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We've only cruised Eastern twice in February, and would like to book Western in December or January. Please give me some feedback on which month would be best? Itineraries are similar. Both are about the same price. I know the seas are unpredictable and I don't really know the school schedule in the U.S, but ideally for us, less kids and a smoother sailing ? Flights right now for Miami in December are very good! Also, how many days pre-cruise would we need to experience Miami for the first time? December 5-12, 2020 Symphony Miami: Costa Maya, Roatan, Cozumel, CocoCay Jan 24-31, 2021 Allure (will be refurbished) Miami: Cozumel, Roatan, Costa Maya, CocoCay *Will 4 ports be too tiring? Thanks so much!

@ChessE4 I've only booked through a TA as well. Our price did drop once, but I was told I had a non-refundable deposit, so they couldn't do anything unless I forfeited my current perks, which wasn't worth it. I only found out the cost of a refundable deposit by doing a test reservation on RC's website. I entered all our personal info, and that's where I saw the option, along with the extra cost (we always book ocean view balcony). We always get trip cancellation, interruption and medical insurance. Thanks so much for explaining everything!

1/ We'll be sailing next week. I took at look at the "next cruise," and all I see is an OBC for $100 (6-9 nights). We won't know which cruise we'll be taking, and if we decide not to go at all, we lose our deposit. Is that correct? 2/ Also for refundable deposits (I never knew how they worked) ... when I book on RCI's website, I choose the refundable deposit and pay the extra amount (example: $275). The $275 is extra on top of my cruise fare. Is that correct? 3/ Is the only purpose of the refundable deposit so I can get get money back if the price drops. Thanks!

Thank you so much! That's good to know, I thought they might kick us off the ship ...lol I don't want to wait too long, or the line ups will be longer and we may not get off in time, but also not too early that we'll be standing outside for a long time. I just cannot predict the line ups, and then we'll be stuck trying to get out.

Thanks so much. Our shuttle pick up is 9:45 am, so we may be outside standing around for quite some time, unless we stay on the ship and leave around 8:30 am. I will check with the ship and ask them as well.

Thank you for all the extra info! I guess I'm a planner, or over-planner ...lol. We're trying the self-departure this time, so we'll be keeping our luggage and taking it off ourselves. I should have clarified about the shuttle driver, it's not a rental car shuttle, but a shuttle we pre-arranged and paid for to pick us up at the port and take us to MCO.

Thanks for explaining things. It's a bit stressful since it will be our first time at this port. I was wondering where the closest washroom would be, just in case. I always heard good things about Budget. We got a good deal and went with Hertz. When we disembark, I think we may be early. It's a bit difficult to time our departure to meet our shuttle driver ... just never know with the lineups, etc. I don't think there is a waiting area? I heard we are just out on the curb, waiting. There is no where to sit, or washrooms?

That's fantastic! What rental car agency did you use?

? They actually won't allow us on their shuttle until 10:30 am. I could take an Uber, but I'm trying to keep my hard earned $$$ ?

Was wondering if a spray bottle of water and a hair dryer would work? I have chemical sensitivities and cannot tolerate anything with fragrance.

Our rental car is from Hertz. I called the Astronaut Blvd location to familiarize myself with things, and was firmly told that the port does not allow any entry until 10:30 AM. I'm obviously anxious to get on the ship ...lol Any tips? Thank you!

Ahh, I missed that one! I needed to zone in closer. Thank you!

Ahh, I got it now, thank you both!

We're returning our rental car to Hertz before embarking. Is this screen shot correct - the closest gas station to 8963 Astronaut Blvd seems to be north, where the red pointer says "ENTERPRISE?" Hope you can see my screen shot clearly! Thanks!

I read this tip here before, but I'm still not understanding it. If we're on deck 10 and need to get to the deck where we disembark, we'll go up? Up as in deck 11 or 12? LOL, I'd like to hear how it works? Our cruise is in a few weeks and I'm getting jittery too! The good thing is you have some time to choose. Our first cruise, we left our luggage outside our door, and worried about it. We couldn't locate one of our luggage in the cruise port, but eventually found it. I think we're going to try self-assist this time around. Enjoy your cruise!!! What time did you leave the ship?

That's incredibly sweet, thank you! ?

Thank you!

Thank you!

Hello everyone! I'm sending our itinerary to family members and found this link. The number is for family members to call us just in case there is an extreme emergency. We will check our phones if there is free WiFi while in ports, but thought this would be helpful. We won't have any data plans or roaming since my plan is very pricey. I will also give out my TextNow number, but again, it will only work if/when we have free WiFi. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/onboard-phone-call-services Any thoughts? Thank you!

Ooops typo there. I bet RC would be over the moon if we spent that much ... ? Thanks Ashley!

Thanks for posting! Did you do a video for each day? Just wondering if any other videos are attached, or they show up automatically after viewing Day 1?

Ah, the first two pages, got it. Great idea about saving the doc to our tablet. I have our set sail passes, thank you! I went back in and edited my check in and I was able to see the account set up. I didn't see it previously! Would you please explain how the cash account works. I read on RCI that there is no deposit required, and the spend is $500 USD. We won't be spending nearly that amount. We'll settle the bill on our last day, since Day 7 is a port day. Is it as simple as that? Just want to make sure I'm not missing anything? We were able to print our luggage tags in color, they're ready to go. I thought we'd do a test with regular black/white first, so we don't mess up our colored copies. Thanks!

I'm about 3 weeks out and logged into my RC account to see if I have everything done. I saw a link for our eDocs. 1/ It's 17 pages long, do I need to print it out (if so, I can do double sided) 2/ When will they ask for me to fill out the credit card info (I'm doing a cash account)? I don't see it anywhere in my account yet? 3/ For the cash account, do I have to put anything done in advance? Thanks!

Excellent tips, thank you. With everything going on the morning of, we may forget to put our phones on airplane mode! I'm having a hard time finding water shoes since I have wide feet ? We won't be going to the casino, but very good idea! I was thinking the same thing about our cruise luggage tags ... put on when we check out of our hotel ? I looked for this several times and can't find it in my area (Toronto ... Winners, HomeSense, etc). It definitely is good to have, especially since this time around, we chose the bed to be closer to the bathroom ?

Thanks! Added to my list