steverk

On a cruise right now. Mdr service is excellent, but food is so so. I haven't complained, but the servers know it is not as good as it should be. I really feel bad for the servers. They are working so hard, but they are graded on mdr service AND food quality, even though there's nothing they can do.

Like it or not, the pricing group, or is it a computer, looks at the anticipated demand i.e. size and number of ships in port, the supply available and then adjusts the price. Going on a day with 1 radiance class ship will probably be cheaper than a day with 2 large ships in port.

I once left a charger and entered a report on charger back. Received several emails that they couldn't find it. I emailed the diamond concierge. She found it in a few minutes. Next time the ship was in port, I picked it up without further issue. If you are diamond level, I'd suggest you try the same thing. The email should be <2 letter ship identifier>[email protected] good luck!

I find it unbelievable that people are willing to pay these prices. Evidently, people are so I can't blame royal for taking their money. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy it as a beach day and use my money elsewhere.

Keep in mind the fine print says you must book at least 6 months before your sail date to get the CAS discount, so book early.

That's been my experience as well. Air New Zealand also seems like an outlier.

Don't forget, cancel and rebook means selecting your seats, entering KTN and frequent flyer numbers again

I've never been on a cruise that didn't have a bunch of teenagers on board. I doubt this one will be any different

There's a separate topic for Celebrity, which will probably answer your questions. With that in mind, they have a base fare and an everything included. As far as which is better, it comes down to price and what you might purchase. Everything included gives you a basic alcohol drink package, basic internet, which you can upgrade for a fee and gratuities. One word of warning. Celebrity charges more for internet than royal and basic internet is nit really usable.

I'm hoping to see a rocket launch followed by a cruise in November 2024. Since viewing a launch is always a moving target, especially this far out, I booked all 4 sailings of Freedom with plans to cancel all but the one that works. Lately, I've noticed that only the November 3, 2024 sailing is listed on Royal's website. The rest of the month has no sailings for Freedom. Rather strange. I have not received notice that any of the sailings are cancelled and all are still available on the cruise planner.

My understanding is they will "guarantee " you make the cruise. This means they will do their best to get you on the ship before it departs. If that's not possible, they used to fly you to the next port of call yo catch your ship there. I've heard this is no longer possible, but I don't have any experience with it to be sure.

I'm a huge fan of air2sea. Let me seeing I can answer your questions. 1. You can fly in several days early and return several days later. No problems. 2. You can pick your flights, airlines and airports within reason. Flying in HOU and out IAH shouldn't be an issue 3. Flying in day of is risky, but allowed. Keep in mind air2sea will do everything possible for you to meet the ship, but the ship won't wait if you fliht is canceled and another isn't available.

In my experience your luck will depend on the ship and port. If you arrive early and there are a lot of people waiting to board, then they'll probably make you wait. If you arrive and there's nobody around, they'll probably be happy to have you board early. Smaller ships are more likely to have this happy situation. For example, I've boarded Allure out of Galveston twice. Each time it was a total zoo and they did everything they could to enforce boarding times. I've also sailed out of the same terminal at Galveston on Adventure twice and Radiance once. In all cases there were no lines and the port staff didn't even ask about boarding times.

I wouldn't do the 10:30am flight. While I've never sailed in to the LA Worldport, I have sailed out of it on a Panama Canal cruise. While not crazy far, the airport is a good drive from the cruise port. Since you'll be arriving on a Friday, you'll have rush hour traffic as well. It may be possible, but not advisable.

I received a response yesterday and they said they were unable to add this excursion. As a final hail Mary pass, I've contacted Private Journeys from the shore excursion page. They will get back to me next week if there is anything they can do. If we go this route, I'd like to know how many people would want to go and if we should add some additional stops to our tour. Please respond to this with your thoughts. Thanks!

They don't offer air2sea in New Zealand? That surprises me. I'm in the USA, but I've got a Sydney to Auckland cruise on Celebrity scheduled in February. Flights By Celebrity had no trouble setting me up with all of the flights I need. I believe that Air2Sea and Flights By Celebrity are 2 sides of the same coin.

Last July I stayed at the Comfort Suites Ft. Lauderdale Airport and Cruise Port, 302 N Federal Hwy, Dania FL. It was clean and convenient. I didn't have a car, but I was able to walk to a handful of restaurants. I thought the price was quite reasonable. They have an airport shuttle. I don't remember if they also had a cruise port shuttle, but it wasn't very far away if you need to take an Uber.

I emailed the shore excursions and hey said they are trying to expand the excursions but aren't promising anything. I think we give them about a month and then look at going in together on a private excursion

Southeast Houston is about as touristy as Houston gets. I.e not very. Anyway, the area near Hobby Airport should be avoided if possible. It's not great and has almost nothing to do. For a while they were trying to turn the original terminal on Telephone road into a museum, but I don't think it is still open. Galveston itself has a water park, several unique museums, shopping and a not so great beach. Kemah has the Boardwalk with hotels, restaurants amusements and shopping, so that might be an option. Hopefully you can find a hotel that will allow you an affordable bag drop.

Yesterday, the "amidst the icebergs by RIB" excursion in Nanortalik went on sale. I tried to book it, but the Royal IT department struck again. This morning, it's sold out, even though it says 6 slots available. Is anyone else in the same situation? Maybe royal expands the tour, but I doubt it. Would anyone be interested in going in together on a private excursion similar to this one?

I'm going! Really looking forward to it! Has anyone ever been there before? Does anyone know what to pack?

Thanks for the well wishes. It looks like a lost cause in my case. Overnight, the remaining slots sold out, so people were able to book even though I couldn't. I'm going to express my frustrations with Royal, but I doubt there's much they can do. Nanortalik Greenland only has 1000 residents. It is unlikely they can find anyone to expand the tour, and I don't expect them to bump someone off for me. The Crown and Anchor agent suggested I wait until I get on board in case someone cancels. Doesn't seem promising.

I send an email to [email protected]. I include proof of ownership (i.e. brokerage statement), ship, sail date, booking number, room number and my name. It always works for me.

Thanks! So far no luck for me. However, others have been booking the excursion. Only 6 spots left. I'll call as soon as the call center opens. Hopefully, I can still grab a slot.

I was able to find a couple items for a few dollars cheaper. However, I found an excursion that I really want to book. The website says it cannot charge my credit card at this time. I called, and they had the same problem. The agent said this has been an ongoing issue for the past 3 days for certain sailings. This is very frustrating as the excursion went on sale today and already 6 of the 7 time slots are sold out.