FionaMG

If time and budget allow, you could try to match up the "redundant" leg of the return flight with a transatlantic going in the other direction. So, for example, you could book from Southampton to Miami in Oct/Nov this year and then book a round trip flight that matches up with the dates for your spring one next year.

They didn't pay all of the expenses, only travel from Gambia to Senegal and that was because the ship was unable to dock in Gambia where arrangements had been made for them to reboard. The cost of getting from São Tomé to Gambia is the guests' own responsibility.

São Tomé and Príncipe is absolutely not a "very dangerous place". According to the US State Department's Travel Advisory website it's a Level 1 destination, i.e. exercise normal precautions, the same as Iceland and actually safer than Spain, which is Level 2: Exercise increased caution. By way of comparison, the Bahamas are also level 2, while Jamaica is level 3 - reconsider travel.

The bidding process does not mean, necessarily, that there are cabins available. However, cabins may become available at any point in time, through cancellations or no-shows, right up until the ship sails. By bidding, you are joining the cruise line's go-to list of passengers they can upgrade in such cases.

Just wanted to point out that they weren't left behind in Angola; it was in São Tomé e Príncipe, which is a small equatorial island nation located in the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of Central Africa. There is no US diplomatic presence in the country; US citizens are served by the embassy in Luanda, Angola, nearly 800 miles to the south of São Tomé.

I remember reading that. Quite some experience. I think you handled it amazingly well.

I think you may have misunderstood the wording (never Royal's strong point). You have to buy the Key for everyone in your room who is age six and over but having someone under six in the room doesn't preclude you from booking it. In theory, the system should grey out the underage guests and only let you book it for those who are old enough. In practice, I don't have personal experience to confirm this is definitely so. That said, I don't see why any kid that age would need internet so to my mind that's a waste of money right there.

We got that once. I asked my TA if it was from her and she said yes. It was a very nice surprise. We actually got a voucher for each of our two rooms. Try and book as soon after boarding as you can for a better choice of days and times.

Yup, me too.

That's what I was wondering. A smartphone changing the time automatically could potentially cause this. Not everyone realises they need to be mindful of this.

You won't want to cancel and rebook if you bought them at a cheaper rate but you can definitely change them on board and there's no extra charge at that point. We did precisely this on Symphony last month. Note that you may have to go to the actual restaurant to change them; the guys in the kiosk on Symphony struggled for 20 minutes to try and change ours and eventually called a manager over. He explained that because they were cruise planner bookings only the host at the restaurant in question could change them.

Oooh, that sounds amazing. A few years from now, when I retire, I'm hoping to do that sort of trip too. I already have several mapped out in my mind. 😂🤞

I've seen some suggestions that she might be headed to Oz. If that's right, they might release a repo along with the Australia deployment week of 8 April.

Oh yes, you're right. I hadn't noticed that. I guess they're reassessing itineraries in light of the Suez situation?

I would be inclined to agree. An extra $100 seems a lot for what you actually get. Unless, you're thinking of buying a boarding day lunch in a specialty dining venue anyway, in which case that would bring the extra amount down.

Also, how old are your littles? If you're buying the key you have to get it for everyone in your stateroom who's 6 or over so that might bump the cost up even more for you.

Ask to be waitlisted for the early dining time. If it doesn't come through for you before you sail, head to the MDR as soon as you board and speak to whoever is manning the desk.

Not usually. It's one or the other. There is 15 minute grace period for assigned dining. Beyond that you could go and ask at the MTD desk but go with the mindset that the answer will probably be no. You won't miss out on dinner entirely because you can always go to windjammer buffet instead.

Given that you're new to cruising I would recommend you opt for a ship-sponsored excursion in Santorini. This is firstly because Santorini is a tender port which means you can't just walk off the ship onto the dock; the ship will be at anchor and you will have to get on a little boat (tender) to go ashore. Guests on ship-sponsored excursions will be taken by staff to the tender at the required time. Guests doing independent excursions have to try and calculate what time this process will actually get them ashore so they don't get there too late and miss their excursion. In Santorini this is further complicated by the fact that, once you get ashore, you have to get a cable car up to the top of the cliff. I think you could find it all very confusing and stressful and a ship-sponsored excursion in this particular port would make for a much more enjoyable experience.

There are rumours both are heading to Australia but I don't know if there's any truth to them.

I'm only seeing Ovation up to October 2025, nothing beyond that. That's on the US site, though. Are you seeing it for further ahead on the Oz site?

Something I've wondered since first reading about group rates: if there is a price drop can you get it? Or are you locked into the already reduced group rate?

Still missing the same five ships: Anthem, Ovation, Radiance, Serenade and Voyager, with Australia currently scheduled for release the week of 18th April and Singapore the week of 13th May. Does five ships for those two markets seem like a lot? I don't usually keep tabs on those. Also, there are no EB Panama Canal cruises posted yet for Autumn of 2025. I would be expecting at least one, so that would need to be Radiance or Serenade.

Maybe to do with Easter dates? 20th of April in 2025 and 5th of April in 2026.

Two years ago in May we sailed on Odyssey out of Civitavecchia ("Rome"). The ship was still in Florida when check-in opened. It opened Rome time so 6 hours ahead of EST. I don't know if that still holds true.