Starry Eyes

There are two reasonable options depending on your flight timing, activity preferences and budget. You can stay at a hotel near the Orlando airport and take a shuttle or Uber to the port in the morning. There are plenty of hotels near the airport, of course, with a variety of price points. Same with dinner and breakfast options. If I had a late flight arrival, I’d stay near the airport. You can stay near the port at Cocoa Beach or Cape Canaveral, for example. If your flight is earlier and you want another beach day, this is a nice option. If you want to wake up near the beach and/or the ship, this is a nice option. There are a decent number of hotels though prices are apt to run higher for food and lodging in this beach/touristy area vs airport area.

This. I would add that the seats in reserved section are not necessarily considered the absolute best seats in the house. Depending on arrival time and taste in seating, their party may find seats they like better outside the reserved section.

If there is a pre-cruise waitlist for one of the dining options (early traditional, late traditional or MTD), priority waitlist will put you in a better position on that pre-cruise waitlist, so you may get you preferred dining option for the entire cruise. It does not let one jump between early traditional and MTD on the same cruise.

Did you buy travel insurance to cover cancellation and other risks? A decent policy should cover your flights.

From what I have read over the years it seems countries have different laws, have different booking rules and pay different fares. Unless you are also booking from Germany, that German cruiser never had the same deal as you and never will.

Even the cricket sounds are pre-recorded.😀

Those are good points. I found the article. Here’s the paragraph: ”It might take a minute or two for the elevator to arrive. Once it does, it will have room for you and, in many cases, the elevator will go directly to your chosen floor. At worst, the elevator will make a stop or two which are shown on screens inside so passengers know exactly what their trip will look like.” Link to full article: https://www.thestreet.com/travel/royal-caribbean-quietly-fixes-a-massive-passenger-problem Note: I clicked on the article to find out what massive passenger problem was fixed. Perhaps we might have hoped for a major IT improvement or maybe food improvement or price drops. I’m not sure elevators are a “massive” problem most of the time for most passengers.😀

That seems perfectly reasonable. I read an article about Icon’s elevator system that stated when the designated elevator came there would be room for you. As the number of people per party and the amount of floor space needed per person (including scooters and strollers) varies greatly on cruise ships, I was curious how the system was assuring adequate space, especially during busy times…or if the author of that article was simply incorrect. I suspect the latter. Since people of widely varying backgrounds contribute to CC, I hoped someone could satisfy my curiosity. Regardless, I expect the system to be an improvement.

A couple more: There will also be on board shops plus sale tables in the Royal promenade. Everything from cheap souvenirs to duty free products and luxury items. It is your choice to shop/ buy or not, though a reviewer might feel their spouse or kids were “nickeled and dimed” there. Spa services are also marketed. Gratuity will be added and they are apt to try to sell products if you are in the spa. The gym is generally free, by the way, though you might encounter spa folks encouraging you to try services or someone trying to sell add on fitness classes. You can politely decline everything.

Sorry, but I don’t think they will pro-rate the shorter alternative cruise price by number nights. I suspect you will find you may either have the shorter alternate cruise at the original price or you may take a refund. The cruise contract says they can cancel the cruise and refund your money, so there’s little point arguing that the cancellation their fault.

I think many of us are asking questions because we are curious people who like to understand how systems work. I didn’t notice any posts here that suggest the individual is “terrified of change.”

I hope more elevators will arrive with space for your scooter.

I like the concept, though I wonder how the computer knows how much space to allocate for your party during busy times. The article I read said said when the elevator arrives, there will be space for you. Hypothetically when I approach the keypad I might need an elevator for a spouse, a big stroller, 3 kids, a grandparent on a scooter and myself; we will pretty much fill an elevator. If there was space for all of us, there probably would not be space for anyone else the computer may have wanted to include on our route. The next time I approach that keypad, I might be alone.

Expanding on that, for Key program, there is a 25 pound weight limit. I don’t know if it us enforced. Carry-on bag drop off with delivery to your stateroom. Carry-on luggage drop-off service is limited to two pieces per guest and can weigh no more than 25 pounds per carry-on.

When is your cruise? You can look in your cruise planner. Expect a link to appear if you get RoyalUp offers. You can also enter the info on this page: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/booked/cruise-room-upgrade I do not think it will help to email a request for upgrade offers.

Interesting that in the same thread your post seems to advocate for less flexibility (only as many berths as life boat spaces, while the OP (see quote below), who is actively trying to book, wishes there were more flexibility (extra sofa berths in every cabin). People should try to book all the passengers from the get-go. They should not count on adding more passengers to their reservations later. If the situation arises later unexpectedly, they may be able to add the guest if they are lucky; they may not if they are unlucky. Just like if somebody later wanted to book another cabin to join on your cruise…it may or may not be available.

Like you, we did not care for Tap Factory. The contortionist was especially bothersome.

Read post number 3 on this thread and follow those instructions. You should discover the cabin you are highly likely to be assigned.

The nice part about paying at the entry was the quick exit. It will be a pity if they design a system where there’s hassle both coming and going.

That’s interesting. When we left T5 on Dec 30, the exit arm was up and cars were driving straight out. We left early. Perhaps they started scanning after we scooted.

So, every time someone loses their receipt or has to dig the receipt out of their wallet or someone has to pay for additional days, cars may line up at the exit?

That’s funny, though Hubby and I can take a bad selfies without trying. Heck, our pictures might turn out better if we actively tried to make them worse. I’ve never observed any consecutive cruiser’s picture re-taken. I didn’t want to pad my success(🤪) count by including consecutives.

Each ship has its own tag color. If someone pulls up to the wrong terminal, the wrong tag color hopefully will help the porters quickly recognize the issue even if there was a language barrier. Same for crew on board if the bags make it onto the wrong ship

I think each ship has a single color, so porters are apt to notice if luggage is dropped at the wrong ship if multiple RCI ships are in port. When we have changed cabins from forward to aft on a different deck our tags have been the same color.

We printed our tags on a color printer for years. We always arrive at port early. Sometimes the bags arrive fairly early and sometimes fairly late. Or color printer broke, so the last time the tags were B&W. One bag came fairly early, the other rather late. I think it is luck, not tag color.