Neaxan

Juneau - Mendenhall Glacier
With an 8:30pm departure there was lots of day left to keep exploring.  I had visited Mendenhall Glacier by helicopter and on a tour bus as part of a tour.  I didn't like the short times and must-follow-the-leader tour bus approach.  
I checked Lyft,.  Ride-sharing services are new to Alaska within the last 12 months.  They didn't work in Anchorage in June 2017.  Uber isn't active in Juneau yet ( it was in Anchorage).

For a solo traveler, $29 each way doesn't make a lot of sense compared to the local shuttle called the Glacier express or the "Blue Bus".  It is $45 round trip and that includes the park fee.  I walked up to the line of excursion kiosks on the pier and paid by credit card.  A bus, in the parking lot on the other side of the tram station was just about to leave.

It's a short ride through town, the Lyft app above shows the route.  It takes about 25 minutes and the driver acts as a guide and provides color commentary along the way.
The bus parking lot is a 4 minute walk from the visitors center.  In this map you can see it as a U shaped area on the left of the road.

At the end of the shuttle bus lot is a nature trail with a viewing platform.  From here you could see Salmon spawning in the river.


Here is a short video I took of them:
This nature trail continues towards the main visitor's center and is a path our bus guide took us down in June.  
It's an elevated boardwalk where sometimes you can see bears looking for food in the river.  No bears today.

Continuing along the boardwalk takes you to the main part of the park.


Walking past the visitor's center there are trails (in the map above) for great views of the glacier.  This is from the orange trail in the map.
My scope from this area:
https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1BRKjeegRqZxw


Today I wanted to explore Nugget Falls to the right of the glacier.  It's a 30-45 minute walk along smooth paths, paved in areas, packed gravel in other areas.  A scooter could do this trail.

This trail is the dark blue line on the map above.


There is a lot of mist in the air and it's hard to keep a lens clean.


Kayak and canoe trips to the glacier face are popular and you can see them in the water here:

Cell signal was strongest here so I scoped again:
https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1ypJdYYqBwYxW
By this time I had spent 3 hours here so I wandered back to the fish creek to see if any bears had arrived.  Unfortunately not.  
Tired after my morning hike up Mt Roberts and wandering around here I found the blue bus getting ready to depart (every 30 minutes).   I determined that I needed to get back to Diamond happy hour the ship.

The train is a great way to get from Anchorage to the port. 


Here is a scope while I had cell coverage:
https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1BRJjeeRkyNGw
First drink of the day, Mimosa!

Another scope:
https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1gqxvXXdqyeGB

This is all glacier silt from thousands of years of run off.  Our guide tells us they once wanted to build a bridge across this channel.  They needed to find bedrock so they started drilling into the silt.  They gave up at 2,000 feet.  



The announcer or guide spent most of her time in our car and it was nice to chat with her between announcements.  Here we are beside the Seward Highway.


Our bartender on this day...

Time for a Bloody Mary.

I really enjoyed the glass ceiling.  The views were incredible.

The dining car area was on the first floor below us and they led us down in groups as it only hold 20 at a time. 

Breakfast is included with Goldstar service, including another Mimosa I discovered.  

I had the Aurora Breakfast last year so I tried the Sourdough French Toast.  It was very good.  
Back upstairs the conductor was punching tickets and talking with passengers.

A moose was announced on the right.  I saw it very well but by the time I raised my camera all I got was a blurry back end of a moose running away.  Can you see it?

We made a quick scheduled stop in Girdwood to pick up a few more passengers.  After that we continued into the mountains.


Glaciers were announced as we approached them.








More moose spotted:





Yet another scope:
https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1YqKDQQjAYzGV?t=28s

The train slowed as we crossed over this stream so we could see dozens of spawning Salmon.  It was easier to see with our eyes but if you look closely you will see the deep pink fish in the river.

Finally our ship appeared in the distance.

With that we had arrived in Seward.


A scope of our arrival:
https://www.periscope.tv/thetwangster/1dRJZggRdmrxB
It's hard to capture the beauty of Alaska with a simple camera.  It really needs to be experienced first hand.

So yesterday, having thought we'd be waiting a good bit longer for this to happen, we ended up with a new addition to our family. Everyone say hello to Cece!


She's still getting used to being in a home with four hoo-mans and two kats, so she looks understandably nervous. But we're hoping in a few more days she'll be showing us more of her regular personality.
Still need time to figure out how this impacts the future cruise budget. ?? At least we have nearby family with dogs of their own who can watch her when we travel, so no need for kennel expenses. Sorry, Cece, but no cruising for you!

Day 7 and 8 (Sea day and disembarkation) 
So every good thing must end I guess, Day 7 came quite fast , I love sea days , no need to plan anything beside , well to leave some time to pack. Lucky for us we were told we need to leave the suitcase no later than 11 (its usually 10). As we did not had special plans we did a last tour at the ship , spend some time on the sundecks (which was quite pack but still we could find places , and yes many chair were empty for hours with books and towels). It was a perfect sea day from weather perspective, during most of out port days we had some rain for 30 minutes +/- but during the sea day the sun was out all the time. Dinner was again in the MDR , it was the last day to see our wonderful table companion , I feel lucky we got this table as we really enjoy the conversions. During this meal we took some pictures, shared emails. We said goodbye to the Casino and the Casino bar (who provide us with few drinks during this cruise) and went to sleep around 11 PM , I found out that one of the key making the disembarkation easier is to : try to sleep early, avoid to many drinks before going to sleep and pack early so it will not bother us. Before going to sleep I found our cabin attended and gave him extra cash gratitude as I think he did the extra mile.

Our disembarkation was schedule to 9 AM ad included airport transfer so we had time to eat quick breakfast, get out from the room around 8:20 and waiting for our number to be called. It was a rainy morning but not that bad. As our flight was schedule for 6 PM we considered two options for the day , the first was to use RC program “stay a while” which allows you, for a payment to stay on the ship until 1 or 3 PM , use the different facilities and eat lunch at the WJ. We thought about it and we were not sure we really want to stay and watch all the happy people that just got boarded the ship and have full 7 day to enjoy it. The second option (and the one we choose) was to get to the airport, rent a car and drive to the nearest city mail for few hours of shopping with lunch break at a local restaurant. So, we went down to the port, collect our luggage  and catch the transfer, we did not have to wait too long and the bus left to the airport with 10 people, it was about 15 minutes ride. At the airport the bus leaves you at a parking lot which you need to walk around 10 -15 minutes to get to the gates (take it into consideration if you consider this) . we dropped our suitcases at the luggage storage service (7 Euros per suitcase as I booked a small car and did not know if it will have enough space for the luggage) and collect our car. All in all, it cost us the same as if we used the stay awhile program but allow us more flexibility to do whatever we wanted. Flight back went without any major issues and we arrived back at home safely ,  starting another week and to countdown our days before our next cruise.

So what I think about the Rhapsody?:
It was our first cruise on a Vision class ship and we had some doubts  (small ship , older ship etc) , the ship itself looks good, It is well maintained although you can find here and there some places which might need to be refreshed.
Service – Service on the ship is very good and maybe even better than other ships we sailed at the past. Facilities dose not feel crowd, we always found place to seat at the WJ and the Centrum during major events was not crowded more than the promenaded during same events. MDR services was very good and quite fast.
Ports - The ability to get to ports which bigger ships can not attend is a major plus for sure, I loved Mykonos, Kotor and Athens will try to visit them again.
Food – food quality in the MDR was usually good , some of the dishes were better than I was eaten on other ships, Chef table was amazing , we did not tried other special restaurant.
Off hours food – Here I Think RC could have done much better, the only facility offers food after 9 PM is the park cafe were you can get small salads, Pizza and hot dogs , some cookies were also offered. Most of the days it was open only until 12 AM and on some days until 2 AM , offering mainly Pizza.  I think RC  should offer bigger variety  and leave it open longer. The area near the cafe was packed with people that were looking for something to eat. In one or two of the nights the place around the cafe was quite a mess with allot of used cups and dirty plates.
Entertainment – Although they do not have Broadway shows on board they offered something almost every day, we saw one headliner show and one home production , it was nice. Live music was easy to find, and the Centrum was always offered something.
Casino – Small comparing to the other ships but not very small, it has some new  slot machines installed , six to eight gaming tables (4 BJ ,1 3 card poker, 1 roulette   and 1 Caribbean Poker. Most of the times it was not too busy, 3 $ games were offered many times.
Cruise Director / Events manager – The CD is Elvis from Chile and EM is Paulo from Italy (who looks to me exactly like the Austin powers character) , it was their first cruise together but they had good chemistry. I think both did good job , Elvis could been seen everywhere and they both organized nice events. The fact they added the Quest plus the love and marriage game show to  a European cruise   was a big plus.
So, Based on our experience would we try another cruise with a vision class?  I will say yes, if it is an interesting route or we can get a good deal on it.  I think RC doing good job maintaining Rhapsody and if you are not comparing it all the time to the bigger classes she is doing not bad at all.
Let me know if you have any questions.
 
That’s it for this blog, as always II enjoyed sharing the experience. I would like to thank my spouse for her patient ,  for all the times I took the internet to update the blog, asking her to wait with the food before I am taking the pictures and leaving the lights on late at night to finish sending the updates ?
 
Thank you , until next time.

 
 

Day 1 – Venice
After waking up too early as it always happens on embarkation day we finish packing and I did not found my driver license which was quite stressing as one of my plans to the post cruise was to rent a car (which might be challenging without the driver license). After some nerve breaking minutes and almost giving up I found it stuck in the master electricity switch (the one you need to push a card so the lights will be enabled) , I guess I pushed it in when we just arrived instead of the room keys. We went down to eat at the hotel buffet (as practicing ourselves for the WJ) and went to complete the checkout. As I wrote before , we had a problem with the shuttle (it was just not there) but the hotel gave us a free ride to the port due as compensation and that’s why I booked the 9:30 shuttle and not the 10:30 , it proved itself. The port is not something special it contains several old terminals, there were 3 or 4 other ships beside the Rhapsody. Inside the terminal there are 3 lines , suites and pinnacles, Platinum up to diamond plus and all the rest. There were no lines when we arrived, and we got boarding ticket number 2, interesting no health form were required to be filed (which was good as my spouse is recovering from cold and we do not like to lie on the forms).

 Not like in many other ports the security is after you are being called to board. We set for about 10 minutes when they call our number  at 10:45. Boarding was very quick and again no lines. Once again the main important  @matt tip (well after using a TA) proved itself , always come early to start the cruise as soon as possible. We were boarding at the centrum and went directly to the internet “office” to get our WIFI code which we did not got while checking in.

We conduct a quick tour at the ship and went to the solarium to rest until the WJ will open. The WJ opened around 11:15 , it was the usual first day food but no decorations or welcome cake, word of warning for the addicted people , no honey sting chicken.

 After lunch we went to the SPA tour to add ourselves to the raffle and to pass the time until the rooms will be opened. The rooms opened at 1:15 , on the way to the rooms we located our luggage which was nice. Quick unpacking , for two people there is enough space to store everything, the only thing I was missing were the open shelfs inside the cabinet. We successfully pushed one of the suitcases under the bad but the second one was just too big (although in other ships we could pushed it also) but there was enough space in the main cabinet to store it. Many hidden places to store stuff and the room is well organized.

We also got a bottle of sparkling wine and some fruits to our room which was nice surprise 

As we were tired we decided to take a power nap before the muster drill, another benefits of being on a small ship, no many attractions you feel you should run and do on the first day to beat the crowds , so you can sleep ? The muster drill was one of the worse I was ever participate , they really packed us very tied, it was not that comfortable, I like at least to get to know someone before, have a coffee, go out to dinner or something before being so intimate with them …
After the muster ended we went to try our luck in the SPA raffle , strange , but we did not won. The ship started to move so we went to deck 10 for the sale away, the ship is going around Venice and the sites are amazing. There were many people on the deck so I had to clime one of the chairs to periscope and take pictures. Few minutes after it started to rain so I went to the WJ and took some pictures out of the windows.

Quickly it was the time to go to the main MDR were we seated at a table with 8 other people from different countries, one of them won the SPA raffle, it was very interesting chatting and time passed very quickly , food was very good, better than I remembered. As we were the only veteran cruisers ,I handed many tips (love to do it) like the fact you can choose to change your dish or even ask for several of them (people use it when we got the dessert). Post dinner we went to one of the game shows at the Centrum it was “finish that lyric”, fun to watch and try to see how many songs we know.
Later we visit the Casino, sorry  @JLMoran no crap tables but they enter some new machines ,very tied machines. I play some 3 card poker and for sure , once I lower my bet I got a strait flush, the dealer was more annoyed than me for the fact that one hand before I had more money, but I was happy for winning. As always for the first day we were very tired so went to sleep , after all we still have 6 more full days ahead of us.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 


 

 

Wow no updates in live blog almost three days , its almost a blasphemy , lets see if we can fix it.
Time past fast especially when you read royal Caribbean Blogs ? and another cruise is just days away. Where my spouse and me  work we are forced to take a week off at the end of August so we had to find how to spend the time.
Lucky for us, not like last years the flights prices were very low for this week so we had several options :
Land vacation at London, Land vacation in Amsterdam and Paris (better firs Paris than Amsterdam, heard some people forget to go to Paris after Amsterdam for some reasons) , Land vacation in Italy or find a cruise. You will not be surprised  what I was leaning into…  quick check in RC site showed we had three options,  short cruise with Indi , 7 night cruise to the north sea with Navigator and 7 night cruise Rhapsody to the Greek Islands (north America cruise were not an option this time due to the short period , flying to north America require at least tow more days) . It was not easy task to decide which one to choose as we thought that Indi which is just after its upgrade can be very nice option but the cruise was just too short. Navigator on the other hand was also appealing to me as we cruise  Voyger of the seas in the pasts so we knew what we can expect and most important it has Sabor !  but the itinerary was not that appealing. So we left with Rhapsody and its very heavy port itinerary.
We had some doubts as the smallest ship we ever cruised before  was Voyager class , which you can say many things about this class but small it is not one of them. But reading some comments and reviews (thank you @Matt) and the fact we never been to any of the ports this ship will bring us to got us to decide and book it (aka YOLO).
Its not that I am using everything that there is on the big ships , I just like to know I have the option ? but it is ok , three weeks after we will return from this cruise we have another cruise booked on the humble Symphony.
The ship will leave from Venice, so we decide to fly in two day before and have at least one full day to tour Venice (yes I know its not enough , but better than nothing and not require us to take extra vacations days).
Weone of the four points hotels  outside Venice as the hotels inside Venice are very expensive even if I will book them using points. The hotel locate near a train and a bus station that will take us to Venice in about 20 minutes , so it should work fine.
 
The itinerary:
Day -1 – Visit Venice , depend on the weather we will choose some Museum or just go to the very nice places Venice can offer , we need to decide what to do with food as Venice known for its tourist traps (more like pitfalls) you can seat in the wrong restaurant eat something small and get a 200 $ bill easily/   
Day 1 – Venice  - we will catch a taxi from the hotel to the cruise port and enjoy exploring a new type of ship.
Day 2 – Kotor – we will arrive Kotor around 1 PM  , we took a tour from RC (it is tendering port) the tour will take us all the way to the mountains for some nice view over the fiord.
Day3 – Corfu – we have a RC tour here that will take us to some villages and later on to the old city.
Day4 – Athens – I thought to take the buss and the subway from the port to the city, it should have been quite easy to do but then I remember it is Grease , Grease have strikes  every second day (really, they are site that shows you what are the next strikes) so you never now if you can relay on public transportation or even on Taxis (yes they strike too from time to time). So to be on the safe side I booked a transfer to the Acropolis area were you can take many tours or just roam around.
Day5 – MYKONOS – No plans yet, its another tendering port so we will just go to the port and roam around the city find some good taberna to it good Greek food.
Day6 – ARGOSTOLI – go to town , do some shopping and enjoy the ship , we are planning Chef table (for my Birthday) during the evening    
Day 7 – Sea day , well mainly rest and recover from the wine paring the day before, and cry that this is the last day.
Day 8 – back to Venice , as we have late fight we considering or to stay on the ship extra hours (in Europe cruises RC given the option to pay extra 40 $ and stay on the ship until 2 PM) or to rent a car and do some food shopping , we did not decided yet.
 
This week did not start that well  , as I was stopping at a traffic light and 5 second after another car stopped , but the driver decided to use my car to stop instead his breaks and he came quite fast as his car front was damaged quite hard (his radiator was broken). I remember I turn off the engine , went out and was pissed off for 1 second , not because my car is only 3 weeks on the road with less than 500 miles , not because I knew I will lose time but because I thought , oh , I might miss the cruise because of it ?. Lucky for me I was not harmed ,did some X-ray to be on the safe side and the Doctor said everything is fine so I am clear to cruise. Now time for packing (I hate) tomorrow it starts

 

Guess it depends on how you do it... I'll force hubby to do all photo related tasks and only do the writing ? Gotta give something back to the board that answered all my stupid newbie questions... and caused hubby to spend €€€€ on a camera, equipment and photo seminars for both of us to make good use of it... I'm looking at you Twangster ?
 
Hope you get well soon!  ? Maybe you can do Rome the 2nd time around? Would be a pity to miss it, but going there while sick doesn't sound enjoyable either, especially if the weather is anything like Germany.

The Let Down
This is the story of a man who is on a cruise.
Specifically, a Royal Caribbean cruise.
He is having fun.
A lot of fun.
In fact, soooo much...
That he is tired.
And has a early morning tomorrow. 
And the next day after.
It's so bad, that he can't blog the adventure of a life time.
He must update the others on his sea day.
It's so far away.
Yet so close.
Chao Chao for now.
~Cat
FAQ
What did I just read?
A short story I made up in about 2 minutes.
Is this a true story?
Yes! It is! It's the true story of my cruise!
You really are a let down, i'm just going to be loyal to the others now.
So sorry to hear that, but don't go! There is lots to hear about, but you will learn about it on Saturday ?.
And also, if you have any feedback or comments, you can fill out a comment card as you leave the auditorium.
Com on, the blogs don't take long, just write it!
I would be happy for you to write it, just you aren't me!
And these aren't short to write! It takes a good hour usually, and sometimes two! This really is hard work. Why didn't anyone tell me?
I'm still confused, what's happening?
I won't be able to update this blog in full until at least Saturday, maybe even longer! This really was unforseen, it's just with the early mornings and long nights, it adds up!
You took as long to write this as it does to write a blog, just type it out!!!
Read above, it takes awhile! This only took tops fifteen minutes.
I'm getting the pitch forks out and rioting at my local town square. This is an outrage!
Don't do that! This is only a blog, not life or death (yet). Please don't get the cops called, and if you do, i'm in Jamaica mon!
The End.
Hope to see you soon! And please, don't leave me!

My SemiLive Blog
Wowzah! Only 3 more days until we are on a plane to Barcelona! Hard to believe, this past year has flown by so fast. So, let's get down to the nitty gritty and get this show on the road! (props to people who get that reference)
Our Cruising History
I am sailing with my mother and father who have both cruised 2 and 3 times, respectively. This will be our third family cruise together (which have all been on Royal), and our second time on an Oasis Class ship. We are all from Texas and excited to get away from the 100+°F summer heat as well! The last time we were on a cruise was in summer of 2016, so we are all excited to get back on the magnificent Royal ships. My mother enjoys the sun and pool, so we may be spending our down-time at the beaches in Barcelona, or the sports deck pool. This is also a partial celebration for my mother's birthday as well! 
Why Symphony?
While being on Symphony for the inaugural season made this cruise very appealing, the itinerary in the Mediterranean (more on that later) for this cruise sealed the deal for all of us. None of us have ever been in the med for pleasure or sight seeing, and we have previously always cruised in the Caribbean, which after awhile gets to look like the same places and beaches. Hence, the idea to sail in Europe was born. All of us are excited to see the tourist traps sights, including the Vatican and Colosseum, which we will see on the excursions while in port.
The Itinerary
We are lucky enough to be doing a B2B Cruise and spend 4 days before the cruise in Barcelona! I plan to do a lighter blog on the first few days while in Barcelona, and do a mini-review on the flight and hotel. For this trip, we didn't book any non-Royal Caribbean shore excursions, due to the convenience and close time windows with the all-aboard call. Feel free to skip ahead to the next section (The Cabin), this is a lengthy one. This is the full itinerary of the trip, including the days before and hours after.
July 24th
Flight to Miami on American - Includes a wonderful 1h and 20min layover in MIA Flight to Barcelona -  Arrive in Barcelona the next day July 25th
Hotel check-in at the Hotel Arts Barcelona July 29th - Cruise Day!
6:00pm Departure from port! 6:30pm Chops Grille 8:30pm Hairspray - Broadway Show. Will be my first time seeing it live, and not on NBC's live show! July 30th - Palma de Mallorca, Spain
8:00am Arrival 9:20am Palma City Sights - RCL Shore Excursion 4:00pm Departure 8:00pm 1977 - Ice Show We also plan to eat at the Coastal Kitchen (more about that later) July 31st - Marseilles (Provence), France 
9:00am Arrival 9:15am Panoramic Marseilles & Aix - RCL 6:00pm Departure 8:00pm Jamie's Italian - We have only tried Giovani's Italian on Allure, so it will be interesting to see the differences between the two Italian restaurants. August 1st - La Spezia (Florence/Piza), Italy
8:30am Arrival 8:35am Florence & Pisa - Cities Tour RCL 8:30pm Departure 9:00pm HiRO - AquaTheater Show  We didn't plan any dinner reservations, as we may decide to eat in the MDR, Costal Kitchen or eat out in the city! August 2nd - Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy
7:00am Arrival 8:00am Exclusive: Best of Rome - City Tour RCL 8:00pm Departure We didn't plan any dinner reservations, as we may decide to eat in the MDR, Costal Kitchen or eat out in the city! August 3rd - Naples (Capi), Italy
7:00am Arrival 8:00am Amalfi Coast & Pompeii by Land and Sea - RCL 8:00pm Departure August 4th - Cruising
5:00pm Flight - RCL Theater Show 6:30pm Wonderland - The rabbit hole calls us from home.... August 5th - Deja Vu!
6:15pm Izumi: Hibachi - On our last cruise while on Allure, we really enjoyed the food and show that the hibachi offers, and hope that we see some new tricks from the chefs. August 6th
8:40pm Drach Caves - RCL Excursion August 7th
9:30am Biking in Provence - RCL. Have to burn the calories somewhere!  August 8th 
We have no excursion booked and plan to explore on our own and enjoy the ship! August 9th
We have no excursion booked and plan to explore on our own and enjoy the ship! August 10th
8:30am Capri on your Own - RCL. This should hopefully give us some freedom while touring Capri! August 12th - Where the PCD sets in...
5:00am Departure Flight to Charlotte for a layover to catch the plane home The Cabin
Since there are three of us and we need all the space we can get, we decided to splurge and get a Grand Suite cabin on the seventh floor. This also gives us access to the Costal Kitchen, reserved show seats, and other Sky Class amenities. We even get our own bathtub, which is going to come in handy to soak the muscles after that bike ride! We also get some free Voom Internet @ Sea codes, which is how I will be updating you on all of the social medias! We also won't have to move cabins in-between the cruises; we got lucky on that. Expect cabin tour Periscopes and pictures.
Social Media
I plan on doing some Periscopes and posting things to my newly founded Flickr page.
Periscope - CraftyCat05 - Plan on seeing the Cabin Tour, Embarkation, Docking and Undocking, and other things here.
Flickr - CraftyCat05 / https://www.flickr.com/photos/155580610@N05/albums/72157693503806790/with/41744815340/ - Plan on seeing a full album of some of the photos I take here.
(I don't change usernames ?)
Miscellaneous
We haven't gotten any drink, spa, or specialty dining packages, as we find that we never will get our money's worth out of these.  I'm still debating on bringing my Nikon D7000 with me; seems like it won't be a great idea to bring it in port, and my iPhone camera is great for cruising candids. This will be my first time: Live blogging, scoping, and posting images to my gallery. Expect errors, hiccups, and newbie mistakes. (read: be patient, please:)) We loved the Costal Kitchen and it's staff on Allure, and hope the same experience is translated to Symphony. I am a tech nerd, and will also give updates on the new Royal app and the WOW bands (which we will get with our suite). I will be leaving my 26 pound Schnoodle at the Pet Resort in town. He will also be staying in 5 paw accommodations, which include a webcam for us to view him while traveling.  Expect me to post pictures of Cruise Compasses and other documents. My laptop "N" key is starting to get sticky, lets hope it doesn't fail while on the cruise. Biggie One: I really hope that I can get some interaction from YOU! Ask any questions you have may have, give me some tips, or just comment on what you see here. wooh! Time to get my fingers soaked... Too much typing!

Tipping in Europe is in my opinion how it should be anywhere in the world, that being you tip if you feel what you got was worth a tip. 
There's no set amount, there's no 15,18 or 20% added or circled on bill because its expected. The only time you may see an added service charge is if there is a large group however this will be mentioned on board outside or on menu, apart from that leave what you want and if you leave nothing because food and service are terrible then so be it, you wont be the first or last to do it. 

Generally yes, tipping is common for waiters/bar tenders, taxi drivers, tour guides and roomservice. It's mostly a concept of bringing the amount up to a round figure. Anywhere between 5-10% is fine. And if you get bad service -> don't tip at all. Also, don't expect to get better service just because you tipped, this is not the US ?
Of course, there's an exception to everything: if you ever find yourself in a beer tent on Munich's October fest - better tip generously and regularly order another round of drinks - or you'll be asked to leave because the waitress can get more money from a new customer ?

Actually, it's both. The French are very proud of their language, but they also avoid speaking English because most aren't very good at it. If I start out in French they'll usually switch to English (or German in Alsace) whenever the conversation reaches a dead end. Guess my French is pitiful nowadays ?

Must admit i do the same no matter where i go, i always learn the basics ie how to say good morning,  good night thank you etc
Only ever had issues once while in middle East, i asked filipino guy who worked for me to teach me some Tagalog ( filipino) so he did! Good morning , how are you etc
Walked in to bar later that day and said confidently " malaki dede " followed by "cig e who bood ney" ( not how its spelt but how it sounds) turned out i wasnt saying " good evening how are you today, in fact i had just said to the female waitress " nice boobs lets get naked" 
Just as well waitress had a good sense of humour and a bad right hook lol 

Coming from a German with an extensive history of travelling Europe - mostly by motorhome: Whatever destination you decide on - English will always get you through. Non-touristy regions of France or rural areas in Eastern Europe can be quite a different story - but you won't visit those on a cruise so language isn't really a factor for your choice.
The ease of getting from airport to port also isn't much of a factor - apart from Rome (Civitavecchia) and to a lesser extent Southhampton, it's easy to do by public transportation. If you want more convenience, you can always pre-book a shuttle service online.
Another thing you don't need to worry about: limiting your choice of cruises because of the cities you might want to visit pre or post cruise. If you're not picky avoid the traps when booking, flying is dead cheap in Europe and it doesn't take that much time. Depending on your port choice you won't have a direct flight anyway - you could do a stopover. Amsterdam or London are well worth it, Frankfurt is so-so.
So what should be the deciding factor? Well, what kind of cruise do you want?
If you plan to throw a few beach days in, the Mediterranean in the summer will be your best option. The Med cruises also offer much concerning culture, history and architecture. Western Med usually has the bigger and better-known cities, Eastern Med (Adriatic coast) also offers some nice scenery. Not sure about Royal, but with European cruise lines Western Med is usually the least expensive.
Baltic cruises are also full of history, culture and architecture, but with more variety than the Med. Personally, I’d take a Baltic cruise over a Med cruise any day, but you might take your chances with the weather. On the other hand, if you’re lucky you could experience St. Petersburg’s white nights.
If you’re more into nature and landscapes, a Norwegian Fjord cruise offers breathtaking views with a few lovely – albeit small – cities thrown in. This cruise is definetly on my bucket list, I’ve already toured Norway by motorhome and want to see the Fjords again but from a different perspecitve. Only downsides: coldest weather in Europe and these cruises are quite expensive.
And now we move on to my least favourite options: UK/Ireland or Western Europe (Atlantic) cruises. Don’t get me wrong, there’s much to see in these regions and Ireland is my favourite destination – it’s just better suited for a land vacation. There isn’t much to do and see in many of these ports and the real destination is a long coach or railway trip away. Common examples: Southampton (London), Le Havre (Paris), Zeebrugge (Brussels), Cherbourg.
I just realised that Royal also offers cruises to the Canaries. They usually offer good weather and beautiful landscapes, but not that much on the accounts of culture or architecture – they’re very much off the beaten track. While I thoroughly enjoyed our Canaries cruise, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a first European cruise – you might want to keep it in mind when you reach the point of ‚been there done that‘ in Europe.
If you’ve made it to the end of this plethora of text, feel free to ask if you’ve got any questions.

Coming from a German with an extensive history of travelling Europe - mostly by motorhome: Whatever destination you decide on - English will always get you through. Non-touristy regions of France or rural areas in Eastern Europe can be quite a different story - but you won't visit those on a cruise so language isn't really a factor for your choice.
The ease of getting from airport to port also isn't much of a factor - apart from Rome (Civitavecchia) and to a lesser extent Southhampton, it's easy to do by public transportation. If you want more convenience, you can always pre-book a shuttle service online.
Another thing you don't need to worry about: limiting your choice of cruises because of the cities you might want to visit pre or post cruise. If you're not picky avoid the traps when booking, flying is dead cheap in Europe and it doesn't take that much time. Depending on your port choice you won't have a direct flight anyway - you could do a stopover. Amsterdam or London are well worth it, Frankfurt is so-so.
So what should be the deciding factor? Well, what kind of cruise do you want?
If you plan to throw a few beach days in, the Mediterranean in the summer will be your best option. The Med cruises also offer much concerning culture, history and architecture. Western Med usually has the bigger and better-known cities, Eastern Med (Adriatic coast) also offers some nice scenery. Not sure about Royal, but with European cruise lines Western Med is usually the least expensive.
Baltic cruises are also full of history, culture and architecture, but with more variety than the Med. Personally, I’d take a Baltic cruise over a Med cruise any day, but you might take your chances with the weather. On the other hand, if you’re lucky you could experience St. Petersburg’s white nights.
If you’re more into nature and landscapes, a Norwegian Fjord cruise offers breathtaking views with a few lovely – albeit small – cities thrown in. This cruise is definetly on my bucket list, I’ve already toured Norway by motorhome and want to see the Fjords again but from a different perspecitve. Only downsides: coldest weather in Europe and these cruises are quite expensive.
And now we move on to my least favourite options: UK/Ireland or Western Europe (Atlantic) cruises. Don’t get me wrong, there’s much to see in these regions and Ireland is my favourite destination – it’s just better suited for a land vacation. There isn’t much to do and see in many of these ports and the real destination is a long coach or railway trip away. Common examples: Southampton (London), Le Havre (Paris), Zeebrugge (Brussels), Cherbourg.
I just realised that Royal also offers cruises to the Canaries. They usually offer good weather and beautiful landscapes, but not that much on the accounts of culture or architecture – they’re very much off the beaten track. While I thoroughly enjoyed our Canaries cruise, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a first European cruise – you might want to keep it in mind when you reach the point of ‚been there done that‘ in Europe.
If you’ve made it to the end of this plethora of text, feel free to ask if you’ve got any questions.

Coming from a German with an extensive history of travelling Europe - mostly by motorhome: Whatever destination you decide on - English will always get you through. Non-touristy regions of France or rural areas in Eastern Europe can be quite a different story - but you won't visit those on a cruise so language isn't really a factor for your choice.
The ease of getting from airport to port also isn't much of a factor - apart from Rome (Civitavecchia) and to a lesser extent Southhampton, it's easy to do by public transportation. If you want more convenience, you can always pre-book a shuttle service online.
Another thing you don't need to worry about: limiting your choice of cruises because of the cities you might want to visit pre or post cruise. If you're not picky avoid the traps when booking, flying is dead cheap in Europe and it doesn't take that much time. Depending on your port choice you won't have a direct flight anyway - you could do a stopover. Amsterdam or London are well worth it, Frankfurt is so-so.
So what should be the deciding factor? Well, what kind of cruise do you want?
If you plan to throw a few beach days in, the Mediterranean in the summer will be your best option. The Med cruises also offer much concerning culture, history and architecture. Western Med usually has the bigger and better-known cities, Eastern Med (Adriatic coast) also offers some nice scenery. Not sure about Royal, but with European cruise lines Western Med is usually the least expensive.
Baltic cruises are also full of history, culture and architecture, but with more variety than the Med. Personally, I’d take a Baltic cruise over a Med cruise any day, but you might take your chances with the weather. On the other hand, if you’re lucky you could experience St. Petersburg’s white nights.
If you’re more into nature and landscapes, a Norwegian Fjord cruise offers breathtaking views with a few lovely – albeit small – cities thrown in. This cruise is definetly on my bucket list, I’ve already toured Norway by motorhome and want to see the Fjords again but from a different perspecitve. Only downsides: coldest weather in Europe and these cruises are quite expensive.
And now we move on to my least favourite options: UK/Ireland or Western Europe (Atlantic) cruises. Don’t get me wrong, there’s much to see in these regions and Ireland is my favourite destination – it’s just better suited for a land vacation. There isn’t much to do and see in many of these ports and the real destination is a long coach or railway trip away. Common examples: Southampton (London), Le Havre (Paris), Zeebrugge (Brussels), Cherbourg.
I just realised that Royal also offers cruises to the Canaries. They usually offer good weather and beautiful landscapes, but not that much on the accounts of culture or architecture – they’re very much off the beaten track. While I thoroughly enjoyed our Canaries cruise, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a first European cruise – you might want to keep it in mind when you reach the point of ‚been there done that‘ in Europe.
If you’ve made it to the end of this plethora of text, feel free to ask if you’ve got any questions.

Coming from a German with an extensive history of travelling Europe - mostly by motorhome: Whatever destination you decide on - English will always get you through. Non-touristy regions of France or rural areas in Eastern Europe can be quite a different story - but you won't visit those on a cruise so language isn't really a factor for your choice.
The ease of getting from airport to port also isn't much of a factor - apart from Rome (Civitavecchia) and to a lesser extent Southhampton, it's easy to do by public transportation. If you want more convenience, you can always pre-book a shuttle service online.
Another thing you don't need to worry about: limiting your choice of cruises because of the cities you might want to visit pre or post cruise. If you're not picky avoid the traps when booking, flying is dead cheap in Europe and it doesn't take that much time. Depending on your port choice you won't have a direct flight anyway - you could do a stopover. Amsterdam or London are well worth it, Frankfurt is so-so.
So what should be the deciding factor? Well, what kind of cruise do you want?
If you plan to throw a few beach days in, the Mediterranean in the summer will be your best option. The Med cruises also offer much concerning culture, history and architecture. Western Med usually has the bigger and better-known cities, Eastern Med (Adriatic coast) also offers some nice scenery. Not sure about Royal, but with European cruise lines Western Med is usually the least expensive.
Baltic cruises are also full of history, culture and architecture, but with more variety than the Med. Personally, I’d take a Baltic cruise over a Med cruise any day, but you might take your chances with the weather. On the other hand, if you’re lucky you could experience St. Petersburg’s white nights.
If you’re more into nature and landscapes, a Norwegian Fjord cruise offers breathtaking views with a few lovely – albeit small – cities thrown in. This cruise is definetly on my bucket list, I’ve already toured Norway by motorhome and want to see the Fjords again but from a different perspecitve. Only downsides: coldest weather in Europe and these cruises are quite expensive.
And now we move on to my least favourite options: UK/Ireland or Western Europe (Atlantic) cruises. Don’t get me wrong, there’s much to see in these regions and Ireland is my favourite destination – it’s just better suited for a land vacation. There isn’t much to do and see in many of these ports and the real destination is a long coach or railway trip away. Common examples: Southampton (London), Le Havre (Paris), Zeebrugge (Brussels), Cherbourg.
I just realised that Royal also offers cruises to the Canaries. They usually offer good weather and beautiful landscapes, but not that much on the accounts of culture or architecture – they’re very much off the beaten track. While I thoroughly enjoyed our Canaries cruise, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a first European cruise – you might want to keep it in mind when you reach the point of ‚been there done that‘ in Europe.
If you’ve made it to the end of this plethora of text, feel free to ask if you’ve got any questions.

I went to grad school at U of Miami and lived in South Beach for all my adult life until coming back home to NJ recently, so ask any questions. What types of activities do you enjoy? Miami has a great opera and you can wear one of your outfits from formal night. In that same complex, they have the ballet, symphony and shows. There are some great restaurants and bars, can do happy hour in Brickell. South Beach is full of things to do and see. Walk down Ocean Dr, just to see it, but do not shop or dine there. The prices are even more astronomical than regular South Beach high prices. Do Lincoln Rd which is a pedestrian mall full of boutiques stores and restaurants, art galleries, hooka bars, symphony, lounges, theater and more. Plenty of clubs. Please note that attire does matter for most venues. Have some authentic Cuban cuisine, go to Little Havana, Versailles (in Miami, it is pronounced in Spanish, Ver-sign-yes), the Gables. Visiting the Everglades is cool. You can take a tour bus to Key West for the day or stray overnight. 

Why not - you can always cancel and rebook later if the price drops (better  check if this is applicable in your home country). I've done it a few times already when the currency exchange rates were altered in our favor.

When we booked (via the website) the documents explicitly stated that there will be no reminder for final payment - fine with me, I just planned accordingly. If this information was included in your documents, I don't see Royal at fault. But happy you got your problems solved anyway.
 

Best Cruise Blog Moment
It's the last night of the cruise in the R Bar.  There are a handful of blog cruisers present.  The R Bar is shutting it down soon.  I've been drinking Kraken and diet cokes so I order one last drink before the bar closes.  Bottle near empty it's the last of the Kraken so I get a generous pour. 
Meanwhile and unknown to me, Matt has been saving his last punch on the drink card for one more... Kraken and Coke.  The bar tender apologizes and says "No more Kraken".  The look on his face said it all. Like a child who was told they can't have that shiny new bike I thought for a brief second he might cry.  
Cost of drink package: $347
Look on Matt's face: Priceless

When we booked (via the website) the documents explicitly stated that there will be no reminder for final payment - fine with me, I just planned accordingly. If this information was included in your documents, I don't see Royal at fault. But happy you got your problems solved anyway.
 

When we booked (via the website) the documents explicitly stated that there will be no reminder for final payment - fine with me, I just planned accordingly. If this information was included in your documents, I don't see Royal at fault. But happy you got your problems solved anyway.
 

Apart from possibly a few grandchildren you'll likely be half of the normal river cruiser age ? At least on the Rhine, Moselle or Danube cruises - not sure about the French ones. Personally, I've never done a river cruise but we regularly stumble across them when we do short trips by motorhome in the summer.

Apart from possibly a few grandchildren you'll likely be half of the normal river cruiser age ? At least on the Rhine, Moselle or Danube cruises - not sure about the French ones. Personally, I've never done a river cruise but we regularly stumble across them when we do short trips by motorhome in the summer.