GregD

I don't think I would fall into that category, especially on these older ships. After sailing Indy in the GS I didn't feel that we needed or would have benefited from having a Genie or the "package" The Concierge was able to accomplish everything we needed. I think only if the price was just right and I wasn't in a full suite would I look hard at it. At the price @Matt showed in his post, that would have been a hard pass.

It's been a long day.....I misread this as "aggressively wash my loins...." and thought well that's a little personal, but we are all friends here so who am I to judge....

well..........

Something is amiss here. No flight issues, no luggage issues.....what kind of blog is this? Have I woken up in a different reality??? Super glad you guys have made it just fine and with no issues. I cant wait to live vicariously through you guys for the next few days!

ummmmmmm, your freeloaders are old enough to do their own laundry!!!! I can send mine up to show them how!

I have been MIA from these blogs for a bit because work has been crazy with my new position and I am in full Scotland planning mode. (21 days to go!) I will do my best to follow along here. It will be fun to read about "the genie experience" I should try to go back and read the other blogs. Its going to be interesting for your genie to escort you to your fabulous "larger balcony room" wah wahhhhhhh I cant wait to see the La Bamba pictures....I need to get back there. I'm glad to hear your dad is improving again.

As I read this, this comes to mind.....

Your room is high enough that the slide really wont be an issue, I wouldn't worry about it and just enjoy the cruise. Here is a shot that shows where your room is, you may hear the occasional person going down, but you will hear much more noise from the boardwalk itself. Even if the slide wasn't there, you would still have all the backdrop of the ATS there anyway.

When we sailed out of Southampton we used Blackberry Cars for the transfer. @Lovetocruise2002 also used them as well. We were on the same cruise to Norway. They are very good and responsive. They meet you right past customs and have nice vehicles. There are plenty of hotels there. We stayed at the Novotel Southampton. This is a no frills hotel, but was quite nice. It's right by the cruise port and was a 6 minute uber ride that morning. If you read our blog (link in signature) I have photos etc. We walked around the city for the day when we got there before jet lag wiped us out. If you stay at that hotel, there is a McDonalds in the same parking lot for familiar food. There are also plenty of pubs etc around as well. It's not far from the "City Center" where all the original parts of the city, and the stuff you really want to look at. Check out the SeaCity Museum for a neat Titanic Exhibit.

In my experience, the streaming aspect is good. I have been able to watch things on Netflix etc, so you should be fine with music. That being said, the ships are giant metal boxes, and some areas are better than others as far as speed and reliability of the connection. For me, I do more that just text etc. I need to be able to be connected back home, so the internet is a justifiable cost to me. As you may have seen, if you book, keep an eye on the price, because if it drops, you can always rebook at the lower rate. You can also look at The Key. That includes the internet and a few other perks that could be useful, but only if the price isn't a whole bunch more that makes the value proposition upsidendown.

Yeah, that's a bit more important.

like others have said, its been a while since that has happened, but I remember reading that the options were generous. IIRC, it was things like moving to a different sail date, or a FCC of a number higher than the original cost. Here is an article Matt wrote about it https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2024/06/10/what-happens-when-a-cruise-is-overbooked

eh, its just the first week of school, not like they do much then anyway

That stinks, hopefully it gets assigned soon. I can understand the frustration of not knowing! Hopefully you don't get the dreaded we are overbooked email.

That's probably what's going on. The cruise is not findable on the website, so is probably sold out. Did you try the boarding pass trick? If you load the boarding pass into a digital wallet, under the barcode will be a number, and the last few numbers are your stateroom number.

Just sent you a PM!!

This would be best answered by your consulate. They would have the most accurate answer.

You can add a person at any time (up to a point though, manifest creation) I would do it sooner than later though, because going from two people to three in a room typically triggers a reprice, though who knows with an infant. You could wait for the KSF sale, but may find higher fares by then. Since they do let you edit names etc on the booking, you can add like the other one TBA Surname, and an approximate birthdate, and just edit it once you know the details for sure. To know for sure on the cost, it may be best to give them a call and just ask, as there are so many variables to consider.

Icon 7/18/26

Just watched it again on YouTube to get my fix!

Pretty sure this is on our list. We are actually booked at the Premier Inn Royal Mile This is my favorite form of torturing the freeloaders

Exactly!! I made sure to hype her up a bit in the post cruise survey Sadly, not Aberdeen. We are flying in and out of London, so first a few days there to get over jet lag. Then train from Waverly to Edinburgh. We will do a few days in Edinburgh, then up to Inverness for 2 nights, then 2 nights in Skye,2 nights in Glencoe area, then a little further south for 2 nights to go to Islay. Then back to Edinburgh for a night to see the Tattoo. Then back home via the train to London for one final night. All in we leave July 19th and come home August 6th. There is about an inch on the driveway......I've left it there out of protest.... We despise having to lug stuff around so if we can check it we do. If it gets lost on the way, we get to do @TheBoss518 favorite thing, and go shopping. We could have gone crazy with luggage too. With her recent "gift" of gold medallion status, we all could have checked 2 bags for free. We would have looked like @Jax with all of that luggage.

I will do better