kearney

I may want to go alone or take someone with me... but 1) I do not qualify for handicapped cabin and frankly would prefer to make it available to someone who needs it and 2) since he is the primary passenger... can I replace him on the booking? Would the cruise line be amenable to switching me to another cabin... ship looks pretty full. I am not sure this is going to happen..but he has been hinting that he may not be up for the trip. Final payment due at the end of the month. Just trying to figure out options...other than cancelling before final payment. Anyone have similar experience. TIA

It has been a few years since we have sailed Royal..lately we have sailed Celebrity. I am not sure if you have set seating or select dining... but when you board the ship..you might want to go down to the dining room and talk to the staff to see if your party can get a table with relatively easy access. I have done that before on Celebrity. Given that you are surprising family... this might be a bit more complicated...but at least get a lay of the land before dinner. My husband needs a scooter due to bad knees... and since it has been 20 years since we have been on this ship... I have had some of the same concerns. I think we can navigate around the casino... my issues are crowds at Windjammer, elevators and table at dinner. What I usually do is scout out paths around the ship.. to make things easier. One idea would be to look at the deck plan and see if you can find alternate routes. If I recall slots tend to be on the edge of the casino... so that should be doable....perhaps limit selection of machines.. Have fun...

Again... great discussion... nice to see people talking about things and treating each other respectfully.... seems rare these days... I like learning about things I know nothing about.. and seeing an exchange of ideas and experience... nice

Great discussion.....

Haven't sailed Royal in several years... but are sailing on Adventure in August... I notice that when I tried to make my time dining reservations ..the earliest I could get was 6:45... I assumed earlier times were already booked. On Celebrity their Select Dining starts at 6:00. Am I correct that 6:45 is the earliest on Royal for My Time?

Last time we sailed... two years ago.... my husband was able to order a basic martini at the martini bar... using the classic package. Not as large or premium liquor as the higher priced drink... but you simply order a second one when the first arrived. Not sure what the price point was for basic martini... but well below the Martini Bar price

Thank you for the additional information. This will be our first stay in an accessible cabin. In the past we have managed using regular cabins... but you really need very specific cabin design to make this work. And now even the small step up into the bathroom has become more difficult. Older ships tend to have narrower doorways and cabins tend to be smaller...which is fine..normally. Then there is where to park it and still have access to the bathroom.... some ships..like Harmony... have the bathroom door opening towards the bed.. allowing parking near the door... but most have the bathroom door perpendicular to the entry door.. making parking a challenge. I will be there to open the door so that won't be a problem and we aren't gamblers so tight space there won't be a problem. Windjammer seems crowed even on Oasis class ships...so thanks for that warning.

Thank you for these suggestions. I usually scout out the lay of the land. So this info helps quite a bit. We sailed Celebrity Edge a few years ago... and I found the layout very choppy for anyone in a wheelchair or scooter... and the chairs were too low to sit in...if you have bad knees.

I kinda hate to hear this. the last time we were on this ship was 2002... back when DH was fully mobile.... he now needs a scooter, walker or cane depending. I we have only been sailing on newer ships...for this reason... but sailing to Southern Caribbean from a port that is a one day drive was too tempting... plus.. and this is key... we were able to get a handicap cabin. On newer ships we have been able to manage a regular cabin... but I thought that given the age of the ship and likely tighter quarters..the only way to do this is an accessible cabin. I assume that restaurants and other areas will be tight... I have fingers and toes crossed that he will be able to access the elevator... I can do stairs...but he.. impossible. So we shall see. I am curious about experience in public areas of others who have mobility issues.

Thanks for the information...it is helpful. The last several Celebrity cruises on S class we were able to find out of the way places to park overnight. Before that we parked in the cabin... but the problem was positioning the scooter so we still had easy access to the bathroom. Looks like we could make it work if the bed is moved a bit... So this might work.

We have rented scooters on S class and E class and have been able ... with some challenge... to park them in the cabin. Since the M class is older and it appears all beds are by the bathroom..vs the veranda... I am wondering if that will be possible..without losing easy access to the bathroom. And if you can't do that... are there any out of the way places to park and recharge outside the cabin. I know you can't block the hallway..but on other classes we have found areas that keep hallways clear..but still allow us to park outside the cabin. I can't find accessible cabins and hate to use one when DH can stand.. with difficulty..but can do so. Thanks in advance

If they have travel insurance...they will need documentation from the cruise line... assuming they have insurance and that it would cover this type of charge.

perhaps email contact info would save a very expensive call...?

I have often brought a small battery operated votive candle to add a bit more light.. not too large

I kinda wonder what happens to the millions of luxury goods stolen during mass shoplifting mobs we have been experiencing... so with that in mind.. I wonder the source of these items.. as well as the source for those websites selling preowned items....

My issue was losing the sea passes.... I expected to pay duty. As it happened ...it was the first day of the government shut down and the agent was more concerned with getting passengers processed.. But I did want to keep the sea pass from the inaugural sailing

I have to point out that if you purchase a high ticket item... eg jewelry or a watch. The cruise line will send that information on to customs. Not sure how they do this now, but on Edge inaugural cruise... as we left the ship we were met by a member of the crew who took our sea passes and passports and took us down to customs so that we could pay any required duty. In this particular instance..we did not get our sea passes back. Hopefully they don't hold onto them anymore.

One reason I cancelled a tour was that it was a 6 hour tour... if anything went wrong.. it was a long way (long time) back.. your point about roads is well taken... especially if you want to see the Pitons by land.

A few years ago we went on a tour in St Lucia.. when we got back to the ship we learned that another tour had been in an accident and that the driver and guide were taken to the hospital..but passengers were treated on the ship. Later I did see a passenger with a brace on their arm. Ironically... I have twice scheduled tours on this island on subsequent trips... but cancelled both times.. I just had a feeling and was concerned about the level of care I might get there...should I be in an accident. On an earlier trip the US Comfort was in port doing surgeries which contributed to my concern.

The mirror at the vanity lights up but no magnification, I usually bring a small magnifying mirror that can slip into a suitcase.

I like both ships... and wouldn't hesitate to go on either... that said I prefer Silhouette ... I like the larger Sky Lounge with its expansive view. On Reflection a chunk of it was turned into suites so the view is reduced... I love going there in the afternoons ..especially when departing various ports. Reflection has a few more cabins so its capacity is about 175 additional passengers. These cabins are on deck 12... which is the pool deck on Silhouette. On Silhouette they have put some cabins where the ilounge was on deck 6... still they're on Reflection... and the card room is still on Reflection..but cabins have replaced that on Silhouette. some of the 'upgrades' on Silhouette are increasing the number of cabins... but still a bit fewer than on Reflection. The differences are relatively minor.

I use the plastic holders as well... then at the end of the cruise.. I place the baggage tags in them. One cruise our bag was not where it should have been .. can't recall if the tag had ..some how.. come off. But with the plastic tags that hasn't happened again

As a side note, if you like to use the fitness tracker when walking on deck.... set it to indoor walk... unless you want to get a crazy map and get a reading of about 11 miles for a 30 minute walk. I did not realize this the first time I tried walking with my Apple Watch. The map looked like I was drunk walking and every few laps I got an alert that I had done another mile.... looked like I was breaking some kind of speed walking record. 🙂

They don't punch holes... I think there is an issue with the risk of hitting a chip in the card. I usually give my card to my husband to carry when I don't have a purse.

Not sure of a European trip...but for the Caribbean... few wear jackets, fewer suits and even fewer formal wear ...although we have seen a few. Frankly Covid changed the way I pack. It used to be that Day 1 'formal' night, DH would wear. jacket, tie, dress shirt, tie, nice pants and nice shoes... by the second one we were down to dress shirt, tie, nice pants and comfy shoes. With Covid and all the distancing... we dropped the jacket and nice shoes. The way I figure it... what are the odds of ever seeing these people again..and if you do.. are they really going to say... 'oh there goes the guy who didn't wear a jacket'.