Pug Lady

We ate in the steakhouse on the Valor in February and didn't see anything on the menu about everyone having to order Art at the Table.  I would just ask your wait staff when you order and see what they say.  They are usually very accommodating.  

Thanks y’all!  Our reservations are linked, just to be safe. Thank you!

So I'll be going on the Mardi Gras in February with two other families.  We have all opted to go with Your Time Dining.  About half of the people going don't plan on eating in the dining room at all during the entire cruise.  Here's my question....when I make the YTD reservation each evening, can I reserve a table for any amount of people that I choose?  For example, there are 4 of us on our reservation, but if I wanted to bring my sister's kids with me one night, could I reserve a table for 6, even though I only have 4 on my booking?   I hope this makes sense.  Thank you all in advance! ☺️

We were on the Magic at the end of July.  The only thing I can comment on is the internet.  I got the social package and it was pretty much useless unless we were at the back of the ship.  Our rooms were forward, and it never worked in the room.  It also kept kicking me off and I would have to go through the login process over and over.  But if we were in the back of the ship, it worked fine. 

Reading some of the other comments, it makes me wonder if they were having problems on our cruise.

We had Ketut on our July 20th cruise on the Magic.  We loved him!  And being on the Lido deck was pretty nice.  The kids got ice cream every time we left the room! 

I thought he was good!  Very energetic and played all the singalong songs you would expect.  He was fun.

When we were on in July it was Russell Blues, I believe.

I have two sons, ages 14 and 11.  They had fun, but their main complaint was that the basketball court closed at sundown.  They would play basketball 24/7 if they could.  On Royal, the court would stay open until 10:00 pm, so closing at sundown doesn't give a lot of play time.  Especially if you are in port all day, then going to dinner at 6:00.  But other than that, they played a lot of putt putt and Foosball.  They also enjoyed the dive in movies by the pool.

So would I come out ahead by waiting and ordering my bottled water once we are sailing?  I would still pay the delivery fee, but not the taxes, right?

Just ask for the balance on your account when you return your last towels. If it's not zero, get it fixed then -- either by telling them you just returned all the towels you had, or by returning chair-hog towels.

 

Think of it like checking your bank balance at the ATM. That five seconds to confirm your balance right then can save a bunch of time later standing in line to fix the problems that were caused if there was a mistake.

We tried to do that, but since their system was down they couldn't tell us. But the girl assured us that she had checked our towels back in by noting it on the paper. They didn't actually charge us for the towels until almost midnight, and we had already gone to bed by then. And since our room steward didn't give us a copy of our invoice, we had no idea of the charge when we disembarked. Just a whole comedy of errors! But we learned a lesson, and will probably just bring our own towels from now on. I don't need to deal with that hassle again.

Well, the Royal rep called me back last night and said they would be refunding the $100 charge for the towels. So I'm happy now. But I can only imagine how much money they are making off these towels with people who don't pay attention to their bill!

We just got back from Oasis on June 10th. We had checked out 4 towels for Labadee and returned them at the gangway when we got back on the ship. Their scanner wasn't working so the guy wrote down our room number and said we were good. Our room steward did not give us a copy of our invoice on our last night, so I had to request one from Royal today. Of course, I find a $100 charge for 4 towels. I called them and they said it would take 3-4 days for them to research the sign in sheets and get back to me. I will fight this if they don't refund the money.

I'm assuming this email is for all ships? We are sailing on Oasis in June and I was hoping to get a table for 4. My son has some anxiety issues and sitting with strangers, while fun for us, really upsets him.

Thanks for all the great responses! I know I could just give the cups to the kids, but I also wanted them to have the freedom to order whatever sodas they wanted at dinner, and it's my understanding they wouldn't be able to do that without the package loaded on their card. My main concern was not breaking any rules or doing anything that might be frowned upon, or would cause us headaches at check in. I'm all about taking care of things ahead of time so we can just enjoy our vacation. Thanks again!

I tried to search this topic, but couldn't find anything, so my apologies if this has already been addressed:

I am booked on the Oasis in a boardwalk balcony and should get the Eat Drink Play package. I was told by a Royal representative that the soda packages would automatically go to guests 1 and 2 on the reservation. I really wanted the soda packages to go to my kids, since my husband and I usually get our own drink package. She suggested that I change my kids to guests 1 and 2, and then they would automatically get the soda package.

Are there any issues with having children as guests 1 and 2 on the reservation? Would it cause a problem with booking excursions, or billing? I don't want to cause any hiccups at check in or disembarkation.

Thanks! :)

We were in 1852 on the Freedom last May and loved it. I think it was categorized as a panoramic ocean view room There was plenty of room between the bed and the window. We were looking directly at the helipad, but the views of the ocean were amazing. My husband claimed it was the "best room ever". I did feel some rocking motion on our way to the virgin islands. But the motion slowed down a lot once we started coming back to port. I don't know if we were going into the winds or what, but it wasn't enough to make any of us sick or anything. I would not hesitate to book another room just like it.

Hi Harry,

I just wanted to drop a line and thank you for all your hard work putting together this review. I followed your Allure review and was very excited to see one for the Freedom. We sailed on the Freedom last year, for Memorial Day. We also had 1,000 kids on board, which we really didn't notice except during dinner. They had some issues getting the kid's plates out in time. Also, we did have Gloria the Hippo in our parade back in May, so I'm not sure where she ran off to during your cruise.

But I can appreciate your attention to detail. I know the secret of "cheap" people. The only way to get your money's worth is to plan, much to the chagrin of my family. (I am already planning our 2019 Grand Canyon vacation!) We are booked on the Oasis for May 2018 and we are looking forward to that. I may have to revisit your Allure review to get some tips for that class of ships.

Thank you again! :D

I can't remember the exact rate, but I ran the numbers and i came out ahead by using them. It was $120 to park at the terminal for the week. If you go on their website, you can make a phantom booking to check the prices.

I'll second Country Inn & Suites. We just used them for our cruise last month. We used the Park and Cruise rate, and they shuttled us to and from the cruise terminal. We were very impressed at how organized they were.

If you happen to notice while you are there, can you report how much they are charging for snorkel equipment? I've asked on the port boards, but got no response. I hope you have a great day!! :)

Thank you all so much for the information. You have helped put this worried Mama's mind at ease! We plan on putting the kids in their bathing suits and letting them swim until the rooms are ready. The very idea of standing in line or sitting in a dull waiting room for hours with my kiddos makes me shudder! But we can definitely handle an hour or so. Thank you all!

Thank you Blackshirt! That really helps me. We will be taking the shuttle from our hotel, and I believe the first one runs around 10 or 10:30. So if we can just get checked in, our level won't matter. I want to keep everything as stress-free as possible. Thank you!

We leave on the Freedom in a few weeks and this will be our first Royal Caribbean cruise. We are super excited! But I keep reading about folks who are Diamond or Emerald level that get priority boarding. Obviously with this being our first cruise I know we will be low on the boarding totem pole. I'm a little worried about getting to the port very early, and then having to wait hours for the priority boarding to finish. I have two small children and the idea of keeping them entertained for a long period time doesn't sound like a fun way to start my vacation! Just curious if earlier is still better for a first time cruiser.

Thank you all for your help! I've learned so much from this board and it feeds my research/planning addiction. Lol! :)

I know this is an old thread, but I'm bumping because I can't seem to find the prices of renting snorkel equipment on Cococay. I'm debating buying equipment vs renting when we get there. But renting all equipment for 4 people will be rather costly. Does anyone know what they charge at the Snorkel Shack?

Thank you so much for posting pictures of 1852! I've been scouring the web for photos, but it seems like the family panoramic rooms are the only ones that people post. We are going on the Freedom in May and really looking forward to the view from this room!