JJK2008

Save yourself a LOT of aggravation.....just get a passport!!!

We've also been Loyal to Royal but agree that things have changed with the company, and these are NOT positive changes. Sometimes when companies get so big, they disconnect. Perhaps this is what is happening with RCCL.

12 cruises booked - I LOVE it!!! You guys are really doing it right. GOOD FOR YOU.

YUK!!!! Stay Safe.....spring is just around the corner.....almost.

Gratuities are included in the fare to PREVENT exactly what you are trying to do. Tipping is an American custom that is NOT generally practiced or accepted across the globe. Sadly, far too many Americans feel the need to tip even when they shouldn't because they know "it's the right thing to do" at least in their mind. Depending upon where your cruise is going/coming, your gesture may not be seen as appreciation but rather insulting. Let your conscious be your guide.

Found SimCorner to be a good choice. Worked for us in Europe and again in Asia. They also offer Esim if your phone is compatible.

Just booked cocoa beach shuttle for a Christmas cruise for a roundtrip. NEVER AGAIN!!!!!! We had a party of 6 going from the Days Inn to Port Canaveral. There were also at least 12 other people at the Days Inn also booked with them. The Days Inn offers a stay and cruise package. For an additional $25 per person, Days Inn contracts with cocoa beach shuttle for transportation. The supposed pick-up time was 11:30 - NO SHOW. Numerous calls went unanswered. The Days Inn desk had no information on the shuttle. YES, Days Inn is a 3rd party contracting with the shuttle, but Days Inn is taking the money so Days Inn should be more involved. At 12:30 some others waiting called Uber and left, still no cocoa beach shuttle. Further calls got a response that one of their vans had a breakdown. That's like saying my dog ate my homework. They claim to have over 4o vans operating. At 1:15 we called Uber and left. Have no idea if cocoa beach shuttle ever arrived. On the return trip there were 6 ships in port. Needless to say, it was VERY busy. No cocoa beach shuttle waiting upon our return. Once again there were a number of people also waiting for cocoa beach shuttle. Some going to the airport and some like us going to a hotel. Numerous calls got voicemail. Tried to get an Uber or other transportation, no luck. The port was so busy, nothing was available. 2 hours after our scheduled pickup time the cocoa beach shuttle arrived. No apology, no explication, NOTHING. We were lucky in that the shuttle that arrived was for us. Others waiting had to continue to wait for "their" shuttle. Would NEVER use cocoa beach shuttle again.

Hey there, we are similarly situated as you. We recently returned a few weeks ago from our first Christmas Cruise abord RCCL Adeventure of the Seas. It was an 8-night cruise from Port Canaveral with port calls in St. Thomas, Laberdee, Puorto Plata, St. Martin. The ports were all ablaze in Christmas theme as well. My DW's stepson is in the military and deployed. So, my DW decided to take her daughter and grandson on a cruise for Christmas as something special. It was a GREAT idea. Yes, there were 1000+ kids on the ship as expected, but overall, they were well behaved except for the last night when the parents seemed to unleash them. If the behavior was like that every night, then YES, I would have a different opinion. The ship was decorated to the max and the Christmas theme was awash in decorated trees, garland and lights. The ship also had Christmas themed shows and menus in the dining room. They also did a midnight mass on Christmas eve and Christmas day. Many, many cabin doors were decorated with lights and stockings. Santa and his helpers also spent every night of the week dropping trinkets in all the stockings hung on the cabin doors. The "gift giving" was organized by different groups mostly on the sight with the face and the book. People would signup who was on the cruise along with children's age and gender. The organizers would then divide up the list and assign cabins to the folks participating. My DW got involved and she had a spreadsheet with her assigned cabins. We spent a few nights walking the cabin decks putting gifts in stockings. It was a kick as you'd pass others doing the same thing. Everyone was having a really good time doing it. It really was a magical experience. I consider myself more of a Grinch/Scrooge, but I will admit it truly was a good experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. It sort of brought the kid in me out again. That's a good thing. So glad I went. It certainly was a different way to spend Christmas and I would say worth doing. Not sure I'd do it every year (although we met several families that have made it a tradition) I'd do it again. Best of luck. Hope 2024 is off to a good start for you. Stay Safe & Healthy.

Didn't know about this. Good to know. Thanks.

The cages or screen rooms as they are called are very common throughout Florida and many of the warmer weather states in the USA. In some neighborhoods in Florida, they are almost always included with the building of the home. So, practically every home has one. With endless summer weather, it makes for expansive outdoor living. Many of the more elaborate ones will have a combined undercover area with the open screened area, complete with outdoor kitchen and living area with tv, bar, fridge, entertainment area etc. It allows the residents to "live" outside most of the year without the nasty critters. We live in Florida, but we don't have one😔.

Totally agree Geoff. I think Disney "missed the boat" on this one. They could make a fortune on this. "The Duck family is a fictional family of cartoon ducks related to Disney character Donald Duck. The family is also related to the Coot, Goose, and Gander families, as well as the Scottish Clan McDuck. Besides Donald, the best-known members of the Duck family are Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Donald's three triplet nephews. Wikipedia" When Walt Disney passed away, I think the "magic" of Disney also passed with him. Many from outside the USA/Florida, I'm guessing, don't know that Disney over the last few years has become VERY political. Coming out publicly in favor or against certain social issues. There has been tremendous backlash here in the USA against Disney. Whether you agree or disagree with the "duck phenomena" it is here. How you deal with it is a choice. We'll see where this goes.

Just a month ago completed a trip to Oz and cruise to New Zealand. No vaccines required.

Glad to see I was not the only one who was unaware of this whole duck thing. Apparently, this has been going on for some time. A quick Google search on Cruise Duck will yield a number of sites explaining the practice and where to buy ducks. I will admit my DW learned of this practice before our cruise, and we had ducks to hide or give away. Giving a duck to a crewmember was like giving them a $50 bill. I was taken back by the reaction. This duck thing is bigger than I imagined and seems to be growing. Get involved if you choose.🦆

Greetings all. I truly hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Christmas and good start to 2024. We recently returned from our first Christmas Cruise abord RCCL Adeventure of the Seas. My DW's stepson is in the military and deployed. So, my DW decided to take her daughter and grandson on a cruise for Christmas as something special. It was a GREAT idea. Yes, there were 1000+ kids on the ship as expected, but overall, they were well behaved except for the last night when the parents seemed to unleash them. The ship was decorated to the max and the Christmas theme was blazing. Many, many cabin doors were decorated with lights and such. Santa and his helpers also spent every night of the week dropping trinkets in all the stockings hung on the cabin doors. It really was a magical experience. I consider myself more of a Grinch, but I will admit it truly was a good experience even I enjoyed. So glad I went. Cruise Ducks!!!! I admit I am NOT a "trendy" person. I generally have no idea who the latest singers, actors, actresses are, etc, etc. But I learned something on this cruise I never heard about - Cruise Ducks!!! My DW learned about this trend from the site with the face and the book. We knew NOTHING about this. But we quickly tried to catch-up and YES, we participated. If you are already familiar with these items, PLEASE bear with me as I try to explain this with my very limited knowledge. There are websites that will explain it all in detail. We've probably all seen the little, rubber ducks that some folks have on the dash of their vehicles (I've learned this is where this all started). Well, this trend has spilled over to cruising. People (of ALL ages) hide these little ducks about the ship. Most (but not all) ducks have a tag attached to them with the name of the person who left it, where they are from and assorted other tidbit info. The finder of the duck can keep it, hide it again even on a different ship or give it as a gift. There is also a website where finders of ducks can post pictures of the ducks they found and when/where it was found. We met one gentleman who claimed he had 300 ducks with him to hide on the ship. Even the crew knew about this and was very involved. From what we learned this activity has been happening on cruises around the world for several years. Who knew????????? This was our first experience with Cruise Ducks, but it won't be the last. Between being on a Christmas Cruise and finding/hiding rubber ducks I almost felt like a kid again. That's a good thing. Stay Safe & Healthy all. John

I love the story. It is truly amazing what you can learn from people if you just ask. Couldn't agree more. The National Parks in the US are spectacular. I think everyone who visits here AND lives here should visit them. Yellowstone in particular is in a class by itself. Now if you want a chuckle at some people's expense, do a google search on "tourons of national parks" and watch some of the videos. The word "tourons" was created by someone who crossed the words tourists and morons. The videos are of people doing some pretty incredibly STUPID things in the National Parks, like trying to get a selfie with a grizzly bear and her cubs. Nature seems to have a way of dealing with human stupidity. Nancy and I have witnessed some of these types of actions personally. Not all involve animals. We've seen people at the Grand Canyon sitting with their legs dangling over the side. The Grand Canyon averages more than a mile deep straight down. That's over 1600 meters. We ALL do stupid things. I have certainly done more than my share, but some actions defy even the slightest bit of common sense. I don't think I ever fell into that category. I liked the cop story about you getting pulled over. It all worked out. Yes, you have to watch the cops in the USA, they don't have the same sense of humor the cops in Oz have.😉

Thank You Leigh. For us it truly was a trip of a lifetime. Nancy and I are trying really hard to live life to the fullest as best as we're able. I mentioned in another post that this is what Nancy and I like to do. It's our vice. We live very modestly and love to travel, experience new things and I (this drives Nancy nuts) like to engage people. I'll spend 45 minutes chatting with someone we just met. I've met a number of really good people that way and then some others that I hope I don't see again😆. Some of the Aussies here on CC have remarked that on this trip we have seen and done more than they have in their own country. But that is always the case. We ALL do it. A few years back we took time a couple of years in a row to visit some of the National Parks in the US. In doing so we were surprised and disappointed that 90% of the people we encountered visiting the National Parks in the USA were foreigners NOT Americans. I can't explain it but we all just seem to take for granted what is right in front of us. Often times unless this is actually pointed out to all of us that we're overlooking our own backyard, we remain oblivious to it. Human nature, I guess. OK, so next time we're passing through your way we'll give you a heads-up beforehand and stop and say hello. Or meet in Hahndorf for schnitzel. Have a Great Christmas and New Years.🎅🎄🥳🎉 J

We stayed on the Great Ocean Road. We stopped in Mt. Gambier, Port Campbell and Cape Jervis. From Cape Jervis we went to Kangaroo Island. From there we continued to Adelaide for several days. Also did a side trip from Adelaide to Hahndorf. An Aussie we met on our cruise told us about it. It's a small German settlement only about 40 minutes from Adelaide. Quaint little town. Very nice. Had Lunch at the Hahndorf Inn. One of the oldest buildings in the Town. (hope I got the spelling right on this post)😋

I'm 0 for 2. In baseball I get one more and I'm out. Not my first time, I've struck out before.

Thank You. I've since learned that Gippsland (I was spelling it wrong😌) is a region and not a city. So, YES, we would have driven through Gippsland on the way to Phillips Island. I don't recall seeing anything that identified the area as Gippsland. Another posting on here helped me out a bit (I can use all the help I can get).

We did a similar thing to what you are planning. Covid cancelled our original trip to Oz. And like you we replanned and went this year. It's great to have friends in your travel locations. We also met up with friends in Oz that gave the local tours - Priceless. We found the New Zealand cruise is an excellent way to get an overview of New Zealand given time allotted. We did a Princess cruise that left and returned to Sydney. We were also very fortunate that our weather for the 2-week cruise was fine. The only thing that caught us off-guard a bit was that the temps were much cooler than we expected. We did not plan accordingly for that. In fact, when we were in Fiordland National Park it was actually cold. The sun was shining but it was cold. This was early November, so early spring for New Zealand. But the cruise and the whole trip far exceeded what we had hoped for. As we did all the planning ourselves, if you desire, I can certainly pass along to you any tidbits that might be helpful in planning yours. Just let me know. To you and yours, have a Great Christmas and Healthy and Safe New Year upcoming. John

OK I had it spelled wrong🤪. I'm old, I get confused, it happens😆. Thank You for the correction. So, Gippsland is a region of Victoria that Phillips Island is located in. Got it. We would have driven through Gippsland going to Phillips Island. Don't recall seeing anything that distinguished the area as Gippsland. Another posting on here said the Giant Earthworm exhibit has been closed for years. That explains why we didn't see any ads for it.

Hmmm, that could explain why we didn't see any ads for the attraction.

Not a fan of snakes of any kind. We have more than our share here in Florida as well. We always have to be careful when opening a door to outside as there could be one on the porch. We've had it happen a few times when you open the door and SURPRISE - there will be a snake right there. Even around the house, we have to be careful where you reach. NEVER just stick your hand near a bush to pick something up. Until living in Florida I never knew snakes were such good climbers. They will climb the trees in search of bird's chicks/eggs. Something I learned from living here.

OK, now you got me looking again. We stayed in Melbourne for 5 days and drove to Phillips Island from Melbourne not on a cruise. I looked at the map again and don't see Gibbsland at all between Melbourne and Phillips Island, which is south, southeast of Melbourne. The only mention I see of Gibbsland is Gibbsland Lakes Coastal Park, which is very far east of Melbourne. We didn't go anywhere near that area. So where is the Gibbsland near Melbourne???

We have them in Florida as well......