twangster

Each ship has a food and beverage manager and a head chef. They will plan the menus for each cruise but all ships are supplied through a common supply chain that is centrally controlled by Royal HQ. The result is somewhat common entrees across the fleet but the night they appear on the menu and the combinations that make up one night's menu can vary by ship.

All guests have to be out of their cabins typically around 8am so they can start getting them ready for the next cruise. All guests have to be off the ship by around 9:30am. The ship must be at a zero guest count and all guests processed by US Customs and Immigration before the next cruise can begin to embark. There won't be much open or things to do on the ship, they want people to be motivated to debark.

Likely too far away still. I see 30 excursions for Labadee in 2019. You can preview many of them here: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/destinations/shoreExcursions/subGateWayByPort/search.do?LocationCode=LAB There are no Barefoot Beach excursions other than the cabanas.

I understand your disappointment but these things happen from time to time. Royal doesn't simply decide they don't feel like going somewhere any more, there is likely a valid reason why they can't stop there on that specific day. There aren't a lot of alternate ports options in the New England/Canada region to send the ship to as your itinerary already includes all of them. Many cruise lines use the same ports and options are limited when something occurs that disrupts an itinerary. A ship can't just go some where, there has to be space available for them and with many different cruise lines visiting the same ports that often means there is no where else to go and they can't completely re-do the entire itinerary. Fortunately they were able to negotiate an over night stop instead of inserting an extra sea day.

Paid around 9:20am or 9:40am depending on weather and ice conditions. Free version - first available after paid version ends.

Any app will do, mine had ads unless paid for. Joe mentioned it above. I use a size of 900 pixels along the long edge (vertical or horizontal). This makes them much faster to upload over Voom.

Rules differ in Europe compared to North America so take my post with that in mind. My FCC from the Oasis April 21 2019 TA booked in North America stated the following conditions: Redeemable towards cruise fare only. Guest is responsible for taxes and fees where applicable. Not valid on Complimentary cruises, Incentive bookings, or Charter sailings. One certificate per person, per booking, and valid only for the person noted on this certificate. If credit is applied to a booking of lesser value, the difference will be issued as a new Future Cruise Certificate. Royal Caribbean reserves the right to void the FCC Savings amount if the guest named above receives reimbursement. Cruise must be taken by 10/30/2020. Valid only for the cruise brand shown above. As are all requests for reservations, the offered space is subject to availability, and from time to time, itineraries may be altered or services on a specific ship may be discontinued. Certain restrictions apply Non-transferable and may not be redeemed for cash. There is a catch to the residual FCC in North America. The 1st cruise that you use the FCC towards must be completed before they will re-issue the remaining FCC. Based on this I applied my FCC towards my next cruise which was already paid in full. I received a credit card refund for the amount applied to that booking. Once that cruise (Ovation in May to Alaska) was completed they issued the residual amount in the form of a new FCC that I have applied to an upcoming booked cruise. See if you get the actual certificate. While it might be sent to your travel agent, you should be eligible to see it yourself and examine any terms and conditions. PS - you don't have to use it through the same agent if you are not happy with them.

@SpeedNoodles is boarding today.

Oasis in December is visiting Labadee. Queen of Oasis class and freshly AMPED in the fall yet no visits to Perfect Day. In fact it's only when she reaches the Big Apple that she starts calling on Perfect Day. The modified Empress/Majesty (no-Cuba) itineraries pick up a few visits to Perfect Day but not all itineraries do. Just so happens my former Cuba itinerary in October will be Key West and Nassau, no Perfect Day. I've acquired a handful of Empress and Majesty sailings over the next few months given the lower rates and no single supplement and less than half visit Perfect Day. To be honest I attribute the increased ship visits to the pier. If (gasp) Perfect Day hadn't occurred and only the pier was completed I suspect the end result would have been the same. More visits because they can with a pier where they couldn't in the past.

They will supply a gallon of distilled water free upon request. Symphony has an outlet on one side of the bed so typically no extension cord required. Contact Royal if booked direct or if booked through a travel agent they should handle the request, it's quite common. Sometimes it may not be in your room upon boarding. Mention it to your cabin attendant or call housekeeping on your cabin phone and they'll deliver it before bed time on night one.

One thing to consider. It's possible different satellites are used in Asia and internet service in some countries may be subject to government oversight different than in the West. I know guests on the initial Spectrum sailings commented on poor internet but perhaps it has been optimized for the Asia satellites and didn't perform well while in transit to Asia. Perhaps that accounts for the 3rd choice. A choice that wouldn't be relevant or needed given the satellites and service here.

It is always best to think about others which is why I often give up a prime spot on a railing at a glacier when I've taken a few pictures - let someone else enjoy it. Being courteous to others when boarding elevators or waiting to order a drink at a bar comes naturally. However I draw the line at dressing up for others so some of them might feel better, maybe? I don't notice what other folks wear in dining rooms. It has zero impact on the taste of my meal or the company I am sharing. This applies in land restaurants and on ships. That's not to say I wear crappy clothes with a "just off the beach" look but I haven't packed a jacket or tie for a cruise in a while now. I wear long pants and on formal nights a long sleeve short with a collar when I eat in the MDR. If I sailed a luxury line or a different line that stated a dress code I would follow it. Royal does not have a dress code. Period. I paid as much or more than my fellow guests and I'm not dressing up for any of them. I have no issue with folks that choose to dress up, that is their choice. I do not consider this to be self centered or damaging to other guests in any way just as someone who wears a tuxedo hasn't damaged me or my experience in any way.

Do you prefer function or form? In RoyalIQ on Ovation I was able to cancel MTD in seconds, cancel and rebook North Star, look at an ACCURATE cruise compass, etc. Quite refreshing to use an app that actually worked. The new app is a work in progress and its in early beta... still. It may look nicer but doesn't work well.

RoyalIQ works better than the new app, for now.

Which I find odd since she was doing 22.9 knots last week. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/12127-allure-propulsion-issues/&do=findComment&comment=126566

Download Royal IQ now before sailing. That was the app on Ovation in May so unless something happens over the next few days that will be the app next week.

When I asked at JR on Navigator in March the answer was that JR shakes were not included in the DX. Adult shakes from the bar at JR I did not ask about specifically. Adult shakes are spiked with a shot of something alcoholic. Kraken rum for example. When do you sail? I'm on her next in September and can explore this in greater detail.

Here is what the cruise compass has to say on the matter for Alaskan ports: Bottled water only.

Nope. Even when visiting St Thomas for example no food is allowed off the ship per US law. People may sneak stuff off but once a ship touches international water everything on it is subject to customs rules and regulations even if that ship started in US water.

It's an option only spotted in Asia before. However its not clear to me how it differs. Perhaps a traveler who visits the region can let us know :)

In the words of the crew member I spoke with... "If you stand still long enough they'll charge something for you too". As I understand it the business model they went with in China was created by Dr. Zinan Liu and it's based on cultural norms for China. This is what separates Royal from other cruise lines that failed in China. Instead of just taking a Western product and sending it to China they started from scratch and created something unique to that area based on norms for that area. In reality what does that mean? Unfortunately I don't know specifics about what exactly they charge for beyond North Star which was the start of my conversation with crew.

It has been mentioned before and is known from exposure on these message boards. Part of the problem is limited participation from that region on Western based forums such as this one. Up to this point it appears to been limited to Quantum OTS. Ovation OTS held on to it's ways after leaving Sydney for Singapore while it seems Quantum held on to it's way after leaving China for Singapore. In China they do charge for everything on board. I had an interesting discussion with a hotel director about China based cruises since he had spent 9 contracts in that region before coming to Alaska on Ovation in May. No free North Star rides is just the start. However this business model suits the market in China or so he explained to me. It's accepted as normal. Or perhaps they just don't know any different since that is what Royal does in China.

Most countries and ports ban food from the ship for public health reasons. In general, ships (cargo, container, tanker, cruise) have been to other countries and normal domestic import controls haven't been applied to food arriving on a ship from unknown sources. For this reason the vast majority of countries have laws banning food coming off ships to keep it from being introduced into their country. It's easy to become myopic and focus on just one itinerary then argue "my ship is coming from XYZ" but laws are not written for specific circumstances, they are written to cover generalizations and there are far more non-cruises ships visiting a country compared to cruise ships which represent a small fraction of shipping world wide. In reality when you arrive in a port you are arriving from another country. If you flew in an airplane and went through that countries customs process you wouldn't typically be allowed to bring these same forms of food into their country (such as food from a buffet or served at a meal in a dining room). Certain processed food is often allowed such as a bag of potato chips or a candy bar.

Keep an eye on eBay UK but prepare yourself for sticker shock. It was given out on one Indy cruise (I think) that had many travel professionals aboard who seem intent on paying down the mortgage with the sale of their free Monopoly game gift. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=monopoly+royal+caribbean&_sacat=0

On Carnival I have seen the popcorn in the hot tub effect. That was my basis of understanding. Crew would sweep it up off the pool decks at night, it was in the elevators near the pool.