pstone1

Our sails miss ports all the time! We rarely get anything back. What’s really funny is that the ship (no matter which one) always blames Miami, while Firefly333’s email from Miami clearly states it’s up to the ship!

Nope! We’ve never really cared to go. The only reason I even looked this time is because we’ll already be in Europe. I’m sure they’ll have no trouble filling it though! We won’t be around for the Utopia Inaugural either!

Thanks, but ridiculously overpriced right out of the gate! We’ll pass! 🤣

See you on the Serenade! We too plan to enjoy our favorite class as long as we can!

We absolutely would! We spent 36 nights on Jewel followed by 14 nights on Voyager, so 50 nights right there. Went home for 2 weeks, then back on Jewel for another 28 nights. No problem! We are already booked for this timeframe though, but wish we could do it!

I think May should be the perfect climate, probably in the 60’s! We were in Amsterdam at the end of July and it was much warmer than we anticipated! I’d be prepared with short sleeve shirts in case it’s a little warmer!

I don’t know whether you like to walk or not, but Amsterdam is a very walkable City with excellent Public Transportation. We walked everywhere and saw so many things we would have missed otherwise. It depends what your plans are, but I don’t think there’s a wrong choice for a hotel. We really loved Amsterdam!

I think this has been a regular occurrence in Amsterdam, due to the drought conditions being experienced in parts of Europe. We did get $100 OBC on each of the three cruises due to missing a Port.

At Banks Mansion? I just checked and those dates pulled up for me without issue! Try again on the hotel’s website - banksmansion.nl It’s a bit pricey, but daily HH, access to a full bar 24/7, and a fantastic breakfast are all included.

I just checked again, and our dates next year are not open yet! I will keep checking though! Definitely a great hotel!

Yes, now I think the $30.65 might be for two! I’m still wondering if there is a double charge for cruises visiting both Nassau & Coco Cay.

Ken, do you know if there are double charges if a cruise is visiting both Nassau and Coco Cay? TIA!

Looks like about $30.65 pp.

Are you going back to Banks Mansion? We loved that hotel and the location. For what we got, the cost was reasonable last year, but I checked a few months ago in anticipation for next year, and it looks like the prices have gone way up!

Hopefully, we’ll be given plenty of notice if they decide on a Port change for SR next August. Airfare won’t be on sale for another couple of months so maybe we will know something by then.

Yes! We missed a Port and had to sail in during the day, in order to get to the locks and go through by 6pm. We really enjoyed that beautiful sail-in! As I understood it, the locks were closed 12 hours each day to help prevent salt water intrusion of the drinking water, due to the drought.

Decision made! We have 14 cruises booked right now stretching into 2025 so you can see why the Allianz insurance would do us no good! Thanks for all the insight and information!

I don’t know if you remember, but in July-August, 2022, Royal moved up the Jewel’s departure time from Amsterdam so the ship could get through the locks before they closed at 6pm. I think only a day’s notice was given that the 7/26 cruise would be leaving at 3:30pm! Didn’t matter to us as we were in Amsterdam, but I’m sure that move messed up a lot of people’s plans! I know at least several missed the ship! Another cruise line (can’t remember which) moved their departure to Rotterdam with only a day’s notice. I felt really bad for those cruisers as the cruise line did not offer any transportation.

I looked at your signature and we were on the 7/26 and 8/7 Jewel cruises with you! Those were fantastic cruises and some of our favorites! Booked them again for 2024, but then the SA World Cruise mini-segments were released and I moved them to those!

Thanks for the clarification! Actually, neither of us have pre-existing conditions but Allianz might not be for us. They sound difficult and picky, which is why we never considered them for medical.

That’s exactly why we have had an annual GeoBlue policy, which covers all medical/medivac. We would only be buying the Allianz policy for the trip coverage. If the same applies for the trip coverage, I would never buy their policy. Again, haven’t really looked at the text yet.

We’re with you on that cruise, and also plan to get off in Amsterdam and fly to the UK to visit friends. It would be very tempting to spend a couple of nights in Amsterdam first as well, as we love the City. Would also like to know the plan before I buy the airfare!

Yes, I am so grateful Royal did not move cruises to Rotterdam last year like other lines did. We did a B3B on Jewel out of Amsterdam last summer, and we absolutely loved the daytime sail-in and sail-out of Amsterdam for each of those cruises!

Agree! The Bahamas are probably collecting this fee for Royal to pay for their new water park! 😳

I’m going to have to take a more careful look and give it more thought, but the All Trips Executive is what I was looking at. It’s $510 each for $5K in coverage each, and $635 each for $7,500 in coverage each. We haven’t ever needed it (over 100 cruises), but have thought about getting it. Lots of trips outside the US between now and the beginning of next year so it may be a good time.