ARandomTraveler

If your question about excursions is whether they cancel excursions due to bad weather, in my experience, the answer is usually no. The reason is because rain doesn't last long (at least non-hurricane rain), and will generally pass after 15-30 minutes. I've been on snorkeling excursions (not ship sponsored) where the rain was pouring so heavily that people headed below deck, wondering why we weren't being taken back to shore. But the rain eventually went away and then it was just a normal Caribbean sunshiny day again. I've also gotten off the ship to do a volcano hike and it was pouring rain. I didn't want to go on the hike, but it wasn't canceled, so no refunds. The rain stopped before we got to the hike so it was no problem. I'm sure that if the tour was canceled, you'd get your money back, but I don't think they cancel much due to rain, since the rain doesn't last long.

I'd rather have a scepter (or a sceptre if you're English).

🙄 Well I guess you can win an award for "Best attempts at a clickbait humblebrag" 🏆 💎➕

They don't happen in Aruba because the ship doesn't leave until like 10pm or 11pm. At least on the cruises that leave from Puerto Rico. The day might be shorter on cruises that hit Aruba from Florida.

If you waited just another month you could have taken Voyager out of San Juan and gotten the good ports while you're at it.

I've always booked for the itinerary first, ship second. But my next cruise is for the ship (Symphony). I've never done Oasis class before, so I'm excited to try it. And since the itinerary is Western Caribbean, I may or may not even get off the ship other than to walk around a bit, maybe lay on a beach for an hour or two, but then head back to the ship. I'm putting a deposit down today for a 12 day cruise next year out of Singapore that ends in Japan. It's on the Spectrum of the Seas, which doesn't look like a ship I'll particularly enjoy for 12 days, but I'm doing it for the itinerary.

Ok that's good to know. I thought that was a little odd to have just 1 comedy show.

Never. I have a bunch of 3oz containers filled with shampoo, conditioner, body wash, micellar water, face wash, face lotion, face sunscreen, mouthwash, toothpaste (not sure if the toothpaste counts as a liquid), body lotion, sometimes I have aloe gel, Morrocan hair oil, hair cream, mousse, face primer, foundation makeup, lysol, liquid laundry detergent. I keep all of this in a hanging toiletry bag that has 4 different zippered sections. None of it is contained in a ziploc, and they've never so much as even opened up the toiletry bag. On top of this, I always have a purse or backpack that has small bottles of hand sanitizer, hand lotion, and whatever other random creams and glosses in them. They're floating around in various pockets or makeup bags. They've never looked inside of any of them. I fly a lot. In the last month I've gone through airport security for 5 different flights. Maybe I'm lucky, but I doubt it. My bag has been flagged for random check twice that I can think of in the last several years, and they've never opened up any of the bags that have the liquids in them. They just waive that wand over them that looks for bomb powder and take a quick peek inside the bag to see it's visible contents.

I think Dadong is a specialty restaurant on some cruises that are based out of Asian ports.

You can go into the app and click on the calendar icon. Then at the very bottom of that page, you'll see a note that says "change ship/sail dates." Click that. It'll open up a page that shows your sailings, but then below that, there's a note that says "browse our ships." Click that. The scroll down to "symphony of the seas" and it'll give you a bunch of the sail dates, starting with the one that is currently sailing, and you can then look at the daily planner. I've looked through the next 5 weeks of sailings and noticed there only seems to be 1 comedy show every week, which seems odd.

I was in Europe a couple weeks ago and as an American who goes out a lot and does a lot of things where tipping is common/expected, it was really awkward and uncomfortable for me to go out to eat in Europe and not even be given a receipt on which to give an optional tip. It's so engrained in our culture to tip as a way to say "thanks for serving me and/or doing something for me that I really probably could have done myself and thanks for doing a job that you probably hate etc", that for me to not give one, felt like I was being rude and unappreciative. I left every restaurant with a sense of guilt for about a week. The second week I was like "wow this is really nice to walk into a restaurant and know exactly what something costs and then just pay and leave," lol. I still felt a little unappreciative, but I felt like I was getting such a good deal. To top it off, the service was so much better. Wait and bar staff were quick, helpful, professional etc, and expected nothing in return. What a concept. But alas, I'm back in the US, and back to tipping based on how much guilt I feel for having someone else do a menial sh!tty job while I'm out here living my best life and having money to pay for things, lol. 🙄

This is kind of hilarious 😂

Which airport? I fly through SFO and SJC about 8 times a year and I've never had to remove electronics. In fact the nice thing about those airports is that their technology is so updated that they don't even need your boarding pass, all they need is your ID, so you don't even have to take the phone out for that part of the process either. Maybe you had a new TSA agent. Or maybe other California airports are different than the 2 I mentioned, which is entirely possible. You know which airport totally sucks for Precheck - San Juan!! Doesn't exist and they act like they've never even heard of it (or at least it didn't last time I was there in 2018).

This is how they did Global Entry for us 2 weeks ago. Walked up to the computer, printed out a receipt with our faces on it in about 10 seconds and that was it. Only problems was that we then had to wait 30 minutes for our luggage so we still ended up waiting just like everyone else 😂

To clarify my pricing, I was quoting the price for surf + stream. So $20.99/day for 1 device, and $12/day more for the second device.

You didn't make a mistake, you did everyone a favor because if they did in fact sail solo, they'd get the extra point per night because they were actually booked as a solo (vs having been booked as a double with a fake person who would ultimately "no show). If someone else wants to come, let them pay the cost of whatever the difference is for booking late in the game. If it's more than they want to spend, then they don't go on this trip. Why should you guys have to pay more money just because someone decided after the prices went up that now they want to join you? I would never expect any of my friends (or family) to pay additional costs because of my late addition. Either I pay it or I don't go, period.

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Is 11am the earliest time you can get without being in a suite or having the key?

I've had Precheck for 7 years, it's an absolute must almost everywhere. I've never waited more than 5 minutes to get through security, even at the busiest airports. Not only do you not have to take liquids out of your bag, you don't have to put them in a ziploc either. They do hold you to the 3oz limit, but my toiletry bag, and my purse, are both filled with liquids, never in a ziploc, and I've never been stopped or questioned about it once in 7 years. Shoes stay on, small jackets can stay on, laptops and electronics can stay in your bags, and you don't have to go through the security thing that has X-ray vision through your clothes (I don't think all airports have these, but DEN definitely does). For $85 it lasts 5 years. It's a major time saver and for the most part, you're in line behind seasoned travelers who are quick and know the process, so you're not waiting for the TSA agent to explain every step to everyone in front of you. Most Precheck people know to have their ID and ticket ready, or at some airports, just your ID. They're efficient with putting their bags on the conveyor, they know what they do and don't need to remove from bags and pockets, and we're in-and-out of there in minutes. Of course there's always someone who doesn't know what they're doing (I personally think anyone who ends up needing an instruction from an agent, or anyone who gets sent back for having something in their pockets should lose their Precheck for their next flight, but I digress). All of that just makes the process so fast.

I've done this excursion (during a land vacation, not on a cruise). It sucks!!!! Not much seating on the boat. The snorkeling is terrible (literally nothing to see, unless you bring some bread with you to attract a few fish). They take you to a couple spots. The first one is a ship wreck and the water there is so rough, most people don't even bother to get into the water, and for those who do, about half get out pretty quick. They play the music way too loud, and it attracts people who are not staying at all-inclusive resorts because they want the free open-bar, so you get a lot of rowdy obnoxious people on there (might be different in the morning with cruise passengers instead of land vacationers). Last stop is for swinging on the rope off the side of the boat. If you get sea sick, this is the worst part of the excursion, as the boat is rocking back and forth a lot due to the swinging. If you're not swinging off the rope, you're just sitting there being bored. I can't believe the excursion gets so many good reviews on trip advisor. It's one of the worst snorkel excursions I've been on in 20 years. The equipment they give people is something you can buy at the dollar store, and the cleanliness is questionable (I was really thankful to have brought my own snorkel and goggles). Your experience could be different. In my opinion, there's way better excursions to do on that island. The Aruba Trikes tour is fun. Or the ATV tour through ABC Tours. You can visit the Aruba Aloe factory, or the Butterfly place. You can go to Palm Beach and rent a jet ski or parasail. Bring a floatie and just lay in the water, basking in the sun (Palm Beach is one of the best places to do this because the water is so warm and calm). I've been to the island many times, and spending the day on the Jolly Pirate ship is the last thing I'd recommend. Absolute last.

Depends on the price listed in your cruise planner. When mine is listed at $20.99/day for one device ($146.93), adding the second device is another $84 ($230.93 total).

Cruise time tables dot com Click the option for "port schedules" and then select the one you want to see. And then you'll have to select the date from a calendar. https://www.cruisetimetables.com/#ports

I get that. My point was more about it not being worth the free beer if all of the beer had to be opened at the same time.

If that's the case, it's probably not worth buying the bucket. I'd just buy individually because it sounds like the bucket really only gets you 1 free beer at most.

Exactly. I feel like I spend $100 every time I leave the house, just by doing things like buying coffee and picking up something at the grocery store. What people think is a lot of money is relative to their outlook on so many things; how much money that person is accustomed to regularly spending, how much discretionary money they allow themselves to spend, their age (my 70 year old mother still thinks $40 is a lot of money, so don't even get her started on $100), their income, etc. Everyone views money differently, and while one person may feel $100 isn't a lot, another will feel it's outrageous.