Cruisin Around

On 7/21/2019 at 1:59 PM, zdad59 said:

• Got a great private behind the scenes tour of Hairspray.   My niece knows a guy who knows a guy.   We got the tour by the lead rigger for the show, who by chance grew up in Pittsburgh, my home town.  

 

Hello fellow Pittsburgher!  Loving your review and photos!  80 days to go for us!  Any special tips from one yinzer to another haha?!  We live less than 10 minutes from Kennywood.  Can't wait to read the rest!

On 6/6/2019 at 8:47 PM, cruisebot21 said:

Do it right away - it was fully booked for the entire week by the time we boarded when we sailed back in Feb.

They do have a 'stand-by line' for each session where you can show up and hope registered people are no shows. We were still able to play more than enough rounds

 

If it was booked before you boarded, were you able to sign up for this ahead of time online?  I know my son would love to do this.  Thanks!

On 6/5/2019 at 4:50 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

Symphony does not have headliners.  They have been replaced with a Red Carpet Movie Night.

What is that? Thanks! 

Thank you!!

Looking forward to more!

Really enjoying your review!

Well it went back down to $89 tonight (it was $99 this afternoon) so I booked it!  I'll keep watching to see if it goes any lower.  At least I know I have to check it at least twice a day now...  Thanks all!

Have a wonderful trip!  I'll be interested in your review as we are doing this same itinerary of Symphony in October.  I'd never been to Ithaca until my sister got married to a Syracuse boy and now every year for about the last for our five years, we accompany my sister's family for a Labor Day weekend of fun and we attend a picnic at Harry Treman State Park (which is gorgeous and we love to do the hike!) and then stop for ice cream at Purity on the way home!  Bon Voyage!

No worries!  I think we've all had that happen!  That's always been the case in the fine print for us though.  Had to pay for the kiddos up front.  I try to look at it as buying on board credit because once I'm on board I should get back $150 lol!  It might take some work and it might be easy.  No one will know lol!

8 minutes ago, cot427 said:

I must've found a steal on Ovation...I booked the 3-night a few months ago at $69 for the Vancouver to Honolulu cruise in September. Now the 3-night is at $99 and Chops+1 is at $75...absolute insanity! 

 

 

 

 

The cheapest our 3 night has been is $89 and now it's $99.  I'll keep watching!  You did get an excellent deal!  The BOGO for the first two nights on ours (which isn't even available now) was almost $60

Thanks so much for all of your input.  It's nice to hear that even when the price has gone up, it's gone back down again.  I'll keep watching as it's months away.  I'm a little nervous myself about showing up with six people (we'd be dining with my sister's family) but only having a reservation for four.  We've asked at the restaurant before about processing the refund and they told me that I had to go to Guest Services.  Once I had to produce the copy website saying that it was free and reduced for certain ages.  Have great cruises everyone!

9 hours ago, katiel53 said:

The payment in advance of the 3 night packages or even the UDP package isn't required for anyone under 13.  So, if you decided to do that,  you won't be paying in full for your children and looking for a credit.  The info is in the "fine print" on the cruise planner under the dining package;  therefore, you are not paying $200 in advance and looking for a refund.  By the way the cost isn't half price for your older child, it's $10  IF food is ordered from the child's menu.  That also is on the website and unless the info on there is wrong,  I feel you are worrying needlessly.

 

I do think Royal Caribbean uses some creative math when they show the prices of drink packages or dining packages/reservations.  If I see a price I feel is fair, I book at that and if the price goes down, I know I can cancel and rebook.  

Hi!

Can you show me where you’re seeing that because I can’t find it. I can only find this saying that I will be charged and I was the last two times we did a package like this and then had to chase the refund. Please know that I’m not trying to prove you wrong. I’d like to have the info you’re referring to so maybe I can call and book it a different way. The website is adding it automatically with no way for me to remove it and you can see in the picture below that that is what it says it will do...

Thank you!!

Hi All,

We have a cruise booked on Symphony in October and it seems like every time I log into the cruise planner, there's another change in the Specialty Dining.  Has anyone else had that happen?  I'm sure they are trying to push their new unlimited package but first they eliminated the BOGO for the first two nights (which was a much higher price than the last two times we've done it).  Then they added a three night package which I am really considering doing as we are celebrating two birthdays while we are on board and definitely want to try Wonderland again.  We ate there on Anthem OTS and it was a really fun experience.  A few days ago it was $89pp for the three nights and now it's $99 and they put a banner on it saying that it's on sale now.  I really dislike the fact that we have to pay up front for two children in our group as one will be 100% free because she's four and my son will only be charged 50% as he's 11.  While no one likes to spend $200 that they don't have to, the bigger pain is that it will require a visit to Guest Services where I'll have to show them a copy in writing stating that they need to refund $150 to me and it might take more than one trip there.  Since we don't sail until October, I don't know if I should expect more changes or higher pricing.  Just wondering what the pricing is for the three night package on other sailings.  I guess if I book now at $99 but it goes back to $89 we can cancel and rebook, correct?  There's also a Chops + 1 but that price is pretty high too - $75 I believe.  I know this is first world problems and no one is forcing me to book specialty dining.  Just looking into options and opinions.  Thanks all!

Thank you!!  It seemed like the thing to do but then it also seemed like it maybe wasn't allowed but I didn't see that you had to be in the same room.

Hi!

I have a question about the internet packages.  I would like to get a surf and stream for one of us so that we can stay in touch with my parents while we are away.  My sister's family is also traveling in their own cabin right across the hall and they want to get one package for themselves as well.  Could one of us get the package for two users, or is that not allowed as we are in different rooms?  I'm not trying to break any rules but I didn't know if that was the most economical way to do this.  I didn't really see anything in the terms and conditions.  Thank you!

On 1/10/2019 at 10:16 AM, BillOh said:

 

Have you joined your roll yet?    I've lost track of the last predicted availability for the pier at Coco Cay, I assume it will be available for an Oasis class ship by then.

I forgot to ask - have you signed up for the Meet & Mingle?  I did it and it told me I was the first one???

22 hours ago, 37645 said:

 

Yes it’s too early to see ones specific to your cruise. I don’t sail until November. 

 

But it you can just select another sailing on Symphony in the app for a sailing coming up and you can view all of the acotovoes, shows, etc and view menus for the dining venues. Thanks 

Oh good idea!  Thanks!

21 hours ago, BillOh said:

 

Have you joined your roll yet?    I've lost track of the last predicted availability for the pier at Coco Cay, I assume it will be available for an Oasis class ship by then.

Hi!  I have!  It's not too active but I'm sure it will start a little more as we get closer!

I can't see any of these details even though I'm logged in with our cruise.  Would you think it's because we don't sail until October?

I can't wait to follow along with this.  We are doing these stops in October as well but have Cococay instead of Nassau.  We've never been on an Oasis class ship so I need all the tips and help we can get!  This will be our 13th cruise with 10 being on RC.  We've been on Anthem and loved it so we had to do some of the prebooking of reserved shows but other than that, Oasis class is all new to us!  Bon Voyage!

For our Adventure OTS cruise in October I paid $21 for the soft drink/Voom package and now it's $8.50 for the soda and $11.99 for the Voom (all prices are daily of course). So if I cancel and buy this I guess I'd save $4.08 for our eight day cruise. I think I'll just keep what I have and save the aggravation. It's interesting though that when I purchased it last November on a Black Friday super sale that it was touted as such a great limited time deal!

I love going to the dining room as well so this isn't something that I'd say is a perfect alternative but I have heard several people say that they absolutely love the themed (advertised in the Compass) meals in the Windjammer.

Thanks everyone for your responses. What's really interesting is that I started to look at a few Cruies Compasses from recent Adventure cruises and it states that Giovanni's table is a $28 charge. It's listed for $35 on the Cruise Planner and the "BOGO" is $40. Since I'm really only interested in that restaurant, it would be cheapest for me to just book on board. I can't figure out why it would be an additional $7/person before hand unless they are saying that you are guaranteed your specific time requested. I'm just going to hold out and after looking at some of the menus in the main dining room, hearing about the themed meals in the WJ, I feel like I already have too many things that I want to try and not enough days to eat them haha! Giovanni's does still sound really fun and I might look into it. Maybe even try them for lunch one day...

I've seen a few posts regarding the BOGO and not wanting to miss the 2nd night in the MDR. May I ask your reason? If it is for the food, you can get better filet in the specialty restaurants than would ever be served in the MDR.

 

If you think you will miss lobster, it's not served the first formal night and on my cruises on Allure, as an example, the 2nd formal night I was served lobster tails that were far better than those served in the MDR.

 

I guess I am just trying to see why it is so important to eat in the MDR the first formal night. Thanks.

Hi there!

I understand your question. I will be honest - we really do enjoy the the main dining room and seeing more people. One of our favorite things on past cruises was sitting at large tables and meeting other people. MTD and other options, along with smaller tables really took that away though. We just like being with a larger crowd and seeing everyone dressed up on formal night. I've emailed RC and asked if possible - and if they still had larger tables - that we'd love to be with another couple or two. I did get a response back that it will be noted and they will do their best.

Thanks!

Hi All,

For anyone who was recently on Adventure OTS, did you notice any promotions once onboard for the specialty restaurants? I keep going back and forth with the BOGO because it's for the first and second night and we want to be in main dining room for formal (second) night. Some say that they have luck changing from the second night to another night while others say they are really strict. I realize this is true in both cases because while some get lucky, others do not. If it was just two of us, I'd take a gamble but this would be a birthday surprise for someone in our group of six so it's a pretty expensive gamble. To be honest, I know that many seem to swear by the specialty restaurants but we've never been disappointed in the main dining room either. Giovanni's just sounded really good with all the things that they bring you to try as soon as you're seated and it seems quite fun. We've done Chops before and it was fine. We did Wonderland and I'd do that one again for sure if we were on the Quantum class. I'm mainly just interested in Giovanni's for this sailing and our group of six. Has anyone been offered any promotions after getting on board or saw a First Night Done Right once onboard? Someone mentioned to me that during the voyage, they got about 40% off Giovanni's just by stopping at a table outside of the Windjammer that was promoting it. Anyone see or hear of anything like this? Just torn because of stipulations, prices and after seeing main dining room menus - been pretty impressed with those haha. I know this will come down to our preference and it's very subjective as what people prefer. Just looking to gather information before deciding. Thanks in advance!