PolicromaSol

I'd feel bad about eating those....

To be fair, I've seen cell signals go further on a good day... Relatively rare, but under the right conditions, it'll happen.

Are they just sending a message to everyone detected near the boat or something?

It's also worth it to keep checking. They often have several of the same kind of excursion with minor differences.

I swear, every time I see one of these threads, I go mock book something to see what kind of price increases are there... Nothing unexpected, and deals can still be had with a flexible schedule. Hypothetically, I mock-booked what my upcoming 5-night cruise would be if I did it next year instead on an Oasis-class ship. (My "real" upcoming trip is on Adventure.) It was, roughly, only 1k more, with an extra night, Coco Cay, etc. Until the government stops printing money and sabotaging every domestic industry, prices will rise. It's not changing. Supply and demand always wins. All that said, I didn't find anything that would imply "price gouging". Just increases due to inflation and demand, and everything still seemed reasonable for what you got, compared to other types of vacations and whatnot.

Sounds like they just renamed it to me...

I think the real problem is hand sanitizer doesn't work on any form of the 24-hour bug. Only hand-washing. If they're putting out sanitizer for that, it's for show. I've seen ships that place a sink in front of the buffet and require hand washing to go inside. This is the real answer. And anyway, a cruise ship isn't the only place you'll find norovirus outbreaks. They just get picked on more for some reason.

I meant all the Indian dishes. 🤣 I live in New Mexico, I can have enchiladas anytime. Butter chicken on the other hand...

Yeah, my wedding ring is pretty much eternally on my finger. Not moving it.

Do you get to see the brig? Or do you only see that if you get in trouble? 🤣

The memes often speak the truth...

Forget the natural sugar, a lot of those desserts have a different issue: Maltitol Syrup. "Excessive consumption" (that is, LOL, like two bites) will have you running to the bathroom all night.

Forego the refreshment package entirely and stick to coffee and tea. Then you can reserve your calorie intake for the things you can chew. 😉 Besides, desserts always taste better with black coffee and tea, IMO. (Assuming you're not having milk.) And think of it this way.... If you then have one or two mocktails a day, you're saving money!

Once upon a time, maybe... Given the angry internet mutterings about how Disney has treated their parks, customers, and employees as of late, and given Disney's apparent loss of sanity regarding upcharges (very blatant whaling rather than trying to come up with things that appeal to everyone), I'd consider a Disney cruise suspect these days. Plus we're talking about Icon. That's the newest ship in RC's fleet. The one everybody's gonna want to try out. Disney's Wish, also new this year is likely going to be exactly the same. Supply and demand, folks. July's also expensive since some school systems get back in early August, and would be extremely popular with Alaska travelers who want to see a few hours of extra sunlight. The angry mutterings on RC's side are mostly about the food, and every time I've heard about the food being terrible on a destination vacation before I went, it was perfectly fine when I got there. Plus I know the type of people who are easily inclined to send a plate of food back at a restaurant for the smallest infraction that could just be picked off or shoved aside. So I reserve judgement until the food's actually in front of me. Plus, RC at the very least has an explanation: Their food distributor didn't survive the lockdown mania, and RC was still trying to find another they liked. Not a problem that will be fixed overnight, as they're likely trying things out with multiple other distributors. (Though with the introduction of the new menus they may have found someone.)

Am I the only one who thought it sounded really good? LOL

I've done this from New Mexico. The drive is long, but enjoyable if you take the extra time and treat it as an extension of your vacation. Giving the car a little love before the trip, as others have suggested, can't hurt either. The time we did it, we gave ourselves a buffer day in case the drive took longer than planned. (And we figured we could spend a day at the space center the day before.) Well, we needed the buffer day, as it took more time than expected to get there, but we still had our day at the space center. It was worth it.

Do they do themed rooms on any other ships? Curious about this.

They really do and that's what you have to remember. I know the kind of people who are impossible to please at a restaurant. And even if I really enjoy going there, I won't necessarily take the people in question. It would just be a bunch of complaining.

I saw one particular thread a while back where someone was griping about the absolutely terrible food and everything else on the ship. The funny thing was... Before seeing that thread, I'd just seen a set of some small-family youtube videos about the exact same sailing and they were ranting and raving about how good the food was. And they had video of everything they did and enjoyed. (These weren't famous influencers or travel agents either.) The thing is things are rarely as amazing or terrible as you hear online. Take raving reviews both good and bad with a grain of salt. People don't come onto forums to rave about the lovely vacation they had. (They do that on social media to brag.) No, they come onto forums to rant and try to gin up some kind of sympathy for their situation. (Probably because their spouse thought it was fine and they need some confirmation bias.) Now, I will say there have been reports that RCI's previous food distributor went out of business and they're having a tough time finding a new one they like. Stuff happens. I can understand if that affects the quality somewhat. But it's not like these people are ordering haute cuisine and getting moldy sloppy joes instead.

Why do I get the feeling this rule came from somebody's shoes getting jumped on? LOL

Search for "extra spacious ocean view" and see which cabins have that. These have one of the regular "splittable" beds, a sleeper sofa, and bunk beds hidden in a corner for two kids. Some have it all in one room, some have multiple rooms and a very large living space. These rooms aren't considered "suites" even if they have multiple rooms however. Yeah, sorry, don't really have an explanation for that.

If you're the type that likes to give yourself a day of buffer room by showing up the day before, this place is nice: Homewood Suites by Hilton Cape Canaveral Hotel You park your car at the hotel. They'll shuttle you to and from the port, and it's a pretty nice place that serves both Breakfast and Dinner.

Yeah, or at least that's what I hear around here.

Well, there's always Teppan restaurants, but I get you. Sometimes you can tell that whoever worked on the dish put extra effort into it that day, and other than saying "My compliments to the chef" or a survey, you don't really get much opportunity to reward. Even a chain restaurant can have the food taste differently depending on who is cooking and whether they have a good attitude about their work. Anyway, back to the OP, there's been a lot of mutterings that tips are shared amongst the crew. So if you remove the auto tip and tip manually, the laundry lady is probably still getting some of it.

The more I hear about "The Key", the more it kinda reminds me of logging into your Southwest account and paying extra to get an A-ticket the morning of your flight, except a lot more expensive as you have to pay for every day. I could get it being convenient if you're trying to make a morning flight, but IMO it's just easier (and probably cheaper) to make sure the cruise you're on fits your schedule comfortably and that you have enough buffer room before and after for any unexpected issues. And hey, with the money you saved, that could mean a resort day before or after your cruise. Put me in with the folks who say it's probably better for busy solo travelers. Now if it gave you all the suite perks without having to actually stay in a suite, I could see it being worth the money.