Traveling Mike

The answer is Yes... You have to wait until 2:30 pm to follow the rules and not cause issues. BUT 1/2 of the time they do not check boarding times, or they could be running way ahead of schedule. It's harder to move forward with a 12:30 pm time but by 2:30 pm they should be ahead of schedule.

Some advice working with a travel agent. Do not trust them 100%. Do your research and have an idea of what you want and prices going in. Just look and figure out what you want on the RCL site and what it will cost. Then work with the travel agent(s) to do the booking. Do the same for hotels and flights. I book a lot of flights with RCL and Celebrity, but I am always checking prices with Google Flights and the on the airline website. The best person to protect you is you.

We just went on the Allure of the Seas in April. I did lot of research on hotels and transportation because it was easter weekend. I would recommend staying near the airport and take a shuttle the morning of your cruise. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Houston/Bush Intercontinental Airport, and I would recommend it. It was a nice hotel, a good homestyle restaurant next door and they have a free shuttle from the airport. If you call group sales, you should get a good price and get breakfast tossed in. In the morning we took a Lyft to the ship for $90 but for your group I would recommend looking into getting a 15-passenger shuttle to pick you all up at the hotel and take you to the ship.

I just got done doing this for my July cruise. The inside cabin we had was a guaranteed cabin and I could not add a third person to a GTY cabin. Looking at cabins that hold 3 people jumped the price from $900 for two people to $1500 for three people. I considered getting two cabins for $300 more but I could not get connected cabins. I then looked at getting a ocean view for three people for $2000. The problem with the ocean view is the third bed is a pullman and we were three adults. A cabin with a couch that makes into a bed was not available on a regular balcony cabin. All the available ones where Pullmans. I ended up booking a large family balcony that would hold all three of us comfortably. The only issue is my cruise went from $900 for two to $2400 for three.

I want to be upset about the prices going up, but I cannot. I just paid $4.15 a gallon for gas. Dinner for two at Taco Bell is $23. Hamburger meat is $5.50 a pound. We have had 2 1/2 years of high inflation. We have to expect the cruise line to keep up with the climbing prices.

I have been on 3 Alaska cruises and have always been good with an umbrella at the most. A lot of the time it is jeans a light jacket and a hat.

@steverk you are correct. My RCL cruises have nothing but I rebooked all my excursions for my B2B on Celebrity and save $300 to $400.

that is different cruise by cruise. I just booked one for a November 2023 cruise.

They do not have water refilling stations other than the water they have in the buffet. I would carry on bottled water based on the policy above. When you get meals or in the buffet they have free drinks. It is easy enough to go without a drinking package.

My son is a teacher, and we have the same issue when I want to take him. This year we went on the Allure out of Galveston for Spring Break. It was very crowded, but the ship is big enough to handle it. Going out of Galveston you will have the choice of a mega ship and a medium size ship. The medium size ship 4,000 passenger's vs 6,000 for the mega ship. You will be good for any of the ships. The nice thing about the RCL ships is all the toys. Just Emagine doing the flow rider and zip line with your son. I am not sure if it is too late for you to get a deal on the end of July / first of August but that would be a good time. I cruise every Thanksgiving week and love the time on the ship. Just a fair warning, after your first cruise you will be hooked. Have fun

I am guessing it is a room with a sofa bed and 3rd Pullman bed. Take a look and see if there is a sofa bed. The Costco Travel site tells you the bed configuration for each cabin.

Think about your Solo Cruisers. You don't have many solo cabins and they sell out very, very quickly. I would make sure the new ships are designed to take care of Solo Cruisers. The cabins do not have to be big, but I would have a mixture of inside, ocean view and balcony cabins for Solo Cruisers. On my older ships I would have specials during off season for my Solo Cruisers. The last thing is having a Solo Cruise Director like NCL has that can coordinate events for Solo Cruisers.

I don't know if I am loyal or Royal Caribbean is the best fit for me at this point in my life. We cruised lots of time on Disney back in the early 2000. We loved the ships and the way they take care of you. Then the prices climbed, and we could go on 3 other cruises for the price of one Disney cruise. We did a couple of Carnival Cruises and stopped because of too many drunk, loud people on the ships. We did some Princess cruises and loved them because of the locations we cruised to and the good food. I stopped cruising Princess because the last two cruises made me feel like I was on a ship with a bunch of old people (and I am 62). We did a NCL cruise in 2010 and my son hated it. They put the 12-year-old kids in a conference room with Legos and expected them to be happy. My review of the ship was "Motel 6 on the Water". I went on a NCL TA Cruise back in 2019 and fell in love with their Solo Cruising. On that cruise new friends talked about how great Celebrity was. I went on a TP Celebrity Cruise and loved it. On that cruise people talked about how they mix RCL Crises and Celebrity Cruises. Before I could go on a RCL cruise Covid happed. When Cruising opened up RCL had the double points program. I went on 6 Royal Cruises and got double points plus double points for Solo Cruising. I found that RCL has a wide range of ships and locations. They have good food (not great) and all the toys a old man can handle. Now that I am Diamond + they give me enough free drinks where I do not have to purchase a drink package saving me lots of money. With all that said, I don't think I am loyal but can find everything I am looking for on Celebrity or Royal Caribbean at a price point I am willing to pay.

I was in Ensenada on a cruise in November. The port was very safe and the local take care of you. I have been going to Ensenada for the last 40 years and have never had an issue. There are parts of Mexico that you have to be careful and not travel to but Ensenada and Cobo are not those areas. I am going on the NCL Ensenada cruise in July and November.

Some of my shore excursions have gone up in price after I booked them. I have started booking and watching prices.

I was on the Voyager and do not remember a place that did milkshakes. I made my own Coke Floats buy getting soft serve ice cream in a glass and going to the bar and getting the coke.

First of all, I love when people ask about tipping. Cruising can be confusing, and we have this great forum to ask questions and get lots of different opinions. Now on tipping amounts: How much you tip depends on what type of room, how many people in the room and how your finances are. I consider my tips big but if I ever hit the lottery my tips will be very big. My tipping procedure: I got in a habit of tipping at the beginning of the cruise and apologize for the mess my son was going to leave when I was not there. I know my son would come in a hurry to change for the pool or from the pool and leave a mess the cabin steward would have to deal with before I came to the room. Now that my son is grown, and I cruise solo I still tip extra at the beginning of the cruise. At the end of the cruise, I tip my cabin steward and dining room staff based on the service I get. My last cruise my cabin was only cleaned in the evening, but my cabin steward made sure I had plenty of towels and bathroom supplies. Occasionally he would pop in during the late morning and grab our dishes from our late-night snacks. I appreciated it and made sure he was compensated.

This comes from the Royal Caribbean Website: Question: What assistance does Royal Caribbean provide guests with disabilities getting on and off the ship? Answer: We have personnel with wheelchairs who provide assistance with pushing wheelchairs on and off the ship using gangways and boarding bridges. Please note our personnel are not permitted to lift guests. During peak times there may be a wait for assistance. Please see Getting On and Off the Ship for additional information. If you need further assistance, please contact our Access Department at [email protected] or 866-592-7225. This page will help you: Assistance Onboard & Offshore | Accessible Cruises | Royal Caribbean Cruises

I have always purchased from insurance companies (3rd party) and have never regretted it. I have not researched them, but my instants tell me to stay away from companies like InsureMyTrip.com or SquareMouth.com and stick with companies that have been doing cruises for a long time. Like @RockerDom31 uses Allianz and I have a Annual yearly insurance policy with Travel Guard. I have used travel guard for years and have collected on different items multiple times and they payout without an issue and in a timely manner. My fear with some of the others are they are big internet companies that you will have trouble if you have trouble. My last note: They are all different, do your research and read what the policy covers.

I have been on several cruises that have had different ship and port times. The problem is there is no standard; the ship captain makes the decision. On my Transatlantic cruise they changed the ship time at noon every day. That was so confusing to wake up to one time zone and in the afternoon have a different one. I missed so many of my afternoon and evening events. I was told most of the time decisions that mess cruisers up are for the ease of the ship staff time schedules. I just wish the cruise industry would just make a rule that ship time matches the time zone (local time) they are in.

This is your future...

I did that in the 1980's but in the past few years I do not see prices dropping just before a cruise.

We did the Allure in April. We took Lyft from the Hotel by the GB Airport to the port. I prebooked the ride to guarantee my ride and price. It ended up costing me about $90 for the trip but it was hotel pickup and cruise ship door drop-off. At that time Uber was not allowed in the port. When we got off the ship it was Easter Sunday and I was afraid of getting a Lyft, so I booked the Cruise Ship Shuttle. That was also about $90 for the two of us. It was not as convenient as the Lyft, but it got us there. Note: The day we boarded the ship, we seen people backed up trying to get to their Uber rides because they did not realize they had to walk out of the port area to get their ride. I was told Uber got approved to enter the port, but I do not know if that has happened yet.

I am looking for advice for excursions for Moorea, Papeete & Raiatea. I am looking for snorkeling or full island tours.

I don't know anything other than what I would try. I would talk to the Crown and Anchor representative on your Harmony Cruise and see if they would give you a statement of Diamond Status. Then take that on the Celebrity and see if they would Hornor it.