Mum2Mercury

As a fellow teacher, I also think I could predict with pretty good accuracy which of my students would listen and follow directions -- and which ones would run wildly on their own in an emergency, to their detriment and that of others.

Thanks for the clarification!

Yes, but the staff fears complaints -- fair or unfair -- and with good reason. Totally agree -- if I arrive at the pool and find you're sitting in my favorite chair, I have NO PROBLEM with you. But I do have a problem -- and will always have a problem -- with people claiming resources they aren't using /denying resources to others.

On our recent cruise I was out about 7:00 am on our first At-Sea Day. I got an excellent chair -- but within 30 minutes all the prime chairs (in the Solarium shade) were claimed, and I was one of two people actually using the chairs. You're saying you should be able to leave a chair un-used /reserved for an hour? No. And this sounds unnecessarily difficult. Good point. Pay all that money to get the worst chairs? No thanks. Agree that an unenforced policy is useless -- that's what Royal has now. Also agree that the staff should have some back-up /feel that they can actually enforce the policy without negative consequences from the wrong-doers. I do the same thing and for the same reason -- just "exchange" rather than return. It also means you're not putting your number in /out of the system multiple times a day, which greatly lessens the opportunity for a mistake on your account.

We've sailed out of Miami twice, and both times we stayed in Fort Lauderdale. It's always been a matter of price, though two stays doesn't prove a pattern. Driving into Miami "day of" is nothing -- as someone else said, it's about 45 minutes.

Royal puts forth zero effort to enforce their don't-reserve-chairs policy. But you're right that a policy isn't a policy unless it's enforced. This wouldn't be hard to enforce -- and they didn't make this new rule for no reason. I hope they do enforce it.

Carnival has started a new policy that's actually supposed to address the chair hog problem. Simple: Staff members will place a note with the time on a chair. After 40 minutes, the items on the chair will be removed: https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-cruise-line-makes-a-move-thats-firm-with-guests/84384 It's a great step. I'd love to see Royal do something similar.

For our upcoming Cozumel cruise stop, we're planning to go to Chankanaab Park. I'd like to know some details -- any information you can provide would be appreciated! We are two adults, and we plan to take a taxi /go on our own -- no official excursion. - Is $21 /person a current ticket price? - My husband found an envelope of pesos from a previous trip -- isn't it nice when that happens? Will the taxi accept pesos instead of American dollars, which are advertised? Will Chankanaab accept pesos for tickets? I know they accept pesos for food inside the park -- that's on the menus. - Do they have ample chairs in the shade? What about hammocks? - We're interested in a nice beach day -- not the dolphin or manatee experiences. Maybe snorkeling. Which of the activities are worthwhile? - How are the food and drinks? The prices look good. - How are the massages? Should we reserve ahead of time? - Can we assume taxis will be waiting outside when we're ready to leave? Thanks!

What concerns me is that we're planning JUST to do the cave tubing -- so I surely don't want to ride all the way out there and be told I can't do the ONE activity! Thanks for your information. I'm still planning to go, but I'm going to question our driver carefully before we go: "What's the river like today? It's not too high? For sure we can tube?"

Another vote for Sketchers -- they're also an excellent value. I've just retired from teaching, and standing on a tile floor really "takes it out of" your feet and knees. I probably wore more Sketchers than anything else over the years. If I had to pick a single pair of favorites, it'd probably be my Sketchers boat shoes -- cute with shorts or jeans and very lightweight. Vans are another good tennis shoe choice, and my solid whites are cute with a tee-shirt dress. If you want solid, walking sandals, you can't do better than Chacos (though Tevas are good too), and they have amazing arch support -- even good in and out of water. I have Plantar Fasciitis (a common foot ailment and definitely made worse by the above-mentioned standing on hard tile floors for 30 years), and I had custom inserts made by a Podiatrist. If you have ANY foot problems, please, please go to a doctor and get the good stuff made -- wow, does it make a difference! I messed around with all sorts of drugstore inserts, which never really worked. The custom inserts cost one visit to a specialist doctor (insurance covered all but the co-pay), and I've been using them for almost a decade. They slip into tennis shoes, loafers, and some other shoes. I had to get rid of lots of cute sandals -- fortunately I have two daughters with the same sized feet, and my loss was their gain!

This is such a simple choice -- I just don't see why everyone doesn't just place the open suitcase in the bottom of the closet /use it as a hamper. Add a couple dryer sheets. I've sent out shorts and tee shirts, but I wouldn't want the ship's laundry to wash the thin, gauzy blouses we Southern ladies favor -- or my bras and undies. I've never needed duct tape on any vacation. What do you do with binder clips? We took 4 magnetic clips on our recent cruise, which we used to keep the daily Compass, etc. on the wall instead of on the desk. We also used one clip to hold a dozen disposable face masks and another to hold the ball cap my husband wears outside the cabin. The hooks keep the cabin neat; I'll definitely bring them again. Totally agree about the shoes -- they're the biggest space hogs in your suitcase, even for those of us who can wear child-sized shoes. For a one-week cruise, I take two pair of "every day shoes" -- one pair of tennis shoes, one pair of sandals (definitely wear the tennis shoes to board -- first because they're better for walking /carrying your things onboard; second because the sandals pack smaller). I like a pair of wedges to be a little dressy for evening, and IF the shore excursions are water-based, probably a pair of water shoes. My husband's shoes are the real space hogs -- men's shoes are so big.

I'm surprised it's that low. Do consider that $68 is really $80.24 once you add on the mandatory 18% gratuity.

Well, that is disappointing -- and sounds like they could've handled it better.

That's one way to get a cheap beer!

Random thoughts: - Since the 18% gratuity is mandatory, it's fair to include it in the price here. - Consider that a beer onboard will always be significantly more expensive than at your grocery store: you're paying someone to purchase it, load it onboard, cool it, serve it, then dispose of the can later. All this isn't free. - However, the current alcohol prices reflect pure greed. They are significantly more expensive than bar prices here where I live.

You can ask for a printed daily newspaper -- you may or may not get it. I don't think traditional dining will disappear, but I don't understand the concerns about "hectic" reservations, etc. I already made my My Time Dining ressies for our next cruise -- made them from the comfort of my own sofa using the app. On our recent cruise we were seated immediately upon presenting ourselves at the podium -- except for one night; that night we waited about five minutes. Eh, I do think people learn in the drills. I clearly remember the first time we cruised -- my then 5-6 year old figured out the point in a hurry, and she cried, saying she wanted to go home. (She got over it in a hurry.) People are thrilled with the new method. I don't think the old way'll come back again.

My personal opinions: - I went to one midnight buffet -- was it chocolate? And we left without eating anything. These may've disappeared, but the cruise ships have added additional food venues, and I like them much better. - I'm not sure what demonstrations are, but I would enjoy cooking classes. - I wouldn't buy the cruise video. Similarly, my husband got me the cruise cookbook once; I don't think I ever cooked anything from it. - I don't care about themed menus, but Royal Caribbean has themed nights in the buffet. - I do miss the chocolates on my pillow, but it's not a make-or-break item. - From a selfish point of view, I like the easy-peasy new muster drill -- but I am concerned about whether the ship would be well prepared to weather an emergency. - Printing every photograph was wasteful. - I think I'm with the majority here: I absolutely want a printed cruise schedule! - I don't miss traditional dining. Sitting with strangers can be tedious. We love My Time Dining. - No one mentioned that formal dress has really fallen by the wayside. I personally don't miss it.

I looked into that once -- it was more than I was willing to pay.

Your plan looks good. As for promotions, they may or may not appear -- though the kids sail free thing is available pretty often. I'd say focus on what you can control: - Choose an off-season date - Choose inexpensive cabins - Book early and keep watching the prices /call if it goes down

Another Halloween question: We'd like to bring candy for a "take one" for our stateroom door. Any ideas on how to do this? I doubt we'll have a whole lot of kids on a late October cruise.

Yeah, my husband's always been into metal detecting too. Engineers. They're a different breed. He hasn't found anything of value yet, but he loves looking. It's about the hunt for him. If he catches a crock pot, there's no way I will let him bring it back to my house. Now that was a solid answer. Thanks, All!

4 days on Disney. We purposefully took a short cruise because we weren't sure we'd enjoy it -- I'm not sorry we made that choice initially, but now we'd never go for less than a week!

Never traveled with it before -- it's a new hobby. We're close enough to drive to the port. No to a balcony. I'm sure you're right, but he wasn't thinking of using it on the ship. He knows he'd get in trouble for that.

You can ask, but you may or may not receive. By the time they assign guarantee rooms, most of the other rooms are going to be claimed. If you used a TA, your TA must make the request -- if you yourself handled the ressie, you would make the request. Personally, we've LOVED our assigned rooms and the savings -- but I will admit it drove me nuts waiting to know the room number. I do have one theory about assigning rooms: I think you're more likely to get a mid-ship room with a guarantee. Why? Because they cost a bit more, so they're likely to stand empty.

My husband is getting into Magnetic Fishing. Check it out on Amazon -- it means throwing a strong magnet out on a cord and trolling around for metal junk in the water. He's always been super into Metal Detecting in the sand, but this is new, and it's small enough to carry onboard. Any of you who are engineers /married to engineers will understand the weird appeal. Anyway, I was wondering if he'd be able to "fish" off the cruise doc or any other spots during excursions -- we'll be in Cozumel, Roatan, Belize City and Costa Maya. Would the ship have any problem with him bringing a strong magnet, a cord and a pair of gloves onboard? Thanks for your thoughts.