Zacharius

There's really no set times. Not only do airline schedules change regularly throughout the year, but Royal Caribbean will put you on the flight that's cheapest to them. That may be nonstop, it may not be. So everyone's experience could be different. 

38 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I still remember what a crew member said to me as we walked off the ship the first time we went to labadee.

 

"Welcome to fake Haiti "

So true. I love real Haiti, but fake Haiti is nice too

I will say that I have absolutely no personal experience with Dayuse.com, but their whole thing is that they will source you day rooms at hotels...something some hotels do, and others don't, so having the option to find them on one site is handy. Whether or not you can book them directly with the hotel, or if the website is worthwhile, is not something I can comment on. 

Some in Vancouver have, for example, 9am to 5pm or 10am to 6pm reservations. Something like 10am to 6pm might work well because you would then only need to worry about killing a couple of hours before heading to the airport, which is quite easy to do in Vancouver. 

2 hours ago, tjcruisers said:

I've never put it in airplane mode, just turned the data roaming off.

Yep...I travel internationally for a living, have done so for 17 years, and I have never had one penny of unexpected international phone fees. That includes on cruises. It's pretty easy to keep your phone on the whole time and avoid charges. 

 

A deeper balcony provides more room to sit on the balcony, but from the physics of it, inside the cabin it reduces the field (angle) of view.  That is, from the same view point inside the cabin, you will have a more narrow view available with the deeper balcony.

The engineer in me is so happy that physics got brought up in this convo 

20 hours ago, CruisingNewb said:

It is a cardinal rule that if you are an adult, the number one, first and foremost, most important, absolutely necessary thing to do once you board is order a drink! 

I once bypassed this rule and decided to hop in the pool (instead of the bar) immediately upon arrival. While getting in, I slipped and sprained by thumb. It was incredibly painful and almost considered leaving the ship to run to an urgent care before departure. Instead, I went and got a Bud Light aluminum can and held it against my finger while drinking. Several years later, I occasionally still have pain in that thumb, but it taught me the importance of alcohol on vacation. 

19 hours ago, Ryan79 said:

That is more than a rule, it’s tradition!!! 

Law, one would say. International law. 

34 minutes ago, Cactus527 said:

Every single ST actor/actress I would want to meet is on this cruise. WHY AM I NOT SIGNED UP YET?????

Yeah this lineup looks particularly strong. Maybe it's time to finally pull the trigger. 

13 minutes ago, CrimsonCruiser said:

Unless Jean Luc Picard is tucking me in every night

This is a terrible idea, but if you're dead set on it, I definitely recommend pricing out a one-way rental to pick up at MCO Airport and drop off either at FLL Airport or the cruiseport itself. Either way, you're making it way too easy to miss your cruise with this itinerary. 

I have always wanted to do this...honestly not sure why I haven't. My wife always makes fun of me, but as someone who grew up on TNG, DS9 and Voyager, it truly is a bucket list item for me. Not sure I'm the "Dress up as Dr. Reyga" kind of guy, but would still love to go. But year...every year I just forget about it until it's too late. 

50 minutes ago, Bingee said:

Is it worth the extra £100 per head via RC to ensure getting back on the boat or will one of the many other operators get us back on time?
Also do you have any recommendations, please.

Heck no. As mentioned, there are tons of legit third-party excursions all over the world. It will take some research, but usually results in getting more for less. Look for the companies that have been around for years, because they wouldn't be around that long if they made customers miss the ship. 

42 minutes ago, Mturk said:

My brother and his family stayed there in March. He wasn't impressed at said he wouldn't book there again and that it was very basic. Another hotel to stay away from is the Ivy Hotel. It looked nice in pictures and i originally booked it for my family for our March cruise through Expedia. At the time of booking, the website said that i would only be charged when i checked-in but the hotel had other ideas and charged my credit card that same night. We decided that we would go back to the Marriott Stelaris and so i cancelled the reservation at Ivy, which had free cancellation. It took me about 2 months to get my refund and only after many emails and phone calls with Expedia and the hotel. It finally got resolved when Expedia wrote me a letter to give to my credit card company to dispute the charge. Once they had that they reversed the charge.

Based on what you're saying, I could see that being an issue with your travel agent (Expedia) as much as with the hotel. I could see it being either - Expedia incorrectly listing it as a "pay later" rate, or the hotel incorrectly charging early. 

You mention nothing about your citizenship, which is critical information. Pending that, yes, the Canadian Government is the best (and really only) source to get that info. 

16 hours ago, wordell1 said:

Costco only takes Visa.  Since you are using them as your TA, you will have to pay through them.

It kind of depends how you shop at Costco, and where Costco Travel "lives" within the Costco system (answer: I don't know). Costco stores and gas stations only take Visa, but Costco.com purchases can also be done in Mastercard, Discover, JCB, and Diners (because apparently some people still live in 1983 and use Diners). Obviously none are Amex, but more than just Visa. 

17 minutes ago, RCVoyager said:

That's a great point.  We are flying in a day early for a cruise, so I wasn't as worried about it.  Haven't booked yet and can go out of Indy or Cincinnati.

While flying in a day ahead is wonderful, it's still a bit risky with these airlines that have limited presence on routes (or even limited presence in a city). For example, Allegiant only flies 3 or 4x weekly CVG-SFB, so while that extra day might buy them time to get in a new aircraft or crew should there be an issue, there is still more of a concern to me than someone like DL, for example, who not only flies CVG-MCO at least 2x daily but can re-route you via ATL, DTW, MSP, and more. 

3 hours ago, lkg276 said:

Consider looking at Allegiant to SFB (Orlando Sanford) 

I have nothing against Allegiant, but I am always hesitant to book an airline like Allegiant, Frontier or Spirit in the case of a time sensitive event like a cruise, wedding, or business trip. Their limited schedule and general lack of being able to re-route/re-accommodate you can cause serious issues. I've taken Spirit and Allegiant to, for example, a guys weekend in Vegas...if I am late or flat out miss it, it stinks but isn't a big deal. I wouldn't risk it to something like a cruise where, if I miss it, I'm in a lot bigger trouble. In that case, an airline like AA, DL, UA, or WN can offer a myriad of re-routing options with a better chance of getting you there. 

I have never heard of them, but as someone who travels for a living and has seen a million scams, this sounds...sketchy as hell. I can picture any legit way this actually works. 

"Food" is pretty broad. As sammyg mentioned, avoid fresh/perishable items since those are often against customs laws. Packaged/non-perishable food is usually fine. 

16 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

This would be at Canada immigrations at the airport, not the cruise port.

 

I understand, I was just using another means of transportation and another country to highlight. It's on the passenger at the time of booking to make sure they're able to actually get in to the country; it's generally not on the transportation provider to verify that until travel actually occurs. 

1 hour ago, Bmac said:

I called RCL and was told I would have to pay a 25% penalty for cancellation which is unacceptable to me as I was never made aware of this requirement. 

If you book a flight to China, American Airlines isn't going to hold your hand on visa/entry documentation at booking. It's up to you to sort it and them to verify it when you check in. Cruises aren't really any different...you, as the passenger, need to make sure you have the proper documentation (however obscure it may be) for every country you're visiting. 

I don't have an exact answer for your question, but the times I have disembarked at San Juan, I have found US immigration to be particularly slow. And whenever I fly out of SJU, I have found TSA/security to be particularly slow. So, I wouldn't be super eager to cut it close. 

13 hours ago, CruiseGus said:

time for the US to step up with Biometric Passports, then you will "Never Leave Home Without It"

Not quite sure what you mean, the US (like most countries) issue biometric passports these days. There are some African and Asian countries that don't, but most countries (including the US) do. 

I think this is a case of (a) where you are, (b) what citizenship do you have, and (c) where is the next stop. Here's why:

(a) where you are - does the country require non-citizens to carry their passport? Most of Europe is not the case here, but other places do. Also, "where are you" meaning "is it safe to carry your passport?" In Europe, not really an issue; in some other countries, it can be unsafe to carry valuables (including passports and electronics). 

(b) what is your citizenship - how easy is it to get a new passport? If you are a US citizen, while it is a bit of a pain in the ass, it's not too hard to find a US consulate/embassy to go to, especially in Europe. If you are, say, a Namibian citizen (like me, who is dual)...well, it's a bit trickier. We have like 6-7 embassies in all of Europe. If I lose my Namibian passport and don't have another to fall back on, it's a pain. 

(c) where is the next stop - if you are in Rome and the next stop is Marseilles, it's easy to hop on a train and get to Marseilles without a passport. If the next stop is, say, Greece, or Morocco, it's not so easy. 

That may sound overly complicated, so I will just say that in most cases I do NOT bring my passport off of the ship. Sometimes I do. No matter what, I carry a copy of the information page in addition to photo ID (driving license) and the other stuff in my wallet. 

So I'll say this as someone who is an extremely adventurous traveler and has been to (and eaten in) something like 75% of the countries in this world. I have only been sick a few times, and half of those times were in "safe" places (US, western Europe, that kind of thing). Obviously there's going to be a risk in a lot of places eating the local food away from touristy areas (or even in touristy areas), but if you're of good health, you will likely be fine. I do avoid water in many countries in the world, though...that scares me much more. 

14 minutes ago, twangster said:

Loyalty to an airline doesn't pay these days.  

I personally disagree. The number of times I have been bailed out on delays/cancellations/flight changes by AA/OneWorld over the years, including just last week, has saved me so much time and frustration. My domestic Y to F upgrades are almost 100%, and my international J to F upgrades do still occasionally happen (though I am still shocked when they do). The number of miles in my account means my wife and I never have to pay to fly on vacation or to visit family, which we do quite often. To each their own, but my loyalty to AA/OneWorld continues to pay off for me.