Brobbins246

Also your meeting location should be somewhere on the ship like one of the clubs or theater so you won't have to disembark on your own and find your group on shore.  

Also your meeting location should be somewhere on the ship like one of the clubs or theater so you won't have to disembark on your own and find your group on shore.  

We had also a private tour from Costa Maya , it took us around 15 minutes to go to the meeting point outside of the port. The main issue is that the port is build like a maze to keep you in as much as they can . The exist signs are not that visible and we had to ask at least twice for direction. I suggest to take extra time while in port. 

The pier tends to be the long walk, the taxi stand is 5 minutes through the port area.  From the ship maybe a 10-15 minute walk to the taxis.  

My son has cochlear implants, which include external parts similar to amped-up hearing aids that have to be charged and electronically dried out each night.  They're wall-powered (ie, the USB charging hub won't help us with this), so we were able to request an extension cord to have additional plug options in the room.  And we have parents with CPAP issues, so the special needs department knows us well already.  

My son has cochlear implants, which include external parts similar to amped-up hearing aids that have to be charged and electronically dried out each night.  They're wall-powered (ie, the USB charging hub won't help us with this), so we were able to request an extension cord to have additional plug options in the room.  And we have parents with CPAP issues, so the special needs department knows us well already.  

They gather people in the theater to be ready to disembark as soon as possible. If they try to gather people at the published arrival time some people are always late.  By ‘starting’ an excursion before the publushed arrival time it better ensures everyone is there and they can stream groups off as soon as the ship is cleared without waiting for the inevitable stragglers   
In some cases where tenders are involved at some ports the ship might have an 8 am ‘published’ arrival time, excursion tenders can run before those open to other non-excursion guests. 

If this guy got that Bahamian navy boat (you know the one I'm talking about) to actually move and do something--I think we all owe this man a round of applause.

I haven't been on a cruise since 1998 (and it was also RCL), so I can't speak from recent experience, but from what I've read while planning my cruise this past year, not everyone gets or uses a lanyard.  It seems a lot of people are moving towards cell phone wallets or cases that hold your SeaPass and other flat essentials.  Or when you say, "does everyone get a lanyard," if you mean "receive" a lanyard from RC, like at boarding, I don't believe that happens at all.  I haven't seen anyone mentioning that.
Dining on RCL has these options:
"Traditional Dining" in the main dining room where you can select the early or late seating for your entire cruise and usually have the same wait staff and table mates (if any) throughout the week "My Time Dining" in the MDR where you can show up whenever you want and request a table on a walk-in/stand-by basis, or you can also reserve specific times for each night of your cruise through the cruise planner, like booking activities.   Specialty dining are the non-complimentary restaurants where you either pay through a flat-rate cover charge, a la carte pricing, or through a dining package. The Do or Do Not Bring list is probably very similar for RCL as for other cruise lines.  The biggies on the do not bring list would be fire hazards like extension cords, surge protectors, clothes steamer/irons (hair curling & flat irons are OK), space heater, coffee maker, etc., and any form of alcohol with the exception of two 750ml bottles of wine or champagne allowed per stateroom.  You're also allowed to bring (I believe) 12 bottles of non-alcoholic beverages on board such as soda, juice and bottled water.
For more first timer tips, I'd recommend scanning through this link if you haven't already.  Have fun planning and getting hooked on RCL!!
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/getting-started

I haven't been on a cruise since 1998 (and it was also RCL), so I can't speak from recent experience, but from what I've read while planning my cruise this past year, not everyone gets or uses a lanyard.  It seems a lot of people are moving towards cell phone wallets or cases that hold your SeaPass and other flat essentials.  Or when you say, "does everyone get a lanyard," if you mean "receive" a lanyard from RC, like at boarding, I don't believe that happens at all.  I haven't seen anyone mentioning that.
Dining on RCL has these options:
"Traditional Dining" in the main dining room where you can select the early or late seating for your entire cruise and usually have the same wait staff and table mates (if any) throughout the week "My Time Dining" in the MDR where you can show up whenever you want and request a table on a walk-in/stand-by basis, or you can also reserve specific times for each night of your cruise through the cruise planner, like booking activities.   Specialty dining are the non-complimentary restaurants where you either pay through a flat-rate cover charge, a la carte pricing, or through a dining package. The Do or Do Not Bring list is probably very similar for RCL as for other cruise lines.  The biggies on the do not bring list would be fire hazards like extension cords, surge protectors, clothes steamer/irons (hair curling & flat irons are OK), space heater, coffee maker, etc., and any form of alcohol with the exception of two 750ml bottles of wine or champagne allowed per stateroom.  You're also allowed to bring (I believe) 12 bottles of non-alcoholic beverages on board such as soda, juice and bottled water.
For more first timer tips, I'd recommend scanning through this link if you haven't already.  Have fun planning and getting hooked on RCL!!
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/getting-started

I haven't been on a cruise since 1998 (and it was also RCL), so I can't speak from recent experience, but from what I've read while planning my cruise this past year, not everyone gets or uses a lanyard.  It seems a lot of people are moving towards cell phone wallets or cases that hold your SeaPass and other flat essentials.  Or when you say, "does everyone get a lanyard," if you mean "receive" a lanyard from RC, like at boarding, I don't believe that happens at all.  I haven't seen anyone mentioning that.
Dining on RCL has these options:
"Traditional Dining" in the main dining room where you can select the early or late seating for your entire cruise and usually have the same wait staff and table mates (if any) throughout the week "My Time Dining" in the MDR where you can show up whenever you want and request a table on a walk-in/stand-by basis, or you can also reserve specific times for each night of your cruise through the cruise planner, like booking activities.   Specialty dining are the non-complimentary restaurants where you either pay through a flat-rate cover charge, a la carte pricing, or through a dining package. The Do or Do Not Bring list is probably very similar for RCL as for other cruise lines.  The biggies on the do not bring list would be fire hazards like extension cords, surge protectors, clothes steamer/irons (hair curling & flat irons are OK), space heater, coffee maker, etc., and any form of alcohol with the exception of two 750ml bottles of wine or champagne allowed per stateroom.  You're also allowed to bring (I believe) 12 bottles of non-alcoholic beverages on board such as soda, juice and bottled water.
For more first timer tips, I'd recommend scanning through this link if you haven't already.  Have fun planning and getting hooked on RCL!!
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/getting-started

I had to cancel two refundable bookings.  Each had a $250 deposit.  The two deposits were charged separately as two distinct $250 charges. 
 Here is how Royal refunded them:

Only explanation I can think of is that their credit card agreement must contain some verbiage that provides greater relief for processing multiple credits under specific amounts compared to simply refunding the original charges. 
Or... their IT department strikes again.  

The three days is the time it took for his shorts to go the correct way back out of his butt.

To be fair, we're all trying to think of new things to do while docked in Nassau.....

To be fair, we're all trying to think of new things to do while docked in Nassau.....

To be fair, we're all trying to think of new things to do while docked in Nassau.....

To be fair, we're all trying to think of new things to do while docked in Nassau.....

Also if you book any 3rd party shore excursions during the planning process, I recommend doing the credit card foreign authorization thing before charging your deposits as well.  Find out what country the charges will come from (for example Cayman Islands for Island Marketing Ltd charges) and give your cc company their name, country of origin and amount you'll be charging. I didn't do this before putting three deposits down on the same day, and as the charges started hitting my account, my cc rejected them and sent me an alert to call and authorize them.  I then had to contact the excursion company again and have them resubmit the charges.  Major pain in the a$$ that could have easily been avoided. 

One thing to do right now if you haven't already is check into getting a travel agent.  Even if you booked your cruise directly with RC, if it's been less than (I believe 60) days, you can still have your trip assigned to the TA so you'll have a knowledgeable planning partner at no cost to you.  A lot of us on this site use MEI Travel, and you can reach out to them for an agent.  
Also start doing research on your ports of call to get an idea of what activities you might like to do for shore excursions.  Some islands have better beaches than others, some are good for self-exploring, where others are advised to stick with something more organized, etc.  You might see some excursions already available for booking in your cruise planner, but others will definitely be added later, so you can keep checking back for more options.  Don't be afraid of independent excursion operators either - just do your homework to make sure they're reputable and offers refunds if your ship docks late or has to route to another island, things like that.  
In my experience, RC seems to offer the best discounts overall on Black Friday, so definitely watch for those and reprice any purchases you've already made that are cheaper then.  
Have fun!!!!

Be sure to check to make sure your travel agent doesn't charge you. While possibly not the majority, some agents/agencies DO charge a service fee (I got stuck with a $100 service fee for booking my cruise with a local travel agent - she offered last week to book my flight for another $50 service fee - needless to say I've booked my next cruise with an MEI agent).

I am sailing in March from Sydney to South Pacific ! Thanks on your post

Well I guess it depends on the kids ?
When I was written it I was mainly thinking about the language and some of the scenes not for the story line or what it come to represent. There is not any nudity there and after all the main things here are the songs.
I will say , if , for example you feel comfortable to watch a chapter of "The Big Bang Theory" (mostly PG rated)  with your kids  you should not have a problem to watch it as I found  Mama Mia even to be less explicit. 
Anyway , its a excellent show with very good ensemble. 

@Traveler I was reading through old trip blogs and saw where you said Mamma Mia! might not be appropriate for kids.  I'll be on Allure in a couple months with my 16 & 11 yo kids and we plan on seeing this show.  I know it's a long one (2+ hours)....is that why you don't recommend it for kids?  Or is the content more on the PG-13 or R rating side of things?  
My older child shouldn't be too shocked by anything in the show (it can't be any worse than Grand Theft Auto that he plays at his friend's house), but my younger one is a little more sensitive to language and adult themes.  However, she would probably love the music and dancing even if she doesn't understand the story line.
If anyone else has opinions on this show for kids, please let me know.  Just wanting to plan ahead in case we decide not to have them attend, or just need a discussion with them before or after. 
thank you!!

That happened to me too when we sailed Indy last month. It came back again eventually.  And even on board, the cruise compass did not match up with the events on the app. We just used the paper compass.

Swim hard and fast!