foxrunner

1st place = Odyssey 2nd place = Allure 3rd place = Freedom 4th place = Ovation 5th place = We are sailing on Icon next. So I'm not sure of where it ranks!

Our one time in a JR suite it was cheaper than a balcony. Now that was back in the repricing days, and ultimately we paid more than a balcony. We were sailing with friends and kind of in charge of their booking. They were a few rooms down the hall in a balcony and in the end paid less. I'd say go for it!

Got to love you folks from the desert West. Just walkin in the rain. Cheers!

FYI our week is school vacation week. I should clarify my question Icon and Mariner will be at Coco Cay on the same day. Will the Mariner pricing be the same $70.99 as Icon??

We are the April 13th 2024 Icon sailing and Hideaway goes for $70 per person. Mariner is also at CCC that day. Is it possible that the pricing will be different?

I'm a father of two boys that put themselves through college without debt, because of the tipping culture in the USA. They hustled and worked a ton of hours. We live in a resort community so that helps. We are a solid middleclass family so received no financial aid. My point is that without tipping the boys would have come out of colleges with tens of thousands $ in debt. They could have worked the back of the house for that safe hourly wage but again that would have meant student loans. Yes they did have some scholarships but they made it happen through hard work and tips.

Being vocal works, but see below! Yup, it is coming somewhere else! It is also fair to say that Royal's model is a pay to play one vs all inclusive. For some cruisers that works really well, for some it is nickel & diming. What I wish Royal saw was that the value in cruising vs the land option made cruising appealing. Cruising has some strengths but serious problems. Crew working conditions short stays in a place lack of getting to know the local culture crowds mass produced food negative impact on the local economy outside of a select few a harried pace for vacation huge negative environmental impact I'm not down on cruising but we need to be real here about what is positive and negative. Again thank you all for your positivity and hard earned knowledge!

246 days to go time!

Oops! We are on the April 13th Cruise. Enjoy!

Best specialty drink on Royal!!

Unless you are staying in Europe for months, you are going to be dealing with jet lag on one leg or the other. We have found moving East, living on the East Coast, to be more difficult. I would also add unless you are a champion sleeper jet lag stinks. Most seasoned travelers drug themselves to combat this issue. I'm a good sleeper but don't want to take something, and don't sleep on the plane. We found the stay up method on Eastbound flights to work pretty well. You will be kind of groggy so no major life decisions but a good tourist.

Hi Frank, We just returned from Italy Greece and Turkey, notice not Israel. In Greece and Italy they except Euros. In Turkey they have their own currency, but in our experience want Euros. Most places take credit cards and will convert fairly for you. Interesting in Greece I tried to tip in dollars and the server refused saying he only would except Euros. I only had Dollars and he was fine with no tip. The whole tipping culture is very different. We tried to use the credit card for as much as possible which outside of a very few excursions was OK.

Dry docks are scheduled way in advance and if you can book the dates they should cruise. No one can predict emergency repairs so I wouldn't worry about that. Royal would also refund you 100% if they don't sail. The change I would make would be to a 4 nighter. We have been on Allure twice and it is awesome. Being your first cruise you don't know what your missing with the newer ships. The short cruises on Oasis class make it hard to see and do everything, another day makes a big difference. Consider staying on the ship in Nassau or walking to the straw market and get back on board. The port isn't all that great and it will give you more time to explore the ship. These ships are massive and it takes awhile to see everything. Allure or Utopia are more like a small city block with a resort style hotel. Keep asking questions we are a friendly bunch.

We put the magnets above the peephole. Haven't lost it yet. Our theory the little ones can't reach.

The buoys mark the places were artificial reefs have been created. I wouldn't call it world class but free and fun.

Can't answer that question. We went to the gardens and tea at the Empress, both highly recommended. Beacon Hill park is also a great free take. Ask for more info if interested?

How do find the plane? We have found all the artificial reef buoyed sites. When I have asked the lifeguards they say it has been removed. Thanks

This is our first time in Europe, so take these plans in that light. We have done a lot of research online and with guide books to help. We used Rick Steves' Italy book and his Mediterranean Cruise book. We do not have any RC excursions booked. We will be in Rome for 5 days prior to the cruise. We have booked tours through The Roman Guy for Skip the line access to the Vatican and the Colosseum. We also have a tour booked for the Borghese Gallery through Loving Rome. We will be doing a private tour in Santorini with Santorini Nikos, where we will meet a driver at the top of the Cable Cars in Fira. They will take us around the island and we have dinner reservations for 7:30PM to see the sunset. In Mykonos, we have a tour scheduled with Sunfos Alessia yachting where we will tour Delos and snorkel off Rhenia Island. This includes a lunch onboard the tour boat. We have also booked a private tour of Ephesus. We are using Ephesus Port Tours. This tour company gets excellent reviews. The price per person for the tour does not include admission to the museums, but even with those added in, it's not much more than booking through Royal. We are looking forward to not having to be on a schedule with dozens of other people. In Naples, we will take the train to Pompeii and meet a small tour through [email protected]. I found this through Rick Steves' tour guide book and the price is 20 euros per person plus the 16 euro Pompeii admission fee. The tours get excellent reviews online and the groups are much smaller than the RC tours. I understand that the train from Naples to Pompeii is a crowded crazy experience, but we wanted to have the option to stay a bit and explore Pompeii on our own after our tour ends. We looked at a couple of other tour companies that take you by van/bus to Pompeii and then bring you back to Naples. This would avoid the train travel. We plan to take the train back to Naples and hopefully have time to grab a slice of pizza and take a quick tour of the Naples National Archaeological Museum, focusing on the Pompeii exhibits.

22 Days to go! Sure will Kim!

Are the children of all ages, or mostly youngsters or teens? The reason I ask is because ship class matters with age ranges. Does your group like adventure or are they more chill folks? Do you like theater and or live music. As you have never cruised the itineraries are all new but maybe you have been on land vacations in Mexico, and that is a factor. Do you plan to do specialty dinning or eat in the MDR? We have been on three different classes as seen below. Answering these questions will help to better guide our response. No matter what it will be awesome!

This discussion is a reminder of how bad air travel has become post 9/11. The other thing we should all be happy about is that cruising hasn't completely changed. Count your lucky stars and get on a ship!

Saving seats is not allowed but not enforced. On our last SW flight two woman almost got in a fist fight over seat saving. Bring on the popcorn!

46 Days to go! Check in night!

What makes me loyal is this website. I like to be in the know when I travel. We enjoy the planning process and Matt and the crew around here give us great tips. This type of site doesn't exist for other lines and the general cruise sites are full of trolls. We will try another line though. Price increases are the main reason. Post Covid service and costs have drastically changed. Unfortunately this is a universal issue not just with Royal. I would encourage all of us to continue to be constructive critics and hope for change. Another reminder is that this site isn't run by RCCL and is full of good helpful people.

As a proud 8th grade public school teacher, I agree many parents think remote learning is still alive and well. This is not the case anymore though. We did offer a remote option during the pandemic. Now students need to come after school to make up missed time post vacation. Most just don't do this. I do understand the tug and pull as a parent and teacher about missing time for vacations. I just don't want you good folks to thing remote learning has solved this issue. One final observation on remote learning is that our most needy students fell the farthest behind during the pandemic. Not because of poor instruction but because of the self discipline remote learning requires. We cruise during school vacation but as teachers like children and even teens, so no worries for us. When we retire we would like to try a no kids cruise.