Or how about an even tougher spin: You know that port that we cancelled because the country is having a civil war and the US State Departments says DO NOT GO TO HAITI? Guess what? RCI has decided that it is safe enough - cause you know, they know more than the State Department - so we are sailing to Labadee again! 

Yes, I know, the fighting is mostly a long way from where the port stop is. BUT, I personally am not comfortable with deliberately going to a country that is having a civil war! 

23 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

We are at 27 days out and do not even appear to be eligible on Icon and there are still plenty of balconies available to upgrade from Interior.  Just keep getting the "Make sure your cruise is at least 30 days" etc.  Weird that my daughter's linked cabin has "You are eligible for an upgrade" pane???

 

It also depends on who you booked your cruise with if you used a travel agent. Not all travel companies participate in the Royal Up program. 

Thank you! Booking a balcony on a lower deck and wanted to make sure we were on the non smoking side of ship!

Which side of Adventure of the Seas allows smoking in public areas?

Thank you for the variety of answers. Thanks to those who took my question for what it was - just a simple inquiry as to what might be exploding in the sky that evening! LOL! 

We will be on Allure next week and will be at CoCo Cay for Independence Day on Thursday. Does anyone know if they do anything special like fireworks for that day? I remember seeing a video one year of RCI doing fireworks at CoCo on the 4th. with all sorts of RCI ships around the island. Thanks for any insight. 

Having a general 'meeting area' is helpful. Friends we cruise with know they can usually find us in the Viking Crown Lounge type of thing. Or by the pool. Or in the Solarium. Just a rough idea to narrow down the search. You can also have a wipe off board on your cabin door. As far as dinner we did a cruise with 10 and they put us at a long rectangular table. This made it pretty much impossible to speak with anyone at the other end of the table. So if possible ask for round tables. Excursions are very expensive so I would never expect other people to feel obligated to go on the ones we choose or even a majority rules type of scenario. Don't forget that there are House Phones in each elevator bank area. You can dial in the cabin number and be connected to your friends cabin. Helpful if you think they might be in the cabin and save you a bunch of steps!

Here is my first hand experience with RCI on board medical services. Two years ago I suddenly, and for the first time ever, went into Atrial Fibrillation. My heart rate was extremely high and we called the ship medical facility and were told to come down immediately. I had two doctors and two nurses taking care of me. The care I received was excellent. I was diagnosed, and treatment was initiated. They also placed a call to the RCI on call cardiologist in Miami for additional guidance. This is standard procedure for any patient presenting with serious conditions. After an hour of trying to chemically convert my heart rhythm and having no success, the doctor and the cardiologist made the decision to turn the ship around and return to San Juan, PR. to off load me and get me to a land based hospital. They did this for two reasons, firstly that since this was my first time in A-Fib and I was not converting easily they did not want to risk the trip to St. Maarten, and two since PR is an American territory it would make the trip home easier.

Once this decision was made they sent my husband up to our cabin to pack. As soon as he got to the cabin a team of four Guest Services staff swarmed in and helped him pack up our entire cabin in a matter of minutes. Once the ship had returned to port (we had only left port about an hour before all this happened) we were loaded on an ambulance and taken to a local hospital in San Juan. Here in this land based hospital I reveived terrible care, was yelled at because I didn't speak Spanish, heart monitor leads kept falling off and no one seemed to care, and my husband was made to find someone in the office to pay $5 to purchase a bed pan so I could pee. It was truly awful and we could not wait to get out of there! 

So the care I received on board Jewel of the Seas was in my opinion EXCELLENT! Care in local hospital abysmal!

By the way here is a listing showing what is required to be an on board ship doctor.

Doctor

In the Windjammer one morning I saw a family take an ENTIRE PAN OF BACON from the buffet back to their table. I am talking about a pan roughly 18 inches long, 14 inches wide piled high with at least 6 inches of bacon. Crazy!

Kids see a server hand Mom & Dad a cocktail while sitting on a sofa near the window = no problem. Conversations on various topics will likely be heard. 

Kids see a server hand Mom and Dad a cocktail whilst sitting at the bar = THE SKY IS FALLING AND JOHNNY & LITTLE SUZIE WILL BE IRREPARABLY HARMED! ADULT CONVERSATIONS THAT WILL TURN THEIR LITTLE EARS INTO TURNIPS WILL BE HEARD. 

Oh! I see they are only available for Alaska cruises. That is why they are not on my cruise planners!

Where did you find these blankets to buy?

You could also see if your son will eat Uncrustables. I am pretty sure they come in PB&J. Since they are prepackaged you would also be allowed to take them off the ship.

Oh my! Those last two photos show a very appetizing entree. They really did not make the plate look attractive did they!

Remember too that while you age up to please your 5 year old kindergarten child, there will be kids in that group that are 8 about to turn nine who might not be so happy to have them there.  

Thank you for the photos. I think my scooter will fit fine in this cabin. 

May I ask if you are in a two or three/four person cabin? (Does the sofa pull out into a bed). We are sailing in these cabins next month are trying to figure out the space available for my small scooter. We will be in cabin 1824.

Thank you both so much! No point in packing spin shoes if they don't have the clips! 

Anyone able to help with info?

Does anyone know if the exercise bikes on Adventure of the Seas have bike clips on the pedals for spin shoes? Also, do they have wifi on the bikes so we can log in to our Peloton accounts for the ride.

Thanks for any help!

I spent about 70 minutes in the ship medical facility before they returned to port and off loaded us to an ambulance. They charged me just over $2,200 for what was billed as 70 minutes in their ICU. Luckily we had out of country medical insurance and they paid all but about two hundred of that bill. Surprisingly our regular heatlhcare coverage paid 100% of the bill in the San Juan hospital. They were even in network!

Keep in mind that depending on where you are from and sailing out of - USA/Foreign Country - your phones might work until sail away and you might be able to skip day one and purchase the package starting on Day 2. That is a good chunk of savings right there. 

3 hours ago, Host Jacquelyn said:

Update just now: we are 13 nautical miles off Tampa. Plan is still to begin disembarking 7 am Friday. Weather will be nice for the next 24 hours. 

 

I have been very happy with the level of updates we received on board. The first we heard of a possible delay was Tuesday morning when we docked at Cococay. We have been receiving steady updates since then

If the Serenade Captain was able to give frequent updates to those on board, then there is no reason why the shoreside staff were unable to keep the passengers waiting to board updated as well. Thank you for your updates Jacquelyn - you are much more informative than Royal has been!

6 minutes ago, Tromler said:

 

I think anyone that books a cruise during hurricane season needs to always take into account the very real possibility of changes like this happening and plan accordingly.  If your "normal" life cant accommodate these types of unknowns, then booking during hurricane season is not for them.

 

We cruise during hurricane season frequently, i am fully prepared for any and all changes...its the risk of booking during this time of year. 

You do realize that 'Hurricane Season' encompasses six months of the year? That is 50%! That includes the very expensive July and August cruises. 

Personally I totally understand that weather issues are out of the control of Royal. What IS in their control is being honest and up front with passenger both on the ship and waiting to get on the ship. They need to make sure the correct information is being given out through all their social media channels. They need to make their updates more frequently - even if they just state that they are still waiting for the Coast Guard to complete their inspections of the channel. To just go radio silent and leave people hanging is just plain wrong. Carnival managed to get info to their passengers. 

Carnival have updated what is happening for Carnival Paradise - also porting out of Tampa. 

"Carnival Paradise 08/31/23 – The cruise will now be operated as a 3-day, departing tomorrow, 09/01/23, as a voyage without a port of call.  We will communicate with impacted guests by 1:00 PM today. "

It would be lovely if Royal would inform us what is happening. I imagine that given the circumstances the US Government can provide a waiver for the laws regarding foreign ports.