How to upgrade anything on Royal Caribbean

[MudderBear]

Geesh, booking a Princess cruise is sooooo easy.  You can find your room, upgrade your package, know what the package includes and WAA-LAA you are on your way.

 

Thinking about doing a tiny short Bahama cruise next spring on Allure of the Seas.  For the life of me, I can't figure out what is actually included.  I'm on their own website and I've picked out my balcony room, it gives me the price and then it wants all of my information.  Now, I don't really want to book now, I'm just window shopping.  But I can't figure out if gratuities are included, or drinks or dining or what.  I WANT INFORMATION (lol, don't mean to yell, I just want to know!!) 

 

Any help would be great.  Thank you.

Edited November 1, 2023 by MudderBear

[OCSC Mike]

Nothing is included in that price except the fare, port taxes & fees, & obviously whatever is complimentary on the ship you’re looking at as far as food, beverages, entertainment, etc.

 

If you want to buy any extras, you do that later, after booking the cruise.

Edited November 1, 2023 by OCSC Mike

[Tree_skier]

Grats, drinks and specialty dining are not included on any Royal cruise.

[MudderBear]

So, how would I find out how much "extra" it will cost?  I can easily find that out on Princess.....

[firefly333]

1 minute ago, MudderBear said:

So, how would I find out how much "extra" it will cost?  I can easily find that out on Princess.....

Rcl does dynamic pricing so costs and sales vary by demand.

 

I'm on a carnival cruise and all the excursions are full priced. I hate paying full price so rcl suits me better. Plus loyalty perks are best on royal. I get 5 free drinks a days and 2 days of free wifi. No 2 people will pay the same. I get bogo on restaurants but if you are new you wouldnt. 

 

I get it you like knowing.. I dont like a fixed high non sale price. I watch prices on planner items. Yes it's not the same as princess.

[Tree_skier]

30 minutes ago, MudderBear said:

Geesh, booking a Princess cruise is sooooo easy.  You can find your room, upgrade your package, know what the package includes and WAA-LAA you are on your way.

 

Thinking about doing a tiny short Bahama cruise next spring on Allure of the Seas.  For the life of me, I can't figure out what is actually included.  I'm on their own website and I've picked out my balcony room, it gives me the price and then it wants all of my information.  Now, I don't really want to book now, I'm just window shopping.  But I can't figure out if gratuities are included, or drinks or dining or what.  I WANT INFORMATION (lol, don't mean to yell, I just want to know!!) 

 

Any help would be great.  Thank you.

What is the date of the cruise you are looking at?

[sgmn]

7 hours ago, MudderBear said:

So, how would I find out how much "extra" it will cost?  I can easily find that out on Princess.....

You can't see the extras until after you've booked . You then have access to the cruise planner which lists drink packages, speciality dinning costs, excursions, spas etc

The costs vary from cruise to cruise and they have 'sales' with percentage off regularly. Price depends on how good their sales are going for that cruise, dynamic pricing......

I'm in the UK and drink packages can be £66 pppd, dinning can be as much as £60 for the steak restaurant or £195 for five night package. But it varies 

A Google search should give you an idea of costs on board if you pay as you go for drinks. 

Tea, coffee, iced water etc are included in the cruise price

Edited November 1, 2023 by sgmn

[OCSC Mike]

10 hours ago, MudderBear said:

So, how would I find out how much "extra" it will cost?  I can easily find that out on Princess.....

Repeatedly telling us how Princess works won’t help you learn how Royal works. Good info above.

[bucfan2]

12 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

Grats, drinks and specialty dining are not included on any Royal cruise.

ALL are included in Star suite class. 

[Scottdalfonso]

You can try this method if you have a ship and date in mind: 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/account/cruise-planner?bookingId=&shipCode=ZZ&sailDate=YYYYMMDD 

Use this URL, but replace "ZZ" with the ship code below, and fill in the YYYYMMDD with the sail date you are looking at.... this will give you access to the cruise planner for that sailing and give you an idea of prices.

 

Ship codes: 

Adventure - AD
Allure - AL
Anthem - AN
Brilliance - BR
Enchantment - EN
Explorer - EX
Freedom - FR
Grandeur - GR
Harmony - HM
Icon - IC
Independence - ID
Jewel - JW
Liberty - LB
Mariner - MA
Navigator - NV
Oasis - OA
Odyssey - OY
Ovation - OV
Quantum - QN
Radiance - RD
Rhapsody - RH
Serenade - SR
Spectrum - SC
Symphony - SY
Vision - VI
Voyager - VY
Wonder - WN

Edited November 1, 2023 by Scottdalfonso

[MudderBear]

Thanks all.  Im looking at a few quick Bahama trips in February or March.  3 or 4 nights.  Not a big drinker, but I do like my wine with dinner, etc. I have no idea how much gratuities would be, nor wifi.  It's a bit frustrating to not know until you book.

[Scottdalfonso]

Just now, MudderBear said:

Thanks all.  Im looking at a few quick Bahama trips in February or March.  3 or 4 nights.  Not a big drinker, but I do like my wine with dinner, etc. I have no idea how much gratuities would be, nor wifi.  It's a bit frustrating to not know until you book.

Gratuities are the same-they will be $18 per person per night in any non- suite room. 

[OCSC Mike]

10 minutes ago, MudderBear said:

wifi

 

If you purchase ahead of time for the whole cruise, something like $20-21/day is a good ballpark number (it varies by ship, sailing, and if you book during a sale).

[Tree_skier]

8 minutes ago, MudderBear said:

Thanks all.  Im looking at a few quick Bahama trips in February or March.  3 or 4 nights.  Not a big drinker, but I do like my wine with dinner, etc. I have no idea how much gratuities would be, nor wifi.  It's a bit frustrating to not know until you book.

If you aren't a big drinker then I'd not worry about about the drink package it won't pay.  You need about 5 alcoholic drinks plus a few bottles of water each day to make pay. If you like lattes or fresh squeezed OJ or soda that changes the math a little.  Typically $70-75 dollars a day is common when it is on sale.  I got it for $67 pppd on Harmony coming up in Dec and it was $65 on Adventure this coming Feb.  However, I'd plan for over $70. The shorter cruises tend to be a little higher.

 

 

[firefly333]

13 minutes ago, MudderBear said:

Thanks all.  Im looking at a few quick Bahama trips in February or March.  3 or 4 nights.  Not a big drinker, but I do like my wine with dinner, etc. I have no idea how much gratuities would be, nor wifi.  It's a bit frustrating to not know until you book.

Wifi on sale or the key is Halloween sale ended last night. It will probably be on sale for black friday. 

[RedIguana]

20 minutes ago, MudderBear said:

Thanks all.  Im looking at a few quick Bahama trips in February or March.  3 or 4 nights.  Not a big drinker, but I do like my wine with dinner, etc. I have no idea how much gratuities would be, nor wifi.  It's a bit frustrating to not know until you book.

If you are not a big drinker, on a 3-4 night cruise skip the beverage package and just bring your preferred 2 bottles of wine when you board. You can pour up a glass and bring it to dinner with you (corkage may apply if you bring the bottle into the MDR). Even with drink vouchers or a beverage package I bring a glass in with me (stop at the wine bar on the way in), as MDR wine service can be slow. Wine glasses should be in the cabin, you can always ask your steward for a corkscrew and glasses if needed. Pay as you go for anything else you want will end up cheaper, even buying 3 drinks a day at $15.  Even on sale expect the beverage package to be over $75 per person (listed cost +18%). I'm not sure if @Tree_skier included the %18 gratuity to the prices he listed.  Usually you can find a 2 device wifi for under $25 per day on one of the sales. As @Scottdalfonso mentioned, non-suite grats are up to $18 per day. The all-included on HAL/Princess/beverage package on Carnival are much more transparent pricing, and usually much more reasonably priced, although the base pricing on HAL or Princess may be a little higher.

[Tree_skier]

1 minute ago, RedIguana said:

Even on sale expect the beverage package to be over $75 per person (listed cost +18%). I'm not sure if @Tree_skier included the %18 gratuity to the prices he listed. 

No I just listed the pre gratuity price... Thanks for clarifying that.  

[firefly333]

4 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

If you are not a big drinker, on a 3-4 night cruise skip the beverage package and just bring your preferred 2 bottles of wine when you board. You can pour up a glass and bring it to dinner with you (corkage may apply if you bring the bottle into the MDR). Even with drink vouchers or a beverage package I bring a glass in with me (stop at the wine bar on the way in), as MDR wine service can be slow. Wine glasses should be in the cabin, you can always ask your steward for a corkscrew and glasses if needed. Pay as you go for anything else you want will end up cheaper, even buying 3 drinks a day at $15.  Even on sale expect the beverage package to be over $75 per person (listed cost +18%). I'm not sure if @Tree_skier included the %18 gratuity to the prices he listed.  Usually you can find a 2 device wifi for under $25 per day on one of the sales. As @Scottdalfonso mentioned, non-suite grats are up to $18 per day. The all-included on HAL/Princess/beverage package on Carnival are much more transparent pricing, and usually much more reasonably priced, although the base pricing on HAL or Princess may be a little higher.

Idk the OP said they were a couple. It's one bottle of wine per adult. I'm solo and now can only bring 1 bottle of wine onboard. 

[RedIguana]

4 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Idk the OP said they were a couple. It's one bottle of wine per adult. I'm solo and now can only bring 1 bottle of wine onboard.

I made the assumption they were going double occupancy, I know you fly solo all the time, so you have your own quirks to deal with. Princess (Alaska) and Celebrity won out for my 2 cruises this year, so I have not seen the actual contract that comes with a RCI booking since last year. Celebrity has also switched to the one bottle per person from the 2 bottles per cabin or per person. I have noticed discrepancies between the FAQ's and the actual contract that comes with the bookings before. 

[ohiolovescrusing]

Thought tips (non suite) were $16 pp pd for Royal.  Figure WiFi on sale about $17-18 pd for one device at a time.  And drinks as mentioned vary, but seem on sale $70-75+tips pp pd (but may be higher on shorter cruise)

[RedIguana]

I believe they go up to $18 pp/pd later this month.

 

[firefly333]

1 minute ago, RedIguana said:

I made the assumption they were going double occupancy, I know you fly solo all the time, so you have your own quirks to deal with. Princess (Alaska) and Celebrity won out for my 2 cruises this year, so I have not seen the actual contract that comes with a RCI booking since last year. Celebrity has also switched to the one bottle per person from the 2 bottles per cabin or per person. I have noticed discrepancies between the FAQ's and the actual contract that comes with the bookings before. 

I booked a special carnival 2 week journey cruise to unusual ports. So I'm also doing 2 sets of rules. And some extra. Didnt realize carnival journey cruises say mostly high level cruisers so I dont get my priority embarkation and debarkation and tenders. Kinda similar to the whole diamond lounge thing here. They claim too many high level so just dont do it on journey cruises. Finally diamond with carnival and dont get priority. Unlike rcl no compensation. 

 

Though I'm still looking forward to another line. Variety is the spice of life. We arent married to rcl.

[firefly333]

5 minutes ago, ohiolovescrusing said:

Thought tips (non suite) were $16 pp pd for Royal.  Figure WiFi on sale about $17-18 pd for one device at a time.  And drinks as mentioned vary, but seem on sale $70-75+tips pp pd (but may be higher on shorter cruise)

Lol you missed the 6 threads on tips going up. .. hahaha. Kidding. I assume was the mods who combined threads. Huge drama. But nov 11 tips do go up. 

[ohiolovescrusing]

Nvm about grats.. I now see they are going up to $18 on 11/11/23.  Our cruise leaves 11/10 so didn’t realize!  (Our docs say $16).  

But would be $16 if cruise booked and prepay grats before 11/11!

[OCSC Mike]

7 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I booked a special carnival 2 week journey cruise to unusual ports.

 

Off-topic... I saw that in your signature and originally thought it was for fans of the band, "Journey", lol. The 2 week part made me think that was probably wrong.