steverk

True. But I was humbled several years ago driving to El Paso TX. On the north side of the road were shacks apparently occupied by Americans. That was depressing enough. On the south side was Mexico. Then it hit me. There are thousands, perhaps millions, looking at those shacks and thinking they look good enough to risk their lives to come to the USA.

90 days

I agree with the assessment that it's going in for drydock. I suspect the reason they haven't announced it is a simple screw up. It appears the drydock would extend over Thanksgiving, Christmas and maybe New Years Eve. They could be trying to push it out to January and won't announce it until they have no choice.

I sailed Radiance in Alaska last year. The Internet was good enough for youtube, but I didn't try any actual conversations. On Voyager in the Caribbean, it was better than Radiance. I'm not sure if that's because of our location or if Radiance hadn't been upgraded at that point. One other piece of advice. I've noticed on several ships, if you are around a bunch of people (in the theater for example), then Internet will be much worse. This indicates the ship's routers are getting overwhelmed rather than the satellite connection. Therefore, you might improve your connection by moving to another location on the ship.

I was on Voyager recently and asked about this. (I've actually booked all of November as my kids are work for NASA and have a space launch in November 2024, but the exact date is not yet known. After watching the launch, we want to jump on another cruise) As you've noticed, the sailings still appear int he cruise planner but not on the website. So, I asked in NextCruise about it. They assured me the ship was sailing but sold out. I questioned how an entire ship could sell out for 6 sailings, all categories overnight. He assured me this was the case. I'm choking on the "grain" of salt it took to not pursue that one further! Anyway, Explorer out of Miami has some really terrific itineraries in November 2024 and is a great alternative to Freedom. I'd suggest booking that with a refundable fare as a backup.

I was on Voyager recently and had an issue with the food quality. After a few days, I spoke directly with the MDR and Windjammer managers. Please note, I was calm and made it a point to explain my issues and to soften them with praise for things that were going well. They listened intently, and asked follow up questions. Food improved dramatically and immediately. Based on this experience, let someone know if you have a problem. Royal really wants you to be happy.

This a topic of debate among Americans as well. My take is that the cruise line wants to make the headline price appear as low as possible. They abuse the tipping culture here for that purpose. Doesn't seem right, but I'm not going to stop cruising over it.

Radiance goes to the ore dock, which is across the harbor from the rock slides. Obviously, there are no guarantees, but I'd be very surprised if Radiance misses Skagway.

I always entered my email, so I'm not sure what will happen. If I were you, I'd call crown and anchor. I expect they will forward your call, but that's where I'd start.

You should receive a link in the next day or so. We're you able to create a login at photos.rccl.com? If so, you should be able to log in a retrieve them.

Like a lot of things, it's not worth the hassle until there's a problem. I took my family on a Thanksgiving cruise out of San Juan for Thanksgiving 2021. My son, flying out of Birmingham Alabama the day before forgot his COVID vaccine card, which was required at that time. He missed his plane. There were no scheduled connections between Birmingham and San Juan that would arrive in time for his flight. Nothing on American Airlines website. Nothing on Travelocity. He called air2sea since our flight was booked through them. They pieced together a segment from Birmingham to Dallas with a tight connection to a direct flight to San Juan. He made the ship with 2 hours to spare. Without air2sea, he would have missed that cruise. I won't fly to a cruise any other way now.

The cruise was fully refundable and was fully refunded. The air was supposed to be refundable with fees and I asked at booking. They insisted there really weren't any fees. They wanted $200 total for my wife and I. My TA was able to get it resolved in my favor

I can't speak for every American, but I can speak for myself. I live I Houston and sail out of Galveston, a lot. I'm not complaining. In fact I'm blessed to have such a convenient port. But it does get repetitive. Now that Liberty has been replaced by Allure, the only option for a 7 night cruise is Roatan, Costa Maya and Cozumel. Or maybe you can mix it up and do Cozumel followed by Roatan, then Costa Maya!

It's my understanding that they solicit volunteers first. So far there have been way more volunteers than necessary, so it is extremely unlikely you'll be bumped involuntarily. For comparison, I booked a GTY on Navigator 3 months ago. It showed zero cabins for selection when I booked and cabins never appeared. However, I was assigned a cabin 2 weeks ago, so no worries.

Royal adds it to your cruise invoice. Assuming you have a refundable fare and you cancel, they have been known to withhold some of your deposit from the cruise. My TA had to do battle with them for this once.

Yes, but it is easier and more efficient for you to call air2sea directly

This seems like one of those policies that isn't enforced. I've canceled prior to final payment without any issue.

On my voyager sailing, the service is great. I really like the wait staff. Food quality I noticeably lower. For some examples 1. Prime rib in mdr has always been great. On this one, it was 1/2 the normal thicness and tough 2. I had pepperoni pizza. Two slices. Between them it had 1 slice of pepperoni 3. The shrimp in mdr was overcooked. It was like eating cold cheese sticks. 4. Breakfast in Windjammer only has French toast every other day. Seems like an odd place to cut cost 5. Windjammer doesn't have a fresh cooked food station. No stir fry. No omlettes. Taken individually, these are minor. Taken together and it does effect your experience.

I've had mixed results on this. My best advice is call air2sea and ask for your specific sailing.

Private journeys responded and were unable to book a private excursion. I'm very disappointed

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.