kellie in texas

@Bazza, this past summer I had your same scenario. The only problem is whether there is still lifeboat availability for a 4th person. Even if there are still 4-person cabins available, the lifeboat availability may already be maxed out. We booked this past summer's cruise several months before the nonrefundable deposit thing came into play, so our TA advised to book the 4th person and cancel later (which we ended up doing). Again, that's not related to the deposit, but it's another factor.

Thanks, everyone, for the replies. Definitely helpful to me.

Specific question: I'm looking at a July 2018 cruise with a nonrefundable deposit. If I pay the deposit for four people in one cabin, and it turns out the 4th person can't go, what happens to that deposit? Do I lose it or does it go toward our remaining balance? Most questions I've seen on the nonrefundable deposits involve people switching dates or ships, which I would not do. It's just a matter of 4 people vs. 3.

We did the Deluxe Stingray City Sandbar in June while on Liberty OTS. I had researched the stingray vendors and found Marineland Tours, which is the company with the boat you describe where the steps -- essentially about a 7-8 foot wide "staircase" descend into the water. I have a bad knee so climbing out of water on just a ladder would not have worked for me. And then I discovered that Marineland Tours is the vendor for the RCCL excursion in Grand Cayman. Sold! It was a great tour and amazing being in the water with the stingrays. They do have some snorkel masks on the tour boat but there's not really any true snorkeling, i.e. reefs, etc. Just getting you underwater to see the rays, if you want.

A couple of years ago, we did a Passion Island excursion while on a Carnival cruise. It was a double-decker catamaran that left from the small pier right next to the big pier where the cruise ships dock in Cozumel. It was absolutely fantastic. Beautiful island, beach and water. If you've seen the Corona beer commercials, where people click their beer bottles together and then it switches to them being on a beach ... that is reportedly Passion Island. It's very beautiful. Our two sons were with us; they were 21 and 12 years old at the time. They said if we ever go back to Cozumel, they'd want to do that same excursion again.

We're on the May 29, 2016, Serenade cruise (Baltics). We have some OBC that I'm looking to use and looking at the RCCL excursion called Stockholm On Your Own. It's five hours, about $50 per person, and visits the Vasa museum and Old Town, both of which we want to see, plus a third place that I don't recall off the top of my head. Has anyone done this tour? The description is vague on details: do you get on a tour bus where the ship is docked? Is admission to the Vasa included? I'm thinking that due to the low cost of this excursion, it may be transportation only, and you have to pay your own admissions. Thanks for any insight.