T-2

They've made selecting your final choices much easier than the old days of sorting through walls of prints to find your pictures (does this ever say how long we've loved sailing RCCL). Now when you have one taken you can give them your stateroom number, we do try to make a mental note of the approx time we've done pictures (like right after dinner or dockside time, because there is still the very small chance of error). Cabin numbers are often now 4 or 5 digits, we knew we had one backdrop taken that didn't show up- so they looked up the backdrop and approx time and found ours right away- the photographer had swapped 2 of the numbers in reverse, instantly our images were in our app. Or on our kiosk screen depending on the age of the ship. One of our packages included both digital and prints- so I checked the download size- they are all between 1.2 and 1.8mb They look stunning even on my computer screen but I wouldn't make a wall print with them. The digital is perfect for most everyone, nothing to carry, But some packages still give us the option for prints, for those who go that route- I've made incredible photo books of memories this way- but I know I am in the minority- have fun whichever works best! PS- for photos taken when they don't get to ask your name like the bumper cars or the slides, they use facial recognition. The ones we got digital I believe we had the option to download them to our phone after they were paid for (without the watermarks) and then you get an email link so that you can download them to your computer about 48 hours after you leave the ship.

i'm not real app savvy, we've never had any problems with ordering the pictures from either the kiosk or the app, on the Icon it actually showed how many more pictures we could still select, you can still change any of your 'favorites' right up to submitting your final order. I think some people even buy a 2nd pkg or increase the size of their first one while onboard but preordering is by far the best deal. I just can't speak for every ship in the fleet, but I've been blown away by the ships we have sailed on. In the old days, the backdrops were pretty much the same for every ship and sailing, now its exploded into amazing new options. And the skill of the photographers in making everyone look great has eclipsed as well. I was really impressed and we had a lot of fun.

In our case we had 2 cabins linked (for dining/excursions/boarding), so it asked which passenger we wanted the photo pkg for, since the grandkid was the main focus and always in the pictures, he's the one we listed, rather than a cabin number, it asks if you have linked cabins. So as long as he was in the picture, it could be any picture he was in, including either cabin.

The 'rides' vary with what is offered on each ship, some have zip lines, flow riders, dry slide, some have the bumper cars and iFly and North Star, they were out on the Ovation in Alaska capturing any of those ride moments that people wanted, sometimes its a photo spot you might not even think of using- onshore or onship- you're not committed to anything, you pick which ones you want and can attach 'Likes' on the ones you want to most keep in mind, and then chose 'favorites' to more quickly track, you turn in your order on the last evening... it's an amazing process and a lot of fun. We didn't do any at the table because we like the 'activity ones' more than dining- but we had heard that the specialty restaurants are not included but that the main dining is - but we didn't actually have any like that taken so thankfully others were more experienced. We also quickly spotted the most talented photographers and watched for them about the ship, portside and ashore CoCo Cay, if we get Labadee again some of our best photos are from there.

I love the photo package deals and have bought it in many sizes over the years. Sometimes they will offer it in 'digital or prints', but you must go to the photo dept desk on departure day and tell them if you prefer to get prints if your purchase has that option. That lets them know how many they might be printing that last night at sea. We just did this on 2 different ships over spring break and they came out Gorgeous. The best price might be the Black Friday deal but if your sailing is before that time that doesn't help. You can also purchase it now, and if they offer it for a lower price you can purchase it again, then cancel your first purchase. Most people prefer the digital downloads but I'm old school and Love the photo prints of my grandchild and family. When you make the purchase you list the stateroom and person- I list the grandchild. RCCL has some of the most talented photographers I have ever encountered, we've had incredible shots on CoCo Cay and Labadee over the years, as well as around the ship- sometimes they are at the zip line, ship pool areas, flowrider, some of the backdrops now have props, props or characters in costume (like a pirate) when you are leaving the ship at port, various unique spots around the ship besides just the staircases. The first time I ever went for 100 was on the Icon and the opportunities were amazing, the talented staff on the Wonder and Odyssey also blew me away. On the Icon you can see them on your phone now, usually within 10 minutes, so you have an idea of how they turned out. We used to pay $20 to $25 for a single picture, their package deal is unbelievable but I think most people are more into social media so the more popular choice is digital.

That was what we hoped would happen but although everything in the store is only listed in US dollars, they ring your sale up in their converted rate of Mexican dollars, there is a sign on the counter letting you know that they will be charging you that way, but we were totally unprepared for the markup they had arranged. When he handed me the receipt to sign I was shocked at the $25 upcharge but he assured me it was entirely legal and I believe him- it is their right, I just wanted to let others know in case they would prefer to pay cash, I would have had I known. Just sharing to be helpful, as I hadn't known. It definitely persuaded us not to enjoy any other shopping. We had a really, really nice day so hoping this helps everyone else love it too.

I would not hesitate to visit Roatan even with 4 ships in port, we were there a few days ago on the Icon of the Seas, along with Mariner I believe, docked in Coxen Hole, there were a couple ships at Mahogany Bay, one was mid size Carnival and something else smaller but not Disney, NCL was supposed to also be in port that day but decided at the last minute to skip it as a port of call. I know from our excursion driver that many locals who thought they were going to work that day were suddenly given the day off. Coxen Hole looked like handling 3 ships would be easy, perhaps 4, we took up a bit more space and brought 7,002 passengers on the Icon. There were still vendors offering spaces on tours, ours went off flawlessly but I would add that if you are choosing any of the animal experiences like we did, we opted to be amongst the first off the ship to head to Daniel Johnsons slough and monkeys, and virtually had almost no wait. These places do watch how many reservations they take so that everyone can have an equally enjoyable experience as no one wants bad reviews. On a previous trip we did Anthonys Caye and it was awesome as well, love visiting Roatan, super nice people.

We are in port today, 3 RCCL ships nestled together but this is for any cruiser going ashore. The sargassam, {sea weed} has reared up again and is very thick, hopefully some of the beaches that you get to by taxi are keeping up with the onslaught. Only 3 ships today but the port was packed, we made the mistake of going in one of the souvenir shops, one of the big ones right in port, just a heads up- DON'T use a credit card. My $69 purchase is then charged as $94.94 to my credit card because of the stores conversion rate, it has nothing to do with whether or not your credit card will charge you a conversion fee, mine won't, but the store charges you their own personal conversion rate on their U.S. prices. Take cash if at all possible and avoid the high fees. $25 is an insane upcharge to use a credit card but it is their privilege. But we didn't purchase another thing in port because of the policy. I hope it helps others with the choice ahead of time. There are some awesome photo spots here and the new expanded area is super nice.

Just a personal observation as I haven't been on every RCCL ship but I can compare maybe 14 of them, the one arcade that really stood out when we saw it was Wonder of the Seas, will be on Icon in a couple weeks so that one I haven't seen yet... but the Wonder really was a nice surprise. Maybe there are some images or its in someones youtube review?

Could the debate on Jamaica please be on its own thread, we're trying to keep this one just focused on helping each other find out if there is any word on where everyones Labadee port might have been switched too, without getting so many pages that its too hard to find the help everyone could use. Cruise critic members have helped so many of us navigate our upcoming cruises, with the help from each other, to enjoy the best cruise experience possible. And thank you Everyone, for all the helpful updates in this turbulent time!! Happy Cruising!

Odysseys new schedule- nice Date Day Port of Call Arrive Depart 3/24/24 Sun Fort Lauderdale, Florida 5:00 PM 3/25/24 Mon Perfect Day at CocoCay 7:00 AM 5:00 PM 3/26/24 Tue Cruising 3/27/24 Wed Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic 8:00 AM 6:00 PM 3/28/24 Thu Cruising 8:00 AM 5:00 PM 3/29/24 Fri Nassau, Bahamas 8:00 AM 5:00 PM 3/30/24 Sat Fort Lauderdale, Florida 6:15 AM

Our new Odyssey Itinerary Date Day Port of Call Arrive Depart 3/24/24 Sun Fort Lauderdale, Florida 5:00 PM 3/25/24 Mon Perfect Day at CocoCay 7:00 AM 5:00 PM 3/26/24 Tue Cruising 3/27/24 Wed Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic 8:00 AM 6:00 PM 3/28/24 Thu Cruising 8:00 AM 5:00 PM 3/29/24 Fri Nassau, Bahamas 8:00 AM 5:00 PM 3/30/24 Sat Fort Lauderdale, Florida 6:15 AM

News update on the Odyssey which would have visited Labadee on Wed Mar 27, they moved up our Thurs stop at Dominican Republic to now being Wed, can't have been easy to reschedule all those excursions. Now we'll visit Nassau on our Friday and that sea day swapped to become Thurs at sea, I can see that RCCL worked hard to reshuffle and not leave us with a 3rd sea day- very happy.

Would love that option, we're still awaiting word for the Odyssey stop on Mar. 27th, ours still shows Labadee so we're still anxiously waiting to see what they might be able to work out. Congrats!

Not sure if there is a limit on the size ship that can dock, like Odyssey or Oasis class using the dock, how large was your ship? It would be someplace we have never been on 30+ cruises.

My brother and I do this for each other whenever we cruise, the one who is not traveling sets a reminder on their phone, and does the online airline checkin for the one who is traveling- if you have someone you know you can count on. Because my brain seems less dependable when its on vacation for those kind of details :0) Especially if I am self disembarking and not putting my luggage out in the hall 😆 I'm not really thinking about going to the airport yet.

Yes, we are on the 23rd, slightly different ports but would have had 2 sea days also. We're waiting to see if they make Labadee another sea day or there was another port they could substitute. I think we'll try for the day 1 standby, some people may decide its just too much after all the traveling and boarding, we're a family of 4 but maybe we can split up if we can't find 4 together or we get lucky and they open that last area. Thanks so much for the tip!!

And sometimes they may swap your Labadee day for a sea day but then move a previous sea day to an available port. We won't predict a pattern, but we are helping each other as sometimes some cruisers get information sooner than others or their own email isn't as quick. It also shows that RCCL is trying to work with an unforseen mess. This info helps all of us who have an upcoming stop at Labadee, thanks everyone!

It seems hard to keep the Labadee topic on information that is helping us plan, It's okay if everyone has differing views on whether RCCL should even stop there, but lets please dedicate this thread to just information on what alternate ports your ship might be stopping at or if a sea day is replacing it. Not everyone always gets the email notice or may miss it in their junk file folder. Our own departure is just over a week away so I will add ours once we get word. I am glad RCCL is keeping their options open, Labadee as its one of our favorites.

Your cruise compass' are awesome, unbelievable how many more activities are planned than the sampling that is showing on the app so far. You're right, pretty challenging to make plans, we'll just stay flexible. It looks like we might be missing the Labadee stop- they are rerouting ships that would have called there starting tomorrow, so we'll wait and see what happens with one more week... we love Labadee, I know they just want to keep everyone safe so we're sad we might miss it, the world happens, I'll keep my fingers crossed there is a way we get to hear about your New York adventures. And thank you again!!

Your cruise compass was quite an eye opener, I learned quite a lot, for one- there is a Lot more things that will be scheduled than the enticements we now see on the cruise planner app- because your cruise compass was massive for things that will be happening. And they seem to move things around even though our 2 sea days are also day 2 and 6, but I see several things different- our Two70 experience is day 5 not day 6, ours does not show any laser tag like yours but ours only ever had one and it was for the 18+. So lots of excitement yet to come, we will try to see if they have any last bookings on boarding and try the standby line if all else fails, however it works out, I know its going to be an amazing time, thanks for all the help you have given all of us!!! Keep traveling, we'll be watching for more adventures with Harry We've traveled a lot of the world but never NY, I bet you're going to inspire me. :0)

Thank you, they must wait until really close to sailing, to add those shows, thank you!! I had been waiting to add 'The Book' until I could see what I would have to give up, Unfortunately now The Book is already all sold out so that's no longer a problem. 😆

a belated question if you happen to know, I'm looking at the activities for the Mar 23rd sailing and it looks like they almost never use the Royal Theater, it only shows one headliner on day 3, a comdedian hypnotist, and one other activity but not any other shows, movies. I know you loved the Two70 but were you ever aware of offerings in the Royal Theater, other than port talks or bingo, or was it pretty much unused? Its such a big venue to just sit idle.

Super appreciate your posting that, it worked beautifully, was able to book all the show reservations plus see who are headliner will be... only 20 days to go!!!

That would explain it, the flickering really caught the eye, hard to believe its a tiny flashing ring, what they can do with batteries these days is amazing- thanks