RobInMN

Not sure how I ended up quoting that old post before, but wow, what a comeback. Not great playing, but just good enough. Iowa going B2B in the National Championship game!

Bad passing. Terrible shot percentage, no offensive rebounds...

Start here:

Symphony. As noted, the Freedom class is essentially just a slightly longer Voyager class. Yes, and Oasis class is much larger, and more passengers, but there's a lot more places (not counting cabins) for those crowds to spread out in. More bars, more food places, more pools, bigger MDR, bigger theater, etc. It will feel no more crowded than a Voyager class ship, possibly even less crowded at times.

Yep. From what I've read, that's not uncommon.

The only time I had a Pending with the others cancelled, it never happened. Finally got the reject email about 9 PM embarkation day.

Not saying anyone else should or could do this, but seemed fitting to reference this video here. Captain Kate (Celebrity Beyond) has a video where the harbor pilot in Port Everglades climbs the ladder pregnant. (3 hours after her baby shower).

Because in your original post, you said: USC is pretty much universally understood to mean "University of Southern California". (which is why I added "Welcome to the BigTen"). Obviously USC lost to UConn, so we would have no idea who would win as they won't play each other this year. Now it seems that you are referring to South Carolina, which is the "University of South Carolina", which arguably could also could go by USC, but if they do, it would have to be a very localized or regional thing. So with that, "expect", no. But I will be rooting for them assuming they beat UConn. I think the odds are saying: SC vs IA in the final with SC winning. They also suggest that SC, IA, or UConn all have a reasonable possible of winning, with NC State being the clear long shot.

That's how it was on Jewel in Amsterdam. In the starboard theater doors. Passport check, new SeaPass Cards, "In Transit" pass, then security podium, scan out of first cruise, into new cruise, and exit via theater port doors. 5 minutes tops.

There's probably a couple main variations, each with some sub variations. And these can vary by ship/port/country. However, since you say Utopia and Port Canaveral, I'd plan on what @smokeybandit said. If you search this board for various threads on this, the US ports appear to be pretty consistently: meet in a common area, get off the ship as a group, do customs, and then you can get back on. In some cases this may be right away, in other cases, you may have to wait for some sort of "all clear" from the ship. Pretty sure the only people that have reported staying on the ship were all in European ports. My only experience was in Amsterdam on Jewel, and we stayed on the ship. But like @Biker19 said, until someone's done it, no way to know for sure.

Yes. The plans only limit the number of concurrent devices that can be used on that plan at the same time. You can switch to any number of other devices by logging off one first, of just log in on another and it will boot one for you. Get the 1 person, 2 devices

Not going to find out this year (btw, Welcome to the BigTen) Looks like it's going to be Paige vs. Caitlin.

funny. Both games were tied at the half. Iowa & LSU 45-45, and UConn & USC 33-33.

How are things where I am? Awesome!

2023. 2018 was a different cruise. 😁

2018, we did the pre-cruise package, and I want to say that there was a couple (or 2?) that met us at the hotel and had just purchased a transfer. I have no idea the price. The Airport to Hotel transfer is $30/person, but a transfer from Prague is like 4 hours, and I think includes tolls. We picked up our ship (AmaMagna) in Vilshofen, not Nuremburg, and included a stop in Regensburg. Not sure if a Nuremburg transfer also goes to Regensburg. Regardless of whether you are using a TA, I'd just call Ama directly and ask.

We originally told our Genie that we wanted to watch the show from our balcony one night and seats another night. After watching from the balcony, we told him not to bother with seats on a later show. He brought us drinks and popcorn both nights. 🙂 Here was out view from Deck 9 (9330)

I couldn't disagree more. I agree with @Host Jazzbeau. However, my parents absolutely love GC. You do have a way to spin GC's negatives to sound like positives though. 1 CM for 25-30 people the whole cruise? No thanks. I prefer smaller groups. Especially when they are broken up as "Active", "Gentle", or just "regular" While 1 CM being some sort of expert on the whole region might work for something like the Bordeaux region of France, That does not work so well on the Danube where you might visit 9 countries. I far prefer having local expert guides than a CM that is expected to be an expert for all stops. "Jack of all trades, master of none". The CM on Ama serves a different purpose than a CM on GC. The Ama CM is more of a coordinator. They coordinate all the tours with all the local expert guides. They figure out how many guides are needed for each tour. to keep the numbers per guide low. Our recent Ama CM always went out on one of the tours, and where ever practical, would bounce around from group to group to audit the guides and be available if anyone needed anything. There were 4 CMs on our GC Christmas Markets cruise from Nuremberg to Vienna. None of them were German. Let alone from Bavaria or Austria. So that is not always the case. No excursion choices? Again, no thanks. I like having options. There is no way you can see "everywhere of interest you need to go" in a way that satisfies everyone. I like "Cathedrals, Castles, Forts, & Ruins". Some people are more into wine tours. or even shopping. Any quality cruise line will give you a way to contact the ship or someone on the ship if there is an emergency (like getting lost). GC's food was "meh". And we are not foodies. Ama's food, while arguably good, tries to be a bit fancy for our preference, but we never went hungry. #1 complaint about GC for us are the cabins. We will not go on GC again by our choice. At least not on a European river cruise, due to the cabins. The dual permanent/fixed fold down single bunks is an absolute no-go for us. We'd even be fine with a double (that's what we get at my in-laws).

Since you live in the US, is there some reason you prefer an east bound over a west bound? is it just time of year? My thoughts on this is that I want to put the long flight at the front of my vacation, not the back end. West bound TA, East bound TP. Doing the WB Allure TA Fall 2025. When I retire, I want to fly to Australia, land travel, then do a couple B2B Australian & New Zealand, then TP back, and end with "only" a 4 hour flight home. Unless you're thinking EB TA, then travel and/or cruise for a few months then WB TA back. In which case, I salute you!

Yes. Mini Fridge. Yes, room steward takes care of your room Yes, you can get ice. I don't recall about other ships, but AmaMagna has an Ice Machine in the cabin hall you can get your own. Yes, as mentioned by others you can bring your own alcohol or other drinks on board.

Yes, they are all booked through Shore Excursions

That's true. The August 2024 is Jewel. She has spent the last few years doing Norway, UK, Iceland, and that season ends earlier. However, RCL appears to not be doing that from 2025 on due to new regulations. The other is the Ultimate World Cruise on Serenade. That one kind fo doesn't count. August 2025 is Brilliance. She appears to be spending her summer doing Greece, Italy, and Turkey. Not sure why she's coming back early, but I do see that she's not coming direct. She's going up to Southampton and taking the northern route, which may be why she's coming back in August. And she might be taking this route because she's a Radiance class. The larger ships seem to go direct. I wouldkKeep your eyes out for the Deployment 2025-2026 thread (July?). The 2024-2025 thread was started in July of '23. I would watch that to see if where the Radiance class ships will be during the summer of 2026. That would be my guess for the best bet for an August west bound TA.

For RCL and Carnival, it's an Argo situation:

Europe to the US will be Fall. The 2025 Allure TA 26-OCT-2025 was released the evening of 13-FEB-2024.

For the I-35W bridge collapse, it took 1 week before they started removing debris and vehicles, and it took almost 3 months to complete demolition and removal to start the new build. And that was for a 1900 ft bridge. The main span of this bridge is 1200 feet, Total length 1.6 mi Granted, the importance on removing the debris wo get freight traffic going was not a concern on the I-35W bridge, but I would not be surprised if its close to that.