MaryCS62

from the website - Final payment of the balance must be received at Royal Caribbean's offices at least 75 days prior to the sailing date for 1 - 4 night cruise vacations and 90 days prior to the sailing date for 5-night or longer cruise vacations. The payment schedule for groups is different from that of individuals. You will usually have access to your cruise documents 30 days prior to your sailing as long as your reservation is finalized.

Just check to see what the minimum age is - never travelled with a young child, but it might be 6 months old

yes, you can use it anywhere on the ship (possible exception is Vintages, if the ship has it, and only because I never went in it, so never tried). You can also use it on Coco Cay & Labadee

Getting a little nervous about my upcoming cruise with DH - did My Time with him & DD on Anthem 4 years ago, but we were in a Jr Suite & spent most nights either in Coastal Kitchen or specialty, so was only in MDR 3 nights (of a 12 night cruise). Wasn't particularly impressed then. This time, it's just us, so we're not as concerned about the time of day, but hadn't thought about it just being the 2 of us and possibly eating with other people. Will have to see how we want to handle this - just us, or be open to dining with one or more others.

I believe French night is supposed to be the first "formal" night, which is night 2 on a 7 night cruise. Can't remember if it's different on other length cruises

and good answer - if you don't need to worry about eating lunch onboard, and you're not early risers anyway, take a later embarkation time & you can likely go straight to your cabin to drop things off and get right to exploring, having a drink, etc. Wear a bathing suit under your clothes if you're pool people and if it will be warm enough to hang out there. Whatever is good for you. We always wanted early time, but my daughter's medical issues made it difficult - but, she also needed to eat lunch, so we had to get there early enough to eat as well. This March, DH & I are sailing by ourselves, & plan on getting on with a 1030 embarkation time - pick somewhere to have lunch & sit until I can get my scooter, and he can take full advantage of his DBP

DH promised to order Lobster tail in addition to his meal if I want a 2nd one, although recently I have seen pics showing that it is large enough for me that I won't need a 2nd one, but we will see.

I don't like either of those times myself. When I cruised with my whole family in 2013, we had early dining, but it was 6pm, which was fine. When we cruised with older DD, she had early bedtime (adult,but with medical and other disabilities) we did either early or MTD, but the cruise we did MTD for, we were in a Jr suite and were in CK or specialty dining most of that 12 night cruise. We got reservations for the few nights we ate in MDR, but it really didn't please us. With younger DD, we want set dining because she has celiac and want the convenience of same time, same wait staff for her. We have late dining this time (Aug, Oasis) because older won't be with us. We're doing a B2B, and ordered the UDP for the 2nd one, do that should be interesting as well. DH and I are on Anthem in March, took MTD, and reserved between 645-715, which is ok for us. May do one specialty dining, but otherwise we'll see how it goes this time.

Your boarding pass (electronic or paper) will also indicate what Bev package you have if bought beforehand, and you can use that prior to getting your Seapass card

true, I forgot about that, but since I always sail out of Bayonne. it's midnight EST for me

Used to be 90 days, but I believe it is now 45 days, 12 midnight EST

Unfortunately, this will no longer be a problem going forward, but my late daughter (was an adult, but multiply handicapped and more like a 7 year old in her comprehension) always had the shrimp cocktail for appetizer, and cheesecake with chocolate sauce for dessert - if we found something else she liked, we could offer it, but she really enjoyed those options. As long as there was either fish or macaroni available, dinners were pretty easy, although she also had Crohn's disease, so there were certain textures and spices that we tried to avoid as well. The listed menus seem to all have something I would enjoy, but I guess I'll see in March, and hopefully will be able to scope out the gluten free options for when my younger DD joins us in August.

@nate91- sorry, for some reason quoting your post isn't working for me, so I hope you see this. When you mention your wife's restrictions, how exactly did they handle them? There are no longer gluten free options specifically listed, so did they just address them on the fly, or did she have to do the "choose the night before" to see what they could do? Traveling w/ DD in August, and gluten free is a must - dairy free is nice, but can be handled with lactaid tablets for the most part.

I've found that if you look it up as a "new" cruise, you get this info after you pick the cruise from the search page-- 7 Night Bahamas & Perfect Day Cruise Back to search results Leaving from Cape Liberty, New Jersey onboard Anthem of the Seas Mar 12, 2023Mar 19, 2023 Change date Day Port 1 Cape Liberty, New Jersey Departs At 3:00 PM 2 Cruising Day At Sea 3 ORLANDO (PORT CANAVERAL), FL From 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM 4 Nassau, Bahamas From 12:00 PM - 8:00 PM 5 Perfect Day at CocoCay, Bahamas From 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM 6 - 7 Cruising Day At Sea 8 Cape Liberty, New Jersey Arrives At 6:00 AM

Haven't brought it up yet, as it's still far enough away that it's just the germ of an idea, plus then they have 2 hrs each way (which they may not mind, but not sure). If they offer, I'll certainly consider it.

that 1st one might be an option - my preference is not to pay, as not going into the parks at all. Thanks for the info

So - there's really nothing I want to do in Port Canaveral, but I'm taking 3 very similar cruises where that is the first port stop. I do have friends that live about an hour north of Orlando, so was thinking initially of renting a car to drive to Orlando & meet them there for a meal & visit, but between what I've heard about the current state of car rentals at the port, and the possible difficulty in getting one, I was thinking instead of taking one of the transportation excursions to Orlando, & having them pick us up there. Problem is, other than Disney, I'm not sure where the drop off is, and obviously, I don't want them to have to pay for parking if they are just picking us up. I know Disney drops off at the TTC, but you can't get a bus from there to Disney Springs, (at least I don't think so), which would be the most convenient place to meet. Also - I know if we are dropped off in the lot, we could always walk out of the parking area, but I have very bad knees, and while I will be using a scooter on the cruise, I wasn't planning on using it for this (if only for the problem of bringing it). Does anyone know "specifically" where the drop off is for either SeaWorld or Universal Studios is? Thanks!!

Thanks for the giggle - I'm currently at work (on 3.5 hrs sleep), so I needed that

BTW, if you plan on specialty dining, drop by at some point prior to your reservation and ask what accommodations they can make. Also - Windjammer may have a gluten free section (some do, but other people are not always as careful around the buffets as they should be), but if you don't see anything, ask to speak to the chef & tell them what you want, and if they have more in the back, they can bring you out something fresh. Somewhat defeats the purpose of the buffett (quick grazing of trying what you want - but you may already be used to that).

I've never sailed Liberty, but when we sail with my daughter, who does have Celiac, we always notify in advance so that it is in her reservation. Speaking with the headwaiter is a good idea - she then gets the next night's menu in advance, & if something is not already labeled gluten free, they can make modifications to it to make it that way. Desserts are the only thing that they don't have a lot of options for - at least in the MDR -- she ends up with a lot of creme brulee. However, she's never had a case of being glutened on board. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/dining-dietary-restrictions-customer-care

that's what I said we are doing, at least for the March cruise. DH will then decide if he wants to do refreshment with the occasional alcohol purchase, or get the DXB again for himself.

Due to health reasons, I will no longer buy the DBP - really can't have that much alcohol. I do get the refreshment package, even though I'm not going to have too many mocktails - again, health reasons, too much sugar - but will drink soda, sparkling waters & specialty coffee. Thinking about bringing on wine for dinner. Plus, if DH wants the DXB, I have to get it, and during the Black Friday sale, the price differential between that and the soda package wasn't too much. We have a cruise in March, & DH will use that experience to see if he wants to upgrade from Refreshment to DXB for our Oasis B2B in August. We were hoping to be Diamond by now, but Covid & other problems cancelled too many cruises, so not there yet.

Have you been on Vision before? Thinking about a march 2024 cruise, but it's out of Baltimore, so would have to travel down from NJ the night before

That helps, actually. We will likely use either a middling size suitcase or a larger duffel - don't want to carry too much on, especially since we've only a balcony, so no special treatment, and would like early check in, so we will basically get on, check in at muster station & park ourselves til the rooms are ready.

We have a cruise out of Bayonne in March (hopefully - we've tried a few times since restart & various things have prevented us from going), but it will be the first time with just DH & I, and since I walk with a cane, it means DH will have to handle most of the carry-on stuff. I will also be traveling with a piece of medical equipment that fits in a smallish wheeled duffle, but then nothing else fits in it. I don't want to check it, but want to be able to have that extra stuff - change of clothing, jewelery, medication, etc in the bag. If a larger bag does fit through the security machine, then that would solve our problem . Any idea what the dimensions are?