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I placed the word upgrade in quotes because they wanted to move me from my forward Emerald deck cabin on the Regal to one a little bit further back. For those familiar with the Regal, you know that those forward cabins have huge balconies so, to me, this was actually a downgrade.

Hi Sandy of the Seas, do you hear noises from the theater from those forward cabins??? I like forward balconies on other ships but was concerned about noise issues on Regal/Royal.

Sorry to OP for tangent question!

Hello. First time to try Princess. We have a booking on Regal for next summer and very excited by the itinerary. This morning I was really looking at cabin options to see if I made the right choice and noticed the square footage can vary widely within the same category. For example, Deluxe Balconies were anywhere between 222 to 303 sqft. Some had sofas and some not but all were Deluxe. Is that a website snafu? Are cabin sizes and pics accurate? Because I would totally prefer to have a cabin with a sofa at the same price. Thanks for any clarification/advice!

has anyone have a chance to transfer a deposit to another sailing by Hal that is more $$? Or is the deposit non transferable? Trips are not until March 2018.

As above, "transferable" will depend on the type of fare you booked.

I recently had experience doing just this with a nonrefundable deposit direct with HAL. The rep did have to talk to her management to see if it was allowed. I had bought insurance at the time of original booking. I spent $50 extra per cabin in fare and had to buy insurance again. Did I waste some money? Yes. But this itinerary is more interesting and it was the price drop on the new cruise at the time of the change that made it possible and palatable.

Ok I'll start looking into local tour operators. I appreciate the feedback.

Are there additional shore excursions offered once we get onboard? We are on the Sunfarer cruise mid November. I'm feeling a little "blah" about many of the options online and due to the nature of our port arrival and departure times...not sure we could find a local operator. We tend to like a bit more action but we aren't zipliners at all.

Hello! Let me start by saying that I like being forward or midship and I may like forward better because I like feeling the ship hit the swells rather than the rock side to side. What is below the panaroma deck? Anything noisy? I see the lifeboat sight line issue on deck 5; not sure how I feel about that. Which would you take?

I was just going off my last two experiences since they implemented staggered checkin so YMMV. Please note that I actually followed the rules and did not show up earlier than my time.

I use the parking garage right up against the ship because it's $140 of hassle-free, worry- free smooth sailing. Our luggage was at our door at 1:30 when the all clear was given to go to the rooms. Our car was seconds away upon clearing customs.

There was quite a gaggle of people who had to wait outside the terminal because they showed up too early. Don't be those people. Your check in time is clearly printed on your boarding pass.

I thought the whole process was incredibly painless. Have your boarding pass handy. We followed the usual route to the parking garage (the boarding pass was checked at the entrance to the garage), the porters took our luggage directly from our car, we then parked, took the elevator down to the terminal entrance, produced our boarding pass again. Went thru the usual security and check in. We were giving a group number, sat down and waited for number to be called. Walked onto the ship, got our drink sticker, and went up to Lido to eat and wait for our room to open. Totally non-chaotic. It was quite a change from a few years ago. Just don't show up early!

I am hoping they do alter our ports away from Otto-wannabe.

February 2017- likely Carnival season- a peak time for hotel occupancy. If budget is tight, try a hotel in Metairie. They are not fabulous and luxurious but chains with reliable standards and free overnight parking.

I know you can book Celebrity when you are on an RCCL cruise so thought it was worth an ask.

Thanks!

Is it possible to book a Holland America cruise with obc while on a Carnival cruise?

My kids are 2 years older than yours but I've found that splashing out a bit on experiences on vacation is worth the money. Taking the kids to visit Mayan ruins in the same year they studied Mayan culture was beneficial. Seeing howler monkeys in the canopy and dolphins and other "high impact" marine life gave them a real life introduction to biodiversity and the importance of preserving sanctuaries for other species. I'm not advocating giving up relaxation in favor of education but...yeah...maybe I am.

Getting a cab is easy in San Juan Airport. There is an official line after the baggage claim. You are asked where you are going and are given a slip of paper with the rate. For 4 people with 4 suitcases to the Pan Am cruise terminal was $26 total.

I also want to correct the St Martin tour name: it was Joyce Prince Tours. Highly recommended!

The ice show was great - I'm not usually the ice show type but it was quite acrobatic and entertaining. Yes, definitely get to the studio 30 minutes ahead for seats!

Oh and it's worth mentioning that this ship is divided in two parts and it can be confusing as to which deck can take you all the way forward or aft. Find the ice rink in the bowels of the ship in advance!

I have a question about your tour with Spencer Ambrose in St. Lucia. Were you nervous about getting back to the ship with only 5 minutes to all aboard? I have this booked and would be nervous if I didn't have about 30 minutes to spare before boarding.

My opinion is that his easy-going highly accommodating personality masks a serious professional. He will work hard to deliver a great day but he will not jeopardize your trip. If you do have worries you should voice them to him or his daughter. The group I was in was not concerned as several were on their 2nd and 3rd trip with him. He seems to get a lot of repeat business.

We flew into San Juan on the same day as the cruise. Flying around Colin, it was a bumpy ride but both Southwest flights left on time and arrived early. Got in around 1pm and made it to the cruise terminal to the organized hot humid chaos. Being from South Louisiana, it just felt like home. Despite daunting-looking lines, we processed through pretty quickly.

We went right to our non-connecting, side by side Deck 9 balcony rooms. One room barely had lukewarm shower all week. The other was great. Go figure. Both had more than adequate air conditioning. We had an awkward steward. He seemed to spend the day folding the same facecloth in a side passage. It was fine though because again we find these things funny more than not and it can make it all the more memorable.

We had wonderful waitstaff at the MDR who spoiled the teenagers. The food was adequate but apparently "spicy" is not on the menu. That's the cooks playing to the majority and we understand that. Enjoyed WJ which improved as the week went on for breakfast.

Amused again by Eastern European rules at the Champagne Bar. "No you will not like that drink." "No you want sweet drink, that is not sweet." Alright young man, you tell me what you are willing to make me. Lol.

The ship handled floating on the very calm and sublime Carib Sea very well the entire week. :-)

The ports were all fantastic and that's what we came for!

St Maartins - booked Personal Tours by Joyce and it was terrific. She has a lovely van and she took us for a cliff hike, to see Carl the Urchin Man (I picked this) and all around the island including a lovely swim at Orient Beach (gorgeous) and a look-see of Maho Beach. For 4 people it was less expensive than 4xshore excursion prices and she lets you spend as little or as much time as you want, where you want.

St Kitts - our Nevis excursion was cancelled due to lack of people. We walked to ferry terminal and contemplated doing it ourselves. We were quickly surrounded by locals who gave their various interesting opinions on whether it was worth the risk. We were charmed by a taxi driver who insisted his island was better. We decided to go with him and he took us all around the island very reasonably including the Brimstone fortress (beautiful views!) and the Black Rocks.

Antigua - Did the Kayak and Snorkel excursion. Very nice but it's a half day which felt very rushed. Only 20 minutes to snorkel at Bird Island. It was the only day it rained but the Antiguans were thrilled to have their first rain in 3 weeks.

St Lucia - highlight of trip. Booked full day Land, Sea with Spencer Ambrose. Everything about the day was perfection from the weather to the scenery to the hosts. He and his daughter pick you up in their speedboats right by the ship and off you go to see the volcano or mineral baths from Souffriere then back to the boats to go to Jalousie/Sugar Beach. It is the beach between the Pitons where you can swim, eat his delicious buffet, and snorkel. Other tours will go there but they come and go very quickly - Spencer gives you time to relax and pretty soon you are the last people left on the beach. He then takes you to a few more places including Marigot Bay. You make it back to ship with 5 minutes to spare. The rum punch is awesome. Fun day.

Barbados - Two shore excursions in on day - Andromeda Gardens and 4x4 Safari with Green Monkeys. Win goes to the Green Monkey tours. Honestly though, the tortoises steal the show.

We did stay in San Juan a few more days and really enjoyed El Yunque and seeing Old San Juan.

Go and have some fun.

Edited to add: AOTS was the only ship at every stop. No crowds at any port! Seems to be a good time to go as everyone kept saying "Our season is Oct to May".

There was one November 2015 out of NOLA. It's not wildly great but my teens enjoyed it and the dessert. You probably need to sign up for it pretty quick once on board because there was 20+ Person line for it on our cruise straight away.

This sounds great for us. We aren't big drinkers to justify the price of the packages. Thank you for replying!

First time on RCCL/Adventure. Can two people split the drink card? Or is it only for one person to use?

Mardi Gras. The party has already started here in NOLA but I wouldn't expect too much in the US outside of this area.

30 odd days out suggests you will be in town for the start of the Carnival season. I'd take advantage of that if you have a chance. Outside of Bourbon St, the season is fun and family-friendly so don't be put off by the tales of amateurs.

The wharf area is tight and stands cheek to jowl with a number of hotels, a convention center, a shopping mall, and all of it is in the midst of downtown New Orleans. And everybody always decides to come and go at the exact same time which leads people to call it chaotic and disorganized. So take your happy pills and a shot of Aquavit and go with the flow.

Dawn is a relaxing ship, not a floating amusement park. I would sign the kids up for the kids program as soon as possible on boarding if you anticipate using those facilities. The kids pools at the back of the ship have smaller slides which may be a lot of fun for your kids.

Costa Maya has a water park; if interested in it don't buy it as a shore excursion. You can easily walk to it and they let my whole family in for the price of one adult. Barter!

If you tell people what you are interested in then you'll likely get more replies...

Hello. What is the difference between a Neptune SB and an SA? Is the SB smaller in size? We are 2A/2C so size matters. Can we also hope for a tub?

I loved my relaxing Dawn cruise at Thanksgiving. I think the Port of Nola chaos is caused by shoehorning the cruise terminal onto a convention center / shopping mall / hotel complex. But in that Nola kinda of way it works for us. On the one hand, you have people from usually 2 ships exiting and entering at the same time in a small tight place in a tight window of time. On the other hand, it's right in the center of the tourist area and out of towners can get to a great variety of hotels and attractions quite easily without even taking a taxi. Here's the cultural difference, when I go to the French Quarter I always expect that there will be an impromptu 2nd line or party-of-one out to entertain so I accept the inconvenience as a matter of life here. If Nola ever became Efficient and Smooth it will have lost its irrepressible soul.

How many devices can you use for the package? Is it done by room or by a specific device?