KJones

I jumped in here because I saw @AlmondFarmer responded. The sarcastic comedic timing never disappoints. 🤣 

There may be some rules as far as preexisting conditions coverage.  

Scheduled for Labadee and CocoCay, ended up in Puerta Plata.
I'd seen and read negative things about the ship. Hogwash. Furnishings and colors are aged but she is in great shape considering mileage. Interior Promenade view.  I feel I am in the vast minority on this, but I like these cabins. MDR Dinner was best food we have ever had in MDR. Service there was great as well. After several cruises with subpar food (in MDR), this was huge improvement. Good timing because I decided no dining, excursions, etc on this trip. Booked inside final payment date and wanted to see how it worked 'rawdogging' as the youngs say. MDR Lunch on 2 sea days were the worst meals I have ever been served on a RC ship MDR Breakfast was great. Every day except PDCC (room service). This is quickly becoming one of my favorite things to do. Bar and drink service was ok to really good on ship Viking Crown lounge remains one of my favorite spots on any RC ship Miserable Day at CocoCay. I have never seen it as crowded as it was. Not enjoyable, at all. And we are huge PDCC fans, it is a highlight of our trip typically. Bar service not worth trouble. Voyager and Quantum in port. There were people lying on mats because all the chairs taken in our area on S Beach were taken. I have been there 8 or 10 times and this felt really strange. Never made it to Chill Island but Oasis Lagoon wasn't much better. Group of people with bluetooth speaker the size of two truck batteries didn't help. I will never again assume we can have a good/peaceful day there without spending money. Hopefully it was just a confluence of some odd events I am not aware of. Puerta Plata was fun! Met a nice couple we chatted with for an hour or so, hung out at the pool and did lazy river. I also destroyed my phone but thats another story. Embarkation / disembarkation were cake. Honestly I am not sure what RC can do to make this any better. I would prefer actual policing of arrival/check in times, but I am not sure how much that matters. I am not sure what the number on board was, but there was never any crowding that we saw. It felt strange at times.  Then again, we never set foot in the main theater, windjammer, nor pool Which brings me to something that dawned on me the 4th night on this cruise (which we enjoyed IMMENSELY). We just hung out.  Me and my wife of 32 years whom I adore and love spending time with just hanging out.  No fear of missing a show or event. No fretting about reservations to specialty restaurants.  Looking back, when it is just the two of us I think we enjoy Voyager class cruises better than Oasis.
At any rate, this was stream of consciousness that hardly functions as a review.  Mariner is one of my if not favorite ship in the fleet. The differences between Voyager and her arent as stark as I expected them to be frankly.  Very enjoyable trip.

Thank you.  This is exactly the information I needed….from both you and @Ryan79.

You can also book White Pass Rail tickets directly from WPR, plus it's cheaper than through RC.

We booked a small group Ephesus tour with Viator, highly recommend 10/10. It ended up being just our group and one other couple. We added the Terrace Houses to our ticket, which was one of the highlights of the site for us. Lunch wasn't included, but our guide asked if we wanted to stop somewhere and we all agreed (additional cost, maybe like 15euro/p). Food was delicious, but it was a part of a government-sponsored carpet/rug making shop. Which was generally fine, just odd... We watched some of the workers at various stages of production, then sat through the obligatory sales pitch. Just stay looking and acting uninterested and they'll give up.
https://www.viator.com/tours/Kusadasi/5-Hour-Small-Group-Shore-Excursion-to-Ephesus-from-Kusadasi/d582-10390P3?m=63070&nid=VR.4be7f67f-2e49-4d4a-8d5d-51e4605755cd.VT_EMAIL_TRV

We booked a small group Ephesus tour with Viator, highly recommend 10/10. It ended up being just our group and one other couple. We added the Terrace Houses to our ticket, which was one of the highlights of the site for us. Lunch wasn't included, but our guide asked if we wanted to stop somewhere and we all agreed (additional cost, maybe like 15euro/p). Food was delicious, but it was a part of a government-sponsored carpet/rug making shop. Which was generally fine, just odd... We watched some of the workers at various stages of production, then sat through the obligatory sales pitch. Just stay looking and acting uninterested and they'll give up.
https://www.viator.com/tours/Kusadasi/5-Hour-Small-Group-Shore-Excursion-to-Ephesus-from-Kusadasi/d582-10390P3?m=63070&nid=VR.4be7f67f-2e49-4d4a-8d5d-51e4605755cd.VT_EMAIL_TRV

If the cost of living is higher, for whatever reason, that does affect people's ability to travel. So will cruise fares go down? I don't know. We're still recovering financially from the pandemic. If eggs/gas/air travel, etc are high, cruise demand will be lower. That's simple economics without saying anything political 🙂

Daily service charges should be included!!!
(feeble attempt at diverting the conversation) 

We have the card and book.  Our card and book renewal dates are offset by about 2 years.  When we need to renew one, we are still able to cruise with the other while we wait.
I do like the ease of boarding the ship with the card, keeping the book in our carry on with the cash and medicines.

I heard a group of blondes on current sailing are in escape room and Royal is expecting them to need months to get out…

Re: RC Shuttles - I think they run about every 30min -1hr or so, depending on how quickly the buses fill. If taking the shuttle from the train station to the port, you can reserve ahead of time, or just show up and they'll bill it to your room (12.50 euro/person). For port to train, you can also reserve before the sailing or while on-board.
I will also recommend arriving a day or two early to visit Ravenna.

I think it's a YMMV, but I had success using leftover punches on a later cruise. The original sailing didn't have the ship written on it, which may have helped. But I crossed out the original stateroom number and wrote the new one for the 2nd cruise.

Happy to announce that I've been promoted to Casino Host!
 
Let me know if you are cruising onboard Quantum Of The Seas anytime soon.
 
Here's me explaining all the details about my promotion!
 
 

The scariest thing on any cruise is the appearance of the luggage tags indicating that the trip is almost over.

5 years as a Casino Host, 5 years on YouTube!
 
2024 - Quantum Dry Dock
2024 - Icon Start Up
2023 - Symphony Dry Dock
2022 - Ovation Restart
2021 - Odyssey Start up
2020 - *pandemic*
2019 - Oasis Amplification
 
My career over the last 5 years has been very eventful. Thank you for following my journey!

Credit card without foreign transaction fees (some will charge additional 3% on top of conversion) + a few hundred cash from a bank atm once we've landed.

We just got back from Europe.  We use our debit cards at a Bank atm to get cash.  Make sure to say no when asked if you want the conversion done right then and there. 
 
Our credit union told us this was the cheapest way to get euros.  Just make sure you are using an atm from an actual bank, not a third party one. 
 
 

That $200 just isn't anywhere close to enough. There are going to be a good many people not able to even find any flights out until the next day, if not later, and will need hotels, too.
Sure, the standard trip insurance disclaimer applies, but still.

General advice... take a one-way cruise and spend as much time on land before/after the cruise as your schedule/budget allows. I prefer before and would put Denali at the top of the list of land visits.

I agree that's a bit early. The ship might dock at 5am, but I don't know if anyone is getting off before 6am. I think you're best bet is not waiting for a Royal airport transfer bus to fill up with passengers, and just getting a cab.

Half the time when we upload a photo in the app for express check in, we have to retake the photo at the port anyways. You can definitely skip doing it ahead of time.

Half the time when we upload a photo in the app for express check in, we have to retake the photo at the port anyways. You can definitely skip doing it ahead of time.

Half the time when we upload a photo in the app for express check in, we have to retake the photo at the port anyways. You can definitely skip doing it ahead of time.