PL8SWPR

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.

... and the on board credit is for the cruise you are booking. Not the current cruise like it once was.

The 48 hours thing and the "Best Price Guarantee" referred to after final payment. There's been no change to repricing before final payment.

As long as my wife still gets a towel animal she'll be happy.

If her name changed, just bring the paper trail with you. All the changes needed legal docs - just have those in case they ask. We sailed with BC out of Port Canaveral in Jan. Nobody asked for the marriage license, but we had it just in case.

I would bring any legal documents required to explain name changes. If you didn't change your name following a divorce, it wouldn't be relevant. For our previous cruises without a passport, we would bring our marriage license just in case. They didn't ask to see it in Jan, but we had it. Passports came in the mail while we were on the cruise.

The survey now asks if you were asked to provide a positive survey. On Mariner in Jan, first week with the new menu AFAIK, we never heard anything from the crew about a survey.

The deposit needed to hold the room can be refundable if you pay the fee. Otherwise there is a $100 per person change fee if you want to change dates, etc. We never booked refundable as the fee for 2 has been $150. Just not worth it if the change fee would be $200. Would need to change almost every booking to make that worth it. However, sometimes a travel agent can offer refundable deposit rates for less than non refundable as I found out when booking with MEI for the first time vs booking direct.

Is being in the meeting without video an option?

If you don't want to wait until you get to the port, use a library, FedEx, or a printer at the hotel before the cruise.