margaritajeff

I have booked a private tour for the family from Falmouth to the Blue Hole and then lunch at Scotchies in Ochos Rios. The company I booked with is one we have used before and is very good. I just noticed on the RC site this message about Falmouth shore excursions: At the above destinations, all guests may depart the ship and visit the enclosed port area on their own. If they wish to visit further into the island, they must have booked a Royal Caribbean International shore excursion, or participate in a government approved tour. The government approved tours are unaffiliated with Royal Caribbean. As this is a private tour with a personally created itinerary, does this count as a "government approved tour"? The tour company has no issues with our itinerary and I am not sure why Royal Caribbean would care. Does the Jamaican government make these rules? Does anyone have experience with doing private tours in Falmouth and should I be concerned with taking this tour? We are on the May 1 sailing of Harmony Thx

We are on Freedom Jan 10-14. One of us flies back to Canada at 2:00pm the day we arrive back in port. Is it reasonable to get off the ship, get a PCR test (which is required for travel back to Canada) at the port , and get the results before flight check in time which is supposed to be 2-3 hours before departure? Any thoughts? Hopefully the testing process is efficient at the port.

Just thought that I would provide an update on my MTD experience since I made the original post. Once we got on ship we made a reservation in the dining room for the first 2 nights. Not all times were available, but it wasn't hard to get a time that we were happy with. We really enjoyed the table and service we received on night 1 so we decided to continue to make reservations a day or two in advance and always requested the same table. It worked out great! We got the same table (beside a window) almost every night, the times were to our liking (always between 6:00 and 7:30) and we had the same servers. We were always at (or very near) table 306 which is in a room just off the main dining room. It was much quieter than the MDR and had more of a "specialty restaurant" feel. The food was generally very good ( only a few misses) so we didn't feel it was necessary to book (and pay) for any specialty restaurants for dinner. (We did eat at Giovanni's for Christmas Day lunch which was excellent). On the last night they assigned us to a table in the same room but not at the window - our waiter stepped in and moved us back to our "usual" table - it can pay off to have the same serving staff each night! On some nights, especially Christmas night, the lineups for the people without reservations looked quite long (out to the elevators) but I can't comment on how long they waited for a table. Bottom line: making dinner reservations each day, for a day or two ahead was easy, and worked very well for us.

Family of 4 booked on 10 day holiday cruise starting Dec 23 on Allure. Tried to book times for MTD and several specialty restaurants but no matter which day I choose, or which restaurant, there is nothing available at "normal" dining times (i.e. 6:00 - 8:00pm). Will I experience long waits if I show up at MDR at 7:30? What will wait times be like if I show up at a specialty restaurant during this time? Can I leave my name on a waitlist at a restaurant, go get a drink (or two) and come back at a specified time? Are we destined to eat at odd times, or pay the price of standing in long lines since nothing is booked? Thank you in advance for sharing experiences or suggesting strategies.

Just booked 10 days on Allure, Dec 23-Jan 2, 2016 Christmas and New Years on one trip plus 3 "extra" days to see all the Allure has to offer! Fourth cruise and first since Celebrity Summit in 2013. Margaritajeff