LeeW

That's why we get arrival time on app and fill in info later with computer. I can use stored files for passport and onboard picture on the computer but can't do this online. Both options were available for when we checked in for January cruises. Haven't hit checkin date for February cruises.

That page comparing packages has been around for a few years now and sodas have always been in the classic package. If you look at the ordering page in the Cruise Planner, you can clearly see that soda is part of the package. My guess is that when they set up the spreadsheet that compares packages they ran out of room to mention soda and haven't bothered to fix it.

Have done multiple through and partial transits on Coral and Island Princess. Spent very little time on our balcony. Most interesting view is from the Promenade deck, since this is almost unobstructed and runs most of the way around the ship. Shore disappears as the ship is lowered. Great views from the front and rear "hidden" area on decks B and C. These are normally in crew-only areas but are opened for the transits. You need to move around a lot to get the full experience. Note that the Promenade deck and balconies feel like a furnace if you are in the sun. Typically very little breeze in the canal. Have also twice done the small boat through the rest of the locks on partial transits. Great tour, although expensive. Ask the pilot about the dent in the Miraflores Lock gate. You can touch the walls during locking. A bit too far to reach from the cruise ship.

Good point - my son had to go to Guest Services because his card was flagged and he couldn't get off. They owed him something like 80 cents.

The letter normally says you have access to your room. In the meeting they do ask you to close the fire door after entering. Might be kind of fun to organize the B2B folks to "escort" the guests who are delaying getting off. Have seen a few that were proud to be the last off and were holding back to ensure they were despite being called by name multiple times over the PA. Thinking a plank ceremony....

Those holes through your big toes have to be painful....

Credit unions and banks have the ability to set up automatic payments assuming you can get a routing number.

Depending on the ship sailing direction, the area near the funnels may have shade on one side. Deck above pool can be windy. We usually can find something in the adult solarium area.

They have to zero the ship in Fort Lauderdale, so you can either get off and back on with the B2B or pick up your new cards and get off earlier. They will sometimes run tours for B2B folks but you are better off doing these on your own. Had two cases of getting off and getting new cards from ship staff in the terminal. One was ok (around 20 people, so we went through immigration and got new ones in line before boarding again). Second was disaster - around 400 people and they only had cards for around half. They finally let us all back on and we had to go to Guest Services for the new cards.

No points for any RoyalUp. In general you keep any existing perks from your booking.

Yup. Wife wanted to do this again last trip on Equinox and she convinced me to sign up again as well. Now we have an ornament (heavy, not really fragile), a drinking glass, and two fluted vases. Lots of fun and takes around 20 minutes each. Pieces are annealed overnight, packed in bubble and put in a white bag with your name on it available for pickup when the classes run the next day. As another poster has said, they do a demo around sailaway time and start taking appointments then, so show up BEFORE that demo time. Sign up for appointments right after each other and you can swap the camera to get pictures of both.

Only issue I can see is that you can get off well before the sea life center opens. So maybe go to the B2B group location and get your next cruise cards (or they will have you go to Guest Services to get them) and walk off the ship before the B2B group does. You can go to the center with her and then come back to the ship. Boarding runs late in Seward. We had time to take an 11am Kenai Fjord cruise and still get back before dinner.

Certainly. You can add cash any time. And last night can be a zoo at Guest Services. If you don't have a card on file they will freeze your onboard account when it hits $500 (this can vary with length of cruise) and call you to pay it down. Lots of folks use cash accounts.

On app you can select port arrival time without filling out id and credit card info. Then you can go back and do those later on computer. All people in your party can be done by one person if accounts are linked. Generally you can do this 45 days before sailing, midnight in the ship location. Sometimes you get an arrival time for all guests when you do the first. More often I just get one, switch to a different person and get theirs. And I use images on my computer for both passport and ship photos. App wants to take photos and scan passport.

Your room steward will ask if you want morning or evening service.

Snorkeling excursion works well there. There is an old sunken concrete ship that has a lot of fish around it.

Dropping off luggage takes virtually no time. Checking in and getting on and off the ship will likely be at least an hour - why do that? Assuming you are taking a cab to the port have the driver drop your luggage and then continue to the museum.

Make sure you price it - cabins for 3 tend to be pretty expensive. I'm 5'5" and fit, but I haven't tried to sleep there and sofa hadn't been made up as bed.

Cinco Soles store in the port has vanilla we really like. The port has a LOT of stores and is across the street from a major mall. Still a couple of miles into town if you want to go there. Cab prices are per cab, so if you want to go into town it is cheap. Not sure there is anything around worth seeing from an HOHO (and I don't remember ever seeing any).

Sounds like OP has booked a "B2B" with gambler her on one cruise and gambler husband on other. If they are not sailing together she will get points for first cruise and he will get JS points for second cruise. She may think that they both get points from her first cruise and then they again get points for his JS cruise. Doesn't work that way. Would have been easier to book a B2B with both of them, using casino booking for each in turn. If one booking was upgraded to JS, then both would have total points for two cruises, including one in JS.

The Pearl Island area is on the ocean side of the island. Snorkeling so good that boats come out there and drop passengers in the area. From the island it is a shore entry. HOWEVER, last time we were there the waves were high enough that people in the boats were having problems getting back in their boats and you weren't allowed to snorkel from shore.

I normally get a boarding time with the app and fill out other stuff later. Can't remember if the boarding pass will show up with just the time selected or you need to complete all the checkin details.

Thanks for info. Cruise is sailing end of next month with Freedom and Independence in port and returning just with Freedom.

The app typically doesn't show your reservations until you connect to the onboard network.

Research your ports on the cruise critic boards. Also research Galveston if you haven't sailed out of there: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/316-gulf-coast-departures/ Flying is easier into Houston Hobby than Bush airport - about 1/2 hour closer to the port. Still a long way and there are no convenient rental car outlets on Galveston island, so you need to arrange transfers. Lots of parking very close to port if you are driving, though. The biggest difference between Carnival and Royal is that dining options have fewer hours. Buffet on Royal closes for an hour or two between meals. App does tell you what is open now, though, so you can plan a bit.