you'll be disappointed. The space and deck were luxurious like a Grand Suite and the two bathrooms were lovely. However, there was not a separate second bedroom, just fold out sofa and pullman above, in the same large room space as the main bed.