Tin can

I only did the status match recently (a few months ago I think) as I was looking at a few options with MSC at the time. I'm definitely Diamond with MSC and only Diamond with Royal, maybe I slipped through the net 😄. Its a shame Royal don't status match and then I could have reversed matched and come back to Royal as Pinnacle 🤣

Very strange, I just checked and I was definitely matched Diamond with MSC and I am Diamond with Royal.

We haven't cruised with MSC but went through the process to get matched and was given Diamond (we are Diamond with Royal) I believe you get early embarkation, bathrobe, a speciality meal and strangely a dance class. There are no drinks vouchers which are a real benefit with Royal.

If it's any consolation I joined the FB group for the current Liberty cruise that has just stopped there (we are doing the same itinerary next year) and everyone seemed to have a great day. The conflict was discussed a lot before arrival but only positive things from the actual experience. Just reading a comment now "beautiful island and people'. I'm not making light of the situation in Haiti but isn't the worst of the gang violence in LA only 30 miles away from Beverly Hills and Malibu. I believe Labadee is six hours away from the main area of trouble. (this was posted yesterday on the FB group)

Genuine question as I am not a US citizen but would there be any political reason why your government would advise you not to travel to Haiti. I took a quick look at the other countries in US advisory level 4 - Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, North Korea amongst other such delights so the comparison seems a bit extreme to me. Just across the non physical border and into the Dominican Republic and it's a level 2 'caution' viewed the same as Sweden and funnily enough the UK. I'm obviously aware that Haiti has unique issues compared to the DR but it's the same Island. Just curious by this.

Just out of interest I checked the British Government advice regarding travel to Haiti. The advice not to travel was updated before the US government update but further states 'if you do choose to travel to or stay in Haiti against FCDO advice, you should keep a low profile. Be vigilant, try to avoid all crowds and public events, and take appropriate security precautions'.

If it’s a European or UK cruise you will find that people dress up. Especially here in the UK, we are still quite formal lot here 😀. Just noticed that you are sailing Liberty in August which I believe is sailing from the North East. We sailed from Port Liberty over Easter and whilst nothing was enforced the New York crowd really dressed up. Our cruise last summer from Fort Lauderdale was the complete opposite. Not saying either is good or bad, right or wrong just that dress wise New York departing is different in our opinion.

There will always be local customs, traditions or routines you encounter when travelling. If you cruise out of my home country (UK) there is nothing to say that you as Americans have to drink tea but a lot of us 'locals' will be 😄. For us embracing a bit of the local way of doing things is part of the enjoyment of travel around the world. We visit the States probably 3-4 times a year and I'm sure if we didn't follow the local custom of tipping there would be considerable upset. Its totally alien to us in the UK but we accept and embrace it as part of the experience of travel.

100% this, I like to save my Diamond vouchers for cocktails in the evening and occasionally when ordering a soda or a beer in the afternoon the voucher is automatically used. When processed they are unable to correct, its not an issue as they are trying to be helpful but something to be aware of.

I guess it depends on the demographic. Our FB group for our upcoming Greek Isles cruise is made up of a lot of first time Italian cruisers. If the 400 odd members are a representation of the overall ship when we sail then its going to be a week long formal fashion parade. It might be quite nice to see to be honest, I might dust the cobwebs off the tux 😄

😄 Being from the UK I have been pulled up on this mistake before. A New Yorker then claimed Anthem as it sails out out through New York waters under the Verazzano Bridge (may have spelt that incorrectly). I don't know whether there is any basis to that but it was an interesting thread.

I can understand that but our cruise from Dubai with Royal was without doubt one of the best holiday experiences we have ever had. I would be on the next ship if Royal ever deployed from there again.

Absolutely, you should wear what you want on holiday. I think though you will be turned away from most church's in Italy or Greece in shorts, it may be different in the US? You may also find that a higher proportion of Europeans choose to dress formally on a European cruise than the traditional folks vacationing on a Florida cruise not because of any 'fashion police' or rules but because they choose to.

I'm not disputing what you were told but that is a high percentage of American guests. All our European cruises have had a lot of different nationalities and whilst US citizens make up the majority they account for 30 - 40% of the total passengers.

There was a happy hour a couple of times on Anthem over Easter in the pub on the Royal Esplanade. I'd have to look at the compass but I recall it was 40% off late afternoons on sea days. There were something like 1600 kids on boards so mostly families and I guess the alcohol wasn't selling as much as it usually does.

We were staying by Dubai Marina and took a Metro to a station nearer the cruise port and then caught a taxi, you will definitely need a taxi at some point as the port is huge and I couldn't imagine dragging cases in the heat. It was a bit of a hassle to honest and as aussie cruiser says taxis are cheap so if doing again we would get a taxi straight there. Have a great time, Dubai is fantastic!

I don't know whether its because we book in the UK but our experience missing final payment couldn't have been more different. We booked a cruise that we couldn't ultimately go on, we don't get refundable deposits here so rather than spend an hour on the phone cancelling I just left it unpaid assuming the booking would naturally expire and be cancelled. Instead we had reminder emails and eventually a very polite call from Miami (bearing in mind we are UK based) to see if we had forgotten to pay and could they assist. We are only Diamond so we are nothing special in the booking stakes so maybe its different terms over here meaning that they can't just cancel the cruise.

With the cheap prices and ease of flying into New York from the UK we have done this many times. Personally I wouldn't book the whole trip with a travel agent, I would book the flights and hotel separately yourself. We are not London based so tend to fly Aer Lingus via Dublin which is excellent for New York as you clear US customs before you board in Dublin. From memory the flight time to Orlando is around 3 hours and the last time we did this a return flight was something like £120.00 and there is a good selection of flights from Newark and LaGuardia. Have a great trip.

Our media are vicious in the UK and in their eyes a load of freeloaders on a new ship which isn't available to the general public here will be slaughtered. I can also only think what the press department at MSC would make of it with them instead basing one of their new ships out of Southampton. Of course none of this will impact in any way the success of its intended market in America but I cannot see this type of event being a success. They would be best to go straight to the US.

For that or other uses, the Diamond Clubs are on borrowed time unfortunately following the success of the introduction of the drinks vouchers.

Been twice now, paid around $45 when it first re opened and $120 two months ago. I don't like the prices creeping up but I think the waterpark is fantastic, I could laze in the wave pool all day.

I disagree slightly, we were on Anthem the week before Easter with over 1800 children on board. We are from the UK so easy to get to New York and a lot of passengers (with children) like us were from Europe.

Being from the UK that is such a British statement to make 😄, made me laugh.

We have done both Universal and Sea World shore excursions with transport from Royal from Port Canaveral. Would do both again as we had a great time in the hours available, each visit was late August and no issues with crowds or queues. The time of year or lucky I guess but we found it worth it.

I'm not disputing your figures but we have not sailed a single Royal Caribbean ship out of Southampton or anywhere in Europe that were at anywhere near only 75% capacity (the return to sailing after Covid excepted). I just checked a random cruise from Southampton - Anthem 7th July to the Fjords. All categories sold out apart from interiors which is showing one cabin available and children haven't broken up from school for this sailing.