pmallen

I wouldn't say it's a ripoff, but you do have to decide if it has value for you. We booked for our entire 14-day Panama Canal trip and it was incredibly worth it to us. You reserve specific loungers, not just the right to be there. Knowing there were loungers there for us all day, every day for a cruise with sunny weather was just priceless.

I can never remember: once into your account, where do you find any offers?

Caribe is second from the bottom.

Safe travels, and have a wonderful cruise.

"Mini-Suite" and "Suite" have pretty much the same physical definitions as they do in shore based hotels. A mini has a bit more seating area, and a full suite is 2 rooms. Of course, the amenities are significantly different. Personally, I don't think the Reserve amenities are worth a whole lot, but your mileage may vary.

On our recent trip, we ate at 8, and were generally able to make shows at 9:30, though seat selection could be an issue. I suspect the later you eat, the less problem with dinner taking too long.

So, I guess the question is why would they enter my buy in? Amd who's keeping track of bets? They only seem to have 1-2 pit bosses for all table games, and they don't appear to be watching actual play much.

On our recent cruise on the Emerald, it took a couple cycles to dry. Your mileage may vary.

Actually, on the Emerald, the dealer had a console they used to enter your buy in, and track your time played. What I'm wondering is whether anyone has a feel for x buy in for y hours equals z points.

How does table game play convert to points?

Unclear. Near as I can tell, if the handle is tilted just so, neither open nor closed, if the door slams shut it must be able to close.

Also, if you manage to lock yourselves out on your balcony and use the Crew Chat on the Medallion app to ask for help, it's your steward who will let you back in. And he'll also express amazement that you managed to lock yourselves out in the first place. Or, so I'm told.

There's also an electronic poker table with tournaments on sea days, and cash games in the evenings. Rake is 12.5%, don't recall the max.

And tee time is also different. Did you actually not get the point I was making? 🙂

We had the Sanctuary on our recent full transit. In the morning when we entered we got up early and went on top of the bridge. Then, in the afternoon when the sun was hot, we used the Sanctuary. Benefit of the Sanctuary is shade and a guaranteed spot. Also, no need to get up at 0-dark-30. On Canal day, the Sanctuary opened at 6:30am.

Tea is also served every day in the Sanctuary.

I didn't keep our drink menus, most most were in the $11-12 range, with a few at $15. A handful were in the $18+ range, mostly single malts and select bourbons.

Don't know if we needed to, but I did make our reservations for SD (2 Crown Grill, 1 Sabatini's) well in advance. That said, we ate around 8pm all three.times. Crown Grill was busy late, Sabatini's was not. Also, we ended up wanting to swap out the second Crown Grill for another Sabatini's. The app said there were no reservations, but I went up to the restaurant one afternoon, amd they accommodated us no problem.

Don't know if we needed to, but I did make our reservations for SD (2 Crown Grill, 1 Sabatini's) well in advance. That said, we ate around 8pm all three.times. Crown Grill was busy late, Sabatini's was not. Also, we ended up wanting to swap out the second Crown Grill for another Sabatini's. The app said there were no reservations, but I went up to the restaurant one afternoon, amd they accommodated us no problem.

Looks like Gary Bembridge has tackled a similar topic. I like his list:

FWIW, we uploaded pics to the app ahead of time, but they still needed to see them at the terminal.

How about departure ports in the US? Back in the day, it seems like it was pretty much LA for Mexico, Ft. Lauderdale for the Caribbean, maybe NY for New England, and that was pretty much it. Now you've got lots of choices with lots of cruise lengths available.

On the Emerald 2 weeks ago.

On our recent Emerald cruise, they also did tea everyday, as in every single day, in the Sanctuary. Similarly, you could only take tea amd scones, but instead if going somewhere and waiting through everything else, you're just there . . . "Sanctuarying."

Have a wonderful cruise!