Mum2Mercury

I don't know. Imagine the evil-doers who would want to steal a nuclear sub. The military can protect itself from these people, but imagine a commercial cruise liner being the target of terrorists. Of course, you could argue that this means "more security", and that could mean a lot more money. I guess I'm arguing both sides of this equation.

Not just Aircraft Carriers. My brother was a Nuke (guy who keeps the engines running) on a Cruiser -- sometimes called a Destroyer. A Cruiser is a smaller, more maneuverable Navy ship. Every Aircraft Carrier travels with 3-4 of them for protection.

Cruise ships host all sorts of events -- read your daily ship newspaper (or app), and you'll know what's going on.

Random thoughts: - We cruise Royal Caribbean, and they offer an all-you-can-stuff-in-this-bag mid-week. I want to say it costs $35 to wash everything in the bag. We did it once, and the quality of the washing was good, but it took a day longer than promised to receive our things back. - I wouldn't worry about sending out shorts, tees, or my husband's boxers; but I'd rather hand-wash my own undies or my blouse-y tops -- these thin, delicate things also dry pretty quickly. - I'd use the cruise line's shampoo to hand-wash a couple things in the sink. I bring my own shampoo for my hair, so I might as well get some use out of the ship's offerings. - Before you commit to washing, put some effort into making the most of what you bring; for example, for a one-week cruise (or a little longer), I could get by with 2-3 pair of shorts. I'm fine with wearing shorts three times before they get washed -- as long as we're talking about wearing them to breakfast, to watch a show, to attend an indoor event. So I'd purposefully wear one pair around the ship -- then I'd wear them ashore for their "last wear". On shore I'm likely to get them sweaty, and it'll be time for them to go into the dirty-clothes suitcase -- so don't wear a fresh pair ashore. Wear a pair that was already about to "be retired". Similarly, I might wear a tee-shirt dress to dinner one night, then wear it around the ship in the afternoon (after having been at the pool all morning); that's not really even a whole day's "wear", so I'd hang it up to air it out.

Yes, impossible to predict. We cruised one month ago, and the Caribbean was gorgeous every single day -- absolutely perfect weather. I think it rained late one evening. Fast forward two weeks, and Hurricane Ian was shaking up things. When you make your ressies months -- for some people, even a year -- in advance, you just can't know whether you're choosing well or not. Okay, back to Cave Tubing: We're looking at going with Butts Up. Their online reviews are good, and their price looks reasonable -- any personal experiences? The one thing I'm not clear on. They offer three big activities: Cave tubing, ATV rides and Ziplines. And they seem to be in the same area. We were planning to do JUST tubing, but if we make that choice, will we be sitting around? What I'm thinking: What we really want to do is just the Cave tubing, but IF we'd just be sitting around waiting, we might add on the ATV ride. Thoughts?

Yes, our local ballpark requires that all cans be opened -- I hate that. But, no, the ship doesn't require that.

They were last month.

Yes, your tipping habits will skew the numbers. This seemingly obvious question contians many moving pieces.

Your plan is sound. They will offer to open the beer for you, but it's your choice. Don't neglect to pack a bottle opener.

Have you downloaded the Royal Caribbean app to your phone? If not, it's a must. Once you log into your cruise, you'll be able to see activities that're available all week -- shows, times, movies on deck, menus in the MDR, theme nights at the Windjammer. With your cruise being only days away, everything should be loaded up.

Yes, but I believe this is only available at the Pool Bar. The bucket price will vary, but Heineken runs about $42 (including mandatory 18% tax) for five beers. This is alllllmost getting one beer for free, which is worthwhile.

To be argumentative: - I typically drink a soda at lunch only. Yes, I do go back to pick up a can from my room. Doesn't seem like a big deal to save a good bit of money over the week, especially since I tend to go back to my room to clean up a little and prepare for lunch. - I see your math mistake: You've included the mandatory 18% tip in the price of the drink but not in the price of the drink package, so your final number comes up skewed. - The REAL per-day price (including tip) is 10.60 - 2 drinks x 4.13 = 8.26 (2.34 less than the Coke package per-day price) - 2.5 drinks would be 10.32 (.28 less than the Coke package per-day price) - Since you can't buy half a drink, in reality you'd need to drink three sodas per day to make this worthwhile (assuming the Coke package costs 8.99). Two other items that might make a difference to you in making your "To buy or not to buy" decision: - If you actually want the cup for later/would use it after the cruise, you'd have to figure out what it'd be worth. To me, it's worth nothing. - This assumes you like the sodas they sell on board. Personally, I pretty strongly prefer Diet Dr. Pepper, which is not sold in cans at the bars -- so I can either pay $$$ for the package or bring my own cans.

More like 2 1/2 sodas per day to almost touch the break-even point. They'll add the mandatory 18% tip, bringing the cost up to $10.60/day. (Or $7.06/day, if you get that $5.99 deal.) The cheapest option remains buying 12-pack at home for about $5 and carrying it on.

Information straight from the phone app: $3.50 ... they will add 18% tip, bringing it to $4.13 . Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Fanta Orange, Ginger Ale -- this would have to come from a bartender, not the Coke machine. Remember you're allowed to carry on a limited number of soda cans or bottles.

If the price is $92 for your cruise (it does vary), it'll be more like 7 cocktails just to hit the "break even point". Most people can drink all they want and spend less by paying by-the-drink. To make this financially viable, you have to be the person who'll drink a for-cost beverage at breakfast and lunch, a few in the afternoon by the pool, then have several at dinner and after. Consider how much you'll really drink. Remember: - You can bring two bottles of wine onboard. - The drink of the day is more like $10 instead of $13-14. - Beer, if you ever drink that, is more like $10. - If your itinerary is port-heavy, you'll find a couple bars near every port -- and it's easy to stop and have a few before returning to the ship.

Two points: - I intend to get the reef-proof sunscreen for Chankanaab -- I have to buy some anyway. I'm only interested in whether I can "get away with" the chapstick I already have in my pool bag. I"m not sure how much damage a chapstick could do. - We don't know whether any particular person intends to snorkel /swim in the ocean. If you're planning to stay on land, doesn't matter whether your sunscreen is reef-friendly.

Well, that does sound pretty toxic -- didn't know. Hmmm, I don't have particularly sensitive skin, but I guess it'd be smart to try it at home. Not to sound like a jerk, but I was going to ask the same thing -- how fussy are they? I'm thinking I already have a tube of excellent chapstick (unsure of the brand) in my pool bag. Would they look at that?

Is Sally Hansen the one with a bitty diamond set on the front? That's a moderately-priced product and my go-to. Just did my toes last night in my favorite: Red Velvet. It's a lovely deep red and looks great either plain or with a multi-colored glitter overlay.

Never Been Here, you are truly from the Land of Bad Comedy! : )

We learned our room number around the 45-day mark -- just after the bar codes popped up on the Sea Pass online. Do you know the barcode trick? Pull the Sea Pass up on your computer. Use your phone to scan the bar code on the far right side. On your phone you'll see a jumble of numbers, and on end the phone will either read -GYT or -NUMBER. That number is your cabin. How would the porter know what cabin to give you?

I think Coaster has the right answer! If you're close enough to drive, making it a fairly cheap trip, it'd probably be worthwhile to grab that last point before you take your next "real cruise". Go in with appropriate 2-day expectations.

I don't think adults would steal your phone. First because I strongly suspect adult cruisers have a phone of their own and genuinely don't want yours (I personally don't enjoy getting a new phone /having to set everything up the way I like). Second because they know many of those phones can be traced. I would be a little afraid of kids taking a phone. Someone else said, crime of opportunity. True, and if we were talking about a piece of jewelry or even a pair of nice sunglasses, I'd agree -- but phones are not particularly usable by someone else. You've gotta have a password and the right charger. I'll say again: I suspect only a kid, who isn't thinking it through, would steal a phone. I promise, if you see me with your phone in my hand, I'm carrying it to the Towel Station or Lifeguard Station to turn it in as a lost item. I really want one of those, but I already have nice beach bags and backpacks, which I like and don't want to replace. I wish they'd make a small flat bag -- like a bank bag meant for money -- with this kind of protection. It'd be enough for phones, cash, credit cards and passports. We could put it INTO our existing backpacks /twist the security chain out the zipper-hole. Does anyone know of such a product? I've seen plenty of small, flat bags, but not small, flat bags that have a security chain AND are slash-proof. I'm more concerned with my beverage (overpriced or ice water, all the same) when I'm by the pool. Being an all-girl mom, I lectured my kiddos strongly on discarding any drink that'd been out of their sight, even for a moment. I kinda like the idea of using a retired phone for the Royal App, but technology isn't my strong point -- HOW do you do this? You can download an app on a phone that no longer has service?

I'm convinced. I'm going to buy one for touch-ups on island days. My husband didn't like the spray I brought on our last cruise -- and he's right to complain that spray is kinda wasteful in that so much of it doesn't hit the body /potentially does hit other people. THANKS, ALL!

I did see a couple paintings sold at each auction. My husband thinks the buyers are shills, placed in the audience to keep things moving. I disagree, especially having seen a couple next to me make a buy -- an auction employee came over to verify whether they wanted the frame /where they wanted it shipped. Well, no, the format is that of an auction -- but I don't think I saw anyone bidding against one another. Yes, they have hundreds of copies back at their warehouse, and that's what they send out to people's homes. They explained that their "paintings" are copies; of course, they explained it fast and fancy, and someone who WANTED to be fooled could believe he was buying a "one of a kind". I have NO PROBLEM with buying a copy of a piece of artwork -- hey, I LIKE the stuff down at Marshall's -- but I'm not fooling myself about what I'm buying.

Okay, this sounds good. I like to "slather down well" in the cabin before I get dressed. I was thinking of this as a touch-up product for my face and upper chest -- that's my personal problem spot. Thanks.