DocLC

These are the way to go. I use to laminate them and also tried the packaging tape methods, but these holder hold up the best and are easier than the other two alternatives.

For those of you planning European cruises with Royal this summer, Virgin-Atlantic and the other partner airlines with Delta have drastically cut their fares. Ours from San Diego to Heathrow dropped by about 35%, saving us $1500 ($500 x3). I'm not sure how long the sale will last, but I wanted everyone to know.

I have them and agree that they're great. Much better than using other methods.

I think 90 minutes is a safe estimate. When dining with just my wife, we're sometimes out in roughly an hour, but it really comes down to the efficiency of your wait staff and how much you order, what you order (e.g., specialty coffee with dessert), etc. I have found that open dining usually runs faster, but again it depends on your service team. If you're at a big table, add an addition 30-60 minutes especially if you like your table mates as the conversation slows things down.

Thanks. I figured B&W would be okay, but wanted to ask for sure as other lines are more clear about the issue by including a statement in the directions on how to fold and staple the luggage tag. And while I know I can get them at the port, I like having them tagged in advance so that I can dump and go.

Only once have I experienced anything organically sourced on a cruise and that was aboard Disney at Palo. The steaks they had that week were organic, grass fed beef. I think it was just by chance, though, and not planned. Best chance would be on a new ship in the future if they happen to create a specialty restaurant that caters to organic foods. While it is easy to eat healthy onboard if one chooses, cruise lines are price sensitive with their ingredients to manage overall costs.

Here's what I've gathered: Not on ships with a dedicated Starbucks in addition to Cafe Latitudes. If Starbucks is served at Cafe Latitudes and is the only coffee bar on the ship (e.g., Radiance class), then it's included.

Is there any need to print the luggage tags out in color? I haven't on other cruise lines, but wanted to make sure black and white tags were sufficient.

I also haven't sailed on RCI since my son (7) was born, but my experience is similar to that of Angela on all of the other lines we've sailed. They're pretty strict on keeping the age groups separated except for so e shared or late night activities. Disney use to be this way, too. One thing that's very different from DCL is the hours of the clubs. They close earlier and on most lines close at lunch and around dinner unless it's a port day. This has been my experience on HAL, Carnival, and Celebrity with Celebrity offering an option of a paid lunchtime care.

There is an enclosed pool area; however, the majority of the top decks are open and I'd suspect it will be cold the first day out and the last day back. It's very easy to stay in on these days if you desire and all of the venues besides the pool deck (e.g., pools with the exception of the solarium pool, mini golf, rock climbing wall) are indoors. There's also a lot of glass, so it's easy to find a spot onboard to watch the sea from indoors if it's cold.

It's amazing how many times I see Seaview Cafe mentioned across the internet. The one thing that most cruise lines lack is a good late night dining venue. Once I started traveling with my son, a late night venue was need as he was always hungry after getting picked up from the clubs and room service jus took too long. The 24 cafe on NCL is great and I wish the other lines offered something similar across their fleets.

I agree with Matt. I've received similar emails from other cruise lines suggesting that there'd be a delay and there wasn't one. RCI is just trying to cover their bases in case there is an actual, although unlikely, delay.

Great question and great answers. Love the pictures.

I've had some memorable wait staff in the past, but it never occurred to me to get a picture with them in our 20 cruises.

I forgot to address the second part of your post. I typically use a TA and book about 9 months out. The exception was with the Liberty of the Seas for January 2016 typically, you get a better price for booking early. Plus, if the price drops before finally payment you can get an adjustment. For our July 2015 cruise, the price for the cabin has increased $3200 since booking about two months ago largely because it's an unusual itinerary which I think is increasing demand. We tried to book a similar cruise in Japan almost a year out, but were put on a wait list and cancelled when the only available cabin was a suite at twice the price we were willing to pay. While you do lose some control with a TA booking, you don't pay any more for the cruise and it's nice to have an advocate should something go wrong.

It sounds like a reasonable price for four to me. For what it's worth, I still find cruise vacations to be an extremely good value. We've done a number of land-based vacations and they always come to be more expensive than our cruises. For example, we just budgeted for a multi-state trip and when all expenses were calculated, the 10 day trip would have cost us over $5000 without food. That's the same price as a 12 night Norwegian Fjords cruise on RCI. Of course, there's the added airfare costs to consider, but for the base price the cruise was the better value and option for us. We often book Disneyworld and cruise combinations as well and the shorter Disney trip at the value resorts always costs more than our longer cruises. And again, the food is included on the cruise. I know it's a bit apples to oranges, but I'm convinced that cruising is the best value for my family.

Great review and pictures.

It's doable. We went from Cape Canaveral to Miami the night before our cruise. It took us about 3.5 hours or so on a Friday evening. I'd strongly recommend paying for the toll pass with your rental company so that you can get through the toll booths faster and make sure to pick a company that is located on site at the airport.

I actually like Royal's straight percentage off as I have more freedom to choose the restaraunts I want to dine in each night. NCL offers a great product, especially for suites, although I felt that their main dining lagged behind the other lines in terms of quality and selection. Having a 24 hour cafe, though, was great.

I agree with both WhiteSoxFan and Michelle. For several years, we stopped using TAs because of some less than stellar recommendations and poor service. However, when you find a good one, they're invaluable especially as they come to know your likes, dislikes, etc. For example, we were interested in a European land/bus tour. After doing it herself, our TA recommended against it knowing that it would not provide the experience we were looking for. Am I sometimes frustrated having to hand control over to someone else? Of course, but in the end the time savings are worth it.

It seems that the argument regarding using a TA or not largely depends on the experience one has had with their TA. While I receive little value in terms of perks or price, I like the fact that my TA will go to bat for me, saving me time since I don't have to do it myself. And when RCI had to rebook my cruise to provide me with a lower rate, my TA offered to rebook our excursions on her time so that I wouldn't have to do it. Of course, when things go wrong, a TA can be invaluable. I once booked a family vacation over a weekend that I was suppose to be speaking at a conference. When I went to rebook, the TA was able to make the changes to our reservations and minimized any fees and penalties. We were even able to get the airfare change without a fee and ended up saving almost $800 in the end. There are times when I don't use a TA as I do like having direct control; however, I'm finding that having one is invaluable as my life continues to get busier and busier.

I wouldn't be too concerned. I'm sure the ship was thoroughly disinfected prior to boarding as it's in RCI's interest to do so. I go onto every cruise with the assumption that there is a norovirus risk. As such, practice regular, thorough hand washing. Limit exposure to shared surfaces (e.g., stair rails and elevator buttons) and wash your hands both before and after serving yourself at the buffet just in case the serving utensils have been contaminated by another passenger. I even as one fellow passenger using food handler's gloves when using the utensils at the buffet, presumably to be extra cautious. In 20 cruises and my son's (7) 11 cruises, we've never had a problem.

Makes sense to me. Keep in mind that it was reported that the nurse contacted the CDC regarding her fever and that she was not discouraged from boarding her flight. Hopefully, those issues have been resolved.

I wasn't suggesting that they were equivalent nor did I suggest anything of the sort. I was simply stating my experience during another international health crisis. Obviously, if you're this concerned, I'd recommend calling the cruise line directly, sending a letter to the president of RCI, and not cruising until you get a satisfactory answer. For what it's worth, I heard that a hospital worker in Texas that may have been exposed to Ebola did board a Carnival ship. When it was discovered, he was quarantined to his room. I also heard today that passengers will be denied boarding if from regions where there is an outbreak if it's been lest than 21 days since their departure.

When I was on an Alaska cruise during the SARS epidemic, the cruise lines changed the health screening forms and had ship's doctors standing by to give medical screenings if necessary. They were also offering no penalty refunds to encourage compliance. At this point, I think it is way too early to be worrying about this and I believe most of what will be going on will be behind the scenes.