FionaMG

If the price is the same I would book with the cruise line. Easier to get your money back if for any reason the ship doesn't make it to that port and you are covered in the event of late arrival back to the ship. I think I read recently that you can cancel up to 48 hours before but if you cancel later and there is a waiting list for the excursion they will refund you. Can't guarantee that's the case though.

You can use those tag holders for the debarkation tags too. On one of our more recent trips my tag came off and there were a few anxious moments in the terminal at Port Everglades because my bag was not where it should have been. A steward sent me over to a separate area where the unidentified bags had been put and it was there. I had left a second tag on the desk in the cabin. Lesson learned. Tag holder or two tags is the way to go.

Book the aqua theatre diving show for as early in the cruise as you possibly can because these shows are often cancelled due to weather/sea conditions. The earlier in the cruise you are scheduled to see it the better your chances of actually getting to see it if it has to be re-scheduled. On our first time on Oasis it was cancelled twice and we did not get to see it until the very last day of the cruise.

Thanks for the review. I really enjoyed your writing style. However, I am concerned... you made no mention of your hat on your return... Did you get it back?

It was partly that but he also did these amazing charts that let you work out exactly the sweet point at which you would save money by foregoing the diamond discounts and booking in the cruise planner. I have tried to find the thread but to no avail. Hopefully he will come back and post the link. I was so impressed at the time that I downloaded them for future use. I am going to try to attach one of them here so you can see what I mean, but I'm not sure it will work, so forgive me if it doesn't. Voom Comparison 1599.pdf

We have stayed at the Hotel Lleo, which is near the Ramblas, and the Ibis Sagrada Familia, which is (unsurprisingly) near the Sagrada Familia. Would have no hesitation in recommending either. At both the front desk agent phoned for a taxi for us when we were ready to go to the port. https://www.hotel-lleo.com/ https://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-7567-ibis-barcelona-centro-sagrada-familia/index.shtml?adults=&children=&nights=&dateIn=

@twangster put together a fantastic spreadsheet that shows you how to get the best price for your Internet package and at what point it is cheaper to buy ahead of time rather than make use of the D+ discount. Perhaps he could repost the link.

If it doesn't have to be a non-stop flight, it might be worth looking at TAP Air Portugal via Lisbon or Porto. Pros: They are a fairly decent airline, just not very well-known yet in the North American market, and they fly from both EWR and JFK. They have recently updated their fleet and trans-Atlantic flights are on new Airbus neo aircraft. The prices are usually very competitive and if your time and budget allow, they offer the option of a free stop-over of up to five days on either your outward or return leg. Also, if it's a one-way flight you're looking for, they do genuine one-way fares. Cons: Not great on punctuality and they sometimes shoot themselves in the foot with their customer service. https://www.flytap.com/en-pt/

Both. Each serves as a back-up in case the other fails. And the chances are I will also have a copy saved as a PDF on a second device, usually my tablet. Can you say overkill?

And we have the 3-night package on Adventure over Thanksgiving. UDP and Chops +1 are also available, as was BOGO until its demise. But I vaguely remember someone posting somewhere that there were none on can't-remember-which Oasis class ship over either Christmas or New Year, so maybe restrictions apply only to certain ships?

Haha brilliant! That needs to be added to the dictionary!

It's gone up by 20% on mine. Glad I wasn't thinking of buying it!

We like the promenade rooms partly because of the price, partly because it's fun to look out over the promenade and partly because the layout makes them feel quite spacious. We have only ever been inconvenienced by noise once and that was on Navigator, #7279, which in the middle, right opposite the pub. On a couple of evenings the live music went on until well after midnight and we could hear it. On other occasions we have been towards the end and have never been bothered.

Final payment date can vary depending on the market you book in. My final payment date for my 8-night sailing departing November 23rd is September 27, so exactly 8 weeks before sailing. I booked on Royal's UK site. They sent me a couple of e-mail reminders. When booking with TA here in Portugal it has been as late as 30 days before sailing. I never leave it that late, though.

I have twice won prizes in the spa raffle, although they weren't the top ones. One was a foot and ankle massage and the other was some kind of steam room/shower thingy for two (can't remember the name) where they provided us with lotions and skin products to slather ourselves in. My niece also won a prize once and I think it was quite a "high-up" one, a voucher for however much to exchange for her treatment of choice and she did the couples massage. But you definitely have to be there when they draw it. On each occasion I have been there, some prizes have been redrawn because the winner was not present. The tour of the facility itself is painless; maybe 15 minutes, tops. I have never ever won even the teeny-tiniest prize on the free spin.

I believe it's 300 for shorter cruises of up to 5 or 6 nights and 500 for longer ones. On our last two, which were 11 and 9 nights, it was definitely 500. And they don't even ask you for the money beforehand! However, you do get daily reminders about not overshooting your limit on pain of having your account frozen!

This is how they did the calculations when they switched from credits to points. Credit: a host on CC. "Prior to January 2011, there were no cruise points. Each cruise was one credit, with an extra credit for a JS (or better) stateroom and an extra credit for cruises of 12 nights or longer. So you could earn 3 credits per cruise. Credits were converted into cruise points in Jan 2011 using this formula: If credits were 1-4, points = credits * 7 + 1 If credits were 5-7, points = credits * 7 + 3 If credits were > 7, points = credits * 7 + 13" I checked against my own cruise history and the numbers match up.

Bet the Europe prices will be stupidly expensive.

For Lanzarote, I would recommend looking for tours to Cueva de los Verdes (http://www.cactlanzarote.com/en/cact/cueva-de-los-verdes/) and/or Timanfaya National Park (https://turismolanzarote.com/en/visiting-the-timanfaya-national-park/) And for Tenerife, something that lets you visit Teide National Park, where you can (weather permitting) take a cable car ride up to the top of Monte Teide, the highest peak in Spain (https://www.spain-tenerife.com/en/places/teide.html).

And also a 7-night Eastern in January 2021 and the 9-night holiday sailing over New Year.

I suppose a shorter inaugural means less impact on passengers while the inevitable creases are being ironed out. I think some of the 8-night itineraries look quite interesting but I'm not sure I think they're sufficiently interesting to want to pay new ship prices for them.

Yes, that is certainly true, but as I understand it, the person who gave that US price is actually seeing it on the Travel Agent's booking engine. At the current GBP/USD exchange rate, the price shown on Royal's UK website corresponds to $1828. Of course, there are the other factors to take into consideration, such as ABTA and EU (for the time being) protection, but that still seems like a massive difference.

The word over on CC is, and I quote: "They are hosing the Brits. $1318USD for an inside cabin. That’s total for 2 taxes in." I think this is in reference to the 4-night inaugural. The person who posted it is, I believe, a TA. As far as I can see, the sailings are still not available to book on the US site.

It's been reported over on CC that Odyssey has gone on sale in the last few hours. Currently, it appears to be available on the UK site but not yet the US site (I checked both). Inaugural is out of Fort Lauderdale on the 5th of November 2020.

You're welcome. Checking in online is all part of the excitement in the lead-up to your cruise but it's actually not mandatory, so if the technology has a tantrum you can simply take your booking confirmation with you to the port and it will take just a few extra minutes for them to look you up on the manifest and check you in there. Have a fabulous 1st cruise!