the penguins

No smoking anywhere inside the ship including your cabin and balcony. Some places have been mentioned the other is the pool deck starboard side which actually has a roof.

Don't pre pay your tips. Once on the ship add the cash to your onboard account and it will help cover the tips. Job done and no fees involved.

As you can see lots of variables. We have annual travel insurance which covers us for an unlimited number of trips worldwide in a year provided each trip is no longer than 30 days. Extra days at a premium..We are both over 75 with pre existing health issues all of which are covered. The company has its own appointed travel agency. One number accesses all services. All costs met direct no prepayment required. Policy covers cancellation, medical, flights, baggage even mobile phones (and in the UK and Europe car breakdown cover). Total cost for 2 people approx 💲325 for the year.

My point is everyone should have travel insurance that covers all the costs you state, and which makes all the necessary travel and accommodation arrangements for you - ours does exactly that. What you describe as " interfering with your life" has nothing to do with Covid. Having your return delayed, for example by breaking a leg, having to have emergency hospital treatment etc, is and always will be an inherent risk in travelling.

Sorry your original post said they were left to make their own arrangements now you say they had insurance. If they had insurance they were not "left on their own to find their own way home". Flight delays and cancellations are nothing new. After being discharged from hospital in LA we had problems getting onward flights to Auckland. All sorted by our insurance along with the extra hotel night that was needed.

In similar circumstances (appalling table manners) we politely asked the Host not to seat the passenger on our table again and told her why. Her response was interesting. She said she had similar requests for the previous 3 days but none of the other passengers would tell her why. Now that she knew she would take action and that passenger would in future be seated alone. There is no need to suffer in silence and no need to make a scene, just a quiet word and most situations can be resolved.

Sorry, my error, thought it had been done last year but I see that that was just a quick redo - basically a repaint of the hull to dark blue.

Just don't delay a day longer than necessary. Too many people keep putting things off only to find that health and other issues then make such trips impossible. From personal experience, had we not done the above (incidentally the total trip was 90 days) and things like Antarctica, China, Rio Carnival/Amazon and even around South America in 2019 when we did they would not now be possible.

Must admit when we did it on Solstice we boarded in Auckland and "forgot to disembark" until Seattle - 60 days on the ship fantastic.

We always share and had not given that much thought. Interestingly however I have noticed the waiter somehow arranges the serving so I finish my second starter at the same time as the boss finishes her first. Will have to watch more closely to see how they achieve this. A bit like trying work out how they always serve the right meal to the right person. On one "memorable" occasion a number of us swopped places between the starters and the entrees. The waiter still served the entrees correctly and laughing said "that doesn't work". The Matre D watched on and simply added " it's the training". Oh we do love Celebrity the perfect match of great service without the stuffiness and a little humour thrown in.

One ship, 2 ports, 5 day itineraries and no kids - hardly a like for like comparison. Ships will still have to meet the requirements of every port visited regardless of the CDC's advice.

On both our May cruises on Silhouette the announced cases reached over 3% resulting in masks bring reintroduced in many indoor venues. Just relax, go with the flow, expect changes and enjoy the cruise.

If you have any time (select) dining pre book as it saves waiting in the lines. On arrival each night ask for the table size you prefer, our choice is always sharing with a table of 6, we find larger tables hard to cope with. If you like the main theatre great dining times are 6.30pm if you want the 9.0 pm show or anything from 8.15 pm if you do the 7.0pm one. Cellar Masters is now a Sports Bar (Craft Central) and is much livelier than previously. Use the CC Role Call for shared excursions. Our favourite ship and the one we chose for our Golden Wedding cruise.

Yes and, although not on the menue, you can order extra vegetables to go with the mains. Plus as many desserts as you like.

Sorry meant to add applies to sailings on Royal, Celebrity and Silversea.

Applies wherever you book and through whoever you book with. You apply direct on line with booking ref, sail date, ship, name, and proof of share ownership. Very straightforward and we have never had a request refused even when we did the Opera cruise on Reflection out of Southampton which was technically a charter.

Whatever you do have paper copies of everything, vacination Certificates, boarding passes, testing certs. To make it even easier pre sort each into the appropriate passports.

Love your CC name. Don't rely on the app or smart phones. Have paper copies of everything, vacs certs, boarding passes etc.

A great example of why you should never travel without travel insurance - everything you described would be covered by ours - hospital, hotels, return flights etc.

I love your strategy and it's right. My entire portfolio of single company shares is 100 Royal, bought and basically ignored except for applying for OBC. The dividends have been spent on our grandson when we visit him in Dallas (we live in the UK). The shares have also been left to our grandson in our wills. Perhaps it's why our American friends call us the Crazy Brits. Keep cruising.

We will. However everything you said is based on hindsight. Until Covid neither the price nor the dividend had ever dropped. Whatever price we had sold at we would have had to pay more to buy them back for the next cruise. Enjoy your cruises.

They didn't pick a Monday just the last day of the month just as they have for months. You are responsible for meeting the requirements of each port. Just stop looking for certainty, things change every day even after the cruise has sailed. Just relax, go with the flow you booked when testing was needed so nothing has changed.

Bought for the OBC. Covid has temporarily stopped the Divi. Yes we could have sold at 136 but no-one was forcasting Covid at that time, nor that cruiseing would stop for nearly 2 years. Hindsight is wonderful. We have more cruises booked so more OBC to come. Will sell when we stop cruising. I just posted our experience not a recommend to buy or sell.

The ship has spares of pretty much everything even the captain. Just be polite and friendly, ask for help and don't demand. Remember the old saying "you catch more with sugar than salt".

I am no expert but my experience of owning 100 RCCI shares to date is: Cost:💲2200 OBC : 💲4600 Dividends:💲1200 Current share value:💲3800