Traveling Mike

I would think it is FlowRider private lessons and  Ripcord by iFly.

I have booked Royal shuttles both ways.  I just call Air2Sea and have them book my shuttle.  Most of the time I do not use the one from the airport to the ship because I go in the day before and stay near the airport.  Seattle has some good private transfers.  I always use the transfer from the ship to the airport.  I use the Port Valet service on the ship and do not have to deal with luggage or check in at the airport.  With the Port Valet service they take your luggage the night before you get off the ship and the next time you see it is at your home airport.  They also check you into your flight and supply you with a ticket.  Then when I get off the ship i just walk over to the transfer busses and get on the next one available.

In my experience on other ships it is open a lot.  They do have times where it is just beginners or just advanced but it has someone on it all day long (as long as weather permits).  I did see a post on Facebook where someone asked the same thing about the icon.  Here are their responses.

Cindy Juren

From what I recall, most days they had an hour of stand-up followed by a few hours of “mixed wave” and then shut down for a bit (during which time private sessions were happening on some days). Later in afternoons they had several hours of boogie-boarding where the middle inflatable partition was set up so it was truly just for beginner boogie-boarding. Lines were pretty long on sea days in the afternoons. Port days are perfect though! A few evening sessions were offered but didn’t get to any of them.

Apple Boyce

On Icon, Flowrider was open most of the time. The type of session varied - sometimes was stand up, sometimes was boogie board only, some was mixed wave so you could do either. There were also sessions a few days in the afternoons that were kids 12 and under only .. these were around 1:30-4 or 1-3. This was a great time for kids to ride with lower waits. There were also a few single hours of "competitions" and one staff show hour.

you can book your nights when you purchase the package. You can go back and change them after you purchase them.  I just went in on my April cruise and selected 3 dinner package and it gave me the choice to book my times before going to the cart.  If you want to set them later or change them just go into your purchased items and do a modify on the package.

I sailed on her a few years back and do not remember food in the pubs.  I just spent 15 minutes searching and it looks like only drinks in the bars and pubs.  If you ask me after next April I can give you a real answer.  I am going to spend 32 days on the Voyager of the Seas.

This is the company I purchased with a few years back and I have been so happy with them that I purchased a carryon.  I went with this company so I would be matching international standards.  The one I purchased has a handle that lets you know if you are over 50 lbs.  It is just a red line but it gives me an idea.

DELSEY PARIS

I have done lap swimming on some of my cruises but it is not easy.  The pool is small and you do lots of turns.  The pool is also to busy during the day so I found you need to go when they first open or best at night between 9 pm and 10 pm.  If the seas are ruff they close the pools.

Like @smokeybandit said it is based on the cruise ship.  Most people think it is Florida because most of the US cruises are based out of Florida.  I just did a check in for a Japan cruise and our check-in was at 8:00 am PST the day before.  The easy way of telling is look on the RCL App for that cruise and look at the cruise ship time.

Note:  some of the time it will be 10 or 20 minutes after the hour.  Don't know why but it is just that way.

They have raised the price so much to have a refundable deposit that it only make since to get the non refundable one and just move your cruise for the $100 

On 7/31/2023 at 11:46 AM, Ray said:

"Sorry kids have made a mess or are going to make a mess so here's 50 bucks" Do the kids get to make a mess at home? Probably not so why allow it when on vacation? 

The answer is "yes".  My son always had to keep his door closed so I did not have to look at his mess.  He is 28 now and still has a messy bedroom.

Facebook has gotten about 75% scam and trash.  The my last 3 groups for my cruises has gotten really bad.

The 18% is added when you purchase it.  If I get normal service I just sign the ticket at the end.  If they give me great service and go out of their way I will add a $5 or $10 at the end just to say thank you for making me feel special.

I just got off the Anthem doing a 35 day B2B2B cruise.  During the cruise I was on Ozempic and had to be very picky on what I ate.  I changed every time and a couple of times went to the kids menu.  The kids menu has a very good hamburger and I would get the patty by its self and put the sweet and spicy sauce on it. A couple of nights I would get an item and have them add the bake potato that would come with a different dish.  I would say be inventive and mix things up.  Also remember to tip your waiter for the extra work.

I am sure this is a way of pulling some people off the UDP and give cruisers another option.  I have had a couple of cruises where they did not offer the UDP; they just had 3 day, 5 day and 10 day packages.  I am sure they sold enough to not offer the UDP.  I just purchased a 5 day for a 14 day cruise on the Explorer and it seems to work out great.  I get to try each of the dining options and still do the main dining room on 1/2 of the nights. 

40 minutes ago, FOB said:

Any programmer worth their salt

You have been around as long as me you know how many bad programmers are in the industry.   

1 minute ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

system automatically assigns you a room

I heard they changed the way the system works.  That is why the old hack of looking at the boarding pass to see your cabin does not work any more.

15 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Ah so the number of suites are held back for people with guarantees? It's an interesting system. 

If you think about it they have to hold a cabin for you.  The way it works is for example:  The ship has 50 suites in total.  When you book a GTY cabin they subtract 1 from the total available and only allow 49 to be sold.  They don't care what category they are as long as the told is accounted for.  As they sale cabins the total amount of suites is lower and lower until that total reaches 0.  Then they take all the GTY cabins and assign what cabins are left in inventory.  You might get the worst cabin on the ship but you might also get the biggest best cabin on the ship.

Note:  I do not know this for sure but I have designed computer systems for 40 years.

I have used Travel Guard for many years and have collected multiple times without any problems.  I currently have a yearly insurance policy with Alliance and the policies look good, but I have not had to collect so far.

18 hours ago, ChessE4 said:

I won't go to Alaska in May again.

My thoughts exactly.  I wanted to see what it was like in May and now I have been there, seen it; and do not need to see it again.

I just went to Sitka and got on line and made a reservation for the bus.  I got a time for going to town and coming back.  When I got to the busses there was not a line and they did not ask about the reservation.  The same coming back.  Now i do not know what it will be like in the summer or when there are a couple of ships docked.  It does not cost anything and in case you need it, you might save a wait in line for a bus.

When they first open or right before they close.  The problem right before they close is some of the time they are already taking food away.

10 hours ago, FOB said:

Hopefully one day we will get computer programmers who realise that ‘ and - in names are not special characters,

The ' is a special character in computer programming.  It has caused me lots of grief in the past 20 years.  It takes lots of extra special programming to handle excepting the ' in text.  It is easier to just tell people it is not excepted than to write lots of exception code.  Sorry but this issue will not be fixed any time soon.

3 hours ago, Vincent said:

Also, is there a specific side of the ship that faces Cabo while tendered offshore (Navigator or Quantum)?

I do know the side facing can and will change.  last time we were in Cabo my balcony faced Cabo and before we left my balcony was facing Lover's Beach

a few years back someone told us the ship we were on was alternating beds by the balcony and sofa by the balcony.  I think every ship is different

I have had that in the past and when we called in they were able to book the room for one.  I have also seen where they have GTY cabins for 2 but not 1.  I called in and got the GTY price for one.  Anytime you see things like that call in or have your TA call and you should be able to get it.  I always have.