smplybcause

2 hours ago, trivimp said:

Taxes for all Alaska ports were in the 8-10% range last month.  It varies by municipality.  We had some different ports (Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan) but it'll be about the same for Sitka & ISP, I'm sure.  

Alaska is taxing the drinks now? In 2019 it was only when you were in Washington state water. 

You mean the muster station stuff? The videos don't count until the day of the cruise. 

Guarantee is never the BEST in the category. Everyone would choose that if it's the case! You're only guaranteed the MINIMUM of the category. And in your case neighborhood balconies are in fact balconies. 

When it comes to Oasis class technically three balcony guarantees exist - balcony gty (includes all balconies with the neighborhood ones as min), neighborhood gty (get at least a neighborhood balcony), and Oceanview balcony gty (at min you will get an ocean view balcony).

Lately (for months if not since last year) you can only find the balcony gty if you book on Royals website (and possibly by phone too). Whereas travel agents still can see the other two gty.

As with any guarantee rate, you should be very sure what it means when you book.

10 hours ago, labdoggomom said:

Did you pay with a credit card that has trip coverage?

Doesn't really matter if carnival refunded all your money and you hadn't left on the trip. Nothing for insurance to cover. 

The May 28 cruise is officially canceled. Refund and 100% fcc based on your cruise fare. Up to $200 for any travel plans that can't be changed. 

Friend invited me on a casino deal so looks like I just get a refund no fcc. Boo.

8 minutes ago, markp9114 said:

 

Oh man...Didn't book insurance for our flights or cruise, so now figuring out how to salvage this family vacation. Does anyone know how to search for cruises that are leaving this Saturday from Port Canaveral? 

There's really nothing still available. Especially if you need it to be a 5 day cruise. 

Just FYI not every bar has cold water. If they're busy they don't take the time to put them in fridges and some bars don't have space for them to go in the fridge anyways. 

I've booked in a group as a solo no problem so this strikes me as odd. Though that was before covid. I did have to pay a deposit as if it was two people in the room. That was the only difference but it was refundable. 

16 minutes ago, maxmtex said:

Unfortunately, by the time you learn that you have won the bid to upgrade, you won't be able to cancel or change the other room.  We won the upgrade to the 2-bedroom Grand Suite on Liberty a few weeks ago, and loved it.  But we didn't have the issue you face...

Canceling wouldn't work anyways. If they tried to add more people to the 2 bedroom than the amount on the reservation when won royal would reprice the whole reservation at current prices. 

What's the price? I think it's over $200? No way it's worth that. 

3 hours ago, poocher said:

On line check in, each passenger’s information (passport etc) is entered separately.  You can enter a different card for any or all passengers there.

I cruise with friends all the time and this is what we do.

It should be pretty easy (easier in the app) to go back in and change the card - OP just ask your granddaughter to do it. 

A lot of cruise lines do interporting on 7 day Mediterranean cruises that hit both Barcelona and Rome. The main home port is Barcelona - this is where the majority of passengers embark and the day x of cruise will be based on that (but really would only notice it on printed cruise compass). 

Since the ship has passengers embarking at two points they have to make sure they don't double book cabins, and as Rome isn't the main port it would make sense that that one can sell out yet the Barcelona is still on sale. 

50 minutes ago, iuki said:

Very slow.  Many scooters show the turtle image for slow and a rabbit for fast.

With the number of times I've been run over at a theme park or seen people run into things everywhere I feel like they need to try new animals. 

14 minutes ago, parrotfeathers said:

I miss the waiter coming by with the big platter of bread.  Gosh I love those poppy seed rolls.  I do miss the dessert being ordered after the meal.  It's not that I can't adapt; it's just that it's not the cruising experience it used to be.  That's life.

Psst just ask what rolls you like in the basket. Assuming they still make it. We asked for the cheese rolls because that's what we love and we were over flowing with them from then on. 

30 minutes ago, J0Y0US said:

 

Everything you described is self inflicted by Royal. 

 

Also there are places that sit every seat in the place upon opening. You will find this occurring at places like dinner theater where everyone shows up for dinner prior to the show at the same time. 

 

You also find this every weekend at weddings and such. 

 

As an example with Disney they started doing 3 arrival times for both early and late dining. Royal could do that as well do spread out sittings. 

You mean dinner shows where a) the entire service is much longer and b) there's a set break built in to ask about dessert and c) most have a much smaller menu than royal has. 

I've never been to a wedding that had a menu where I picked it when I sat down. Everyone had the same app/salad, you choose your main ahead of time, and dessert was either the same or a self serve bar. Oh and it was like 3 mains not the 6+ royal offers. So, again, not the same. 

Does Disney do any time dining? But honestly I don't think that would help as much as you think. Especially if they refuse to turn people away. There were several nights on my last cruise we were practically running to get to the show - if I got stuck with the last of the hypothetical late seating we never would have made the shows.

9 minutes ago, J0Y0US said:

 

You make it sounds like a huge ordeal. 

 

The menu is on the phone, when they stop by to clear the dishes you tell them the dressert you want. 

 

This has and is the case around the US to this day in resturants of all sizes and make.

Restaurants never seat ALL the tables in a servers section at once. Never happens in the US, but that's what happens on a cruise ship every day. That's a completely different ballgame. 

My last cruise they were handing me a paper menu before I could even get my phone. Plus there was at least one night where the phone was wrong as we looked up the menu earlier in the day and our choices were not on the paper menu.

Labadee is a step above what coco cay used to be. It has a few more things to do besides the beach (zip lines, mountain coaster).

There's no way cruises will stop testing while international flights to the US still test. I'd guess that it'll still be a while after they remove it from the fights that it goes away for cruises. 

If you are not sure if you'd want dessert I think the best and most appropriate way to deal with it is to pick out a dessert and then once apps are served/eaten inform the waiter you no longer want dessert. 

Asking them to stop what they're doing, grab a menu again, wait for you to decide, and then go back in and place the order while they're also serving several other tables is rude. Let's not make these understaffed workers jobs more difficult if you don't need to. 

5 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Actually the hurricane season is June 1- November 30, so just a bit early for that. 🙂 But your point is of course correct.  If at sea, the ships will just adjust their itinerary as mentioned and avoid the storms as much as possible.  This, however, just looks like a rain event - not likely there will be any changes to itineraries.

I know it officially starts then. But mother nature doesn't have a calendar or a union rep that keeps her from starting early. This is the second year the national hurricane center started forecasts on May 15. NOAAs is May 24. So both start in May. There have been several storms in May over the years. 

It's called hurricane season. Nothing new. I've only ever seen cruises get canceled if the home ports are closed - and that's only happened once in recent times. 

So when we sailed with my nieces the little stinker 2 year old fell asleep at the table a few times. The waiters always brought out her meal to go at the end in case she woke up hungry on the way back to the room. 

So it is possible. But like others said carrying more than a plate or two will be hard. 

The problem will be that you can't control who texts you and you have to pay for each one you send and receive. Also if you don't correctly turn off data that will add up. 

So does air2sea have rules of what they will/won't book. I have a cruise out of Rome too and I'm trying to pick flights, but there's not many options after noon. There's a lot in the 11am hour, but seeing as the cruise line won't let me book a transfer with them for a flight before noon it makes me nervous. 

11 hours ago, time4u2go said:

Do these get you anything in Canada? 

 

Also, I assume you would be doing self assist. 

I don't know about Vancouver, but in Toronto global entry gets you into a different security line that has rules pretty much the same as pre check (don't have to take anything out or off), but they don't let you in without your GE card as it's the only way to prove you can go through the line. And then obviously GE kiosks to get you through US customs. There's a decent chance it's similar in Vancouver since it has US customs in the airport too.

And on a side note I've seen a lot of articles about delays at the Toronto Airport due to staffing. Not sure if Vancouver is facing the same problem, but it could add a lot of time.