Mum2Mercury

Exactly what I was going to say -- these prices are already posted for you in the app. Just add 18% mandatory gratuity.

No, no, when you see novels laying about, you're supposed to pull out the last half dozen pages! Can't charge you for something you never checked out! And I wear a 7 -- the most common ladies' size! No sympathy from me.

Seems like useless work for the crew. I get two towels on the first day, and I never turn them in -- until the end of the cruise, obviously. I just "exchange" for fresh towels and take them back to my room. This means I always have fresh towels first thing in the morning or late at night. Fewer times in and out of the system = fewer opportunities for mistakes.

I haven't done the zipline, so I don't know.

Saying this very gently: I don't like your plan. - You're talking about two short cruises, which are likely to cost more than one 7-day cruise. - The time necessary to disembark /board the new ship /get your new room /get yourself oriented again is going to eat up most of a day. If you were going to do two 7-day cruises, it would seem justified, but not for two short cruises. - If you want to try Carnival, I strongly suggest you just do a 7-day Carnival cruise. If you're not happy, it's just a week. We're going on our first-ever three-day soon -- at least it's not a weekend. We might end up being sorry, but it was only $99, and we had SUCH a great time on our recent "return to cruising" vacation. We saw the low price and jumped.

Thing is, kidnapping is a whole other level of crime, and the penalties are big-big. I don't think this is a realistic concern. True, a couple dollars will buy a lot in Hati, but I don't think people wear a lot of jewelry at the beach, and jewelry has to be sold -- I wonder if a poor country like Hati has many options for turning jewelry into cash. I mostly feel sorry for those people, who have so little opportunity to earn money to support their families. Royal Caribbean has designed things so that guests stay near the water /don't go near the gate that the connects the peninsula of Labadee to the main portion of Hati -- but they bring in locals to work, so you know they have a gate. Overall, I'm just not nervous about getting off the ship at Labadee.

Exactly -- people don't bring more than a couple dollars in cash to Labadee, which is really just a beach. Gangs could drive to the area, but they'd gain nothing and face armed guards.

Answering as a Royal Caribbean cruiser: - We enjoyed the MDR on our recent cruise. We found it to be as good as it was in the past. We were seated quickly, and service was good. - Lobster tails (offered once towards the end of a one-week cruise) are offered at no additional cost in the MDR. You may ask for as many tails as you like. You won't be alone if you ask for two. They were average. - Full lobsters are offered every night in the MDR ... I think they're a $35 upcharge? We didn't try them; come to think of it, I didn't see anyone with a full lobster ... not that I made a study of it. - Prime Rib was offered at least once ... I want to say it was the first night? My husband had it and said it was average; he said the Beef Tenderloin (different night) was better. No upcharge for Prime Rib. - Personally, I opt for seafood pretty much every time it's offered, and the MDR offers at least one seafood entree every night. I was pleased with every one of them. I also had fish & salad for lunch many days in the Windjammer ... I was disappointed in a fish with almond topping, but everything else was yummy. - The MDR has shrimp cocktail every night as an appetizer ... but it's only 4 shrimp; I often ordered two. If you do this, ask the waiter to bring them at the same time; otherwise, you'll have one, then he'll take away the dish and bring you the second one.

The coffee card is probably Royal's best beverage package -- if you're talking about value for the dollar. Things to know: - You can buy one coffee card to share OR you can buy one each. - Each card is good for 15 punches, so you're looking at about $2 per punch ... some baristas will "charge" two punches for large drinks, whereas others will only charge one. Inconsistent. A smart consumer would pay attention to who charges how much. - You cannot use the card at Starbucks. - If you don't use all the punches on the card, you could probably save the card /use it again on your next cruise. Since everything tends to go up-up-up in price, this could be a hedge against inflation.

I use those little bags too -- I've bought them at Harris Teeter's pharmacy.

Good point. Hey, I must have 5-6 of those ... perhaps I don't need to buy a new first aid bag. I'm not sure if I have one that's quite big enough though.

From another planner: - It was just me and my husband on our recent cruise. We used our phones for the app but not communication -- we left one another sticky notes in the cabin, and that worked fine. If we'd been with the whole family, that might not've been enough. We didn't carry our phones around the ship often; we did carry them off the ship, but we never even took them off airplane mode. - On our recent cruise, we could not view accounts on our TV, but we could see them on our phone app any time AND on the next-to-last-evening our cabin steward left a print-out on our bed. - No clocks in the cabin. I brought the battery-powered alarm clock that I use all the time at home. We had an inside cabin, and we left the TV on the forward deck camera as we slept every night -- so we could see whether the sun was up yet, whether it was raining. Worked great. - Watching the safety video on the app is super easy, and you can do it on your embarkation day before you enter the terminal -- you'll almost certainly have some down time. You must go to your muster station in person. - I didn't make any show reservations, and I was able to get a seat anyway. Admittedly, we sailed off-season, and things weren't as busy as they could've been. I arrived (alone) a minute late to the ice show (which I love) and was able to get a single front-row seat. No judgement: Our recent cruise was our first in a decade, and we were not familiar with the app -- we thought the same thing, but no. You can use the app without the internet package. Since, like me, you don't seem to be super-techy, take a minute before you leave home and learn how to put your phone on "airplane mode" -- I'm sure you can watch a You Tube video that'll show you how. The app is useful. I do like being able to view the dinner menus from our room. If you have trouble getting the app to work with the ship's wifi, ask your cabin steward for help -- those guys really know everything. I suspect that once they started putting this info on the app, they didn't want to support the TV account as well.

We enjoy sailing in the fall. It's warm in the Caribbean, the sea is still warm from summer heat, and the prices are reasonable. We sailed once on our July wedding anniversary and agreed we won't do that again. Too hot, too expensive. We sailed once on a holiday and agreed we won't do that again. Too crowded, too expensive.

That'd be pretty hard for me. Impossible even.

We'll be on Independence, so I'm assuming what you all say will happen. Hope you're all right! We were on Explorer recently (they do not have a Playmakers), and they did not broadcast the first NFL game of the season. I had assumed it'd be shown out on the big screen by the pool and was a little disappointed.

People use the terms interchangeably, but technically: - Check-in time is when you're expected to arrive at the port /present yourself to the terminal staff /go through the boarding process. As an above poster said, this includes a wellness check. When you complete the check-in process (online 45 days before your cruise), you'll choose a time frame; for example, you might choose 10:30 - 11:00. You'd be expected to arrive during that 30 minute time frame. - Once you've gone through the X-ray area, had your passport checked, your picture taken -- then you'd board. You can't really know what time you'll board -- it depends up on how busy the terminal is -- but that is your boarding time. Last month, when we boarded Explorer in Miami, we had the coveted 10:30 -11:00 time check-in time. We were admitted a little earlier and actually set foot on the ship at 10:28.

We have two cruises booked at the moment. Drink packages are already available -- and I'm assuming we're talking about the Deluxe Drink Package: - For our short upcoming cruise, the price is $83.99/person/day ($99.10 including mandatory 18% tip) - For the longer cruise, the price is $70.99/person/day ($83.76 including mandatory 18% tip) - Sometimes these go on sale, but -- honestly -- they tend to raise the prices so they can lower them. People say the best prices are available on Black Friday; that's only a few weeks away -- we'll see. - If you decide to buy any drink package, it's smart to do it before boarding. It will be more expensive on board. If you want to buy individual drinks, here are the approximate prices: - Beer runs $8-10 ($9.44-11.18 including mandatory 18% tip) - If you're a beer drinker, you can save a little by buying a "Bucket of Beer" from the pool bar -- the price varies depending upon the beer you choose, but Heinekin runs about $36 (about $42.48 including 18% mandatory tip for a bucket of five beers. - Cocktails mostly run $13-14 ($15.34-16.52 including mandatory 18% tip) - If you're a cocktail drinker, the ship offers a "drink of the day", which runs about $10 ($11.18 including mandatory tip) - If you've sailed Royal before and are a Crown and Anchor member, you will probably receive an offer for a couple discounted drinks (details will be on a paper in your room upon arrival), but you can't know details until you're already on board. Royal's counting on cruisers "failing to get their money's worth". Selling $$$ drink packages is one way they can offer lower priced cruises.

We've never sailed on a ship with a Playmakers -- is it likely that the Monday night NFL football game will be shown?

I'm inclined not to bring them. Thanks.

Thanks, All, for the information! I've watched a couple You Tube videos for Cocoa Cay, and I feel pretty well prepared. I'm thinking South Beach is probably best for us, and I am looking forward to tacos for lunch. I am comfortable with the towel thing. One thing about which I'm still unclear: Are water shoes a necessity? I would ONLY use them for Cocoa Cay, and I'm inclined not to spend the space in my suitcase. Thanks again, All.

Right. We watched the safety video together on my husband's phone in the hotel room. We didn't yet have our Sea Passes when we went to the Muster Station (we were in the first group to board, and rooms weren't yet open) -- we must've given our Boarding Passes, which include a bar code. Then that's very new!

Of course, I've got nothing to do with law enforcement ... but I've been a high school teacher for three decades, and I can relate to what you're saying: When I need to talk to a student about something bad, Teaching 101 says, "Separate the student from the class." My partner teacher and I kept two desks in the hall /between our two rooms for this purpose. If a student was misbehaving, it was always good to take him away "from his audience". 90% of the time the negative behavior stopped when the student no longer needed to "show off" for others. And if I was going to say something bad (you're failing this class, or I know you copied that paper from the internet), it was always better to say it in private. So I totally understand separating the individual. Taking another tact, suppose he had bought that watch for someone as a gift? It would've been bad for the cruise line to announce, "So that $$$$ watch you bought ..."

We did the same thing -- well, we actually watched it a month or so ahead when we realized the app is now "a thing". On our embarkation day, we woke up too early in our hotel room (as expected, we were over-excited for our first cruise in a decade), and we were able to watch the video again /make it official in the hotel room. Once onboard, we made the Muster Station our very first stop -- lots of people seemed to be doing the same thing. Since it's 100% necessary, it just makes sense to get that task out of the way first. Okay, I'm going to be truthful, but not necessarily kind: - I'm sure your SIL has her reasons for not downloading the app, but this is a bad choice /will cause her inconvenience during the cruise. She almost certainly doesn't realize she's turning her back on a valuable tool. - Does she know the app is free? Does she know she can delete it after the cruise? - If I were you, I'd text her ONCE, giving her the facts: The app allows you to make dinner reservations NOW, to watch the safety video NOW, to view menus NOW, show/movie times onboard, allow her to see her account anywhere. It is more than handy. Text her so she can read your message at her convenience /reconsider ... and so you don't have to face any complaining. If she accepts what you say, wonderful! If she doesn't, drop it. - If she persists in her refusal, remember, this is her problem -- not yours. - You will all report to the Muster Drill. You and yours will be checked off immediately, while your SIL must stay and watch the video in the presence of a crew member. Be sure you're first in line so you're not stuck while she watches. When you're done, tell her you're headed up to the Windjammer for lunch, and you'll save her a seat. Period. Walk away. Do not allow her bad choice to become your problem. In doing this, you're setting your expectations for the rest of the cruise. - You are not in the same cabin, right? So the crew won't include her as "having watched" from your app -- even if she did watch. On the other hand, if her husband has the app, she may get by with her stubbornness. - You also need to complete the Health Questions in the app the day before you board.

I agree about personal responsibility -- but I think it's very possible for this to be a matter of "you don't know what you don't know". Three different answers about whether watches on board are a good value-- who's right? Customer service can be more than just repairs though. For example, when I bought my car, the same vehicle was available at several dealerships -- but I bought from the one that offered me free oil changes and free inspections for the life of the car. Service is worth a good deal. I get it, but I'd still wait /pay $20 less ... and I'd still connect the hat with the Alaskan trip because that'd be where I first saw it /decided I wanted it.

Serious questions: Why do people buy expensive things like jewelry and watches on ships, where it's hard to price-compare and getting customer service later would be difficult? Do you research it ahead of time to know what a reasonable price is? Same questions about buying on an island. What am I missing?