HeWhoWaits

Careful what you wish for - it might be $25 per drink rather than per day.

Then you meant "evening refresh." THAT we got every night (except the one time we forgot to remove our "Sleeping off the adventure" door sign. True turndown service is something we always had before Covid, never since.

Offer to answer any questions the newbie has rather than offering too many suggestions. The things YOU think need to be known may not be what HE wants to know. And don't assume that the new person will have the same experience as you, even if you're doing the same things. Definitely a YMMV situation when experienced cruisers travel with new cruisers.

We got cruise compasses and towel animals (every other night unlike the nightly in the past). Just no turndown of the bed.

Three cruises this year - not a single example of turndown service was experienced. The bed looked the same when we returned at night as it did a noon.

And regardless of the times that the bottled water is available, you should take advantage and pick up a couple bottles when you have the chance. They're great to have when going ashore.

First trip AFTER reaching D+ or on the trip you got there? We reached enough points during our most recent cruise and didn't receive any luggage tags.

You can absolutely purchase a soda package for just one person. There is no "unlimited coffee pass" as such, but there is regular coffee available at no charge and you can find discount cards for upcharge coffee in the cruise planner that may be purchased for just one person.

Once on board, you're on a different accounting system than the pre-cruise purchases.

We all know that there are a bunch of this type of poster.

Got our money back as refundable OBC. That's all we expected to get so all was well with us.

This is a great example of sharing the reasons a particular cruise or particular ship was less than anticipated (or even possibly "the worst ever" among those cruises the poster has taken. Thank you.

We've had things canceled AFTER we boarded (and not just those that happen because of an itinerary change necessitated by weather or a medical emergency). It doesn't happen often, but it's not something new.

My wife's favorite is the pistachio pound cake. Usually only shows up once a week in Windjammer.

Diamond vouchers can be used anywhere you "purchase" drinks (alcoholic and otherwise). This includes ordering in the MDR and specialty restaurants.

No chance to accomplish that. Just sign up for an afternoon boarding window and enjoy the game THEN head to the ship.

That is correct. You also see DD for Darling Daughter but I don't recall ever seeing DS in reference to male offspring.

We did this excursion in July. We had five stops. The tour guide kept calling one stop a "distillery" but it was a brewery (not bad but Watlings would've been better). Our version included New Duff, Tasty Teas, the brewery, a stop to get conch fritters, and a lunch at the last stop. The history and sights included during the driving around was a bonus.

I qualify as an old fart, but most of my alcohol consumption on cruises happens after dinner.

The brig on the ship is always an option. No need to finish cruising first.

Making a paper list of shows and times from previous cruises is a great idea. There is someone available to help with app questions during the cruise. On both Ovation and Freedom this year, there was a kiosk set up with scheduled hours. The time was fairly long on embarkation day and reduced as the cruise went on. If the tech helper isn't available, Guest Services can assist with most app-related questions as well. Your parents just need to not be afraid to ask for help.

I-95 is used on Royal ships to designate the work and crew access corridor on Deck 1.

Take an old hotel key card for the slot. Any old card will do.

Your experience is based on taking a boat to Blue Lagoon. We were booked through Royal on an excursion that used a bus. All of those excursions had to walk about 3/4 of a mile to get to the excursion pickup spot (and back afterward).

For excursions that use local transport, it was quite a walk from the far pier shown above. They had a few golf carts that indicated they were only for mobility issues. The application of "mobility issues" was pretty tight - only if you were in a wheelchair as I saw some folks who didn't "qualify" for the cart who had to stop and sit several times along the way. The distance walked is currently a little more than usual because of construction going on at the piers.