new_cruiser

I bring an Anker wireless charger power bank (i.e. a battery with a built in wireless charger). Charge it during the day and put it on the nightstand at night so my phone can charge from it and be handy.

The online form I had to fill out required an address and wouldn't accept something that wasn't a real address in Greece even though the box for cruise was checked. Name of ship & line wasn't enough. Bad form design, but an online form doesn't accept arguments. Cruise port address satisfied it and the form was accepted.

The passport expediter who I called doesn't list their fees on-line until you fill-out their form and, since I'm not using them, I don't want to enter that information. Checking a couple of others with websites more upfront about the fees, their 14-day service is priced around $600 so I'm pretty sure that the ~ $900 that the agent mentioned on the phone was the total for their fee plus the government fees.

If anyone has mentioned it in the thread, I've missed it, but there is also the debt ceiling to consider. If there is a government shut-down due to that, passport processing may halt for a while.

This page has the info on the urgent process (for travel within 14 days): https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast.html If your passport is taking too long, you can call to make an appointment at a passport office once your trip is within 14 days (the 14 includes the current day - to me that's 13 days). An unexpected trip came up when I was about to renew my passport anyway so I'm having to use that process. I did also call an expediter to see about using them, but they wanted about $900 bucks to do it (though I think that included the government fees as well as their fee). For that price, I decided I was willing to do the drive to our closest Passport office.

It really depends on my objective for the particular cruise. I've been on crossings and enjoyed the relaxation of many peaceful sea days in a row. I've been on port intensive cruises in the Caribbean and Europe with one sea day in a 7 or 8 day cruise and enjoyed that. If I want a break, I can always choose some port days to follow a relaxed schedule - go off the ship on my own to enjoy the local town for a few hours and then return to spend some quiet time on the ship instead of trying to fit every possible thing in. On an 18-day cruise early in the return to sailing after COVID, we pre-booked an excursion for every port because of concern that the ports might only allow leaving the ship on a ship excursion. That's the one thing I found I didn't enjoy. It was too hectic and regimented. I ended up cancelling some of the ship excursions to be more relaxed.

Then you are limiting your options. You could agree on a time that you will make your way back to the ship independently from each other and do that. Or when you arrive at a place that you might separate, you agree on a meeting spot where you will return at a specific time and set alarms on your watches to ensure you head back there on time. I'm assuming that you are talking about independent unguided excursions off the ship. If it is a guided excursion, than you all should stick with the guide and for any unguided time, the guide should make clear when and where to meet back up.

All the USB chargers I've ever seen are dual voltage compatible (i.e. they work with 110 and with 220 V outlets) so you just need a plug adapter to get the right shape plug. Voltage can be an issue if you want to plug in appliances like curling irons or hair dryers. Most heat generating appliances are single voltage though there are some travel models that are dual voltage that either require you to set a switch correctly or that sense the voltage and adjust themselves. I prefer to bring a plug adapter and a separate charger because I want to have fast charge and the USB chargers built into the adapters usually aren't as capable. For example: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077WJYNQ5 and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09C5RG6KV

When a form to enter Greece (not sure if it's still required but at the time, one had to put all the places one was staying so they could reach you if there was a COVID issue) required an address for the cruise, I looked up the address of the port and used that. Another alternative is to contact the cruise company to see if they can give you the name of their port agent and use that info. Or contact the Visa office as LHT28 suggests.

I appreciate that - I was just trying to explain why I'm confused and what my goals are. Tone of voice is missing on-line and makes it easy to misinterpret. I've made some minimal bids so can't show the original offer screen. Here is what I can get.

Good point, I'd mainly like it from we cruise from Seward and visit Hubbard Glacier and the Inside Passage Day. That first one is an area where it is pretty likely not work great. IIRC, I was able to get connectivity to land towers in parts of the Inside Passage. If I buy the package before the cruise, it is $17 a day for one device (which is all I plan to get) and it says it is $24 on board. I think I'll wait and buy it by the day seeing how it works out.

How good is the ship Internet service? Can it usually support streaming a show? WiFi calling? Also, can you buy it for just couple of days on a 7 day cruise or do you have to buy it for the whole cruise. Our cruise is pretty port intensive so if I can buy it a day at a time, I'd probably only get it for the two days without ports.

I've packed magnet hooks in my carry-on and TSA hasn't objected. https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/magnets

Is there a laundry package? Is a by the bag wash and fold service always offered and what is the current charge?

None of those mention the "scenic" cabins nor the "sunset balcony". I'll be sharing the space with my granddaughter and we would be fine in a regular cabin but I'd appreciate a bit more space. I've been on two prior Alaska cruises and didn't spend much time in my room. Also, this cruise is more about traveling with the family and my son and daughter-in-law are getting a balcony so I expect I'll be in my cabin less time. The cabin types are all offered on RoyalUp so I expect not sold out. I was looking for the cabin type names on the deck plan so that wouldn't be affected by the sold out status of a particular cruise. Our first Alaska cruise was on Crystal - we got a good deal on a balcony guarantee that time but spent very little time on the balcony - like the upcoming cruise it was port intensive and on the scenic sailing days we preferred being on deck or in the lounge where we could change boat sides for the current view. Our first cruise was on Celebrity but that was a long time ago. I also did one cruise on Star Clippers and probably will use them again when going solo as they have a lot of no-solo supplement offers. Most of my cruises including have been on Windstar ships. That includes a cruise from Japan to Seward followed by 14 days cruising from Seward to Vancouver.

This is my first time on Royal Caribbean. I just booked on Radiance of the Seas to join some family on that Alaska Cruise. I'm confused by the number of cabin types on the RoyalUp page. Perhaps I'm missing something, but I don't see any information on Royal Caribbean for all those types. Many aren't even mentioned. Other lines I've traveled on have little floor plans showing the typical layouts for their various cabin types. Is a Scenic Ocean View cabin bigger than a regular Ocean View cabin? What makes it different from the regular ocean view? How spacious is a Spacious Ocean View? And an Ultra spacious Ocean View? What is a Sunset Balcony? (I did find a thread where that was asked before, but it seemed that nobody knew the answer at that time.) Then Balconies also have regular, scenic and spacious.

It's $184 per adult on my upcoming Alaska cruise, but maybe it is less on a Radiance Class ship because of fewer specialty venues? It will be my first Royal Caribbean cruise so I've no idea whether it is worth getting. Also, I'm traveling with family and don't know yet what they plan on getting.

Fins I've gotten from them have been full pocket. I haven't used paddle boards so can't answer that part of your question.

r&rd is correct. There are two kinds of OBC: 1. OBC that Windstar gives out (e.g. from promotions, loyalty program) 2. OBC you get from your travel agent or someone else paying it in advance. The first is non-refundable (i.e. use it or lose it) and you can't use it for gratuities). The second is refundable and can be used for anything on board including gratuities. It's basically like cash.

I very much doubt that was the reason. They give everyone the laundry package on cruises over 13 days like the New Zealand/Australia cruise we were on. I've been on Mediterranean cruises where a very high proportion of the passengers were on Cruise Collectors so got the package for free and all 4 stars get it free. It's more likely that they took it out of the package because so many get the laundry package for free anyway. It made the package less attractive by inflating the price. When they took out, they dropped the package price by $10 (slightly more than the laundry package price) to compensate. They are generally out at sea often enough that it isn't a problem. Due to weather conditions, the ship stayed in Auckland 3 consecutive days (the penultimate day of one cruise, turnaround day when we boarded and the next day of our cruise). That 3 day port stay did stress the grey water capacity and delayed return of the laundry we turned in the first morning but that was a pretty unusual circumstance.

If you mean a flat fee per bag, they do have a special for that occasionally on cruises. I don't know whether it happens once per cruise or more or less since I usually have the package. I noticed it once when I was on an Alaska cruise. It seemed like one would have to stuff the bag pretty hard to break even with it though perhaps on a warm weather cruise with more shorts and cooler tps it would work out better. Windstar's per piece prices are pretty reasonable.

I can confirm that as well. We were on a 15-day single segment (i.e. not a Star Collector) and laundry was free for everyone on that cruise.

There are water pitchers and an ice bucket in each stateroom which the steward refills daily. I like to fill my Hydroflask with ice and water in the evening so that I have cold water available at night and the next morning. When I first board, I let the room steward know that I like to have the ice bucket filled around 4 or 5 PM so there is fresh ice when I want it. Otherwise, they tend to refill the bucket earlier in the day and the ice is too melty later. There is a mini fridge in each room too stocked with cans of soda (which are free). If you have a particular drink preference, you can also let your room steward know that and they will make sure that is stocked in the mini fridge. Sodas on board all come from cans, there isn't a soda fountain. (The mini bar is also stocked with alcoholic beverages which aren't free unless you are on a beverage package that includes them.)

The "hotel service charge" (Windstar's name for the automatic gratuity) is currently $16 per day per person. I think it used to be $14.50 so people mentioning $29 are giving the old amount per couple. There is also an 18% gratuity on drinks. https://www.windstarcruises.com/voyage-plan/general-information/#HotelServiceCharge $89 is the daily per person charge for the All-In package which includes the beverage package, internet and gratuities if the package is bought pre-cruise; $99 if bought on board.

We just got back from New Zealand and Australia. The cab drivers we had in Australia all treated paying by card as the normal way to go. The card machine doesn't give the option of adding a tip and none of the drivers gave any indication of expecting one. All the drivers were pleasant and helpful including loading and unloading baggage from the trunk. Our first driver in Auckland added a surcharge of a couple of bucks for using a card. Other than that, our experience in New Zealand was pretty much the same. The lack of tipping also applied at restaurants and pubs.