ARandomTraveler

There were 3 ice shows on my Symphony sailing, 2 of them didn't require a reservation, so that might be why you're not seeing it.

Perfect 😁 🥂

No, there isn't a logo on the outside of mine. Mine is a couple years old so I'm not sure if that has changed.

Sorry you're having a hard week.

If you wanna be really "extra" you can get those dehydrated sponges from Trader Joe's and bring one of those to wash your cup out, and you can pack some dish soap in a travel container. I did this, it takes up almost no room in your suitcase, but I never used it because I only got soda twice. https://www.amazon.com/Trader-Joes-Sponges-Vegetable-Cellulose/dp/B008XLGDDQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?adgrpid=58644762120&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnNacBhDvARIsABnDa68fzRVXzYGUMh9rLneT4s9tbIOz7LevGWgKdRW_t4sOcfj9HrjGgOoaAmejEALw_wcB&hvadid=409958405931&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9028727&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=536699180901712893&hvtargid=kwd-326823099516&hydadcr=12157_11118205&keywords=trader+joe's+pop+up+sponges&qid=1670779905&sr=8-3# The other handy thing I bring for my soda cups is these straws. Every time someone saw me with my cup and straw they'd ask where I got the straw, and they were disappointed to find out it didn't come with the cup. Tumbler 1067656 Tumbler Reusable Flexible Straws, 11in, Clear https://a.co/d/h314TUf

People keep mentioning that the cruise ship should pay to wash this person's clothes. What about the suitcase? If it got wet enough to soak their clothes, the chances of the suitcase being dry by the time they need to pack up and go home is probably low (it's so humid in the Caribbean, nothing dries all the way). Even once dry, the suitcase is ruined. How do you clean up a cloth suitcase? I've heard of people whose suitcases got broken and were given a new suitcase from a stash that Royal has on-hand. Hopefully for this person, whatever free suitcase Royal has available to give them would be hard-sided. I've never had anything inside my hard-sided suitcases get wet, even when sitting on the tarmac in rain and snow. Even better is my aluminum suitcase. It's got a rubber gasket seal, so nothing inside gets wet, and nothing inside ever breaks. It's a beast of a suitcase. As for the wine, I've mentioned this before, but whenever I travel with wine, I bring my wine suitcase. I've flown with it so many times on long international flights with layovers and plane changes, my wine has never broken. For anyone who drinks expensive wine, or who travels places where you want t bring your own, or where you want to bring some home, it's worth the investment. If you go to a resort that charges $14/glass of wine, you can save $350 by bringing 5 of your own bottles, which pays for the cost of the suitcase on trip #1. https://flywithwine.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAnNacBhDvARIsABnDa68XAniELHaMiJN6m3_DpSnOy_-Fkt7c6nz_owj789jY0WODXKDO-GIaApRtEALw_wcB

No, I wasn't. I tried when I got on the ship to do it, but no available times populated in the app. I had to go to a kiosk they had set up on the promenade and have one of the employees make all my reservations for me. Then, none of those reservations even showed up in the calendar on my app until day 2 (the employee had warned me that this was normal though). I did try after day 2 to make changes to my reservations on the app, but because everything was fully booked, I always got the message that said I needed to go to guest services to make any changes. I also had to go to guest services one night when I wanted to cancel a dinner reservation because we were too tired and not hungry enough to eat at our 5pm reservation time. The app wouldn't allow me to cancel on my own, I had to go to guest services and have them do it.

We had 5pm or 5:30pm dinner reservations every day. By the time I got on the ship, everything between 6pm-7:30pm was booked. Even with the 5pm and 5:30pm time slots, there was only 1 day available for 150 Central Park, and there was only 1 day available for Izumi Sushi. Wonderland was fully booked at every time slot every day, and so was the Izumi Hibachi. Like I mentioned before, we did end up being able to get into Wonderland by being willing to go at 9pm when we got on a waitlist. I think there's probably opportunities to get reservations that way if there's something you aren't able to book on the first day. If there's anything you really want to go to, I'd just pay for it separately now so you can secure a day and time, and then see if you can get your money back once you're on the ship, with the expectation that you may not be able to get it back. I honestly assumed that making reservations would be easier because I thought most people would be traveling in large groups and therefore wouldn't buy the UDP, but I was wrong.

Yes, you read that correctly. I had the same attitude and was happy with all the restaurants I was able to get into. But I was a bit annoyed that I couldn't make changes later, and I would have been bummed not to be able to do the hibachi had I not paid for it ahead of time. For example, I booked whatever was available when I got on the ship at 11am, but I wasn't able to book some restaurants more than once because they were booked on all the other days (like 150 Central Park and Izumi sushi). I also booked early dinner times and there were several days where we weren't ready to eat at that time. I would try to change the dinner time to something later, and was unable to because every restaurant was booked solid. Not having any flexibility with dinner reservations was the only downside to the UDP, but I'd still recommend it as long as you go in with that knowledge and a good attitude.

Yes I think you're gonna have some issues. I was on Symphony during Thanksgiving week and I had the UDP. I got on the ship at 11:00 and booked something for every day at a time I was happy with, but a couple restaurants were completely sold out at all time slots already (Wonderland and the Izumi Hibachi) and I wasn't able to get my first choice restaurants some of the days. I was able to get into Wonderland on a waitlist at 9pm later in the week, and I was able to do the hibachi because I pre-paid for it and booked a day and time before getting on the cruise (so I paid additionally for it on top of paying for the UDP). I was able to get that money refunded at the dinner after speaking with the restaurant manager.

I've stayed at the Sheraton Old San Juan and liked that hotel for its convenience to the town. If you don't plan to do any walking around or touring of the forts etc, then the Embassy Suites in Isla Verde is a nice and spacious hotel. It's close to a beach, (you can walk to it across the street) and it's also really close to the airport (about a 10 min drive). Embassy Suites will be cheaper than the Sheraton, but the Sheraton is more convenient if you plan to do anything in old San Juan. Both should be willing to hold your bags until check-in.

12-night Singapore to Japan on the Spectrum (July)

I'm not that way at all, but I'm including myself in the group as a whole, and it's a true statement for the majority of average americans.

Yep it does. Private insurance plans do anyway, not sure about the cruise line's insurance plan. They should have bought it. They can still make a land trip out of it. It'll cost a lot more though.

I cruised during Thanksgiving, on Symphony. We had 6600 passengers and it almost never felt crowded. I never saw the guest services line too long, never stood in line for the windjammer, always found a lounger to sit in outside. Elevators were slow, and often full, but that seemed to have more to do with the elevator programming making it so certain elevators only stopped on certain floors. I had a great time and wouldn't hesitate to go on a full sailing on an oasis class ship again.

Exactly! And maybe the problem was that too many people were willing to pay for it at the lower rate, which means it was too low to begin with.

I didn't read the article but I'm not sure that the cruise lines distribute the daily tips only to your specific waiters and room stewards. Maybe they do, I don't know, but I assume it's more like they put everyone's money in one bank account and then use it to pay all of the service people a set wage with it. I'm not sure if they make a wage on top of those gratuities, or if the gratuities is all they get. I don't try to figure it out, I just assume it's part of the cruise fare, and then tip people individually as I go as though it's an entirely separate transaction, not attached to what I think they're already getting or not. To me it seems easier that way.

That reminds me of a commercial I used to see on TV that said "A shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch..." I think it was Weight Watchers. I'll have to give that a try on my next cruise and see how it pans out 😂

I'm all for doing this here in the US. I just look at the daily service charge as part of the total price. For whatever reason, the cruiseline separates it and called it a daily gratuity, and whether it's for their own internal accounting, or if it's because they have to call it that in order to do their taxes a certain way, or if it's to signal to their customers that it's for the staff, who knows, and I don't really care. I would be fine if they just rolled that couple hundred bucks into the total cruise fare and didn't mention it at all. I'd also be fine if they called it a service charge. For whatever reason, they don't. I don't care. I will admit that when I was in Europe a couple months ago, it was uncomfortable to me at first to not tip. I would go to a restaurant and not even be given an opportunity to tip (unless I had Euros on me, which I didn't), and it felt awkward, I'd walk out feeling like the waiter might think I was dissatisfied or something. But after a week or so, I got used to it, and it was really nice. I think Americans would complain more though, if we got rid of tipping, but traded it in for that really high tax you guys have. We Americans have a knack for expecting a lot of things without having to pay for them in any way.

Not sure what they cost, but we got root beer floats and a milkshake using our refreshment drink package, so my guess would be that the Diamond drink voucher should work. edited to add: I just looked at the photo of the menu I took, and it doesn't list a price. It's says "all beverages are available at current bar pricing." This was from Symphony during the Thanksgiving week sailing:

I have a similar issue. I only weigh 120lbs and can't tolerate the patch for more than a day and a half. I usually put it on the morning of the cruise, then take it off after breakfast the next day. The medicine seems to stay in my system for a couple days, and then as long as the ship isn't rocking too much, I can tolerate it. If not, I always have 2 more patches I can put on. My issues with the patch are that by the end of day 1 it makes my throat hurt, makes my mouth dry, makes me feel a little weird in the head (not seasick, but queasy in a different way), and if left on for more than 3 days, my eyesight gets blurry to the point where I can't even read the dinner menu, (and I have perfect vision normally, I don't wear glasses). Ginger, apples (recommended by a waiter once), those pressure point wristbands (threw up on mine), peppermint etc... these are garbage remedies for people with genuine inner ear issues. Not sure about Dramamine. The only time I tried it was after I was already seasick so it did nothing for me except make me tired. I did my 1 day trick with the patch last week on the symphony. I could feel the ship moving most of the time, but it only got worrisome when at the front of the ship (the theaters, the solarium, hooked restaurant). We only had 5ft waves the whole week which was lucky. I had a couple instances when I was worried the rocking might make me sick, but I was fine and never had to break out another patch.

On my last cruise I tipped the auto-gratuities, and on top of that: $10 at every meal at a specialty restaurant except Johnny rockets and playmakers. $5 at Johnny Rockets when we got a burger and fries, and $3 when I got a root beer float. $5 at playmakers when we got nachos and a campfire cookie, and $3 when we just got the campfire cookie. $3 in the windjammer whenever someone brought us fresh squeezed juice $50 to my room steward. I was conflicted with this because while it's seemed like (and I think was) a generous tip, I also felt like maybe I should have tipped more because she cleaned our room 3 times a day, and she was so stealthy about it. She had our routine figured out and went into our room and had it clean every morning, afternoon and evening. $50 divided by 7 days is only $7.14, which seems like a weird amount to tip someone, why not make it $10/day? But then $70 seemed like a lot because we didn't make a mess, and also, I spent most of my cash and didn't have another $20 bill and was too lazy to ask guest services to change in my $1's, and I guess I also used the hassle as an excuse not to tip $70 because I didn't really want to 😂. $2-$3 for drinks at the bars (usually $2 if I got 1 drink and $3 if I got 2, but sometimes I only tipped $2 for 2 drinks, and there were a couple times I didn't tip anything because I decided to get a drink when I walked by a bar and didn't have cash on me). $0 at Sorrentos, promenade cafe, solarium bistro, park cafe or the smoothie place at the gym, which my daughter pointed out to me as being kind of hypocritical since I was tipping everyone else but for whatever reason it didn't seem like a tippable experience.

I'm not surprised. I'd be willing to bet that transatlantic sailings have more people over the age of 65 than other sailings, which significantly increases the number of people on the ship in wheelchairs or with other mobility issues that make a handicapped room more comfortable for them.

I don't have experience with anyone with a mobility challenge on a cruise ship, so I'm sure there are a lot of things to consider that don't even cross my mind. But the one thing that stood out to me on my last cruise was that the elevator situation seems like it gets frustrating for people who can't take the stairs. There were many many many times throughout every day of our trip where it took a long time for elevators to come, or where elevators were full. We ended up using the stairs a lot more often than the elevators, even when carrying 2 full plates of food from the windjammer down 12 flights of stairs, because it's was faster than waiting for the elevator. It wasn't even that the elevators were always full, it was just that they wouldn't stop on the floors to let people on. So, that could be a challenge. But I think that will be a challenge no matter which ship you're on. Oasis class ships have a lot more floors, but on the other hand, once you're on a floor that you want to be on, there's enough to keep you entertained for a longer time so you won't need to go up and down as often. I feel like it would be a good idea for them to dedicate one elevator bay on each side of the ship to be used for mobility challenged people only. It should stop on every floor, rather than being programmed with whatever AI that the other elevator bays have which makes them pass up floors even when the buttons have been pushed.

Don't know about super bowl but I would assume so, at least if you're on an Oasis class ship. They were playing a big World Cup game on the aqua theater screens on Symphony on thanksgiving day and it was a blast!! The Brazilians onboard brought drums and noisemakers and horns and flags and a TON of energy. It felt like being at the game in person. So much fun.