twangster

If you have a valid booking it is still possible to arrive at the terminal with no paperwork. Security will escort you to someone who can validate your name is on the manifest. There are some people, primarily older people, who don't have a smartphone or computer. However you need to be on the manifest (have a confirmed booking). It may not be the quickest process but it can be done.

D+ seapass card opens the Ovation suite sun deck (or used to pre-shutdown).

It's also possible the TA site has old cached data. One TA I used to use would often advertise rates but if you tried to book them it would fail. The one cabin at that rate was grabbed by someone else.

Much more likely to see the Salmon runs after mid-August. Earlier than that you probably won't see them. That also mens bears are enjoying the Salmon runs so the opportunity for some wildlife is better. There is no wrong month to cruise Alaska. You'll see stuff that is less likely in other months. Other wildlife may not be as prevalent. It all depends. I've sailed Alaska six times from mid-May to September. Each was great, each was different.

Reports of a Sargasso contractor at the terminal blocking D+ from using the Suites entrance in Florida Does that count?

Yes, in theory, at least for the 1/3 of the fleet that had O3b to begin with. However once they gave up their slots with O3b it might be impossible to get those back if O3b has assigned them to other customers. The larger issue is cost which is why they migrated to Starlink. Keep in mind Royal isn't trying, or even pretending to try, to provide great internet service. They moved to Starlink to have a supplier that provided a lower cost solution. To move back to a higher cost provider is probably a much bigger issue compared to the actual technology involved. We have seen that for their beverage suppliers they had no problem simply saying X brand of beverage is not available. They could have found a source for X brand but at a higher cost. Instead of going there they simply said, nope, brand X is not available right now. Once you consider that an internet provider is just that, one of many potential providers, Royal is not trying to achieve performance targets with any supplier, beyond cost. If O3b offered a steep discount to go back to them then maybe it would be an option. But why would a provider, seeing a competitor fail miserably, offer a steep discount to allow customers to switch back? That breaks their business model - stable and reliable service at a cost for stable and reliable service. Royal isn't trying to provide the best, they are trying to provide good enough, at an economical supplier cost. That's isn't what O3b provides. They provide solid solutions, but at an appropriate rate for solid and reliable service. It all comes back to... you get what you pay for. Which by the way, is probably exactly what RCG stakeholders (investors) want to see then do in their current financial condition.

Bad news for the state of Starlink Maritime service. The Starlink v2-mini satellites that we supposed to be an interim band aid for many things Starlink but especially the maritime service have suffered a setback. This will delay Starlink Maritime service getting any better in the near term. https://spacenews.com/spacex-experiencing-problems-with-first-upgraded-starlink-v2-satellites/

Ship's are managed as if they are a franchise with management onboard making up their own rules. This has long been a frustration with the UDP. One ship does it one way, another ship does it similar but maybe not. The UDP becomes like dealing with stock investments... Performance quoted represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Take everything posted about the UDP in this light. Ask onboard and try.

Spouses share "relationship" points. Whoever has the highest personal point count determines the level that the relationship has. That also applies to dependent children until their 18th birthday. You may need to call CAS to have the relationship put into effect. ‭(800) 526-9723‬ Note that everyone still has their own unique points based solely on cruises they have sailed, but the higher points tally will be displayed and determine the level that everyone in the relationship shares. A solo cruiser does qualify for an extra point per night (unless they are booked in a studio cabin, then single points). For this reason it can be beneficial to put the adult with the highest personal points count into the cabin by themselves so that everyone benefits from their new points count. Once onboard you can move people around based on preferences. If you have the most points then booking you in the role as the solo cruiser works best. For example if you have 50 points and your spouse has 40 points you will both appear to have 50 points. However since your spouse only has 40 points if they are in the cabin by themselves their points will go up from 40 to 54 for a seven night cruise (7 x 2). Your points would go from 50 to 57 for a seven night cruise ( 7 x 1 ) if booked in a cabin with the kids. The relationship points would then be 57. If you book yourself in the cabin by yourself then you would go from 50 to 64 for a seven night cruise (7 x 2). Your spouse would go from 40 to 47 but that would occur in the background and not be visible. The relationship points would be 64 so everyone would appear to have 64. The same works even better with a suite. Book the highest points holder in a suite alone so they get 3 points per night.

Here is a Cruise Compass from Alaska last year. Maybe it will answer some questions: QN 7 Night Alaska May 9 2022.PDF

I can see the merit of the new design. Unless you add lighting to the old style blocks the details get lost. The new design stands out, they are legible from a few feet away.

Carnival is better for comfort food and more of it is complimentary.

Indy takes over the "OMG I can't afford that cruise" slot.

If anyone else can't get resolution from MSC increasing the price of a confirmed booking here are some resources to consider: Dear -----------------, The Florida Attorney General's Office received your email regarding your concerns with MSC Cruises. Attorney General Moody asked that I respond. We appreciate hearing from you, and I am sorry for your difficulties.The Attorney General's Office is concerned with all potentially unfair and deceptive trade practices. We are forwarding your information to the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division for review. We are also forwarding your complaint to the state's mediation program, operated by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS). You may follow up with the mediation program at: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of Consumer Services 2005 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399 Telephone: (850) 410-3800 Toll-free within FL: (800) 435-7352 Website: https://www.fdacs.gov/Divisions-Offices/Consumer-Services Complaint/License Search: https://csapp.800helpfla.com/cspublicapp/businesssearch/businesssearch.aspx In addition, the Federal Maritime Commission, Office of Consumer Affairs and Dispute Resolution Services (CADRS), offers Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services for passengers who have encountered a problem on a cruise. You can find more information about the services offered through CADRS, along with contact information for the agency, online at: https://www.fmc.gov/databases-services/consumer-affairs-dispute-resolution-services/ Finally, Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act provides individuals with a private remedy to bring an action for damages, attorney's fees and court costs. Because our office is not at liberty to give legal advice or guidance to private individuals, if you need legal guidance please consult a private attorney. If you need help finding a Florida attorney, The Florida Bar offers a Lawyer Referral Service toll-free in the U.S. at (800) 342-8011 or online at https://www.floridabar.org/public/lrs/. Thank you for contacting the Attorney General's office. I hope this proves helpful to you. Sincerely, Ariam Hernandez Office of Citizen Services Florida Attorney General's Office PL-01, The Capitol Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1050 Telephone: (850) 414-3990 Toll-free within Florida: (866) 966-7226 Website: www.myfloridalegal.com PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL. THIS ADDRESS IS FOR PROCESSING ONLY. To contact this office please visit the Attorney General's website at www.myfloridalegal.com and complete the on-line contact form. Again, thank you for contacting the Office of the Florida Attorney General. ________________________________________________________________________

Not a seafood eater but I recently did CT on Oasis while in Star because it was just $25 and there were some friends also in Star that would be with me at CT. I can eat some seafood, it's not an allergy issue but a dislike of strong fish tastes. My genie had passed along my dislike of seafood and they accommodated with substitutions. I did accept the lobster course. While lost on me I can eat lobster. For the fish course they subbed some dried chicken. Our CT was in the Solarium Bistro where at night they have the mini plates with one of them being chicken. They basically took one of those chicken plates and that as my substitution. As chicken goes it was bland and dry. It was the worst course for me. The rest was fine. Overall I'm glad I did CT. The company of friends alone made it worthwhile. It was a nice experience, not great but not bad either. Not worth more than the $25 I paid so I'm glad I did it while in Star. If I had paid full price I would have been harsher with this review.

Came here to post the same. A poster on the ship:

Youth have been damaging ships (and hotels) for decades. Current policies exist because of previous transgressions. Occasionally a dysfunctional family boards a cruise ship and stuff happens. However that doesn't mean that ALL youth behave this poorly week after week, cruise after cruise or that it's a generational issue. Bad parents have existed for decades too. This can and does happen anytime. It's not a spring break thing. This sounds like one bad set of youth, maybe even one bad individual who influenced others to behave beyond their normal limits. Hopefully the family belonging to the youth ring leader are put off the ship and have to pay for the damages as indicated. I've seen something similar happen and it wasn't during spring break. A child around age 8 or 9 was in the habit of throwing a tantrum and would punch random people. As it turns out one of those people included the staff Captain who happened to be walking through an area during a tantrum. While this child didn't damage the ship their behavior was unacceptable. The father of the child was himself a special individual who got into a heated exchange with the staff Captain over the incident. They were confined to their cabin and put off in San Juan, the next stop. It happens. Some people have little respect for others, people or property, and their children learn from the parents. That has been happening for generations and will continue with future generations. It's not about the current generation of parents and it's not a reflection of today's youth in general.

Apple's randomized MAC is called "Private WiFi Address". There is also Apple's Relay service and if it's an AT&T branded phone it could have AT&T's version of Apple's Relay service. Both are designed to "protect" you by tunneling all your traffic through them on the premise that your service provider is spying on. Instead Apple/AT&T are spying on you. They can also change the DNS servers again so that your ISP "can't spy on you". Google offers these types of services as well. They all really do it so they can monitor every packet your send and they know what you are doing and searching for. The problem is all of these "protection" services can interfere with captive portals like the Voom login page. MSC does a better job informing people to disable all of these types of services. Royal does not.

Fifteen years ago the mention of large ships in Alaska would have resulted in laughter. Now large ships have been sailing in Alaska for five years. Like in Alaska the ports that can will adapt to accept larger ships. Five to eight years from now some ports will adapt while other ports will close themselves to cruising entirely. The British Virgin islands has some small(er) capable ports that Royal infrequently calls upon vs. other cruise lines including Celebrity. Few ever complain about Royal not going to the BVI. Just like in Alaska there are enough ports that are large ship capable to make interesting itineraries. There remain some ports in Alaska, just like the BVI, that remain small ship only. Despite that, large ship cruising in Alaska (and the Caribbean) is hugely successful. Other regions will yield similar outcomes over the next 5, 10 and 15 years. There is no need to make small ships to remain a hugely successful cruise line. There is no mandate or requirement to sail into every cruise port everywhere.

Airlines have been doing it for years. Look around the next time you fly. Some folks near you probably spent less than you did and some folks paid way more. Supply and demand pricing concepts have been around for decades. This is hardly a new practice. Royal has been mining data for over a decade as well and using that data to model pricing. Look at the price of a house in one city or neighborhood versus another. It's well known that in real estate it's all about location, location, location which is just another way of saying demand, demand, demand. Is that gouging?

Royal doesn't own the port, pier or terminal. Any assistance must be provided by the local officials that operate the facility, much like at airports.

Royal has had dynamic pricing since like forever.

As long as you didn't get there from a RoyalUp, you get a total of 3 points per night. One point per night base, one extra point per night for being solo in a double occupancy cabin plus one more extra point per night for booking and sailing in a suite.

The only though I had about a new ship doing 3/4 short cruises is that they charge such a new ship premium that by offering short cruises the sticker shock isn't so bad and folks might be more willing to splurge and accept the new ship premium since the total doesn't appear so bad. On a per night basis it's outrageous but when it's only 3 or 4 nights the total amount appears more "affordable". $1,800 to $2,400 for an entry level cabin on a short cruise doesn't seem so bad even if that is $400 per person per night. A 7 night cruise would be $5,600. $2,400 is a lot easier to justify compared to $5,600 to experience a brand new ship.

Kids match their parents internet perk at all levels of CAS including gold through emerald. Parents who are gold have long received 10% off on board packages... and so do their kids. Parents who are platinum and emerald have long received 15% off on board packages... and so do their kids. The purpose of the chart is not to include every on board benefit in exact detail for every level as it relates to youth. Kids match their parents Voom discount. Concise and exact.