jbrinkm

$224 for a full day in an automatic Kia Sorrento (7 passenger) w/ beach package, their insurance and an extra driver + taxes. The only downside is that you have to go to them. Their main rental place is inside the Hyatt resort, go through the main open entry and around to the left to find their counter. We returned the car to Manchebo. They have a lot to the right with spots marked for Top Drive returns and then you go into the building across the street (not in front of the parking but across the street you drove in on) and leave the keys. We took the bus round trip to get the car and get back for $5pp. They were very professional and the car was in good shape. The beach package had nice quality chairs and a FULL sized cooler (I wasn't expecting that and we had trouble fitting it with our 6 people filling up seats). We drove from the Hyatt to Hadicurari Pier where we found free parking, did our drive, drove back, and had lunch at Willem's Dutch Pancake House just a few blocks away. My parents ended up staying at the Hyatt for the beach, casino and restaurant while we drove down to our dive. Then we came back for them and actually returned the beach package early so we could fit all of us in the car. Once we picked up my parents, we drove to the Butterfly Garden, then dropped my son off back to the cruise ship because he wasn't feeling well (very, very hot at the Butterfly Garden), drove to the Donkey Sanctuary, dropped our daughter and my parents back off at the cruise ship (we left them at the Citgo across the street which seems to be a popular place for small van tours to drop people), got gas, returned car and took bus back. It seemed like we didn't use much gas from the gauge but we filled it at the downtown Citgo - I think it was more expensive, we paid $7 to bring it back to actually full. You have to pay inside, at least there - we couldn't put the card into the gas pump.

I'll have my Top Drive experience on March 27 and I'll try to remember to report back in early April if not before.

We're using Happy Divers - recommended on here by Harris in the scuba section. We just finished our PADI cert in October so it will be our first "real" dive. I don't know where we'll go - we're just trusting Jeffrey (Happy Divers) to guide us. Thanks for the recommendation of MapsMe!

This is awesome, thank you so much! We might end up being able to do a bunch of the places, depending on when we get back from our dive. I booked specialty dining for that one night, instead of trying to rush back for our early dining in the MDR, so we'd have a few extra hours that evening.

My jet ski excursion was also just cancelled for our stop in two weeks. I've also seen reports that kayaks were cancelled.

This may have JUST changed - I'm seeing several reports of people being able to book earlier ahead now. @J80crew It is strange that you cannot see it on the website planner. The app glitches a lot - are you definitely looking at your own sailing? (I say that because sometimes I flip over to an earlier sailing of my ship to check things out and forget the next time I come back.) Maybe sign out/sign back in, or clear cache or uninstall/reinstall. I don't know if any of that will help, especially if your planner on the website is still not letting you reserve. You may need to call Royal.

AND, we used this benefit two years ago. My kids just shared one card to play the $50 worth since the arcades weren't great and then we had the credit before we disembarked.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/crown-and-anchor-society-benefit-grid.pdf ETA: scroll down to the bottom of the first page

Part of the decision depends on your kid. If he is really social and likes to do a bunch of adventure-type activities, he would enjoy Royal -Symphony- far more (zip line, rock climbing, flow rider, laser tag, water slides, ice skating, sports court, etc.). If he likes to read, watch the water, and do more chill activities, he might be ok on Celebrity. Royal also has "Hyperlink" activities which are specifically geared towards 18-25 year olds where he could meet others. As far as cost - you could check with a (good/reputable) TA to see if they have any group rates still available that might save you a little bit.

There is a youth deal if they are C&A members - if $50 is spent on one card, $25 is credited back to the account on the last day. So if you end up on a ship with a good arcade and want to allow them some play time, that deal is better than the 20% off.

We saw the $23.99/day (plus 18% grat) also during Black Friday sale for our 8 night Symphony sailing. After that - I also saw one short time period (1 days or a few, can't remember) where it was $27.99, the normal "sale" has been $29.99, and I'm also starting to see more $32.99 and $33.99 as we get closer to the sailing.

If you are linked with another party, you can sometimes see the GTY room assignment if you (mock or real) book specialty dining on the app. I discovered my parents' room number this way, 5 months before our cruise.

Yes: I thought it might give OP more information about who is "holding" her reservation - the TA or Royal. If OP is able to see information there, something is messed up with the TA.

There is a spot to "make a payment" on the main Royal website, down at the bottom in the right hand column (small print). If you click there, do you see anything? I get a message that I can't do anything because my reservation is held by my TA so info needs to come through her. But if Royal is treating this as a direct reservation, which seems strange to me, then you might check that spot to see what it tells you?

Yes, dogs can be happy in a variety of living situations. We raise Seeing Eye puppies and have seen young dogs raised in many different types of housing, all very joyful and well adjusted.

Well, moot now that they've seen her, but I have seen pics of her off of the ship (maybe just at Coco Cay though, which wouldn't have stray dogs, now that I think more about it...)

She's about 8 months - maybe getting her "lady surgery"?

I hate that they keep advertising 5:30pm and then switching it to 5:00pm once you are on board.

Where in the app will it appear? In the daily schedule, under entertainment, etc.?

Yes, as @delmom18 and @NRWPA said, the attendant has a special key to lock and unlock the connecting door and they are the only ones who can do it. Also, the interior door only swings one direction. We were on what we considered the "wrong" side of the door the last time we had a connecting room with our kids - the door went into their room so they could have manually blocked it from opening, but we could not. Perhaps a large door stop or some other gadget could help fake lock the door from the side it swings in to.

We enjoyed Allure immensely the first time we were on her two years ago. It was our first time on an Oasis class ship and they are impressive. (We didn't enjoy her as much last year, our second time on her, but that is a different story). The aqua show was fantastic and many people like Mamma Mia as the Broadway production. All of the staff were fantastic. Our room felt a little dated and we had some mold in our shower. It was a rounded door so they put a little extra bit of wall there and moisture got trapped in between, causing the mold:

If you go the suite route, you wouldn't need this, but in the planner, there are special occasion gifts that you can purchase and the room will be decorated when you arrive plus cake, choc strawberries, etc.

Looking for feedback on a number of places in Aruba to try to narrow down our sightseeing. We're doing diving & beach (different members of our party) in the morning and then we have a rental car for the rest of the day for non-beach/non-water places on the island. We do love interacting with animals - but I just don't think we want to do the animal garden + the ostrich farm + the donkey sanctuary + the butterfly garden. I'd love feedback on any of the possible stops to help us narrow down what to do. -If you went, did you feel that the time and admission cost was worth it? -Which would you rank over others, if you have been to more than one of these? i.e. Philip's is better than Ostrich farm -How many of these do you think we could fit into one afternoon? (we are not going south to Baby Beach or Arikok for a variety of reasons - we've already narrowed our options down to this list, thank you!) Butterfly Farm ($19/$16) California Lighthouse ($5) Alto Vista (free) Philip’s Animal Garden ($10) Ostrich farm ($15) Natural bridge (free) Donkey Sanctuary (donation) Aloe factory (free)

Here is more info: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g147247-i144-k7064019-Snorkeling_From_Shore-Aruba.html

It can be a few minutes after midnight so just keep checking if it doesn't open right away. My latest check-in opened at 12:07am.