PL8SWPR

Note that the US Embassy is nowhere near the cruise ports in Mexico should you need documentation to fly home. Several hours by car. We used to cruise without passports, but got them specifically because our next one is to Mexico.

Liberty is sailing full so spending money on it really isn't going to improve the bottom line all that much. Sure they can slightly increase price due to the upgrades, but not much. Still an old ship. New ships means new profit, more yearly passengers overall. I do have Liberty booked for the Oct 31 sailing. I think we got a hump balcony for $1400 on a 6 night to Mexico and Cococay. Chose it really for the itinerary as we've never done Mexico before. I'm not all that hard to please when it comes to ships, but I will miss Playmakers.

People take them off the ship to use on the beach and leave them. We always ask at the towel station if our account is clear on the last evening.

I'd prefer another hour in the AM to leave for sure, especially when it seems like most flights back home for us have been either too early, or mid afternoon. I don't like having to set an alarm so early on the last day. Would much rather take our time. Would lead to a more relaxing disembarkation process.

Have used GoPort twice separated by about 7 years. Both experiences were good. However the there are downsides as stated. You're probably not going to get to the port in time for the earliest check in, but definitely before 12. Their bus will pick up people from multiple hotels going to multiple ships on embarkation day and pick up from multiple ships on the return to the airport. They will have someone at your hotel in the morning to tag your bags for the right ship and keep things organized and answer any questions. Busses were clean and well maintained. I did book the hotel separately as it was much cheaper than buying their package deal (even for the same hotel), so check that before buying. I suspect the price had dropped after GoPort had bought a block of rooms.

I would bring the official documents required to link your birth certificate name to the name on your current ID. They may not ask for it, but they can.

Last cruise we were on (Mariner in Jan) nobody even uttered the word survey to us. We ate every night in the MDR and once there for lunch.

Late spring 2020, I needed to see my Dermatologist for my regular appointment. I'm a stage 3 Melanoma survivor so those checkups are kind of important. I was told that they were not scheduling in person appointments because of a virus far less deadly than stage 3 melanoma.

All the above assumes they are US citizens.

Was able to get an interior room for our kids, refundable deposit, for about $200 less than a non refundable GTY a couple months ago with MEI. Then just had to make some changes that impacted both rooms. Simple email to the TA and it was done. This is our first TA booked trip, 4 prior were direct bookings. We will continue to us a TA.

At this point, everyone has had it and probably multiple times even if they didn't know it. Some never show symptoms. We all have some natural immunity and/or pharma immunity for those that continue to get jabbed. It's time to end the focus on one of many viruses one picks up throughout the year.

You answered your own question. It's a cbd product and goes against RC policy and laws of multiple countries.

We use the ship wifi to make and receive calls if needed.

Have done 4 BC cruises with marriage license for the wife. No issues and I think the marriage cert was only asked for once. Passports were in the mail when we left for our last cruise in Jan, so we have them for our Western Caribbean trip in Oct.

Has anyone had any luck getting Royal Caribbean to refund the internet charge if it is unusable once you get on board? My wife is a bit of a worrier when it comes to the kids at home, even though their ages are 17+ and internet is how she can sleep easy. So, we always have at least a one device plan and have not had too many issues with Internet. Most of the time in Jan on Mariner it was pretty good.

Mariner has the arcade games, but I don't recall if there was a charge.

Mexico is a big country. Royal Caribbean isn't going to cancel a stop at Cozumel because of a crime issue on the other side of the country.

January on the Mariner was the first time in 4 cruises that the word "survey" wasn't spoken a single time to us. I was actually surprised.

Flew 2 days in early once because it was cheaper to fly that day, we saved more money on the 5 plane tickets (3 kids) than an additional night in a hotel. Got an extra day in Fort Lauderdale for less money.

If you fly day of, you are putting your entire vacation in the hands of the airlines who cancel flights often enough that the gamble isn't worth it. I also always make sure even on the day before, that there is at least one flight after my scheduled flight that day.

Buffet is self service again with forced hand washing stations as you enter.

I had booked 5 cruises without a TA and had the same mindset. Rather do it myself. On cruise 6 (Wonder), we are booking two rooms (5 people) as our adult kids are coming. Figured I'd give the TA thing a shot. For the 2 person room, MEI had a block of rooms i assume so the rate for a refundable pick your own was a couple hundred below a non refundable GTY booking direct. They also had access to an interior room across the hall from what the wife and I wanted that wasn't showing up when I looked. It's also in Oct 24, so having someone else watch for price drops is nice - although I don't expect any.

It is much, much more likely that the speed fluctuations are due to network capacity, weather, clouds, location on the ship, location of the ship, etc rather than RC randomly lowering their contracted bandwidth. I would guess they signed some sort of contract with Starlink for a set amount of bandwidth for a set amount of time.

You have the distance to the port, plus any other drop offs at the port. For example, your bus will likely have people from other cruises on board. We had to stop at the Carnival ship before Mariner in Jan. Then you wait on the bus until the driver unloads all the luggage before getting off and verifying your luggage is off with you. (Porter takes it right from the side of the bus). That said, don't sweat the check in time. Choose something reasonable if not a bit optimistic and you'll be able to board as soon as you get there. We were about 15 min beyond our check in window and had no issues. The 10:30 AM pickup tells me you are not first as I think they start picking up at 10am. I'd suspect you could be at the port by 11:30 optimistically, but don't be shocked if it isn't closer to 12:30 depending on hotel and cruise port stops.

I was on in Jan. Early on embarkation day I got a 90+ Mbps speed test before everyone was signed in. Obviously slowed down once we left port and everyone signed on. Streaming in the room was sometimes a challenge, but normal web traffic wasn't an issue. The room was definitely the slowest place to use it.