notscb

I'd do the later boarding times, after or around 1pm. No crowds makes it easier to navigate the terminal and boarding and your room will likely be ready by the time you board.

She was my first ship in 2009 and is still my favorite design by far. There's plenty of quiet space, the lido deck has seating for the buffet looking at the wake and it's not too big overall.

I don't see why you couldn't do this. It's about a 7 hour train ride, do it the day before and stay in a hotel near the port.

LaGuardia is closest, followed by Newark. New York traffic is similar to but somehow much worse than Miami. It really depends on how you're getting to the port as to what's going to be best, IMO. LaGuardia has a free special bus service that connects to the metro system which is super convenient in my experience. If you're driving, it's all going to be a mess so pick whichever NYC area airport is cheapest for you (LGA, EWR, JFK).

I'd do it, depending on the length of your cruise and what you've already spent. As others have mentioned, it's nice to have a place to escape to when your kids have bedtime but you're not quite ready yet. There's also nothing quite like having your own private outdoor space on a cruise ship, IMHO.

It's much more likely (though no way to really confirm) that RCL has very likely ensured that Icon is very well staffed. How they do that is up to them, but I wonder if they moved some staff from their fleet to make sure Icon has enough.

This, 100%. Get the most extravagant (and private!) excursion for me- after settling gratuities.

1. I don't think you fully understand the context, it's already been studied, they don't "lose". 2. The residents of Key West voted for ccruise ship limits and were usurped by their governor. They voted. The will of the community impacted was ignored. 3. Bar Harbor has already started enforcing a daily cruise limit. It's a very popular stop on Canada/New England cruises. 3. https://www.cruisehive.com/alaskan-city-rejects-petition-to-limit-cruise-passengers/112754 Just had to source some of my points so you could see where I'm coming from, especially as it's concerned with people's attitudes toward cruising in general. When people start to say no, it's not just "saying no." Just wanted to give you accurate sourcing to see where I'm coming from.

I had chat GPT add punctuation for this user to make it easier to read for us 🙂 @JohnnyPro44 "I agree 100 percent. They emailed us on Tuesday before our Friday departure, told us there was a problem, said they would update us Thursday, and then said they would update us Friday morning. They never did. We got on, then they told us we weren’t leaving until Sunday at 4. It sucked because most bars were closed and there was nothing really to do. Staff were saying they should have canceled us before we got on. Then, Saturday afternoon, they canceled. "It’s the same issue as last year," is what I was told."

It sounds like overall you had a positive experience on your cruise! I appreciate the bulleted points and sharing of your experiences. I think the explanation is simple re: delays at Disembarkation. Part of the process is out of Carnival's hand (immigration and customs) which inevitably slows the process. Another factor that you might have experienced driving in is that LGB is an active commercial port and traffic in/out is nearly always backed up when ships are coming/going, which also contributes to the overall crowding, even while you're still onboard. I think you make a god point, though, that the cruise director should be more vocal during these times and often the silence over the loudspeaker contributes to the confusion.

They really need to take a page from Carnival on this one. When the Panorama was out of service in December and needed an azipod fixed, they preemptively cancelled almost a month and a half of sailings and gave FCC so we could make alternate plans.

This is the true "life pro tip" that I also discovered on my last cruise. Arrive around 1pm and walk straight through onboard to your room without stopping once you hit the port. Hassle and crowd free to boot.

The great thing about Norway is that people are going to come because of the beauty of the Fjords and the adventuring to be had around them, regardless of the bigger cruise lines coming or not. I was just looking at a train/boat/bus tour that one of my favorite travel YouTubers had done in Norway and was considering booking the same trip. Major cruise lines leaving could even be considered as a net positive as local businesses can market different types of land based tours and/or smaller ship tours, keeping dollars local. >Norway is not going to change the cruise industry, that is just silly You're right, but missing the larger picture here. There have been many, many ports that have been lobbying against cruise ships (Key West, Bar Harbor, Alaska in general, Norway). Compounded, these efforts could help to promote change in the industry as a whole. Notice that Norway isn't saying "you can't come," they're saying "you can't come if you're going to destroy our ecosystem." There's a difference.

Yes and no. The fjords are a wonder of the world (IMHO) and deserve to be protected at all costs. If the cruise lines want to capitalize on their beauty, they should be held to a higher standard to also protect them and every port they visit. I think Norway deciding this is a wake up call to the industry to do better.

"The Key" program is truly dependent on your own specific situation as to whether or not it's "worth it." As a solo traveler, it was only $3/day more than the price of the internet I was already getting and gave me a chance to have a really nice lunch with folks on embarkation, which helped throughout the trip as I was able to connect with a few folks on an otherwise quiet vacation. RCL also took my carry on baggage once onbaord and brought it to my cabin early for me. For families, the Key is likely not worth it unless your cruise has a lot of tender ports (and even then, meh). It's all in your unique circumstance as to the value, but definitely keep an eye out for any sales.

There's a discussion happening over on Reddit right now. Apparently folks are getting 100% refund and FCC, in which case that's not the worst possible outcome. I wonder if they're trying to get folks off to get Radiance to a temp. drydock as quick as possible a la Carnival Panorama a few months ago? What a disaster though. RCL really could have been more proactive here, IMHO.

Thank you for mentioning it! I do think OP was looking for what benefits they might get with having full access, as they mentioned "Price and what it includes." OP- you might want to look into the comfort suites thing, not sure if it's still an ongoing deal.

I'll have to look for it on the forums, but there was once a way to buy a night at a different hotel on the island and get day passes to Atlantis.

It hasn't hit the CSC Cruise Ship Outbreak Updates page yet, but it should once they head toward a U.S. Port.

My experience was the exact opposite at long beach. Birth certificate line was wrapping all the way up, the folks who kept walking were passport holders using facial scanning. Strange how that happens.

I've been scrolling through the comments on this thread and nobody has really pointed out that in the interviews with those cruisers and articles that have been linked in this thread, none of the stranded really blamed the cruise line for the situation. There's a lot of assuming going on in this thread without any real source where the group is cited as blaming the cruise line. It seems like they understand it was their responsibility. OP even used "blamed the cruise line" when their own source didn't mention the pax blaming anyone at all.

I don't think OP was suggesting it was the responsibility of the steward, thus the title including "themselves." OP, from what I've casually noticed just walking around while rooms are being serviced, people do all sorts of wild things to their rooms and some people make a hurricane in theirs. I don't see why you couldn't change it around to your liking while onboard as long as you put it back.

It still seems a bit weird considering how humid some of the ports are, especially Singapore.

Norfolk is a great city if you stay downtown so you have things to do before your cruise. I'd recommend staying in one of the hotels right near the waterfront (there's a Hilton and two Marriott hotels) or getting an airbnb in that area. It's pretty quick and easy to get from the airport to the port, though, but realize that there's not a whole lot to do out by the airport. Have a great cruise!

Glad OP figured this one out. Corporate bureaucracy is the worst and I can attest to the fact that at the customer service level, there often isn't a way to directly talk to someone in finance/accounting. At a job I worked, to get to that department I had to put an email in the customers chart and cross my fingers for a response. Obligatory leaving helpful resources to others who might need to find a way to resolve their issues with Carnival (and other cruise lines): -Elliott.org company contacts list- send a brief email with bullet point details (again, be brief, don't be emotional and don't over-explain) and exact resolution to one contact at a time. Wait one week between. -Consumer Rescue has a "help" feature where their consumer advocates will reach out to these companies to try to resolve problems.