AwwChuckIt

If it has fluid in it, I use two ziplocks just to be sure. Coming back from Paris years ago, I had a bottle of red wine in my checked bag that got smashed. Had it in a towel which kept the glass confined, but the actual wine...it was a mess. So now, everything is in ziplock bags...and if need be, for wine, I use packing compression bags (like I use ziplocks) to ensure a breakage doesn't ruin any more clothes.

I've noticed a couple of threads about Royal Up. Some have won their bid and received their notification well in advance (a week or so plus) of embarkation, and others are waiting up until the last minute and still haven't heard up or down whether or not their bid won. I was curious as to why the differences in processing times for these bids? Is it due to availability of the staterooms in the different categories or how many cruisers have put in bids? Just curious.

If I had a dollar for every time I've been locked out of my account on the Cruise Planner and had to call in to have them unlock it, I could afford a Specialty Drink Package.

My wife and I are booked in one on Brilliance, and didn't know that bc of the added Pullmans if they would have put in a little bit more space or not for storage. I could see arguments both ways, but in the end, I figured that with mass production of the cabin compartments, it would be cost prohibitive to have entirely different configurations to accommodate more people in a given cabin when they could upgrade to a suite if they were concerned with more room.

General Inquiry...does an Ocean View Stateroom that has third and fourth Pullman beds available, have more square footage or more storage room than just the garden variety Ocean View Stateroom that doesn't have the third and fourth Pullman beds available?

Pack? My cruise isn't for another two weeks but starting a month ago I started looking at what I'd bring. Being on a TA in November, the wardrobe choices can be varied...rain, cold, sunny, warm...and for two weeks. Last weekend, my OCD kicked in, the scales came out, and I'm now ready to fly out to Barcelona for embarkation. So, how far out do you pack?

Not soon enough! November 3 TA on the Brilliance!

First thing we did in planning is check out youtube. There are numerous videos posted of ship tours and I would take advantage of watching them to get acquainted with the various offerings. Second thing, look at the times you are in port and plan activities accordingly. Don't limit yourself to only using the RC excursions. Google it. Depending upon the port, you may not want to even do a planned excursion from any vendor, RC or otherwise. From there, you can start using the Cruise Planner to get MDR reservations in place to work around those activities. The main thing though...watch and rewatch the youtube tours of your ship...familiarity will help out tremendously and will put you in more of a comfort zone on embarkation day.