DoomSlayer

I think what we are all advising is to not book with a guaranteed rate and to pay the higher price to ensure you will have a room that meets your family’s needs. This is a good example where a good travel agent would be worth their weight in gold helping you navigate through this. Stressing out over not having a room that will work for your family is not worth the little you may save with a GTY room.

There is one just across the highway by an ihop if I remember right. But I would doble check with google maps before trusting my memory.

We usually stay at the Comfort Inn and suites in Texas City, about 20 minutes from the port. I have seen other people staying there get Lyft to get to the port (I live in Texas, so we just drive down the night before and drive ourselves to the port). It is not on the island and not touristy, but has some food choices nearby and has worked out well for my family of 5 as a good place to sleep the night before. It is on the outskirts of a shopping mall, so if you want to go to the movies or something the night before, it is walkable.

It is against US law for cruise lines to allow downline boarding or un-boarding for closed loop cruises originating in the US. Passengers must embark and disembark from the same port. Even when there is a medical emergency and a passenger must disembark suddenly to seek medical attention, the cruise line is still technically liable for fines associated with not returning the passenger to the original port (although these fines are usually waived once they file paperwork showing the medical emergency).

Not verry practical in my opinion. I see families doing it and everyone is fighting about who has to carry the soda or water pallet around (no one wants to) until the rooms open. The soda package is cheap enough that I just scratch my head and wonder why the bother. Even with my kids, I get them the refreshment package because we are on vacation, and if they want a mocktail pina colada or a milk shake at Johnny Rockets, they can have it. Wine is a little easier because it is not so bulky or heavy, but we don't really mess with it anymore and just buy a bottle or two on board.

He should contact the Canadian Embassy and ask about this and if he may qualify for an exemption. George Bush had to get a special waiver for permission to enter Canada and he was President of the United States.

Locks really just keep the honest people out. If someone wants in your bag, they will get in. I only use them to keep the zippers together.

Perhaps work out the math with your travel partner. If your truly a 2-3 drink person and your partner is a 6-7 (or more) drink person, combined it is still a bargain. In that case, perhaps your drink partner gives you $75 or so to bring your cost down, but still saving money.

Passports are legal documents and only the person named on it can apply for it unless they are minors -- meaning your mom is the one who will have to apply for it herself. As others have said, letting her in on the surprise early and planning for the trip is part of the fun. Plan a special surprise party for her now to let her in on the secret in a fun way. I am sure she will be excited.

I would contact the Peru Embassy or closest Consulate near you. They may be able to help you renew your passport without having to go back to Peru. This is typically one of the functions of Embassies and Consulate offices in supporting their citizens while abroad. I wouldn’t chance not having the proper travel documents and being turned down at the port and having to forfeit the cruise fare.

Congrats and I hope you have a wonderful time. You should not have any problems from the Promenade being in a balcony. The rooms that get some noise are the interior Promenade rooms that overlook it -- but even those rooms are not too bad noise wise. Biggest word of advice is two parts -- multiport usb chargers as plugs are limited in the room, and aloe vera in case you get a little too much sun shine on day. Have Fun!!

Does that 300 correlate to what they charged to the TA on your credit card? That is odd if it is. Only thing I could think of for a line item titled "Gov't Charges and Fees" would be taxes and port fees, but that would be paid to Royal and not your TA. I am scratching my head along with you on this one. I just looked at my invoice from my TA and it has a line for $205 as Taxes and Fees, but that was charged from Royal on my card, not the TA.

My TA supplies their own invoice, but it is detailed, and I can track every transaction on it by line item. They have never hidden anything and are upfront and transparent about what will be charged directly from Royal and what will be charged from them (such as an excursion that was not through Royal) before they even run the transaction. I have never asked them for a copy of the Royal invoice because I have always been able to reconcile it with my credit card transactions and never had a need to ask for it. However, I am confident they would supply it if I asked them. Any TA that is not transparent with their customers up front should raise a red flag and be a sign that you should be looking for a new one. It's ok if they are able to get special "group fares" well below market rates and may have to charge a commission separately (they do deserve to be paid somehow if Royal isn't paying them). But were they up front about it, did they itemize their invoice properly so you know where every dollar is going, and do they provide guarantees that if Royal cancels the cruise, you would be able to get the commission and other fees refunded?

Congrats on your successful trades.

You should be able to correct it in the website if you edit the check-in information for that person.

It may be how the TA books it? I looked at my 4 upcoming cruises that I booked through my TA in the website and they all have the greyed out "Pay remaining balance You don't have a balance due". statements. I do remember them saying there was a balance due at one point before I paid them all in full, but had no option to pay and was shown a message to the effect that I needed to contact my TA to pay.

I was wondering the same thing too. I usually get about 3000 points a cruise and get good room offers on the boat and via email. My wife usually just gets about 750 per cruise and only gets $$ off offers. We are both prime, but it does seem they are more interested in your points per cruise rather than points per year for their offers.

@smokeybanditis correct. Also, if it seems confusing in the app, you can go to guest services once on board and they can help with it.

I guess it’s up to each individual. I only take one prescription medication, so I just bring the bottle. My wife though brings her weekly box for hers. We have never been asked for the actual bottles with the labels.

We live in Texas so usually drive ourselves, but we do drive down and stay the night before near Galveston. When I don't stay with family on the island, we usually stay at the Comfort Inn in Texas City (on I-45) near Galveston. It is about 30 minutes from the port itself, but is a lot cheaper than staying on the island itself. I have seen other cruisers using Lyft to get from the same hotel to the port without issue.

I guess I never really saw the value in this card to be honest. There are a lot better points cards out there that will give you more value in my opinion and you can find a lot better deals with. Going through their docs on MyCruise points associated with this card, it appears that each point is valued at roughly $0.01. You receive 2 points for RCL purchases ($0.02 per dollar spent) and 1 point for non RCL purchases ($0.01 per dollar spent). These points are only redeemable with RCL or charity donations. My Navy Federal Flagship card on the other hand offers me 3 points for any travel purchases ($0.03 per dollar spent) and 2 points for any other type of purchase ($0.02 per dollar spent). These points are redeemable as cash which I can then use to save for a cruise (at a faster rate than the RCL card), use to pay for my RCL tab at the end of the trip, or use to make non RCL purchases. In my view, cash is defiantly king as I can use it for whatever I want. As far as sign-up bonuses, RCL seems to be offering 10,000 points as a bonus if you meet their spend requirement ($100). Navy Federal Flagship is offering 30,000 points if you meet their spend requirement ($300). Final thought -- Navy Federal Flagship caps interest at 18% and it will not go higher. The RCL card interest rate seems to start at 18% and caps about 24%. My Amex platinum card is a good card for cruise travel too. @teddy there is no good reason not to use a credit card to pay for your cruise entirely -- especially if you have the money to pay it off before the statement date / billing cycle cutoff to keep from accruing interest. Most credit cards offer additional protection and insurance on your major purchases that debit cards don't. The cards I use to purchase my cruises (and other travel) offer decent travel insurance at no extra cost just for paying for it using their card, meaning that is one less expense I have to pay for on my cruise. I would not advocate anyone use their card to buy a cruise they don't have cash in the bank to pay off, but that is a different topic for a finance form and not this awesome cruise forum.

We did the same thing. No issues.

That's awesome and I am glad it was a "family" thing that you both enjoyed! Getting a little off topic, but being stuck on a cruise ship with nowhere to really hide is a good thing for family bonding for sure,

You can have your credit card removed / unassociated from the kids sea passes to help prevent unwanted charges. This is what I normally do when traveling with them. If you accidently added your card to their account during app check-in, you can go to guest services once on board to have your card removed from their sea passes. As a side note to the OP, my kids never really enjoyed the onboard arcade. My kids have access to all the latest and greatest in gaming platforms and technologies at home because of my job (I am a professional game developer and gamer), and they enjoy the pools, slides, mini-golf, ice skating, and other activities a lot more. However, if you do decide to get them the arcade pass, I challenge you to go play with them and make it a family activity. Who knows, you may have a little fun yourself!