twangster

At the photo ops where they have a backdrop and the area is set aside for ship photographers they typically do not allow you to walk up and use your own camera. If you can find a nice place to take pictures where they haven't setup the professional cameras, then you can take pictures. I often see people trying to use staircases and such but there is nothing to stop other guests from accidentally photo-bombing your pictures as they walk down the stairs. Generally speaking most guests are very accommodating when they see someone trying to take a family picture on the stairs but our fellow guests come from a cross section of our society and sometimes a guest couldn't care less that you are trying to capture a family moment on a public staircase.

Breakfast hours are shown on the first page in the gray box to the right. Windjammer opens at 6am, MDR at 6:30am. Times specific to my cruise, your cruise may differ. Suite guests debark AFTER self-assist has started. Self assist at 6:15am to 7:30am, Suite guests start at 7:30am. However it does tend to blur together. In reality, when the ship first pulls up, no luggage has been offloaded by the forklifts on the dock yet. Self assist have all their luggage with them, so this doesn't matter. They can start to debark since they have all their luggage with them. There would be little point for anyone else (non self-assist) to debark until their tagged luggage with a number that they placed in the hall the night before has actually been offloaded and is waiting in the terminal. A suite guest could get off the ship at 6:15am and stand around in the terminal for an hour for their luggage, while a self assist guest has all their luggage with them. You must have all your luggage with you before reaching customs and immigration. For self- assist guests - they do have all their luggage and can walk straight through to customs. If a suite guest tries to debark early, they get to sit in the terminal waiting for their luggage before they can approach customs. If a suite guest or C&A member decides to use self-assist, they have no special line or treatment - they join the self assist line like everyone else. As a Diamond Plus I often use self-assist but I don't get to say to someone else in the self-assist line "I'm a D+, you're not, I get to to move up in line" It doesn't work that way. I stand in line based on what time I got there even if one hundred never cruised before got in line first before me. In that case I am #101 and nothing more.

Getting off topic, but... Spouses and dependents do qualify for a full Military Epic Pass. https://www.epicpass.com/pass-results/military.aspx Buddy tickets allow a pass holder to bring a friend and the buddy get's a day lift ticket at a reduced rate compared to the daily rate for that resort. It's not a free day of skiing for the buddy and it's only valid for that day. The Military Epic Pass comes with six "Ski with a friend" passes that are not free and not the same as buddy passes. Ski with a friend vs. buddy passes are confusing. One is a fixed price while the other is a discount off the daily rate for a resort based on the rate the day your visit. It has always been a little hard to figure out which is which but typically when bringing a friend or family member I would just ask at the ticket window "What's better today? Ski with a friend or buddy?" Assuming I hadn't consumed all of them already. This was as a regular epic pass holder, not a military pass holder. Regular pass holders used to get both, SWAF and Buddy passes if purchased before a cut off date. For qualifying spouses and dependents a full Military Epic Pass is just as good as the pass for the active or retired service member. Once in your possession a dependent or spouse could visit the resort by themselves vs Ski With A Friend or Buddy Passes that require the pass holder to visit the ticket window on that day and then the buddy or friend buys a day pass at the discounted rate for that day only. Make sense?

And look at that, Canadian and Australian qualify: I'm an Epic pass holder, non-military. This is a great deal.

They are too busy deviating from the rules for one package, trying to manage two packages?

It's unlikely this will ever come to fruition but I think I know where the Carnival executive team will be in June... Secretly a part of me would like to see a judge issue such an order. Seriously doubt it will happen though.

Very interesting. The Key is supposed to be purchased by everyone in the cabin over 6 yo. Let us know how you make out with this odd split cabin Key.

Pull trigger while you can while you learn more about the new plan. If you want to swap to Unlimited you can but once Ultimate goes away, it's gone. This is assuming they don't just convert purchased Ultimate plans to Unlimited anyways.

Only if the crew are allowed to bid on an interior cabin... Royal UP sends rejection emails at T-24 hours. A no show at the pier would require they wait until sailing to confirm if guest didn't make it and even then they have to wait to hear if guest s going to catch the ship at the next port. I don't think Royal UP has a play with day of departure missing guests.

Google has yielded some results in the past. Potato flour Italian Herbs Sun Dried Tomatoes https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1456782-savory-bites/

If I will get C&A points I am willing to try!

Correct however I think the person asking the question was interested in mocktail pricing without a drink package.

That has already happened. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/03/29/royal-caribbean-receives-permission-sail-glacier-bay

The cabanas present today are surrounded by sand. A conventional wheelchair won't do well in sand. Cabanas are elevated from the beach requiring one to set up onto the platform that is the decking for the cabanas. There are golf carts and trams to move guests around the island but they don't stop right at the cabanas. Royal does have beach wheelchairs available at CocoCay. They have very large beach tires on them. You may want to call Royal or your travel agent and discuss this with them.

Cash tips are always well received. I bring singles with me when I cruise but you can also stop by guest services and ask them to break down a $20 to smaller bills for tipping. Keep in mind the package includes gratuity. Additional tipping is not required.

It may vary by excursion but once I did an Everglades tour post-cruise. Our luggage was loaded in the belly of the bus and it stayed with us at each stop of our tour until delivering us to the airport where luggage was unloaded from the bus as we watched.

Sometimes hockey is in the rotation of sports played on board. ESPN Caribbean is not like ESPN in the US. The Caribbean version often carries sports like hockey but it all depends what broadcast rights they are granted. Royal can't "pirate" the TV satellite feed and show sports that their established channels aren't carrying already. Your plan B is a solid choice. It's not unusual on any given Sunday during football season that not all games from all markets are available. I've watched football games on an iPad for this reason.

Some ships will place a departure questionnaire in your cabin a few days into the cruise. It's worded like you need to request self-assist. That isn't the case. You can just do self-assist without any action on your part, just walk off the ship with all your luggage at the designated time. When luggage tags are delivered there will be a departure letter placed in your cabin. Here is an Adventure departure letter from 2018: Adventure Deprture Letter.pdf Note that self assist is directed to go to the Lyric Theater on deck 4 between 6:16am and 7:30am. Simply bring all your luggage with you and head down. Ignore the numbered luggage tags left with the departure letter, do not place your luggage in the hall the night before. If you desire to be at the front of the self assist line you will need to go down before the posted start time for self assist. (not required for a 10:30am flight unless you arrive late into port)

“Propulsion Issue” is a vague statement. That could be something fixed by divers in the water or it may require dry dock facilities. If another dinged propellor simply avoiding top speed (which consumes more fuel anyways) is a viable solution. After the Oasis crane incident they likely learned some things as they worked through that crisis. They can use that knowledge as they look at options here. Time will tell.

Never submitted a bid ?

Galveston Limo is $50 round trip person. Uber/Lyft will be $65-$80 depending on traffic - each way.

You never know. People cancel cruises all the time, even on short notice. Stuff happens. With 3,000 or more guests on board it happens quite often. If a last minute cancellation occurs Royal Up can suddenly come to life and award an upgrade.

I booked the transatlantic in March. Just my luck... watch them cancel it.

Which airport? It makes a big difference. IAH is subject to more traffic woes.

I'm accepting donations on Paypal for anyone who doesn't want me on their cruise to avoid the twangster curse. Otherwise I just might book it!