zuggie

I have several questions about this. I'm going on the assumption that our $14.50 daily gratuities are pooled. This being the case, is an "additional tip" left on a bar or specialty restaurant ticket also pooled?. If I leave a cash tip, is the server required to add it to the pool, or can he keep it for himself?

There's another thread currently active here which gives the Royal website which explains the revised SH benefit. I can't seem to be able to copy and paste the address here. But you can see this site as posted on the other thread. Anyhow, under #7 on the Royal site, I quote verbatim: "Onboard credit may not be used for onboard service charges or pre-purchased activities." I would assume onboard service charges are the gratuities. Could this possible mean that SH OBC cannot be used to pre-pay grats in advance of the cruise, but can be applied to grats once on the ship?

The way I'm reading and understanding the new terms - yes, the SH onboard credit is combinable with the C&A Balcony Discount, as well as any other OBC's received from the cruise line in conjunction with booking the cruise. Also, I'm reading (I think) that the SH OBC cannot be applied to onboard service charges - like the daily gratuities charge. Would like to hear if others are interpreting all this the same way.

We sailed on Empress this past Spring on one of the last Cuba cruises. They had the first night event in Boleros, and then suggested that Diamonds and above might meet in the Viking Crown for happy hour. There was no designated seating area there, and you went to the regular bar for drinks on your card. I assumed there was the usual limit of three.

We once did a S2S with a day in between with a Royal ship and a Celebrity ship. And Royal gave us a nice room at the Hilton with transfers. Oh, how we miss the good old days 🙂

On 7 day itineraries, usually 2nd and 6th nights. These are usually days at sea.

Seriously, not too long ago I came across a website of a yacht broker that specialized in very large yachts and older cruise ships. There were two Royal ships listed. Their names were not revealed, but there were lots of pictures. Those familiar with Royal ships would identify the two as Grandeur and Rhapsody. Prices, as I recall - something in the low $200 millions each, with Rhapsody being the higher of the two. There were maybe 50 ships listed, most much smaller than Grandeur and Rhapsody, including several that looked like they may have been older Carnival ships. Can’t remember the name of the broker.

Yes. We were on Harmony for two weeks in late May out of Port Canaveral. We're new Pinnacles, and this was our first experience eating in CK. We thought it was great, and ate most dinners there. And the mixed drinks were excellent. We have voyages coming up on Oasis, Allure, and Symphony, and would be very pleased if the CK food is as good as on Harmony.

We were at CoCoCay just a couple of weeks ago and saw a number of jet ski tours coming and going. Looked to be maybe a dozen at a time, and they were all playing "follow the leader." Not sure if they would let you take one out individually and do your own thing.

Because of the very shallow waters there, the ships anchor far, far out. As I recall, smaller speedboat type tenders are used, and the travel time can be more than 30 minutes.

We were just there this week. Rental price is $20 for mask, fins, and vest. We bring our own masks & vests. Price to rent fins only is still $20.

Is there any way to use Non-ref OBC in a slot? Seems like once on a Royal ship they gave me a ticket with my OBC amount, I put it in a slot, pulled the handle once, cashed out, and the cage gave me the cash. But that might have been a long time ago.

It's been awhile since we've sailed on Celebrity, and I believe there have been some changes in how you can withdraw non-refundable onboard credit in the casino. Is it still possible to do this? And if so, what is the best way to do it? Table play? Slot play?

We got off Explorer on Saturday. No Noro on our cruises, once again we dodged it. They kept the barf bags out during the entire two weeks we were on board

Are Pinnacles supposed to receive the Gilchrist & Soames, even if not in a GS? Or is it up to the whim of someone on individual ships?