FionaMG

Geiranger should be one of the real highlights of our cruise, weather willing. I have read that you should be up on the top deck around 4.30 am to enjoy the sail into the fjord. I'm not sure I'll make that but perhaps I'll make the effort. You get the same scenery sailing back out again in the afternoon but of course the light will be different and that can be significant especially for anyone looking to do some serious photography. This site here has some gorgeous photos and videos, just to give you all a taste: https://www.visitnorway.com/places-to-go/fjord-norway/the-geirangerfjord/ The town itself appears to be very walkable from the ship, as you can see from this map. The website shown on the map above has lots of helpful information, including another great map for anyone thinking of doing some independent hiking. It's a two-page PDF file that you can download here: https://www.visitgeiranger.com/hiking-map. DD and I are thinking of hiking up to Westeras Farm on our own. This site here offers a number of suggestions and photos: https://www.komoot.com/highlight/219354. It looks like it is perfectly doable without paying Royal $89 each to do it as an excursion. Geiranger Fjord also has its own official website here: https://www.geirangerfjord.no/english. It has lots of suggested activities, including tours at considerably cheaper prices than our Cruise Planner. Just to give one example, the Mount Dalsnibba Summit tour, which looks great if you want to enjoy scenery from a high-up vantage point but don't want or aren't able to walk far, is currently selling in the CP at $92.99 per adult. You can book it on the Geiranger Fjord website for 430 NOK, which is about $38. I checked the timetable for the date we are in port and there are two departures, the first of which, at 10 am, would work nicely. There are also a couple of panoramic bus tours that look to be very similar to Royal's offerings and, again, at much cheaper prices. I couldn't see any indication of whether or not they were accessible, though, so anyone needing that facility would be best to contact them and check.

That really is expensive. It's been swinging back and forwards between $88 and $95 on my upcoming Anthem cruise but I was lucky to get it for DS for $50 during the BF sale.

We've had OVs on decks 2, 3 and 4 on Splendour, Explorer and Serenade. Never been a problem. You only need to keep the curtains closed in port if your room is next to the pier and you're doing something you'd feel uncomfortable with others potentially seeing.

Hmm, that's got me thinking. I wonder if deleting and re-entering your e-mail address in your profile, in similar fashion to the "points not showing" fix, might make it work again.

Hi. Yes, that's correct.

Do you mean Europe to US? Because Explorer is sailing US to Europe in April 2024 (Miami to Barcelona) and spending the whole summer there. Her last cruise of the summer season ends in Barcelona on 2nd November so that would point to a return to the US in November 2024. The autumn 2024 transatlantic sailings have still to be released (potentially this month if some rumblings are to be believed) so if you're interested you should keep checking or enlist a travel agent to check on your behalf.

I'm wondering if it might be worth getting in touch with C&A a week or two in advance of my next cruise. I guess it wouldn't do any harm and might, just might, give us a better chance of actually being able to collect it on board.

That's very helpful, thanks. I'm always getting spam messages like that so it's good to know what to look out for.

Nice. Still waiting for ours (our first) from Anthem back in September/October. We did check on board with the LA who said we were on his list and he got us to confirm our address. However I'm not entirely convinced that they will actually ship it to us in Custard Tart Land. We are back on Anthem at the end of April so I plan on chasing it up then if it hasn't shown up before we set off.

It's an ongoing issue. There's a fix: Log into your account, click on your initials top right and choose profile. Then click on "My Loyalty" towards top right. Now delete your C&A number, retype it back in and save. That should put your status and points back on the screen.

Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed it too.

It's going back 10 years now but we used Godfrey Tours in St Thomas and were satisfied with the service. I can't really remember now but my pics suggest we probably did their sightseeing and beach tour. You can take a look at their website here: https://www.godfreytours.com/ but it doesn't look like they do boat trips or snorkelling stuff, I'm afraid, so I don't know how helpful this will be for you.

Great pics @JohnK6404. I just wish they did a non-alcoholic version of this. I know we could do it anyway and we wouldn't go thirsty but I would be looking to pay a cheaper rate for it without alcohol included.

Oh dear, looks like I missed the proverbial boat on this one. But I will chip in anyway as it might help anyone else looking at similar itineraries. Out of the two options @Pattycruise mentions, and assuming a similar price point, Dublin wins hands-down. This is because Dublin has US pre-clearance, which means you go through US customs and immigration at Dublin before you even set foot on the plane. This has the effect of turning your international flight into a domestic one so, on arrival at your US destination, you simply grab your bags and go in the same way as you would if you were flying domestically within the US. The 3-hour layover is about the sweet point, in my opinion, when connecting to a trans-Atlantic flight. It gives you time to get off the inbound aircraft without rushing, make the relevant pit stops and be at your departure gate with a bit of time to spare. As a nervous traveller, that's a huge consideration for me, especially as it also gives you a bit of a buffer if your inbound flight is running late. When flying to Ireland from Europe, even from Schengen countries, you have to go through passport control at your European departure airport. This is because, although Ireland is an EU country, it is not in the Schengen area. However, as a transit passenger with a through ticket you do not have to clear Irish customs and immigration as, officially, you never actually enter the country. If the TAP flight were significantly cheaper and budget mattered above all else, the process would be different. In this case, and assuming departure from a Schengen area country (e.g. Italy or Spain), you would not have any immigration or customs checks at your departure point and you would also have no inbound customs and immigration at Lisbon. However, since Lisbon would be your point of departure from the Schengen area you do have to go through outbound passport control. Lisbon uses e-gates for this and if you are unlucky enough to have your flight coincide with some other big ones going to places like Brazil or Africa, the lines for non-EU passport holders can be massive. Partly for this reason and partly due to TAP's less-than-stellar timekeeping, I would be unlikely to recommend a 90-minute layover on this route. In theory, it could be done and braver souls than I have probably managed it successfully but it steps way over my risk-tolerance level even with the potential buffer of another flight going out 90 minutes later. I'm guessing we're talking about the NY area here, since I think that's the only US city that TAP has more than one flight to on the same day (JFK + EWR). When departing from Lisbon to the US, there is also a secondary security check at the gate but no pre-clearance so you have to clear US customs and immigration when you arrive Stateside.

I don't understand how this could have caused "crazy backups at the remaining food venues". The Solarium Bistro is one of the quieter venues so it's not like 100s of people were being displaced into the other venues. And the guests who were part of the group and were eating there were not extra bodies on top of the ship's normal passenger load so they, in turn, would have been removed from the equation at the other venues. So unless my logic is flawed surely one would balance out the other...

I daren't have it in the house. Once you open that jar you're doomed to death by chocolate.

If you'd care to share your impressions afterwards that would be great.

@D Alt and @Sweety It's been a recurring issue on and off for a couple of weeks now. The reported fix is to log into your account, go to your profile and delete your C&A number. Then type it back in and save. Lots of posters have found this worked for them so hopefully it will for you too.

Here are some ideas for Bergen. There is lots of information on their visitor site here: https://en.visitbergen.com/visitor-information/brochures, including a brochure about the port itself, here: https://en.visitbergen.com/dbimgs/Port-of-Bergen-Cruise-info-2018-brochure.pdf Although this is out of date (2018) but it does have maps and suggestions of things to do. There are other guides on the site that you can also download. If you're looking for an easy day, the pretty town centre is within walking distance of the port. One of the main attractions in Bergen is the funicular to the top of Mount Floyen: https://floyen.no/en The site has details of the various activities that can be done on the mountain and there's food and drink available too. It's in walking distance from the port too and you can do a round trip or one-way up/down, walking the other way. It's wheelchair accessible and you don't need to buy tickets in advance. I also found this useful blog post with details for a suggested self-guided walk (again, it's from 2018, but it looks like everything will be still be relevant to our dates): https://navigatethejungle.com/europe/norway/bergen-city-walking-tour/

Thanks for sharing. Loved your pics.

Also, if you look under departure ports, there's a mysterious "MISSING PORT CONTENT" tab in the Latin America and Caribbean section... I wonder what that could be?

You lose the $200. It's the remainder of your deposit that goes towards another cruise. So if your deposit was $250 pp = $500 for two guests, Royal will keep $200 if you change and the remaining $300 will go towards the new cruise. So, if you are wavering and not fully committed to the cruise you're currently looking at, you have to ask yourself if you're willing to give up those $200 if you change your mind. Or whether the additional cost for the refundable deposit is worth it, in your opinion, for the complete freedom it gives you to change to another cruise without penalty as long as it's before final payment date. Note that you can also book refundable for now and then change to non-refundable once you are absolutely committed. But before you do that you need to do a price check because it's entirely possible that, by the time you are able to say you're definitely going, the non-refundable price will actually be higher than your refundable rate.

With a non-refundable deposit, any change to the ship or sail date will incur a $100 per person penalty. The remainder of the deposit will count towards the fare on the new sailing. If you cancel completely I believe that the new rules mean you lose the whole deposit. That's the way it's always been on this side of the pond but I think it's a change to the previous situation in the North American Market. Perhaps someone Stateside can confirm this.

I guess you mean refundable deposits. Yes, they are but you have to go all the way through to almost the end of the online booking process to see how much the supplement is. It varies depending on the ship and sailing date; there is no standard amount. If you work with a travel agent they will be able to get both prices for and save you the hassle.

If you just type "going going gone sale royal caribbean" into Google that should take you to it. It's a PDF file.