LeeW

We wore shorts most days inland in September (two years) and other folks had coats and fur hats. Got up to 72 in Fairbanks one trip. On cruise you will have at least one day raining and likely around 40. Lower near glaciers. Had friends sailing in July and it was rainy and cold every day. Expect anything and you will get it.

While you can get a passport it is expensive and only good for five years. Unless family plans on doing several air trips out of country it really isn't worth the hassle. Not needed for cruise trips.

Binoculars and cameras with good zoom. Waterproof jacket with hood. Light weight gloves.

DON'T!!!!!! Our first Royal cruise was on Navigator and we head out for 21st in a couple of weeks. Navigator hooked us on this line.

The towel huts are for exchange only. They don't want to keep track of check in and out. Check out pool towels the night before. Only folks in cabanas get towels on island.

Really not much cover there. Depending on crowd may be long or short wait. In April they set up three lines for different times but started letting people in around 10 AM before they even had a chance to use those lines. There are a few benches by the building (and a couple of bathrooms). But don't count on getting a seat there. Consider a cane that has a built-in seat. You could even bring your own camp chair but they can be hard to get out of. Not sure I have EVER gotten through a cruise line in less than 1/2 hour or so.

Nobody will care. Probably a pain to mix in the goblet water glasses, though.

When you make reservations before the cruise I always have to make each reservation separately and check out between them. Some folks have reported that there is a button that allows a "make this reservation for all nights" but I haven't been able to do this. If you like the table/waiters when in the dining room and have reservations for each night, just ask either the headwaiter or the desk folks as you leave to assign you to that table. Note that since the MTD room is now used for early fixed seating that if you want to eat at 6:45 you may have to wait for that table to clear. Had to wait 15 minutes or so about 4 times in two weeks on Symphony last month.

If you are having problems with your phone battery you might want to get a small battery pack and cord. I use the same thing to power my Kindle Fire and phones. If you don't get covid card uploaded it isn't a big deal - they will scan it, your covid test and passport when you check in. Really the newest thing out there is making an appointment to check in at the pier. Some places are enforcing this. Your online checkin generally opens 45 days before the cruise and your cruise documents (with luggage tag) opens at 30 days. Onboard entertainment generally can't be booked until you connect to the ship wifi or at a kiosk onboard.

We use large ziplock bags for clothes, so when it is time to move each drawer goes into one then into suitcase. Takes about 10 minutes once we get in the new room. We also use a couple of fold-flat carry on bags so we are not just limited to our luggage. Cabin attendant will move hangers and all bags. Introduce yourself to new cabin attendant before end of first cruise and they will get new cabin ready for the move. Old attendant will move the stuff. Just don't forget to empty the safe - either bury in luggage or take a small bag with you until you get back into cabins. Normally B2B people can go to their cabins before they are declared open, but you might need to open a fire door.

Takes about 2 days, so do it maybe 3 days before the end of a cruise. Paper bag, although they use a special form from steward for wash and fold (only specific items like underwear, bathing suits, T shirts and shorts). As I recall the bag was $35 with Diamond getting a $10 discount. Roll each item tightly. We can get usually 7-8 underwear, 6 shirts and 6 shorts in easily. Mark the form that you are Diamond and take a picture of the form to record what you sent. Note that each Diamond gets a bag, so if you need more it isn't that big a deal to put in two bags. Assume you checked to see if your Barcelona hotel has a guest laundry.

Book the dining plan for adults and set up the specific restaurants when you get onboard. If you know at that time that a kid will eat with you, let them know when you make the reservations. Otherwise just show up. As long as the kids are eating from the kids menu it will be $10. If you have 5 kids you might give the restaurant advance notice they will attend so they can hold a larger table for you. For just 1 it won't matter. If you know the kids will eat from the adult menu you can buy a dining plan for them. But if they don't attend the 3 nights you will not get any money back.

On Symphony the library is the card room. Mostly cards and games in there but still had quite a few books three weeks ago.

Good luck - room service isn't open on departure day.

We look at the sides. None of the specialty restaurant sides really appeal to us and doing them for all meals doesn't make sense. DW is perfectly happy with a steak and fries, which we can get in main dining. Sometimes Chops steak, sometimes not. Last cruise the strip steak was actually better than the Chops steak (rarely happens). The other issue for us is amount of food. Specialty restaurants will stuff you. We often order only the main course and dessert. Doesn't make sense to do this in Specialty (although some folks will do several courses in several restaurants if they have UDP).

Normally an unlimited photo package includes all photos from ONE cabin. If you have ubderage kids in another cabin they can set this up onboard. But if you have two cabins traveling together photos are only included when one person in the purchasing cabin is in the photo.

Disney is the only line that we have seen that move excess FCC to OBC. Hard to spend $1400pp.

On Equinox you needed to go to the glass demo on the first day to sign up for your date and time. Get there early, because once they start the demo they are too busy to sign you up. Pretty much missed the entire sailaway waiting for them. Preboarding prices were a bit cheaper than onboard if you wanted to make a large item, but more expensive if you wanted small item. Was $220/2 last October. After you make your item they anneal it in the oven until the next day. Then they bubble wrap it and put it in a bag labelled with your name. Pickup is during classes the next day. We didn't need any additional bubble wrap for Christmas ornament or tumbler. And they are HEAVY.

I think Ken has said that the reservation system only can handle 4 in a cabin so person 5 is on a separate reservation. For RoyalUP, the first two people in the cabin pay the bid. The rest do not. Even if you bid with the one person reservation number they will charge twice the bid, so bid with the four person number.

Even when cruising just started last summer the web site showed reservations needed for Windjammer. The person at the entry on Symphony in August and September just was there for washy washy, not for reservations.

Only reason the airport would change would be if you are using a charter flight.

Had no problems with Surf on Symphony two weeks ago in Caribbean for wifi calling and myVegas games that usually can't handle dropouts. Port side of Solarium had weak signal and lots of dropouts, starboard side was fine. Then we hit heavy rain and lost internet for a couple of hours. Ship stuff obviously still worked fine.

You won't get extra points, but anyone in the winning bid room gets the new room and perks associated with that room. Plus you only pay the bid cost for the first two people.

Probably easier to go to the Wonderland desk (if your ship has one). That is the venue that is least busy.

The LA can look up your status, so just let them know on the first cruise. HOWEVER, Iceland is so far north that it has limited internet connectivity. Don't wait until the second cruise! These folks do this all the time for B2B passengers. She needs to update the records for the ship so you get the appropriate handouts on turnaround day and get your drink vouchers loaded.