Unicorniceskate

Thank you for this!! We were able to get a passport appointment, so we might as well do it since clearly we like to be spontaneous with trips, but I bet anyone else searching for this in the future will be so grateful for your insight. I had a feeling that there may be an opportunity to board given we meet immigration guidelines, but Royal (with the exception of our initial salesperson) really tows the 6 month line. I understand- there are too many potential combinations of foreign passport rules to manage, and a blanket statement is easier to enforce, but they sure did give me heartburn for the past 2 weeks while I awaited a passport appointment. I should have been waiting 1 extra week to even try for it - grateful to my congressman for getting me in line ahead of that date. maybe we’ll see you in Seattle! (my fave place to ferry watch there is Columbia Tower Club. I use it as a venue for hosting corporate events and the ferry watching is spectacular from up there 🤩)

Good news! I had been waiting until we hit the 2 week mark to try and get an appointment, but today I decided to try my Congressman to see if he was able to make an appointment on my behalf within that 2 week period. I’m excited to share that his office was able to!! So if anyone in the future is reading this, try your local congressional office in advance of when your two week window opens. I was even able to provide dates that were better for our schedule. I’m so relieved to have the appointment on the books in about a week and a half. I was actually pretty amazed at how quickly they were able to schedule it for us.

Clearly this man wanted to get the sale. Now I’m just left trying to figure out a way forward. Crown and Anchor customer service has already said they would issue me a refund but I am going to wait until I exhaust all my options before going for that.

TL;DR: Have you successfully boarded an open loop cruise from the US to Canada with a passport that had less than 6 months before expiration? More specifically, for minors aged 11 and 8? The Details: Royal Caribbean kind of screwed us on this one.... we decided to book a cruise very last minute - only about 7 weeks in advance - from Seattle to Vancouver. My husband and I have valid passports expiring several years out. Our daughters, ages 8 and 11, have passports expiring Nov. 1 (cruise ends Oct. 6). Before booking over the phone directly with Royal Caribbean, I asked the sales agent if this would be an issue, as I was familiar that with some travel, a 6 month passport rule might apply. I mentioned that I saw Canada allows *any* valid US passport for entry and does not require a 6 month rule, plus US citizens under the age of 16 traveling with both parents into Canada may also just use a birth certificate. The Royal Caribbean agent said "you should be fine, plus you're buying travel insurance if you have any issues." I would not have booked the trip and would have planned something else for our vacation if he had said it would be an issue. Now we have our hearts set on it (and we've planned all the details, flights, rental cars, etc.). I saw a post in a group I joined where someone asked the same question...but they were given a very different answer, that 6 months was required and so they renewed. By the time I saw this, it was only 4 weeks ahead of departure, WAY too soon for even an expedited passport. I called RC and after speaking with several people about whether this is policy or law, they are still sticking with the 6 month rule (all the while still telling me to try at the pier, it might be okay). They acknowledged that the sales agent should never have told me anything other than their 6 month rule, and that their check in language of "a passport with 6 months of validity is strongly recommended" (vs required) is also misleading. Based on countless searches, I'm seeing a bit of ambiguity in this that is giving me hope. I specifically want to know if anyone from the US has been able to board an OPEN LOOP RC cruise without having 6+ months remaining on their passport. At this point, my options are: try to get one of the coveted 2-week international travel passport appointments, pay a private expeditor $500 per passport on top of the expedited passport fees, or cancel and try and get travel insurance to refund all the flights and hotels and other things. Has anyone been in our shoes? I'm pretty salty with RC right now....but I'm trying to figure out a solution. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

Several years ago, my husband and I hired a service for our stop in San Juan that was recommended on these boards (probably back in 2010?). We had the BEST time - Natural Wonders PR. Looks like they are still operating: https://naturalwonderspr.com At the time, it was a side business run by a really nice gentleman and his girlfriend. They picked us up from the terminal in a clean minivan, had towels for us, and brought us to some great local spots. We had fried conch from a roadside stand, coffee at a cafe, and then went to El Yunque to hike a bit and slide down a natural waterslide. They brought us back to San Juan at the end and we had a great meal and did some shopping in the old town before getting back on board. I would 100% recommend reaching out to them to see if they could do something custom that included a day trip around the island with a final airport drop off. They were so kind and I feel like I could definitely trust them with my luggage.

We’re bringing our kids in a few weeks for the first time. It’s my understanding that you can pre-arrange with the Adventure Ocean staff to come grab the kids from the dining room during the meal. They have a pick up spot and time for the kids, and then you can finish your meal. We have opted for the later 8pm seating, since we’d prefer to have time after ports to get ready (and our kids are really good at that time of night). I think our cruise is going to be super light on kids (10/2 New England) since we have a week of fall break, but most schools are in session. Our kids will either hang with us, or if they make friends, we’ll take advantage of that pickup if available. I’m interested to hear about AO and other times of day with meals and snacks. I am very much looking forward to dropping them off there and going to the spa and other adult spots!

Our roll call is SO quiet! Thanks for the reassurance. Specialty lunch isn’t a priority for us, though my crazy kids will likely hit the flowrider and the slides! It was 110 degrees here today so that’s going to be quite a shock to them ha!

Cruising out of Boston in a few weeks (Oct 2 sailing) on Voyager. We selected a 2PM health screening/boarding time. Are all boarding times created equal? Are there any strong arguments against boarding that late? I think the last time offered for our sailing is 3:00PM, and as of now, first available is 12:30PM. We have close family in the Boston area we plan to see that morning before we board (we live in CA). We are traveling with 2 kids who are first time cruisers (we are not, but it’s been 10 years). We have 8PM late dining, so we won’t be rushing to that. Before we’re unable to change it, is there any reason it’s really important to board earlier? My presumption is with 7 days on board, and 2 days at sea, we will have plenty of time to enjoy the ship and the extra 90 minutes won’t matter much. thanks all!

So that was my next question…where do you put the bottled wine so you don’t get stuck in luggage jail? Sounds like in a carryon is an option. Do you disclose it somewhere? We’ve gotten stuck in luggage jail by accident before 🤪

When RC did our booking, since it’s adjoining they put our girls in one and us in the other. I’m going to hope they don’t check in detail 😉

Thoughts on this: we have two (connecting) staterooms - one for us, one for our two underage children. Since we have 2 staterooms, can we bring 4 bottles of wine on board? Our girls are registered to their own room.

wow - that’s definitely not what I expected in terms of ice availability!

Hi all! We’re heading out on a 7-night New England cruise on Voyager in October. I’ve looked everywhere for this information and can’t seem to find any details: What are the hours for Studio B for skating? Do they offer any interactive/fun/themed skating sessions? How many ice shows do they offer over the course of a 7-night cruise? thank you!! (mom of a little figure skater who is really excited for this aspect of her first cruise!!!)