BND

I didn't say it would. I just think that Virgin is a unique product and is definitely not for everyone. Their shows don't appeal to us at all and the party atmosphere is really geared towards under 50's. Funny thing is, Royal is investing in the demographic that complains that baby boomers have all the money and that cruising is so expensive.

I do not use checks at stores, but have written several this year as we sold one house and purchased another and had work done on both. A couple of the handymen/contractors we use don't take credit cards. Also, I wonder what people do when they have major work done on a property but they don't have enough credit on a card? Some businesses charge a fee if you use a credit card, so writing checks isn't really outdated. I do pay a couple of bills via check, but most are autopay now. We live in a 55+ community and pay our clubhouse restaurant/bar and HOA bills online, but most of the older crowd here pay via check. They still accept checks dropped off at the clubhouse. A few I've met have no idea how to do anything else. We no longer have a mortgage. For a vacation, we always bring cash from home to use for small purchases and extra tips. DH and I divide it up between each wallet and one other location to carry. I don't want to have to go get in line to cash a check onboard.

As long as they don't go the way Virgin has.

But, not the loungers or the pool itself. I've seen kids asked to leave both on EN and GR. Funny thing is, outside of the pizza and cookies most of what they serve is things most kids wouldn't care about.

It should have always been 18. We enjoy sitting and reading. Our last EN cruise we couldn't be in the Solarium because they don't open the roof and if I'm going to sweat, I'll do it outside lol.

Where are they putting them and when do they plan to be open? I knew it had been discussed for a while. We weren't the only ones affected over the last couple of years..

Last Nov we arrived around 1015 am and the T5 garage was full and as we were waiting in line to park, they started filling the small employee lot which filled up quickly. We ended up parked on the outside of the fence around the small lot. We were b2b and were concerned about that but the parking guy swore our car would be fine. On turn around day we made sure our car was still there ( we could see it from the ship). We had no receipt because the guys handheld ran out of paper and when he tried to reprint it, it wouldn't come up. What had happened was we were the first cruise back after a TA (Jewel) and the arriving cars were at least twice what they expected so the lot filled up early. They were putting cars wherever they could. We're back in PC on Wonder at T1 in Jan and plan to arrive early even if it means sitting in our car for a bit. Last time we were out of T1 on Harmony in Nov 2021 we had to park in overflow, right next to the terminal fortunately (before they filled that and went to the farther lot). They need to add a couple more parking garages at PC as they have added some ships. We always have our car with us.

Remember you won't be midship ALL the time. You will be in different places onboard. Most people use their cabin to sleep, shower and change with maybe an hour or two relaxation or something. There's always motion, it just varies from not really noticeable to very noticeable. Even when you think there is no motion, there is. And, no not all inside cabins have virtual balconies.

We've never done it, but to me it just seems strange. Probably funny to watch, but otherwise, especially now as I can't really dance due to a knee issue, we don't go to any dance parties anymore. Sucks that at 63 and previously very active I can't participate.

We've seen him. His show was pretty good.

We were on Jewel last Nov out of PC. The wifi was down for most of boarding day. We were on a b2b with the first cruise being the first after a TA from Europe. They had problems all the way across. It was all the wifi, crew and guests. I think they have some kind of wiring issue. We've had no issue on other ships.

Next Cruise doesn't know much about currently available cruises lol. I've found I know more about cabins and ships than they do.

They started that a few years ago to make dinner move faster. One reason was that people complained they were missing shows. With the size of the servings, I always have room for dessert.

90% of answers can be found by googling. Usually when I find something for someone who's too lazy to look it up themselves, I mention Google when I supply the answer, especially on FB. Of course, there's always the ones that are looking for how to get away with something. There is something the Disboards (Disney) do that I like a lot. They do not allow any talk of breaking Disney's rules. It keeps a lot of the arguing down.

On the app, the arrival time selection is separate from the check in. You have to click on it.

I love people who open threads that have tipping in the title and then complain about a new tipping thread. We tip $1 per drink and that's what I see most often see others doing.

Did anyone say anything different?

I grew up in MD and have lived in the metro area the majority of my life. High wind warnings restrict high profile vehicles even outside of tropical storms/hurricanes. I was just making an observation based on years of experience.

They also close the Bay Bridge (rt 50) for high winds. I fully expect they will close the bridge/tunnel (rt 13) as much for storm surge as for wind.

It really didn't. A low pressure system has been forecast for about a week and showing up on forecast maps for longer than that.. The track wasn't locked in. As of right now, it's not a tropical storm, but it may become one.

Baltimore is supposed to get a lot of rain and wind. We're in No VA and we're expecting 40+ mph winds and 2-3 inches of rain. There are tropical storm warnings/watches along the east coast including the tidal Potomac and the Bay.

We have on multiple trips. As for B2B, the only time we had lunch on turnaround day in a specialty was on Oasis. We've eaten in Chops, Jamie's and GIovanni's on different ships on embarkation day.

Our cruise on Jewel on Oct 20 does not have a specialty open for lunch which we always do to avoid the WJ. I've been checking for months. Our other cruises that have reservations open have lunch on boarding day. In Jan on Wonder we're doing Mason Jar and in Apr on Vision we're doing Chops. After that, it's too far out. We've had lunch on Jewel in Chops before so I know they do it usually. I guess we'll just wait til cabins open and then go grab something in the WJ once the crowds with all their luggage have left. It just means eating a bigger breakfast and probably getting something at Cafe Latretudes to hold us over as we have late dining.

We have ridden Amtrak from DC to Newark and NYC many times. We get a car service into NYC and take the train from there. We have done it from Newark one time, but never again. Fine station to come into, not so great to wait in. Anyway, we have made a train as early as 1015 several times. You only have to be at the train station when boarding starts so unlike an airport, no need to be there an hour or two ahead of time. We'll be taking Amtrak from Manassas, VA as we recently moved closer to there next month for our Jewel cruise to NE/Canada. We are going to stay in NYC for a couple of days after the trip so return time was up to us, although there are limited trains that run south of DC and stop in Manassas.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/cas-amenities-feb-2023.pdf