Susan in Maine

Last fall we were on the Magic and did those three ports. In Sidney we took a taxi (scheduled ahead of time) to the Miner's Museum. It was really interesting. I learned so much about coal mining and will be forever grateful that no one in my family had to make those sacrifices. One of the best shore trips I've ever been on.

The lobster on cruises is definitely overrated. I'm from Maine, and the fresh-from-the-ocean lobster we have up here is incredible!

I'm in a similar situation. My daughter and I are taking her 88YO grandmother on a cruise in November. She is generally quite mobile, lives alone, and is just fine. My TA booked a wheelchair for embarkation/debarkation. As we all know, there is a bit of a stampede for both. With her in a wheelchair it will be much less anxiety provoking for all of us. She won't need any help on board. Also I booked a cabin on the Lido deck so we're close to all the action without having to use an elevator.

Freedom is getting its whale tale back in October

I'd MUCH rather have the cove balcony!!

Freedom is also out of Port Canaveral

We did the Chef's Table on the Magic. It was very good, but I would not say outstanding. If you don't do a lot of higher end white tablecloth dining, it will seem pretty exotic. If you like plain food, it's REALLY exotic. The people who dined with us thought it was outstanding. I'm a bit of a foodie, some of the items were outstanding, others not so much. It is a nice thing to have done, but I have no desire to do it again.

The farther north you go, the earlier the leaves change. For example, the first week of October when you leave NYC is still pretty green. By the time you get to the Canadian Maritimes it's likely past peak color. Late October is usually pretty cold to be out on the water. Weather is pretty unpredictable. The last few years September has been quite warm. However, it can be quite cold. September and October are still hurricane season, and while we don't get as many up here as they do in Florida and the Caribbean, it can happen. So.....deciding when to go on a Canadian/New England cruise is a crap shoot at best. We went early/mid September last year and it was cold and rainy the whole cruise. We got home and the weather was gorgeous! Susan in Central Maine

When we booked it, they told us what night it would be.

One and done for me. Having said that: We were three generations - my parents & mother-in-law, us, and our smallish child. My father was legally blind, and Disney was the BEST line for services for him. Among other perks, we were the second family on the ship so he wouldn't have to deal with the crowds and my parents were assigned a crew member to come get them should there be an emergency.

Even landing at 11AM would send me into a panic.

We always bring a small first aid kit with things like a few sizes of band-aids, anti-bacterial cream, Benadryl, cough and cold medicine, anti-diarrheal, Dramamine, antacids, etc. Don't take a whole bottle, but most of the meds come in individual packets. So take just a couple of doses of each. Travel first aid kits are pretty inexpensive (under $10), and you can add whatever else you think you might want. If someone overindulges or gets a blister or a small cut, buying stuff on the ship is REALLY expensive, plus you have to hope that your ship stocks the specific items you want. While they do have a medical center on every ship, there is a fee and very limited hours.

OMG! The new menus are incredible! Why are people complaining about trying something different? My daughter and I were reading thru them and both of us had our mouths watering. When we go in November it's going to be really difficult to decide what to order! One of my favorite things about cruising is trying new menu items without having to pay a premium price like I would have to do at a land restaurant.

I have several on RCCL and several on Carnival, also 2 on Princess and one each on Disney and NCL. For a long time I was a die hard RCCL fan, and my first cruise on Carnival was a big disappointment. However, post-Covid Carnival has been as good and sometimes a little better than my last post-Covid cruise on Anthem of the Seas. There are definitely some things better on RCCL, but not enough to justify the difference in price for it over Carnival. I've been very happy with my last three Carnival cruises and are cruising with them again in November. Generally I can get a balcony on Carnival for what I'd pay for an outside cabin on RCCL.

My transponder is about 4.5"X3.5"X.75". In our state, the transponder isn't registered to any car, so there is no problem using it in a rental car. I also bring my own GPS.

Do you live in a state that has a reciprocal agreement with Florida? I live in Maine, and whenever I travel down there, I take my Maine transponder with me. Works just fine. SunPass : SunPass PRO

After dinner on my last RCCL cruise, I was drinking coffee with Kahlúa and whipped cream. My evening waiter got it right away. So one morning at breakfast I decided I wanted the same. The server at breakfast had NO idea what I was talking about. So I asked for a cup of coffee, two shots of Kahlua and some whipped cream. I got the coffee, a shot glass with the Kahlua, and a small dish of whipped cream. The servers all stood around and watched when I mixed them together myself! They were flabbergasted! (It's really yummy!)

What direct evidence do you have for this statement?

I agree! People turn themselves inside out trying to get out of getting a passport! In November my daughter and I are taking her grandmother (age 88) on a closed loop cruise. I'm paying for her to get a passport. Will she ever travel again? Not likely. But the $185 (passport, processing fee, photo) I paid is cheap insurance against something happening to any of the three of us. Travel is just so much easier with a passport.

Wow! People are really judgmental here!!! He said Work WITH the system, not Work The System. That is exactly what people are supposed to do - work with the system! It's wonderful that so many people here have never had anything truly unexpected happen to them. In the real world it does happen. When you plan cruises months in advance, there is a lot of life that can happen between the booking and actual sailing.

You do know that this was a PROMO video and probably wasn't very realistic, even then.

We LOVE the Cove Balconies! Take it!!

We start the actual packing about a week before. Tends to freak the dog out because she knows what suitcases are. The cats think suitcases are a fabulous place to take a nap. Planning what we need and making sure we have it all starts weeks to months ahead of time. We also have a tote that permanently holds cruise/vacation stuff like luggage tag holders, tea lights for the cabin, our passport holders, etc.

Actually, I'm not. Way way too many people think it's ok to question those with disabilities, trying to get them to justify the accommodations they need. Nobody on this board has a need or right to know how/where the dog was trained. That wasn't the question.

Thank you. My point was that it is nobody's business where the dog came from, who trained it, etc. In the US, official 'certificates', formal training documents, etc. are not required for service dogs. Unfortunately, far too often on these boards, people feel the need to tell whoever is asking the question that they don't know what they are talking about, rather than just answering the question.