Mum2Mercury

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.

We'll be cruising over Halloween ... costumes aren't my thing, but I might pick up a tee-shirt. I think I'll go see what Amazon has.

Luggage tags? Sunscreen? It's on clearance at Walmart right now.

I'm at a loss to understand why our experiences were different. We were on Explorer last month -- September 2022 -- so what I'm saying is current: - We had reservations for each evening. - On the first night we presented ourselves at the MTD area, and we were shown to the podium we both described. At the podium we gave our room number and were escorted to our tables. - No printed tickets of any kind, but the lady at the podium looked at a computer screen and seemed to "check us in". I can't say exactly what she did. - We had the same table and same wait staff each evening. Our table was always available -- that might've been luck.

We were directed to that same podium on Explorer on the first night /continued to use it each evening. We were not in a suite.

The stand is just outside the dining room. Maybe I don't understand what you're saying.

My Time Dinner reservations open super early on the App. I've just made reservations for a cruise that's literally a year away.

Odd question: These prices are listed in US dollars. Will taxi drivers accept pesos? I ask because my husband recently found an envelope full of pesos we'd set aside from a former trip -- and we'd like to use them. While I'm asking, we're planning to spend the day at Chankanaab Park -- will they accept pesos at the ticket gate? for food and drink? Thanks for any help you might be able to provide.

I didn't see a suite podium on Explorer (last month). We were assigned to the second of three dining room floors ... perhaps the suite podium is on the lower /largest dining room space?

Obviously I don't know who's in a suite and who isn't, but -- having reservations for MTD -- we lowly inside-room cruisers essentially walked right in every night. The line for people without reservations was always fairly long,

Back to the original question (because crock pots don't interest me): If size prevents you from bringing the gifts, consider giving a picture of the gift. Unless you're talking about a small child, he or she will be able to understand that the gift is waiting back home. Once I planned to give my daughter a hamster for her birthday, but we were on vacation. I gave her a magazine-book about how to care for a hamster and a picture of the hamster cage I'd already bought. It turned out great because she spent every hotel-moment reading that book; by the time we returned home, she was educated on what type of hamster she wanted, and she was well prepared to care for it.

True, but that's a different point.

If you're getting a passport for the first time (or if your old one's been expired... oh, I don't know how many years), you cannot mail the application and assorted materials. You must have an appointment to drop it off in person, and you're unlikely to get one within a week or two or even three. My point is, a passport does require some effort -- it's more than having a birth certificate, driver's license and marriage license on hand. And then there's the money.

Plus an application, plus a photograph, plus the -- what is it? -- $130 or so? Plus the appointment to drop it off (assuming it's a first passport). I'd say whether to get a passport depends upon the travel you're considering over the next years.

If you are cruising with a birth certificate and a state ID -- AND if your name has changed because of marriage, you need the marriage license as a "bridge document" between your birth certificate (with your old name) and your driver's license (with your new name).