Rubyfisch

On the cruises I've been on, they've been hosted by the sports staff - so the same people who run the stretching classes and the rock wall.

They did on sea days in both Enchantment (2022) and Vision (2023). I really enjoyed them. They will cancel them if the water is too rough, though.

As others have said, yes, they will. I had the earliest boarding time and my luggage was in the elevator lobby by the time the cabins were available (sometime between 1:30 and 2:00 when I got down to my cabin). I took the rest of the way so I could unpack.

I wonder if it is the mocktail price. We have it booked for our May sailing as well - maybe I'll be about do some more math and figure out, as I'm not sure we are going to have much else onboard spending other that and gratuities.

Do you know (or if) this works regarding the non-alcoholic beverage package? We both had the Quench package on our first Holland cruise, and got more points than I was expecting - I couldn't make the math work out, as there was no way we spent $2,100, but got seven bonus points.

When I came to Boston, it was basically a ten seconds of a human looking at my passport and waiving me - it took about the same amount of time as the person scanning me off the ship. It's the same way in Baltimore - no scanning of passports, just a quick check and you keep moving.

I live in Boston - the taxis are, in fact, generally terrible. Lyft and Uber are better (lately Uber has been cheaper - I always check both). If you have limited luggage and no mobility issues (i.e., you can manage your bags on slightly uneven terrain), you can also take the SL2 from South Station to the pier (more or less). We take the red line to South Station and then the SL2 - but we are used to the MBTA.

Don't assume you will get seasick, but also don't assume you won't. On my last cruise (on the much smaller Vision), there were people who were utterly miserable, and other who took nothing and were totally fine. I am (very luckily) in the take nothing and be fine category, but my friends were miserable when they tried to forego their scopolamine patches for a few hours.

It was a hot mess in October when I was there for work, but once you are through security and passport control, it's much nicer. When I was there, than randomly closed the security line for my terminal and sent us all on a lengthy adventure to a different terminal. Security wasn't too bad (although I had a business class ticket), but passport control was awful.

Does anyone have any thoughts on where Enchantment, Liberty, and Freedom will be in December 2025? I normally take a cruise over Christmas, but given what dates work from me I don't love any of the options that were just released. Ideally, I'd love a seven or eight leaving the 23rd or 24th ...

Across multiple phones and providers, I've had no issues with texting via Wi-Fi on an Android. You just turn on Wi-Fi calling before you put your phone on airplane mode. It's worked on both Holland America and Royal Caribbean. It does not tend to work on airplane Wi-Fi - I assume they block it like they block Zoom (we use the Zoom chat client at work - don't worry, I'm not trying to have a Zoom call from an airplane ...).

I'm really looking forward to it - I've never been on a "new" ship - Freedom in 2017 was the newest ship I had ever been on. And I have a great 8 day itinerary on her - it should be a fun Christmas (even though schlepping to Florida around Christmas is an expensive hassle).

I've really come to enjoy Vision class ships (particularly Vision). I've been on Radiance (Serenade, twice) and Freedom (Freedom, once) before the pandemic and have Freedom booked for Christmas 2024. I eagerly await the Baltimore itineraries for Christmas 2025 to see if I can have at least one holiday on a Vision class out of Baltimore before they get retired (we all know their days are numbered).

I think they assigned them before the pandemic and literally everyone ignored them ... At least that is my vague recollection.

I've cruised twice out of Baltimore on Royal (December 2022 and December 2023), and neither time were they enforcing check in times. They don't have a giant seating area, but they also only take small ships. They start boarding around 10:30, so there isn't much need for seating.

I've stayed at the Courtyard at McHenry Row, which is right by the port. It's a newer hotel, next to a grocery store and some restaurants. I have stayed there before two cruises and would recommend it.

It's usually under VIP passes.

I am happy to drop off my carry on - I don't need the schlep it around the ship with me, but I know I'll have it when I first get to my cabin. It's all of the stuff I lovingly call my "cruise crap." Things like magnetic hooks, my lanyard, etc. Also, if I want to hit the pool at 2:00 pm, I know where my swimsuit is.

I normally travel solo on Royal. If it is within $5 a day of the internet package, I think it is worthwhile. And I've always been able to get it within that by checking the planner every once and awhile.

Okay - I think I'm done. Still happy to answer questions if anyone has them I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year. Here are some parting photos from the fireworks in Alexandria, VA yesterday evening (this is from the 6 pm set ... I was asleep by midnight):

If you've gotten through 12 pages of my ramblings, you probably don't need my advice or suggestions, but I think my one piece of advice for any vacation is to manage your expectations and understand what you are signing up for. For example - Vision is an old ship, that means more limited options. Also, it's not hot in the Bahamas in December. Like, it's warm, but not hot. And the water is ... Not warm. Also, if you are on ship where there is diversion, medical, weather, or otherwise, look at the map of where the ship is in the morning. I saw people dressed up for and talking about Disney on Day 3 at breakfast. A quick look at the map would have said we were over 250 nm away. It was obvious to me that we weren't going to make it there for hours.

Overall Thoughts and Impressions The Ship She's an older lady, but in good shape. Sure, there's some rust, but you try being at sea for that many years. The carpets in the public areas looked brand new, and my waiter told me all the chairs in the MDR were replaced the last time the ship was dry docked. I know someone asked me up the thread about plumbing issues. After eight days aboard, I'm pretty convinced that nearly all the plumbing issues are caused by guests flushing things they have been repeatedly told not to. For example, the hotel director suggested they fish out Windjammer napkins from the pipes as a regular occurrence. The Crew They are fantastic. This may have been the highest level of service I've ever had on a cruise, including my Holland America one. The assistant waiter had a crumb scraper ... I haven't seen one of those in a while. At breakfast in Windjammer, they had carts with all the beverages they pushed around constantly to give people tea, water, coffee, and juice. And they had people circulating with drinks at lunch and dinner. The activities staff was also wonderful - I really liked Bal as the cruise director. And Zoe, the hotel director, was very present and wonderful. My Room Steward I'll be honest, I was not looking forward to the change to once a day. I am not sure why, given that at least half the time we stay at hotels we have the do not disturb sign out most of the time. I didn't see my steward until the second morning, which didn't fill me with confidence, but I said I'd prefer to have my cabin made up in the afternoon/evening. It looked like most people wanted morning service. I have to say, he was fantastic. Like, I didn't know what people meant when they said their room stewards were fantastic. But he was. I think he might have made mine up first in the afternoon around 4 or 4:30, as it was always done when I got back to my room after whatever I was doing. And everything was perfect. I liked having my room to myself during the morning service time, as I found myself needed to go back to the room between 8:30 and 10:30 way more than I would have thought. The Food I know food is very subjective, but I liked nearly everything I had. Okay, the hush puppies in Windjammer were inedible and the chicken marsala was ... I guess mostly edible. But everything else was great. I went to Windjammer for breakfast every morning - it was all hot, tasty, and well prepared. Seriously, if you haven't tried the Indian breakfast stuff, you should. For lunch, I mostly went to Windjammer. They only had one line open on port days, but that didn't cause any issues. Again, the food was good. There seemed to be fewer options than on larger ships, but there was always something I wanted. The flow on sea days took some getting used to - there are two buffet lines, each with two side. Each line has the same things, but the two sides have different things. So you kind of have to circulate around to find out what all the options are. I also had lunch in the MDR once, which I really enjoyed, but some of my table mates weren't thrilled with their selections. The service was also kind of slow. Apparently, it was really slow on the other sea days. For dinner, I had the late traditional seating, which is my favorite. The service was excellent, as was the food. For people griping about the new menus and lack of classics, I'm not sure they have looked at the menus recently. A lot of stuff has been added back. I think onion soup four nights. And grilled chicken was always available. I never saw anyone being told no for requests for things on the menu, like "can I have more broccoli" or "could I get a side of mashed potatoes."

That's the best perk for me - I honestly think of I didn't have the Key, I'd consider not getting on the ship until much later (although that's hard in Baltimore with the early sail away times).

Excursions and Ports Ron John's Shuttle I know a lot of person see Port Canaveral as a wasted stop, but I've enjoyed it both times. Last time I did the ship tour of the area, which has a couple of stops and some interesting history. This time I took the shuttle to Ron John's. It's very convenient and drops you off right by the beach. Everything was closed other than Ron John's (it was Christmas Eve), but it's a really nice beach to walk on, and there were restrooms and outdoor shoes and foot wash stations. I think it's totally worth it for a solo or even a couple - more than that and a taxi or Uber is probably best. Although I'm not sure how plentiful those were on Christmas Eve (understandably). Resort World at Bimini Okay - a lot of people seemed to hate Bimini as well - I really enjoyed it and would take it over Nassau or Freeport any day. I spent $35 for Resort World. I thought it was totally worth it. The free beach right by the port also looks nice. I'd be thrilled to go back any day. Coco Cay I'm seriously looking at itineraries to back to Coco Cay - it's so perfect. The food is good, the water is nice, and the setting is beautiful - it really is a 10 out of 10. Freeport I didn't do much at Freeport. I think it's an okay port for a short day off the ship in the port area and a relaxing ship day. I quite enjoyed doing morning trivia, heading to the port area, walking around and getting a drink, then going back for some solarium time and then lunch and more trivia.

It was funny - the people around me were super surprised your parachutes worked.