Ret MP

I'm not arguing or trying to debate with you on this. If you have a desire for such information, that's great and your thing. No problem at all. I tend to read at least partially a post of a food review/critique. But, I do not make judgements or decisions based on the review/critique. However, for me, unless you are on the same sailing as the person making the review/critique, it doesn't mean that the food will be of the same quality or preparation on your subsequent cruise. In fact, it doesn't mean that the fantastic Mac & Cheese in the WJ for lunch today will be the same cook will make it tomorrow. Yes, they have a standardized recipe and preparation instructions for, I assume, all meals. However, like you said, food and service are both subjective, which adds to my premise. Food reviews, especially on a cruise ship, doesn't mean much.

I don't need or care about if the room is cleaned twice a day and I don't care if there is a turn-down service and a mint on the pillow. I just want a fresh towel after every shower, of which I can shower 2 to 4 times a day, on a cruise. I don't use the same towel twice at home, I don't expect to on a cruise that I pay thousands of dollars for. If the steward can leave us several sets of toweling, I'm Okay with it.

Once again I haven't read all posts in this thread. So, excuse me if this has already been posted. Judging food on a particular ship for others or giving a review of the food on any one ship may not mean much or anything at all to those that follow you on a subsequent cruise. Food is only as good as it's culinary staff (yes quality has a lot to do with it, as well). A good culinary staff can take even lesser quality food and make it taste great. But, I digress. The culinary staff you had on your cruise this week may completely change on the next cruise. You will never see/read me ask about the taste of food on one ship or another. It means nothing unless you know the culinary staff isn't changing for the next, or whenever, cruise. The crew on ships change often, thousands of separate contracts changing all the time. The posting of food reviews on a particular ship is a selfless/generous way to spend one's time in an effort to help. Despite what I've said, I appreciate those that do it. It just needs to be known that the culinary staff changes just like the rest of the crew.

I'm sure most, if not all, already know this. But, just in case: Make sure you turn you phone on to "AIRPLANE MODE". I turn mine on to it as soon as we start moving from the terminal to the ship. Other's do it earlier, while even others do it sometime after boarding the ship.

I'll always ask for paper copies of the Compass.

I believe that the demise of many of the old goodies are a part of "incrementalism". Slowly taking away things and at the same time, increasing the cost. This is not unique to Royal, this is one of many reasons that I left Rustbucket Cruise Lines.

WOW, I'm back in with my laptop! They must have found the bug!

ONCE, I got a red banner on the login screen saying something like "error wrong state". I have no idea what that means. Where is tech support?

Unfortunately, that didn't work. I've tried everything I've been advised to do boy others.

Windows 11. Chrome with Duckduckgo as Search engine

I can't login to the Forums on my laptop. No problem on my Android. I've deleted cookies and history many times and reset password. Any help?

Is that an Amex policy. I just disputed a charge with my BP Visa the day it showed up as not PENDING and the close date didn't hit yet. FNBO had no problem taking the dispute right away. BTW, be forewarned, if you use the BP App (BPme), when you finish pumping your gas and the you immediately get the receipt in email, it doesn't mean that the pump was properly cleared. The guy behind me got a free tank of gas. I won my dispute, BTW.

I'm not limiting my suggestion to just Labadee, you seem to be. I'm not excluding any port of call. I've been to Labadee several times too. I've never been emergency evac'ed either, thankfully. In fact, I've never been emergency evac'ed as a civilian. BTW, fear doesn't enter into it. I have a fire extinguisher in my kitchen as recommended by just about every fire department and home insurance company in the country. I wear seatbelts. I carry my Medicare and retired Military ID everywhere I go. Doesn't mean I live in fear. So, I call BS on that comment and I think you know better. But, you are right, "each to their own".

So, does that mean people should not take their passport with them at ports of call? Do you trust that the cruise ship will not leave the pier before they know about your emergency situation and your passport is in the cabin safe? Do you trust the Haitian agent, the Haitian government, the U.S. Government with your life and/or limb? You know, chances are that things may go exactly or close to it as you would like. But, take the unknow out of it, take your passport. One misstep by any of the agencies involved could cost you a lot. I just think (meaning it's my opinion) that taking your passport with you is sound advice and some less informed folks may not know the ramifications of not having it with you. However, if you think you can live without it, leave it. It's an individual decision, for the most part. And just for the record, the State Department suggests taking it with you also. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/travelers-with-special-considerations/cruise-ship-passengers.html "Unexpected circumstances can come up that make it impossible to return to the United States on the cruise ship. Here are some examples: Illness or Injury – Depending on the severity of your illness or injury, you may have to be admitted to a local hospital overseas. If you cannot be discharged before the cruise ship is scheduled to depart, the cruise ship may leave without you. In this case, you would need a U.S. passport to fly home upon clearance from your doctor. Damage to cruise ship – Occasionally cruise ships are damaged or have mechanical issues that cannot be fixed during your trip. In these cases, you might need to go ashore in a country which requires a passport and/or you would need a U.S passport book to fly home".

Post #9

99.9% right-on! Closed loop cruises and passport requirements only apply to U.S. ports of departure and entry, to be a closed loop cruise they must be the same port. The U.S. State Department doesn't control the countries you visit during the closed loop cruise, other countries make their own rules for entry and may require passports to enter.

I'm guessing you didn't read my last two posts.

Fortunately for me and the defendant, being a retired LEO I don't get selected, beyond the initial selection process to sit in an actual criminal cases. I've been summoned for civil cases and never make it past the initial screening. Guess, I'm a little too opinionated. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to serve on a jury, it's my civil obligation. What was a real coincidence, the last time I had to go to the courthouse for the initial selection process (Federal Civil Case), just before a booked cruise to the Caribbean, but the timing was Okay, the two companies that were suing each other in court were nationally known sun screen products. They were sewing over ingredient infringement violations. I never heard what came out of the case. I was not selected when asked if I like or use sunscreen products and I told them I hate the stuff.

According to Royal's FAQ, there isn't any Guaranteed Prices 48 hours after booking. However, according to some in here, some that have been historically accurate, and my TA, if you are out of the final payment date (90+ days), the Price Guarantee is still valid.

Or have to wait for the ship to deliver your passport to fly home, in emergency situation(s) or wait on the State Department to Okay your flight home. Unnecessary and possibly unhealthy/fatal delay if you have a passport but don't have it with you.

As stated, no I didn't make the decision for anybody, everybody already has. I hope you get/understand that!

If that is directed towards me, I've given examples. I will say that I woke up this morning and I watch several of the national news stations, the alphabets, if you will, and I see what I consider the societal norms for the public. None of the male hosts or their guests were wearing tight spandex that show every curve of their junk and the female hosts weren't wearing swimwear so small that you can see ever crack and cranny of their body and the tops weren't so tight that they're boobs were squished out to the top and sides and their you know what's exposed, at least partially, or their guests. And to top it all off, none of them were twerking each other in a sexual manor with pure lust on their faces. I didn't see anything that I didn't want my kids (when they were kids) or gkids to see. You see, I haven't set the societal norms, we all have and they have been set since the establishment of this country. My local radio and TV stations don't cuss (think George Carlin) on the air (those that are regulated by the FCC). Again, it's not my moral standards, it's society's. If people want to see nudity or suggestive sexual content and have no issues with their children being exposed to it, I suggest a vacation in Europe, et al. Also, there are moral societal standards right here in this forum. Violate them and see what happens. I'M NOT THE HYPORCRITE! I just happen to agree with the standards that society has set, a long time ago.

Yep, I lived in Europe for 6 years. Topless is nothing to them, on billboards and so on. Men urinating in public as long as they're facing away from public. Public swim pools with coed hours, and public saunas that are coed, families of all ages attend. As I said, I lived in Europe for 6 years and they can have their way of doing things. I'm very happy with ours. I don't care if a public swimming pool has hours for adults, just leave the kid at home. Sitting in a sauna nude with my family and who knows who else is not my idea of "family friendly. The Europeans are welcome to it. That is THEIR standards, not ours here in the U.S.A., and I'm glad of it.

If you say so. BTW, my morality isn't too much to ask. I just don't think showing off your body parts to young children is a moral thing to do. I'm sorry if you do, I'll never agree or support that kind of behavior, NEVER! Once again, I can't debate this with you the way I would like because of the boards rules, Imagine that, I abide by rules, I'm not perfect, in any way, and I have made a mistake or two in here. But, I try my best to abide by rules, laws, morality standards and I'm sure that you do as well. Do you support rules, laws, morality? Where do you draw the line? If someone goes beyond the line that you draw, do you turn the other cheek or do you do something, reasonably, to correct it? Don't forget, anything that you draw the line with, you will upset someone else because they don't draw the line in the same place you did.

My favorites are Hibachi and Chops. Both have and/or don't have what concerns you. BTW, there is nothing wrong with bring in a meal from another venue if someone in your party doesn't like what's on the menu. We've done it many times. My granddaughter doesn't like Hibachi at all, so we get her a hamburger and fries from Johnny's, bring it to the Hibachi, and she is a happy camper.