davidlap

Thanks for the feedback! We are looking forward to our first group cruise. It is also our first cruise out of Boston which we will be able to drive to instead of fly to! Oh and another first is that this will be our first cruise at the Diamond level!

My wife and I have signed up for our first Royal Caribbean Blog Group Cruise (Oct 2020). I know it is a long way off but we were already looking at excursion options and other activities. We know that the group cruises will sometime feature activities that are exclusive for the group. We are curious to know if any of these are known in advance so that we minimize the chance that we will book something else at the same time.

Book a second cruise out of Honolulu!

I think the photo packages are by room. Our kids are older and stay in separate rooms and we only see them in our package if they are in the photo with us. In regards to the overall pricing it seems very high so we rarely buy any photos. I suspect there are many people who feels the same. I assume the RCCL team has done the pricing analysis to show that the high prices make them more money but I still cannot help feeling that if they made the prices more reasonable that more people would buy and they would make more in volume. I run a lot of road races where photographers take pict

We have had similar experiences with our TA where we are more aware of price changes than our TA even though we do not check every day. Also I think we have been on more sailings and listened to more of Matt's podcasts than our TA so from a general knowledge perspective there are times when I feel we know more about RCCL than our TA. Matt is always promoting TAs but I feel he gets exceptional service in part due to the number of cruises he goes on and because he promotes them so much.

Thank you for the response. For the land tour portion of your trip were there any additional benefits as a suite guest?

How many points do you get if you book a 7 day cruise to Alaska and a 5 day land cruise, 7 or 12? What if you book a suite for the cruise portion?

For ships that utilize Wowbands for room access is getting a card for accessing multiple staterooms an option?

I no longer see two options for internet access on my upcoming cruises. I am only seeing the Surf & Stream option and not the surf only option. The Surf & Stream Voom option is currently priced for my cruises at $11.99/day (30% off sale). I do not need the stream option and would prefer a 30% off the surf only prices. The last significant posting I could find on the topic was from the blog entry for Feb 7, 2017 titled "Guide to Royal Caribbean Voom WiFi Internet prices and tips" where the pricing and options were as follows: Surf & Stream Voom1 device: $17.99 per day, per device 2

I had not considered that all passengers would have to exit the ship. That makes a lot more sense. Thanks for the reply!

I searched the blogs to see if this question has already been asked and answered but searching on "embarkation" and similar terms came up with many unrelated results so I apologize if I am repeating. I see that Symphony of the Seas has the following two cruises: 7 NIGHT WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE Leaving from: Barcelona, Spain Aug 5, 2018; Aug 12, 2018; Aug 19, 2018; Aug 26, 2018 7 NIGHT WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE Leaving from: Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy Aug 2, 2018; Aug 9, 2018; Aug 16, 2018; Aug 23, 2018; Aug 30, 2018 It seems that the way these cruises overlap that

Thanks for the feedback!

I am trying to compare the cost/value of a cruisetour vs booking just the cruise and planning my own land vacation. For comparison I am simply using interior stateroom pricing from 2016/17 RCCL printed tourbook. The 7 night Seward to Vancouver interior cabin cruise prices start at $1119 The 7B Cruisetour featuring a 6 night land tour prior to the cruise has prices starting at $2602 adding $1,483 over the cruise only price. This is $247/night compared to the cruise portion of $160/night. Considering that we will be traveling as a couple the nightly land tour portion is ~$500/night.

The US has good resources for travelers at https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/ They also provide links to travel clinics where you can get additional advice and info.

Thanks for all the good feedback. I am wondering about meals on the land tour portion. If I would like to go up a few notches from Chef Boy-Ar-Dee at $4.50/can what should I budget? I know this is difficult to answer since expectations and tastes vary widely but assume that we would normally be fine with a typical hotel continental breakfast, simple sandwich type lunch and sit-down evening meal comparable to a chain restaurant or pub. Any guidance is appreciated.