AshleyDillo

When you try to research why Royal hasn't been doing Glacier Bay in nearly two decades it certainly pulls up some stuff doesn't paint them in a good light. Wasn't able to find anything official about permits being denied or revoked, but did learn a lot about EPA regulations in Alaska. Glad to see that they've cleaned up their act!

Not the first time. They had permission back in the late 90s/early 2000s I believe.

You may want to look into doing Atlantis on your own. You can easily take a taxi over and buy day passes likely cheaper than the excursion through the ship. You say you're a first time cruiser but since you're asking about foregoing the guaranteed transportation back to the ship anyways, you already understand you would be responsible for making it back to the ship by midnight. You can also book a room at the Comfort Suites which will come with wristbands for the waterpark with the price of the room. Bonus is having a room for the day while you are there.

My first thought would that it would be similar an Atlantis-type experience. The cruise ships have excursions to Atlantis because it has a lot to offer for day visitors despite being a land-based resort.

It's definitely there on Symphony. Perhaps the shuffleboard on Harmony is located next to the Solarium pool. ?

No problem..don't know what ship you are on but if you have the refreshment package make sure to take advantage of non-alcoholic versions of the frozen drinks, smoothies (for ships that offer them), and specialty coffee drinks and grabbing bottled water. Here's a good post about what all is included that you may not have thought about: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/04/16/depth-look-royal-caribbeans-royal-refreshment-drink-package

I have only seen fresh squeezed juice available in the Windjammer and dining room and only during breakfast. Bottled juice is just going to be the typical juices that are available as mixers at the bars.

The refreshment package includes non-alcoholic drinks. If you ask for a soda at the bar, you will get it in whatever format that bar has. Some of them use canned soda, some have 2 liters and some have the soda guns. They default to pouring the soda into a glass of ice over giving you full cans.

Let the TA fight to apply the OBC to the backup...worst case scenario you just use that OBC on an entirely new booking for a future cruise. Consider the OBC as a significant return on investment for Royal holding onto the deposit for longer.

I would find your contingency plan, book it and then wait for Royal's offer. If it doesn't come before final payment, then you can make the hard decision to keep the original booking knowing that it could end up being canceled. If it is fully chartered, usually you will know before that final booking, especially if you already see the rumors. Game the system...if you wait and it is cancelled there will be an OBC offer option if you transfer your deposit to a new cruise booking. Might as well get that OBC. Pinging @CGTLH for input as we were just discussing this with another rumored charter that did come to fruition. Here's a CC thread about a similar situation that just got the cancellation offer: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2638390-explorer-dec-8-2019-chartered/

While prescription masks do exist, it is pretty rare that an excursion would have them available. It would be best to try to find one that is customized for your nearsightedness and bring it with you on the cruise. You can order them online or find a local dive shop to assist you. You won't be able to get the proper seal on a mask while wearing glasses unfortunately. I feel your pain as I am nearsighted as well and absolutely would not be able to see anything without corrective lenses. I rarely wear contacts, but snorkeling is one activity where I do.

Bingo! That looks like a solid plan.

Glad to help..I'm usually the dropper-offer in these scenarios so I learn a lot about places by driving in circles ? I will overcomplicate situations by having many moving parts to save a few $$ too..so totally familiar with that. ?

Google Maps is great in this area. The Wawa is probably your best bet for proximity and gas prices...it will also be very new and clean. FYI..there's a free trolley that runs to the port that goes right in front of the Marriott. If you time it right you can save a possibly warm, humid walk for yourself.

There's so many different ways to get to the port, so I can understand wanting to know your way around. Check your GPS directions. If you're planning on following them, they may want you to take the Selmon Expressway toll road to the port. There is no way to pay cash for this toll so you need to have it set up before with the rental car company or make sure you set your GPS to no tolls. If that's the case and you want to follow the GPS to the toll road, exit 5 off of I-4 has a Wawa that is easy to get to (left onto MLK, to go under I-4) and will have the cheapest gas. The Selmon Expressway is Exit 2, so you still will be full at the drop off. If you avoid the toll road you'll get off at Exit 1 for Ybor City. The Terminal 6 end of the port is hardly ever congested...the mess is all between Terminal 3 and the Marriott. Construction and port traffic..but even with that it's still not an incredibly difficult area to get around despite being so close to downtown.

Ah then yes, the port will be on your left. I would just go ahead and get the gas on your way in as you'll hit the Kennedy/Channelside intersection first.

Where are you coming from on Channelside? If you are going from the Marriott to the port, the port will actually be on the right side of the road. Terminal 3 is at the roundabout and it will be before Terminal 6...you can drop off your party at T3 and then keep going the same way down Channelside. There is be a light at Channelside and Kennedy and you will see the Marathon at that intersection.

There's a Marathon gas station right across from Terminal 6 at the port at Channelside and Kennedy.

I agree with adding the land tour portion to your cruise if you can. We did the land tour before the cruise and I would highly recommend that as you do have to constantly change hotels. When we got to the cruise part it felt so much more relaxing because we didn't have to pack up every night. We did the cruisetour that originated in Fairbanks and ended up in Anchorage with transfer to Seward for the cruise. Cruisetour 8B is the one that we ended up doing.

After final payment, your best option would be an upgrade if there's a better room available for a lower price than you paid or if you are willing to pay the difference. Reach out to your travel agent and they should be able to check on that for you.

Liberty should be a flat fee of $9.95 per person. You'll get fries and onion rings and an entree with that and also dessert except for milkshakes. Milkshakes may or may not be covered if you have the Refreshment or Deluxe drink packages..it seems to vary ship to ship.

A kiosk is considered an actual location that is branded as Starbucks. They will take the Starbucks app and gift cards as payments, even. Coffees at those locations are NOT included. Some ships, such as Anthem, use Starbucks brand coffee at their specialty coffee shops and those would be included. I don't believe this is the case for Harmony that they use Starbucks. There should be specialty coffee locations available that offer espresso based drinks and blended frozen coffee drinks and the like. I'm not familiar with Harmony, but I know these were available at Cafe Promenade on Symphony. Most of these use either Seattles Best or Illy brand coffee. That's where you would get the specialty coffee drinks included with the refreshment package. You should also be able to order cappuccinos, lattes, and espresso in the dining room and specialty restaurants as well.

Izumi is sushi only on the Quantum class ships. I much preferred to just do a to-go order for sushi than sit for the meal on Anthem. The location on those ships just feels like an afterthought.

Yes..Oasis is so cheap that week. No solo supplement for balconies either...too bad I'm so stingy with my time off! Airfare is likely cheap in that deadzone between Thanksgiving and Christmas too.

College spreak break down south is usually in the first half of March. Regular school spring break down here is usually also in March, while a lot of other parts of the country have their spring break over Easter. So in theory you need to avoid March through Easter.