CruiserBruce

Miami is a bit more complicated than FLL. But noon is fine at Miami.

I don't think Rick Steves does anything on Australia or New Zealand...his focus is Europe with a little of the Middle East. But he has written and done stuff on cruising in general.

The last place a ship wants to be is tied up at a dock in a hurricane, so the ships will adjust schedules whether or not the port closes.

I think you are actually talking about Berth 46. See this thread just down the board:

"May" is the key word. I wouldn't automatically expect every tour that was offered for the original port stop is absolutely going to be available for the new port stop.

The shower containers are shampoo, conditioner and body wash. On KDam in Feb/March, and N. Statendam in July, there was soap and lotion in wall mounted containers by the bathroom sink.

Welcome to Cruise Critic! First of all, you are asking questions that are extremely subjective. Whether excursions or a drink plan is "worth it" is totally a decision only you can make. After 25 cruises, we are starting to enjoy having drink plans, but conversely, we do less and less ship's excursions, preferring to either do private excursions or simply do it ourselves (commonly called "DIY" here on Cruise Critic). But that is our personal view....it may not work for you at all. Do you have access to a travel agent who is knowledgeable about cruising? That would be helpful. Please look around Cruise Critic. There is a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience here. Every question you have has been discussed here....you can go through many discussions of points of view. You can't hurt anything by exploring widely on Cruise Critic.

December 26 will be a normal day, everything will be open.

It was on the wall in our cabin on KDam late February and into March.

Agree, in First or Business, I wouldn't worry about it.

No small bottles for awhile. Wall mounted squirt bottles for all toiletries.

That is a special arrangement within the PVSA, where ship has to be US flagged ( the only mass market ship to be US flagged), and a huge percentage of the staff must be US citizens. There is no other ship covered by this special arrangement.

It looks like the OP is on Carnival...based on their previous posts, which we shouldn't have to research. The best place for your research would be the Carnival board, here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/133-carnival-cruise-lines/

Agree. And there is a set of doors between the BB King Lounge and the area of the Rolling Stone Rock Room, which does a far job of stopping the sounds from traveling. They try to keep the doors closed when there are performances in both locations at the same time.

Part of the "delay" is you need to clear US Immigration and Customs in Vancouver. So definitely allow at least the two hours. More is smart.

One of the most commonly asked questions here... If you can be assured of getting off in the beginning of disembarkation, you can carry your own bags off, and grab the first cab you see, you have a fair chance at catching that flight. However, if you can't do that, or anything goes wrong...you are cooked.

That is the way all the travel insurance does it. I am not aware that any travel related business is going to give you a service and bill your insurance later.

No problem with a 1:15 flight. Perfectly reasonable.

Yep...some specifics would be helpful, but I don't think I would try an 11:15 flight. It can be 30-45 minutes to the airport. Docking can be slowed by fog and currents. SFO can be slow, if you don't have TSA Pre.

The Hilton in the airport is a very nice hotel. Very easy to just walk to it, and a great buffet breakfast.

It would be an extremely old phrase. We have sailed in a Neptune or Penthouse Suite for 30 years...Pinnacle Suite was Penthouse Suite. But don't remember "Deluxe Suite".

Agree, the app is absolutely not needed. All you have to do is enter the info required, and print the receipt/approval.

There are many threads on hotels and transport mentioned here. Not sure why you think its too early to book. Just make a booking that doesn't require money up front. You can always re-book if rates go down. Your trip coincides with the start of summer business in SF, so it can get very busy.

You could do a screen capture and print it. You can also get your boarding passes from the "Check in" tab within 24 hours of your flight.

Better to ask on the Carnival board, here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/133-carnival-cruise-lines/