Mike.s

Was Explorer of the Seas really "Amped" in 2015 as the pdf suggests, I thought it was a casualty of Covid and had a mini amp (slides) on it's last dry dock

The UK Government advises against all travel to Haiti, appreciate this has no bearing on what Royal Caribbean do but I would doubt UK issued travel issurance would be valid should you need it while at Labadee.

Might be time for a new travel agent, I wouldn't be happy with those responses.

It's per person

And remember to choose the best side of the ship for you, if you like the sun ensure your balcony is on the side of the ship facing South during the crossing (assuming a transatlantic sailing)

It's not just the Australians, the British struggle with it as well.

I wonder if they're going to Amplify her, we've booked the return sailing on the 24th Nov, not seen anything re that sailing yet. We did get notification that our Voyager sailing on the 14th October is being changed to allow for maintenance and exciting improvements!!

From memory take both as I think there are both types of outlets, re the pool towels you check them out against your sea pass onboard, so no need to pack some.

An email from C&A, that would be a first for many of us

So perhaps more ships coming TUI/Marella's way here in Europe. Not sure if they have any ownership of Marella (it's part of the TUI group) but TUI Cruises is a joint venture and Marella is currently sailing with 5 x Celebrity/Royal ships.

Glad it's not just me, I even asked the loyalty ambassador on board to ensure I would get them, still nothing.

Have to disagree, you paid Royal for the cruise, which includes the baggage handling services, not the port. Your contract is with Royal so they have to be responsible. Either way as good customer service Royal should pick up the tab.

We did a very similar itinerary this February on Vision of the seas (didn't call at Falmouth) and we loved it. Go for it.

According to Cruisemapper Icon has started her sea trials https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9829930

We're looking at Princess sailing out of the UK and the Med, fares look very attractive and the add on pacakges are way cheaper than Royal and Celebrity, just haven't taken the plunge yet. Keen to hear what others think, can see us dipping a toe in the water on a short cruise from Southampton to see how they compare.

There was family time in the indoor pool each day on our Anthem cruise to the Fjords

I thought it was only the German ships that sail under the TUI name that are a joint venture, Marella was a standalone UK brand owned by TUI. https://www.tuigroup.com/en-en/about-us/about-tui-group/our-business/cruises

Does everyone get a loyalty newsletter, never seen one despite me ticking all the contact me by email boxes I can see. I even asked the loyalty ambassador on Vision to opt me in, still nothing.

I believe the contents of the cart are saved but the price is not locked in and could (probably will) be different when you check back. Advice is to buy at a price you are comfortable with, you can always cancel and rebook should the price drop in the future.

I guess it must be open as Cruisemapper is showing Explorer docked there today.

We've sailed on both, Anthem, lots to do if you want to, bigger and better shows, does have some drawbacks, the Schooner bar isn't big enough and gets drowned out by the music hall and we didn't like the 4 main dining rooms. We liked the ship overall and We Will Rock you is amazing (assuming you like Queens music). If you're after a more traditional laid back cruise I'd go for Vision, much more intimate, loved the main dining room and we had great service everywhere. As others have said you can't go wrong with either, but for me I'd go Vision.

We've just seen excursion discounts of 35%, just rebooked a couple of trips in Iceland and saved over £150

Woud be lovely if it were to happen, but I'm not holding my breath.

As already stated by others, Chair hogs, enforce the rules. Main dinning room, bring back the old menus and enforce the dress code, it's not too much to ask to remove baseball hats and flip flops. Move to a set price for the drinks/wi-fi package, it seems most other cruise lines offer it for a fixed price, the same for all their ships. Include gratuities in the base fare. Rotate the ships more often, we've got bored of Anthem out of the UK. I've noticed that many people have come up with the same list, perhaps Royal should take note.

https://www.cruisehive.com/flooding-forces-royal-caribbean-embarkation-port-change/101895