FionaMG

Hi @bethr_20 and welcome to the boards. It looks like you're on the same sailing as my daughter and me (7th of July). I don't have access to my stuff at the moment, but I can tell you right now that you absolutely don't need to book Royal's excursion to do Briksdal. It's definitely DIY-able. That said, it may not be your best option given the time of year, as the glacier shrinks in summer. Take a look at the Loen Skylift as a possible alternative. I'll try and get back to you tomorrow to give you some suggestions. And feel free to ask any other questions you might have. There are loads of very knowledgeable peeps here who simply love to share.

Great info. Thanks very much, especially the Italian restaurants as that's our favourite type of food. Will definitely look them up.

@Pattycruise, I came across this article with my breakfast coffee and thought you might mind find it interesting. You'll probably see a pop up saying register to keep reading but you don't actually have to; just scroll a little further down and click on the button that says I'll try later and it should open the article up. https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/england/london/london-city-guide-locals-best-restaurants-neighbourhoods-b2248066.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=IND_Travel 2022-12-30&utm_term=IND_Travel_Newsletter_CDP

We've stayed twice at the Best Western Plus Oceanside Inn. Handy for everything and breakfast included. Sign up for their loyalty programme for a % off.

Thanks @Pattycruise and @KristiZ. Much appreciated. I did actually book rooms back in September and I'm so glad I did because I've been keeping an eye on the prices and they've just been sky-rocketing. In the end I found that it was a good bit cheaper to do the 3 pre-cruise nights downtown and then the 2 post-cruise nights near Times Square. I got a senior rate at the Fairfield Downtown East for $731 for the 3 nights (would have preferred to be a bit closer to the 9/11 Memorial but wasn't willing to pay an extra couple of 100 dollars for the privilege ). And then 2 nights at the Riu Plaza Times Square, taking advantage of a loyalty programme promo rate, for $625. Both have breakfast included, so price-wise, I think I've done pretty well, so fingers crossed they'll actually be alright!

I must ask my agent if that's where ours came from so I can thank her. It paid for DS's ticket for the water park on Coco Cay.

This exact same thing happened to us for our upcoming Anthem cruise in April but curiously just on just one of our two rooms, the one booked for DH and DS. Nothing on the one booked for me. Usually I book independently and then transfer to my MEI agent but in this particular case Royal's website was having a tantrum and I emailed her and she booked it for me. I check the planner daily and one day the $50 just showed up. No idea why. I wondered if perhaps it might be casino related as DH hit over 100 points on our last cruise for the very first time or if, perhaps, our agent had been able to move that room into a group booking (I think I read somewhere that might generate some OBC). Both scenarios would potentially explain why the OBC only went to that room but this is all speculation on my part. I haven't questioned it any further but spent it during the BF sale just in case it decided to disappear as mysteriously as it appeared!

Haha, right. I think we might have done once or twice.

Six fewer letters on each one of those lines. Just think how much money they're saving in ink...

Fair enough. I'm storing all this info away for our retirement cruise a few years from now.

Could a ship potentially interport with embarkation in both Brisbane and Melbourne? The way Oasis class do in the Western Med?

Many of us here on the boards use MEI Travel, which is a sponsor of this site. You can contact them by filling in the big yellow form on the home page here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/ Some of the questions on the form will seem not to apply since you've actually already booked the cruise, but that doesn't matter; it's really just about them getting back to you, which they will. The only thing I'm not sure of is if you will be able to transfer the cruise you've just booked because you normally can't if you're inside final payment and since you said it's in March you probably already are. However, if you can't transfer this one, at least you'll have a contact going forward.

Another thing to look out for is a buffet breakfast in the MDR. On our Anthem cruise back in September the MDR was doing a la carte on one side and buffet on the other and that buffet quickly became our go to place. Obviously a smaller selection and no made to order, other than a toast station, but it had all the essentials and was altogether a more relaxing option than the WJ. One tip here, though, is to ask for a jug of hot milk with your coffee because it's served by roving waiters out of thermos jugs so it's not very hot to start with and if you add cold milk from the jug on the table...

I can see them in my phone without having it in desktop mode but only in Firefox:

I actually got a watch list alert email today to tell me that my sailing [one of them] was on sale.

I seem to remember the 2023 ones being among the very last to be released.

However, there IS one from USA to Israel, if that might work. Rhapsody, 17 nights, departing Miami on the 29th of April 2023 and ending in Haifa. To do Israel to USA, the work-around would be a b2b, repo+transatlantic. Again on Rhapsody, depart Haifa on the 6th of November 2023, 6-night repo to Barcelona followed immediately by a 14-night transatlantic departing from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale on the 12th of November 2023.

I feel your pain. This is totally me. I have a next cruise deposit burning a hole in my pocket but I really don't want to commit until I see what Symphony is going to be doing and what 9-10-11-12 night offerings there might around our wedding anniversary in December.

Horrible people. Don't they know we're sitting here wasting our time furiously refreshing our screens instead of getting on with our work...?

Another possible budget-friendly option is National Express. They run a regular coach service between London and Southampton and might be more convenient depending on where you stay in London. The coaches are more than comfortable enough for the length of the ride and there's less hefting of luggage because the driver will put it into the boot (trunk) at the start and take it back out again at the end.

Born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, but I came to Portugal to work a summer season away back in 1986, met DH, who is Portuguese, and never went back. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the custard tarts myself, but I do usually suggest visitors to Portugal try them, as they're so traditional. You can actually find them in many places outside of Portugal too; the Portuguese are a nation of emigrants and the diaspora numbers around 5 million. Anywhere that there is a sizeable Portuguese community, you're sure to find a store or a cafe that sells them. I've only had time to listen to a few minutes of the podcast you linked but it sounds very interesting so I'm going to set some time aside over the weekend to listen to it.

A couple of TAs have just showed up on Adventure. I'm guessing she must be due a dry dock because she's coming across from Orlando to Lisbon in October 2024 and returning a couple of weeks later. However, someone needs a geography lesson because despite being called "Transatlantic Azores" that eastbound one goes nowhere near the Azores.

Nice. DD and I are doing Norway in July but we both like the look of that France one too.

It's the least you can do!

State of play at the moment from November 2024 onwards: Adventure out of Port Canaveral Freedom out of Fort Lauderdale Harmony out of Galveston Icon out of Miami Vision out of Baltimore Wonder out of Port Canaveral Everything else is still in limbo.