RockerDom31

I have this one too! What's great is that I use this adapter on the European plug that is in the stateroom so that the US plugs can be used for other non-usb devices (like the cooler that they provide for insulin). As far as power banks are concerned, I haven't had any issues carrying them on. I have an Anker one that I bring with me at all times - on the ship and out in port - just in case my phone starts to run low on battery while being out and about (I have a CGM that uses my phone as the receiver so I need it to be well-charged and on my person at all times!).

In my experience... For breakfast - it depends on if it's a sea day (or if the port arrival time is after breakfast) or a port day. On a Sea Day, there never seems to be a time when it's not busy. On a port day, it seems to be less busy once the gangway goes down and people start leaving the ship. So if you are not in any hurry, that is usually a good time. (Suggestion: Solarium Bistro for breakfast is a great alternative to Windjammer). For dinner - there's sort of a "sweet-spot" right around 6 or 7 (when all the shows start and when MDR starts seating), when the Windjammer is not busy. They always seem to be really crowded as soon as they open and right after a show gets out. Your mileage may vary. Our experience has been exclusively from Bayonne on Freedom or Oasis class ships.

Last summer in Bayonne, they were really strict on check-in times. The port sent text-after-text throughout the day reminding people to arrive at their check-in times. If you showed up early, you were sent to the back of the line. You weren't even allowed inside the terminal.

I don't know all that they offer but here is a list of brands that is included in their Deluxe Beverage Package - https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/beverage-packages/deluxe-beverage-packages-cruises.pdf

The terms of the Refreshment Package (as well as the Deluxe Beverage Package) specifically state that "Packages cannot be shared and are non-transferable." Best case scenario is that you don't get caught. Otherwise, they can and will revoke your drink package privileges for the rest of the duration of the cruise and not give you a refund. There may even be worse consequences than that. Remember - there are cameras EVERYWHERE in the public areas.

My biggest fear is something happening at home (particularly, an injury or death in the family) while we are gone.

At one point, I feel like there used to be a "Key and Suites" entrance/exit when the ship was docked. But regardless, there isn't one now but I wish there was an equivalent to "priority tender" for ports that don't tender. Instead of the Key Embarkation Lunch and the Key Disembarkation Breakfast, I would settle for one dinner in a specialty restaurant OR a night in Coastal Kitchen I would like to be able to drop-off carry-ons directly into the room instead of handing them off Maybe some included photos? Extra slot machine dollars at the casino? Maybe a mini-background tour of something (behind the scenes of the theater?) Basically, what I am getting it is an introductory version of the things you get in other paid experiences, or if you are staying in suite, or of a higher loyalty tiers. In my opinion, this might sway people to go for those options in the future. Just my two cents.

I had to go back and double-check but for our August 2025 cruise on Symphony...the DBP + Zoom 1-device package for 2 people ended up being several hundred dollars less than getting the DBP and internet package separately for 2 people and 2 devices (even when assigning 1 person with 2 devices). I suppose YMMV!

Yeah! I haven't seen the DBP + 1 Device since they started using Starlink.

I had to double-check my travel insurance docs because I thought there were some job-related covered reasons. And there are, but it’s… 1) being laid off from your job 2) employer requires you to move 100+ miles away 3) starting a new full-time job and there are some time limitations to those events. So it doesn’t seem like the OP’s situation would be covered, at least with the kind of plan we have. I suppose a Cancel-For-Any-Reason plan would be needed in this case?

We only cruise in the summer time and there's at least two ships that homeport at Cape Liberty during the summer months - most recently, Symphony and Liberty. Additionally, a Celebrity ship will also do Bermuda-bound cruises sporadically throughout the summer season from Cape Liberty as well. That is a lot of guaranteed parking to account for! We've never parked in the garage. There's an outdoor "far lot" that runs shuttle buses to/from the terminal and then there is an outdoor "close lot" that is literally in front of the terminal. I believe that all lots are gated, locked, and monitored once the ship departs so no one can get in or out. FWIW, we've never felt our car was in any danger in the satellite lots.

My wife and I were just there this past August. There were two ships docked on that day - Symphony (us) and a Celebrity ship. We did get it for $150 pp, which was a pretty good price compared to the fact that it got as much as $230 pp. Crowd size - it must have been less than 100 people at the Beach Club. There were many rows of chairs and not even half of them were used. The pool, bar, or restaurant were never crowded. Facilities - it was nice. They have their own set of towels and the bathrooms are right in the club. The open-air restaurants is nice too. They give you so much food and they accommodated our vegetarian diet. We did not have room for dessert but they told us we could come back later in the day if we wanted it (up until 3pm). Bottled water is included and there were servers walking around taking drink orders. In all fairness, this was our first time at PDCC so we do not have anything to compare it to. However, we did snag it again at $150 pp for the Labor Day sale a few weeks ago for our upcoming August 2025. Right now, it is "on sale" for $199 pp.

We always need a medical fridge and that takes up one of the outlets. So we splurged on a travel adapter (UK/US/EU I believe) that also includes 4 USB-A ports (for my phone and two USB desk fans) and 1 USB-C port (for my wife's phone). It technically only has one outlet so I don't suppose it is considered a "outlet multiplier" or whatever the term is.

Once upon a time, we had a travel agent from a local travel agency who we used for our honeymoon, anniversary trip, and first Royal cruise. Nothing went wrong so there were no complaints. Service was okay but questionable at times. Then Covid hit, and all of the sudden, there were consultation fees (for putting together a quote), cancellation fees, and change fees (for changing cabins, dates, or re-pricing). For two of us, we had to pay a $300 cancellation fee for our Covid-canceled cruise of 2021 (which was clearly not our fault). We left that travel agency and switched to MEI-Travel. We are much happier with the service and no-fee structure with MEI. Shoutout to Daniel Wanderman at MEI for being an awesome TA!

Our first Platinum cruise was last week! And yes, we made sure to get the robes - which we found to be more absorbent than the towels haha. We can only cruise once a year and we were able to reach Platinum after only 3 cruises (a 9-night 2022 cruise counted as double points!). We have a long way to go to the next tier! Also, Platinum gets $4 free play at the Casino (Gold gets $2). I was able to turn that $4 into a tank of a gas last week haha.