twangster

Liquor purchased in the duty free shops on board will be held until the end of the cruise. It is not for consumption on the ship. Pre-purchased liquor packages are typically 375ml bottles and much higher cost compared to the 750ml or 1l bottles one normally associates with a bottle of booze.

Jealous! B2B in Alaska! Typically moving cabins B2B requires you pack your cabin except for hanging stuff in your closet. You leave all your stuff in your cabin and crew move it. Confirm this upon boarding to make sure they know on the ship that you are B2B. Typically when other guests get their luggage tags to leave, you'll get a "Consecutive Cruiser" letter explaining what to do. In the US this usually involves meeting when instructed and being escorted to see CBP (US Customs) before re-boarding the ship.

No special discounts or incentives, you just need a credit card. Ideally you can keep the same cabin on the second leg but that isn't a requirement. If there are no "same cabins" available for both you will move between cruises, they don't set aside cabins for this purpose or ask guests to move for your B2B. If you manage to book two cruises in a row you or your travel agent should let Royal know else you look like any other guests on each cruise - they are two separate bookings until linked and you become a "consecutive cruiser".

Another difference... Celebrity does tend to offer resident rates more than Royal. Definitely take the time to enter your state when looking at rates on Celebrity.

No reservations required. You can wing it and just go during open hours. Going during peak hours will see a wait, early or late and probably not. Muck like a restaurant in your home town.

If you wait until the park is nearly empty and you should have been on the ship already, perhaps. It's the US. Cell phones work. Talk to the cab driver on the way there, ask him or her. Get the number for the taxi company. Leave yourself lots of time. Most stops in Juneau have long times in port so it's generally not an issue unless you push your luck and make it one.

I'm retired. Time for the young rising star to assume her rightful and earned seat on the throne. Well done BTW...

Not on Adventure. Until the new app rolls out the texting capability you'll need other means to keep in touch.

Air2Sea hasn't charged me a fee but maybe it's the airline I've used (Delta). They aren't always cheaper but can be. One a couple occasions I've received a better price through Air2Sea compared to Delta's website. It doesn't hurt to check: http://www.cruisingpower.com/choiceair/protected/home.do All my usual perks for being a frequent flier with Delta still apply including free checked bags and upgrades.

Aquaclass is not like Star Class at all. More like a slightly better balcony cabin with access to the spa and a speciality restaurant (Blu) for meals. Celebrity classes do not map to Royal directly. There is no Star Class equivalent with a Genie for example. Celebrity's Sky Class entry level suite is much better than Junior Suites but not quite a full Grand Suite experience. Sky Suites on Celebrity have a dedicated suite restaurant on all ships, not just newer ships like with Sky Class and Coastal Kitchen on Royal. Aqua and Concierge class have no equivalent on Royal. Completely different approach. A lot of people come to the conclusion that Diamond matching to Elite in Captain's Club makes for the best bang. It stops there so climbing higher doesn't net you anything. https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/captains-club/tiers-and-benefits

Clay Anderson assisted Royal create Flight. Maybe he will be in attendance or maybe they'll bring other former astronauts on board. That would be cool.

Yes, accidents occur while people are on vacation. In Colorado a charter bus crash killed two and sent more to hospitals. Terrible accidents happen every where including tourists destination and right here at home.

Cozumel is known for diving due to typically very good visibility however they tend to be drift dives. That's okay unless you don't like drift diving. You cover a lot of terrain but its hard to stop and linger if you see something interesting. I've never taken a dive in Costa Maya, not sure it's known for diving at that spot on the coast although it does appear a couple local operators offering something. Seeing decent ruins in Cozumel involve a ferry over to the mainland and the channel can be rough sometimes, then a bus ride so it's a massive time investment. There are minor ruins on Cozumel island but its mostly foundations. Better ruins can be seen from the mainland including from Costa Maya. I'd consider ruins from Costa Maya and diving in Cozumel.

It's purely speed. Think dial-up versus early DSL. I make audio calls over Surf. Some have reported doing video calls over Surf but it will be not as clear or good as Surf & Stream. I've used Pandora over Surf because it can buffer and tolerate slower connections. Surf: Surf & Stream: In both cases it's over satellite so not the same experience as with land internet. Bad weather can impact speeds, at times the satellites are in the wrong position relative to the ship and heading. Alaska internet will yield a different experience.

Port Canaveral resorted to Georgia when local residents freaked out at the idea of LNG storage near them. Naturally the residents of Texas and the coast are much more friendly to oil and gas.

Woohoo! It's cruise day!

Great! Thanks for coming back and updating how it worked out.

I have a faux tuxedo shirt like this that I use as a rash and sun guard when snorkeling. Best dressed snorkeler on the beach. Super light weight, easy to pack. Fairly inexpensive as well.

Symphony was going to be the first stretched Oasis class ship with an extra fire zone compared to her sisters.

I made Royal an offer they couldn't refuse.

It also generates a lot of waste. Those existing locks aren't cheap themselves and throwing away a couple thousand good devices isn't smart business. My main use for Wow bands is unlocking my cabin door so from my perspective I am fine if they don't upgrade them. in the end we cruisers pay for all upgrades in the form of cruise fares. They don't simply throw away hundreds of millions and not recover those costs so from my perspective let's keep cruise fares reasonable.

I go through phases but rarely buy specialty dining. Sometimes I get one from a travel agent which tends to be the only time I visit specialty. I'm in a Windjammer phase right now. When I vacation on land or at home I don't have big sit down meals nights after night after night. Occasionally having the full service meal is cool but most of the time I prefer to dine and dash. I also find greater variety in the Windjammer. I can have mostly a salad one night or I can create a meal that's not available in the MDR. Sometimes the MDR is too much for me, sitting for periods of time between courses when I could be out and about doing something on the ship. Sometimes a full 3 course meal is too much food.

The broad rule is that any C&A benefits are for the individuals who have earned that status only. Meaning if your card says X then that is what you get regardless of other's in the cabin or your party. It's very common for people in a group to have varying status and the limited areas for a particular level weren't designed to accomodate numbers beyond those who have that status. From boarding zones, to seating areas to the Diamond Club the rule is members at that level only. Having said that I've seen reserved seating areas lightly filled and I've seen them packed. Numbers at each level vary each cruise and sometimes they may not designate a section or enforce one. By policy they have every right to deny anyone whose card doesn't indicate they belong there.

Looks like the back half of the terminal building is a warehouse and that is where the fire occurred.

New York as well so Galveston will have some other ports as reference. One would think given the industry in Texas that LNG wouldn't be a hard sell to invest in.