Charles4515

That is interesting. I stand corrected. I didn't know they had added many islands. Since text is unlimited the AT&T package could work for some people.

The AT&T package would work for people who need to make a few phone calls and texts onboard the ship. Like say check on the dog sitter. The included data won't last very long. OP mentioed the Bahamas. The cruise package won't cover that.

My advice is not to buy anything onboard without clarity as to how the duty will be collected. All Royal cares about is getting you to buy not about what happens afterward. And as one "expert" explained the sales people see the buyers as marks. They are not going to tell you anything. That is how a commission system works. Probably guest services can tell you the procedure on the ship. If you see something in the shop you like that item is not going to be sold before you find out. Resist the salespersons hard sell and find out.

He had a gallery in the Clocktower Mall at the Dockyard. I visited it a few years ago. I don’t know if he still does.

I had not read the travel pass terms for a couple years so looking at the current terms a correction to what I said above. Local calls in Japan would be included. Also now they won’t bill you more than 10 days in a billing cycle. So you won’t be charged more than $100 a billing cycle. So if you used it 14 days for example and those days were within one billing cycle the charge would be $100, not $140.

There are no formal nights on Celebrity. They have been replaced by Evening Chic. Pretty much you can wear the same as you wear on other nights. You won’t need to pack extra. Look up Evening Chic on Celebrity’s website.

Royal Caribbean is not very professional. I would keep that in mind when considering future bookings. They are always tend to be last minute.

You are being silly.

I think you are misreading the intention of what they said. . They mean they would not able to use the ships wifi package off the ship. Of course they could do wifi calling if they found local wifi off the ship.

You keep missing the point. Law enforcenment was not involved. It was Royal Caribbean crew. Nor is there an investigation of possible unlawful activity. They have not yet gone to the customs checkpoint or gone past it. So there would not have been unlawful activity at that point.

I have heard the bong go off but I never assumed it was something bad but perhaps from the description it was not just the bong but the way it was done. They should just tell people that it is a customs check. My freinds had to go to customs for an agricultural check retuning from a cruise at Fort Lauderdale. They told them exactly what they were checking for so they were not at all stressed. I never had a customs check on a cruise but I have had a couple of checks at airports returning which considering the number of flights from abroad I have been on was a miniscule number. I am pretty sure they were random checks. They went through my dirty laundry but I had nothing to declare or that was not declared.

They were handing them out recently on a flight on a foreign airline but apparently they will just be tossed. According to google they are doing random checks. Of course you still need to declare if you are over the limits. Are there kiosks? Since I use the Global Entry kiosk I have not paid attention.

At the time they stopped using the forms at ports the cruise line touted the change. it sounded like it was some kind of agreement. I guess it saves the cruise line from distributing forms. Last time I did an international flight the airline distributed the form. I don't think the form is discontinued. Someone correct me if that is wrong.

Thank you for posting your review. Your review is very informative. My comment is that the price is suprisingly good for all that is included.

Another reason other than work is investing. I have a friend who is buying and selling stocks and bonds every day, He likes to trade. Even on a cruise. Sort of like a gambling addiction. He needed to bring a laptop.

The individual police are just cogs in a machine. Incompetent justice system not individual police officers, i.e. those who bring the cases to court.....

Personally I think that is what I would do if touring Japan on vacation. If it was busness travel or I was living ior studiying in Japan then a local SIM could be a better option as local calls in Japan would be included. I don't know the WiFi situation in Japan but when traveling in Europe I have not had to use the travel pass every day as there is plenty of WiFi.

As others have mentioned with regular AT&T plans you can do travel passes that sre $10 a day so you would want to compare that cost to how much the local SIM would cost. Also it is like you were at home to calls to the US would be included but calls to Japanese numbers would be international rates. With a local SIM you would have a local phone number not your AT&T number, So that is somthing to consider. As mentioned Japan is strict about SIM cards but you can get a Global SIM or ESIM card. So you would want to compare the cost of that to the $10 a day travel pass. Also what model iPhone do have. Some have dual SIMs.

Actually you are WRONG. If the iphone is unlocked then it does not require an AT&T SIM card or an AT&T ESIM. I have used other SIM cards in my iPhone but I always get them from the Apple store where all the ones sold are unlocked. If they bought at an AT&T store they may be locked. Even then it is possible after a certain time period to get AT&T to unlock them.

Beats Fit Pro. They are in ear and have a wing that holds them in the ear. They don't fall out. I have them because my AirPods Pro 1st generation would fall out when I was using one of the fitness machines in working out in our condo fitness room. They are noise canceling and use the same chip as in the Apple AirPods Pro that I have. As a bonus they cost less than Airpods Pro.

I have meticulously reported all overseas purchases, kept the reciept and never had to pay any duty. i don't think that means they were overlooking duty owed. Even though the amount was over $4000 there are different rates based on category and origin. The common person is not going to be able to figure out what they owe. Busness people who import and export for a living probably could figure it out. And of sourse cutoms agents.

I am not talking about law enforcement. We know they are trained to treat everyone as guilty. I also don't doubt that there are passengers who don't report purchases. I have also heard sales people in port suggest not reporting purchases. The cruise line knows about the purchases, they reported them. Guest relations can send a notice to the passenger reminding them that duty may be due for their onboard purchase.

I think you are missing the point. They know that the purchase was made since all large purchases are reported to customs. When they bong the passenger for the purchase and take them aside all they do is collect the taxes. They don't charge them with any criminal act. So why do they treat them badly. Why don't they send them to guest relations and remind them about the taxes? For that matter why don't they send a notice or message to the passenger the night before? There is no reason to assume the worst and treat them badly. I wonder how other cruise lies lines handle this. I have seen similiar postings before on the Royal Caribbean boards but I don't recall any similiar postings of it happening that way on other cruise lines.

In the shop she understood the sales person to mean no tax as it was duty free. The sales person I believe was intent on making the sale. I was not present so I can't verify the wording. So it is hearsay as to what actually occurred. While onboard she told me she had bought a watch. It did not occur to me she meant a $4000 TAG watch. If I had been in the shop or aware of the large purchase I would have educated her.

I have a keyboard for my 11 inch iPad and it is a cellular version so I can buy data. Just the right size for travel.