Mary loves to travel

I had the same trouble with this port. In the end, we did a ship's excursion "Ryvarden Lighthouse Walk" and it was an excellent day! Really beautiful scenery during the hike, plus with the 30 minute drive out to the starting point for the hike. Mary

@John Bull Thank you so much! With your link it’s clear they are open for cruise passengers on Saturdays. I somehow wasn’t finding that info starting from the states. How lucky are all of us to have your help! Mary

@John Bull I've months ago reserved a Hertz car, but it's for a Saturday in June. My understanding is that the Hertz location, West Quay Industrial Estate, on West Quay Road is somehow open for cruise passengers on Saturday & Sunday, but closed to anyone else. I'm still a bit nervous about how to pick up the car.... don't want to get off our cruise ship and find the agency locked up & us with no car. Any advice? Thanks, Mary

We're in pretty much the same situation -- have GeoBlue Trekker now, wondering if also getting MedJet would be wise.

How do you compare MedJet with GeoBlue?

Correct. Now the similar plan is 'G'. Only difference is that Medigap plans are no longer allowed to cover the roughly $200 deductible -- that's the only difference between the older plan F and the newer plan G. Mary

@PurpleTraveller, we (mostly) followed your excellent Trondheim day plan (from your 2019 trip report) and had a lovely day! Thanks so much for that detailed report. Best, Mary (& Peter)

Yes, that changed in the app last week for me. 😊

My guess is that with the proliferation of smart phones, so many people just take their own photos. As far as reviewing professional photos on the in-room tv, remember they're viewable on the Medallion app, and can likely be purchased there, too. I wonder when the contract with the photo studio is up for renewal? Likely the current contract commits a certain amount of space for the duration of the contract.

Thanks for updating us. You should of course have received a detailed explanation of the refund. Did you travel agent insist on talking to a supervisor? It took me almost a full 6 months to get a refund of about $600. Mine was a pretty straightforward calculation: we'd prepaid for excursions that were later cancelled (some by Princess; some by us). We had the package, so not much spending onboard to offset the credits from the cancelled excursions. I spent countless hours on the phone, etc, etc Finally got someone who dug into it, got the refund "unstuck", and I had a check 2 weeks later. She said this shouldn't have happened, and she couldn't explain why. My take is they're overwhelmed in that department, and still have quite a bit of new(er) staff being trained. Mary

This! We first ran into this phenomena 20 years ago when a favorite resort in Cabo went all-inclusive. I thought, "oh, how great, so fun and easy!" Hah! Suddenly, no more circulating servers by the pool taking drink orders. Want a drink? Walk over to the bar. Makes business sense. With the package, why have more bars, as they're no longer a profit center. Mary

I agree. I've stopped reading that thread, just for that reason.

With the move to more & more people choosing the all-inclusive beverage packages, Vines becomes much less of a profit center. That line of thinking actually supports Vines being replaced by an additional fee casual restaurant, such as the Salty Dog Gastropub. It will be interesting to see how this turns out. Mary

Thanks for sharing. Clearly not everyone's cup of tea 😂 But, I would have overlooked this, and I like to learn about new/different itineraries. Mary

When I was looking at the most recent cruise we booked (1-2 weeks ago), I selected a cabin, etc. Last step offered the choice of using our FCD , use a credit card for the deposit, or do a Hold. We did the courtesy Hold, then the next day decided to move forward. At this point, using the FCD was no longer offered as an option. I used Live Chat, and they were able to use our FCDs. That took only a few minutes. No idea why we couldn’t do that ourselves. Mary

In my experience, the courtesy hold lasts 3-5 days.

Sure. But, they've had Johnny Rockets for decades, so someone enjoys it & is willing to pay the surcharge. Not everyone is interested in every extra charge item, of course (we're not fans of the casino). My point is that it's not unheard of in the industry to have an upcharge casual dining restaurant.

Well, what's the current cover charge for Johnny Rockets on RCCL?

I'm happy 🙂

ok, so still a specialty restaurant. That explains why they're still taking reservations for Bistro Sur la Mer in the app 🙂

@LACruiser88 thanks for posting this! b/c of you, we were able to snag a nice mini yesterday afternoon. By this morning, half again were gone; a few hours later, and minis are only on Guarantee. Whew! Mary

Ah, so now we've heard: Crooners, a pub-style restaurant, and a seafood restaurant. 🙂

It's a gamble. Booking early, better chance to get the cabin one wants. Watch for price drops, often one can reprice. After final payment? Well, compared to the price you paid, the new price may be higher, lower, or the same. Oh, and the cabin might be in a great location, or one you really won't enjoy. I find it hard to predict which way it will go. anybody have a better crystal ball?

This looks like a nice setup, but more noise than I can take before I’ve had my coffee 😊

I guess we'll know when the first people on after the dry dock report back. At least they're not still selling coffee cards 😄