volk904

Last question. So you think I can make Quick Shuttle at 9am from the port. Does it pick up right at the port?

You have been very helpful. Looks like 3 ships on our return. Are the buses about the same between Amtrak and quick shuttle?

The cab would be my choice. Are you saying Cabs and Ubers are not easy to get ?

We have never cruised out of Vancouver so I don't know how they operate in Canada. My question is how early will they let you walk off the ship? I know in Miami in most cases you can be off by 7:30 or so. Trying to see if there is any chance we could make the 9:00 AM Amtrac bus since the 11:30 bus is full. Trying to avoid having to wait to 4:00 pm. I know the station is less than 2 miles away form the port and I don't believe there is any airport type security to get through.

Disappointing news. I was hoping to take the train from Vancouver to Seattle. Guess it we be a bus.

We were on the Explorer 3 weeks ago from San Juan to Miami. There was some short staff areas but overall we had a great time. Super cabin guy and table staff. That said the entertainment was not very good.

There is no set time to drop luggage. Our last trip we drove our rental car to the ship and dropped off our luggage and then took the rental car back and rode their shuttle van back to the ship.

The cafe has hot dogs, pizza, sandwiches of different types, sweets, etc so I would think you mother could find something to eat but I think your bigger problem is the cafe is not very big and even with overflow into outside area you will have a very hard time seating 13 even split up.

There may be a shortage of bottles but there is no shortage of Bourbon. If Royal wanted It they could find it. Just send a truck over to any Total Wine they have a store full of it. For what they charge for drinks and the drink package they could pay a premium if necessary.

I think Royal could probably generate more revenue by lowering the drink package. Make it cheaper and you sell more. The reality is most drinks cost them less than $3 so if you sold a package for about $50 per day you are way ahead.

I have not received luggage tags in years. Just print them off.

First of all he is right the Explorer Vroom is slow and sure not like the Vroom WiFi on newer ships which is pretty good. It was good for surfing and email and that was about it. That said I am confused over the OP ‘s issue with the ATT International plan. I have had it for years and used it on many cruises. When you are in ports under local cell coverage from at area you are charged $10 and have data, text and phone for 24 hours. This does not include data on the ship when you leave the port. If you were charged for data while in port with the ATT I would love to hear why the plan did not cover it. My experience is you need to be very careful when leaving ports to turn your device to airplane mode or turn off the data for cellular service if you want your phone open for incoming calls or texts from home.

We plan to book the bus with Amtrac as well. I am a pretty big guy. How is the legroom and seat size? Any Pictures? Dragging luggage walking to the Amtrac station does not appeal to me so I assume there is Cabs or Ubers you can take to the Amtrac station? I had read they might start the trains back by Early June but they won't know until May 23. Thanks for your thread. We are on the same cruise on May 29 so it helps alot.

The quick shuttle was interesting to know about. I think we are going to book the Amtrak Bus for now and hope to switch it to the train if it happens.

My opinion is the full Broadway shows like Cats are just to long for cruise ships. We saw Hairspray on the Symphony in November and it was ok but again to long. Seem lots of shows over the years but Jersey Boys is still my favorite.

I was just on the Explorer last week and purchased the soft drink package. You get the Cup you can use is the coke machines, you can fill that cup at any bar and you can also just order a soft drink at any bar or in the dining room without the cup. They won’t give you cans though. As far as cleaning the cup I just rinsed it out every day in the sink in our room. You could packs some dish soap if you really wanted to do a total clean. I was never concerned since I was the only person drinking from the cup.

If you are not Diamond make sure to purchase it at least 72 hours before the cruise. I forgot and tried to book mine about 44 hours early and was shut out. Had to pay more on board. Also how well the stream works depends on the ship.

I think it varies by the ship, cabins sold. And port. Last week we cruised from San Juan. We had a 1:30 boarding and Royal sent use several l messages to stick with our time but since we had to check out of the hotel at 1130 we took a chance. We were on the ship in 15 min no questions asked. i think the reality is Royal wants passengers to stick with boarding time to keep on boarding spread out but not enough to refuse boarding for early boarders.

I am confused over the testing to return to the US by plane. Is this Canada requiring it to board? In researching taking the train ( bus right now to Seattle) the Amtrak site said nothing about a covid test only passport etc. Has anybody heard if RCCL is going to have somebody doing Covid tests at the port?

We are flying to Vancouver thru Seattle before our cruise but on our return flight we are flying with points on SW from Seattle the next day, My plan all along was to take AMTRAK to Seattle but right now it is a 4 hour bus ride. Pretty cheap just $45 pp on Contrail. I talked to Amtrak and they said there might be a change on May 23 but no promise. I am thinking if nothing else i might need to book the bus thru Amtrak to have something but hope the train comes back Has anybody taken that bus ride? Any other ideas other than flying? Also I am confused on the Covid requirements to return to the US. MY brother seems to think he has to have a covid test to return to the US by plane but I read the Amtrak return info it said nothing about a covid test for US citizens.

The fairs are the same if you use a TA or book direct but a TA may have some perks to add or cheaper group space. I like using a TA.

I wanted to add another option that might save you $. Check with the shuttle companies about a trip from MCO to Port C instead of hotel pick up. Many hotels offer free airport transportation. Just have the hotel take you to MCO to pick up the shuttle. We did this once. Their run shuttles more often from the Airport.

Doubt you can find that. Here is some options. look into a 1 way car rental from MCO to turn in at Port C. The car rental company will take you to ship in their van. Just keep the rental under 24 hours. another option is to use a shuttle from MCO to Port C. We used Coco Beach shuttle. They may take you to the hotel but worse case take them to the cruise port and use a Uber or cab or even a hotel pick up from the port.

You should look at another option. We have twice just just booked a one way car rental from MCO. We used Budget but all of the car rental companies have drop off locations just a few blocks from the port and they have shuttle vans to take you to your ship. You can pick your car up drive to your hotel and then in the morning drive to Port C. The key is you don’t want the car more than 24 hours so it is one day. All of that said we did this before Covid. It might be to expensive now. If you do a net search you can usually find a budget discount code to use. Not sure which shuttle you priced but we used Coco Beach Scuttle in the past and they also do private pick ups.

Looking fir current info on Water Island. i know their is Ferry from Crown Bay Once you arrive how far is the veach and how do you get there? What is the best spot? Costs ? do you rent loungers ? thanks.