gumshoe958

If the ship’s wifi reaches the terminal, you should be able to book while you’re there, although in the past I’ve found booking doesn’t open until around 11am so if you’re early you may have to wait.

Yes, or even while waiting to board if you can pick up the ship wifi in the terminal. There’ll also be a box office open on deck 5 when you board, if you prefer to book in person, plus a phone line.

See post 17 by @Host Sharon - she says she’s been offered the chance to apply for a VIP tour and lunch on board on the 20th. So yes.

Royal Caribbean offer that, albeit bundled in with an internet package and some other perks (called The Key).

It means it’s been reviewed, hasn’t been rejected yet and you’re still in with a chance. No guarantee of success though.

Pending does not guarantee you’ve won. It just means your bid hasn’t yet been rejected and has made it through to the “maybe” pile. If you are successful cabins can be allocated anytime from now until departure day - sometimes even after the ship’s set sail. If you have the RC app on an iPhone you may be able to use the Apple Wallet trick to see your new cabin number on your Setsail pass, if it’s been allocated yet.

It’s blindingly obvious to me that Royal are just following the standard practice in retail of raising prices before a sale to make the sale look better than it is, when in reality the sale price is the normal price. And it’ll work - look out for all the gleeful posts next month saying “my UDP just came down $100!” I very much doubt we’ll see any genuine bargains around Black Friday this year. Higher prices for everything are here to stay.

And that is now my favourite drink ever!

What’s Key membership? If you mean The Key (the package that includes priority embarkation, special lunch, internet etc), you can purchase it in your Cruise Planner. The cost varies and may rise or fall at any time due to Royal’s dynamic pricing. Many here would say it’s only worth it if it’s only a few dollars more than the Voom Surf & Stream package on its own.

Still done on board.

This - although to be fair the “bottle of water” was actually 5 cans on my last cruise.

I ordered the D+ fruit & cheese plate on Jewel last month. The cheese came in the form of two whole camemberts (for just me). Don’t get me wrong, I love camembert, but it stank the cabin out! I left it out on the balcony in the end as it took me 4 days to get through it all!

Cocktails have been $14 in Europe for ages, and are still covered by the DBP and D/D+/P vouchers. So no cause for alarm.

No material difference. You’ll be fine with the 1 person/2 devices package. It doesn’t matter who actually owns or uses the devices, you’ll be given two separate logins to use.

Not recommended! Word will soon get round the ship that there’s a big winner on board, and that word could easily spread on land when you disembark.

Indeed. Problem is, the cruise lines know that a blanket policy of giving a refund or FCC to anyone who claims to be sick would be widely abused. I’ve seen many posts right here on CC encouraging people who want to cancel last minute to falsely claim they have Covid. If there’s a loophole, it’ll be exploited. Far better, in RC’s eyes, to play hardball and have people who are genuinely sick claim on their travel insurance which, after all, is exactly what it’s intended for.

What baffles me is why the OP paid a non refundable $2000 for a cruise knowing their travel insurance didn’t cover cancellation when, given his wife’s very sad condition, cancellation was always a strong possibility.

It’s 45 days with Royal. Usually.

Is it just me or is using OBC to tip crew a bit mean? Tipping should be a heartfelt gesture of appreciation shouldn’t it? ”Well done, great job, here’s a large tip - but I’m sure not paying for it!”

Personally I wouldn’t consider the UDP on anything other than an Oasis class ship. There just isn’t enough choice on the others. I’d go for the 3-night or Chops+1 packages if available.

I was on Jewel this month and there were no reservations.

Reservations are generally only available on the larger ships, and even then there’s normally a standby line (except for the comedy shows on Oasis class ships due to the small venue). On the smaller ships reservations are neither available nor required.

Lots of good hotels in Bath including Hilton & IHG options if you have status. Not cheap though given its popularity with tourists. It’s a small city and everything is easily walkable.

Fantastic. I’ve not been to Bergen but heard good things. Geiranger was just breathtaking with some stunning walks if that’s your thing, in which case no need for an excursion. From Olden, if you want to see the Briksdal glacier, you can avoid the overpriced excursions and catch the local bus for about £3.50 each way. Haugesund - meh. Not much to see there! Here’s the Briksdal glacier (what’s left of it): As you can see we were insanely lucky with the weather and even got to see the Northern Lights (very unusual in September and so far south). I’d do the fjords again in a heartbeat.

2026 is the final deadline I think. But it’s already started and is being phased in gradually based on levels of emissions. Cunard’s QM2 has already been banned from Flam and Geiranger this summer and the regulations will get progressively tougher over the next four years so don’t leave it until the last minute. The captain on Jewel of the Seas was asked about it at captain’s corner a couple of weeks ago, and was of the firm opinion that the end is nigh for large ships in the fjords. So yes, do it while you still can and don’t leave it too long. There’s some background here: https://ferryshippingnews.com/norways-bold-environmental-decisions-catalyst-for-change/ And the Cunard thread here: Oh, and if you want to see what you’re missing, this was Jewel in Geiranger two weeks ago: