Essiesmom

Make the airline put you on an earlier flight, or fly in the day before (highly, highly recommended). Do not plan on them allowing you to board less than two hours prior to departure. EM

You book the two of you in one cabin for the first leg. The second leg must be booked separately in a cabin that will accommodate four. You can’t book it as one long cruise and add two more people halfway. For exact info call your cruise line, and also ask here on the board for the line you want to sail. EM

I have done several gty bookings, and generally been satisfied. Once so satisfied that I later booked the same cabin for a longer cruise. Once I did a late booking B2B on Princess to Alaska. Inside, I was given a huge HC cabin. Did not need HC, but TA surmised it was the only cabin available for both legs. I booked OV gty on MSC after perusing the deck plans to see that there were 40 OV and 1300 balconies, thinking I would be upgraded to a balcony, and I was. Also on MSC I booked inside gty on a B2B and got balcony for each leg. I’m not picky, I would have been happy in the inside or OV. Once on Celebrity S class I booked a partially obstructed balcony for a cruise from Venice. A few days later they ran a sale balcony gty for the price of an inside. For a $1200 saving I would tolerate a fully obstructed balcony…but we got a great balcony, no obstruction. EM

Carnival Valor 5 nights May 27 and June 1. EM

There are short cruises out of Tampa, and New Orleans…but a lot of them go to Cozumel, which is…Mexico. EM

I see you have started a roll call for your cruise. However the roll calls for Opera do not seem to be very active. This could be because Cruise Critic is North America based with a smattering of members from other areas of the world. Most of the guests on your cruise probably will never have heard of CC. I suggest you do some exploring on the Ports of Call boards. EM

Go to lifeisgood.com, choose men, then under interest, choose food and beverage. Lots of good stuff. EM

What is an XD movie? Are you asking what is on TV or in the theater? Movies in the theater in August were The Woman King, Black Adam, Top Gun - Maverick. All PG-13. This was only 4 days. I have no idea if there were even movies on the TV. EM

I don’t remember seeing any ball courts on Ocean Cay. They have it in the Sports Arena on deck 20. EM

That’s the kind I have, but since you can change the luggage insert without removing the tie, I would think that cable ties would work as well…EM

I e never seen a discount for seniors mentioned, and I’ve qualified on all my cruises. EM

How about a ferry? Google ferries to France. EM

Think about the kinds of things you like to do together, and the things you like about cruising and are anxious to show him. Then look for a line that fits those goals. Browse some of the Live from threads on various cruise boards here. What do you think he might not like? Look for a line where those things aren’t promoted. Does he like casinos? If so, avoid Disney and Viking Ocean…. EM

This is something that is member driven with the cooperation of the crew(s) involved. There used to be a member who maintained one on Celebrity board but some of his sources go annoyed with the requests and complained. As a result he was banned from Celebrity and is no longer on CC. EM

Maybe @TxTeach79will drop in and give a link to his AirTag saga…EM

Perusing all of the pics on cruisedeckplans it looks like you either have a single sofa bed that does not fold out, or a bunksofa, makes into two bunks. The only foldout couches seem to be in some Aurea suites that also have a bunksofa (and a tub). Correction…it looks like there are foldout sofas in the YC. EM

I thought they had a really nice buffet for breakfast and lunch, did t visit at dinner. The comfort classics menu is the same at every dinner. There is a section for kids in the buffet, usually near the back with chicken fingers little hotdogs, etc. Not sure what picky UK kids eat…EM

Four day cruise Seaside August 2023: Boarding day Miami Beach pool 8:30-11:30pm Day 2: Nassau: Garage Club 11:30-1:00pm & 9-11pm Day 3: Ocean Cay: Garage Club 9-11pm Day 4: at sea Miami Beach pool. 8-10pm I never attended so I can’t answer that. EM

Water will be provided in the MDR, sometimes bottled, sometimes from a pitcher. You will be assigned a dining room and time and table. Some there in your cruise manager there should be a place that says ‘travel with’ and you add the booking number of your MIL. Read some of the Live from threads from people not in YC. They often post menus for breakfast and dinner. Menus will not always be the same on each ship. MSC seems to be more flexible with the menu selections. No one has posted a kids menu, but mentioned that it is in sections aimed at different age groups. I seem to remember that from before Covid. There will be interactive screens around the ship where you can book your show. Not sure if you can do that for any but the current day. This doesn’t reserve you a particular seat, it is just to make sure there are enough seats for everyone. Five minutes before show time they will open the doors for all. They will scan your cards as you enter to make sure you have a reservation. Currently they are charging for a second main entree but you can order as many apps as you want. In the US it is a minor charge of $5 per item. When you are checked in you will get your cruise card that will tell you time and place for dinner. If it is not the same for both cabins, the welcome aboard paperwork will tell you where to go to discuss a change. I can post some pages that were current on my cruise on Seaside in August from the US. But it should give you an idea.

True water shoes in my opinion. EM

One of the MDRs will be open for breakfast every day. My programs for Seaside in August show one restaurant open for lunch for an hour on both the Nassau day and the sea day. EM

I don’t know what the pre-book price was because I was only interested in low price and booked inside gty. And I never book with any packages as I seldom drink. But my bids were low…for me it’s not a really, really want upgrade. It’s just a form of gambling, I guess. EM

Cabin type is in post #1, paragraph 3. EM

I find the significant numbers of non-North American cruisers on cruises of 7 days, and sometimes shorter…the level of dress is better than on the traditional mostly US cruise lines. Especially the women. Not just on gala nights. EM

At the top left of the threads page you can choose to browse threads about a particular ship, most recent first. Might give you something to read while you are waiting for someone to answer…. EM