AlohaLivin

It was a little spooky! See, I wasn’t going to say anything about that psychic twin link thingy, but..... ?. @Solariumsnoozer - I would be happy to help, it was the best trip of our lives ?

I agree with what @SpeedNoodles said - I love to go in June (splits the difference with a litttle cool and sometimes a “little warm”) and we,much prefer a small or medium sized ship since those are able to reach areas such as Endicott Arm that I would not want to miss. We have only found real time for more lengthy travel in the last couple of years, so last summer was our first Alaskan cruise and it was the best ever! Because we have to fly all the way across the United States diagonally to get to either Seattle or Vancouver, we took an extra week and stayed in Vancouver. We absolutely loved it (I was the “tour operator” and I lined up a day at Bowen Island, a day at Stanley Park, and days and days of walking across Vancouver and we needed it since the food is fantastic). But Seattle is also an amazing city and one of my favorites (the people and views in the NW are great). You cannot go wrong with either - but if you decide to go to Vancouver let me know and I will be glad to share the details of our week of fun there! Happy Sailing ??

You are TOO generous! ??

Weren’t you going to send me some of that awesome sauce... it has not arrived as yet ?

You know, either people didn’t scroll to the “see all” or the bungalows aren’t there! We have one reserved for a cruise late May and those are prefect for us since with just the 2 of us I would think it was a total waste of hard earned money to get a cabana for 1day (we love the water, but not a beach per se). I do hope they will still be available! ?

interesting! I have heard of people taking pictures of the passport so they would have that information if they had to get them in a rush, but it hadn’t occurred to me to take a photo of the birth certificate. I agree with @WAAAYTOOO that it may not work in all cases, but it seems advisable under the “it could work” playbook. ?

It’s is $15 more currently for global, but when we first got pre-check was all quite new and we still had kids at home and less travel freedom, so....? But next time we have to redo we will add global. I am all about adding on whatever I can I had to make things as quick as possible! When we got caught in the craziness that was gone Orlando airport in early Feb CLEAR cut off maybe an hour for us after standing in a mass of humans for 3.5. hours - you never know!

The shampoo and condition (aka rinse) in the cabins isn’t bad, but I usually take my own since it would not be a good time to find your hair hated their’s ? And definitely she needs to bring curling iron, flat iron, or any other styling tools. I go back-and-forth on the hairdryer thing. I like taking mine, it dries my hair fast; and in case no one already said this, the ones in the cabins usually require you to hold the “on” button the entire time (a total pain) ? But, some people take zip ties and rubber bands to get around that problem.?? @SpeedNoodles mentioned the hotel issue and that’s a great point (she’s my twin, I’m not biased though ?). I save the samples that I get from purchases from Sephora, Ulta, etc. of shampoo, conditioner, face cleanser, face lotion, and about anything else to use for the hotel the night before and also the last morning of the cruise when they have taken your suitcases the night prior! I even found these great disposable toothbrushes at my dentist’s office that have toothpaste already in the bristles (Note. He has less of them now, but with 2 implants I more than covered their cost! ? ?).

My understanding is that port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale) has Global Entry, but that no cruise ports have TSA pre-check at this point. We have CLEAR and pre-check; the latter expires next year and I dread going through that process again (we need a half day off for it due to our location). This time we’re going to get global entry, it’s not even $20 more so it makes sense.

My father was born in Toccoa and I still have a number of cousins there. He was President of Truett-McConnell College toward the end of his life and very much enjoyed being back near home in the beautiful Georgia mountains ? Hopefully we will cruise with you and @VolFanInGa some day ??

Toccoa area? We are in West Georgia. When We go to Costa Maya we usually get out to the countryside - I know that’s not what you’re wanting to do, but if you happen to see any of that honey pineapple and that ground, dried jalapeño with salt baggies, please mail me some!

Oooooooh! You are very bad, very bad! Naughty! And worse than that the pictures now in my head... ???????

Also a twin plum party?!? woot woot! ??? Let’s all get in our dancing shoes and show those pineapples how to boogie down (pretty sure that I just aged myself) ?

We will be too, we could have a plum party ??

I just have to pray that the pineapples that I know are NOT swinging anything with anyone ???

AMEN. Just reading someone say they would kick an animal raises my blood pressure rather high and I do hope that it was just a really distasteful joke. The human is at fault, you can’t blame an animal for being an animal or for holding it as long as it could. That’s no better than to say you would throw a baby across the room because it wet it’s diaper. ? So before the bp goes higher I will just post some lovely furbabies ? I have had both dogs and cats (hamsters, etc.) in my life. But 3 years ago we lost our 16 and 17-year-old dogs within five days of one another from old age (that was a bad f-g week), so after 2 1/2 years when I still couldn’t bring myself to get another dog we rescued these sweet kitties - this is Mya and Molly ? @Tim B.and @SpeedNoodles Lovely furkids!

You just now figuring that out!?? ?

I have a hard time with that too, not touching them... I often say that I will likely die trying to stop someone from being neglectful or mean to a furry thing OR touching a furry thing that didn’t want to be touched ? We all are going somehow, right?!?

Hey, I feel your pain, it’s nuts and I know you are not even a little stupid! It’s the 14 day issue that is throwing us... it says 14 days to use it when it means 14 days to apply it to a cruise (one you booked in the last 30 days). The sail date can (apparently, I cannot swear to this part) be during the next 1 year but you have to call and APPLY it to the reservation in the 14 days after getting it. I know, nuts! And not at all what is written. So if I am understanding correctly you would be fine if the sail date was in the next year ? Sorry ?

You are right! It is funny that we have just been having a similar discussion on my professional listserv because we are so often getting patients wanting us to sign off on them using an emotional support animals. That category is more for housing restrictions and sometimes transportation, but has nothing to do with the criteria for assistance animals (specially trained to guide, detect medical conditions, and perform other critical functions). I love my pets and don’t like to leave them, but that is far different than it being a medical necessity that they be with me at all times. I had recently written a guide for my patients on the topic to reduce some of the useless discussions on the matter. Many organizations are now placing tighter restrictions on the animals that are allowed in/on (including RCL) since so many people have ended up with fake internet certifications. One thing many don’t consider is that as much as many of us adore our fur children, there are also quite a number of people who have fear related to animals and their presence in public places can sometimes be an “emotional” hindrance to them. @twangster I too often find myself hoping that karma will be a royal b*tch!

You’ve had the same question if have had recently. The person who worded that should be fired ? If I wrote research papers like that I would’ve been booted to the curb. From what I understand from my recent deep dive is that the “14 day” requirement is not about the actually sailing date but when you call RCL to have it applied to the cruise you booked within the last 30 days? That isn’t close to what it says! It still is a ridiculously narrow window, but at least they aren’t expecting me to book cruises mere weeks out! ? I have also learned that on cruises where there is a casino-related discount they cannot be used (and those discounts are too good to give up) - I guess I will check my other voucher options.

I found that confusing too. If you take it literally, it’s suggest that you could only use it on a cruise booked 30 day or less out!? Some specify both the 30 days and give the “use within 14 days” also! I would like to use the 50,000 that I have accumulated for a $100 onboard credit for our May cruise, however .... @monctonguy I started it a couple months ago now - there are lots of tricks to getting free money, including signing on frequently and daily to get Higher multiples. You also get higher points for having more friends playing (feel free to add me and then check my friend’s list for other adds; I’m under “Lynn Vegas” there ?). Those friends who play can offer free points to you in various ways (through “gifts”, by playing and posting wins, by sharing rewards, etc). I rarely run out of money now, but I did at first before learning these methods. You will pretty quickly learn the tricks! The best thing is to get all four of the MyVegas apps (pop!, Konami. Blackjack and myvegas slots). If you link them all to your Facebook account the points accumulate whether you play the apps them separately or simultaneously on different devices). There are a few you can let run on auto for longer periods and that is what I try to do (pop! wants me to pay attention ? ) @ZiggyZaggers I’m confused - that seems impossible unless you see buying a LOT of chips yourself (vs free ones) and you are playing 24/7 and even then I cannot imagine collecting half that many. Is it possible that you’re looking at the amount of money that you have one instead of the amount of loyalty points earned?

Happened to me twice last year - the concierge’s assistant said “it’s the sunscreen” I would not have guessed that!

Just my opinion, but Millennia mall (my sister recommended this when I just called her) is likely to be more interesting. Most of the outlet mall stores are not selling the same items that are sold at the same named non-outlet stores, but are instead creating lower quality items just for the outlets (unless you luck across something like a Macy’s or Dillards outlet and those are never at the outlet malls). The Chicos, Talbots, Coach, and many of the other outlets stores at the “outlet malls” are selling completely different items and most are of a lower quality. Not to say that you can’t find something you like, it just is not likely to be as good a bargain as it might seem. The bargains of factory stores are for the most part a thing of the past (since so much manufacturing left the US in the 80’s). I very much hope that you have a wonderful trip! Safe travels ?

Hello and welcome! I cannot disagree that tipping is out of hand ( as you point out, when it’s a minimum wage worker I am happy to tip, when it’s the independent hairstylist who just charged me $250 I am far less pleased). I will answer what I can of your questions, I am sure others will pipe in as there is a lot of knowledge here. On excursions – we use a combination of independent and ship sponsored excursions. Often the same ones the ship offers are offered independently with a lesser price and fewer people packed in. Those who prefer the ship based ones often point out that if you are late the ship is obliged to wait on you. Trip Advisor and the various boards are the main way that we search for quality excursions. On the poker – in my experience, although not a poker player, the casinos on the ships are just like the casinos anywhere else (with the main differences being in minimums and payout rates). There are people on this board who are very familiar with casinos and I’m sure they will be willing to help. On upgrades - these have gone the way of airline upgrades, that is they don’t exist. At least free ones do not exist. They now give you the option to bid for upgrades and a great many people try to do that. I have no clue how successful they usually are on average. Open shopping – remember that Orlando has a lot of traffic, so getting from one place to another may not be as easy as it would seem on a map. There’s also not going to be a great deal of discount shopping in that area since there’s a lot of money there already and visiting. If you can’t find this information from someone who is shopping in Orlando often, message me and I will ask my sister who lives in Orlando for some suggestions. Note. I do not know this particular hotel location. Alcoholic drinks - in general there’s no free drinks. But, they are not much more expensive than you would find them anywhere else. The caveat is it if you were sailing in a suite, a grand suite or above, there are likely free drinks at the lounge for suite’s guests (not the higher priced drinks, but beer, wine, and basic mixed drinks are free during certain hours). General tips - I am an overpacker and an overplanner, so I don’t know if I’m a good one to give advice! I would say in general do your best not to sweat the small stuff. There is nothing that you must see or do to have a great vacation. You can have a perfectly wonderful vacation without taking an excursion and without going to any specialty restaurants. I’m not familiar with this ship, but in my experience the shows in the evenings are typically very much worth the effort to see them. And I would also suggest taking advantage of the “formal night” - it’s a good chance to have a special evening, it is fun dressing up with everyone (or most), and even the photo opportunities on that night can be great fun (and can be quite good, those give us the photo for our holiday cards every year now!) I’m headed to my office, and that’s all I can think of this morning, but I wish you happy sailing! And feel free to ask any questions – the people here are very friendly ??