DragonOfTheSeas

I can't wait for you to get to Antarctica. That has always been a dream of mine.

Sounds like you had a fun dose of local culture.

His ribs have healed after the surgery. He still has PT. Thank you for asking. We have a cruise in March. I have my fingers crossed all will be well. . . . . Sorry to digress from New Year's Eve. DH fell on our last cruise and I was doing a live thread. Every now and then I hear from a fellow passenger. People on CC are very caring. It is going to be very crowded in the Harbor. That makes it a little scary and exciting at the same time. What a great way to ring in the new year. It seems to me that this trip has already been the trip of a lifetime. I am not sure how RCL will keep this up. But, I look forward to following along.

Ha Ha Ha--I didn't know when it was announced.

I was thinking of something similar. The 3/4/5/7 night cruises--especially in the summer are full of families. I am sure they are big money makers. However, late fall and winter does not have that many families. DH and I took our first 3 night cruise from FLL last spring. We booked it to match with another cruise that left the day that cruise ended. [a side to side] The ship was full of adults getting their money's worth from drink packages and children everywhere. We won't be taking one of those again. 😜 It was the RCL regulars that kept the company afloat [pun intended] during the recession in the 2007-2009 and Covid timeframe. RCL needs a diversified demographic for the long run.

I think RCL is helping some of the influencers that are onboard. I have followed a young Instagram person/influencer. She is clearly onboard the ship. She has done selfies around the ship. She mentioned in one of her posts that she and her husband were invited to participate in a Chef's Table. She said early on that she and her parents saved for three years for the cruise.

I think the passengers that signed up for the world cruise or the four large segments were OK with the cost and the amenities. I think the issue was that as the ship did not fil up RCL divided the entire cruise into 17 segments and sold those individually. You could cancel the whole world cruise and book all of the segments and get quite a discount rather than booking as a whole world cruise. [even if you bought the various add-ons individually--hotel, air, drink package, grats, etc.] I think a few people did this. Eventually those segments became popular and more expensive and less of a tradeoff. There was a fair amount of grumbling at the time. I certainly understand that. Now that the cruise is underway, I think most passengers are very pleased with the way things are going so far.

I always thought that passengers that did the entire cruise/not any of the segments should get an additional C and A point/night. They paid a premium and that would reward them. I do not have any data but I would doubt there many [or any] passengers that are doing the whole cruise--cruising for the first time.

We went through the old canal several years ago aboard the Celebrity Millennium. The day before the transit the removed all of the light fixtures that came out from the side of the ship. It was a very tight fit.

Yes, I saw that. However, I would not want a separate one for each place. I would want it all on one. 😜 Just saying. We have two certificates. One for crossing the Atlantic and one for the Panama Canal. But yours will be priceless.

Those on the world cruise will likely get a certificate [or something] with all of the world 'lines" they have crossed and the continents they have visited. That would be worthy of framing. That is a HUGE accomplishment.

I have not usually carried the port agent phone number when I am in port. But I will be doing that from now on. On our last port DH fell and we were disembarked to the hospital in Portland ME. [he is ok now--after breaking 6 ribs and surgery]. I can't tell you how much the port agent helped us. He kept in touch with me in the ER. When it became obvious we would not make it back to the ship, he contacted the ship for us and collected our luggage. He took our luggage to the hotel I had made a reservation. They told him I did not have a reservation. He came to the ER to take a screen shot of my reservation and returned to the hotel to straighten it all out. When I got there late that night, I had my luggage and a hotel room for the night. [priceless] If passengers contacted him in this situation he could have met them at the entrance to the port and gotten them easily to the ship. JMHO The port agent has a direct number for the ship. Not criticizing Texascane. Just mentioning there is someone out there to help you. I had no idea what this person did.

I think because it is over the holidays. Some people want those times. But many other avoid them. I agree the itineraries are excellent.

I have never met he or Laura but, I miss his posts, too.

You will need to decide what you would like to see in your day in Rome. . . and how much energy you have. Rome will involve a lot of walking on side streets and on cobble stones. We were there for 3.5 days and saw most of the big venues. We also stayed in a hotel adjacent to the pantheon. That helped. We bought timed tickets for the Colosseum in advance and got in line at the appointed time. We did a self-guided audio tour. That can take as long or short time as you like. And it could be part of any arranged tour. We did a golf cart tour one day and it was a highlight for us. We got to see things that were too far apart for us to walk to. But you would need to get to Rome from the pier and meet the tour. The day we went to the Vatican it was a zoo. I am glad I went [DH would not commit to that statement] and promised myself I will never go back. If you look at the picture below you can see our group walking with our tour guide at the Vatican. [green umbrella folded down on right] You can see the other group leaders holding umbrellas and other signage so their groups can follow them. I included a couple of other pictures so you can see it was true in most of the rooms in the Vatican. Ours was a skip the line tour. Yes, we skipped the line, but not the crowd. Since you only have the one day, I think I would take the Rome in Limo tour. Let them do all the driving and organizing. You will see more. We did not tour with them. However, several of our fellow passengers gave them high marks. If the Vatican is a must see--go by all means. You just need to know it will take a good portion of your time. Maybe you will be lucky and go on a slow day. 🙂 Have a great cruise.

We sail with our DD in March. I am following along. Thank you.

It seems to me that if you book the DS in with the wife. She and son would only get 1 pt/night, but you would get 3 pt per night. She would have less total points but benefit from your increased status [or progress toward status]. JMHO

This! The two passengers in the JS will get double points. The two passengers in the non suite cabin will not get double points. However, as long as they are linked as a couple with their partner [in the JS] they will share their status.

I cancelled and repurchased entrance to Hideaway Bay for 3 of us on Anthem in March and saved ~$100. That was worth it to me. I checked an excursion we had purchased, and we would have saved $3. I did not bother. So, there were some deals--but, not on everything.

Ok, I am not trying to get myself banned from cc. I am so bummed John will not be posting a blog on the world cruise on this site. I enjoy reading his postings. I was looking forward to following along around the world. Does anyone know if he is going to blog that cruise elsewhere? If you give me a hint I will try to find him. I tried searching using his CC name. I found the closed group on that other social media site--but. . . it is closed. I am sure they do not want a bunch of random people to ask to join. That is just for participants. TIA

So sorry to hear this. While it may have been expected, it is still very sad for you and your family. You will need a big rest when you get back to Virginia.

Made it home from Maine with a 12 hour ambulance ride. It was grim. However, I am home and he is in rehab. So, we are getting lose to him coming home. 🙂 Have a great cruise!!!

There are many things to consider. No one type is for everyone. Age, physical condition, do you want a yearly or individual trip policy, price, etc. There is a whole Cruise Critic message board that deals with insurance. that is a good place to start.

I would have loved to have seen the snow.

He was in the bathroom and lost his balance and hit the toilet and fractured 6 ribs in multiple places. He had surgery and needed to have 3 plates added to stabilize the ribs. So, he is still in the hospital. . . . and will need to go to a rehab hospital before going home. We bought RCL insurance. We used to buy other insurance, but, as you get older they get much more expensive. The RCL insurance seems to be based on the cost of the trip. He is not able to fly for 2 months because of the injury. So, we have to have a ground long-distance medical transport. The caseworker here at the hospital and the Carefree Tavel Assistance are coordinating that. I am so glad.