alfaeric

Have to? No. But it sure helps. But the 45-55 days is about right- we have Dec cruises on the Symphony, and they opened up on the same day a week ago. One thing to note- we've had better luck seeing the reservation system on the web vs. the app. No idea why.

But they also did the aerial shows on the longer cruises. Which added up to 5 or 6 shows a week when it was 7 night sailings. The interesting thing to me is that if they are doing 5 shows a week of Hairspary, that prevents some other shows- pretty much a serious headliner on a 3 night cruise (can't do the show twice in a day w/o a sea day). Actually saves a little money.

Do you really think ships are being totally filled, constantly, with just RCI cheerleader? Seems that's not really sustainable. Ships are more sold out than I've ever remembered, based on the lack of price drops as time goes on combined with the increased penalties for canceling. Not that I'm trying to talk people to go back to cruising- quite the opposite. I'd rather have more and more people cancel their trips for any reason- so that prices will go back down. I do find it funny the tone of the MDR food. Every single time it changes, the exact same words are used. Both for the people who were tired of the old menu and wanted something new and are happy, and for those who hate the change and think the new food is horrible. The more things change, the more they stay the same. FWIW, for a 7 day sets of menus, there are only two of them that we don't like- the rest are better than before. Add to that, our ability to go to CK for dinner, and we are all set. To do a full apples to apples comparison- for ships that are "cheaper"- we'd have to throw out all of the C&A benefits we get. And even on Celebrity, that calculation matters a lot.

Wow, we must have been pretty unlucky on our first cruise, as I remember the food as being not all that great. This was in 2001. And the entertainment? Most of what we saw on stage was was the CD staff doing stuff. Since then, the entertainment has gotten light years better- it's been pretty stable for about a decade now- the ability of the stage entertainment to come out to perform is more up to the CD than corporate- so we remind them that we want to see the ones who *want* to perform out in smaller venues. And the food is still way better than that first cruise. For many things I do think corporate greed is a big deal in high prices- but for the travel segment, a big part of that is also demand. If ships were not full, they would not increase prices over time for a released cruise. As far as we can tell, the booked cruises we have are still a really good deal if you get into them really quickly from release. But, unlike in the past, the fares go up constantly over time- the odds of getting a better price has gone way down as well as getting cheap upgrades over time. Maybe it's more TA's booking large group cruises, but I see more full cabins when we try to book than not. The people who I really feel for are the workers- who has had their staff cut and their workload increased- they should most certainly be paid more for what they do. RCI can afford to pay down their debt on schedule and still pay the workers.

Even when there were a lot of people active on a roll call, hardly anyone went to M&M's. I went to one that the drawing for swag meant everyone got something out of the small bag of stuff brought. It is about money and time- what's the point of having it when the roll calls are a tiny fraction of what they used to be, and even then- the people who go are a small fraction of that.

For those of us in selected border states, it may be worth while to get an Enhanced Drivers License. They are allowed for land border crossings to Canada as well as ship travel in the Caribbean. We are getting those as backups for an upcoming cruise while we are within 6 months of the passport expiring. States are Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, and Washington.

Bad situation to be in. But it seems as much an issue with the TA as it is with Royal. And I agree that you need to talk to a person as opposed to emails. Or at least email the top boss- which comes up pretty regularly here. That, I bet, would work- as it did for us concerning a much more minor concern. At least they should be able to change it to a future cruise credit.

This needs repeating. We’ve had to do that a few times, and it always works.

Since staying at hotels is the right thing to do before a cruise, some have massive stocks of half and half packets. Just sayn.

Op, yes, you can carry on cartons of cream and half&half. We have been doing that for many years, as we make coffee in our cabin, especially now with the machines in the suites. I’ve never found actual cream for coffee in our 20+ years of cruising. As for the machines in the lounges, yes it’s milk. As it’s supposed to be in cappuccino and other espresso based drinks. Most ports have stores nearby where half and half is easy to find. Heavy cream is more of a challenge, as you have to find a real grocery store.

Odd that the port of Ponce is so open, and so little goes through there. But the act does prevent forgiven flagged ships from moving stuff from the US mainland and Puerto Rico. Which does raise the prices of stuff since anything brought from the US is fixed to specific ships.

Some of the bad side effects is how our territories ship stuff. Like for Puerto Rico, everything has to go through the mainland, which not only hurts trade, it also hampers international aid after a disaster. This treats us citizens very badly.

They know which dining room you eat in every time you eat there. So the waiters who served you will get the tips you pay. I know this as we were eating dinner in the MDR when the head waiter in CK called the section head waiter to talk to us. It's fine to pay more tips-we do, too. But your base tips follow where you eat.

One thing to add- you can go there for boarding lunch. Much better than the W.J. or Park Cafe.

Since you asked how long you will be off the ship, you can leave the port if you want to. Perhaps to buy two bottles of wine, perhaps to tour something. If you plan on that, they will give you some cards or documents that will allow you to skip all but the security line. Can't help with the lunch- we've not done it for a really long time. Not because it was poor, but we just wanted to do something else.

Do you honestly think that it's brand new that someone has done that?? Maybe it's the first time you've noticed it. Yea, it's disgusting, I get that. But it's hardly new.

Lucky you. Maybe more people are aware of hygiene after 2020, but seeing people eat something off their plate and then reach for a serving device has been around a long time. I'm glad that other people are finally noticing, but to think this is new, well.... Again, these kinds of posts have been going on for a long time, and the whole wash your hands song is pretty old now. It's also funny how demographics have changed to the worse as cruise fare prices have been on the consistent rise. The term "trailer trash" generally refers to people with less means to do stuff, so they go to cheap vacations. Last cheap cruise we've been on was a year ago. And instead of price dropping as we get closer to the cruise, the prices have gone up. So to project some kind of bad thing to what you want to think are poorer than you are is more likely very wrong. But if this ends up resulting in people canceling future cruises on Royal, I'm totally OK with that. Whatever it takes to reduce the fares going forward.

Not everybody has to check them out. Some just get to flash their seapass card and they hand them to you without scanning.

I'm more shocked that you've not seen this behavior on your previous 50 cruises than seeing it now. Telling people to not eat in line has been going on for more than I've been reading this board. And then people with questionable hygiene practice? Seen it, smelled it. I know you are disgusted, and I agree. But on the other hand BTDT.

The shows are not really sold out. As soon as you board, go into the app and the openings will all be there. Except for the comedy club.

They are scattered around. The one we have used is near the pool. The map should show you where they are.

In terms of the number of pods, you can ask for more- we generally use 8 a day- 4 regular and 4 decaf, so we end up with two full cups of coffee- as we get the large mugs from someplace and use two pods per cup. If they get replaced, hopefully with Nespresso machines. Kureg coffee is way too weak for me. And we used to double the packets in the old machines.

Fwiw, we bring our own cream. Yes there is a minor cost, but compared to trying to find it in the amount you use…..

We used a Lyft to get there, but I’m sure Uber is available, too.

Which deck did you get? We've done both the one on deck 12 and 14- the only issue we had with the one on 14 was that the balcony was a little odd shaped. The cabin was really nice. But we preferred the one on deck 12 because of the larger balcony. Either way, they are better than a JS, in our opinion. Watching the show from up there is pretty cool.