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Plus, many of them also guarantee that they will pay your expenses to catch you up with the ship or get you back to the home port if they don't get you back on time. They are really, really motivated to ensure that doesn't happen.

Depends on what you mean by "late November." 🙂 If you're talking about this year, Thanksgiving falls very late--November 28th. So if you're looking at the very last week of November, it could be done on the 29th or 30th. I've never experienced, heard or read about a ship decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving.

Thank you for sharing your experience, I'm so glad you enjoyed your cruise! 🙂

I'm also a non-drinker. I find that swapping the alcohol in standard cocktails with soda or juice makes the concoction ridiculously sweet, but club soda works well. Another thing I've discovered is that the bar staff aren't necessarily familiar with the "zero-proof cocktails" listed on the menus in the app. Especially in the dining room. So I keep my app pulled up so I can just show it to them and say "I'd like this."

Looks like I have popular opinions! My favorite ship for Broadway is Allure (Mamma Mia), which unfortunately has my least favorite Aqua Theater show. On the flip side, my favorite Aqua Theater show is on Oasis (Aqua 80), which unfortunately has my LEAST favorite Broadway show. 😉 No strong feelings about any of the ice or secondary main theater shows.

WHOA!! It's a good thing you posted the screen shot, because even seeing it with my own eyes, it's still hard to believe that price. I'm glad to hear there's still hope if they find they aren't selling well. Currently, my two upcoming CocoCay stops are both over $200. No thank you. 🫤

I believe the question was about working from the ship, not working on vacation. The two don't always go hand in hand for those of us who are still of working age.

Possibly, or maybe it's just because they know people are still willing to pay the higher prices. Since they are a for-profit corporation dragging a massive debt, I can't say I blame them. Eventually the pricing will hit a ceiling, at least presumably, where people stop buying. But until then, I don't predict any price reductions to speak of. 🙁

Agreed, some of the appetizers are nothing special but some of them are quite tasty. And I find that on some ships, the CL desserts are leaps & bounds better than anything from the dining room, Windjammer or Coastal Kitchen--and some of the specialty dining desserts, for that matter.

No, the 18% gratuity is only for food and beverage items. The Bahamas tax runs approximately 10%, and it is added onto Beach Club, cabanas, kayaks etc.

The short answer: because people are willing to pay those prices. 😉 Every cruise line uses a different pricing model, and as you've probably seen, prices can vary dramatically (both cruise fare and add-ons) from ship to ship and date to date. The good news is that nobody is ever compelled to purchase any of it. 🙂

I'm a big fan of the luggage tag holders as well. However, as a well-educated and allegedly intelligent person, I'm embarrassed to admit how many cruises it took me to realize that I no longer needed to do the origami and could just use the paper cutter. 🤣😂

Unfortunately, no Royal Caribbean ships have self-service laundry facilities. Some were added to the ship currently doing the world cruise, but it's generally believed that they will not stay available to passengers afterwards. Irons and steamers are both prohibited. There are laundry/pressing services available for quite a steep fee, but most people get by with just Downy Wrinkle Release and steaming items on the back of the bathroom door while they shower.

Not true. As pointed out above, the evening (not afternoon) happy hour is sometimes open to Diamond members and sometimes not, depending on numbers. We have seen it both ways since the switch.

This last part is the critical thing to remember, and something I didn't know for my first several cruises. I'm sure there have been exceptions, but in virtually all cases of missing the ship, the crew will look in your cabin safe for your passport. I'm told that if the passport isn't there, they will sometimes do a cursory look around, but they will not dig through your belongings. So if you do choose to leave your passports onboard (which I do, for the record, unless specifically instructed otherwise), make sure they are in your safe!

You will probably have better luck asking your question in a separate thread, since people aren't likely to click on a thread asking about Vision class ships looking for a question about Voyager class. 😉

Alas, no. The only toiletries provided in standard cabins are a combination body wash/shampoo dispenser in the shower and bar soap by the sink.

I've never paid much attention to the Vision class ships, and now it's coming back to bite me. 😉 We're looking at planning a 2026 cruise out of Tampa, so those two ships are our options. For those who have done both, do you have a preference? I know they're both older, smaller and not as well maintained as their younger, bigger sisters--I'm just wondering if there's any reason to choose one over the other. We would probably book a Junior Suite, if that makes a difference. Thanks in advance for any input!

This seems to be fairly standard practice for the Alaska cruises now. They were nice to have, but yes, small and fairly lightweight. Nothing like the ones you can buy through the cruise planner, which are quite large and a cozy, thick fleece.

I had a couple of week-long trips to Grand Turk before there was even a cruise port there, and I would love to go back. Naturally I hope the current crisis resolves quickly, but if not, it certainly wouldn't hurt my feelings if our next Labadee stop became Grand Turk instead!

As of six weeks ago, yes you can. 🙂 There's always one provided at the sink to start with. If I don't remember to ask the steward, I just move the one from the sink into the shower, and the next time they service the room, they provide a fresh one for the sink.

For anyone else who might be interested in shopping around, it doesn't have to be difficult or time consuming. There are multiple ways to compare what different online agencies are offering, including the "Find a Cruise" tab at the top of this very page. And while it's true that the biggest perks come from group bookings, meaning non-suites only, we have received some very worthwhile offers from suite bookings. Our upcoming Symphony suite came with prepaid gratuities and a complimentary specialty dinner for two, for example, and that's for just a junior suite.

Our experience was similar six weeks ago. They brought us extra lobsters along with our surf & turf and asked twice if we wanted more. I personally wouldn't hesitate at $125. We love the more laid back and upscale atmosphere, and we find that the food rivals any specialty restaurant.

This is precisely what I was going to say. I would never shame or ridicule someone for having a different risk tolerance threshold than someone else, and only you can decide if it's worth it. I would only add that some insurance policies offer a "cancel for any reason" add-on. That way, if events develop in a way that causes your concerns to increase, you can always cancel.

I've heard that this often works when using a dining package, so your experience doesn't surprise me--although even the dining package swap-outs seem to be getting more unpredictable lately. 🫤 That being said, even for a complimentary dining voucher, it wouldn't shock me to hear that someone else WAS successful in getting OBC. You know what they say ... "Really Consistently Inconsistent." 😆