Reigert2008

I’d recommend using the Royal transportation from the port to the airport. With the surge pricing possibilities and the possibility of fog delaying the arrival in Galveston,Royal’s transportation is easy and we’ve found it to be price comparable. of course, make sure your flights are after noon to ensure plenty of time. It’s a good ride from the port to Hobby and even further to the other airport.

I agree. I think there are enough places to find this information already. I’d even say that the roll call section has out lived its usefulness. I think there was a big push when cruising restarted, but it doesn’t seem to get a ton of activity any longer. Maybe I’m just picking unpopular cruises

What types of excursions is Royal offering when they visit Turks and Caicos? Anything out of the ordinary? Trying to think ahead in case our Labadee stop gets changed. Thanks in advance!

Here’s my list. I keep it as a note on my phone so I know which ones I have and need. Everyone I know, knows to NOT buy me a mug unless I’ve been to the location first. Some places were out of them as we traveled so now we have to go back I get city mugs when possible and then count it for the state, like Las Vegas counts for my Nevada mug. Also I’ve visited two roastery locations so that counts as my Chicago, Illinois, and Roastery mug. i just noticed that I have Puerto Rico as an international location, LOL,so I’ll fix that Starbucks Mugs United States Delaware Florida Georgia Illinois - Chicago - Roastery Indiana Kentucky (original print) Kentucky (new print) Tennessee Texas Massachusetts - Boston Michigan Nevada - Las Vegas New Jersey New York - New York - Roastery Ohio Pennsylvania Washington – District of Columbia Washington - Seattle - 1st Store Need Iowa Kansas Maine Maryland Minnesota Missouri Unique Locations Disneyland - California Disney World - Magic Kingdom Disneyland Paris - 30th Anniversary Royal Caribbean Wonder of the Seas Need Allure of the Seas Harmony of the Seas Oasis of the Seas International Locations Bahamas Canada - Victoria - British Columbia Cayman Islands - Grand Cayman United Kingdom - London, England Puerto Rico - San Juan Need Aruba Curaçao Jamaica

Hello, Now that Starbucks has moved on from the "Been There" Series to the "Discovery Series"< i wonder if they will also update the ship mugs. Has anyone seen them on board yet or heard if that is coming? Personally, I love the new series (I only have Michigan), but it's my favorite of the 27 mugs I've collected so far. I still need to pick up 12 mugs from places we've been and they were sold out, but that's just an excuse to travel more @Matt's post about the ship mugs -- https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2023/05/27/new-royal-caribbean-starbucks-been-there-mugs-coming-summer Fun article about the Discovery series -- https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2024/fun-facts-and-surprise-about-starbucks-new-collectible-merch/ Stay Safe

Hello! Is it possible to remove/open balcony dividers for Central Park Balcony rooms on the Harmony? Specifically Deck 11 if it makes a difference. The only time we've done a CP Balcony on the Allure way back in 2017. Thanks in advance! (Sorry to dig up an old post, but it seemed relevant )

We did a ship tour this past February on Explorer and someone asked why they can't just wait for everyone to get on the ship and not worry about the "cruise runners" being late. The captains response was that if the ship were to leave 30 minutes to an hour late, it can quickly cost $1 million when you factor in fines/fees from the ports, extra pay for dock workers, extra fuel spent, etc... So as others have said, getting out of port allows the shops/casinos/other paid things to be running and generate some money.

Well, well, well, today I learned that there was a DJ at the Oasis Lagoon. I had never paid attention to how the music was getting played and honestly didn't know it was a DJ. On our last trip to Perfect Day, we stayed on the ship until lunch and then wandered off to eat on the island and then were back on the ship, we're not really beach people, but did enjoy some time at the pool on various trips.

I wanted to add what we do in case it helps someone. POV: We typically cruise during hurricane season and Kentucky winter (which can be unpredictable). 1. We fly in the day before for our cruise 2. We book the earliest flight of the day, trying to go in the direction of the cruise (like, don't fly to Phoenix to get to Florida :)) 3. When we book our flights, we also book a rental car to pay at the counter and can cancel with no penalty. This generally gives up options to get there via flight on our planned day and the rental car gives us the option to drive if a hurricane is coming or went and flights are still disrupted. Story: We had to use the rental car on a cruise in November 2022 during Hurricane Nicole to get to FLL. We knew the port was fine (I have friends in the area) and that the cruise was happening, but the remnants of the store were going to hit Atlanta about the time our flight from Louisville was going to land. Our fear was that our first flight would be delayed or the 2nd flight would be delayed/cancelled. We didn't want to chance getting a car in Atlanta with everyone else trying, so we canceled the flights and made the extremely long drive to FLL. We did end up leaving the night before, since we had the car and spent the night in Tennessee to break up the drive. We passed through Atlanta during the storm and it was terrible to drive in, but we had a good trip and made the cruise in plenty of time. Fun Fact: Not only did our flights not get delayed, they actually landed a few minutes early at both airports :)

This is one of the things that annoy me about SDF and the flight options. One option we've looked into, but not had to do yet is a one way car rental from IND/BNA/CVG if we can get to them in a better manner and then just drive home. We'd love to spend an extra day someplace, but most times we need to be back for work the next day. If you book early enough, the cost can be pretty reasonable and cheaper than the extra hotel night and food. As I stated, we've not had to do it yet, but that is our backup plan.

I’d also check out the AC Hotel in Dania. It’s a newer hotel and basically on the other side of the shopping area near the Springhill suites. https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/fllac-ac-hotel-fort-lauderdale-airport/overview/

Totally! Personally, we would love to get the extra day at Perfect Day, versus the sea day. Our typical day a for Perfect day is to get up early, have breakfast in the MDR, chill out on the lower outside deck, then around lunchtime, get off the ship to go eat at the "bbq", then get back on the ship. It's nice to be on the ship when its not very crowded, plus we're not beach/pool people anyway.

We use this when we travel. We treat the hotel beds, but oddly have never been concerned with our ship beds. Probably since we feel confident they are being changed on a regular basis and have great faith in the cruise lines while I cannot say for sure this spray works, I can say that we’ve not brought home hitchhikers (Knock on wood). https://bedbugmagicspray.com

Right, the OP is sailing next April so it “could” affect the, depending on their carrier and all that. I also figured others may want to know. Personally I did not know this change and haven’t read a carriage of contract in years, so it prompted me to read over the ones I have for upcoming flights in case there is anything I may want to know (not necessarily only the time changes). We all get so many emails about this type of stuff, that I’m sure it’s fallen through the cracks at some point.

FYI, check your contract of carriage from when you bought your ticket. United changed their times recently and who knows when they will enforce it. I’m on team “get to the airport 2 hours before” so I never really worry about things like this, but I know there are risk takers out there! Other airlines make follow suit. https://viewfromthewing.com/dont-miss-your-flight-united-airlines-quietly-doubles-check-in-time-requirements/

Found these links on Royalcaribbean.com and while I think they have been shared before, I thought I would share again and get them in one spot. Of course, they haven't been updated since May 14th, but maybe the get updated at some point in the future. Travel Updates -- https://www.royalcaribbean.com/notices/travel-updates Itinerary Updates -- https://www.royalcaribbean.com/notices/travel-updates/itinerary-updates Cancelled Sailings -- https://www.royalcaribbean.com/notices/travel-updates/cancelled-sailings Here's the related Celebrity Links, these have actual updates Travel Updates -- https://www.celebritycruises.com/travel-alert Cancelled Sailings -- https://www.celebritycruises.com/travel-alert/voluntary-suspension-of-cruising Modified Sailings -- https://www.celebritycruises.com/travel-alert/itinerary-modifications

This seems like a terrible way to end a vacation. I’d be way too stressed out to enjoy the final night of the cruise. Please update us with your decision and how it all works out!

No change in my thinking, I've not gone through customs in an US airport other than DTW. Good luck!

Hello, I've never done customs at LAX and have only flown back into the US once via DTW, but I wanted to share what I learned when planning our Adventures by Disney trip last year. We flew with Delta and luckily I have a family member with over 5 million miles on Delta with most of them being international, so they were able to provide great information for my first "real" international trip. My contact highly recommended 3 hours at your first US airport coming back since I would have to get my luggage and re-check the bags coming through, which would take a fair amount of time. We had TSA pre-check, Delta One tickets, and no flight delays and it took us at least 1.5 hours to get off the plane, get the bags, go through the customs process, and recheck the bags and get through security again . Of course, if you are doing carry on bags, you may not need as much time as we did, but you never know what delay may occur at the airport just getting through security. Also you should check your origination airport to find out if you clear customs there, like you do in London Heathrow. if by chance your origination airport clears customs to the US, you may be OK. I also read something a while back that some airlines were not going to make people get and re-check bags, so that may help as well. Good luck!

Was coming here to say this. i know there is a cost, but I think people get hung up on "why would i ever need a passport". Sure, cruising is one example, but it's also a secondary ID for times when you do have an issue with your primary id. I've tried to get my nieces and nephews to get passports as they turn 18, and they have been resistant since they couldn't see the need. Then one niece's boyfriend went to school up in Michigan and she learned she couldn't cross over to Canada for a day trip without the passport, so now she is getting the process going. If I could go back and do it over, I would have bough them thier passports as they graduated high school, but now we're almost done with graduations and the ones that haven't graduated yet, already have passports. I've used my passport a few times when I needed a secondary ID with a picture and it was nice to know I have a backup. When we did our renewal, we added the passport cards so we can use them for land crossings and not have to carry the book, since I don't want to take the chance of losing it We also use the passport card when getting off the ship, since it's a pain to get a new drivers license where we're at. Yes, I know I cannot fly home with the card, but we typically just wander around the port area within walking distance of the ship and have little fear of missing it. We also have a plan in place for an emergency to get our passports off the ship. I've gone through the same thing with family on the RealID here in KY. We have both a standard ID and a RealID, of course you cannot fly with a standard ID. The cost difference is <$5 and is good for 4 or 8 years. They're like " i never fly anywhere, so why get it?'" My thought is that it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. I think people lose sight that the RealID is needed for more than just flying and then then when you need it you'll be stuck. We have a nice local museum, that happens to b on Fort Knox and you need the RealID to get onto the base to visit the museum. That put a kink in some peoples plans! Sorry for the rant!

@michaelp1446 There is a a cruise planner sale going on with drink packages up to 45% off, it'll probably get back to normal in a bit. Of course prices vary per ship and sailing, but I was able to reprice our soda packages down to $8.99 a day from the previous $9.99 a day!

We agree and think they try too hard to be dirty without really being dirty and then the couples try to push the limits further to win. We totally get that it’s an “adult show”, but you can still, have adult themes without being dirty. Most times it’s just not funny or enjoyable to us. we also get annoyed that the comedians in the comedy club are adult only and cuss like a sailor,, but then do a family show in the main theater. Why can’t they just always be family friendly. We’re big comedy fans and you can be funny without all that.

I disagree with this A day in Nassau, means people with get off the ship and let us treat it like a sea day, but with fewer people We barely get off in Nassau, just long enough to go mail our postcard. the ship is basically a ghost town and we get to hang out and chill.

Anyone have a recent menu (lunch and/or dinner) from Freedom of the Seas? Thinking we may try it for Lunch. We've never done hibachi on board and there are no goo places where we live, so maybe this is how we do it. I found this menu in the cruise planner. Thanks! https://www.royalcaribbean.com/media-assets/pmc/content/dam/menus/en/tepplunch/TEPPLUNCH.pdf

I’m not the OP, but I also use Lyft/Uber as a last resort. We’ve had many issues with ride share companies, particularly when being picked from airports / train stations. Some issues we’ve had include cars smelling like marijuana cars not well maintained drivers not matching the account picture drivers not following traffic laws / driving erratically It’s certainly not the way we want to start or end a vacation, so we try to hire a service when possible. For our trip back in November going from Disney Property to port canaveral the price was comparable and we had a great experience. good luck!