Traveling Mike

It is 30 to 45 minutes to the airport. The nice thing is they have a program where you can check in for your flight on the ship and they will take your bags from the ship to the airplane. You will not see your bags until you are at your home airport. We had a 11:30 am flight and had plenty of time. I would not want to book anything before 10:30 or 11:00 am.

I think you are comparing Apples and Oranges. I find the food changes from ship to ship. They have different managers and different cooks.

One thing I did not see anyone mention is you should confirm with the cruise line or have your TA confirm that the cruises are linked as B2B cruises. I have done both Back-to-Back and Side-to-Side cruises and they have been linked or marked in my reservation. Everyone on the ship that deals with you will know you are a B2B cruiser. I have done a S2S with one ship on RCL and one on Celebrity and they treated it as if it was the same company and not sister companies. In April 2024 I am doing a B2B2B2B and am really looking forward to living on a ship for 5 weeks.

I have used Travel Guard for years and have used it multiple times for different things. They reimburse me without any hassle. This year I switched to an annual plan with them because of the amount of travel I will be doing going forward. Travel Insurance | Get a Quote and Buy | Travel Guard

No... but one of these days I will get old enough and cranky enough to walk around the pool deck and cleaning up the items left behind. The other thing I thought would be fun is taking my own lawn chair and set it up right in front of everyone next to the pool. One of the lawn chairs with the umbrella attached.

I had Chops on Thanksgiving Day and it was the same Chops Menu. I ended up going to the Windjammer after Chops to get a small helping of Ham and Turkey. Then I went to the main dining room and got pumpkin pie to go. Three restaurants for a Thanksgiving meal but I got my feast with everything I wanted.

I say you go out there when you are ready and take the towels and stuff off the chairs you want and give to the lost and found. Then enjoy the chairs.

My Thanksgiving Cruise out of Los Angeles they would not let you take anything larger than a carryon. There was a person out front stopping people (me) from walking on with your large bag. I just gave the porter a couple of dollars and seen my bag in a few hours at my room

You can get the cruise line shuttles that would be a bus. I have never used them out of Miami, but I took one from the Port of Miami to the port in Fort Lauderdale and they were fine. Regular big bus that was contracted. I did a quick search and here is a shuttle service in Miami that does both shared and private Suttles and provides care seats and buster seas. You can see them at FAQs | your Shuttle most common question answered. (expressshuttlemiami.com). I do not know anything about this company other than what I see in the FAQs. Note: doing a quick search many people mentioned most airlines let you check car seats for free.

I used International Friends for my transfer. I got a tour of Salisbury Cathedral, Stonehenge and Windsor Castle and they dropped me off at my hotel. I also did another tour with them while I was in London to the Harry Potter Studios and Cambridge. That was a great tour. You can see their information at Shore Excursions and Cruise Transfers | International Friends

It seems that all the cruise lines I deal with have gone out of the hotel and shuttle business. I am like you where it was convenient to fly in a day early stay at the hotel and get taken to the ship. Now I find a cheap hotel or Airbnb and Uber or hotel shuttle to the ship.

I know I am going to make some people mad, but I cruised out of Seattle this summer and after talking to locals did not tour the city. The crime and drug use has made the city not a good place to be a tourist. I did not see that personally, but I talked to a few people from their including the night desk person at the hotel I was staying at and all told me the same thing. Now with that said... if you are just flying in and getting on the ship Seattle was great. The airport is a long way from the port, but they had great transportation options. After the cruise they have the option to take your bags from the ship the night before getting off and you do not have to see them again until you are at your home airport. Now with that said... my next Alaska cruise will be out of Vancouver.

I pay my cruises up to 2 years in advance. I do it not because the money is burning a hole in my pocket but because it makes me feel better. I have 6 cruises booked right now and am looking at booking two more. I have done price drops with fully paid cruises and have not had any issues. I am not rich, and it makes me feel better about booking my cruises when I know they are paid for. There are lots of reasons people do things and different lifestyles. You just need to decide if it makes since to you to pay it off double check with your travel agent to make sure there is not an issue that could come up.

I have used AIG for almost all my cruises over the years. I have filed multiple claims over the years. This last year when I was researching Annual Travel Insurance it was very confusing and it seems everyone cover something different. I ended up going with AIG Travel Guard because their policy looked just like all the others, I have purchased over the years except it is Annual.

when you are working with RCL if they will not cancel see if they are willing to move the cruise to give you time to deal with the issue.

You have to book your flight with the second or last cruise. I had trouble with my B2B because I was trying to book it with the first cruise.

I also did a S2S in February and RCL did all the work for me. I called RCL and made sure my reservation was marked as a S2S cruise. Then when I got on the ship, I checked with Customer Service and the confirmed that everything was setup and let me know what the procedure was. I was concerned because my second ship was not a Royal Caribbean ship but a Celebrity Ship. It did not matter as long as it was a RCL ship. They setup my Covid test the day before departure and gave me a time to get off the ship and over to the bus. Right outside the terminal was multiple shuttles and busses to take cruisers to their next ship. My bus left Miami and took a group to the Fort Lauderdale airport then took the rest of us to the port at Fort Lauderdale. There was no cost to me, and it was very convenient. When I got to the Celebrity Ship they put me in an short line to get on the ship because I was a S2S cruiser.

That is twice what I was getting on the Navigator last month and I was able to stream without any issues. With that speed you can do almost anything you want.

Any descent 3rd party company will know what time your ship comes in. It is their business to keep track of it. Your biggest concern is to make sure you return on ship time before the ship leaves. No matter what time it is locally you need to make sure you are on ship time. The Ship App will show you the ship time while on the ship.

On the old ships I could hear them dragging chairs around cleaning up. In the last 10 years I have not heard that kind of thing. I think they have improved the sound proofing.

You cannot book ahead of time on the app. You have to wait until you are on the ship or in line to get on the ship but connected to the ship wifi.

I have done UDP on 6 cruises this year and this is how they have worked. It might change. You can eat at any of the Specialty Restaurants for lunch and dinner when they are open. You can eat at Johnny Rockets one time a day. You can eat at Playmakers with the $20 limit a time. At Izumi's you get one small dish and 2 large dishes and desert. This is more than one person would want to eat. There is not a limit on eating. On Thanksgiving I had lunch at Jonny Rockets, afternoon wings at Playmakers, Dinner at Chops, Turkey and Ham at Windjammer and desert at Jamies. Notes: figure out where you want to eat dinner each night. As soon as you get on the ship book your reservations. You can book on the ship app or go to one of the open restaurants to book it for you. After the first day most of the reservations are full except for 8:00 and 8:30 reservations

It is in the written policy A Crown & Anchor Society member can be added into a relationship with other family members in the same household and receive equivalent tier status; however Cruise Points will remain according to actual cruises taken and calculated using the Program level accrual system described above. Pinnacle Club member tier status will not be awarded to dependents if earned by their parent and/or guardian. Pinnacle Club member tier status can only be earned by an individual, spouse or significant other by one of them accumulating 700 Cruise Points or more in the CAS program. For all tiers except Pinnacle Club, a relationship is defined as a spouse or significant other and children less than 18 years old. For Pinnacle Club a relationship is considered a spouse and/or significant other.

You need to read what I wrote. They will cruise at Diamond level, but their true status is not Diamond level. If they divorce, he will go back to gold level. He only has her level as long as they are married. The child will hold the Diamond Level when they turn 18 but they will not move to Diamond + until they have enough cruise days on their own to reach that level.

When I was on the Ovation in July there was a person in the CS Line punching holes for people.