FionaMG

You're not obliged to avail yourself of any of the perks so if you want to hang on to your carry-on it won't be a problem. But perhaps you could consider packing the absolutely essential stuff likes meds and docs in a small, light backpack and give them your larger carry-on (assuming you have one). This will allow for greater comfort while exploring the ship prior to the cabins being ready.

It's to do with the American law governing foreign-flagged ships not connecting two American ports unless it calls at a distant foreign port somewhere between the two. On such a short trip it's not's possible to call at a distant foreign port so it has to sail empty. Pinging @twangster who explained this to me a while back when I had precisely the same question. He can explain it better than I have done.

Essentially the only information you get about the actual excursion is what's on the description in the cruise planner. If you post the specific excursion you've booked here on the board someone may reply who has already been on it and can give you some more detailed information. The tickets will be put in your stateroom by your stateroom attendant. Sometimes they will already be there when you board and sometimes they will appear later on. We have booked at least one ship-sponsored excursion on every one of our cruises and have never had to go chasing for tickets. The tickets state on them where and when you have to meet for your excursion. Sometimes it will be on board (often in the theatre) and other times it will be on the pier. In this latter case, give yourself an extra few minutes leeway to allow for any hold-ups getting off the ship. Hope this helps.

I have to say I thought their announcement saying they were honouring it was quite cleverly worded. Congrats to those of you who snagged the deal. ?

Does it have to be the UDP? Is there a 3-night dining package you could go for instead? That would save you some money but still let you try some of the specialty restaurants.

What a great pic! Love it.

It might depend on where you are flying from. If you're flying into the US from another country then you would have to go through customs so you would have to collect your luggage to do that. If you're flying domestically within the US, I suppose it's possible that Royal would be able to collect it (don't know for sure, so someone please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) but even if they were there is no way I would want to do it that way. I would want to collect it myself to be absolutely sure that it would make it to the ship along with me.

Thanks for this. DH usually makes a small nightly contribution on the slot machines but he doesn't use his sea pass so I will have to try and remember this going forward.

It was the booking of cruises. @ChessE4 has explained it nicely for me.

Just curious as to what this "Casino Royale" thing is. I've seen it mentioned several times. Enlighten me, anyone? ?

This is so me and DH! What we usually do is go to the MDR on port days and the WJ on sea days (since we tend to sleep in on sea days, by which time the MDR breakfast has finished).

I actually have this same cruise pencilled in for early October 2020. Early May is a good time, especially if you're planning on doing a lot of touring. The weather should be reasonable (think layers and bring either an umbrella or a rain cape) and the sites will be less crowded, since schools are in. Messina doesn't have much in the actual town, other than the Astronomical Clock in the cathedral, which is worth seeing if you're staying in town. Make sure you're there in time for the show beginning at noon. http://www.messinarte.it/the-bell-tower-of-the-cathedral-of-messina/ Valetta is lovely just to wander around, if you feel like you want a relaxing day, but Saint John's Co-Cathedral is definitely worth visiting if you like that sort of thing. https://www.stjohnscocathedral.com/ In Athens, if you are planning on visiting the Parthenon, it's really, really, really important to get there early, otherwise, even in May, you'll be doing battle with hordes of other visitors. There is some good shopping to be had in the Plaka, which is the central square/bazaar area. For Naples, another option is Pompey, which is striking and humbling. We have gone there twice and I would have no hesitation in going back again. I have not been to Santorini, Mykonos or Ephesus so can't offer any suggestions for those ports.

I will have to start work on twisting DH's arm. ?

Oooooh, that is a really nice itinerary. I want to go on that one!

I'm just browsing on the book a new cruise bit of the website and noticed a "Kids Sail Free" filter that I don't remember ever seeing before. My kids are well past the "sail free" age but just in case it might be useful to anyone.

OP, I think you may just have been unlucky. We did Giovanni's and Chops once each on our Navigator cruise last November. Both were good but for us Giovanni's was the better one. DH had the mushroom risotto and thought it was delicious. We have the 3 night package for our next cruise on Adventure this coming November and will probably do Giovanni's twice and Chops once. We're not sushi fans either.

This is precisely why we prefer to relax at our hotel and not board until around 1pm when the rooms open up. ?

The individual boxes of cereal available at breakfast time are another option.

Note to self: remember to try this. Although I have to add in gym gear too as I'm a fitness freak.

Don't even try to get your head around the percentages because Royal practices "creative maths" and changes the rules willy-nilly. Just look at the bottom line. When you see a price you're comfortable with, pull the trigger. You can cancel and rebook without penalty if you subsequently see it at a cheaper price. If you are buying just the two-device internet (without any beverage package), you buy just one. The system will ask you to assign it to one of the passengers. That person will then receive one code that allows two devices to be connected simultaneously.

Can you get away with it? Probably. But it sounds to me as if you don't feel entirely comfortable with the idea. If he's only going to be drinking water and the occasional soda, you might as well just buy them individually. It won't set you back a lot and you'll have a clear conscience.

Happened to us too in Curaçao, with people buying shopping trolley loads full of the liqueur. Infuriating.

Yes, we have, in Rio de Janeiro. We made it but only just. However, that was mostly the fault of the stragglers in my party who were late getting down to the meeting point for the first excursion. This meant we were on the very last bus of several doing the same excursion and had to wait a bit longer yet for some more stragglers. As a result we got back to ship only with enough time to go to the toilet and grab a sandwich to eat on the way back off the ship for the next one. So you should be ok for your double trip but make sure to get to the meeting point early to try and get on the first bus out. The earlier your bus leaves, the earlier it will be back. Enjoy!

We will be on Adventure later this year and there doesn't seem to be a lot of current information about her so it's good to know you're having a great cruise. Thanks for posting. ?

Agree with CFL. We stayed at this hotel in December 2017 and are booked to stay again this coming November. There's a water taxi stop less than 10 minutes walk away too, if that's something you'd be interested in.