CruiserBruce

I would call an 11:20 flight risky. Remember you need to clear Canadian Immigration at the port, and US Immigration and Customs at Vancouver airport. You are flying on Labor Day, a pretty busy holiday. If you try it, it is going to be pretty stressful. I would spend the night and catch that flight, or a better (earlier)one the next morning.

If you look around the board, there are several recommended. We have used Rome in Limo several times...there is a huge thread just down the board on them.

Again, you never were REQUIRED to use Verifly.

No. But occasionally someone will report they did.

Maybe, but your plan B, discussed here frequently, is simply take a taxi and be very generous with the $. You might be docked close by, and walking might be an option.

How last minute? Inside of refund deadlines?

Absolutely true. But this is a discussion on HAL.

It doesn't matter what dock they use on a port visit (as opposed to disembarking/embarking visit). It will depend on what is available. For example, if another RCI ship is there offloading and loading pax, (ending/starting a cruise) most likely that ship will use A. The decision will be made a week or so in advance by the port. Miami is not a common port for port visits.

@AV8rix, the cost cutting has nothing to do with the "stock implosion". Its because Carnival Corporation has lost money for almost 3 years due to Covid. The "stock implosion" is due to that fact.

Yep. Worked just fine for our 3 cruises since February. We never used Verifly.

You NEVER needed to use Verifly. It was never required.

Post #2 in this thread.

I see no one has answered your question. Sorry, I don't have a specific answer. But, as someone that has snorkeled a large number of places in the world, my impression is two fold. First, most don't look to snorkel that area. Also, cruisers tend not to focus on snorkeling in the Med. Med cruises are more focused on history, ruins, etc.

This is more than a little about logistics on the ground, which is discussed on the Spain board, here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/465-spain-ports/ Like your question about hotels in Rome on the Italy board.

By the way, this is discussed daily on the Cruise Air board, here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/77-cruise-air/

January is a good time, if you are actively looking. But doing mostly land focused and based activities won't get a lot of whales.

October is not the time to see whales on the Mexican Rivera. And for January, how actively were you looking? You should have seen a good number.

Agree on both points. And, if you have a private guide or tour, they are dedicated to you. They aren't going to leave if you are 5 minutes late.

First, and I think you heard this before, docking at 6am doesn't mean getting off at 6:05. Second, for flights direct back to the US, security is more extensive, so you need to allow more time. Given that, I think it a reasonable change you make the flight. But what happens if they move the flight earlier, like maybe 10am. This seems common...planes arrive early in the morning and they work to keep them on the ground the minimum time before sendthem back to the US.

In the reverse order you have listed...Zurich, Brussels, Frankfurt.

There is only one place to book Alcatraz through: https://www.alcatrazislandtickets.com/ All others are not legitimate, or are trying to sell just cruises, no time on the island.

Royal Caribbean board: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/51-royal-caribbean-international/

That would depend on your interests.

Holland America has, on their 3 newest ships, two venues, BBKing and Rolling Stone Lounge, that will probably meet your needs. The previous two generations of ships with have one of those.

The cruise line has the right to book you on any airline or route that meets the agreement with you, which is to get you from point A to point B, and potentially back. Some cruise line air programs allow you to chose airlines, but you may not get discounted airfares in that case. If the routing requires an overnight somewhere, the cruise line will offer a hotel, but they won't give it to you for free. The are MANY pluses and minuses on cruise line air fares...this board discusses them daily. We did our first couple of cruises with cruise line airfare. No longer. Like @jsn55, we now prioritize comfort and convenience over cost.