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Ditto. On the Mariner last week, l picked up my card at Cafe Promenade. The associate checked a list, had me sign for the card, and then wrote ship on the back. Now when I lost the card the next day, they issued me a new one for free (less the 4 punches I stated I used). I thought that was great customer service! However, they don't know how to make a dry cappucino. So I started ordering an iced latte instead. They definitely punched by the number of espresso shots. Also, if all you want is a double espresso in the morning, it's only $3.25 a la carte. Skip the card unless you want more expensive drinks.

Just disembarked. I know one night the Casino didn't open until 11:30 PM, and after Bonaire it was 3 PM (all aboard at 1:30 PM). So my experience was Casino closed during port visit.

Just got off yesterday; we did facial recognition and were done. Didn't look at our passport, didn't give us a form to fill out.

Just got off ABC cruise. Recommend ice show, production shows, and headliners. One special show (Singer Showcase) was two lead Royal singers (Flavio Tallini and Maria Donna). This was the BEST show even though the crowd was sparse. I felt I was in the presence of true greatness. If they are on your schedule, do see them sing.

We have used Allianz. On a side note, we had insurance on an airline ticket that American delayed, causing missed connections. They refused compensation even though we had to spent a night in a hotel, and their delay was caused by switching planes (they gave our plane to another route). The trip insurance we had for the flight covered $150 of the $209 in expenses we incurred for travel delay. So my point is that you should look at the amount of coverage when you insure your air transportation that accompanies a cruise.

How do you want to appear to others? I watch Rick Steve's videos, and he wears long pants rather than shorts along with a collared shirt. This is for walking around, getting into churches, and dining in family restaurants. Seems like a good guide except for bumming around the ship with other tourists. I always pack a coat to Europe but wear it with slacks while traveling. Then I change to shorts and T-shirt from my carryon. I find my sport coat gets more wrinkled in the suitcase.

Two things. It sounds like you haven't booked a cruise yet. Therefore, you'd be looking at older web pages associated with port excursions, right? Second, some ships haven't completed migrating to the new cruise planner. For one booked cruise, we have found a glitch in the excursions because the excursion tab has different ports than the official itinerary. If I were you, I wouldn't choose the itinerary because of the excursions. Normally, Royal and 3rd party providers have the same type of excursions. For example, tours of the city, rides to the beach, snorkeling/boating, (in the Caribbean, dolphin/turtle/stingray), adventurous stuff like 4x4, kayaking, biking, ziplining; etc. In Europe there are often tours that drop you off and let you wander around, not to mention hop-on/hop off buses or visits to popular historic sites. Finally, there are now a lot of foodie/booze tasting excursions. I might look at the time in port on your candidate excursions. Longer port visits allow more a broader range of excursions. But it boils down to where you want to visit and what you want to do. Some people are more interested in the ship and its diversions than the actual excursions.

I share some of your concerns -- not sure if cases are rising (we lack true random sampling), but certainly the virus remains ever-present. I am in favor of cruise line testing at the port for a modest fee built into the fare, but I don't think this is practical because of the thousands of travelers who would need testing in a short period of time. Also, would you really want to travel to a cruise port only to be turned away because of a positive test, or would you rather test yourself the day before you travel? Again, COVID is real, and we need to remain vigilant, but other diseases abound, too. We need a strategic approach to public health in the US that addresses many concerns. I appreciate you sharing your view and allowing me to give you at least partial support.

You might want to look at Rick Steves' PBS videos or paperback guides as he is a bit of a rambler. Also, because of pickpockets be sure to keep the valuables you take with you very safe. As you walk, try not to look completely like a tourist. We found Pisa underwhelming, so we will go to Florence on our next opportunity. However, I did enjoy seeing the Leaning Tower having read about it in my youth. Have a great trip!

We found the hotel packages very expensive this summer, like about $350-$400 for one night in the hotel and 8 nights of cruise parking. We opted to stay at a Hilton farther away and use third-party parking. I'd say you need to shop around.

If you are in Florida a full week, could you order a proctored test from the hotel at arrival and use it? You'd be in the US, and delivery is normally just a few days. Just a thought.

In addition to what has been said, I think the length of the cruise is a factor. My first cruise was 5 nights, and that was too short. I prefer 7+ nights so I have time to learn about the ship and what it has to offer. I actually prefer the shows on the small-medium sized ships; I find Oasis-class shows "not my cup of tea". My preference would be Vision, Radiance, or Voyager class ships, the latter with a decent promenade. But whatever you choose, enjoy your cruise! We have found joy on every Royal ship we've sailed.

Tulum is available only from Cozumel (through Royal), and it is an all-day affair when you consider the ferry rides. It is very hot this time of year, and our excursion allowed you to go to a beach at the bottom of the cliff for a bit to cool off. I found Chacchoben nicer. It is jungle-like, so bug spray is essential. We did both Tulum and Chacchoben on the same trip. It can be fatiguing in combination. For either, take bottled water!

If you can handle the boat (ferry) ride from Cozumel to Carmen del Playa, I would recommend the Amazing Secret River, which is a hike in bathing suits through a cave system. Another option is Tulum Mayan Ruins. We have taken the ferry twice, have gotten some nausea, but haven't lost our cookies yet! Even our young son managed the ferry over a decade ago. My favorite at Costa Maya is Chacchoben Mayan Ruins. (We found a raft trip through Lake Bacalar too tame.) Now we just take a shuttle/cab to Mahahual and have a local lunch in the village. Some folks pay for a pass at one of the port bars and just chill. (Swimming pool to cool off!)

Cruise Planner for October trip to Med now seems to show a different itinerary for excursions than Royal shows for the booked itinerary and new online bookings. So an 8-hour Eze excursion is now 14 hours (presumably from a different port), conflicting with MyTime dining reservation. Discovered all of this when I tried canceling and re-booking the excursion after a price drop. Now we all know the Cruise Planner can act up, so I am not worried, just curious. Anyone else sailing from Barcelona with similar problems?

I am sure the masks helped, but maybe not enough to prevent catching a variant-- maybe at least transmission was minimized. My son and his wife returned from Denmark (Voyager) covid-free, but his observation was that the ship was far from full. One never knows what sort of "sample" each ship contains -- conscientious and careful guests or devil-may-care guests. We are hopeful our cruise next week will go off without a hitch and find us healthy at the end. Best of luck to other travelers....

I am sorry you had airline problems. We reently experienced problems with American Airlines ourselves. That said, another cruise site lists the names of executives you could contact to follow-up on your poor service, etc. Also, if you buy travel insurance for all segments of your trip, you would be reimbursed by the insurance. Finally, if you had used a travel agent, your agent would have handled the problem for you. Something to think about for your next trip.

We checked in at a "normal" time, about 8 AM on the first day, and we secured a 11 AM boarding time. It took me a few tries to get my passport scanned - my wife had to look up instructions on her phone while I used mine. You need to line up the passport page in portrait with with a bar that appears on your phone camera screen (the passport bar code lined up with the phone bar). I found this counter-intuitive -- I initially tried landscape. Uploading vaccine cards is easy. Have a great cruise! We hope to sail next week.

Historically, I have also found the MDR slow, but I generally get wine at a bar while I am waiting for dining to open. I generally take a glass to the table, finish it, and the waiter may ask if I want another. I rarely wait until I arrive at the MDR to order wine.

I think the best quality is friendliness and willingness to communicate. You can't serve customers well if you don't understand them. So we enjoy getting to know our wait staff and allowing them to know us. The rest follows....Now for me, extra water isn't as important as an extra roll or plenty of butter, but good service is always enjoyed!

I can't tell from your question whether we are talking about one reservation or multiple reservations (staterooms). However, when you redeem points for OBC, you choose whether to share it with your spouse or keep it in just your name. Whoever is named is then able to spend the credit (it is assigned to the SeaPass). You can also link multiple rooms to your registered credit card, if you choose to do so, but that poses additional risk to you. The easiest thing to do is keep the OBC in your name/spouse and simply use your SeaPass to make purchases on behalf of others. That way, you control how much you share and limit your risk. Now if you are all in the same room, when you check in online you can authorize anyone in the room to make charges to the stateroom account, which is tied to your credit card. We did this when our son reached high school age. Thus, it all depends on how much credit risk you want to take. Have a great trip!

Yes and no. The last time I sailed (fall 2019), it was a physical card, but the rules were that you put in your ship or sailing, so it was non-transferable. That said, folks have gotten away with leaving the card blank and re-using it on their next cruise. So it depends upon the barristas you encounter and your sense of ethics. Standby for any comments from recent travelers. We sail next week, but I haven't been told the coffee card will be loaded to my SeaPass. I believe it will still be a card that is punched.

Similar to others, for us it is the total value proposition - all the things we like to do with great service, and we more or less just choose from a vacation menu. I will call out two particular items important to me: live music and dancing. Cruising lacks the intensity of a week-long land trip to a foreign country, but it offers variety; you aren't betting all of your vacation dollars on a single experience.

Yes. If it isn't, go to customer service. I was once given a soda package (cup and sticker) instead of a coffee card...Fortunately, I brought my binder with receipts and showed them my coffee purchase.

While we generally prefer amidship locations, we note that noise abatement is more important than the roll of the ship. I recommend checking what is above/near your cabin location. For example, being under a kitchen or the casino is noisy. On Oasis class ships, we've had Boardwalk balconies and enjoyed them, but you have noise from the aqua shows (if you retire early). In the end, it depends upon your preferences and what type of sleeper you are. My wife is more concerned about mattress comfort and my snoring....!