JJK2008

The train is certainly an option, but perhaps a rental car would give you more freedom to move around and come and go at your leisure rather than rely on taxis/uber. The drive from Orlando to Miami for your cruise is not bad and with a rental car it gives you options to stop along the way if you choose. Enjoy your trip.

Thanks for the info. A quick search for the number came up empty.

As I recall (I could be completely wrong) it has something to do with the laws in the US and those other regions. Not the same laws in the UK. Good Luck.

Never heard of a WOW band. I had to look it up.

I agree never say never, but from their own description it doesn't look appealing.

If you will use the perks, it's a no-brainer. Happy cruising.

Unlike Carnival, NO you have to complete the cruise to get the status.

You may get tipping advice here on CC, but it won't be good advice. Tipping is always a hot topic on CC. Sadly, too many people just can't worry about themselves and MUST interject with their opinion on what people should/should not do whether that is tip, no tip, auto tip, whatever. Do what YOU believe is right for you. Don't worry about what anyone else says.

simcorner.com, we've used them a few times. Very good.

My DW and I are booked for this cruise August, 2025. I found this thread and have read every post. Your review/postings are Outstanding. Can't Thank You enough for the insight. Stay Safe & Healthy. John

A tip I got from one of my Aussie friends about driving on the other side of the road. He said "John, just remember to keep Nancy in the gutter." Interesting advice.🤣🤣🤣 Not sure DW was as appreciated as I was for the driving advice.

I would certainly call. I don't think it applies to US citizens only, but I may be mistaken. We check the prices almost daily. We have a cruise booked next year (2025) with Celebrity and have repriced it twice so far. Best of Luck.

I could be wrong, but I don't know if Google Voice can be gotten from outside the US. I hope it works for you. I have WhatsApp as well but unless the person I'm calling has it, it's of no use.

The wifi route is of course the cheapest way. Apps like WhatsApp work very well. The only downside to WhatsApp is the person you call must also have the app downloaded. Conversely, Google Voice is also a wifi phone service that is free, and the best part is you can call ANY other phone. The person you call does not have to have the app. I called my Drs., office in the USA from a hotel room in Australia using Google Voice. It was as if I was talking to them in the same room. I do not know if Google Voice is available to persons outside the USA. Might be worth checking.

WOW!!!! I saw the title and have read through every post on the thread. Corinne that experience truly SUCKS - and NO, THAT IS NOT A PUN. Absolutely terrible experience to go through. Welcome to CC, in general I think you'll find most of the people here are good, well-meaning folks. There are of course "some" not so much, just try to avoid them, I do. It's one of the reasons I'm not on any of those social sites. Some people (including myself) try sometime to "lighten" a conversation and sadly their comment is interpreted in a way very different than they intended, it happens. I'm confident the people here are NOT trying to be meanspirited. Actually, I believe they are very supportive of you, as I am. Of all of our cruises and travels we have not encountered any bedbugs - Thank God. I'm sure this issue has happened before with all cruise lines susceptible. I just want to believe it is not common or widespread. Thank You for posting. Not something we are consciously thinking of, but I think we all have to be aware. Life is short, Cruise/Travel more. John

In the US (and many other countries as well) manual transmission cars are going the way of the payphone, vinal records, 8 track/cassette tapes, rotary dial phones, b/w TV's, clocks with hands and more. If you learned to drive on a stick shift or can drive one even today, you're in a small percentage of the population here and showing your age🤣🤣🤣. Growing up, Nancy and I learned to drive both. We have over the years also owned both. I even remember no power steering, power brakes and rollup windows. I feel so old😌😌😌. Lyle, I understand your thoughts about driving on the "wrong" (other) side of the road with the controls also opposite. In Oz last year we rented 5 different cars in different locations. Like you I had my apprehensions. I had never done this before. The first experience was not bad. We followed friends of ours from The Gold Coast up to the Sunshine Coast to meet up with other Auzzie friends for lunch. I just stayed behind them and did what they did, not bad at all. The next day we were on our own. It was nowhere near as bad as I expected. The only thing I will say is that it required my full attention. Unlike at home where I can get in the car and drive almost on "autopilot" in Oz I had to really pay attention and think. But after a day or so it became easy. Side note: we rented different makes and models of cars. They did not all have the wipers/directionals on the same side. YES, this was challenging as more than once I put on the wipers (or not). But other than that hiccup, piece of cake.

We often will stay pre/post cruise in a hotel. We've brought an extension cord on almost every cruise, never thought about it, always just packed it in our luggage. Nobody has ever said a word about it.

Lots of issues going on in Mexico as well right now. The Cartels have moved into the tourist areas. Tourist areas were always unofficially "off limits" for the Cartel gang wars. That has changed. Recently there have been several tourists caught in crossfire from rival gang shootouts and others have just gone missing. There were also 2 brothers from Oz and an American surfer who were all killed. Things are just crazy all over. Stay Safe.

Thank You for the info. Until this morning, I no idea what was going on there. I've been dealing with some other issues (health), so I have been distracted and have not been following the news or goings on here on CC. You're right the World is losing it. Don't know if you in Oz heard about the uprising in Haiti??? The gangs took over a prison and released almost 4000 inmates. These are hardcore inmates, NOT petty thieves. It was all over the news here when it first happened. Now it's "old" news and we don't hear a peep. RCCL stopped all visits to their resort on Haiti - Labadee. Who knows how long that will last. Haiti also shares a border with the Dominican Republic. Cruise ships are still going to the DR, but reports are that the DR has really beefed up the security at the border. Hopefully things will resolve soon ALL OVER. Definitely think we are going to make our way back to Oz. What's the worst thing that can happen in Oz, we get a bad meat pie???🤣 OK, maybe there's no such thing as a "bad" meat pie. Anyway, Thank You for the info, much appreciated. John

I admit I'm out of touch on so many things😌. This morning, I read about the fighting going on in New Caledonia between the indigenous population and the French colonists. This conflict is getting Zero press here in the US, at least from what I've seen. Until I saw this news on the internet this morning I had no idea about the conflict, its reason or how long it has been brewing. Also saw that Australia and New Zealand are sending planes to evacuate their citizens. I hope all on this thread and their families or friends who may be in that region stay safe. This is a place Nancy, and I were looking at for a cruise. Not going to happen now or at least in the immediate future. Pre-covid we had a Baltic Sea cruise booked that included stops in Russia. That didn't happen because of the pandemic and sure isn't happening anytime soon. We have a Japan cruise booked for next August. We are also looking at doing another Australia visit perhaps this is the perfect time to combine the two and plan it. The last trip in Oct., Nov., (my first to Oz) was one of the best trips we had ever taken. As much as we did and experienced, we still left lots to do on the table. If we do another Oz trip, I'll be right back on this thread looking for advice and suggestions. Stay Safe & Hope all on this board are doing well. John

Hey Marty, we've only done one river cruise, but it was Awesome!!!! We did lots of research for what we were interested in and went from there. I'll share with you what we did and learned and hopefully some of it will be of value to you. The rivers in Europe struggle with water levels every year. Some years high water levels, some years low water levels. This causes issues because of the numerous bridges that must be gone under. Viking Cruise Lines has the most ships by far. So what Viking is able to do (that other lines can't do because they don't have the fleet) is if there is a water level issue Viking will send two ship one on each side of the bridge. Passengers will disembark for their daily shore excursion, Viking will transfer all luggage, passengers return to the "new" ship on the other side of the bridge and continue their cruise.....seamlessly. The Viking ships are virtually identical except for the decor. We learned of this from our research. As a result, we chose Viking. We did NOT have any water issues at the time of year we went, so switching ships for us did not happen. But it was nice to know we had it covered if we had to. We did the Grand European Cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest 14 night. It was spectacular. In fact, we're looking to do it again. We chose early June for the cruise. Water levels were fine and we lots of daylight hours. There are 180 guests as I remember. Everyone eats at the same time and as you choose you can sit with different people each meal or not, very flexible. Beer & wine is served complimentary with lunch & dinner. Drinks outside of those time are paid for. In the evening there was a guitar player and singer in the lounge. It was a very different atmosphere than an ocean cruise. With such a small number of passengers you get know most everyone within a couple of days. There are shore excursion in each port each day included as part of the cruise. I'd suggest Viking Cruises. They checked all the boxes for us. Best of luck. Enjoy your cruise whatever you decide.

AARP sells discounted ecards for a number of businesses including cruise lines like CCL & RCCL. You save 10% on the amount of the card,,,,you pay $90 for a $100 card and $450 for a $500 card. Each one has its own unique terms & conditions different than cards purchased direct from the cruise line. The CCL ones are super easy to use, highly recommend. The RCCL ones not so much. Yes, they will work but they are VERY restrictive in the rules to redeem them. Unless you follow the terms & conditions to the letter, RCCL won't accept them. Best of luck.

Have you called????????

We book directly with the cruise line and do NOT use a travel agent. If you use a travel agent for your booking, you'll have to go through them to apply the gift cards. That said, just today, for the first time I bought 3 AARP $100 Carnival Gift Cards for a cruise in December. I have scoured CC reading about the Gift Cards, restrictions, problems, etc. The Carnival Cards seem to be the easiest to use, the RCCL not so much. Anyway, I bought 3 to give it a try. Called the CCL number given 800-764-7419, got through within minutes. Selected existing reservation, explained that I wanted to make a payment with AARP Gift Cards. No Problem. The agent took the card numbers and the pin numbers and applied them instantly. They did have to be applied one card at a time, but it was very quick and painless, no issue whatsoever. Will definitely do it again to pay off the balance.

Great posts. Thank you for sharing. It's a beautiful part of the World. Enjoy every minute of it.