SemperMom

I am team Quantum for now, but we are taking Mariner to Bermuda in a couple weeks so that could change. We are still in the beginnings of our exploration and have Grandeur and Anthem checked off the list so far. I hear so many great things about Mariner...the next 17 days are going to be rough! We have Odyssey slated for next June and I hope to add a few shorter getaways in between so I may have a more informed opinion in next years poll. lol 

I am also OK with the NRD and like most others, we always buy trip coverage in case worse comes to worse but the fee I'm not ok is the change fee. Especially if the change you make is an upgrade in their favor and made at over 300 days out. I just can't wrap my head around why they think its a good idea to penalize and as such deter customers for wanting to spend more money. 

9 hours ago, brdjnr said:

here ya go

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073WMYP6M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have some of these around our pool and have thought about taking them. They take up less room than a t shirt.

That is almost exactly the one I saw that prompted this inquiry except yours is even cheaper than the one I found. lol Thanks for sharing Neesa!

Thanks Wordell1. The same thing occurred to me but thought I'd ask since this float was so cool and super compact. lol In the end I am sure I will either forget about it or it would lose a priority war with more important stuff as I pack. 

Hi! 

I was online window shopping and came across a really cool compact inflatable float/lounge on sale. I don't recall seeing anything about this as I was doing my research. Can we bring our own floats to CocoCay with us? 

Thanks!

~T

Hi Allen, 

I can't recall how much I paid for the membership but I am positive its paid for itself several times over in the last year...but a great tool for help in cabin selection is this site: 

https://www.cruisedeckplans.com -pictures and sometimes video plus floor plans and the cabin guru section will let you know of anything you should watch out for, for the most part. It's not 100% guaranteed you will find details for every cabin on every ship but it's a great place to start. 

I also always search here and on another board for cabin reviews and of course there is always YouTube for great reviews too. Even if you can't find your exact ship and cabin, you can almost always find a review of a similar cabin in the same class of ship you will be sailing on. 

Hope that helps!

~T

On 5/28/2022 at 11:41 AM, San Diego Garrett said:

That the calories on cruises don't count.

This is true though. I was told they have a highly patented, super secret calorie sucking machine in the kitchen that each ingredient goes through before its delivered to the passengers via special plates that keep the calories from returning to the food before it's eaten. Utensils also have magic powers to deter calories from counting. Heard it from a very reputable source. 

Just kidding. I made that up but wouldn't that be so cool!?

I have a passport now but before I just brought my BC, marriage license and DL and had no issues on a closed loop cruise. Bring it all and you should be3 fine too! Happy Sailing!

Our first cruise was on the Grandeur to Bermuda and the reason why we 1. got hooked on cruising and 2. rarely venture out to other lines. The Grandeur is a great ship. She was SO lovely. I was super sad to see she left Baltimore for Galveston. I like the smaller, older ships as much as I like the big, new ships. We will always have a special place in our hearts for Grandeur, for sure.

3 hours ago, greenline627 said:

Anyone traveled to Bermuda since you need to fill out an application to enter the Country? I went to the site now we are still 50 days or so till the cruise but it starts by clicking on you ship Adventure of the Seas is not listed.

We are going in August so I looked up all the requirements early and it looks like the list updates weekly to show cruises about 30 days or so out. So you're a little early. I would personally check every day to see if my ship has populated yet if I was just 50 days out, but then I'm "that person"...ha ha ha. I have set a reminder for myself to start checking daily around the 40 day mark. Enjoy your trip! This will be our 3rd time to Bermuda and I will NEVER get tired of visiting this beautiful island. 

~T

I had the same experience as @NaturalNine. Cancelled shore excursions on 4/1 but the refund didn't show up pending until 4/7. Its posted now though. I figured it would take at least a week so I was happy. I hope you see it post soon!

I've cruised to Mexico, Roatan, Belize, and Bermuda without a passport and had no issues. However, if you head to the post office asap to apply you should have all of them in time for your cruise. My hubs and I booked an overseas cruise for next summer and didn't do any research except for on the State Dept. website so when I read 8-12 weeks we decided to apply super early and just get it over with. We also didn't want to pay the expedited fee. We both went in the week of Jan 24 and we both had our passports in hand within 21 days or so. I was shocked until I joined this board and saw that everyone talking about getting passports were getting them pretty quickly. lol 

It always worried me to travel out of the country without a passport just in case there was an accident or a glitch in plans but for all 4 of us, it would cost more than the cruise for us to get them. Luckily all 3 of our previous trips were issue free but we are now getting our passports and spreading out the cost over the next couple months so its more manageable. 

10 hours ago, rjweber3 said:

So true. For us it was gradual. First a balcony cabin, then a Junior Suite, now our "standard" is a Grand Suite. 

We got bit by the balcony bug for our return to sailing Christmas cruise this past Dec. When planning our anniversary vacation for this summer, we didn't even bother looking for an inside and so a balcony was booked for August. Then, with disturbingly less than serious consideration we booked our first JS for our Med cruise next June. We knew better and did it anyway. We were perfectly happy as insiders but now, we've seen the light. There is no turning back now. I apologize to our bank account regularly, but really It's sorry, not sorry. 

Have so much fun! We have to wait until August for our next cruise and its. killing. me. hahahaha

I checked on cruisedeckplans.com and unfortunately no one has uploaded any pictures of that cabin for visual confirmation.  It doesn't look to have a pullman from what I can tell by the floor plan on the site. It has the "sleeps 4" asterisk and It states the bed configuration is "the sofa is next to the balcony", not that that really helps. lol I looked around on YouTube also but couldn't find any videos on that specific cabin but this one looks like its the same configuration as 12686...Hope that helps some. Happy Cruising!

Only 434 days to go! 

This trip will mine and my husbands first time traveling across the pond so we have no idea what we are doing. It's a darn good thing we have over a year to figure it out. We applied for and have received our passports so thats one less thing to worry about!

Looking forward to hearing from others who will be joining us on Brilliance, especially if you have good tips and tricks for international travel. 

~T

Our 12 and 14 year old love going to the bar all independent like and flash their sea card to order fancy mock-tails. They also love smoothies and shakes and the like. My hubs and I are premium coffee drinkers and we are both diet cokaholics so the refreshment package for us is very valuable, and since it is way less expensive than the Ultimate Drink Package, we opt for it because we know we'll get our money's worth without having a shocking bill at the end of the cruise. We set up a daily "allowance" before we leave so that if we really want an adult beverage here and there, we have one and it's covered. We aren't big drinkers and since we can bring a couple bottles of wine on board, that helps too.  

My hubs and I applied for our passports (neither of us ever had one before) on Jan 24 without expedited service and we both received them in about 21 days. Most passport posts I have read in the past few months had similar outcomes so even if it takes a little longer, I think you would still get them before you cruise in July. 

3 hours ago, Atlantix2000 said:

Absolutely.  But you also have to consider whether you would use the non-alcohol options.  If you regularly drink smoothies, specialty coffees, sodas, and/or bottled water, you might only need 2 alcoholic drinks a day to "break even" on the UDP.  If you like wine with your dinner, you also might never have to visit a bar.  There's also people that prefer having no bills after a trip and therefore prepaying a package is better even if they don't quite break even.

This is good logic and exactly the logic we used after buying the UDP then realizing we had enjoyed more mock-tails than high test because we had our young kids with us. The cure, we think, is to just get the refreshment package and just Ala carting adult beverages. You get most everything but the alcohol with it and its much less expensive. However, we will always seriously consider the UDP when sailing sans kids because I am in the "prepaying a package is better" camp AND we will be free to day drink. Can't wait for August! 

1 hour ago, BB1 said:

I have a 2 month window to renew my passport and I was looking for back up plans. Any other suggestions.  They say an expedited passport takes about 7 weeks and that's cutting it close. I'm not sure that I could find my birth certificate  but I guess I could send for one before I send in my passport. 

My hubs and I applied for our passports [not expedited] on Jan 24 and received them on Feb 18th and 23rd. I was so pleasantly surprised with the quick turnaround. I bet just a renewal may be the same or faster. Of course no guarantees but ...

Hi! Thought this might help. Included the links also. You'll need your DL and BC to board. Happy Cruising!

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/united-states-citizen-travel-documentation

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-travel-documents-are-required-for-cruises-from-united-states-ports

For US Sailings - 

U.S. Citizens may sail using their:

• Official US Birth Certificate and a supporting Government Issued Photo ID, like a driver’s license or an identity card. Please note that hospital Birth Certificates (baby feet Birth Certificates) are not accepted.

or

• U.S. Passport book that is valid at least 6 months after your cruise. 
  • Lastly, below are details if you need additional information about your passport.
    • Visit the United Sates Department of State travel information website.
    • Visa Central is the passport and visa service provider that we recommend. When you contact Visa Central, reference our account 44988 for reduced service fees. Contact Visa Central:
      • Email: [email protected]
      • Phone: 800-858-8579

Also found this: 

• United States citizens on cruises that begin and end at the same port in the United States can use a original government-issued picture ID (i.e. driver's license) AND an original government-issued birth certificate or original Naturalization Certificate.
• Minors under the age of 16 will be able to present either an original government-issued, original or certified copy of his or her birth certificate; a Consular Report of Birth Abroad Issued by DOA; or Certificate of Naturalization issued by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

I don't like that it costs so much but my husband and I are cheap and lazy travelers these days so I would rather pay $20 to wash our 4-t-shirts and 2-jeans than pay the $50-$60 to pack and carry a checked bag to the airport. lol That saves us enough for like more 2 cocktails onboard. 

So cool. Thanks for sharing. 

On 2/15/2022 at 4:09 PM, SemperMom said:

My application was approved!!! And, I can expect my passport on or about 2/22. Hubs is still a couple days behind it looks like. Thats not bad at all. 3 weeks looks to be about standard. Way better than 8-11. lol 

Got it! on the 17th. lol a day sooner than even informed delivery stated. Now if only my husbands would hurry up and get here. 

3 hours ago, PRebecca said:

 

My family doesn't enjoy hearing me drone on about cruising for months on end so I hang out here with like minded cruisers to get me thru the in between time. 

As my next trip nears  I join the Facebook group for that sailing (if there is one) and also check in on the ships Facebook page to share in my excitement and check for ship specific tips. 

Other than planning and waiting for the next step (check in time! Luggage tags are ready! Bid on Royal Up! Etc) it's just an agonizing wait. 

My husband doesnt have the vacation time that I do, so I've recently started cruising with a friend for shorter sailings and it's great that she's wanting to talk cruising just as much as me. 

I agree, it's like waiting for Christmas

I am in the same "more vacation time than hubs" boat.  Poor guys.