FionaMG

I definintely saw a chocolate fountain in the WJ at lunch once on each of my last two cruises (Odyssey and Anthem). They had marshmallows and pieces of fruit alongside it.

Yes, indeed, it was a great itinerary. Glad you enjoyed the blog.

My pleasure.

Yes I like this one

Hello @Amresh Happy New Year to you too and welcome to the boards. I'm sorry to hear you've had this problem. I don't think the pier agents actually work for Royal. They would be employees either of the cruise line's port agent or potentially of the port itself. Perhaps you could try contacting them by email to start with, not only to save on expensive international calls but also so you have a "paper chain" to serve as proof of your efforts to recover your belongings in case you need to submit a claim to your insurers. You should be able to find the contact details in your cruise documents. Something else that you could try, since you are a C&A member, is to reach out to C&A via Facebook messenger. Perhaps they may be able to help you. I have used this contact method with them a couple of times and they have always resolved my issue in a couple of hours. I hope you will manage to get your things back.

I haven't sailed with either Carnival or Princess so don't know how their prices compare but I'm guessing from the way you worded your post that their pricing is more (shall we say?) sensible. I would have to agree with this. We would definitely be willing to book some speciality dining if the prices weren't so stupidly expensive. I remember when Chops first made its appearance the upcharge was about $25. Of course back then, the MDR was really decent so at the time I thought that was too much too.

Both have beaches a short taxi ride from port and both have shopping in the immediate vicinity of the port but I preferred the beach in Aruba. We went to Eagle Beach and it is simply gorgeous. A little bit farther on you have Palm Beach, which is supposed to be more lively (haven't been to that one yet). I didn't like the beach close to port in Curaçao (Mambo Beach) nearly as much, although again it was quite lively, if that's your preference. Eagle Beach: The busier bit And the quieter end Mambo Beach. There is a strip of shops right behind the beach (we didn't go in).

I can't speak to your particular port but our experience of Royal's post-cruise excursions is that they usually have you arriving at the airport in PLENTY of time for a flight at whatever the cut-off time is in the excursion description. So if the one you're looking at says something along the lines of "For domestic flights departing after 4 pm", you'll be at the airport at the very latest two hours before that. In your case that's going to mean a lot of time hanging around at the airport before your flight. I think potentially a day pass at a hotel might be a better option for you. Or, if you're comfortable with the idea, consider hiring a car for the day. That would give you the freedom to make plans for a full day's outing somewhere.

BUT, instead of coming with morel mushroom sauce it comes with "creamy peppercorn" sauce. That was always one of DH's favourites but he can't eat anything that's in any way spicy. I'm pretty disappointed in the new menus too. There are several nights when one or both of us are going to be struggling to find something we'd like and we don't really consider ourselves to be picky eaters. I think they really should have kept a couple of the plain always-available classics. And I'm devastated that my all-time favourite royal chocolate cake is only available on one night.

Great pics. Have an amazing time!

I'm guessing this was supposed to say "cruise planner" but I did have a little giggle at it because it so perfectly describes many of us on these boards

It may cost you a few extra seconds at port while the person checking you in manually overrides the system's automatic tantrum about names not matching. It happens to us pretty regularly because Portuguese (and Spanish) people usually have two separate surnames like Jones Smith, as opposed to double-barrelled ones like Jones-Smith, and the system is not culturally programmed to handle it.

It always makes me kind of sad when I someone create a user name like un happy or disappointed because it means they are so blinded by their emotions that their sole purpose is to complain about the one situation that prompted them to sign up and post. They completely miss the fact that they are joining a community where, in the future, they could obtain useful information and enjoy the conviviality of sharing experiences with other posters.

May be different to our sailing since we were in Europe, but only Spectra's required a booking on ours. With regard to WWRY, there were 3 shows and the CD recommended people start lining up an hour(!!) before to ensure they weren't disappointed and also that the first and second shows were always the busiest. And people DID start lining up that far in advance. We went to a trivia in the Schooner bar at 1pm on the day of the first show and the line was huge by 1.15.

@bethr_20 Just wanted you to know I've not forgotten. I'm simply snowed under at work right now. I promise I'll be back to you soon to share my pre cruise research

My mantra is at least one day early for domestic (US) or intra-European flights, preferably two if time allows. And at least two days ahead for intercontinental flights, preferably three if time allows.

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...