alfaeric

I’m not going to read the article, as it’s not going to change anything for me. BUT, if it results in lowering the demand for cruising, we all win.

So a thread about the FSK bridge collapse and replacement isn’t about the FSK bridge. Confusing.

So add a totally new highway and roads? Cheaper to make the existing roads wider if that's really the core problem. And when I look at a map, there's no other location where the land comes out a little into the river that makes any sense to span for access. Where would it make more sense to put a bridge over the Patapasco River? Unless you are talking the Potomac, which is a totally different discussion.

So why would it be dumb to put a new span next to the old one? I would rather have the old bridge open and usable while the new one was being built.

And factor in the cost of going from the port in Miami to FLL. And the cost difference in hotels, if that's also part. (but make sure you keep in mind the time to get there when booking the return flight. A 10am flight out of MIA may be ok, but not so much for FLL.

When you say "since" is that after the span went down or before? If it was before, it makes more sense than not, since the connection remains open while the bridge is being built. Now that the bridge is gone, I'm betting that they will revisit that, as it saves money to not move the road. The Gordie Howe bridge vs Ambassador Bridge isn't at all about replacement, it was adding massive amounts of lanes and taking the control of the flow (read maintenance) away from certain people. Canada really wants to expand the trade between Ontario and Michigan, so they have been pushing this the entire time- including paying for almost all of it (including the massive numbers of lawsuits the owners of the Ambassador Bridge filed to block the new bridge). Given the access of the two bridges, I'm betting that the new span will take the gross majority of traffic once it's done. I'm sure we will use it instead, as it's a far more direct access between I-75 in the US and 401 in Canada- should reduce delays when going deep into Michigan or into Ontario. The FSK bridge isn't nearly that, so a new one isn't an addition, but a replacement. And keeping the passage open used to be super important when building a new one.

You can do it, as I've started once or twice, but the web page planner route is a lot easier since seeing your entire calendar then is easier.

Sure you can. Have done it multiple times. Some of the shows may not really be open until you get on the ship and connect to the ships internet.

Last month, too. (Feb 2024)

NY should be the best option if they can’t clean it up quickly- Port Liberty supports two ships in the summer with an Oasis class ship being added. So the vision should not be a problem briefly. It’s a 4 hour bus ride, which we have done to get to port Liberty from DC. I wager it will be cleaned up quickly given the total marine traffic that uses that passage.

IF they are doing them: Backstage- in the theater, meet some of the cast and stage crew, and take a tour of the backstage area. Galley- take a tour of the kitchen. Bridge- take a tour of the bridge while at sea. We have enjoyed them when they were happening in the past- but some got cut post pandemic. On our recent cruise, the backstage returned to being that instead of a panel talk with the cast and crew. And we also participated in the bridge tour. Not sure if the galley tour is back or not. Nice to have some back, at least.

Reviving this thread, so we can add our recent data. Submitted the forms to the Post Office on 3/10, they were issued 3/18, and we got them today 3/21. We did pay the extra for expedited service, as there is upcoming travel. But it was considerably faster than we anticipated.

+another one for a call and chat. We've done it countless times over the years. Very worth it.

We were told on our recent cruise (Feb) that not much in terms of appearance will be updated on the ship. She is in pretty darned nice shape, though.

We've done a TON of cruises out of San Juan- English first, Spanish second. Just like many cruises out of Miami. Some of the guest performers may do some Spanish in their show, but they would do both. But, for sure, they will certainly play the crowd from Puerto Rico, just like all of the cruises out of Galveston play to the Texas crowd.

They are not on all ships. Just the newest ones. And we have used the business card of our room steward to leave in there. Waste of $2 to buy something for it. As for the rest of the "stuff" listed, shop in your own home before getting something you already have. We have plenty of lanyard ID pockets to use for luggage tags, plenty of lanyards, a card.... The only thing we don't is the magnetic hooks, which we've never needed so much to get some. Heck, someone left 2 in our cabin on our last cruise, and we never used them. None of this is essential. Could be nice to have, but IMHO, people should cruise once before deciding they need some of the stuff.

Funny how every single thread that a person asks about carry on luggage ends the same. The only thing missing from this thread are people complaining that they are being held up by people carrying their luggage on or off the ship. Other than that, everything else has been covered without answering the OP's question whether they can do what they want. -too much effort -want to be on the ship first -have to check out of the hotel early -too big of bags -don't want to lug your bags around the ship Almost need a sicky since this subject repeats the same trend every time.

Maybe stay in a better part of town? South Beach is a whole lot nicer than the beach area in Ft Lauderdale. But to each their own, we like to wake up, tour around where we are staying, have a late breakfast, check out late, and step on board at 1pm. Even IF we got there at 11am, and used porters, you are still lugging around your carry ons. Wandering around the ship with a backpack or two, doesn't sound that appealing. So we just take everything on at 12:30, walk to our cabin, unpack and done. Unless our muster station is between the boarding area and the elevators. And sometimes the restaurant is in the way, too- so a brief stop to check out our table... We also never go to the WJ. Pretty much the entire cruise.

Touring around and enjoying where we are. Makes for a brief extra vacation. Miami Beach is pretty nice in the morning.

The search engine uses the same popular TA as I have seen on line. And I've never encountered a "deal" for any of my cruises that Royal didn't offer. Maybe it's the time of year we cruise, dunno. Just did a mock booking for a cruise we just booked- same answer I got when I looked just before booking it on board. I'll keep trying, but not very hard.

Another one who does it all the time. It's really nice to be totally unpacked at 2pm, and not have to worry at 6pm if our last piece of luggage will show up or not. We also don't really understand the allure to be the first on the ship- you can do 3 things, eat, drink, and swim. While all of those can be fun, doing it at 11am vs. 1pm- not sure why it's *that* important.

It's exactly the same value. We would take the points and convert them later. You can use them as $300 or later for $500 off, or continue adding them up to other values.

Thank you, no, I don't. Not worth the time. When I see one of them present a price that was higher than what I would pay booking directly- tells me that they have their own shenanigans they play to make it look good.

We've also used the business cards that we have been given by crew. Don't bother buying one when people certainly have a good replacement in their possession.

We were just on her for 20 days, and would not hesitate to book again. That being said, you REALLY have to adjust your expectations. First thing we noticed was that our JS was smaller than the modern ships. Got used to that really quickly. And you have to really be able to create your own vacation, as there are less things to do. Maybe this would be the time to participate in events that you would not normally do. That's how we approach it. One other thing we had to kind of get used of were huge groups of friends cruising together. Which meant the Schooner Bar was super crowded at times. And when you are trying to listen to the piano, it can be a problem when you have a large group of older people who are speaking loudly both to talk over the entertainment and they have lost some hearing ability- it can get a little hard to like that. But you can find the times where they mostly leave. Given that pretty much all of these groups of friends are within a short drive to Baltimore- that's really why this ship is so highly rated internally. IMHO, the people want to maintain a ship in Baltimore as much as they can- so they will rate it as high as they possibly can. A thing we really like about this and other small ships is that it's easier to meet the entertainment cast and the rest of the public facing crew. Didn't really notice her being old- some rust here and there- just like every other ship. But she's pretty updated and nice. The upcoming dry dock next month isn't going to be much of an update inside- unless things are broken.