WrittenOnYourHeart

Did you ask and were told no? Or did you not ask period? Because everything I've seen here and other places say you have to ask - it is not automatically in the cabin.

I'll echo what other people have said - when you book Guarantee you are giving the cruise line the right to assign you to that category OR better. At least with Celebrity people have reported finding a different cabin in their assigned category that is available and switch to it. In this case it sounds like you booked the general "Veranda Guarantee" meaning you are telling them you will take ANY cabin in the larger super category Veranda. It's a risk you take that they will put you in the lowest category of veranda - and that likely happens way more than you know as most people are only going to post about the random great assignments. If you know you're not going to be happy with the lowest category in a general type, don't book Guarantee. (I'll also just add that "upgraded cabins" are in the eye of the beholder. I did a specific category guarantee on Disney once (as in a 8B GTY rather than a general OGT - meaning I'd be put in a 8B or higher whereas OGT would mean any ocean view cabin or possibly higher into a veranda). I personally LOVE the 8B stateroom as it is high, on the forward or aft ends of the ship, and has a super large porthole. Well, they assigned me a 4E - which most people would have been over the moon to get as it's a veranda stateroom with an extended veranda. But I'd never pick that category as it's on Deck 5 and midship. Disney, unlike X, doesn't let you call and ask for a change when you're assigned your Guarantee cabin - even within the same category, not that any of those cabins would have been better. Most people thought I was crazy to be disappointed in it, but it's just not where I like to be on the ship. Still, I made the best of it - and learned my lesson about guarantees on cruise ships.)

No clue - my first Bermuda cruise is July. I'd imagine once docked you can come and go as you wish. At least that's how it was when I was on a RCCL ship docked overnight in Venice - once cleared we could come and go at will until all aboard time.

That is what I was going to say, Why stress yourself out on the first day? Just schedule it for day 2.

Much like how crew members are hesitant to confront guests with bad behavior, teachers are not going to tell the parent that they have issues because they know the parent will run to admin to complain about the teacher.

I NEVER said they should take vacations during non-vacation times. Quite the contrary, so I'm not sure why you quoted me. I'm a teacher and stuck with those times as well, so I totally get that they are more expensive - which is usually the reason people give to try and justify pulling kids out of school. But I don't agree with pulling them out. Our vacations when I was growing up were ALWAYS during our school breaks. We were not rich by any means, but we would have at least one nice vacation a year during our breaks. There was only one time when we missed any days for vacation and that was the one time we planned a Spring Break trip but because of snow days the school board cut our break short. They realized, however, that a lot of people had probably booked non-refundable vacations and so with presentation of those receipts (which had to be dated before the announcement), we were excused from the days that were in session. I think it was 3 days that we missed. Even with that, my parents didn't dare go to our teachers and ask for work in advance.

Speaking as a teacher, this is 100% as it should be. The request (really demand) for work in advance so their child can go on vacation puts a lot more extra work on teachers who are already drowning in paperwork and other things administration requires. Sometimes just getting basic homework packets which are sent home when everyone is on vacation is challenging enough within school hours.

Didn't ever load for me, and I let them know about it on the survey I got afterwards.

Doesn't the alcohol cook off in the baking? That said, even if it doesn't, one dessert with alcohol as a child does not an alcoholic make. When my family went on a cruise when I was 11 (SS Emerald Seas), I had a "Creme de Menthe Sundae" for dessert one night with my parents' blessing. I ordered it and our server checked with my parents. NONE of us realized (and he didn't explain) that it had nothing to do with Andes mints - which is what I thought it was as that was the only thing I'd ever seen Creme de Menthe on. It was a scoop of vanilla ice cream swimming in Creme de Menthe. Which had clearly not baked off since it was cold. Other than not feeling the motion of the ship on what was the roughest night, I had no ill effects and have never drunk to excess in my life. edit: Apparently no, it does not totally cook off, but it is likely less than a tablespoon spread across several souffles.

Absolutely this. To "escalate this" just because you could not be guaranteed what you desire is not fair to the maitre d' since by its very nature Select Dining is NOT reserved tables. It's too late for this cruise, and I know ego and such makes people not want to, but look into hearing aids. My dad resisted them for the longest time but finally went to get some and it has been life changing - he can converse with people when out to eat without all the "What?" and such . They make them so tiny now people would really have to be staring and know what to look for to even know someone is wearing them.

Then better to teach her that if she gets separated to go to Guest Services or any uniformed crew member for assistance. And I agree with those who say better to have at least a basic smartphone with the app. Walkie Talkies are annoying to everyone around you IF they work on a ship.

Are there no debarkation day excursions? I know when I was on HAL in and out of Seattle, they had a couple of excursions we could purchase that took our luggage to the airport while we did sightseeing for a good portion of the day and then ended at the airport where we got our luggage (if we didn't have checked which I almost never do).

Ah. Well, they could always see if there are Aqua people who would be willing to eat in Luminae instead since people who actually booked to eat in there don't seem to want to. Even things out. Of course then commoners would be breathing the elite Retreat air...

Uh... PoRt? The third letter is an R. So the first premise is wrong. But Left and Port do only have 4 letters.

Wouldn't that result in ticked off AQUA guests since the Retreat guests going to Blu would be clogging it up?

Ok...so why is the 10 year old wandering around the ship by herself?

Except that on the Dream Class the forward elevators empty into the adult area so families will often walk through it rather than on their deck go to the midship elevators. Most walk through quickly but every once in a while you get some dawdlers. I haven't been on the Wish yet (going in August) but one thing in advance that I like is that the adult area is in the aft and you have to WANT to get there. No accidentally wandering through.

Can't really help with table location, but I'm 99% sure that whatever you put is a request only. They can't make all the tables next to the window or next to the screens. They'll do their best, but it's not a guarantee. (I'm frankly shocked they are offering that opportunity since there is no way to guarantee it in advance.)

While extra cash is certainly appreciated, the absolute best thing you can do is mention them by name on your comment card or in a follow-up email (or if someone not in a normally tipped position such as the crew who are always cleaning the bathrooms, stair rails, etc. you can go to Guest Services and get a card then). Those are noted, recognized, and saved and can go a long way towards getting a crew member a promotion and/or a raise which will ultimately help them more in the long run than a little extra cash in the moment.

You go into your cruise with as much as possible paid so you don't have a huge bill when you get home.

Use the restroom before you leave home and when you get to the port? 2 hours is not that long.

Just buy yourself some onboard credit to cover drinks. That's what I do.

It was May, but there were definitely plenty of options on the menu - and my servers were willing to work with me. Desserts are always hit or miss, but I'm perfectly fine with a Mickey Bar so I don't stress about it that much. I have seen on sites that have menus where the Wish has specific allergy menus (as well as marking the regular one for gluten-free items) which will make things easier - and seemed to maybe have some things not on the main one (but not positive on that). Hopefully that will spread to the other ships as well. If for no other reason than having those seems like you may not have to pre-order the night before - I can add more after August, but that would be a big plus. You do still need to be proactive - let them know ahead of time so that they can be sure to have enough gf bread ordered. I've been on a cruise (RCCL, not Disney) where they had a lot more people eating gluten-free than had reported in advance to the point that even the 10% over that they had ordered did not cover things and they had to re-provision mid-cruise in Venice (where luckily they had a provisioning agent as they had some ships embarking there) because they were running out. And also be proactive with your servers. If your specific server is not being helpful, ask for the head server and/or dining room manager.

Exactly! The only way to guarantee they can spend time with their friends on another ship (and line?) is to change their cruise to that ship (and line?).

I'm still confused how X allowing the OP to change cruises deals with their friends being on another ship. Are the friends on another X ship that the OP now wants to change to? Why did they not book on the ship with the friends in the first place? Are the friends on another line? How does the OP changing to another X cruise help the meet up matter? (And again, why did they just not book with friends to begin with?)