twangster

Radiance wraps up the regular Alaska season on August 30, 2019 Southbound, followed by a 4 night Alaska sailing Sept. 6, 2019 before heading to Hawaii and points South.

Your mother, if Elite+ will be recognized and have Diamond benefits when sailing on Royal. However those do not extend to the whole cabin. She will be treated as if she is Diamond, you will not be unless you are also Elite or higher on Celebrity, or you are already Diamond on your own merit in C&A.

I've cruised a number of times with a minor child, sometimes with her mother and sometimes just her and I. We all have different last names. The background and logistics of the relationship are irrelevant. Custodial rights and court orders may or may not be irrelevant. In my case the birth father gave up his rights and it was so noted in a court order. When we travelled with the birth mother we carried that court order with us. When I travelled with the minor child without the mother on the cruise, I carried the court order and a notarized letter from the mother. For the first cruise with the mother we didn't say anything, we just checked in normally. Presented our passports and didn't call out the minor child and background. We had no issues and not a question was asked. On the second cruise without the mother it was like they were bound and determined to keep us off the cruise. When challenged, I had the notarized letter, when challenged I had the court order. When challenged the letter specifically addressed our excursions, gave me temporary power of attorney for medical reasons and stipulated the cruise line could change the itinerary. A supervisor was called over. Another supervisor was called over. You could see them processing all my documentation as if they were trying to rack their brains finding another reason why shouldn't be allowed to board. When they couldn't find one, they allowed us to proceed. Longest check in ever. At the end of the cruise when we reached CBP they hauled us into secondary. They poured over the same documentation again. They separated us, questioned us both then compared notes. I then had to call the mother and hand my phone over to the CBP agent who asked her a number of questions. In the end we were allowed to go, 45 minutes later. I've since cruised a number of times with the child, both as a minor and over the years after she was 19. Before she was 19 I always had a notarized letter but was never challenged like I was on that one cruise. The lesson of this is - be prepared and know exactly what you need. You may fly through check in and think it was a waste of time getting all the docs together or you may be challenged. International kidnapping is a thing. Human trafficking is a thing. They are only trying to protect children. Be prepared but don't bring it up unless they do.

Odd - all my cruises through Nov 2020 still have it at $19.99.

Looking forward to hearing how Super Bowl was offered on Harmony!

Likely a sign of supply and demand at work. If the initial response was favorable and they immediately sold out slots, the natural reaction would be to increase price. Sales trends will provide feedback if $32 is too much for the market to bear. If so, sales and price reductions will be forthcoming. I know it's sold out for Navigator coming up.

Welcome to the message boards! I just sailed Brilliance a few weeks ago. Brilliance has received some updates over time as noted above plus items like LED lighting in the Centrum and other places around the ship. In that respect she is much like Serenade more so than Radiance. I can't say that I saw anything that jumped out at me as if she needed to be further retrofitted. She was in great shape and I have no complaints. Some other Royal ships are going through an Amplification program at the moment where the ships are getting new features like water slides, Skypads, new sports bars, etc. Brilliance wasn't included in that program so it's not getting new features but they have been keeping the existing features and the ship in general in great shape. I think the difference is those ships are being "revitalized" and gaining new features that didn't exist before compared to "retrofitted" where existing features are updated as noted above. Keep an eye on the blog as @Matt who runs this site is boarding her very soon and will be blogging about it here:

On Freedom out of San Juan the mandatory muster drill is usually around 5:45pm. Sail away is 8pm since it's out of San Juan. Often on day one the spa staff are doing tours and have kiosks set up around the ship to promote the spa. It's possible they won't take earlier appointments since the spa is basically an open house much of day one.

Did they finish that wall barrier early?

Survey says.... Look at a cruise compass from a past guest on this site: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/symphony-of-the-seas/sat-2019-01-12-0000 Playmakers 11:30am to 6pm

Here is a live blog from Radiance in Alaska this past August: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/9160-not-so-live-blog-radiance-of-the-seas-alaska-southbound-83118/

When I sailed Mariner out of Miami there was a wedding party present and waiting in the terminal. In this case the wedding was taking place on the ship in Miami prior to departure and many wedding guests were present as day visitors to the ship, but not sailing the cruise. The wedding party and all day guests boarded about 20-30 minutes before regular boarding commenced starting with suites and Pinnacles. In the waiting area I had the opportunity to speak with some of the wedding guests as they waited. Once they boarded I don't know how it went for them. I boarded right after suites and Pinnacles. This was before terminal A was completed so Mariner was using terminal G.

Very true. The NorthStar ride is longer, goes over the sides of Quantum, but is charged in Asia. Different market, different marketing and expectations.

Perhaps satellite costs are more expensive in that region.

Love Key West. Love Cozumel. Both are better experienced over time, multiple visits. It seems only smaller ships make it into Key West so if you are planning more cruises in the future factor that into your decision. You cant go wrong with either.

Seriously? With all the nuances we see across Royal IT you can't understand why this is occurring? ? ? ?

Welcome to the message boards. What ship and where are you sailing? I'd suggest you visit the dining room once on board but before dinner and talk to them about the situation. If your son is wearing nice shorts and a nice shirt they may be accommodating. Grubby shorts and a muscle or t-shirt will more likely lead to an issue.

Not as of December. I asked, then stood in line like everyone else. To be honest it works in airports because a large number of fliers tend to be non-US citizens so having a lane for Mobile Passport or Global Entry works because of the number of eligible people who would qualify for that line. At a cruise port, the vast majority of guests are eligible to use Mobile Passport so it doesn't work as well in my experience at a cruise port like it does at an airport.

I'm tempted to grab an inside cabin in May. It's only $1,300 all in.

That area was very popular in Alaska. Should be interesting to see how that goes over. it's similar to the forward deck space on Vision class. It's the only forward outdoor viewing area.

There are likely very few people who have booked the Penthouse Suites. I was lucky enough to stay in the adjoining Sky Suite on Millie which is decorated the same as the Penthouse Suite since it's meant to be overflow and an additional bedroom for the Penthouse when required. Mid May there is a decent price on Millie to Alaska. Have to look hard at that. Any word if they are creating a suite only area on the M class?

I doubt Virgin will have any impact to the big three. Different target audience, different pricing model, different product. Especially with just one ship. MSC is someone to watch. They plan to crank out ships over the next few years and take on the big three closer in that market.

I recently stayed in 1866 on sister ship Navigator. These cabins were recently added so they have an updated decor compared to the rest of the ship. I heard no noise from any direction. I like the location with quick access to the pool deck and sky bar. I've booked the same cabin on Explorer for a 2020 cruise.

Sabor can have some odd hours for lunch, such as starting at 3pm. Suggest you look over some Allure cruise compasses to get an idea: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass?ship=274

My Cruise Compass posted here https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/independence-of-the-seas/fri-2019-01-25-0000 has the departure letter included at the end