twangster

Explorer may be an example of the stealth updates they will do in the near term.  

I don't think they will do very much to Quantum guest areas. 
The dry dock is being performed due to required maritime maintenance every 5 years until a ship is 20 years old then every 2.5 years.  That is the primary reason for the dry dock.  The required maintenance is the basis to maintain the certificate to sail.  Without the prescribed scheduled maintenance the certificate to carry passengers would be revoked.  
It's not unusual for some additional work to be performed to guests areas during a dry dock because the ship is empty of guests.  When Anthem was scheduled to go into dry dock in 2020 before the pandemic happened Royal flat out stated there would be no meaningful updates to guests areas.  They might replace things like broken floor tiles but there would be no new venues.  During my January 2020 cruise on Anthem they replaced all the carpet in the Windjammer doing sections every night while the WJ was closed.  This was months before her scheduled dry dock in May of 2020.  The point being that replacing carpet doesn't require a dry dock.  Carpet is routinely replaced all the time as required over the lifecycle of the ship.  
Quantum, Anthem and Ovation are one year in age apart.  Once onboard they are nearly identical to each other. In many places if you were magically teleported between ships you would not be able to tell which ship you were on since they are nearly identical to each other.  There are minor differences such as the name of the pool side restaurant.  Ovation had this restaurant changed to a Fish & Ships venue during her first Alaskan cruise in 2019.  I was onboard and watched them work on it during the cruise.  It didn't take a dry dock to get this venue changed, it was done during a regular cruise with guests.  On Quantum specifically they may choose to modify this venue in a dry dock, or not.  Bilingual signage might be replaced, or not.
The SeaPlex pods that hang off the ship where Playmakers is located on Odyssey is wildly different between the original Quantum class and the Quantum Ultra class Odyssey. They would need to do a lot of work making significant structural modifications that would alter the weight and balance of the ship requiring her to be reengineered and recertified.  It's possible but it would be costly.  Would a PM generate enough new revenue to justify the multi-million dollar modification?  Without a PM guests find somewhere else to drink and eat so the investment would need to show that retrofitting a PM would generate new additional revenue that would not otherwise be spent.  
I doubt they would make this sort of investment on the original Q class ships but who knows?
They could maybe find a way install a Teppanyaki venue by displacing the teen/kids club area.  That would require some infrastructure such as plumbing and electrical to support a food venue in a place that doesn't have that infrastructure currently.  Would such an investment generate new additional revenue or would it simply drain revenue away from the existing specialty dining venues?  Royal has data to review from Odyssey to see if Teppanyaki has created new revenue or reduced the revenue from the other venues.  If the amount of new revenue is minor it's difficult to justify adding a Teppanyaki to the original Q class (non-Ultra).  
My gut is telling me that the original Q class ships won't receive meaningful updates to guest areas.  If a ship does not yet have shore power capability that will likely be added during a dry dock.  This type of modification may be best done with the ship completely dark, no power.  A dry dock while doing other required scheduled maritime maintenance is an ideal time to slip in a few days to add shore power capability.  Quantum needs shore power capability to operate from California so if she hasn't already had this added, it will be added during this dry dock.   
I think they will find a way to refresh Allure and Explorer.  Adventure is mostly "amplified" already, they just need to some minor stuff to call it a full amp.   PM on Voyager class is not required to declare them amplified so I'm not sure Adventure will get a PM.  Royal has to be careful as they have told investors they are focused on reducing debt, not so much on amplifications.  Yet we all know ships like Allure and Explorer need an update.  Liberty and Adventure to a lesser degree but both could use a minor touch up.  That's four ships that clearly have a need despite Royal telling investors amplifications have been indefinitely postponed.   I suspect they will find a way to quietly update these four ships without the fanfare and telling the worlds about it like the "amplification" program did.  Beyond these four ships I don't see newer ships such as Q class getting meaningful changes such as new venues at this time.  

I don't think they will do very much to Quantum guest areas. 
The dry dock is being performed due to required maritime maintenance every 5 years until a ship is 20 years old then every 2.5 years.  That is the primary reason for the dry dock.  The required maintenance is the basis to maintain the certificate to sail.  Without the prescribed scheduled maintenance the certificate to carry passengers would be revoked.  
It's not unusual for some additional work to be performed to guests areas during a dry dock because the ship is empty of guests.  When Anthem was scheduled to go into dry dock in 2020 before the pandemic happened Royal flat out stated there would be no meaningful updates to guests areas.  They might replace things like broken floor tiles but there would be no new venues.  During my January 2020 cruise on Anthem they replaced all the carpet in the Windjammer doing sections every night while the WJ was closed.  This was months before her scheduled dry dock in May of 2020.  The point being that replacing carpet doesn't require a dry dock.  Carpet is routinely replaced all the time as required over the lifecycle of the ship.  
Quantum, Anthem and Ovation are one year in age apart.  Once onboard they are nearly identical to each other. In many places if you were magically teleported between ships you would not be able to tell which ship you were on since they are nearly identical to each other.  There are minor differences such as the name of the pool side restaurant.  Ovation had this restaurant changed to a Fish & Ships venue during her first Alaskan cruise in 2019.  I was onboard and watched them work on it during the cruise.  It didn't take a dry dock to get this venue changed, it was done during a regular cruise with guests.  On Quantum specifically they may choose to modify this venue in a dry dock, or not.  Bilingual signage might be replaced, or not.
The SeaPlex pods that hang off the ship where Playmakers is located on Odyssey is wildly different between the original Quantum class and the Quantum Ultra class Odyssey. They would need to do a lot of work making significant structural modifications that would alter the weight and balance of the ship requiring her to be reengineered and recertified.  It's possible but it would be costly.  Would a PM generate enough new revenue to justify the multi-million dollar modification?  Without a PM guests find somewhere else to drink and eat so the investment would need to show that retrofitting a PM would generate new additional revenue that would not otherwise be spent.  
I doubt they would make this sort of investment on the original Q class ships but who knows?
They could maybe find a way install a Teppanyaki venue by displacing the teen/kids club area.  That would require some infrastructure such as plumbing and electrical to support a food venue in a place that doesn't have that infrastructure currently.  Would such an investment generate new additional revenue or would it simply drain revenue away from the existing specialty dining venues?  Royal has data to review from Odyssey to see if Teppanyaki has created new revenue or reduced the revenue from the other venues.  If the amount of new revenue is minor it's difficult to justify adding a Teppanyaki to the original Q class (non-Ultra).  
My gut is telling me that the original Q class ships won't receive meaningful updates to guest areas.  If a ship does not yet have shore power capability that will likely be added during a dry dock.  This type of modification may be best done with the ship completely dark, no power.  A dry dock while doing other required scheduled maritime maintenance is an ideal time to slip in a few days to add shore power capability.  Quantum needs shore power capability to operate from California so if she hasn't already had this added, it will be added during this dry dock.   
I think they will find a way to refresh Allure and Explorer.  Adventure is mostly "amplified" already, they just need to some minor stuff to call it a full amp.   PM on Voyager class is not required to declare them amplified so I'm not sure Adventure will get a PM.  Royal has to be careful as they have told investors they are focused on reducing debt, not so much on amplifications.  Yet we all know ships like Allure and Explorer need an update.  Liberty and Adventure to a lesser degree but both could use a minor touch up.  That's four ships that clearly have a need despite Royal telling investors amplifications have been indefinitely postponed.   I suspect they will find a way to quietly update these four ships without the fanfare and telling the worlds about it like the "amplification" program did.  Beyond these four ships I don't see newer ships such as Q class getting meaningful changes such as new venues at this time.  

7517 has been recategorized to a 4U, interior with virtual balcony.  It is not a studio cabin.
If you booked it as a single guest you should get double C&A points.  It wouldn't hurt to contact C&A and have them review it.  

When you ride the zip line you are driven from the Labadee compound to the mountain side where the zip starts.  You are briefly outside the fence of the compound on the bus ride to the zip line start area.
The compound has a couple of layers between guests areas and the outside world.


There is a staging area with fuel and other supplies.

Then the buffer ends at the security office and gate.  This is where day workers would enter the compound, going through security.  



Once beyond the gate you are in the true Haiti.

The road to the zip line goes up the mountain where it connects to a main road that would go off towards the rest of Haiti.


The main road.

The top of the coaster ride next to the zip line start is also fenced off.

 

I don't think they will do very much to Quantum guest areas. 
The dry dock is being performed due to required maritime maintenance every 5 years until a ship is 20 years old then every 2.5 years.  That is the primary reason for the dry dock.  The required maintenance is the basis to maintain the certificate to sail.  Without the prescribed scheduled maintenance the certificate to carry passengers would be revoked.  
It's not unusual for some additional work to be performed to guests areas during a dry dock because the ship is empty of guests.  When Anthem was scheduled to go into dry dock in 2020 before the pandemic happened Royal flat out stated there would be no meaningful updates to guests areas.  They might replace things like broken floor tiles but there would be no new venues.  During my January 2020 cruise on Anthem they replaced all the carpet in the Windjammer doing sections every night while the WJ was closed.  This was months before her scheduled dry dock in May of 2020.  The point being that replacing carpet doesn't require a dry dock.  Carpet is routinely replaced all the time as required over the lifecycle of the ship.  
Quantum, Anthem and Ovation are one year in age apart.  Once onboard they are nearly identical to each other. In many places if you were magically teleported between ships you would not be able to tell which ship you were on since they are nearly identical to each other.  There are minor differences such as the name of the pool side restaurant.  Ovation had this restaurant changed to a Fish & Ships venue during her first Alaskan cruise in 2019.  I was onboard and watched them work on it during the cruise.  It didn't take a dry dock to get this venue changed, it was done during a regular cruise with guests.  On Quantum specifically they may choose to modify this venue in a dry dock, or not.  Bilingual signage might be replaced, or not.
The SeaPlex pods that hang off the ship where Playmakers is located on Odyssey is wildly different between the original Quantum class and the Quantum Ultra class Odyssey. They would need to do a lot of work making significant structural modifications that would alter the weight and balance of the ship requiring her to be reengineered and recertified.  It's possible but it would be costly.  Would a PM generate enough new revenue to justify the multi-million dollar modification?  Without a PM guests find somewhere else to drink and eat so the investment would need to show that retrofitting a PM would generate new additional revenue that would not otherwise be spent.  
I doubt they would make this sort of investment on the original Q class ships but who knows?
They could maybe find a way install a Teppanyaki venue by displacing the teen/kids club area.  That would require some infrastructure such as plumbing and electrical to support a food venue in a place that doesn't have that infrastructure currently.  Would such an investment generate new additional revenue or would it simply drain revenue away from the existing specialty dining venues?  Royal has data to review from Odyssey to see if Teppanyaki has created new revenue or reduced the revenue from the other venues.  If the amount of new revenue is minor it's difficult to justify adding a Teppanyaki to the original Q class (non-Ultra).  
My gut is telling me that the original Q class ships won't receive meaningful updates to guest areas.  If a ship does not yet have shore power capability that will likely be added during a dry dock.  This type of modification may be best done with the ship completely dark, no power.  A dry dock while doing other required scheduled maritime maintenance is an ideal time to slip in a few days to add shore power capability.  Quantum needs shore power capability to operate from California so if she hasn't already had this added, it will be added during this dry dock.   
I think they will find a way to refresh Allure and Explorer.  Adventure is mostly "amplified" already, they just need to some minor stuff to call it a full amp.   PM on Voyager class is not required to declare them amplified so I'm not sure Adventure will get a PM.  Royal has to be careful as they have told investors they are focused on reducing debt, not so much on amplifications.  Yet we all know ships like Allure and Explorer need an update.  Liberty and Adventure to a lesser degree but both could use a minor touch up.  That's four ships that clearly have a need despite Royal telling investors amplifications have been indefinitely postponed.   I suspect they will find a way to quietly update these four ships without the fanfare and telling the worlds about it like the "amplification" program did.  Beyond these four ships I don't see newer ships such as Q class getting meaningful changes such as new venues at this time.  

I don't think they will do very much to Quantum guest areas. 
The dry dock is being performed due to required maritime maintenance every 5 years until a ship is 20 years old then every 2.5 years.  That is the primary reason for the dry dock.  The required maintenance is the basis to maintain the certificate to sail.  Without the prescribed scheduled maintenance the certificate to carry passengers would be revoked.  
It's not unusual for some additional work to be performed to guests areas during a dry dock because the ship is empty of guests.  When Anthem was scheduled to go into dry dock in 2020 before the pandemic happened Royal flat out stated there would be no meaningful updates to guests areas.  They might replace things like broken floor tiles but there would be no new venues.  During my January 2020 cruise on Anthem they replaced all the carpet in the Windjammer doing sections every night while the WJ was closed.  This was months before her scheduled dry dock in May of 2020.  The point being that replacing carpet doesn't require a dry dock.  Carpet is routinely replaced all the time as required over the lifecycle of the ship.  
Quantum, Anthem and Ovation are one year in age apart.  Once onboard they are nearly identical to each other. In many places if you were magically teleported between ships you would not be able to tell which ship you were on since they are nearly identical to each other.  There are minor differences such as the name of the pool side restaurant.  Ovation had this restaurant changed to a Fish & Ships venue during her first Alaskan cruise in 2019.  I was onboard and watched them work on it during the cruise.  It didn't take a dry dock to get this venue changed, it was done during a regular cruise with guests.  On Quantum specifically they may choose to modify this venue in a dry dock, or not.  Bilingual signage might be replaced, or not.
The SeaPlex pods that hang off the ship where Playmakers is located on Odyssey is wildly different between the original Quantum class and the Quantum Ultra class Odyssey. They would need to do a lot of work making significant structural modifications that would alter the weight and balance of the ship requiring her to be reengineered and recertified.  It's possible but it would be costly.  Would a PM generate enough new revenue to justify the multi-million dollar modification?  Without a PM guests find somewhere else to drink and eat so the investment would need to show that retrofitting a PM would generate new additional revenue that would not otherwise be spent.  
I doubt they would make this sort of investment on the original Q class ships but who knows?
They could maybe find a way install a Teppanyaki venue by displacing the teen/kids club area.  That would require some infrastructure such as plumbing and electrical to support a food venue in a place that doesn't have that infrastructure currently.  Would such an investment generate new additional revenue or would it simply drain revenue away from the existing specialty dining venues?  Royal has data to review from Odyssey to see if Teppanyaki has created new revenue or reduced the revenue from the other venues.  If the amount of new revenue is minor it's difficult to justify adding a Teppanyaki to the original Q class (non-Ultra).  
My gut is telling me that the original Q class ships won't receive meaningful updates to guest areas.  If a ship does not yet have shore power capability that will likely be added during a dry dock.  This type of modification may be best done with the ship completely dark, no power.  A dry dock while doing other required scheduled maritime maintenance is an ideal time to slip in a few days to add shore power capability.  Quantum needs shore power capability to operate from California so if she hasn't already had this added, it will be added during this dry dock.   
I think they will find a way to refresh Allure and Explorer.  Adventure is mostly "amplified" already, they just need to some minor stuff to call it a full amp.   PM on Voyager class is not required to declare them amplified so I'm not sure Adventure will get a PM.  Royal has to be careful as they have told investors they are focused on reducing debt, not so much on amplifications.  Yet we all know ships like Allure and Explorer need an update.  Liberty and Adventure to a lesser degree but both could use a minor touch up.  That's four ships that clearly have a need despite Royal telling investors amplifications have been indefinitely postponed.   I suspect they will find a way to quietly update these four ships without the fanfare and telling the worlds about it like the "amplification" program did.  Beyond these four ships I don't see newer ships such as Q class getting meaningful changes such as new venues at this time.  

I don't think they will do very much to Quantum guest areas. 
The dry dock is being performed due to required maritime maintenance every 5 years until a ship is 20 years old then every 2.5 years.  That is the primary reason for the dry dock.  The required maintenance is the basis to maintain the certificate to sail.  Without the prescribed scheduled maintenance the certificate to carry passengers would be revoked.  
It's not unusual for some additional work to be performed to guests areas during a dry dock because the ship is empty of guests.  When Anthem was scheduled to go into dry dock in 2020 before the pandemic happened Royal flat out stated there would be no meaningful updates to guests areas.  They might replace things like broken floor tiles but there would be no new venues.  During my January 2020 cruise on Anthem they replaced all the carpet in the Windjammer doing sections every night while the WJ was closed.  This was months before her scheduled dry dock in May of 2020.  The point being that replacing carpet doesn't require a dry dock.  Carpet is routinely replaced all the time as required over the lifecycle of the ship.  
Quantum, Anthem and Ovation are one year in age apart.  Once onboard they are nearly identical to each other. In many places if you were magically teleported between ships you would not be able to tell which ship you were on since they are nearly identical to each other.  There are minor differences such as the name of the pool side restaurant.  Ovation had this restaurant changed to a Fish & Ships venue during her first Alaskan cruise in 2019.  I was onboard and watched them work on it during the cruise.  It didn't take a dry dock to get this venue changed, it was done during a regular cruise with guests.  On Quantum specifically they may choose to modify this venue in a dry dock, or not.  Bilingual signage might be replaced, or not.
The SeaPlex pods that hang off the ship where Playmakers is located on Odyssey is wildly different between the original Quantum class and the Quantum Ultra class Odyssey. They would need to do a lot of work making significant structural modifications that would alter the weight and balance of the ship requiring her to be reengineered and recertified.  It's possible but it would be costly.  Would a PM generate enough new revenue to justify the multi-million dollar modification?  Without a PM guests find somewhere else to drink and eat so the investment would need to show that retrofitting a PM would generate new additional revenue that would not otherwise be spent.  
I doubt they would make this sort of investment on the original Q class ships but who knows?
They could maybe find a way install a Teppanyaki venue by displacing the teen/kids club area.  That would require some infrastructure such as plumbing and electrical to support a food venue in a place that doesn't have that infrastructure currently.  Would such an investment generate new additional revenue or would it simply drain revenue away from the existing specialty dining venues?  Royal has data to review from Odyssey to see if Teppanyaki has created new revenue or reduced the revenue from the other venues.  If the amount of new revenue is minor it's difficult to justify adding a Teppanyaki to the original Q class (non-Ultra).  
My gut is telling me that the original Q class ships won't receive meaningful updates to guest areas.  If a ship does not yet have shore power capability that will likely be added during a dry dock.  This type of modification may be best done with the ship completely dark, no power.  A dry dock while doing other required scheduled maritime maintenance is an ideal time to slip in a few days to add shore power capability.  Quantum needs shore power capability to operate from California so if she hasn't already had this added, it will be added during this dry dock.   
I think they will find a way to refresh Allure and Explorer.  Adventure is mostly "amplified" already, they just need to some minor stuff to call it a full amp.   PM on Voyager class is not required to declare them amplified so I'm not sure Adventure will get a PM.  Royal has to be careful as they have told investors they are focused on reducing debt, not so much on amplifications.  Yet we all know ships like Allure and Explorer need an update.  Liberty and Adventure to a lesser degree but both could use a minor touch up.  That's four ships that clearly have a need despite Royal telling investors amplifications have been indefinitely postponed.   I suspect they will find a way to quietly update these four ships without the fanfare and telling the worlds about it like the "amplification" program did.  Beyond these four ships I don't see newer ships such as Q class getting meaningful changes such as new venues at this time.  

Symphony also had several cruises added as she progressed.  They called them "pre-inaugural" if I recall correctly and I don't think they offered anything to guests booked on the original inaugural.    

I don't think they will do very much to Quantum guest areas. 
The dry dock is being performed due to required maritime maintenance every 5 years until a ship is 20 years old then every 2.5 years.  That is the primary reason for the dry dock.  The required maintenance is the basis to maintain the certificate to sail.  Without the prescribed scheduled maintenance the certificate to carry passengers would be revoked.  
It's not unusual for some additional work to be performed to guests areas during a dry dock because the ship is empty of guests.  When Anthem was scheduled to go into dry dock in 2020 before the pandemic happened Royal flat out stated there would be no meaningful updates to guests areas.  They might replace things like broken floor tiles but there would be no new venues.  During my January 2020 cruise on Anthem they replaced all the carpet in the Windjammer doing sections every night while the WJ was closed.  This was months before her scheduled dry dock in May of 2020.  The point being that replacing carpet doesn't require a dry dock.  Carpet is routinely replaced all the time as required over the lifecycle of the ship.  
Quantum, Anthem and Ovation are one year in age apart.  Once onboard they are nearly identical to each other. In many places if you were magically teleported between ships you would not be able to tell which ship you were on since they are nearly identical to each other.  There are minor differences such as the name of the pool side restaurant.  Ovation had this restaurant changed to a Fish & Ships venue during her first Alaskan cruise in 2019.  I was onboard and watched them work on it during the cruise.  It didn't take a dry dock to get this venue changed, it was done during a regular cruise with guests.  On Quantum specifically they may choose to modify this venue in a dry dock, or not.  Bilingual signage might be replaced, or not.
The SeaPlex pods that hang off the ship where Playmakers is located on Odyssey is wildly different between the original Quantum class and the Quantum Ultra class Odyssey. They would need to do a lot of work making significant structural modifications that would alter the weight and balance of the ship requiring her to be reengineered and recertified.  It's possible but it would be costly.  Would a PM generate enough new revenue to justify the multi-million dollar modification?  Without a PM guests find somewhere else to drink and eat so the investment would need to show that retrofitting a PM would generate new additional revenue that would not otherwise be spent.  
I doubt they would make this sort of investment on the original Q class ships but who knows?
They could maybe find a way install a Teppanyaki venue by displacing the teen/kids club area.  That would require some infrastructure such as plumbing and electrical to support a food venue in a place that doesn't have that infrastructure currently.  Would such an investment generate new additional revenue or would it simply drain revenue away from the existing specialty dining venues?  Royal has data to review from Odyssey to see if Teppanyaki has created new revenue or reduced the revenue from the other venues.  If the amount of new revenue is minor it's difficult to justify adding a Teppanyaki to the original Q class (non-Ultra).  
My gut is telling me that the original Q class ships won't receive meaningful updates to guest areas.  If a ship does not yet have shore power capability that will likely be added during a dry dock.  This type of modification may be best done with the ship completely dark, no power.  A dry dock while doing other required scheduled maritime maintenance is an ideal time to slip in a few days to add shore power capability.  Quantum needs shore power capability to operate from California so if she hasn't already had this added, it will be added during this dry dock.   
I think they will find a way to refresh Allure and Explorer.  Adventure is mostly "amplified" already, they just need to some minor stuff to call it a full amp.   PM on Voyager class is not required to declare them amplified so I'm not sure Adventure will get a PM.  Royal has to be careful as they have told investors they are focused on reducing debt, not so much on amplifications.  Yet we all know ships like Allure and Explorer need an update.  Liberty and Adventure to a lesser degree but both could use a minor touch up.  That's four ships that clearly have a need despite Royal telling investors amplifications have been indefinitely postponed.   I suspect they will find a way to quietly update these four ships without the fanfare and telling the worlds about it like the "amplification" program did.  Beyond these four ships I don't see newer ships such as Q class getting meaningful changes such as new venues at this time.  

That is not the phone number for Crown and Anchor.  it is the phone number for sales and reservations in Australia.  The reason they are telling you to email them is because the person you reached is not part of the CAS team and they can't perform CAS related tasks.  
In North America the toll free number for Crown and Anchor is 1 ‭(800) 526-9723 or ‭1 (541) 285-9723‬ as a long distance call‬.   The second number can be reached globally but would be charged as a long distance call.  The concept of using a provider like Google voice is to be able to call North American toll free numbers from foreign countries such as the UK or Australia.  If you can find a method to call CAS directly during North American daylight hours your issue could be dealt with immediately.  Yes it sucks that the CAS department doesn't provide in country phone numbers around the world but it is what it is.
The amount doesn't matter, the presence of the line on the invoice is all that matters.  If that line item is present with any amount including zero then it shows the fare was booked on a solo basis.  

The best parts of wearing the Pinnacle pin are not the published benefits.  Crew deal with an ever changing guest population one cruise to the next.  On a typical cruise roughly half of the guest population has never cruised Royal before.  Crew are constantly dealing with newbies who don't know how anything works on board.  
When crew see a Pinnacle pin they instantly know that guest has been around... a lot.  They know they don't have to explain things like to a newbie.  It's not the kiss ass relationship some people assume.  Crew instantly let their guard down and it's like greeting an old friend or fellow crew member.  It's an ice breaker.  
It is said that the Pinnacle pin opens doors.  That's not literal, as in crew holding a door open, but a metaphor.  It does make onboard life easier in subtle ways.
It starts walking to the terminal doors where the terminal contractors see a Pinnacle pin and instantly know that you know the routine.  If there is a suite and Pinnacle queue they are already welcoming you without having to show a set sail pass.   
When I didn't wear my Pinnacle pin boarding and I've had to show my Set Sail pass to enter the right queue I've had terminal contractors suggest that I wear the pin next time.  It's easier on them too since they know instantly you are in the right place.  Having boarded many cruises I have learned it makes life easier in the boarding process so why wouldn't someone wear it?  Why make it harder than it has to be?  When it's time to start boarding and they call Suites and Pinnacle the terminal folks that are gatekeepers looking for eligible guests for that moment in time can instantly see you are Pinnacle.  No need to examine your papers, keep the line moving.  It's just easier.  Why make it harder?

When you ride the zip line you are driven from the Labadee compound to the mountain side where the zip starts.  You are briefly outside the fence of the compound on the bus ride to the zip line start area.
The compound has a couple of layers between guests areas and the outside world.


There is a staging area with fuel and other supplies.

Then the buffer ends at the security office and gate.  This is where day workers would enter the compound, going through security.  



Once beyond the gate you are in the true Haiti.

The road to the zip line goes up the mountain where it connects to a main road that would go off towards the rest of Haiti.


The main road.

The top of the coaster ride next to the zip line start is also fenced off.

 

When you ride the zip line you are driven from the Labadee compound to the mountain side where the zip starts.  You are briefly outside the fence of the compound on the bus ride to the zip line start area.
The compound has a couple of layers between guests areas and the outside world.


There is a staging area with fuel and other supplies.

Then the buffer ends at the security office and gate.  This is where day workers would enter the compound, going through security.  



Once beyond the gate you are in the true Haiti.

The road to the zip line goes up the mountain where it connects to a main road that would go off towards the rest of Haiti.


The main road.

The top of the coaster ride next to the zip line start is also fenced off.

 

When you ride the zip line you are driven from the Labadee compound to the mountain side where the zip starts.  You are briefly outside the fence of the compound on the bus ride to the zip line start area.
The compound has a couple of layers between guests areas and the outside world.


There is a staging area with fuel and other supplies.

Then the buffer ends at the security office and gate.  This is where day workers would enter the compound, going through security.  



Once beyond the gate you are in the true Haiti.

The road to the zip line goes up the mountain where it connects to a main road that would go off towards the rest of Haiti.


The main road.

The top of the coaster ride next to the zip line start is also fenced off.

 

I've seen the new releases not work for DP340 as well.  It's not unusual for them to take a few days to load but it seems its taking longer this time.

Crown loft yes, ATS no.

Today was the first of our two port stops, Noumea. We have been here a few times but never to the aquarium, so that was the plan for today.

Noumea port is a working port, so you need to take a shuttle bus to the information centre in town. The bus ride takes around 5 minutes.


A lot of passengers take this trip just to access the free Wi-Fi within the terminal building, which is air-conditioned and refreshingly cool. On the top floor, there are market stands where you can pick up souvenirs of your visit. Most, if not all, will accept payment in Australian dollars. Across the road from the visitor centre, there is a supermarket to purchase anything you may have forgotten. The prices are in francs, but you can pay using a credit card.

 


There is not a lot to do in downtown Noumea itself, and it is not a particularly pretty place, and it can also smell at times. If you do not want to venture far, there are a few historic buildings, a square, and a place to buy gelato and play outdoor chess. If you walk to the top of the hill, you can also visit an old church.
Outside the visitor centre, there are stalls to purchase third-party tours, including the Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) bus for around $15 AUD per person.

There are a couple of different vendors offering HOHO, and there is also the option of taking a tour on Tsu Tsu train to see the main attractions. The Tsu Tsu train tour is around 1 1/2 hours.


The HOHO bus you board depends on the colour of the wristband provided to you when purchasing your ticket. You can only get on the same brand of bus when you want to be picked up. The buses are air-conditioned and clean. The HOHO stops at Lemon Bay 1, Lemon Bay 2, and the aquarium before heading back to the starting point, picking up passengers along the way.
We took the bus to the aquarium, which took about 20 minutes. We walked to the aquarium, which is about 50 metres from the bus stop but found it is only open for group tours and opens at 1 pm.

To pass the time before it opened, we went for a walk around the beachfront and found somewhere to get a drink and have some lunch. It was very warm, so we selected somewhere shaded to have a milkshake before returning to the aquarium.



There was only a short queue for the aquarium when we returned, and we were soon inside. The aquarium was a little disappointing, as I felt, for this day and age, the tanks were too small for the fish and turtles that lived there. The tour of the aquarium lasts about 1 hour, and you exit through a gift shop.





We finished at the aquarium and headed back to the ship as we had dinner reservations at Wonderland.


Before dinner, we spent some time in the suite lounge and had a long chat with Willie, our genie, a thoroughly lovely man. He was one of the original concierges on Wonder of the Seas, and it was interesting to hear his take on the opening of a new ship.
Dinner at Wonderland was enjoyable as always, and we ended the evening with the Starwater production show.
 

I cash tip water.  Not much different than a beer from a bartenders level of effort.  Since I cash tip a beer, I cash tip water.

Chefs table is included for Star Class guests so Willie made a booking for us. There is an additional $25 USD pp cost for alcohol but as I do not drink there was no extra cost for my reservation.
The Sommelier was from the Ukraine and was amazing. The chef for the evening was Dexter who apparently has the highest rating on all the ships.


Quantum is the only ship that is allowed to make changes to the menu and wine pairing so for this menu the Branzino fish was replaced with Barramundi otherwise the menu was identical to other sailings.

We had a great group of people around the table again so conversation flowed and dinner ended about 10:15pm. 

Bring a copy of the invoice showing gratuities are prepaid when you board the ship.  If the ship charges daily service fees (gratuity) then go to guest services with your invoice showing they are pre-paid.  

It gets complicated quick.  
A few senators have tried to introduce bills but they never go anywhere because it's not as simple as just allowing select ships i.e. cruise ships to do something as the act addresses all or nearly all commercial vessels that carry passengers.  On the surface it seems simple but it quickly becomes a pandora's box involving international law and maritime treaties. 
While the US can enact legislation that applies to US flagged ships, creating law that applies to foreign flagged ships isn't as straightforward.  In some cases within international law or maritime treaties there is only a concept of a vessel without distinguishing a modern cruise ship (which didn't exist in 1886) and a small boat that carries 10 people.  The US by itself can't rewrite international law or maritime treaties.    If the US was to chose to allow a foreign flagged cruise ship to carry passengers between two US ports (coastwise trade) then a foreign government could interpret that as being any vessel of any size can carry passengers between US ports because from an international legal perspective there is only the concept of a vessel.  That's overly simplifying it, but it's just one aspect of one complication.  Allow a cruise ship and you allow foreign ferries, water taxis, duck boats, etc. by the same modification.
Technically the aspect that impacts cruise passengers the most is a matter of cabotage and that is also evident with the airlines.  An Air Canada plane can fly from a city in Canada and land in a US city to drop off passengers or pick up passengers to fly back to Canada.   What Air Canada can't do is land in one US city and sell seats to reach another US city.  That is protected so that US domestic airlines compete on those routes.  That is an example of a cabotage regulation.   Just as Delta can't fly to Montreal and sell seats to carry passengers to Toronto.   There are international agreements involved.  Similar cabotage regulations are baked into the PVSA for passenger vessels but cabotage is just one small component of the PVSA.  
Once you decide to revamp such an old set of laws its difficult to just focus on only aspect of the law, i.e. cabotage.  If you are going to modernize law you need to look at the whole thing.  Cruise ship passengers probably don't care about the act and everything involved, they just focus on the cruise they want to take.  So in their minds it's just as simple as saying cruise ships should be allowed to do the cruise I want to take.  It's not that simple.
Keep in mind we are talking about a cruise industry that is comprised of foreign corporations operating foreign flagged ship.  The cruise industry has taken this approach to avoid paying US taxes.   Royal Caribbean is not an American company.  They don't own any US flagged ships.   They avoid paying substantial amounts of US taxes by registering the company in Liberia and their ships in the Bahamas.  Why should the US rewrite laws to benefit foreign corporations that don't pay US tax?  Just so less than 0.0001% of the US population can go on a cruise vacation they desire?  The number of people that want to take such a voyage is a small subset of the overall cruise industry.  It's a lot to ask when you consider that it impacts such a small group of cruisers such as "I want to cruise from Hawaii and stay on the ship for a B2B ending in Seattle".  That's maybe a couple hundred people per year.  

Crown loft yes, ATS no.

Royal has been trying to kill MTD for a few years now.  They made MTD chaotic trying to make MTD unappealing.  This appears to be the final nail.  

It gets complicated quick.  
A few senators have tried to introduce bills but they never go anywhere because it's not as simple as just allowing select ships i.e. cruise ships to do something as the act addresses all or nearly all commercial vessels that carry passengers.  On the surface it seems simple but it quickly becomes a pandora's box involving international law and maritime treaties. 
While the US can enact legislation that applies to US flagged ships, creating law that applies to foreign flagged ships isn't as straightforward.  In some cases within international law or maritime treaties there is only a concept of a vessel without distinguishing a modern cruise ship (which didn't exist in 1886) and a small boat that carries 10 people.  The US by itself can't rewrite international law or maritime treaties.    If the US was to chose to allow a foreign flagged cruise ship to carry passengers between two US ports (coastwise trade) then a foreign government could interpret that as being any vessel of any size can carry passengers between US ports because from an international legal perspective there is only the concept of a vessel.  That's overly simplifying it, but it's just one aspect of one complication.  Allow a cruise ship and you allow foreign ferries, water taxis, duck boats, etc. by the same modification.
Technically the aspect that impacts cruise passengers the most is a matter of cabotage and that is also evident with the airlines.  An Air Canada plane can fly from a city in Canada and land in a US city to drop off passengers or pick up passengers to fly back to Canada.   What Air Canada can't do is land in one US city and sell seats to reach another US city.  That is protected so that US domestic airlines compete on those routes.  That is an example of a cabotage regulation.   Just as Delta can't fly to Montreal and sell seats to carry passengers to Toronto.   There are international agreements involved.  Similar cabotage regulations are baked into the PVSA for passenger vessels but cabotage is just one small component of the PVSA.  
Once you decide to revamp such an old set of laws its difficult to just focus on only aspect of the law, i.e. cabotage.  If you are going to modernize law you need to look at the whole thing.  Cruise ship passengers probably don't care about the act and everything involved, they just focus on the cruise they want to take.  So in their minds it's just as simple as saying cruise ships should be allowed to do the cruise I want to take.  It's not that simple.
Keep in mind we are talking about a cruise industry that is comprised of foreign corporations operating foreign flagged ship.  The cruise industry has taken this approach to avoid paying US taxes.   Royal Caribbean is not an American company.  They don't own any US flagged ships.   They avoid paying substantial amounts of US taxes by registering the company in Liberia and their ships in the Bahamas.  Why should the US rewrite laws to benefit foreign corporations that don't pay US tax?  Just so less than 0.0001% of the US population can go on a cruise vacation they desire?  The number of people that want to take such a voyage is a small subset of the overall cruise industry.  It's a lot to ask when you consider that it impacts such a small group of cruisers such as "I want to cruise from Hawaii and stay on the ship for a B2B ending in Seattle".  That's maybe a couple hundred people per year.