ARandomTraveler

Some have this type, some have a worse type where there's not even glass at the front. Adventure has a metal front. When I was on symphony they cleaned the glass twice, once on the first day, and another time when we were in port a few days later. It always looked crystal clear. I don't know if they get cleaned by ship crew, or if they get cleaned by port crew. I wasn't in the room to see.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is true, given the Bahamas can see how much Royal Caribbean at least, is focusing their business model on Coco Cay and Nassau.

I bought a $17 beer and a $32 bourbon and Coke (pre-tip) at the NBA finals game last week (not in NYC). Those prices were higher than normal for my area, but not by much. The high drink prices onboard are normal for me.

If you show up to the next cruise desk wearing the hat, will you get a discount, kind of like how they used to do with those BINGO shirts they'd give away at the meet and mingles?

Yes you're correct, the 18% should be added at checkout, or if purchasing drinks individually, , it will be added each time a drink is purchased. A $70 drink package with the 18% added on is $82.60 and a $14 drink with the 18% added on is $16.52. Either way I calculate it, it's still a 5-margarita-break-even, so I guess I didn't need to mention the 18%.

Wine and margaritas are around $12-$14 (pre-18% service charge). So about 5 drinks.

I guess that makes sense - the 4 day gives people some days to start and finish their vacations without the stress. The 3 day still requires people to take time off work but they get less sailing days. I wish they'd hit up somewhere besides Nassau. At least switch it up every other sailing.

I'm bummed it's sailing 3/4 night itineraries, but I'll still probably book it at least once. It doesn't make sense to me to have a 4-day Mon-Fri sailing, if you're gonna do that, may as well make it 7 because people already have to take the full work week off. And if I'm paying $500/person to fly to Florida, I'd rather stay a whole week than just a weekend. If the prices aren't completely outrageous, I'll probably book a b2b just for fun, but I'd be willing to spend more money if it sailed a better itinerary.

I signed up for the email where they're probably just gonna tell us that bookings will be open soon, and that they'll be even more expensive than Icon. I signed up anyway.

Don't ask questions 👀

Assuming you are American, you do not need a Visa for Singapore. But you do have to fill out this form before you get there: https://eservices.ica.gov.sg/sgarrivalcard/

If you hold a US passport, you need one for Vietnam. Apply using this link. https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/trang-chu-ttdt You do not need one for Singapore. I don't think you need one for Malaysia either, but double check just to be sure. Currently, you do need to be vaccinated against covid to visit Malaysia, but that might change by February. For Singapore, even though you don't need a visa, you have to fill out this form before you fly there, and I believe you also need to fill it out again before your ship returns to Singapore. https://eservices.ica.gov.sg/sgarrivalcard/

Thank you. I wasn't sure how picky they would be about it being an actual address (and also that the address was a residence vs a business or seaport address), it's good to know they approved your visa using the name of the ship, so I'll do that. My cruise route only visits Nha Trang in Vietnam, so we arrive and leave the country from Nha Trang seaport (which is a question on the visa), but the application also asks what city/province you're visiting, and Nha Trang isn't an option. So annoying. Coincidentally I just did my check-in for my cruise and they sent me a confirmation email, but in that email they also sent reminders to get your visa, and about needing vaccinations to visit (Malaysia) and to fill out a disembarkation form for Singapore before we leave the cruise, even though our cruise actually ends in Japan. I guess they're using info for the route Spectrum is currently sailing. Not super helpful.

I like the Voyager class ships (which explorer is part of). I actually prefer the slightly larger Freedom class ships over the Voyager class (and Oasis class might be my new overall favorite), so in my opinion, the voyager class ships are "small." The explorer is big enough to be able to find something to do everyday, but not so big that you leave the ship feeling like you never saw most of the ship. The other thing I like about this class is that there is a lot of outdoor space where you can get fresh air and sunshine. I also like that it has a promenade (the indoor area of the ship that is open, basically from one end of the ship to the other and has a bar, a cafe, some shops etc.) which Grandeur doesn't have. I've never been on Grandeur or that class of ship, but don't think I would like it because it's smaller, older, and lacks the promenade inside the ship. I love St Lucia. If given the option to sail to St Lucia on grandeur or explorer, I would pick explorer. If given the option to sail St Lucia and the only way to go was to sail on the Grandeur, I'd opt not to go.

This was my experience as well. I had about 800 euros for my trip last fall and came home with almost all of it. Not only are credit cards used everywhere, but you don't even need the actual card because they take Apple Pay everywhere (at least in France and Italy they did).

My Chase Sapphire Reserve doesn't charge a foreign transaction fee, but it DOES charge a cash advance fee, so using the credit card to get cash out of the ATM is a bad idea.

Question - I'm filling out the form right now, and there's a question on the application that asks for an "intended residential address in Vietnam." What did you put there? The email from RC said to use Nha Trang seaport for your "entry and exit," but that's not what the form asks for. Also, Nha Trang is not even an option in the "city/province" section, but I googled it and it's in Khanh HOA, so that's what I selected. I can't imagine everyone is filling out this form correctly with this garbage info RC gave us.

I would highly recommend leaving from Puerto Rico at least once. Beware that it will cost you quite a bit more money because airfare is usually kind of pricey, and hotels in San Juan are somewhat expensive (they have a really high tourism tax). But it's worth it in my opinion. There are other islands besides the ABCs that are also great. St Lucia and Barbados are 2 of my favorites. I like both of those more than Curacao (I haven't been to Bonaire). In Aruba you can also check out the Aruba Trikes tour, it's a 3-wheeled motorcycle tour through the island, you can seat up to 3 people on the trike. I've done that tour twice.

Aruba was my favorite too. So much so that I've been back a couple times for land vacations.

Is it possible that they used to obtain the visas for everyone pre-pandemic and now they don't? I just don't feel comfortable showing up to the ship and hoping they did it for me, especially since the email is giving us the info to do it ourselves.

We are on this cruise as well. I've been struggling to figure out whether I should just do the ports on my own or book tours. I don't want to miss out on seeing special sites because it's unlikely I'll ever come back to these places again. However, if there are things to do within walking distance of the port, I'd be ok exploring on my own. It's so hard to figure out because there's so little information on this cruise route. I did get an email today from Royal Caribbean with the links for applying for visas (you'll have also received it). In Singapore, we're staying at the Marina Bay Sands. I booked it almost 10 months ago, and we'll have a view of the gardens by the bay and it cost almost $800/night, even booking way in advance. I also have a backup hotel booked, the Conrad Centennial Singapore (it's a Hilton branded hotel). It's quite a bit cheaper, not quite as centrally located, but gets good reviews. You might check that one out if Marina Bay prices are too high. Thanks for starting this thread, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one having a hard time figuring out how the heck to plan for the ports.

This seems like such a great service! I've looked at a couple websites that explain the service and how to use it, but it doesn't look like there's a place at the Yokohama cruise port where you can walk off the ship and send your bags to a hotel or 7-11 in Tokyo. I wonder if we were to just bring a big bike lock and tied our luggage up at a bike rack or something, if that would work to go to the Ramen museum before heading to Tokyo. Are bike racks common out there?

I got an email from Royal Caribbean today and they gave the info about who might need to apply for visas, and it seems pretty clear that everyone has to apply for their own (they don't do it for you).

The water is prettier (it's more calm, it's crystal clear, and it's warm for more months of the year than the islands that are on the eastern and western routes). These islands are also much less crowded because less tourists make the longer flights to get there, and less ships visit these ports, especially in summer. They're just prettier, and more unique in my opinion, and they have a different vibe than say, Cozumel, Nassau, Roatan, St Maarten etc. Barbados and St Lucia are also on that list of southern route islands that are gorgeous and unique.

Thanks for the heads up, I'm gonna go put a deposit down on that one. Last time I did the ABC route, they changed the itinerary and skipped Bonaire, so I obviously need a do-over.