BekkaW

On 6/5/2023 at 12:41 PM, OHagan said:

...also...if you don't want to pay gratuities, then the cruise line can not enforce this. Many Australians cancel their gratuities onboard as we are not used to paying tips or such.

No we don’t? It’s been rolled in as part of the fare since 2016 and there is no way to remove it. It’s not a seperate line item and literally impossible to split out 

On 5/10/2023 at 9:22 PM, Rmar2023 said:

How was the cruise? Can you share any photos of how the balcony of 7600?

The TA was great, but we ended up deciding to take a cabin on deck 8. I’m glad we did, I would have been unhappy with the level of obstruction on deck 7. Even from 8 you could see the top of the lifeboats while sitting on your balcony 

6 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

That's bizarre, I have done this on almost every cruise I have ever been on until we turned diamond and stopped buying the package.

My experience is the same as yours 

There is no self service laundry on any RCI ship 

On 3/31/2023 at 12:30 AM, njsmom said:

 

Who is it spending this much on a suite? If my husband and I can't afford to do it, who can? There's not that many people who make more than us, to be frank. I just don't get it. 

You can afford to do it, you just choose not to because you prefer spending (or saving) the money elsewhere. Others make different choices 

13 hours ago, CruisingLover said:

Actually, I just read that it DOES include Coco Cay !!

Yes, and Labadee 

There is no specified time requirement between drinks, but ordering multiple drinks in quick succession is one of the behaviours they are trained to look out for as it can indicate sharing. So you might find bar staff scrutinising your drinking more closely to make sure it’s actually you consuming the drinks 

Add me to the votes for Alhambra, we did the RCI tour there on a TA out of Barcelona & it was amazing 

Yes 2 bottles of wine per room. No irons available for guest use but you can send items out for pressing 

Odyssey Transatlantic in April

On 1/4/2023 at 3:52 PM, RobInMN said:

Look at the other answers specific to Alaska, but in general, I believe that the answer is yes, RCL can require an excursion to leave the ship. Might be extremely rare, but it can happen. For instance, when we were on Symphony 2018 Western Mediterranean, the port for Florance & Pisa was actually La Spezia. I don't know if the normal cruise port was too small or too busy, but for whatever reason, I am almost positive that the port we used was strictly a commercial port, and as such, I believe that RCL RCL required you to be on an excursion in order to leave the ship. No other traffic was allowed into the port (ie. taxis, independent tours), and it was completely unsafe to have any passengers attempting to walk through it. 

La Spezia is RCI’s normal port for that area. Industrial/commercial ports are used in many parts of the world 

This is just a math question - at $8.99 if you drink 3 or more sodas daily on average you come out ahead 

The package is attached to a person not a room 

It was a tie in when the musical Chicago was on Allure. Haven’t seen it since that musical ended 

On 8/4/2022 at 3:16 PM, shipgeeks said:

We, like the OP, were disappointed with Coco Cay, and we had maps.

We took the tram around the circuit. Loud music everywhere, a closed-in feeling along most of the route; very little opportunity to see beaches, pool, or other attractions.  We were one small ship in port, but it felt like being at a mall just before Christmas, with all the hype.  We completed the circuit, sat for a while in Adirondack chairs, then went straight back to the ship.

The photos above do not look anything like what we saw.  What we saw were the new adventure park rides and such.  Not my idea of a private island day.

We have probably been spoiled by visiting MSC's Ocean Cay.  Now that is an island paradise!  Just the sights and sounds of nature, visibility across the island, white sand, turquoise waters, palm trees, very few buildings, very soft music along a few of the walkways.

We are due there again in November, and will give it a try, but I have to agree that it was not the positive experience that we expected.

The tram is not an attraction, and not designed as an “opportunity to see beaches pool or other attractions” - it’s a method of transport around the island. Honestly I don’t know what the heck people are thinking 

2 hours ago, pattycake08 said:

No Map was provided. I usually consult Cruise Critic on such matters, but had no idea that there were multiple beaches. Thank you for the info will put in my hat for next time.

There is literally a giant map board at the island end of the pier. It’s the first thing you see when you step on land. Could you not generally tell from where you were that the island was a lot bigger than that area? 
 

If you were at chill island (it’s a bit unclear from your post as you listed CI as both where you were and one of 3 beaches you didn’t know about) then you had to have walked past harbour beach. 

19 hours ago, Tolkmit said:

 

No, Royal says no extension cords or "power boards." Anything that changes one outlet into more than one outlet is a power board, and against the official rules.

In my country the expression” power board” means it has both a cord and multiple outlets. “Double adaptor” or “multiple adaptor” has no cord but 2 or more outlets. We have always taken cordless multiple adaptors (especially multiple USB adaptors for charging) and had no issues. 

7 minutes ago, mickeychicky said:

Do they email everything to you that is required by cruise lines.  They are wanting all kinds of info from your test.  Sorry for the dumb questions, I have NEVER done a test so it's all Greek to me.

the cruise line really asks for very little - it has to be an official result with your name on it and saying negative. The letterhead of the test facility will contain all of their appropriate details. They will email it to you after the test. 
 

I think you’re making this into a big hassle in your mind due to your unfamiliarity with the process. It’s really not complicated and you shouldn’t worry

On 7/7/2022 at 5:50 PM, rudeney said:

I find it amusing when people argue against gratuities because, "the cruise line should pay the crew a decent wage and not make them rely on tips from passengers."  Um, the money to pay the crew a "decent wage" comes from cruise fare revenue which is paid by the customer.  What difference does it make to the cost of the cruise if each passenger is charged $14.50 per day as "gratuities" or they just increase the price of the cruise by $14.50/day?  Obviously it allows the cruise line to advertise a lower price, which is a marketing tactic.  Many industries do the same thing - hotels, rental cars, phone service, even buying a car - where the advertised price is exclusive of fees and taxes and taxes and fees.

100% agree with you. All costs of every business are borne by the customer, whatever is left over is profit. In Australia they actually have just raised the prices and rolled the gratuity into it, it’s not a seperate line item and cannot be removed. 

RCI recommends after 12 noon 

Laser tag and ice skating are not bookaboe activities, you just turn up during the hours of operation (which will be in the cruise compass) 

7 hours ago, the penguins said:

Very expensive dessert

The UDP that OP mentioned is the unlimited dining package. They will have already paid upfront and it won’t cost anything more to go to more than 1 restaurant on the same night 

1 hour ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Not worried at all and understand turnaround day.  Just thought I had read somewhere that rooms were ready immediately, but that may have been with reduced pax or I'm imagining it.  

 

Just trying to plan.

In our experience it never got earlier, others may have had different experiences 

3 hours ago, fvandewouwer said:

 

 

 

I tried to contact RCI by phone but they refuse to speak with me because i have a TA

 

Your TA should be able to arrange a conference call with themselves, RCI and you to get this resolved 

13 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

Our experience has always been the same as HicksRA. We have always had a package on every cruise and have never in the last 10 years had a reservation made for us even though we pick a time and day. You are just making a place holder reservation. Go to any restaurant as soon as you board to make or change any reservation. If your ship has a Wonderland we have found that venue to have the shortest lines on embarkation day to make all your dinning reservations. 

This is odd that people have such different experiences. We usually get the 3 night package, and the details of our courtesy reservation are in our cabin when we board.