Rick M

If you are sailing on an Oasis class ship, the Solarium has a nice buffet for lunch and it is pretty quiet.

You do not get points faster, but I signed up wife and kids at same time.  Sign up wife and she will get points earned on past cruise as well.

Yes, includes any alcohol like wine, liquor and beer.

As soon as you board ship, go to kiosk or any specialty restaurant and make your reservations.  Most times should still be available.

3 hours ago, ama537621 said:

My rule is half a normal suitcase for me, the other half for my daughter who is 5. My wife will have a full suitcase for all her crap (I have learned not to question anything she packs). I just make sure it weighs under the airline limit.  We will each have a carry on In case luggage is lost. 

I am with you, except I share one suitcase with myb2 teenage son's.  The wife and all her crap is in the larger suitcase.

I would have too say the Vatican in Rome, Florence, Venice and Istanbul(Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque).

I do not think it is worth it.  I have a Jr. suite booked in Aug 2020 for Alaska, but I would not pay more. However, if you have a regular suite, depending on the ship, you have access to the Concierge Club and Coastal Kitchen or some other suite only access areas.  As a Jr. suite we do not have those perks.  I do not think it is worth the price deference.

You have a small fridge in your cabin.  Ask your room steward to bring you a cork screw and 2 wine glasses, they do this gladly.  If you want to have it at dinner, they will store it for you, but they do charge a corkage fee, usually 10 or 15 dollars to open and store it.  Still a lot cheaper than buying the bottle on board.

You may want to do both dining venues. The windjammer is as fast to eat at as you like.  The MDR will take at least 1 and 1/2 hours to eat a complete meal, apps, main course and dessert.  You can reduce the time if you forgo a course.  And specialty restaurants will take up to 2 hours as well.  If you like pizza, there is Sorrento's as well which is super quick.

The excursions and anything else you booked is fully refundable.  If you booked cruise and have the refundable fare and it is more than 90 days away, you can just cancel.  However, if you did not book a refundable cruise it cost $100 per person to make a change.  This happened to me when i switched from March to July on Allure and I had a non refundable deposit.  Cost me 400 for 4 of us.

4 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

I was on deck 6 and heard almost no noise BUT I had a room above Guest Services.  The crowd stayed forward of that area. 

My kids were is same room, right above guest services, and it was very quiet at night.  We were right across hall in an ocean balcony.  

Non alcoholic beverages, except for the wine.  If only 1 adult is sailing, you are only allowed 1 bottle of wine plus 12 beverages.

25 minutes ago, Matt said:

The rules say:

• Up to two bottles of wine per stateroom
• 12 standard (17 oz) cans, bottles or cartons per stateroom. 

It was just a 3 nighter.  Those tend to be roadies crowds on the less expensive cruise lines, even RCCL.

16 hours ago, deep1 said:

Hmmm... Until recently I could "feel" a difference on each cruise line I have tried... Often that "feel" is related to the bulk of the passengers on each line or at least my perception of them.  Carnival reminds me of the party dance boats in Nassau and I envision  bodies strewn about in the wee hours crawling back to their cabins in an alcohol induced stupor . Seems any port I have been in its Carnival trying to one up with the party noise.  Disney , I find to be too "themed", too commercialized, too caught up in their own self promotion.  I see a "mature crowd" on the princess cruises I have attended. Holland America (its been a long time) I found a more "reserved " if not "executive" crowd. RCCL for me wins hands down with their ships and ingenuity  that goes into them. I say at the onset of my reply "Until Recently". That refers to  I always found the typical RCCL passenger to be a "notch above". Not in a snobbish way. Just a little more fun without overdoing the "party" thing. A little more intelligent to converse with. My last cruise with them the "class" tilted more to trailer park than successful professional. Might have been the port Was a different one than the ones I've been used to)? Or perhaps that it was a three night quickie that had started out priced dirt cheap (I booked late , last OV cabin on sold out trip). It was more reminiscent of Carnival . 

Thank you

Perhaps Matt can answer this, is the tip for the included first day lunch with the key program included?

As far as onboard experience goes, My family considers food first.  RC has a fair dinner menu in the MDR, although the quality could be a bit better.  Their buffet is wonderful in terms of selection, quality and they change things up daily (not all things). And they have very good specialty restaurants.  Carnival was much worse, especially at the buffet - it was always the same stuff.  Disney, on the other hand was much better in the MDR.  But for 50% more for the cruise is it worth It?  Now that my boys are teens - I would say no. Celebrity and Princess are supposed to have better food, but the extra cost to cruise again begs the question - is it worth It?

As far as entertainment and activities to do while on the ship, I think RC has all the others beat.  There is too much to do in fact.  On the quantum class and oasis class, you could literally split yourself into 4 to do stuff all over the ship.

I think the storeroom attendants are helpful and kind no matter who you cruise with.  I know the average storeroom is a bit bigger on Disney, but that is because most people sail with their kids in the same room.

As for the bars and lounges, the are pretty much the same on any cruise line.  But I do want to try the bar on Allure that goes from the promenade to central park.

I would do it onboard for 2 reasons: to pay the reduced deposit and you normally get an onboard credit when you book as well, plus any other sale RC has at that time.  The will ask you for a travel agents name, if you like, as well at time of booking.

You get 15 punch holes and 1 gets punched for every small or medium size, 2 get punched for every large size.  You also get a bit of a discount verses pay for them at the time you order, about 25%.

I know someone YouTube said she always asked for a plate of French fries with here dinner.

Yes they do.  Bet big and scare off all the pretenders.

I have 2 booked and am waiting for the Cuba cruises to be announced for after January so in can book my third.  We try to get an accessible cabin and the good ones tend to go early.

I cruised in Europe for 12 days on Brilliance in 2017 and found the food to be pretty much the same in the MDR. If you have the RC app, you can check out your MDR menu in advance, assuming your ship is supported by the app.

We choose based on itinerary. We live in Toronto so we have to fly almost anywhere.  Although Cape Liberty and Baltimore are under 10 hours to drive.  We did, however, choose this summer based on ship. I wanted to go on an Oasis class ship and in July we go on Allure.  Next summer we wanted to go to Alaska, so we booked on the Serenade out of Vancouver. 

We are on Allure July 28 and me and my 2 sons (18 and 15) will be in shorts.  My wife will probably change.  As long as they are long shorts it will be fine.  They will say something if you have a swim suit or short shorts.

On the other hand, if Mexico were to prevent anyone with a US passport from entering their country, then it would affect land, Air and sea passengers. As retaliation.