KristiZ

Welcome to the boards! Which ports are they?

Make sure the photos are high enough resolution. Sometimes in the cropping process your photo app will compress the pictures until they’re too small (too low dpi) to qualify.

Usually at 30 days

Your US passports will be fine, even without the 6-month validity. Bermuda requires US citizens to have a US passport "valid for the duration of your travel to Bermuda", which yours will be. Enjoy your cruise!

The Ocean View suite sleeps 8. As long as some were kids, I’d be willing to put 8 in that room.

Yes. We regularly buy a 4 device package to share between two rooms.

11 - Explorer

Welcome to the boards! Checkin should be completed 72 hours prior. Failing that, you can check in at the pier. It’ll just take you longer to board

Welcome to the boards! If your reservations are linked, you can use the app to check in just to grab boarding times for everyone. Then you can go back and do the document portion of the checkin at your leisure. You can link your reservations on the website or app by picking the “don’t see your cruise?” link and putting the other reservation number, guest name and birthdate Hope that helps!

Welcome to the boards! Unlikely. We did a similar route a few years ago. As US citizens, we had to get our own Vietnam visas. The process was online and pretty painless If you want to know for certain, call Royal

I've used Viator and GetYourGuide, and also local independents in various ports. Depending on what part of the world you're cruising in, Rick Steve's site can have good guide recommendations too.

Welcome to the boards! Try this site: Odyssey of the Seas Deck 6 Deck Plans (cruisedeckplans.com) While your specific cabins don't have tours, a couple of adjacent ones do.

Welcome to the boards! I have used them before. You send them a list of things you're interested in and they build a custom tour around that. You can then discuss any changes you might want. The most important benefit I've found with them is that you're technically on a Royal excursion so there is the return to ship guarantee. The negative is that they tend to be much more expensive than what you can find on your own (depending on the port, of course).

Welcome to the boards! Your plan is a great one. You'll find a wide range of interpretation on the dress code, particularly for children. Do whatever makes you comfortable and happy.

100% this is a good time to try it! There is So Much Food at Chef's Table, it's not like you'll go hungry if you skip a course

Welcome to the boards! We just did a suite guarantee on Odyssey this past April. We got a midship Junior Suite on deck 6. It was a great location and a very nice room. You will most likely end up in a Junior Suite, so as long as you’re happy with that you’ll be fine. In our case the cost savings was significant so we were very pleased. If you’re picky about where your room is you might not like going the guarantee route, though.

Yes, this is the latest evolution of the wine tasting they offer. This one focuses on wineries either owned or run by women. They show little informative videos about each wine. It was fun!

Yes, they are accepting expired passports for renewal

It's awkward wording for sure. What they mean is that it had to have been a 10-year passport, not the 5-year ones that kids get. The passport itself can be expired, as long as it wasn't issued before 2009. Does that make sense?

It does, but only for the amount you actually pay. So the second meal has no gratuity because no cost

The app will definitely let you skip. You just poke the arrival time section instead of the passport section. Then you can go back and do passports and photos later.

You should be able to see the menus in the app. I see them for my next cruise and it’s further out than yours. If you select Coastal Kitchen in the app, the menu should be a blue link right below the “Find on Deck” link. Hope that helps!

I'd recommend checking in for everyone but just doing the boarding time selection. Then you can all get on the ship together. Each person can then go on the app (or website) at their leisure and add their photo and passport. If you're all in the same cabin it's easy. If not, just make sure the reservations are linked.

Do it! Here’s my blog from right before the pandemic (so there may be some post-covid changes but not enough to worry about). Zero issues with the language. There are some great itineraries out that way and Spectrum is lovely!

You can use the ETA. The visitor visa just lets you stay longer at one time. No need to pay extra for it.