iamcsm

Sometimes they will give you change in their currency.

We received an upgrade from Level 2 oceanview to level 6 balcony 1 1/2 years ago. It was a repo cruise, final cruise from that port, and there were TONS of high level C&A on the cruise. It was our first cruise with RCCL. Not sure why we got upgraded at all but we were grateful!

If he has extreme motion sickness, I would go straight for the patch. You will find lots of people who say bonine works, and lots who say it doesn't, but I've never read any reports that say the patch didn't work.

Let me be the first - the patch did not work for me the first time I flew. I still threw up the entire flight. Again, each of us is a little different.

I take the generic bonine (really cheap) each night before I go to bed on the cruise. Helps me sleep and I sleep off any effects it might have. If I feel queasy during the day I take a 2nd one that is allowed. I am pretty sensitive. The last cruise I borrowed some wrist bands and that took the edge off any other queasiness I got. I did have one cruise that was really stormy for a couple of days where I spent a lot of time in my room - but so did half or more of the ship. The great thing was I learned how cool room service is on the cruise!

Probably the best advice for someone really sensitive is to do a port intensive cruise with very few, if any, sea days. Then you can still enjoy the destinations and can take drugs to sleep at night while the ship is moving.

Love my Capital One Venture. Get 2% in points on all purchases. Then use the points in a 'purchase eraser' to pay for any travel spent on the card. This means I'm not tied to an airline or hotel chain, or blackouts, I just buy my airline tickets, hotel room, cruise, travel meals, etc. on the card, then go in and erase the purchases with my points.

I have done an inside for 14 days with hubby and mother-in-law. It was interesting, but doable.

You get to know everyone very well! The single bathroom was sometimes a struggle, as was the issue of dressing with men and women both there.

If you have the bed that pulls down, make sure the person sleeping there doesn't mind barefoot climbing the ladder (MIL had tender feet and didn't do well with it at all). It was a Princess ship so this could be different on RCCL.

Hopefully nobody (or both of them as was my case) snores much.

Lastly, air freshener for the cabin and especially the bathroom was a necessity.

We were on the Freedom in November. They changed our mattress mid-week. I've always slept amazing on the cruise ships, and I realize some people like softer, some like firmer. I do prefer firm and my husband prefers even firmer than me, but these new mattresses take the word firm to a whole new level. When they compare them to a slab of stone it's not really a lot of exaggeration. When you sat on it there was no give at all, it really felt like you were sitting on a wooden or concrete bench. We were fortunate that the steward found a topper for us and with the topper we were able to sleep, even though it was a little firmer than I would have liked. It probably would have been too firm for some people. I just hope they soften up soon from everyone tossing and turning on them so they will be eventually comfortable.

We were on the Freedom last month on a B2B. I've always found cruise ship beds to be comfortable but half way through our second week they changed our mattress. IT WAS ROCK HARD, and I like a firm bed. I mean when you sat on it there was no give at all, it was like sitting on a concrete bench. Our steward was able to get a foam pad for us.

Apparently the mattresses are dated and they have a cycle of replacing them.

We had a few days of MTD our last cruise then got switched to Traditional early. We aren't late people and are used to eating early so that's an easy choice. But we like Traditional WAY better than MTD because we get the same wait staff with Traditional which made the service much better. With MTD we got switched around to different tables and areas and wait staff.

RCCL offers an excursion at the end of the cruise. It leaves from Port Canaveral, stops for an airboat ride and ends at the Orlando airport. I've found one favorable review and one mention that the excursion was cancelled due to lack of interest. If it gets cancelled, what should I have planned as my "plan B"? There will be four adults, 4 carryons and 2 or 3 large suitcases that will need transportation. Thanks for the suggestions.

This doesn't answer your question, but I wanted to let you know we did that excursion last November and loved it!

Last November on a repositioning we were booked in same type of room and were upgraded to E2 balcony :). No email or notice from them about it whatsoever. We decided to take an extra bag and I logged in to print a new luggage tag and found the room change. It was amazing! (and probably rare).