ShipsandDipper

It was country/Caribbean night, I believe. Country was combined with one of the other themes.

We also had a bogus towel charge on last week’s cruise on Harmony. I was concerned we were in for trouble when we scanned to check out the towels but she just wrote down the return on a handwritten list. Luckily the charge appeared on the second-to-last day so I was able to go to guest services, who reversed it without an issue.

We were on this sailing too. Agree with your thoughts generally, and especially about making reservations early if the aqua show is a must-do. We had reservations for the cancelled/rescheduled Tuesday show, but the rescheduled shows were in turn cancelled due to weather so we never saw The Fine Line this cruise. We did eat in several specialty restaurants and really enjoyed them. it was nice to get away from the cold weather at home but sadly it wasn’t the relaxing getaway we had hoped for. Most entertainment was way too loud. We left one performance after one number because it was so amplified. And it wasn’t just my perception—my ears were ringing for an hour afterward, just from the one song, and three other couples/groups left during or just after the first number too. It was Captain James.

I would have agreed with this until our cruise last week on Harmony. It felt crowded to me, partly because the weather out of Galveston made folks want to be inside at the start and end of the cruise. And seemed like lots of kids on what would normally be considered an off week, with kids back on school after the holiday break. I told my DH, I guess I’ll have to stop saying the Oasis class ships don’t feel crowded! This was our same sailing and we also think it will be hard to get us back on the huge RC ships:

We were just on the Harmony and felt the ship overall was just too loud. It seemed much louder than our last Royal cruise, which also was on Harmony (pre-pandemic). If Royal has decided to amp up, I’m not sure how well your “quiet ship” plan might go. (Beyond overly loud music all over, people wouldn’t stop talking even in supposedly relaxing spaces like the Thermal Suite.)

Yes, they want you to do it soon. The ship won’t sail until everyone is checked off. They started making announcements that they were looking for 1,200 people, then 600 people, then 300, etc. since we watched the videos before going to the muster station, we were done in about 20 seconds.

It is a go at your own pace. You watch the videos on the app then visit your muster station once on board. It’s much, much nicer than the old drill.

For our Harmony cruise the price never dropped below $131.99 that I saw (and I was looking). For two of us including gratuities, it was $311.48.

Not sure if it varies week to week, but today it’s the pier where Margaritaville and Tequila A Go Go Are.

Yep, these frames appeared where they were working the other night. Looks like spaces for three more, for a total of ten, five on each side.

On Harmony now.

I suspect they may be adding them. There are these frames on one side of the deck already and they were grinding squares on the other side last night.

That must have been the nighttime evacuation after we left Galveston. The announcement on Monday morning didn’t give any details, just said there was an evacuation in the early hours. Hope he’s doing ok!

Thanks so much for posting this! The hero has to be the person on the bridge who spotted them. Here’s a picture taken well after they announced we were going to help, and it’s almost impossible to see the boat.

We are on second sea day headed south and stopped to help stranded fishing boat. Captain said we are 30-35 nautical miles from Cancun. It was mid-50s on Sunday in Galveston, mid-70s yesterday at sea, and about 80 and humid (though cloudy) now. and now a sudden rain shower has sent everyone scurrying off deck!

Further report from the Captain that they are fisherman who have been missing for a few days, “so it’s good that we found them for them.” They are being taken care of, and we’re moving on. Projected to arrive on schedule at Roatan tomorrow.

We’re having an eventful cruise on Harmony. We had a medical evacuation after leaving Galveston, and now we’re assisting a small boat in distress. A Mexican plane is circling above and Mexico is sending out a rescue boat, according to the captain’s recent update. Five people and a dog, fortunately reported to be in good health.

I think it does take some time. I had to drop a MTD reservation when we got the 3-night package and it took awhile for the MTD to drop off. Not sure exactly how long though because I ended up getting the package the next day.

A post below reports that Native Choice says they aren’t offering the Dzibanche tour for the time being because road construction makes travel times unpredictable.

We love Disney parks and go often. We do not have kids. We tried DCL last year and it felt way more kid-centric than the parks, even though they do have adults-only areas. It was a nice cruise, a fine cruise, but we didn’t feel like it was that much better than RCCL for us.

If you’re really not willing to do an independent excursion, i’d book something now and change it if something more to your liking gets added later. Otherwise you may be shut out entirely.

Maybe look at Oceania and Azamara.

We got on Virgin Voyages’ deposit list when it opened (I think in 2017?). VV was supposed to start sailing in April 2020, and we booked Scarlet Lady for a few months later, in October. Cancelled and rebooked that one three more times as the pandemic wore on. In the fifth iteration, we were scheduled for VV’s to-be newest ship, Resilient Lady, out of San Juan in November 2022. Then VV decided not to bring Resilient Lady out until 2023 and cancelled all its fall 2022 sailings. VV’s other itineraries didn’t appeal to us and we were tired of waiting. So we ended up getting our money back (after 5 years, for the deposit) and sailing another line. (Notably, that first Scarlet Lady voyage was supposed to go to Havana, but then Havana became impossible anyway.)

Ah, ok. I thought the loss would be limited to the on-board credit.

Then I guess that’s the solution, if you really don’t want to lose the onboard credit.