WAAAYTOOO

YIPPEE !!!!

Rarely does it take the whole time allocation to eat. It depends a lot on the time that you are eating and obviously, how taxed the servers are. We always eat early - as soon as they open the MDR, usually 5:30. There is a very light crowd at that time and our results have been very good with getting prompt service and finishing up in a reasonable amount of time. We often skip dessert too so that makes it even quicker. If you are eating between 6 - 7:30 it will be much more crowded and that slows things down a lot. There is always a vegetarian option but I think they will work with you to offer other options if they know ahead of time that there are vegetarians coming. So I recommend that you alert the dining room of when you are dining so that they can be prepared. It's a fairly common request these days so I don't think it 's a big deal to have some additional food options on hand.

When do you hit the road, Joe ?

That's got to be the weirdest workaround I have ever heard ! Why would you even think to try that ! Pure genius.

I like to be able to book a cruise but then have the ability to cancel if I need to ! I only book non-refundable when I KNOW for sure that I am going on the cruise. But with suites, if you don't get them early, they will all be gone so it's truly a conundrum. Insurance, if it will apply to NRD, seems like the way to go OR just be prepared to lose $200 and be ok with it !

I think it depends on where you are doing this. I do believe that most places make spectators pay a small fee but that isn't always true. I don't think they charge anything in Bermuda.

Yikes ! The cure is definitely not worth it in that case ! Glad she has recovered.

Sorry to hear that. I actually stopped smoking with it TWICE. It was so easy the first time that I thought I could just be a "only smoke when I drink" smoker. That was folly, of course. So I did it again and the second time was permanent.

If you're looking for an all-inclusive within walking distance of the ship, try Park Royal. I honestly cannot recall how much it cost, but we got a day pass and it included all food and drinks. The property is very nice. As for the beach, I'm not much of a beach swimmer so I can't recall. I think it was fine. I still prefer either Mr. Sanchos or Nachi Cocom but Park Royal is not a bad option if you want to stay close.

I have heard both stories. I have heard the package does NOT work at Vintages vending taps and I have heard that it does. I think it really depends on the ship. I know that you CAN get wine from the vending taps if you are Star Class but I don't know if there is a special rule in place for SC or if it is just ship-specific. All of my SC cruises have been on Harmony.

I'm beginning to wonder if that is actually true, Matt. The truth is, the most it's going to cost me is $200 and then I have a limited time to rebook using the rest of the deposit but for those of us who cruise often, rebooking another cruise doesn't really seem to be a problem ! B/c I am so loathe to book a non-refundable deposit cruise, I booked a refundable JS on the March 2019 Panama Canal crossing on Jewel. What I really want is a GS. Now, all GS are gone and I am left holding a reservation for a JS that I don't really want with no immediate path forward to getting the GS that I want. If and when a GS opens up down the road, it is undoubtedly going to be more than $200 more expensive than what it was when I first booked the refundable JS. I'm kind of kicking myself for booking the refundable JS now. I really really REALLY HATE this NRD on suites but I'm beginning to think I would be better of just sucking up the $200 deposit ransom and getting what I want in the fist place.

As a matter of fact, I will not let them off the phone with me until I have received the emailed confirmation and verified that whatever they were supposed to do, had been done. Learning experience. ALWAYS get a confirmation.

Joe, I feel like you are a chick that we all raised and now we're watching you learn to fly on your own ! So excited for you. I know we are all just recalling the awe that we felt when we drove up to our first cruise ship. Even the little ones are SOOOO impressive and when you first step foot through the Centrum and see all the shiny glass and metal. It takes your breath away. Freedom is a beautiful ship. You are definitely not starting small like we did. I know you're going to have a great time. You have chosen VERY well with all of your options. I think the adjoining balcony rooms are going to be WAY nicer than a suite. There will be much more room and 2 bathrooms. I think you've thought of everything ! ...but of course, you haven't. There will be something that you will learn on this cruise that you will use on your next...and so on and so on. It never ends. I still learn something new every single time I cruise. Wishing you fair winds and following seas. Look everyone - our little Joey is going off on his own !

A word of caution about tables for 2. The vast majority of tables for 2 are in areas where they have shoved a bunch of 2 top tables so close together that you might as well be sitting with the 4 people that are on either side of you. If you REALLY want a private table (which is pretty hard to come by, really), be sure that you tell them that you do NOT want to be sitting with tables all around you. Tell them that you want a PRIVATE table. There are a few. They are usually along the back wall. You will still have tables behind and in front of you but at least they won't be sitting 4 inches on either side of you where it's impossible to have a private conversation.

If they aren't going to cover non-refundable deposits then it will be of limited use to me. I am looking for a way to be able to book a suite and then cancel if I have to.

Chantix ! It worked like a miracle for me.

Welcome to the blog, MK. looks like they’ve assigned you to early shift traditional dining. I would call (or have your agent call, if you booked with an agent) and see if you can be reassigned to the late session OR if you want the flexibility of dining any time, you can ask to switch to My Time Dining. You can always switch your dining preference once you’re on board as well.

Welcome to the blog, Ladydawg !

We love Jet Blue, too. ...but b/c we both fly American so much for work, we have defaulted to staying with American b/c of the perks. If I had my choice, however, I would definitely stick with JB. It was much better back when JB did not charge for luggage, though.... :(

Very nice. I'm envious ! One day....

Both Tiny and Sabrina are right. The answer you will get is "no". But if you are persistent and are willing to pay a really REALLY lot of money for this bottle, in the end, the answer will probably be "ok". I think this is one of the dumber rules for Star Class, to be honest. They are going to serve you all of the by-the-glass drinks you could ever want, but they don't want to bring you a bottle so that you can save them the trouble. Makes no sense. As I discussed in the post-cruise blog referenced above, my peckerhead friends up in the SLS finally did get their bottles (at least I think they did) but they paid dearly for them...as I recall the price was well over $100 per bottle, maybe more but it was after being told "no" about 3 times. They really do go out of their way to give you almost anything you ask for. It will really depend on your Genie and how willing they are to oblige. With children in the suite they may be even more hesitant. It's really just going to depend on the individual circumstance. BTW, Dan is a single malt scotch drinker and he would love, love, love to have a good bottle of Lagavulin in the room but he's never pushed for it so we've never had it. They will bring you all of the beer you want. They will bring you all of the wine you want to buy but they will not bring hard liquor by the bottle without a fight.

YIPPEE !! YIPPEE !! YIPPEE !!

Between the government and the hacking I figure every domestic and foreign entity know all there is to know about me...not that there's much of interest. I don't worry about it really.

Me too !!

OMG that is so cute ! Joe, I am right there with ya. I joined CC MANY years ago and used the absolutely WORST username RFerrington. What a ditz ! ...now I'm stuck with it. By the time I joined this site I knew better. Oh well....I don't post that much to that other site anyway. I'm mostly a lurker there b/c I really dislike so much of the negative and snarky posting that they get over there. Thank goodness we're more civil over here !!