T-2

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

What were the cast members tossing to the crowd, you can see that it is something that flickers?? Maybe reflecting the stage lights, they tossed a bunch of them. I might not have ever thought of attending this but having seen your videos its now on my list of things I'd most enjoy- so grateful for all you've been sharing.

I have loved following along and thank you again for including the pictures of backdrops, the caribbean themed one of the beach is not near as spectacular as your night shots from different points of view of the former VR trampoline sphere- I confess I'm going to enjoy using some of your inspirations 🙂 Stunning I'll absolutely keep my photo package, but at least I know some themed outfits to plan for- I've certainly never thought to take 'white', thank you for all the time you've given to share. It's made the wait for spring break a lot easier since we got to experience your journey first. Safe Travels!

And when you knew you had scored the Express Boarding please??

Here we're turning D+ and I'm still learning things... I would have never thought about the app being on GMT for that cruise, thank you

Super appreciate the help, hadn't really done a foreign departure in quite a while, and I know the 'earliest windows' even offered do vary by ship, so keeping up with our European fellow passengers is great as we're sailing from their shores. I just did an Odyssey check in, and even at 8 min past the witching hour, the Earliest offered was 12 to 12:30, so it does vary ship to ship and possibly sail away time is a factor, I'll have to recheck our ships departure time. We're just always so excited to start our time onboard, then counting down the days until we can take another RCCL cruise.

Just wondering if anyone has had experience with check in time if the ship is in Southampton, England. They are 8 hours ahead of PST and 5 hours ahead of EST- would check in be the same time as if the Anthem of the Seas were in FL because that is where the RCCL is or would check in line up with the time zone in England?? Would check in even open up a bit past midnight when the ship is anywhere outside of the U.S.? Just hoping someone might have experienced this. Thanks

I was Very Impressed with the quality of the water area single shots, was hoping those were with the goPro. I ordered the 9 last night on Amazon so will have the chance to start practicing before we sail, (except maybe the underwater aspects,my pool is a little chilly) and so appreciate your posts on your trip- You've definitely elevated ours! Thank You.