fireclan

@JustMeJoe thanks. Done.

Yes please before I post something that will get me banned!!!

@Matt @SpeedNoodles @Lovetocruise2002 @AshleyDillo  time to cut this off --- PLEASE 

Get off the radical left news. Canadians are welcome and not harassed coming to the US and sailing from US ports

I am changing what I posted.  This is another person that joined us just to give his political opinions.  They always  have 1 post.  I wish they would just stay away from us.

None of this is true.

There is elevated cruising risk for everyone right now, although it's difficult to quantify as media reports don't represent a random sample. To discount the risk is naive. We continue to cruise but are more vigilant. I encourage others to do the same.

It would be good to know what the elevated cruising risk is. As my fellow North Carolinian can you elaborate? It would help keep us the RC blog community safe. 

As a fellow Canadian, I can tell you that we have taken several cruises this year. We have flown out of the US and sailed out of US ports and there has been no trouble or harassment.

Mexican here, just came from a cruise from Galveston, no issue either. 
Everyone was kind and friendly, even the CBP officer at the airport. 

Welcome a new bot to the blog. @Matt can I respond with my take on the leading comment? Don't want to rack up anymore "abusive" points than I have since I was on the unpopular side of the covid discussion. 😁

Perhaps you can remember the popular Love Boat television show featuring the Pacific Princess, which I sailed on way back in the early 80's. 
The Mexican Riviera cruise itinerary was very famous then, leaving from LA and then visiting Manzanillo, Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta, and ending in Acapulco.  It was great to stay down in Acapulco a few nights in one of the fantastic resort hotels and watch the cliff divers. There was tons of shopping, great restaurants, discos open until 4 AM for dancing, and very comfortable beaches. 
Do you wonder why all that has more or less disappeared?  
Crime and violence, especially from drug cartel gangs in those areas of Mexico created so many advisories that cruise lines just stopped doing that route. Most Americans no longer travel to Acapulco due to the high advisory level. 
I have also done the LA cruise going to Ensenada and Catalina, very sweet to see those places, but not necessarily hot spots to return to again and again. 
And yes, I visited Tijuana way back in the day when it was a fun shopping escape from San Diego --not sure I would ever set foot there again, sadly.  Again, a lot of the violence comes from gangs.
I am sure the Central and South American countries would LOVE to have more cruise lines and tourists, but do they have the capacity to create the infrastructure, and can they guarantee safety? Even Ecuador, traditionally a very safe place to visit, now has increased cautions in place.  A long, long time ago I visited Caracas, Venezuela, twice on cruises--who goes there now?  
Unfortunately, it is unlikely that any cruise line can help these countries become safer for tourists.  You have to think of a West coast cruise as more about the cruise experience itself rather than great ports.  
By the way, I cancelled my tour to Brazil I had scheduled for last month, because their new visa process required access to bank account information and/or pay stubs, which I was not comfortable sharing with a foreign government. They are doing that because the US requires similar information from Brazil citizens to visit here. 
If you want to see a lot of great ports, just save up and head to the Mediterranean.  That is my favorite cruising destination in the world!
 
 

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to share a quick recommendation—especially for any fellow UK cruisers who usually book direct with Royal (like I always have!).
For our Caribbean cruise next year, I decided to try using a US-based travel agent for the first time and booked through MEI Travel. I was connected with Becky, and she’s been absolutely brilliant.
Not only has she answered all my many questions quickly and clearly, she’s also worked with Royal on our behalf—securing the best location, applying discount codes, and handling our future cruise credits. She really knows her stuff.
One big benefit I didn’t realise before: booking through a US travel agent gives you access to refundable deposits, which we can’t get here in the UK. Plus, they monitor your cruise price and will automatically reprice if it drops—again, not something available to us normally when booking direct from the UK.
Another example: we wanted 7:30pm dining, which I thought would mean going with My Time Dining, but Becky let us know Royal has recently added a third traditional dining time—and she got us booked into that with a table request already in.
All in all, I’m really impressed and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend MEI Travel. It’s been a far smoother, more personalised experience than I’ve had before, and I’m confident we’ve got the best deal too.
Happy sailing!
Darren

Yes, you can do this. The idea always felt uncomfortable for us so we never did it other than hanging out in the port area of Falmouth for an hour.

In balconies & above, yes. Interiors & OV on the oldest ships like Enchantment do not have coolers.

I really wished I knew that when they raise the gratuities on us, they are being given it to their hard working crew.  I wish that as cruise prices continue to rise so should the salaries of the crew.  
 
as others stated you can opt not to tip.  I have done it when I went on a cruise and got sick and didn’t consume any meals in main dining area or use room service. , I tipped my cabin attendant in cash although he nerved serviced my room but he did get me things that I needed without entering my room.  

If you want to tip, then tip.  If you don’t want to tip, then don’t.  It’s not rocket science.  You’re not going to be vaporized if you don’t leave a tip. 
 
 

I’m fed up with U.S. tipping, it’s ridiculous.  I’ve always been a generous tipper but am frugal and sail in interior cabins.  Daily gratuities are up 27% since COVID ($14.50 to $18.50).  Stateroom servicing of rooms went from twice a day to once a day (which is no problem).  On a 7 night sailing we pay $259 for daily gratuities, another $60 for 3 nights specialty dining gratuities, another $176 of tab included alcohol gratuities, and about $80 in $1 bills for each alcoholic beverage we order.  That’s $575 in gratuities which is about 28% of our normal cruise fare.  And the appreciation for this is the insulting “Tip Tip Hooray” envelopes left in our stateroom as if no gratuities have been paid at all (a practice NCL doesn’t do). 
I don’t like to be the grumpy poster but we just had an 80’ cedar fence section replaced.  I got 3 quotes from professional companies and went with one that cost $4,200.  When they finished the work I had to approve the job on my phone to charge my credit card and the approval asked if I wanted to tip 18%, 20%, or 22% for the workers.  Yep, they wanted an extra $840 at the end as a gratuity.
When I go to a pro sporting event and stand in a concession line for 10 minutes to get my wife and I two $12.50 beers they spin the display wanting a $5 tip for grabbing two beers from the cooler behind them.
Aussies are right, Americans are stupid.

i think you will find that Europe is in the 'western world'

These questions are always entertaining.  The overall theme of the questions, except for when there are legitimate medical or dietary concerns, is that people want conforts of home on vacation.  Of course, it is understandable.  
We are Asian.  My family craves passable Asian food every few days or so.  
We used to pack Korean cup noodles on our cruises.  Eventually, we realized that some of Royal's "asian" foods were passable and we didn't really need those cup noodles.  
My point here is, again absent legitimate concern, does it make or break the vacation if you don't eat your favorite nuts during a week-long cruise?  If so, get off on port days and buy some.  I try...as much as possible...not to recreate anything from home or work during vacation.  To me, a cruise is about NOT being at home.
Leave your favorite snacks, streaming devices, favorite blankets, etc at home and explore the ship, ship food, and ship ammenties.  This may mean that some experiences are bad.  Well, that is life and that is what it means to try new things.  Otherwise, why not vacation at home?

I like to chime into the conversation. If it's THAT loud, I was clearly intended to be part of the interaction.

Just join in the conversation. If it’s on speakerphone in public they obviously wanted other people’s input. 

You totally are missing the point, which might have been for a reason. People who are on speakerphone, will have the volume turned all the way up and will be practically yelling into the phone during their conversation. It’s the volume that is the issue, not the act of the conversation. If you want to talk at a normal human conversation level that is one thing, but I have yet to EVER hear someone on speakerphone who I cannot hear every word of their conversation (from both parties) clear across a restaurant. THAT is the inconsiderate part. Technology isn’t the issue, the individuals who don’t know how to use it at an appropriate volume in an appropriate setting are. You know they type…right?

The experience by the post creator is almost as bad as when I got splashed while watching the belly flop contest from the front row. 
I almost never sailed again. 

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