DocLC

You can come and go as you like when the ship is in port, even over night. However, if you're from the U.S. using a tourist visa provided by one of the tire operators, you'll need to arrange the World Cup game through them as you need to be "supervised" by the company arranging the tourist visa. If you want to go it on your own, then you'll need to apply for a regular visa through the Russian Consulate.

Couldn't this be said about just about anything? If Sabor was open, then that would be the best hangover food, too. ;)

I'll let you know how it goes. We're in Marseille, France right now and loving it, which gives the Meraviglia an edge over Seaside for embarkation port. Unfortunately, the line and this ship get very mixed reviews, so it should be interesting. We'll be back on Royal in 2019 after sailing Norway and New Zealand with other lines.

That's horrible news. You MUST try it. It's part of the shared experience talking about how bad it is.

I've only found it worth it once and that was for a long European sailing where the OBC ended up being $250. For normal sailings and since the changes to the program, I don't think it's worth the hassle.

On a positive note, they do offer a gluten free crust for those with Celiac it an intolerance. BTW, it's not any better, but it's not any worse either.

Perhaps they purposely make the pizza bad so that everything else tastes better by comparison. ;)

I completely agree @Orange Crush. It reminds me of the pizza they used to serve at Chuck E Cheese. The last time I had the cheese pizza, it was kind of soggy and if folded over treated more like a cheese quesadilla than pizza. And once you've tried the pizza on some of the other lines, you realize how bad the pizza is on Royal. Sadly, though, it doesn't stop me from eating it when hungry late at night. For what it's worth, the pizza has been terrible since the 1990s, so at least they've been consistent. :)

@CruiseYesPlease I completely understand. The ships in many ways are like chain restaurants. Some are better than others which if impacted by the officers and crew onboard at a given time. As they roster on and off, though, the dynamic changes. I'm not trying to minimize what you've experienced. I completely understand as I related with my Carnival experience which kept me from cruising that line for 17 years. However, I do want to emphasize that this isn't the norm across the fleet. If it was, I would have sailed Royal as much as I have and wouldn't have three cruises booked with them in the future. While I do sail other lines and have the next three booked with MSC, Holland America, and Princess because of the itineraries they offer, I keep coming back to Royal as the line is the best fit for my family. Is everything perfect with Royal? Of course, not. I've even been bumped from my cabin without notice and then told I owed $200 at check in which took days to resolve. However, these were one-off situations that were specific to two of the multiple cruises I've had with Royal, meaning that overall the get a B+ by my calculations overall. I do completely understand your reluctance to cruise with Royal again as I was reluctant to sail Carnival for quite some time, but if you read the reviews of your ship I'd bet that why you experienced was not a systematic issue.

My general rule of thumb is nothing before noon. In addition, with the enhanced security checks and the Disney crowds, you could be in for long waits at the airport. The only way this might work is if you pay to have your bags checked on the ship, but your flight is too early to be eligible. The only time I took an early flight was when the ship sucked overnight before disembarkation so I knew we could leave early.

I saw it the previous dinner on the Serenade, but it wasn't offered the summer before in the Brilliance because of an issue with one of the performers. While it was enjoyable and I'm glad I was able to experience it, I'm not sure it was with the effort as you has to get a viewing for will before the show and you ended up waiting longer for the show than it actually lasted.

For what it is worth, this isn't the norm. However, I did have a similar problem on the Brilliance of the Seas and the officer in charge of housekeeping accused me if causing the problem. Fortunately, this was a one-time occurrence and I confronted the officer and voiced my displeasure with his attitude at the C&A party after our steward said it was a constant problem on our deck of cabins. The point, though, is that it was a one off occurrence. Unfortunately, all ships can have "off' sailings. Our first cruise on Carnival was horrible. So bad, in fact, that we didn't sail with them again for 17 years. Finally, an itinerary peeked our interest, so we have them another try and really enjoyed the cruise and even went on another afterwards. While I am sorry you had a bad experience, please don't think this is the norm. I would also strongly suggest voicing your concerns on the post cruise survey and writing a letter to the corporate office.

On Allure out of FLL, it was attached to my cruise card I received at check-in.

I'm not sure this is true on ships. I once dropped my menu on the floor on Brilliance of the Seas in Europe and the server picked it up and insisted on getting me a new one that was clean, giving me the impression that they sanitize the menu between guests.

@JLMoran I booked it about 36 hours before, do it could have been a last minute deal. But that said, I've also booked a one week rental from MCO to MIA for $100 plus tax. Try Costco Travel if you're a member and also try autoslash.com as they keep repricing the rental up until the day of your rental. I also don't book any prepaid rentals so that I can keep pricing and also book early and then change.

I was referring to Boston Babes comment that NCL was charging $20 a head per day for gratuities. I think it's closer the $14, but the do add 20% to the "free" drink package that they value at $89 per day. Merry Christmas to you, too. Chance of snow San Diego is quite low. ;)

Want this just for the drink packages? They raised the price of the drink packages, which most people get as a booking perk, and raised the gratuities to 20%, which they automatically add to the free perk. At almost $100 a day for the drink package, that makes the gratuity almost $20 per day.

@JLMoran if you drop the car off before 10, you won't have a problem. We dropped the car off at the airport shortly after 9 and shared the shuttle with just one other couple. After 10 until about 1, it becomes a madhouse, so it really just depends on how early you want to get to the port.

I'm not surprised given that NCL has been residing gratuities wire regularly. I suspect the same will be occurring the the percentage charged to the dining and drink packages and onboard at the bars. This is now almost $60 per day for a family of 4. I suspect this could impact the number of families who book and that more will opt to remove or reduce their gratuities once aboard. On a cruise I have next December to New Zealand, the gratuities came to over $400 for my family of three. Fortunately, I rebooked during a sale where they were prepaid. But if I hadn't, this would have amount to 10% of my total cruise fare. And if the daily rate of cruising remains at around $100 or so dollars per night on average, it's not going to be long before passengers revolt as this is adding 15% per day to their vacation expenses. This isn't a commentary on Royal, but the industry in general. The same arguments can be raised with other industries and the associated add on fees that they charge.

From past experience, I rarely rely on hotel shuttles any longer. Uber or Lyft are much more convenient and you can often get more reasonably priced accommodations if you aren't reliant on a shuttle. The last time we were in Fort Lauderdale, we ended up renting a car for our two days precruise even though the hotel had a shuttle. For $20 a day, it gave us a lot of freedom that we were able to have more flexibility dining, explore the Everglades, and even see a concert. We just used the rental car shuttle to get to the port on embarkation day and a cab afterward to the airport, which was about $14.

Depends on the ports. However, many of the Canadian ports can be easily done on your own with a rental car, which I've done twice on Canada/New England cruises. If you're going to Saint John, the Bay of Fundy is worth seeing. We rented a car in the morning and explored during low tide and went into a sea cave. We came back in the afternoon to see the cave underwater. It was amazing to witness the extreme tidal flows. There's also a national park that's worth exploring. In Halifax, we rented a car and went to Peggy's Cove and at lobster at a roadside stand.

Royal has an entirely separate kitchen in which they prepare meals for those with any type of food allergy. They will recommend that you avoid the buffet because of the possibility of cross-contamination, but the Executive Sous Chef will also walk you through the buffet and inform you of all of the ingredients, too. In all honesty, I don't recall seeing anything with peanuts/peanut butter on any of the menus, but I could be wrong. I don't even remember nuts when they had an ice cream sundae bar. Make sure that you complete the special needs form here: https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/allaboutcruising/guestSpecialNeeds.do You'll see a place at the bottom of the form to indicate any dietary restrictions/allergies, so don't be confused with the first part of the form.

I don't have personal experience, but I have traveled across the border with dogs. Here's what the USDA states https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel/by-country/pettravel-mexico but I wonder if Cozumel, being an island, has different requirements like Hawaii does here in the U.S. Carnival Cruises states this is required: Mexican ports require service dogs to have received an ecto-parasite and endo-parasite treatment no more than 15 days prior to arrival to port and this information should be included in the dog’s health certificate. If you have any questions, please consult with your veterinarian.

Hope you had a great cruise! Fixed. Enjoy your upcoming cruise. I've added these sailings to the list. Bummer! :( Enjoy your cruise! You're now on the list. Great to hear! Me, too! Enjoy. Great ship! One of the places I've always wanted to cruise. Agreed! B2B is the way to go. Enjoy!

It's an employee of Royal that is sort of like a TA, but they don't offer any of the service of a TA. They're simply making contact hoping you'll book your next cruise through them.