xxHadleyxx

It wasn't a judgmental comment....I just really have no idea about the market because that is so very much not on my radar lol We went to the Long Son Pagoda, Cham Towers, the Nha Trang Church, out for fresh seafood and stopped by a lovely beach for a while. I will say the taxi was almost as cheap as a rickshaw, and had air conditioning and moved much faster from place to place (not much traffic in Nha Trang when we were there so it was a major difference). We saw more, for less money, than fellow passengers who took rickshaws. I'm sure a taxi would be happy to take your wife to the market if that's the goal.

Definitely go to the hotel to drop your bags. In our experience there's a decent chance they'll be able to let you in your room anyway. If the flight is very early shopping won't be open yet (we landed so early we were through immigration, baggage claim, etc and in our hotel room before 7). I recommend, if you can't get into your room, head to the Gardens by the Bay. Much of it is accessible at all hours, for free, and it's so nice and peaceful (and not as hot) in the early morning

I'll add that some very small ships might sail up the river and actually dock in Nha Trang. But most modern ships dock at Cau Da. We were on Royal Caribbean’s Spectrum of the Seas

Ships dock at Cau Da port. That's 7-8 km from town. If suggest getting a cheap taxi. I don't enjoy shopping. We did not go to the market

That used to be my experience, so can't blame anyone for skipping this advice if they still encounter it. In the past decade, flying mostly Lufthansa, back row seats have all been offset enough to recline as much as other economy class seats.Not sure if that's been an overall aircraft change, or maybe it's a difference between Airbus and Boeing aircraft? I've only actually ended up sitting there the whole flight a couple of times in the past decade.

You've gotten great advice on which airlines, etc. I'll add tips I find help me on my fairly frequent long haul flights: Book the last row in the aircraft (I like aisles so I can get up often, windows are ready to Kean against sleeping,it's a personal preference thing). That back row is more likely to leave you with an empty seat (with two of you book the window and auskey,the back row middle seat is highly undesirable and likely to remain empty if the flight isn't fully booked). Bonus: flight crew like to use that for to sleep in, so if there are economy plus seats left they'll usually offer to move you there at no charge. Walk a LOT at the airport. I rarely sit at all between leaving the car and boarding. Before leaving for the airport try to get in some good exercise (go for a run, dance, etc). Wear comfortable noise cancelling headphones. Spread your blanket over you like a giant bib during food service. This has saved me twice: when the person next to me knocked a drink over onto me and when a burst of turbulence during food delivery resulted in something upside down and partially on my lap. It's a lot easier to get another blanket than a replacement clothes and a dry seat. Have wine or a cocktail or two with dinner (it's extremely rare for me finish even one drink except on overnight flights...it does help me sleep). After the dinner service, go brush your teeth and change into some clean and loose fitting (for flights to Asia actual PJs would not be particularly out if place). Take a little bag which you hang from the hook in the lavatory to hold everything. This is a hassle, but I've learned my body responds well to these "it's time for bed" cues. Bring flip flops you can easily slide in for bathroom trips and wear soft slipper socks when seating and trying to sleep. Go ahead and recline when cabin lights are dimmed. That's typically considered sleeping time and most will recline. I like to put on a movie I've seen a lot, something I don't get too involved in, but interesting enough to keep me from noticing what's happening around me, and turn the volume pretty low as I am falling asleep. When the cabin lights come back on, head straight to the lavatory to brush teeth and change again. Have something caffeinated with breakfast. Spend 5 or 10 minutes stretching and walking every time you get up for the toilet.

We were there in January. Royal dropped us in a small area in town. There were lots of taxi drivers happy to negotiate a tour, payable in US dollars. We paid 30usd for a 5ish hour tour with a very nice driver (he spoke no english, google translate is your friend). He also paid our entry to the Cham towers in local currency and we paid him the USD. It was definitely cheap and easy to arrange on our own

Barcelona is one of the fastest ports to disembark we sail. As stated, if all ports are EU there will not even be customs or immigration. In our experience, it is nearly always faster to jump in the taxi queue than to find a pre arranged car...and pricing is generally fairly close if you are going into teh city or to the airport. For the 10 euro or so price difference, we prefer to not stress about the time and just grab a taxi. This is the ONLY port for which we prfer to use taxis, because it is the only one where there are always lots of them and the queue moves super fast.

Yes, you just take checked bags up to the porters at the curb and drop it at any time from about 10:00 a.m.. It is a bit of a walk nack over teh bridge into town...with limited time you would probably be best to grab a taxi after you drop your bag, if you are able to do so.

My youngest, now 24, was super picky as a child. One trans atlantic he ate only pasta with butter, pears and grilled cheese the entire two week cruise. He was never willing to eat typical kid foods like chicken nuggets, hot dobs, burgers, or even fries. (I am happy to report he is much less picky now). We paid for him at Chops and similar places several times (back when there was no lower price for children). He was taking up a space at the table, meaning we needed a larger table and someone else could not sit there. AND, he did take some attention from the waitstaff who refilled his drink, chatted with him, still had to set a place and napkin for him, etc. If we did not want to pay the listed price for him, we would have eitehr skipped dining there, had him go to Adventure Ocean, or allowed him to hang out in the stateroom watching movies. FWIW: your child might be different, but mine would sometimes at least nibble on a roll or some bread and eventually, most of what he did try new in his younger years he tried on ships: when he was relaxed and in a good mood and not stressed about being pressured to eat or not having food available then he was more likely to want to try something new; but we never went in pressuring him to eat OR assuming he would not. In fact, the fisr time he would eat salad was at Chop's.

7 points each for you, your wife ech of the kids. You would only get an extra point per night if one of you were the only person (not only adult) in a cabin and booked it as a single with the supplement.

We sailed Odyssesy in October and loved her. She and Wonder are both brilliant IMO.

Hmmm. When we were new cruisers, we wer younger, had less income and with kids had more expenses. We figured getting to cruise was THE excitement and we spent VERY little beyond gratuities. We did not buy photos or drinks, we did not do specialty dining. We didn't go to the spa, etc. Around about when we hit Diamond on RCI, as the kids were hitting their late teens and our income got better, plus we were getting a little "bored" with the smiliarity from cruise to cruise, we started buying speicalty dining or packages on about half our trips. I usually go to the spa once or twice. We pay for virtual reality or cupcake decorating or sushi making, etc. We buy drinks as we ant them once the vouchers run out, or wine for dinner, or the refreshment package, etc. AND we nearly always bring along friends who are not cruisers, friends who would not quite be up for trying it on their own....most all of whome them continue to cruise after that. We have cruises this year into January of next booked, things booked from before the prices jumped. We'll keep those, but based on recent experiences, paired with continued cutbacks, soaring prices and lack of flexibility in booking, we are shifting to more land based trips with some Princess or Disney cruises thrown in for 2024 and beyond at this point. It's not a threat or a tantrum, etc...just a shift based on RCI slowly but steadily eroding the value and joy we find on their offerings to a point at which it is no longer among our top choices. That said, on our January cruise on Anthem we had a mix of old and new menus. Our food was good and we particularly liked the new menus. We thought they were very good, lots of good choices, well prepared, and the best desserts we have had on RCI....not so pretty but actually tasty.

I assume it is more about the cost in employee hours to check lists and stock to our individual preferences versus having a standardized item all D+ and higher gets. Probably cuts the time down by 80 percent or so. I'm still disapointed though. Ah well.

I finally got my Wonder block from its April TA last week. I had pretty much lost hope (and earned another block in the meantime)

We got off of Odyssey on Sunday and the announcement was a day or two later, so it is very recent. Anywhere which has a set price for a whioe meal and considered a normal specialty dining venue (including Mason Jar, even at brunch, unless things have chaned since we were on Wonder in April) is always included with no daily limits. The one exception is Izumi Teppanyaki which has an upchage on top of the UDP ($15 per person for one protien, more for two...this price went up at the same time the limited snacking announcemnt was made). You can still have lunch and dinner if the resturants are open (brunch is the same as lunch). Izumi also counts the same, but it is a set menu or 35$ credit for the meal. Special things only offered occasionally (like Chef's table, special brunches with tours, sushi making classes, etc) are not included. Places with a la cart dining that are more "snack" like such as playmakers and vintages now get ONE time per day up to $20. Apparently people would just sit in Playmakers all day and open one $20 tab after another so this is the solution. It is not yet clear to me where Johnny Rockets fall into these categories. (snack or meal? Hopefully meal as it is a set price) Stinks that such people ruined it for the rest of us. On our recent sailing we would often stop at Playmekers for a starter in the late afternoon (poppers, onion rings, etc), head down to dinner and then skip dessert at the dinner location and go back to playmakers after the show for a cookie. I am hoping that might still be possible by only billing ONE of the two of us with the UDP for the first visit and the other for the second. We were defeintly not unfairly holding tables nor abusing the system or over eating...it would stink to be restricted out of what we enjoy.

I have had the refreshment or soda package several times since the voucher system started and have never had them auto apply a voucher to a drink that was covered by my package, and I don't say anything about the vouchers when ordering unless I am ordering something NOT on my package.

I like the comfort/familiarity of being on a cruise and even on the same brand but aso the variety of different activities and feelings that comes with sailing on several different ship classes. Smaller ships often feel more intimate and have really fun and more personal crew led acvtivites..plus, as most have said often go to much more interesting places and/or are more resonably priced. Big and new ships are fun too...but it is a very different experience. I am not after the same thing trip after trip.

Interesting. I still haven't gotten my Wonder block from the April TA. Looks like it's time to call again