BrianAlt

No complaints here!

Yep! I have Sky class. Specialty restaurants are included in Star class.

I had booked the Ultimate Dining Package for the GC. However, I was able upgrade (pay) to a suite, so I dropped it and switched to a three-night package. I wanted to be able to enjoy Coastal Kitchen. Thanks for the recommendation, @Matt.

Except when your suit is wet.

Well, that didn't take very long.

I had a muster station in the champagne bar on Oasis. And I had just been swimming and my suit was damp. I sat on one of those plush seats. I put down a couple of towels, but I still wouldn't want to have been the next person in that seat. Oops.

In San Juan, the day is short. You have to be back on the ship by 1:30. Definitely look through the ship's excursions and see what you like there. In Labadee, you're in the cruise line run beach. Best to also look for what you like most in the ship offered excursions. Otherwise, this is a great relaxing beach day. By the way, I love your itinerary. I live 20 minutes from Cape Liberty and would do this cruise in a heartbeat.

In St. Maarten I recommend Bernard's Tours. Will give you an overview of the entire island, a little beach time and rum punch, water, soft drinks. I recommend tour II. Excursions that include snorkeling or fishing are definitely available here.

Do I have to read EVERYTHING???

Bermuda my favorite thing to do is to go to Horseshoe Bay. It's a 20 minute bus ride from the Royal Dockyard. Another option is to go to the other side of the island and visit The Crystal Caves and have a Rum Swizzle at the Swizzle Inn. I recommend the ferry and buses to and from. Snorkeling is definitely an option in Bermuda as is chartering a fishing boat.

A couple of cruises ago we requested a table for 6 or 8 and we had a table for two. Only good part was we were in specialty restaurants half the time, so we didn't feel bad about not showing up.

What's the itinerary?

I've never done it. But in a nutshell, you pay less to allow the cruiseline to assign your room. It usually happens around 2 weeks before the cruise. If you choose an OV Balcony, for example, you will definitely be assigned an OV Balcony. The issue is, if the ship is very full, you'll probably get a partially obstructed view. If not, you could end up at one of the higher categories for that class. Many people like to take the chance for the potential savings.

MAYBE you can JOIN the POPULAR crowd!

We will definitely visit Herculaneum for our next visit.

Doesn't hurt!

About four months in advance. I just checked, was about three months in advance. A fellow traveler set this one up. I did a couple others that he came along on. For Naples I recommend Pompeii. Book a driver to take you there and back ahead of time. I think that was around $500 for the four of us.

By the way, we had 2 vans, 16 people. The tour guide cost us around $10 each. Bargain as far as we were all concerned!

That's how we did it, but if you're definitely going to do it, tell them in advance. Couldn't hurt.

I wouldn't put anything beyond underwear, socks and t-shirts you'd be able to live with if it was destroyed. Not that destroyed is something that has ever happened to me, but you never know.

Clearing cookies always works for me. I can usually just clear the last hour so it doesn't blow away all my settings (passwords).

This doesn't bother me very much. I don't decide to book a cruise or not based on the deposit. I'm always going to book refundable, so I can get my deposit back. And you end up paying the same total at the end. Sure, it ties up a few more bucks. But I don't tend to worry about that very much. I know others aren't in the same situation.

This is why I'd rather vet the excursions myself and not book with the cruise line. I find the excursions on my own tend to be more personal with better customer service.

For Rome I recommend Rome In Limo. Here's a tour description: https://www.romeinlimo.com/tours-of-rome/sightseeing-tours.htm You have to get your own coliseum and Vatican tickets, which you should buy before you go. They can also secure you a Vatican tour guide, the drivers cannot tour the Vatican. It has to be a certified Vatican tour guide. I recommend doing that because of the limited time. Get as many people together and share a van. That's the most economical way to go.

Almost sounds like a gag. I mean, I'm sure they have the basic information available to them. Might not be all that helpful, but it would have been something!