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Yes, my first B2B. Twice the cruises with half the airfare.

US Passport arrived in 25 days from mailing to receipt (Expedited service, but not expedited mailing), including a holiday. Kind of impressive considering the mammoth backlogs a couple months ago.

I'll be the one who has a camera with a white lens.

I'm a big fan of Solomon Jaye. As a beginning stage photographer, Solomon was the first performer to publish my photos of his act (singer, dancer, guitar player) and gave me a start.

Thankfully, no. I pay the "RCI Tax" and book directly from Royal. Our group used to take some independent tours (and saved quite a bit of cash), but after a couple had a perfect storm of problems (Last stop before a T/A leg, coach had a severe oil leak that caused accidents on the main road on St. Maarten blocking its way back to port) the ship spent about 2 1/2 hours extra in port waiting for about 30 folks on that tour. Thankfully the couple booked through Royal. Now I guess if they'd have been OK if they'd have booked a different indie tour since the RCI tour held up the ship for everyone, but that's a pretty big gamble for a couple of dollars. A factor to consider is how far away the independent tour travels from the ship. Something close in would benefit more from an RCI tour further out being delayed more by traffic while a "Ring Road Tour of X Island" has more of a risk of being on the bad side of a traffic jam with a better chance for RCI coaches being closer in traffic.

Hosti gezen in dayne lebn?

A couple of years back our waiter said that there are actually two Indian menus (meat and meatless) nightly on all ships. This was in response to the rise of middle class Indians cruising on Royal and requesting local dishes in the MDR.

They'd chase the Jellicle Ball and bring it to their friend, not try to attend it.

I fully expect the cruise from Tampa to Cozumel to be cancelled also, unfortunately. I wonder if they will have a non-revenue cruise just to reposition her for the Winter season. That would seem like a big missed opportunity at a time you'd expect Royal to try to maximize revenue. Oh well, their ship, their rules.

Just notified yesterday morning this cruise was cancelled - but not the one afterward (Tampa - Cozumel). More to come on Monday.

Hi BillyBob and welcome, If you prepay gratuities you are not expected to tip further, everyone including the behind-the-scenes staff are compensated by your payment. That said, if you give the bartenders a cash tip you may want to watch how strong they make the drinks. Some will pour you doubles or triples without asking if you tip them. You can certainly give extra tips to anyone who goes out of their way, but it isn't expected. Have a great time on your cruise, Brad

It's too bad the Carnival Triumph was remembered for the geysers of feces. The same cruise also featured a total loss of power, so besides being stranded there was no power and therefore no cooking. For days.

Off on a tangent here. The show with the most legs would be kind of a cool (and really inexpensive) choice for a small ship - The Fantasticks! (The only way there'd be a Can-Can is if they rewrote "Plant a Radish" to "Plant a 'Shroom".) 40 years continuous Off Broadway. And I'd bet some of the current performers were in a high school production. Stage build out: Raised diamond with two columns. That's all. The rights have to be inexpensive. Maybe RCI could negotiate with the rightsholders to have a CGI Jerry Orbach as El Gallo. Let's face it, an expensive set piece is the star of Flight, so RCI has relied on outside tech to impress an audience. Plus the show is guaranteed a 7 year run and including a virtual character that doesn't interact with the live cast is easier than trying to move around a ghost.

There is a Broadway revival of Cole Porter's musical Can-Can http://cancanbroadway.com/, so maybe that signalled enough interest for RCI to purchase rights. Granted that's a bit of a stretch, more of a summer stock show than a current hit. It's so old I remember seeing it at the Muny in St. Louis when I was in grade school.

Just picked this one up as a B2B with the T/A from Barcelona. It looks like a good way to add some extra 4X points (in a Jr. Suite) without paying for more airfare. See you onboard, Brad