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You'll need to go to the specific restaurants and make each reservation.

i'll bake from scratch for special occasions but this is one step I'm okay skipping.

1- hairdryer 2- phone charger 3- books/kindle Besides basic toiletries I'm fairly simple.

I've asked the same question - I bought it for a sea day and for a port day (orlando) for my friend for an upcoming cruise. I have no idea if it was a good purchase but it means I can sleep in and not think about trying to get myself a spot and save it for the day.

GURL, JUST DONT. Unless you can air dry and be fine. I have a ton of hair and tried once to use RC's. Never again.

I ride mass transit with a mask but i'll work from home a few days before and after if possible before any big event. I've been living on the more careful side so I can always be around my family members who are immuno-compromised.

How exciting! Have fun. I don't enjoy my daily train commute but I do like Acela. Nice and relaxing.

I left this site for a while because I couldn't take the Covid talk. Matt and co have been awesome about curbing it so absolutely no complaints with them and I realize this is a "me" problem to a degree. It's been said SO MANY TIMES how people agree or disagree with the mandates. Opinions are great. Conversation is great but it always delves into something more. I'll see myself out.

Can we not debate what spreads Covid or not? @NeesaThat's awful. It shouldn't have gone down that way.

Gotcha. I see restrictions as restaurants and places being limited to vaxxed people and stuff like that.

As always, I love the pictures but the ravens with the little fireball bottle (what it looks like to me) is making me laugh.

I'm seeing none of these restrictions.

So far nothing. Always good to have just in case. Mass transit still required masks but as someone who uses it daily, about 1/2 are still wearing.

You haven't heard much because it's normal. The price goes up and down until your cruise due to inflation and/or supply and demand and /or whim of the business. Either buy when you feel comfortable or pay per drink once you board.

Well that's the best part of solo travel - you get to go where YOU want and do what YOU want to do. For me I like a bigger, newer ship with lots to do (which I wind up doing very little of) and then figure out what my intentions for the trip are.

woah. That's amazing. Enjoy.

My 2 cents - Hold off unless you think $98 a day is worth it. October of '23 is far enough away for sales to pop up. The drink package price has gone up exponentially and while it could go up even more unless you can get value out of $98 per day it's just not worth it. Mine is down to $72 a day and I'm not sure that's worth it for me but will play by ear. I'm waiting to see what the norm is before I drop more money. My worst case scenario is I need pay per drink after buying the coffee card. I'd set aside what I think is a reasonable amount of money and just bring that.

It sounds like you are 100% prepared. you need nothing. Anything you forget won't be worth it, if anything you've overthought it. I obsessively plan until the day of the cruise then I just let everything happen and live in the moment - I like knowing what I can do but doing what I feel like doing. People who travel with me love it because I'm like a little guide.

If you can stay downtown, do it. Pre pandemic I've gone 1-2x a year and love the walkability of the city. So, so many good restaurants and museums. When I go I walk just about everywhere or Lyft/Uber. The Metro is supposedly VERY easy but this New Yorker who works in NYC got a little lost so (I get lost everywhere that isn't home sooooo) take that with a grain of salt. I did find the Metro clean and the people are super friendly if you have any questions. What a great place to go. The museums are amazing. Hope you all enjoy.

I third it. Either buy a cheap one while you are there or use the hotel's. I used a converter for USB and was fine but I wouldn't play around with hair dryer.

I buy as soon as it seems reasonable and then check obsessively until my cruise.

Maybe cruising isn't for you. Gratuities are normal for most cruise lines, they're either baked into your bill or you pay onboard. Someone cleaned your room, gave you towels, made your bed, cleaned the ship...this is for them. For the buffets, someone cooked that food and someone else refilled that food and kept everything clean.

It's bacccccck! (still too expensive)

I think the prices are higher in general because of inflation, of course. This "sale" seems a little off and who knows what the next sale will look like.

There's always the next "sale" or unsale.