Asphodel

This is true.
 
They are also required to have a notarized letter from the parents saying they have permission to take them out of the country and are required to present it with the passports. If not and if they get caught, they'll probably get detained and possibly get tossed in a Federal prison. Don't mess with the Feds.
 
Edit: I wanted to add a couple things to this. We're talking about cruising, you're travelling on a closed loop, in my case Galveston to Galveston. So you have to satisfy Royal Caribbean's requirements for children traveling with guardians other than their parents and/or custodial entities.
 
The other thing is upon re-entering the country, you have to fill out that declaration. One of the things you're supposed to declare is if you're traveling with immediate  family or not. Lying on the declaration is not recommended.
 
Another experience I had - and this was when we found out about the "you have to have a letter from the absent parent" thing. My Australian in-laws would often come to the US and we would often go visit them where they chose to vacation, sometimes in Hawaii, other times in Florida. The last time they blew through I decided I didn't want to go so my husband took our kids and on that particular trip they decided to go to the Bahamas. Just a short hop out of the US. But boy, did they get grilled over me not being there and them oh so innocently trying to take my kids out of the country.  When they got back my husband made noises about getting the kids Australian passports, tho he never got around to it.

Giovanni's. I haven't eaten at Chops but Giovanni's was decent.

There was a table of 14 that had been recently seated and I suspect they were the reason our guacamole got rushed. Still, I don't think great table side guacamole is worth the $60 (for 2) they charge for dinner at Sabor.

There was a table of 14 that had been recently seated and I suspect they were the reason our guacamole got rushed. Still, I don't think great table side guacamole is worth the $60 (for 2) they charge for dinner at Sabor.

I did not know that. To console myself, I'll walk approx 4 blocks down through my subdivision to find the Latino guy who sells food out of the back of a pickup truck and buy me a cup of Mexican street corn. Cut off the cob, with mayo, powdered cheese & chili pepper. The taco truck I mentioned above has the best lengua tacos I've ever had. Fiery green salsa. They also had voter's registration pamphlets last time I was there tho they're not on a corner. More in a parking lot by an H-E-B.
 
My thoughts on Sabor.
 
Our guacamole was not made to order, they just brought it. The guac they make on the pool deck is pretty good but ours was a sloppy mess.
 
The salsas had no spice at all, totally flat. The waiter brought me some minced jalapenos which he stirred into the green salsa w/o asking where I wanted it, I put the rest in the pico de gallo which really needs serranos.
 
I wanted to try everything so I ordered a lot of appetizers. My BF also ordered the tortilla soup which he seemed to like but he thought it was going to be something else he never made clear.
 
I ordered: Gazpacho, it was really strange like ultra smooth tomato puree. Tasteless and flat. I like the chunky kind made with fresh tomatoes, cucumber, bell peppers, onion, oil and vinegar.
 
Queso. Again very strange and where was the cheese? The tortillas didn't taste right.
 
Ceviche. I realize there is more than one style of ceviche but I was expecting the kind marinated in citrus juice long enough that it firms up, mixed with tomatoes, onions, peppers, other things. Zesty. What I got was mushy tasteless bits of raw fish.
 
The fried calamari was okay but everything tastes better fried.
 
BF ordered sides of rice and beans, they were tiny portions! Like 1/4 cup each.
 
At this point we were afraid to order any entrees (barbacoa tacos with BBQ sauce -SRSLY?) and we wanted to go to the show so we decided to cut our losses. The literature said it was $25pp but they charged us $30pp.
 
Ironic they named it Sabor, everything was so tasteless.
 
And Arizona the guy who convinced me to come to Sabor by telling me he'd be my waiter? Come to my house! he said, I will *craft* your tableside guacamole! He was waiting on another table and did not even acknowledge us. Not a dealbreaker, just another strange thing to add to the list.

We usually cruise once a year in Feb. Earlier this year my bf whined he needed a break so I booked the cheapest cruise I could find. Interior deck 3 (normally we're in a balcony). We were underneath the Schooner Bar (yes we could hear it and the Theatre). 
 
Most memorable thing? I broke a finger. Serious break, surgery is tomorrow. Other than my finger, I'm fine.
 
We won a lot at trivia. (hehe) Finally scored something better than the ubiquitous highliters and keychains. A baseball hat!! :D
 
What was the deal with the bacon? A couple mornings they kept running out. They'd put out a fresh batch, 'twould be gone in 7 nanoseconds. I took to standing in line with the other hopefuls. The first time some 10-12 year old kid cut in front of me, proceeded to take 2 huge  tongs full of bacon. At that point I snapped at him to leave some but he had taken approx half the bacon (not exaggerating). Another time a woman again cut right in front of me. "There's a line for the bacon."  She ignored me. "Ma'am see the people behind me? That's the line for the bacon." She made some non-committal remark about the line coming from the other side but from the way she refused to look at me or speak I knew she knew she was in the wrong.
 
People are getting so rude. We tried to sit in some "saved" seats (2 guys holding half of row 2 - about 8 seats) but the 2 guys got belligerent with us, one of them going so far as to shove my bf. My boyfriend has Bipolar Disorder and it took all his restraint not to slug the jerk back. All around us people were commenting how *we* were the rude ones to try to steal these people's seats. What happened to Royal's policy of no saving seats?
 
At the cashier redeeming a paltry 75 cent voucher, was behind a woman redeeming a handful of vouchers. One got rejected as already redeemed, I snuck a peek it, was for $80. Whoa, I'd like to know the story behind that.
 
Missed Grand Cayman due to bad weather, our second cruise in a row to do so.
 
In Jamaica we did the Red Stripe Beach excursion. I wasn't expecting much but it was better than anticipated. It was obvious they had trucked in a lot of sand as the surrounding area was swampy. However, the beach was nice, the water pleasant, a DJ providing music. They had all the usual accoutrements for a fee - food, beer, lawn chairs. The only glitch was not enough buses going back. The bus would fill up leaving a whole bunch of grumpy people to wait 20 to 40 minutes for the next one.
 
At the embarkation point was a guy soliciting for Sabor. Arizona his name was. Against my better judgement I said okay. (I live in Houston where there's great authentic Mexican food {street taco trucks to higher end fare}) as well as Tex-Mex.  Oh man, it sucked. We hated it. And we didn't hide our displeasure so the waiters picked up on it and got edgy around us. Waiter brings the bill gives it to my bf. "Why not me? I protested. "Because he is the gentleman," was the response as I pulled out my Seapass card and handed it to him. He brings back the bill and again hands it to my BF. I was offended at this crass display of sexism.
 
First cultural crossup: In Cozumel in a shop, there were some wooden snakes. My bf (I wish he wouldn't) told the shop ladies I have snakes as pets. "Oh?" they say. They were more curious than repulsed. "What do you feed them? "Mice," I said. "oooooh, maize", she responded. No, no, no not corn. (amused and chuckling facepalm) They did understand rat and mouse.
 
Second cultural crossup: They had congee at breakfast!! I love congee! (major Chinatown near to where I live)  But. The congee in the Windjammer is not exactly what I'm used to. I asked a Chinese waitress about it, she said she didn't eat rice. Where she came from they ate noodles. Strike one. 
Another time there was a blond lady with an accent I couldn't place dishing some up. "Oh, it's chicken soup," she said. She tried it first day and really liked it. Chicken soup. Strike two.
 
Saturday night 2:20 am they made an announcement so-and-so please come to Guest Services deck 5. Twice they announced! WTF? If you wake me up at 2am I'm going to have trouble getting back to sleep and I'll likely oversleep the following morning. 
 
We were debarking and right behind us they refused debarkation to some woman, turning her back. We were like, hmmmm, someone trying to skip out on their gambling debt.....
 
And finally in the car trying to leave and a man and a woman greeted each other with great fanfare, then began smooching. Standing in the middle of the road, right in front of us, blocking egress. I tried to honk but my bf kept knocking my hand away. We rolled down the window and yelled at them; they were oblivious. Finally I got in a honk. They turned around with an indignant EXCUUUUUUSE-ME!!!!! look, but moved to the sidewalk where they continued smooching. A true (facepalm) moment.
 

I walked into a plate glass door. Had surgery yesterday evening. It hurts.  :(
 
 
Foodwise, nothing really stands out. Things I can think of offhand - the sushi, chilaquiles, lambchops, congee - all in the Windjammer. Any plain steamed vegetable. My bf chowed down on the hamburgers and anything beef-stew-ish, especially if there was gravy to spoon over rice.
 
The best thing I had all week was the wine tasting in Vintages. Forgot to mention how awesome the sommelier was.

We usually cruise once a year in Feb. Earlier this year my bf whined he needed a break so I booked the cheapest cruise I could find. Interior deck 3 (normally we're in a balcony). We were underneath the Schooner Bar (yes we could hear it and the Theatre). 
 
Most memorable thing? I broke a finger. Serious break, surgery is tomorrow. Other than my finger, I'm fine.
 
We won a lot at trivia. (hehe) Finally scored something better than the ubiquitous highliters and keychains. A baseball hat!! :D
 
What was the deal with the bacon? A couple mornings they kept running out. They'd put out a fresh batch, 'twould be gone in 7 nanoseconds. I took to standing in line with the other hopefuls. The first time some 10-12 year old kid cut in front of me, proceeded to take 2 huge  tongs full of bacon. At that point I snapped at him to leave some but he had taken approx half the bacon (not exaggerating). Another time a woman again cut right in front of me. "There's a line for the bacon."  She ignored me. "Ma'am see the people behind me? That's the line for the bacon." She made some non-committal remark about the line coming from the other side but from the way she refused to look at me or speak I knew she knew she was in the wrong.
 
People are getting so rude. We tried to sit in some "saved" seats (2 guys holding half of row 2 - about 8 seats) but the 2 guys got belligerent with us, one of them going so far as to shove my bf. My boyfriend has Bipolar Disorder and it took all his restraint not to slug the jerk back. All around us people were commenting how *we* were the rude ones to try to steal these people's seats. What happened to Royal's policy of no saving seats?
 
At the cashier redeeming a paltry 75 cent voucher, was behind a woman redeeming a handful of vouchers. One got rejected as already redeemed, I snuck a peek it, was for $80. Whoa, I'd like to know the story behind that.
 
Missed Grand Cayman due to bad weather, our second cruise in a row to do so.
 
In Jamaica we did the Red Stripe Beach excursion. I wasn't expecting much but it was better than anticipated. It was obvious they had trucked in a lot of sand as the surrounding area was swampy. However, the beach was nice, the water pleasant, a DJ providing music. They had all the usual accoutrements for a fee - food, beer, lawn chairs. The only glitch was not enough buses going back. The bus would fill up leaving a whole bunch of grumpy people to wait 20 to 40 minutes for the next one.
 
At the embarkation point was a guy soliciting for Sabor. Arizona his name was. Against my better judgement I said okay. (I live in Houston where there's great authentic Mexican food {street taco trucks to higher end fare}) as well as Tex-Mex.  Oh man, it sucked. We hated it. And we didn't hide our displeasure so the waiters picked up on it and got edgy around us. Waiter brings the bill gives it to my bf. "Why not me? I protested. "Because he is the gentleman," was the response as I pulled out my Seapass card and handed it to him. He brings back the bill and again hands it to my BF. I was offended at this crass display of sexism.
 
First cultural crossup: In Cozumel in a shop, there were some wooden snakes. My bf (I wish he wouldn't) told the shop ladies I have snakes as pets. "Oh?" they say. They were more curious than repulsed. "What do you feed them? "Mice," I said. "oooooh, maize", she responded. No, no, no not corn. (amused and chuckling facepalm) They did understand rat and mouse.
 
Second cultural crossup: They had congee at breakfast!! I love congee! (major Chinatown near to where I live)  But. The congee in the Windjammer is not exactly what I'm used to. I asked a Chinese waitress about it, she said she didn't eat rice. Where she came from they ate noodles. Strike one. 
Another time there was a blond lady with an accent I couldn't place dishing some up. "Oh, it's chicken soup," she said. She tried it first day and really liked it. Chicken soup. Strike two.
 
Saturday night 2:20 am they made an announcement so-and-so please come to Guest Services deck 5. Twice they announced! WTF? If you wake me up at 2am I'm going to have trouble getting back to sleep and I'll likely oversleep the following morning. 
 
We were debarking and right behind us they refused debarkation to some woman, turning her back. We were like, hmmmm, someone trying to skip out on their gambling debt.....
 
And finally in the car trying to leave and a man and a woman greeted each other with great fanfare, then began smooching. Standing in the middle of the road, right in front of us, blocking egress. I tried to honk but my bf kept knocking my hand away. We rolled down the window and yelled at them; they were oblivious. Finally I got in a honk. They turned around with an indignant EXCUUUUUUSE-ME!!!!! look, but moved to the sidewalk where they continued smooching. A true (facepalm) moment.
 

We usually cruise once a year in Feb. Earlier this year my bf whined he needed a break so I booked the cheapest cruise I could find. Interior deck 3 (normally we're in a balcony). We were underneath the Schooner Bar (yes we could hear it and the Theatre). 
 
Most memorable thing? I broke a finger. Serious break, surgery is tomorrow. Other than my finger, I'm fine.
 
We won a lot at trivia. (hehe) Finally scored something better than the ubiquitous highliters and keychains. A baseball hat!! :D
 
What was the deal with the bacon? A couple mornings they kept running out. They'd put out a fresh batch, 'twould be gone in 7 nanoseconds. I took to standing in line with the other hopefuls. The first time some 10-12 year old kid cut in front of me, proceeded to take 2 huge  tongs full of bacon. At that point I snapped at him to leave some but he had taken approx half the bacon (not exaggerating). Another time a woman again cut right in front of me. "There's a line for the bacon."  She ignored me. "Ma'am see the people behind me? That's the line for the bacon." She made some non-committal remark about the line coming from the other side but from the way she refused to look at me or speak I knew she knew she was in the wrong.
 
People are getting so rude. We tried to sit in some "saved" seats (2 guys holding half of row 2 - about 8 seats) but the 2 guys got belligerent with us, one of them going so far as to shove my bf. My boyfriend has Bipolar Disorder and it took all his restraint not to slug the jerk back. All around us people were commenting how *we* were the rude ones to try to steal these people's seats. What happened to Royal's policy of no saving seats?
 
At the cashier redeeming a paltry 75 cent voucher, was behind a woman redeeming a handful of vouchers. One got rejected as already redeemed, I snuck a peek it, was for $80. Whoa, I'd like to know the story behind that.
 
Missed Grand Cayman due to bad weather, our second cruise in a row to do so.
 
In Jamaica we did the Red Stripe Beach excursion. I wasn't expecting much but it was better than anticipated. It was obvious they had trucked in a lot of sand as the surrounding area was swampy. However, the beach was nice, the water pleasant, a DJ providing music. They had all the usual accoutrements for a fee - food, beer, lawn chairs. The only glitch was not enough buses going back. The bus would fill up leaving a whole bunch of grumpy people to wait 20 to 40 minutes for the next one.
 
At the embarkation point was a guy soliciting for Sabor. Arizona his name was. Against my better judgement I said okay. (I live in Houston where there's great authentic Mexican food {street taco trucks to higher end fare}) as well as Tex-Mex.  Oh man, it sucked. We hated it. And we didn't hide our displeasure so the waiters picked up on it and got edgy around us. Waiter brings the bill gives it to my bf. "Why not me? I protested. "Because he is the gentleman," was the response as I pulled out my Seapass card and handed it to him. He brings back the bill and again hands it to my BF. I was offended at this crass display of sexism.
 
First cultural crossup: In Cozumel in a shop, there were some wooden snakes. My bf (I wish he wouldn't) told the shop ladies I have snakes as pets. "Oh?" they say. They were more curious than repulsed. "What do you feed them? "Mice," I said. "oooooh, maize", she responded. No, no, no not corn. (amused and chuckling facepalm) They did understand rat and mouse.
 
Second cultural crossup: They had congee at breakfast!! I love congee! (major Chinatown near to where I live)  But. The congee in the Windjammer is not exactly what I'm used to. I asked a Chinese waitress about it, she said she didn't eat rice. Where she came from they ate noodles. Strike one. 
Another time there was a blond lady with an accent I couldn't place dishing some up. "Oh, it's chicken soup," she said. She tried it first day and really liked it. Chicken soup. Strike two.
 
Saturday night 2:20 am they made an announcement so-and-so please come to Guest Services deck 5. Twice they announced! WTF? If you wake me up at 2am I'm going to have trouble getting back to sleep and I'll likely oversleep the following morning. 
 
We were debarking and right behind us they refused debarkation to some woman, turning her back. We were like, hmmmm, someone trying to skip out on their gambling debt.....
 
And finally in the car trying to leave and a man and a woman greeted each other with great fanfare, then began smooching. Standing in the middle of the road, right in front of us, blocking egress. I tried to honk but my bf kept knocking my hand away. We rolled down the window and yelled at them; they were oblivious. Finally I got in a honk. They turned around with an indignant EXCUUUUUUSE-ME!!!!! look, but moved to the sidewalk where they continued smooching. A true (facepalm) moment.
 

I was kind of surprised how many Diamond perks I used.
 
Balcony discount. (tho I've been doing this since I was platinum)
Priority boarding. Tho they seem to have fixed the boarding backlog problem in Galveston (at least this year).
 
Free drinks. Yeah, lots of those.
The free 24 hour wifi. I've noticed they've changed the structure on how they charge but my IT husband still is boggled they charge by time and not amount of data.
 
The 20% spa discount. I had booked a couples massage before the cruise and when it came time to pay, it was "oh you're diamond would you like to use your discount?" That's 20% off $380, I said "yes please".
 
The look on the bartender's face was priceless when I walked into Vintages and said "I'd like to use my BOGO" and ordered 2 glasses of Caymus.
 
I used the single drink discount when ordering a drink (that I actually paid for!) and the bartender noticed mine was still active. Saved what? Two, three dollars?
 
I've used the logo merchandise discount previous cruises but not this one.
I've used the free photograph coupon previous cruises but not this one.
We used to use the free spin ones but stopped when they stopped giving out keychains or whatever it was.
 
One day they sent up a plate of sweets out of the blue, I think that was a diamond thing. Speaking of, you'll get a couple bottles of water and a package of cookies first day.
 
Crew members tend to be more deferential when they notice you're diamond (but not always).
 
Oh and you get a diamond pin but I've only seen the men wear those. They're so cute, especially when they get their first platinum pin.
 
If you don't think you've had enough free booze, go to the Welcome Back event for some more.
 
Oh something I used heavily - the coffee machine in the Diamond Lounge. Cappuccino with an extra shot of espresso, works for me.
 
Anything else I think is too much trouble to chase down/arrange.
 
And Bob's your uncle.

Passport came yesterday. I mailed it on March 16th sooooo 17 days to get it back. Exactly 2 weeks to get it back from the day they received it.

San Juan is a noisy city and not having gotten a lot of sleep the first time I was there, I looked for a quiet hotel. Found one - the Howard Johnson Centro Cardiovascular San Juan. As you might guess from the name, it is located in a hospital. An entire floor of hotel rooms, but they are run by Howard Johanson. A little out of the way and some of the taxi drivers (and dispatchers) don't know where it is (so be sure to take along the address). I found it blissfully quiet. Also for the budget minded. If you want a hotel that's in the middle of everything, this probably isn't the place for you.

All my excellent Southern Caribbean excursions have involved catamarans. Last year in St Kitts we were on a catamaran named Adventurer, was really nice.

A lot of people recommend this, this is actually the wrong advice. Depending on what country you're in, you're probably not going to be near to the Consulate. What you need to do if you miss the ship is seek out the Port Agent. There should be contact information for the Consulate, the Port Agent, etc on the top page of the Cruise Compass.
 
 
 
 
 
You can get waterproof pouches. The one I have are a bit pricey - they are Aquapacs. A quick Google search turned up lots of waterproof pouches if you wish to shop around. I once bought some logo brand ones from the ship. Hard plastic and bulky and one broke almost right away, I would not recommend those.
 
And no, you're not being overly paranoid about theft. I almost had a camera stolen from me by a fellow passenger! She took it off the xray screening belt while I was still on the other side of the metal detector.

Having a passport facilitates a few things, like going through customs.
 
But the main reason I would think of for having a passport is this uncommon scenario you may think will never happen to you but it has happened. Missing the ship. You're now stuck in a foreign country without a passport. If you think well, you can just go to the US embassy: for one example, if you're in Cozumel, the US Embassy in Mexico is located in Mexico City. Getting back to the US will be an extreme hassle and expense; once you do get to the border, you won't be let in because you have no passport!
 
Really better to have one. This argument used to be back and forth hashed and rehashed with no resolution on some other cruise site I no longer frequent.

Cruise Critic once upon a time used to be a fine and useful site but has suffered in recent years from "tragedy of the commons".
 
Specifically the increasing tendency for mocking and abuse, especially for their own entertainment. To post an account of something and then have a slew of people gang up on you, mock and scorn, tell you you're wrong (on conjecture), Generally be rude and scathing and disrespectful. Does not make for a very constructive environment.
 
It's a huge site, lots of fluff and dreck to sift through to try to find answers. People who quote long posts just to add "me-too" at the bottom. Many meta-discussions. Worth a look, I wouldn't call it a community anymore. An over-bloated monster washed up on the shore.
 
 

Heh, I went and booked my 2018 cruise last night. Snagged a new port by accident, I was looking at the GC/Jamaica itinerary and clicked on a different booking cause it was slightly cheaper. Costa Maya, will make my bf happy, he whines about the same old ports. But it means almost the same itinerary 2 years in a row, Coz/Roatan/Belize next year Coz/Costa Maya/Roatan year after.
 
The funny thing is I just booked my 2017 cruise a little over a week ago. The 2 cabins I reserved are next door to each other. Junior suites, will get my bf to diamond status after the 2018 cruise.

Heh, I went and booked my 2018 cruise last night. Snagged a new port by accident, I was looking at the GC/Jamaica itinerary and clicked on a different booking cause it was slightly cheaper. Costa Maya, will make my bf happy, he whines about the same old ports. But it means almost the same itinerary 2 years in a row, Coz/Roatan/Belize next year Coz/Costa Maya/Roatan year after.
 
The funny thing is I just booked my 2017 cruise a little over a week ago. The 2 cabins I reserved are next door to each other. Junior suites, will get my bf to diamond status after the 2018 cruise.

Heh, I went and booked my 2018 cruise last night. Snagged a new port by accident, I was looking at the GC/Jamaica itinerary and clicked on a different booking cause it was slightly cheaper. Costa Maya, will make my bf happy, he whines about the same old ports. But it means almost the same itinerary 2 years in a row, Coz/Roatan/Belize next year Coz/Costa Maya/Roatan year after.
 
The funny thing is I just booked my 2017 cruise a little over a week ago. The 2 cabins I reserved are next door to each other. Junior suites, will get my bf to diamond status after the 2018 cruise.

Do let us know how long it takes for your passport card to arrive. I think I'll do the renewal I was talking about and mail it off Monday and let you know when I get it back. Perhaps it's because I've been renewing that it's not taking so long, we shall see.
 
If you have it when you travel, I would recommend taking it onshore with you. I've heard so many arguments that the risk of losing it or having it stolen outweighs the risk of missing the ship and being stranded in a foreign country without a passport. I think I've made my stand clear on that.
 
In recent years RC has started putting contact information in the Cruise Compasses (at least on my past couple of cruises), something they weren't doing when I first started cruising. Be sure to take that info along with you as well. Also the customer service number in Florida as it'll be easier to contact them if you have a problem rather than try to call the ship directly.

Most people do not but I believe that is because most people do not own snorkel gear.
 
I have snorkel gear I bought around 25 years ago when I was in Hawaii (at a Sears of all places!) and yes, I drag it along to all my cruises. This is easy for me to do since I drive from Houston to Galveston to cruise out of Galveston so I don't have to worry about flying with it. In fact a couple years ago when we did fly to Puerto Rico for a Southern Caribbean cruise, we left the snorkel gear at home rather than try to check it.
 
If you're not an avid snorkeler, then I wouldn't worry about it.