cantgetin

My guess would be probably not but it wouldn't hurt to call Shoreside Sailor Services and the worst they can do is to say they can't help you. They do not handle applying the status, but they possibly could mark you for urgent handling tomorrow morning. Today being a holiday, the back office people might not even be working.

I agree. Having to check every few days to be sure things were getting reversed was a bit of a pain. However, giving you the extra bar tab would mean that you could use it on any beverage, not just the coffee. I think their intent is to match the complimentary coffee/tea that Royal has on their loyalty program. Another easy way would be to have it keyed into your bracelet so if you charged at The Grounds Club, the first $10 per day would automatically come off. Guess it's a problem for their IT department. Supposedly, instead of a "Shake for Champagne" that then has to be removed, they are adding $100 bar tab beginning in 2023.

It is on the app under "Shore Things," which is the same place you'll find excursions.

I'm sure we did it a few days before disembarkation under shore things on the app. It shows up really big on the last full day. We also got a paper in the cabin with all the instructions including "go on the app and pick a time. They didn't check times...I think the idea is to have people choose just so they are spreading us out. Very early and very late tend to be most crowded, but getting off the ship was no big deal.

By the desk, there is one US (110), one European (220?) and NO UK outlets as well as 2 USB ports. On either side of the bed there was 1 US outlet and 2 USB ports. NOTE there is no outlet of any sort in the bathroom. We were told this was for "safety" reasons.

And if it is a sea day, you save a few dollars in port taxes.

Interesting....on our cruise, ginger ale was available from the dispensers in The Galley. I don't know if they had cans. If you talk to the rockstar agent at the welcome aboard meeting, they can (or used to) swap out things from the rockstar bar.

We got the same story about the charges being manually reversed, but they were all reversed and were correct by embarkation morning.

If you used a travel agent (first mate) they should all show up on the agent's confirmation as well. Mine sent me a copy of her confirmation, "just in case."

If you don't see it under "add ons," call Sailor Services shoreside. Supposedly this is one of the things that cannot be fixed at the terminal. However, just in case, take a screen shot of the confirmation email!

You book it on the app after boarding. If you can't figure that out or the app is misbehaving, Sailor Services can help, but they told us that they couldn't make reservations thru their computers; they could only help us on the app. The alternative was to go to the restaurant. If you go to the restaurant, they can definitely make reservations for the next day...I'm not sure if they can access the entire cruise (and I suspect they wouldn't want to if there are people checking in for dinner). We didn't have any trouble making brunch reservations when the app was working, and were only turned away once when we tried to do a walk up for brunch. The best way to get dinner reservations is to book them before boarding...if the app is not cooperating, call Sailor Services. If the app is not working after you board, turn off all programs. If that didn't help, turn off the phone and restart it, then log onto the app. If that doesn't work, go to Sailor Services to see if they have any other magic or whether it is down all over the ship.

OK, I guess I didn't understand exactly what was happening. Yes, we did have to hand over our passports and agree that we didn't have anything to declare. THe agent used what appeared to be a camera to take a photo of each of our passports and then our face. I thought that was facial recognition. I don't believe I've every had a passport and then a face photo before--I've had to either hand over the passport of put it in some sort of a "reader," and I've been photographed at the various kiosks, not by an agent. Bottom line, we were either the second or third family from the front when we got in line, and it took under 5 minutes to process the two of us with different home addresses.

Hmmm....We had selected a 10:45 disembarkation time on line for our October 30 return. About 10:15 and announcement came that everyone had to be off the ship by 10:30....no explanation of the discrepency. So we hurried to finish breakfast, grabbed carry ons from the cabin and exited. We had the usual elevator wait and after several cycles did the "ride up to go down. There was a brief wait at the gangway. Customs DID have facial recognition; in fact, it was the first time I'd seen that system. If went quite quickly. The wait for an Uber was about 7-8 minutes. I'm guessing that maybe we were some of the last off and therefore missed most of the crowds.

If all you are lacking is Diet Coke/Sprite, you can make a call to Ship Eats (room service) and get as much as you want. In addition, many bars have it in cans if you ask. I know, if you paid for a suite you shouldn't have to jump thru the hoops, but at least this is a way to get what you want and have it in your room.

Everything included on Deep Blue is initially charged and then removed. We had no difficulty with the removal, although I've read of people needing to go to Sailor Services. I went down the first time and they said that if a charge persisted more than 48 hours or a charge in the last day was not removed by embarkation morning, to stop by again. It all worked out fine.

This is another reason to consider private trip insurance rather than thru the cruise line.

Don't know where you got your credit card, but I was in a similar situation--needed international card to book flights, high penalty for paying in USD. The banker at my branch was able to call and get the credit card info for me before I got the card. He also arranged for the card to be "overnighted" to me, but it was really 2 days since the request went in late in the day.

Thanks, I was on the WBTA. I recently read a report from December that said they are serving "European Coke." Like you, we figured they would switch to the US formulation when they started cruising out of Miami, particularly as the stocks were running out by the end of the TA. Just hoping to find out current info prior to my next cruise.

The title says it all--while in Europe, Valiant had only Coke Zero, which is the European version of Diet Coke. What are they stocking now that they are in the US? And, follow up question, if it is Coke Zero, are we allowed to bring some Diet Coke on board?

On our cruise, RD, The Wake, and The Galley were open, but the hours were limited since everyone was supposed to be off the ship by 10:30. We were not in a hurry, so enjoyed a nice restaurant breakfast at RD. IT was really nice to leave carry ons in the cabin rather than taking them to breakfast....and the places were not packed full of people or luggage like they often are on other lines.

I use Travel Insured International , the specific policy is Worldwide Trip Protector.. Many companies offer more than one policy level; I don't choose the lowest one because for a very few dollars more, I can move up to the mid level which provides a lot more medical coverage. This company was recommended by a TA many years ago and I've used them for cruises ever since. Ask yourself why you are buying the insurance. In my case, it is because my health insurance will not cover me outside the US. Another big concern is coverage for medical evacuation if I would have to be hospitalized in another country. Then look for a policy that has good coverage for those areas you are concerned about. Lost luggage, flight delays, and all that stuff is nice to have, but I'm buying for the medical. Through the years, I've made 2 small claims with this company---one a visit to the medical center for my travel companion and the other when the ship couldn't get into port due to fog so we had expenses for that day. In each case, the claim was paid promptly and in full.

Essentially the same. On our 14 day TransAtlantic crossing, we had 2 additional entertainers and several stations at The Galley had additional special items that changed each day, but that was a special thing for this longer cruise. If you did 6 or 8 nights from Barcelona, you can expect mostly the same stuff from Miami with possibly a change or two in entertainment.

Since covid testing is no longer required to board, the only way you'll know is if you test yourself or you get sick on board and are tested. There is no testing at the terminal any more unless you fail your health screen and are taken to "medical" to see whether you can cruise or not. This is an area of the terminal prior to boarding. I would strongly suggest travel insurance purchased privately, not thru the cruise line. THe reason I go private is that I can get a lot better coverage for the same or less money. Purchased thru the cruise line will not cover your airfare or anything not purchased thru the line, and generally doesn't include much medical coverage. The reason to get insurance in general is that you, a travel companion, or a family member not cruising could get any sort of injury or illness, while the old VV policy covered only covid. So if you got the flu, you wouldn't be covered under the VV covid policy....and I don't even know if that policy is still in effect.

Things might have changed since October, but I was definitely able to book my disembarkation time 2 days into the cruise. It is in the app under "shore things," and i sort of stumbled across it as I wasn't booking any other shore things. I had to go to the date, and then the ability to select the time opened up. Both The Wake and THe Galley have "decent food" as you noted. Service at The Wake is a little slower/more relaxed than at RD, and the food seemed a little heavier. You won't be on the ship when lunch is served, so you'll have to plan on breakfast on the last day. It is really a matter of what you want. We knew that we liked RD so that was our last morning choice. We had a later flight, so were in no hurry to get up in the morning or rush off the ship. Both RD and The Wake serve lunch on normal days, and the menu at The Wake includes steak starting at noon.

If you book thru an agent, they will be able to see all the discounts and perks associated with your booking.