Jasukkie

I've always had port fees returned.

Virgin Voyages's free ice cream is really good. It's right next to their really good free pizza.

I have one cruise coming up soon and nothing booked beyond that. I would book something for the winter season but I'm feeling a combination of been there/done that on repeating ports, and sticker shock at the price. I understand it's a business but I view my own vacation budget that way too.The value for the price has to be there.

Virgin Voyages has the best pizza I've had at sea. Fresh, made to order, pretty quick, and very tasty. And built into the all-inclusive price, which now isn't more than Royal in some cases. You have to compare apples to apples with them because grats and excellent internet are included in the sticker price.

I took my kids so many places, not so they could have memories, but so they could be formed by experiences. And really, I cruise for the feeling of being at sea, which is more a vibe than specific event memories.

Oh my. I try it every now and again to see if anything's changed. It's really bad. Sorrento's also looks dated. I could see them scrapping it and coming out with a light and bright space with made to order upscale pizza for a fee.

(Pearl clutchers, please skip this post) The better part of valor is discretion. Assuming the son is an experienced drinker and won't recreate Titanic at the bow after a lava flow with watered down rum, he just needs to play it cool. GF obtains a beverage at a bar, walks back to the cabin or a rest room, pours drink into the soda cup. Casually hands off soda cup to her BF. Waits 30 minutes or so, gets a drink for herself from another bar. Don't act a fool. The fact that these are purchased drinks does not mean crew will look the other way if she just hands it right off to him at the bar. Don't do that. They are working and there are supervisors and cameras. (really, really don't read this part) There are many people who use rum runners to save money. The refreshment package, aka the mixer package, used to be a lot cheaper. I think the high price is Royal's response to people bringing their own alcohol, which is a shame for people who used to be able to get this for like $18/day who have no interest in using it as mixers. There are many youtube videos on the rum runner subject if you are interested.

For sure, I'm heat intolerant myself. I should have said there's about a 10 degree difference in the temperature between the coldest and warmest time of the year in the Caribbean, so they don't have the extremes of 100 degree temps the way we can have in the mainland US.

Just to echo others, do not use your vouchers in the dining room. They can't seem to understand the problem that one person being tapped out could affect them later if a couple doesn't stick together the rest of the evening. I've also been charged two vouchers for an Irish coffee, one for the shot and one for the specialty coffee. Regular coffee would have been fine but they didn't ask.

The Caribbean tends to not get the intense heat that we get in US summers. It's the risk of hurricanes that would make me leery of booking there in the summer/early fall.

If you were offering me a free cruise and I had to choose between those two I would definitely choose Alaska. I've done both and the scenery in Alaska wins for me. You know your wife and whether she is more of a beach, warm weather person, or more of a nature and scenery person. That should drive your decision.

This is one where I consider the journey to be the destination. Two of the ports are by tender so who knows if those will make it, the excursions are expensive, and there's really not much there. There's no scenic fjord cruise by on the Bayonne to Bayonne itinerary. But there is a chance at the Northern Lights, and hopefully a feeling of getting away from it all. It's also a rare chance for a 14 night cruise that doesn't require airfare for people who can drive to the port.

It makes a huge difference. You can have a relaxing breakfast and then just stroll off the ship without the sometimes rude experiences on other cruise lines. Totally different vibe.

I just priced Sandals as that had been mentioned. I guess I'm a bargain cruiser but I usually get balconies and it's substantially more for Sandals than any cruise I've taken. Not even close. Y'all are really paying $400 per person per night? That's a 7 night $5600 cruise for two? I've never paid close to that.

It's so silly at this point. They should just get rid of in-house TV and provide TVs for streaming only. If a passenger chooses to cast an event they've paid for to a screen why should anyone care? It would only be visible to those physically in front of that screen, it's not being illegally shared.

The big question, will the TVs in the sports bars permit streaming? The in-house lineup is generally lacking.

I've had a junior suite(the accessible one with the big balcony) on deck 10 under the solarium and the noise was minimal. I would book that location again in a heartbeat.

Maybe I've looked in the wrong places but when I've looked at AI resorts the price has always been higher than cruising. Any recommendations?

If you do a search on the subject you will find posts about this last year regarding Radiance of the Seas. Hawaii to Vancouver and Vancouver to Los Angeles was a no go for back to back. It's frustrating that their system doesn't pick this up when booking.

Everyone makes their own food. I've done the class and wouldn't hesitate to do it solo.

If you are worried I would lead with the people with the earlier boarding time. I don't think you will have any issues though.

It's pretty cool, especially when it's free. Would I pay $96 for a family? Probably not, unless the setting was special like Alaska. Only you can know how much of a splurge to your budget that is though.

That's interesting. I think I would get bored hanging out there all day. Was it a party crowd? It was popular but low key in my experience. Like sip cocktails and have a nosh and take pix for the gram sort of a thing.

Agreed @LMaxwell, I really like NCL's waterfront concept. They have shade if you want it, and really big tables for playing games. The bars and restaurants flow outside if you want. It's one of my big criticisms of the mega-inside focused ships like Oasis class on Royal. I like that the spaces on Virgin aren't plant yourself all day ones. I like to move around and having a big variety is good. I love the pop-up type stuff that just seems to happen too. The net is a one and done thing, but the padded bed thing that everyone ends up standing on with their shoes on so they can see over the side is also bad. I expect that area will get a redo eventually but it will be a long while.

That amount of a fine is not going to deter most people from bringing it along. Is one banned for life from Royal after this sort of thing? Put off the ship?