LeeW

Haven't ever been able to download books on any cruise line on Kindle. The one time we succeeded we downloaded to laptop, but then had to read on the laptop. We have an old Kindle Keyboard, which is great for reading - large screen and great contrast. DW has a newer touch and she likes it as well. My Fire can be used for reading but color screen doesn't have near the contrast and I need to use reading glasses if I use that. And the Fire doesn't work with various slot games onboard either - latency of satellite connection messes this up even though connection works. Similar problem with many account websites.

On Navigator we did have one cruise where you needed tickets for the ice show, passed out early in the cruise. Haven't seen that since the cruise line started using the app.

Their corporate website always has discounts, although not huge. Can be the difference between getting an encounter versus a swim package. The one in Cozumel even has packages that include photos (typically $100-$150).

They price the soda package differently for different cruises. I have $9.99 and $10.99 for the upcoming cruises I have booked. Waiting and hoping for discounts, especially for the cruises after Black Friday. In answer to your question, you can't use a cup bought for the first cruise on the second legally. But if you don't use the cup on the first cruise and you have purchased the package for the second cruise the cup might work in the machines if not activated on the first cruise. It will certainly work at any bar if your cruise card is marked as having purchased the package. They will ask for it.

You can still cancel once onboard before getting any drinks but refund will be OBC, not back to your credit card.

There are two places that do dolphin encounters, one on the sound side of the island and Dolphin Discovery up by the turtle farm. Done both, including one that was a sound-side bundled with a trip to the rays. On that one the island closed the ray sandbar due to visibility and Royal cut our tour price in half. Of the two places, Dolphin Discovery is more modern and has other exhibits and things to do. BUT: Highly recommend booking direct with Dolphin Discovery https://www.*****grand-cayman/ Much cheaper than ship, but do it early and try to go before the ship tours tie the place up. And, go across the street to the turtle farm and book the Turtle Adventure tour. Ship gets you access to a couple of turtle pools in the front of the park. OK, but the Turtle Adventure gives you access to the whole park, including being able to snorkel in a large lagoon-like pool with a bunch of turtles. Costs only around $40pp https://www.turtle.ky/ versus $24 for what the ship tour gives you. Few people buy the upgrade and last time we were there we had around 20 people in the back of the park (sharks, rays, turtles) and we were the only ones in the water with the turtles. Bus out to there is around $5pp or you can cab for around $20. Buses look like minivans and run from a plaza two blocks inland from the north tender dock in Georgetown.

We have a ton of old cups (sail B2B but don't bother opening the second cup we get for the second cruise). Usually bring one or two in case it is difficult to pick up the new cup (have had long lines). Sometimes works in machines, sometimes doesn't. Did have one bartender ask about the old cup design since it was different from current design. Once he saw our cruise card had the soda package he had no problems filling it. Having an old cup can be handy if you drop the cup on the pool deck and shatter the bottom - they may or may not give you a new cup to replace a broken one.

You don't have to make dining reservations for Anytime dining. But if you really want to, you can. One dining room is set up for the Reserve (minisuite/suite) dining and will have less room. This is usually Soleil on 5 on the right side facing the restaurant (could change, check onboard). Other entrance on left, both entrances to Estrella on 6 or aft dining room Cielo on 6 will be less crowded and easier to get into. They will sit your group at your own table unless you ask. In the past Soleil was tough getting into because of early fixed dining and Reserve (can't remember old name) taking up a lot of space. Since they got rid of fixed seating should be easier now. Just remember that once the dining room fills they can't take more people until the first group finishes dinner. So arriving an hour after the dining room opens can be impossible to get a seat.

On TA from England to NYC the Captain woke us up at 6 AM to point out the huge icebergs around Greenland. Kind of cold outside - 40 degree and 40 kt wind. Stopped in Nanatorlik. We had 1700 passengers and island has 1400 residents. Great people - showed off old way of living in tents, dancing, food. Great little (about 15x15 ft) gift shop. Calendars were $30 (imported) and elbow length ladies reindeer fur gloves were $17 (locally made).

Good point. Also includes apples picked up off the ground. Still tasted great though, especially when hot fresh donuts were also available.

Actually they sometimes don't catch the violation on booking and then cancel one of the cruises months later due to the violation.

Correct. And you have to pay extra in cash (no account available on the lifeboat) if you are Standard.

Actually entering the lifeboat will be considered as booking a new cruise. And eating the rations on that lifeboat will be considered casual dining.

A few more points: Area left as you go ashore has more shade trees. Still have umbrellas every 2/4 chairs and tends to be fairly quiet. Not much shade at shallow end of lagoon. Most of the beach beds are out in the sun and have flimsy curtains - we had one booked but found that trees gave better shade and don't cost $200. Take your own snorkeling gear (they will loan a vest if you need one for free). Take your own inflatable noodles - the mats run around $19 for the day each. Some people bring water chairs but we take this one on every trip because it is large with lots of flotation and easy to roll up: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BNV32GK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1 Cuban sandwiches in buffets are pretty good. And a ton of fruit if you don't want meat. Free water/juices at buffets, as well as soft serve ice cream. Watch out for the seagulls - they will steal your lunch. Funnel cakes star at snack shacks. We usually go in ocean in morning, eat, visit pool to wash off salt, exchange towels (wet ones are heavy to take back to ship), head back to ship. Zero cost.

The airport transfers are scheduled departure groups so normally you will get the tags for the early or late group as determined by your flight times (they have you do a survey on the app about 3 days before departure). That said, buses depart when they fill. If lots of people do walk-offs buses will start leaving even before the first scheduled group gets out of the terminal. Really depends on when you want to head for the airport. Also, if in Miami or Fort Lauderdale you can sign up to have the cruise line give you your boarding passes and airline tag your luggage (again a survey, around $25pp). Luggage is put out the night before and the next you see it is at your final airport.

One reason we dislike Sky Sanctuary is the lack of shade - more cabanas and fewer loungers. Amount of shade in cabanas depends strongly on which way the ship is traveling.

I got both for cruise in August but in the future can only get one. Wife will file for stockholder in the future and I have military. If your original question is can you use a credit card, cancel onboard (more than 48 hours before excursion), and then rebook with OBC the answer is yes, but you will pay onboard price for the excursion if space is available, and will get the credit card charge refunded onboard as Refundable OBC. If you have a large amount of this and you don't use it onboard it will take weeks after the cruise to get it back as a check.

Best ships are not there this year - Coral and Island. Smaller, with glass-enclosed adult pool. Sapphire, Diamond, Star, Grand and Golden are larger ships that also have indoor pools. We always liked Coral and Island because you can sit in padded lounger in shorts and watch scenery and step outside for photos. Last trip we didn't bother with a balcony because we were in the enclosed area all day. However, avoid the area above a lounge - the off-key singer was terrible at night. Sail B2B from Vancouver and do the 26 glacier Phillips trip on turnaround day. Did that last time on Island. All ships do Inside Passage in Alaska but Princess Royal class (and larger other lines) can't go between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Seawalk might be worth 10 minutes of your time, nothing more. You might also want to look into Celebrity. They tend to longer port stays and have mostly musical entertainment rather than big shows and water slides. But they don't hit Glacier Bay. Viewing of Hubbard Glacier is from farther away unless you take the Glacier Explorer excursion (around $400pp). Son is currently on 11 night Oceana Regatta cruise. A bit more expensive but hits other ports than normal and is sailing roundtrip from Seattle. Much smaller ship,

Lots of folks here recommend West Quay, so I am booked with them (haven't traveled yet). There app won't download in US and web site won't take your booking. I booked mine via email. They send you a payment link (from a taxi processing service) that is good for 36 hours, or 3 tries. First two times the credit card companies bounced the payment but after I told them it was me and got a new link from West Quay it processed with no problem. Around $180 US for car for 2/3, so if you can take the National Bus you might want to look into that.

Log in to the cruise personalizer and look at the payments tab. Mine shows both military and stockholder credit. Under new rules you can't get both but since stock is in both our names I can get military and DW can get stock OBC.

Little Mermaid reminds me of when we saw Plymouth Rock. Houses around here have bigger rocks in their front yards. If you are 100 feet away from the statue you really can't see it.

Since you are from Europe, your phone likely works. Would think that you can get Uber rides there. Also, you can get the taxi driver's phone number to call when you are ready to go back to the ship. In many ports this is very common.

Most of the time you are sailing is at night, but we do use our balcony on Alaska cruises. We also like smaller ships like Radiance, which has a glassed-in swimming pool. Waves in pool can be impressive.

Book a ship with decent public viewing areas - the Oasis class RCI ships have almost zero viewing from Promenade deck. Also, smaller is better getting on and off ships. In six trips, best was Island/Coral Princess going to Glacier Bay. Radiance of the Seas was pretty good going only to Hubbard, but fogged out one trip. We have another on that ship booked for next year with family, although ship has fewer kid-type activities. Expect very expensive excursions and food onshore in Alaska. Seaplanes and copters tend to be $400pp but are great for glaciers and bears. Even taking a bus to Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau is now around $50pp - the park service requires the operators to buy park admission for each passenger even if you have a national park pass. And we have heard that the operators are running out of passes this year. We weren't impressed with Icy Straight as a port. Note that if you sail from Seattle you will most likely have to stop in Victoria. Nice city to visit (parliament tour is great and free) but you lose an Alaska day doing this. If you have time (and cash) book roundtrip from Vancouver. Then you can book either the Kenai Fjords boat trip or the 26 glacier boat trip on turnaround day. Both excellent. Booking back to back avoids the hassle and cost of flights to Alaska.

In the past I remember them doing scuba courses in the Aqua pool but when I took the refresher course on Harmony it was in the 4' deep sport pool. Really tough doing depth control and swims in that shallow a pool.