MommaBear55

The 3 night dining package gives you a choice of eating at Chops, Giovanni's or Izumi. You start on night one or two and you get assigned the first time. You can change that. You should also make reservations for your other two nights at the same time. The $20 allowance is for ships that have other restaurants such as sports bars or Johnny Rockets. You could choose to eat at the same restaurant all three nights or so 2 nights at one, one at another or a different restaurant each time.

We have been getting dining packages ever since the new menus started. We eat an occasional dinner in the MDR, but the rest of the time it's in specialty restaurants

You could see if there is a FB group for this cruise already and ask someone to price out the drink package. Only you know how much it is worth to you.

Don't say that too loud, they might consider it a challenge

I got back my Kindle, they located it right away but it took another few weeks to actually receive it, as it stayed on the ship for a trip it two

I am not a fan at all. Of all the things they haven't brought back since Covid, I'd trade any of them for this display.

I've been in several departure ports in the last year that have you queue up in the time slot that is on your set sail pass. They let you check in if every one in the current time slots and anyone in the time slots ahead of you have checked on. The cruise lines are also trying to stop the bottlenecks at the ports by spreading out the time people arrive. If you want an early slot, check in at midnight for the port from which you are departing 45 days before your departure date.

I wonder how they'll handle my future cruise bookings that I bought on my last cruise but have not yet redeemed

I had understood that the gratuities were wrapped into your price when you booked in Australia. Is that not so? The staff gets a list (or used to get a list) of who paid their gratuities automatically. I actually saw it posted on a bulletin board when I did a galley tour.

If the normal passenger load is 7000, 1% of that is 70, divided by 52 weeks in a year is 1.34. round up to two for the age of the passengers and I think it's closer to that.

Yep, I'd snitch, too. I never purchased a balcony when they allowed smoking on the balconies. Now that smoking is forbidden, I expect to be able to enjoy my balcony smoke free. In my 5 cruises (56 days) in 2023, only had an issue once and it didn't occur again after they were spoken to.

We just showed up and got directed to the area to wait for the wheelchair transport. Only one of us could stay with our friend, we just arranged a place to meet when they got on board. A staff member wheeled her aboard.

And if you can't get an accessible room, at least try to make sure you have a room with the bed away from the door so your scooter can fit in your room. Hopefully your steward can take it away every night, but because of SOLAS, you cannot leave it in the hallway. So sorry for your misfortune, hope you can make the best of this bad situation

We were on a transatlantic where there were many medical issues. A number of people got taken off in Bermuda, there were still 6 ambulances waiting for us when we arrived in Port Everglades.

Any location except deck 6, as most balcony cabins on deck 6 are obstructed. We like deck 9 or 10 midship

I'd think a room with the bed further away from the door would work better to accommodate the pack and play, maybe you could stick the stroller in the closet or fold it up and put it in the couch?

On the Odyssey, Chops, Giovanni's and Izumi are covered. You have an amount "up to" a certain amount at Playmakers. If you want to to Teppanyaki, it's an extra $15 per person (well worth it). Enjoy! We tend to favor Chops over the others, YMMV

We had the UDP on our two cruises last month. They were even pushing it in the specialty restaurants. It's super annoying.

Maybe she could start walking now? Even if she did 3, 3 minute stints around the house daily, then went to 4 minutes, etc. It does add to the enjoyment not to be fatigued after walking.

We are in our 70's, technically on the same cruise, yet had a totally different experience. We certainly found the 10 pounds you lost! Our dinners in Chops were amazing, we changed our reservations away from Giovanni's because of the poor quality food there. I would agree with you on the Solarium Bistro. The ship is a good size for us, but we're used to walking 15,000 steps a day. We love everything about the 270. Never noticed problems with the seats in the theater, at 5' 8" we find them comfortable. We also had to go to medical 4 separate times because we got the respiratory crud running amok on the ship and the care was excellent on each visit. The cost, when compared to the US system, was a bargain. I really hope you find what you are looking for. My husband and I certainly discuss what our options will be when we just cannot keep up any more. I've heard good things about the Cunard ships, but they just go back and forth. Good luck on HAL.

I'm in the same boat (ship?). Hopefully the Jewel will pull through for us.

You are definitely better off in a cabin with the bed by the window, it helps with the remaining walk around room with the scooter in the room. We went on a cruise 7 and 12 weeks after my husband's knee replacements. He was walking, but he tired very easily. We found pre-arranging wheelchairs at the airports to be really helpful. We had several sea days at the beginning which was very helpful in his adjustment. We also went a few weeks after my daughter had an ACL replacement, she needed wc assistance to get on and off the ship, we just hung out and had a relaxing cruise. The hardest part on both trips was the sudden onset of fatigue, your idea of renting cars is good but I'd recommend hiring taxis so you can change your itinerary at will and not have to fuss with picking up and returning rentals.

We've done cruises on Explorer and Odyssey within the last three weeks. I was very pleasantly surprised with the improvement in the food. We felt the quality had definitely taken a step up over the cruises we took 6 months ago. There's still room to go, but I'm hopeful

We loved the Greek Isle cruises, have done 3. Definitely agree with coming in a few days early to explore your departure city. Also understand that Venice cruises actually go out of Ravenna, Rome port is actually Civitavecchia and Athens port is Piraeus. They are all easily doable, but they do need transportation, which can be arranged through Royal Caribbean.

This week, generally they are released on Wednesdays. Could be earlier or later, it's just during this week sometime.