Mum2Mercury

You could have taken 3 bottles of water each for your trip, right? Not a great value for your vouchers, but still better than throwing them away? Another alternative might be to buy Bloody Marys or Iced Coffees for strangers in the MDR with you ... doesn't help you, but certainly would make someone's last cruise morning nice.

Consider that your Crown & Anchor benefits vary from ship to ship. When I was on Explorer in September they gave us a bunch of half-priced drinks -- when I was on Independence in December, none at all.

I think the question is, "Could a Diamond, who is entitled to 4 drinks per day, order 4 pitchers of beer per day?

It's not that people "don't want" a passport; rather - They don't want to go through steps necessary to obtain a passport. - They don't want to spend the money /have a free option with the birth certificate & gov-issued ID. - They don't anticipate travel that would require a passport in the near future.

I didn't particularly notice much motion in the room, but I have zero problems with seasickness -- I even revel in feeling the ship move. My husband is the same, so I'm not promising we're good sources on that topic.

My daughter likes to say, "Every pizza is a personal pizza, if you believe in yourself." Same thing could be said for a pitcher of beer.

So two cabins shared by four people? You'll be fine. At first glance these cabins seem smaller, but it's because the bed is right in front of the door, and you must walk around it ... but the seating area by the loveseat /bay window seat is actually spacious by cruise ship terms. I assume the beds split apart, but I don't actually know for certain.

That's a very good reason. 10% discount.

Your terminal number can be found in your cruise documents -- bottom of page 1.

I'd estimate on our recent cruises, 30% of passengers went "all out" for formal night ... of that 30%, I'd say half of the ladies were in floor-length gowns, while the others were in knee-length dresses. Most of the dressed-up group were not young, so we didn't see a great deal of the mini-skirts that are popular now. I literally saw no men in tuxedos, but many were in suits. We were with the majority in casual clothing: khakis /button shirts or polo shirts for men ... sundresses for women. I didn't see anyone in athletic-leisure clothing in the MDR on formal night. Most people were dressed "a step up" for formal night ... but not truly formal.

Stating the obvious: You can never know who else /how many people are bidding on the room you want, and that will vary from sailing to sailing.

Well, we are one of the largest countries in the world, and -- as such -- we have many opportunities for travel right here "at home". I assume everyone has a birth certificate sitting around the house, so that costs nothing and is good forever. The question isn't, "How long is it good?" The real question is, "How many times will you realistically use it over the next decade?"

I'm not really answering your question, but don't dread the inside cabin! When we were younger and traveled with our children, we always got a balcony -- Dad needed that spot "to disappear to" while the girls changed clothes. But now that we're older, retired and cruising more often, we have come to LOVE inside cabins! They're everything we need, have more storage than you might expect, and we've been very comfortable in them. My biggest tip for being comfortable "inside": At night keep your TV turned to the bridge channel, and you'll have an idea of whether it's midnight or early morning, whether it's raining or not. Yes, we have cancelled last-minute because of a sick child -- I always wondered who got that last-minute prime aft balcony. When you're talking about a group of people this large, someone will have a last-minute emergency. One bit of encouragement: Royal always wants to keep inside cabins available. Why? Because they're cheapest, and that low-low price brings people in.

One more thing to add to my previous comments: When the curtains were closed, all we heard was the BOOM, BOOM, BOOM of the bass. Once we opened the curtains, we could hear the music more clearly. We could easily talk to each other -- the music wasn't loud enough to prevent that. Again, we were on the 6th floor right by the singers' bridge.

I took pictures myself once -- and Royal re-took them in the terminal anyway. Now I purposefully skip the photograph portion of Check-in.

We did an Inside Guarantee earlier this month and were thrilled to be placed in Promenade View cabin 6595. Random thoughts about the cabin: - We were on Deck 6 two cabins from the "singers' bridge" ... so probably one of the noisiest possible cabins. On the first night we heard music about 11:00 and realized it was a promenade concert ... we opened the curtains and enjoyed it; it lasted about 30 minutes, then it was done. Same thing on the last night of the cruise ... that was the 70s party. Aside from these two parties, we didn't hear any noise. - We had a connecting room (we didn't know the people in the other room). I think we heard someone sneeze once. - The room had less storage than the regular inside we had a few months ago. Well, the closet was the same, but we had fewer drawers, and the storage near the mirror was super-shallow /essentially useless. - The room did feel smaller than a regular inside ... I think that's because the bed is placed so close to the door, and you're forced to walk around it. - The room had a loveseat + the built-in bay-sofa + a small glass coffee table. This was a very nice set-up ... the seating area was spacious and comfortable. Not a concern. We saw literally nothing worth mentioning across the hall. Most people had their curtains closed most of the time. Note: The curtains velcro closed, so they won't fly open accidentally. Our cabin steward closed them every evening during turn-down service.

I'm sure this varies from cruise to cruise. No, cruise ships have used "coolers" since ... well, forever.

In all fairness, I've seen similar price hikes /drops in the past.

Yes, that was my experience as well! Did you get anything?

Yeah, we have two Dick's stores nearby -- one of them just became a clearance store. I've only been in once, but I loved it. I bought two Simply Southern tee-shirts (they only had size small) and the two Nike swim separates. Each item was $3. I'll be going back.

Yes, you can call 1-800-256-6649 if you have questions/problems, find a lower price, or want to change your cabin. Have your booking number and sail date ready when you call. I prefer to do my own booking so that if I find a lower price, I can call immediately (even if the TA is unavailable or closed).

I disagree with your comment, which is framed as if everyone drinks for-cost beverages all day long. I also disagree that "going back and forth to the Windjammer" is an issue -- that's no more effort than going back and forth to a bar.

This website was accurate for my husband -- but not for me. Go figure. Consider just how difficult this would be: You'd have to wait until you reach an island ... and not all islands have airports. If a ticket is available, you'd have to pay last-minute, high-prices. Realistically, most people are going to continue home on the cruise, even if an emergency's happening at home. My grandfather died suddenly while my family was on vacation -- it was our last full day, and we'd be driving the next day. My mother wisely chose not to tell us until we returned home. It would've ruined our last day of vacation, and we would have been upset while driving. We took our nieces on vacation, and their grandfather (other side of the family) died. When we left the port, we called their parents to tell them we were safely off /headed North. They told me the news /asked me not to share it with the girls. 1) They didn't want the girls crying all the way home. 2) They wanted to break the news to the kids themselves /in their own home.

This is the email for special hotel needs /requests : special_needs@rccl.com

Disagree. I drink lots of drinks all day ... ice water and free juice in Windjammer, soda I brought onboard myself. Maybe one iced coffee during a week. Have never wanted a milkshake or protein shake on board. No way I'd ever reach $80+ , even once, much less daily. A few people, yes, but "most people"? No way. Not a surprise. Yes, I remember that. I wish they still offered a "lower" drink package good for just beer and wine. "Everything" is just too expensive.