c-leg5

Not sure the Canadians will be too keen on US citizens using their country as a stepping stone after the big $$ they have had to pay to get home until recently. Do you mean you have changed your flights already to avoid testing, or you intend/intended to change them if you test/tested positive ?

Are you saying people traveled and didn’t know they had to test, or they were surprised they tested positive and didn’t have insurance, or plans?

I understand Maya Chan is closing July to October so you would need to check your date. There are not a lot of activities in costa Maya beyond kayaks, bikes and boats out to reef to snorkel or fishing from boat or fly. There used to be Segway’s not sure if they are still available. Possibly check out Bacalar?

As i said above it all depends on what activities/facilities you actually need or want - Quiet/active, snorkeling, pool/ocean, beach, AI/PAYG, ages of group, mobility, budget? Lots of options and no one place has everything but we like to change it up and not do the same thing all the time. We are older and enjoy quieter locations generally. We have enjoyed Nachi occasionally but generally (at least on a cruise ship visits) don’t want AI. On land visits our preferences are different because we are having to buy food and drink anyway! I prefer a pool, don’t necessarily need a beach and don’t need water toys unless traveling with grandkids. If you want AI maybe check out some of the hotel day passes. If you want a little more adventure and don’t need a pool, check out Punta Sur Beach Club or Punta Morena but careful with transport. Palancar Beach used to be a good option (no pool) but pre-Covid it had become more popular and busier than we like. We haven’t been in quite a while so not sure how it is now. Other options if you want to snorkel but they won’t have sandy beach or pool. As I said it depends what you need. On a totally different tack there are food tours, cooking workshops, photo tours, pearl farm, chocolate tours, Chankanaab or Cabana beach.

I live in Texas so no, didn’t miss it at all and I can understand the excitement for different ports from Galveston instead of repeating the same old itinerary. Yes, Texas is a big state but there are options. We just took the Adventure from Galveston, which had similar logistics.

This is not the first ship we have been on that this has happened. I am not sure they don’t intend at some point to mend, or replace the machine but I don’t think it is particularly easy to get them serviced. Considering how frequently they break down and the cost of the machines, I am surprised Royal haven’t taken steps to find a new supplier over the years - or perhaps the company has a monopoly and doesn’t need to offer better service? As far as I know the cafe is a franchise so must be compensated by Royal for the service - perhaps that is an alternative. It is certainly not as convenient as having the machine on site when I am in the Diamond lounge relaxing and reading during the day, when want a coffee and a snack. We used the lounge much less on our last sailing during the day than usual.

She is probably just new, uncertain and possibly has a language problem. I would ask her directly for the vegan/kids menu and point and if that doesn’t work ask to speak directly with the supervisor to find out directly what the problem is, rather than having a three-way conversation. The supervisors have been very visible on our sailings since the restart - I think they know there are a lot of problems to be sorted out, especially with new, untrained staff. I wouldn’t take it personally. She is probably just not aware.

I thought the Radiance was finishing with a full transit which would only require one-way air? We just completed the repositioning on Adventure, which was originally scheduled to stop at Costa Rica, Colon and Cartagena. Just before sailing the stop at Colon was cancelled, supposedly because the channel hadn’t been dredged as promised. I don’t know if this was true or not. We hadn’t booked any excursions because I had already come to the conclusion that there would be a lot of hanging around. I have already experienced several minor locks and I think doing a full transit sometime would probably satisfy any desire I have to do Panama Canal without hanging around for buses, boats etc.

They have a paper menu for Vegan too. I had no problem mix and matching on Adventure last week. I am not vegan but often prefer vegetarian options, especially the soups but also some main courses.

Still! It seems to have completely died so maybe no machine until it is replaced. We could get specialty coffees from Promenade and eventually they managed to provide coffee and hot water dispensers in the Diamond Lounge - I guess they were difficult to find or perhaps they were hoping the machine would come back to life after a rest!

Unless you actually need the water toys in, which case you have limited locations available, there are lots of alternatives for all budgets in Cozumel. We have enjoyed the facilities at Paradise but would only go there if we had tweens/teens needing the activities. Too busy/crowded for us in general. We don’t enjoy elbow to elbow loungers.

The information regarding entrance fee and minimum consumption is all on their website in FAQ as I posted for OP previously - it is just a little difficult to find. You will also find the menus and charges. They have never taken reservations for PAYG, only AI. Not sure how long ago you wrote to them but if they are only offering 50% capacity it is by choice, perhaps to try and encourage AI option. Cozumel has been at green for some considerable time now and capacity is not officially restricted. Five ships is very common for Cozumel - they can dock at least 8 and have even had ships tendering as well on occasions. Paradise Beach is popular and it will be busy but unless they are really restricting capacity it would be unusual for it to be sold out unless you are going at Spring Break.

Previous cruise the DL concierge was Denisse Reyes Guzman. She is new from Guest Services but very friendly and helpful. The DL and SL concierge change over every few weeks but I believe Rafael may be near end of contract.

Good Luck! Who knows they may have altered times by then and stopped having to do set dining first. Not sure if it is a shortage of tables to turn over or waitstaff. I never actually thought to ask the wait staff on any of the sailings if they had done a set dining group first. Since they moved MTD to lowest floor level on this class of ship, due to high demand, I am used to the staff doing MTD with small section of dining room used for set dining. We have sailed on Adventure February, March, April - rest assured they are working on it and it is improving - may be great by the fall, although that will probably be a whole set of new staff!

You don’t need reservations but MTD is pushed into smaller window than usual. (I think it used to start at 6pm, although we have never ate that early so not sure.) There were a lot of people who wanted 6.45 - 7.30 - those that would normally eat then, plus those who would normally eat earlier. They let them all book despite not having enough staff to service it. We moved our regular time from 7.30 to 7.45 and it worked much better. They do now have two lines, one for reservations and one for walk-ups like all other ships I have been on that had MTD but in February they didn’t and lines were ridiculous with everyone in one line. We always pre-book a time slot before boarding and alter on board if necessary. First time I have heard of Royal designating a time slot in advance as a marker. Another difference with this ship was that if we have decided to do Windjammer or Specialty dining we have always let them know on other ships, as a courtesy, so they release our table but this seemed to create so much confusion on Adventure we stopped informing them.

Very pleased to hear this. It sounds like someone must have said something - it was very evident last week that he only stopped at select tables. I may have missed your post but do you have an estimate for how many passengers on board this week?

It starts so late because they do a first sitting first. It is improving but the administration of MTD in February was ridiculous. They are slowly getting it together but we noticed it led to extended crowding in Diamond lounge HH last week.

Same problems on Adventure, although Scotch and other beverages of choice for us. I would be surprised if they have NO bourbon but possibly not your brand of choice. In our case there were zero bottles of Scotch of any type after about day 4 of a 13- night sailing. It has been steadily declining since January and certainly glad I didn’t pay for a drink package.

Depending on when you are traveling, Maya Chan may work, if they are open. Otherwise Almaplena or Hayhu?

We also normally tip the waiter at the end. with AI or PAYG you will quickly realize if you have one dedicated server which is the norm. If you find there are multiple servers you may want to tip per drink..

I am not sure you can do it at all unless things have changed since it started. As suggested read the royal up thread on main Royal Caribbean board.

Go to Royal Caribbean home page and put “Royal Up” in search. You will find the terms and conditions, which you should read carefully, and a page that allows you to put in your sailing which will tell you if you are eligible to bid for a Royal Up. Some big box stores don’t allow the Royal Up.

We have had these announcements on every sailing but never heard anyone called by name. Do you really think they disembark people? We have never sailed late because of it and imagine they have to do a late mandatory drill, just like the people that missed the muster drill in the past through late arrival or voluntary avoidance. It was announced from one ship that your set sail account wasn’t activated until the drill was completed which seems like a reasonable idea.