RobInMN

Living in the Twin Cities, this reminds me most of the I-35W bridge collapse. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-35W_Mississippi_River_bridge Collapsed August 1, 2007. They immediately got to work and I think by the next day they had everyone they needed in a room and made a plan using design-build project planning. Awarded a contract Sept 19, 2007, and the new bridge was completed 3 months ahead of schedule Sept 18, 2008. There was a MNDOT manager that was a frequent contributor to a local political pod cast (had been doing so long before the collapse) that gave updates. But since then also gave in-depth accounts of the process in the immediate hours, and days that was really interesting. Unfortunately, with the podcast defunct, I don't think those recordings exist anymore. Obviously, this is a lot larger span with a lot more serious economic impacts, but the immediacy of getting the bridge replaced is very similar.

Living in the Twin Cities, this reminds me most of the I-35W bridge collapse. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-35W_Mississippi_River_bridge Collapsed August 1, 2007. They immediately got to work and I think by the next day they had everyone they needed in a room and made a plan using design-build project planning. Awarded a contract Sept 19, 2007, and the new bridge was completed 3 months ahead of schedule Sept 18, 2008. There was a MNDOT manager that was a frequent contributor to a local political pod cast (had been doing so long before the collapse) that gave updates. But since then also gave in-depth accounts of the process in the immediate hours, and days that was really interesting. Unfortunately, with the podcast defunct, I don't think those recordings exist anymore. Obviously, this is a lot larger span with a lot more serious economic impacts, but the immediacy of getting the bridge replaced is very similar.

I think they should pro-rate it per night. There are many cases where you get screwed, especially doing B2Bs We did a B2B Arctic Circle and Iceland & Ireland. Both cruises were 12 nights. We only got $100 OBC for each cruise. We did 24 nights total, but got much less than a single 14 night. If this was a 14 night plus a 10 night, that would be $350. We also recently booked the Allure TA post-Amp in Oct of 2025. For whatever reason, RCL made this 13 nights instead of the usual 14. So 1 night is the difference of $150 OBC. It's nice that they do anything, but when these things happen, it's hard not to feel a bit screwed. What I would love to see: $12 per night from 3-9 nights, that's pretty close to the current schedule, and would be $48 for 4-night, and $108 for 9-night From 10-16, it could jump to $18 per night, That would make a 10-night $180, a 14-night $252, and a 16-night $288. 16-night is currently the longest non-UWC I could find.

I like the ocean, but hate the beach. 😁 I like scuba and snorkeling, but much prefer to do it from a boat that I got on from a pier/dock, that I got to from a paved walkway. 🤣 And have zero desire to just lay in the sun doing nothing for more than about 5 minutes.

Congrats! Since the cheapest time to book a cruise (at least on RCI) is usually as soon as it's released, and on the rare occasion that it does go down, you can re-price (at least via US bookings), we try to plan and be ready as soon as they are released, so that ends up being a couple years out. We have had 4 vacations for 2024 & 2025 planned out since late 2023 (all though the Fall 2025 Allure TA didn't actually drop until February). One Spring & one Fall cruise. 3 are Royal Caribbean, and 1 is an AmaWaterways river cruise. The Ama one doesn't have the pricing fluctuation of a RC cruise, but it's still booked. Will probably be thinking about Spring 2026 after we get back from our Panama Canal cruise here next month, as some Jan-Apr cruises have already posted.

Same! 2BR Aqua on Allure last September. First Star class. And also had Jay! Jay was awesome! But yes, as others said, just be patient. 2 weeks out. Hope you get Jay!

I would assume that it will be more like the Royal Beach Club on Paradise Island (Nassau) opening next year(?). Last I read, that will be an extra fee. Basically, I think RCI is looking to take an extra cut of the "beach day" excursions to other private beach areas. Here's the RCI site for the PI one: https://royalbeachclubatparadiseisland.com/ And here's a RC Blog article: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/royal-beach-club-paradise-island

My parents love GC. We did a Christmas Markets cruise with them on GC. My wife & I can't stand the cabins. The twin single fold down bunks are a no-go for us. Also, can't say we are big fans of the PD format (there were 4 on this one). Basically there was a maximum of 4 good-sized tour groups, and the PDs did a number of the tours themselves. Very little local tour guide experts. This could have been because this was a Christmas Market cruise. I will say, everyone was very nice. We might consider them for a non-European river cruise, or OAT. We are fans of AmaWaterways. We've done 3 (1 plus the B2B Grand Danube), and have another booked for Spring '25. Ama has 1 Cruise Manager that coordinates all the local tour guides. Unless it's a simple wine tasting or something that the whole ship is doing as a group, every tour is done with a local tour guide. There are multiple excursion options at each port, and they keep the group sizes small by having multiple guides on the more popular options.

Try YouTube and CruiseDeckPlans for deck 6 ocean balconies, but if you look at any side picture of Wonder, the lifeboats are tucked up underneath deck 6.

Jewel out of Amsterdam was similar. You reported to the theater. Went in one side, they gave you your new Seapass card, step up to the security kiosk they brought up from the gangway, scanned you out of the first cruise, into the new cruise, and sent you on your way out the other side.

In September, we stayed at the Hilton Home2Suites/Tru on the seawall. We pre-booked an Uber to take us to the port (4 people). When I called before we arrived, they said they had no shuttle. When we checked in, I think I saw a flyer for a 3rd party shuttle you could call on the front desk, but didn't seem like it was the least bit coordinated by them.

I second that

Note: If you use the app, you can just pick your time and do the rest later. If you use the web site, you must go through everything (except for picture) before you can pick your time. It's 3 pages in. Passport, Onboard charges CC, Emergency contact, etc.

Same for Symphony. I don't believe that Allure has it, at least not in the same spot.

From my experience during college football season, if there are certain games/teams that you want to watch, your best bet is to subscribe to a streaming service like YoutubeTV, I recommend you get a VPN, and you might need to use a Firestick, or possibly a tablet (that lacks GPS). If you try to run YTTV on a phone, it will not run unless you turn on the GPS, and even if using a VPN, it will geoblock you. Since you are specifically interested in March Madness, another option is to subscribe to the right Paramount+ tier. I would still recommend a VPN (just in case). I have no idea if Paramount+ will geoblock you or not.

Doh! Forgot that one!

Think of a JS as an Extra Large Balcony room with a tub and on older ships, like Brilliance, a walk-in closet, and you get 1 extra C&A point per night. (2 instead of 1).

We did the Grand Danube on AmaMagna. This could actually be booked as 2 B2B cruises, with one leg being the Gems of Southeast Europe that you are on. My review of that week is here: @CastleCritic did the one you are on a couple weeks later, the same direction you are going, and his review is here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2934524-amawaterways-gems-of-southeast-europe-430-on-amamagna-with-romania-extension/ We both did the Romania extension. 1) Ama has an on-board Cruise Manager that arranges all the tours. All tours are led by local tour guides. For our Romania extension, our ship CM came with us and we had the same local guide and bus driver from the ship, through Brasov, and to Bucharest. Once we were at that hotel, they left us, but we still had our Ama Cruise Manager. 2) Crew wants Euros. We tipped tour guides and bus drivers in Euros also. This seemed standard. We never got any local currencies. I don't know if it's policy or just a good CM, but on the post-cruise, anywhere we had a bathroom stop that needed paid for, she would give everyone the necessary local currency. 3) I believe sailing? I don't recall ever being docked for any extended period of time where there wasn't an excursion option. Possibly some late afternoon or evenings, but unless you skipped dinner onboard, I don't know that there would be time there either. I could be wrong as this wasn't anything we were concerned with.

Technically, Ama does not want you to bring Curling Irons: https://www.amawaterways.com/connections/top-faqs-for-first-time-river-cruisers "Can I bring my curling iron or hair straightener on board? For safety reasons, the use of your personal curling iron or hair straightener is restricted on board the ship. A limited number of curling irons / hair straighteners are available for you to borrow at reception. However, you may leave your hair dryer at home as there is one in every stateroom." This will be in your Cruise Documents under Travel Information & Tips: "Curling Irons For safety reasons, the use of your personal curling iron is restricted on board the ship. A limited number of curling irons are available at reception." That said, the current is 220v, Type C or E/F (I have some of both and they both seem to work) Make sure any device is dual voltage (110v/220v), then you just need something like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058EG0KC I also have this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YDF8GCT

That doesn't usually stop anyone in this crowd. 😛

On our AmaMagna cruise, there was a very elderly lady who had severe mobility issues. I dont' know if she had any vision issues, but sounds like she was probably on par or possibly worse than what you are describing. I think she may have even used those forearm crutches. Her very patient husband was assisting her anytime I saw them. Most walking tours have a "Gentle" option on AmaWaterways that could be a possibility, especially if she is escorted. If you read my trip review, she's the one that went on a tour in Rousse that she arguably had no business going on as there was not a gentle group. But she absolutely had to see the orthodox churches. To further complicate things, the group she was in was joined with the "Active" group, and even though each sub group had their own tour guide, our tour guide took over both groups and kept us together, leaving the other poor tour guide to help baby sit her. However, that also mean that the "Active" group did not get to do what we were supposed to be able to do while other groups that weren't technically supposed to were allowed to. really pissed me off, and when I told our cruise director/manager, she was livid as she explicitly told him not to do exactly what he did! Anyway, Rant off. If she could do it, I imagine your mom could get along ok.

I'll be boarding for the PC in 3.5 weeks. This is the first I've seen rumor of Samba Grill possibly being removed from Allure during it's "Amplification". It's been pretty much established that Sabor will be going away, likely replaced with Portside BBQ. Edit: I just looked at the cruise planner for our PC cruise, and I can still book Samaba. So I guess it's either sticking around (not necessarily in the same location) or they'll be refunding people that pre-booked it. 🤷‍♂️

Did you see my tip in post #5? 😉

From other threads, it sounds like if you can produce your own evidence (like pictures aboard the ship??) that you might be able to get credit?