Zacharius

I would say it's about a quarter obtrusive ?

Understatement of the century. We're looking at about 45,000 cases worldwide...That is .00058% of the world population. Now, the vast majority of those are in China, and an even more vast majority of those are in East and Southeast Asia - maybe like 98%, I believe. So only 2% of the .00058% of the world's people (a) have Coronavirus and (b) are outside of E/SE Asia. These are rough numbers, and it's always changing, but just goes to show how ridiculously small of an issue this currently is outside of that region. Now, picture even just one of those people being the random few thousand people on that ship at the same time as you. The mathematician and engineer in me cannot even remotely calculate how small the odds of that are.

I'm a huge water drinker, and I also follow the rule of having one water per alcoholic drink, since any kind of hangover is usually associated with dehydration. I ALWAYS ask for (and get) a bottle of water with each alcoholic drink...never been turned down. If I don't drink the water, I stock pile a few for shore excursions since many of ours are physical and having plenty of water is important. It's a big benefit of the package that is often ignored.

Omaha Beach is definitely a bit closer. Still probably a two hour drive (maybe a bit more if you're on a bus) each way, but four hours is better than the ride to Paris! I would still highly recommend it. Rouen is a nice little city (big town?) and it's about an hour by train straight from Le Havre.

Oh yeah, been there. I ordered some kind of drink at a bar on Freedom, and my wife ordered what was clearly a better looking drink. I took one sip of hers, chugged my (mediocre) drink, and immediately ordered the same thing she did.

Assuming the Bahamian government would allow them to stay, I can't imagine Coco Cay has that much extra housing just sitting around. No idea how many PRC citizens are working on their ships, but I imagine it's a somewhat decent number.

May sound crazy, but you can walk. It's not the most relaxing walk, and many people may not be comfortable with it (perhaps for lack of relaxation, or a perceived risk), but it's about an hour walk from the cruise terminal to Cabbage Beach, for example. One way to get some good exercise when I plan (or have been) overeating and/or "overdrinking".

I would take that cruise in a heart beat.

First off, make sure you are using Air-to-Sea for the right reasons. It's not always the best choice, and may just put another layer of middle-man in between you and the airline. Are you taking it because you think they'll hold a ship for you? Not a guarantee. Lower cost? Unlikely for domestic US trips. Just one thing to consider. As far as ground transport goes, I would personally take an Uber. You control when you leave, don't have to wait on anyone.

A few times each trip I'll grab some higher end wine that requires a $3 - $8 upcharge.

Wow, that's a crap way to run a company in my book. But it explains a lot.

I'm so confused by this statement. The ships are an entity of Royal Caribbean, are they not? I can't imagine each ship is operated as their own profit center requiring cuts to please the ownership.

As have, I believe, North Korea, Mongolia, Malaysia, Palau, and Kazakhstan, which has included cutting off visa-issuance to Chinese passport holders as well. There could be other countries too, those are just the ones I remember hearing off the top of my head.

I'm a fairly regular traveler to China (several times each year) and was last there in early December. Next trip is to Changsha, Hunan in early March...I haven't cancelled yet. No point to, we have no idea what the next five weeks will bring. Knowing that China under-reports this kind of stuff, I'm guessing I won't go, but I certainly am not making any decisions this far in advance. We could all be dead by then, or we could have all forgotten it even happened. I don't know anything about your father-in-law, but based on the vast majority of people freaking out from this, I do have one recommendation - tell him to turn off the network news ?

Wait, they'll cancel your cruise if you haven't paid before final payment due date? Jeez, if they (or any company) ever did that to me, I'd make sure they never got another penny out of me.

One note is to always, always be careful with publicly open WiFi as it's very susceptible to hacking. This is true in developed AND developing countries, and is a constant risk. Using things like free tourist WiFi can be great, but also a risk. Just read up on it and surf accordingly.

My guess would be you'll have a higher-than-usual number of people who can do a salute versus a normal cruise.

I get off for a few hours. Walk around, stretch my legs, get some food, a few drinks at the brewery, and then head back and enjoy the rest of the time on the ship. But personally, I have to get off at every port for at least a short period of time, even if just to walk around...just my preference.

I wouldn't worry. The odds of something happening are so insanely small. Even compared to the plane getting shot down, that's a very different scenario and set of variables than a cruise ship getting attacked. Obviously, everyone has to do what's comfortable for them, but for me, changing plans because of a 0.0001% chance that something may happen is no way to live.

In an attempt to pack as little as possible, I have no major hacks...but I will say having a white noise app on your phone does wonders. Turn that bad boy on when it's time to sleep, and let the world drift away.

I'm probably a jerk (well, I know I am), but in my mind you don't owe them anything. Now, if you want to throw more their way, go for it...but it's not your fault if there is a glitch or you get a particularly good deal. It's not theirs either, but to me that's between them and their employer. That being said, a few extra bucks a day is still a very good deal, and in that case if you don't mind carrying cash, an extra dollar here or there might be the best way to do it.

I second this. Depending on the time of year and how late/early sunset is, I would personally head over to St John via taxi and ferry, find a westward facing beach, and enjoy. As long as the sun sets before, say, 7:45pm, that gives you absolutely tons of time to get back to the ship by 10:00pm (assuming that's when you must be on board by).

You may be overthinking this, to be honest. Rain is extremely common in that part of the world, but constant and all-day rain is not (aside from storms). It's very normal for it to rain in a small part of the day, but be perfectly beautiful the rest. Be prepared to be caught in some unexpected rain, but I am doubtful it will be so rainy as to wash out a day, let alone many days.

The only time I have ever paid more was because I ordered some higher end wines...and I wasn't informed ahead of time unless they know I had the drink package (which isn't a knock, it just means they didn't assume I had the drink package and was prepared to pay the full price). Any kind of mixed drink, even a call, has always been covered in full.