ScooterScott22

Matt you are not too far from me and I’ll agree with your statement with a caveat. That is a very optimistic view. I’ll take the more realistic view. Those are overall trends and do hold true. Temps and humidity will drop usually from late October up to maybe mid March. Out on the water and the further south you go the more likely temps and humidity will increase. The weather fronts will determine what you can expect over a particular week or even a couple of days. If a front comes up from the south expect warmer and humid conditions. Fronts from the north will drop the temps and have dryer air. Unfortunately you can never tell how that will impact a particular cruise unless you are booking very last minute. One can plan a cruise during that time and if you live farther north will probably feel more humid but watching the weather in the last week will help set expectations. And it is all relative (humidity that is).

Still getting my feet wet on this message board and if you surf the cruise message boards the topic of suites/concierge vs not or if it is even worth it is a popular item. The views are as many as the number of people. This is a nice spin on that discusssion. To our family making the leap to a suite/concierge level has been more about something that you really can’t put a price on. Part of cruising for us is relaxing and the all inclusive feel. That is even more present as you go up in stateroom levels. That may be somewhat vague but it makes sense for us. We’ll make that leap from veranda to the suites on our next Royal cruise but have done that higher level on other lines. Thanks to those who mentioned the few extra perks for the Jr. suite, they make sense for us especially still getting the double points of suite. The OP may not find the perks enough for the difference. If this was just another cruise I agree that would probably stick with the jr. suite but if this was a more special cruise I would probably make the leap.

Not sure about doing the space center as a shore excursion. It seems like it would be easier and maybe cheaper to do it on your own. Taxi/Uber/car service to and from KSC and getting your own tickets seems simple enough. You should be able to be off the boat and to the space center by the time it opens. You might have to omit a few things but should be able to see the main exhibits before returning to the boat. The Shuttle and Saturn exhibits are the things are the must do in my mind.

I’ll preface by saying multiple cruises but only one previous on Royal so their rules might be different. The typical response would be packaged food in its original and sealed package is usually fine. It sounds like you were considering changing packaging and that would more than likely cause an issue. Since you also mentioned multiple items, the quantity might also cause a problem. But if you have only a few snacks in their package it seems like it should be fine.

The number per cabin is usually stated as a maximum not a minimum. Normal occupancy is viewed as two per stateroom. Usually the only “penalty” is if you are one. The third person in a cabin is usually a lower rate. It should be possible to drop the third person and keep the stateroom. It sounds suspicious that they will move you to another stateroom if you have at least two. There must be more to this story.

Agree with the epee but I doubt they would do the Sabre. While I liked it, some of the slashes really can sting (and leave a mark) more then when scoring with the foil and epee. I think RCCL might get some bad reviews that people got hurt and it wasn’t pleasant, not to mention some funny marks visible as people are walking around in their bathing suits!

Just assuming that when we head out on the Ovation since she is a sister ship we will find the same setup. From prior cruises we have an old card with a magnet. It is nice to be able to keep that on or near the door for quick access. Will that be something we can use? Since it is easy to forget during packing, just wondering if it is even worth the effort.

Exciting, I did a little fencing in college, are they going to allow me to bring my own mask and foil? That is not specifically listed and is a sporting goods item, but yes weapons are banned.?

Have been doing some planning for our May Alaska cruise and noticed that the dining web page that there was a Johnny Rockets listed. Figured it was an IT mixup from the normal Quantum ships that didn’t apply to Ovation. Can’t wait to see if this is really true.

Awesome video, thanks for the advice.

Hey all, new to the boards here but not new to cruising. Planning our second RCCL next May in Alaska. Looking for some feedback on an excursion listed on the excursion page but not on the ships excursion. There is a Hubbard Glacier boat tour (HG03) that was mentioned on another thread with a link. Followed the link and I clicked the “show me cruises with this” button and our cruise was listed. It would be the Hubbard day which is technically cruising. If you view the excursions pages for our cruise there is not an option for that day. The only items available to view are the actual port days. Other than calling, is there a way to get more info on this excursion for our itinerary? Do you really get up close to the glacier? (I assume not too close for safety reasons but considerably closer than the ship.)