rockmom

at least there's a porthole, if I remember correctly, lol.

Hahahaha! I do the same! Once you get onboard, check to see if there are any other things you can reserve once on the ship's Wifi. And have a great cruise!

You're done.

on Quantum class ships, like Ovation, the main show in 270 is the only one where you need to book in advance. Unlike Oasis class where you need to book the ice, Aqua, comedy and the broadway/production shows in advance or take your chance with standby lines.

I can just see the outrage now...

Coastal Kitchen will also be open for breakfast every day. It's also open for lunch daily, doesn't matter if it's a port day or sea day.

and I got a Black Friday deal on it in 2020 for my July 2021 sailing on Odyssey--it was $43.99. Covid nixed that sailing too.

And sometimes you do lose it. What I have been able to do in the past is ask someone from my roll call who hasn't purchased anything for that same day/time slot, to see if it shows for them as being 'sold out' or if it says something like 'only 1 left!'. If that's the case, I just keep my current booking.

Exactly. You can't buy the same excursion twice for the same person. You need to cancel and hurry and repurchase. If definitely throws up the message that you have a conflict at that time and won't let you add it to your cart.

They do treat it like regular wine. Can't be larger than 750 ml, and only one per person. Non-alcoholic beer is not allowed. So it would work just like bringing regular wine, soda and water onboard. One bottle of NA wine per person, and then up to 12 bottles and/or cans of soda, water, just etc, not to exceed 17 ounces each, per stateroom (not per person). FYI, the majority of NA wines and beers do still contain a trace amount of alcohol.

Agree on balcony, plus with the blackout curtains, someone can be inside sleeping while someone is out on the balcony. Remember, there's a LOT of daylight during summer in Alaska. We spent a ton of time out on our balcony when we cruised Alaska.

From the Royal website under Royal Up FAQ's

This is totally true. They are called microbursts and can give little to no warning. Because they appear so suddenly, many times they don't even appear on radar. And...they are most common in the southeast portion of the U.S. during the hot, humid summer months.

There are two casinos. One is smoking, one is non. On several of the older Oasis class they have already replaced Jazz on 4 with a non-smoking casino. Utopia is being built with it.

log into the cruise planner on the website, not the app. Under dining they'll have all the specialty restaurants that you can purchase individually. Click on each one--there will be a link to a sample menu. On the app, go to your sailing, click on dining, you should see all restaurants listed, click in each one, you should see a menu.

I totally agree. I'm sure they are inundated with hundreds of requests. I'm sure table assingments for thousand of people are tough enough and then they get flooded with requests from people wanting specific tables, areas, clusters of tables, one ginormous table and so on. Throw in the size of ships now and it's probably not scalable anymore. There's always a long line at MDR on boarding day with more requests. And everyone and their party wants a window.

As I said in my original post, you don't 'need' it, until you do. Just like travel insurance. Or earthquake insurance on your homeowner's policy--and a lot of other stuff where there's a very good chance you'll never need it. But regret not having it if you're one of the few people who end up in a situation where you need it. For an adult, the cost for a passport is $130 for 10 years. If you renew at 9 1/2 years, that still less than $1.50 per month. Since kids under 16 only have 5 year passports, the cost goes to just under $2 per month. That's dirt cheap for some peace of mind when traveling, even if you only use your passport a few times over the span of its validity. Literally pennies per day.

not fear mongering. It does happen. You do eventually get to fly, but you have to jump through a lot of hoops--such as working through the embassy. You aren't stuck there forever. But the time that you're there is on your own dime and as I said, it adds to the stress when you really need/want to get home if there's an emergency. And yes, over the years there have been several posts about this happening.

It would probably be less expensive that booking a full cabana not in the water park and then having to add in water park passes. And this way there's passes for you and your husband in case you want to go in and watch or maybe do a slide or the wave pool.

They have kayaks and snorkeling gear, but there's a charge. And the kayaks you need to go in a group with a guide. You know what might work, although it adds $$, would be to get the Water Park cabana and then for you and your husband, a beach bed at South Beach or Chill Island. ETA: That way you'd be able to go into the water park, they'd have a place to 'hang' and you could retreat to your more sedate beach bed. The beach beds also have a couple of additional loungers, a couple of floating mats and a cooler with waters.

yes, but at least if everyone has a passport, they can all get on a flight.

They are not needed--until they are, and you have to fly home, but you can't. Because you or your child doesn't have a passport. Then you are dealing with the embassy and a whole lot of grief rather than getting home for whatever the emergency might be. Very terrifying if you are ill or injured and would much prefer to be in the U.S. for care.

For something like the zipline, you could shut yourself out of getting it if you wait. When you go to book it, you choose the time. Prime time slots fill up. There will probably be another sale starting soon, I'd book it then to ensure that you get it, and that you get a time that you want. We booked it mid-morning, so that the rest of the day we could enjoy the beach and lunch without have to head to the tram and head up the 'mountain' to do the zip.