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@FionaMG, I looked and Yes!, the cruise right before the Sept 7 sailing is a 16-night Amsterdam to Boston cruise. Thanks for that insight!

I stayed up until midnight eastern time to be first off the line to select an arrival time for the Sept 7 sailing on Jewel of the Seas out of Boston. At midnight, it switched from check-in wasn't open to check-in was closed, and then - after continuous refreshing - at 12:02, it let me check in. The earliest check-in time was 12 noon. Did anyone else manage to get an earlier time? Is 12 noon the new normal?

Thanks. I thought "home port" was different from the embarkation port, that the "home port" was kind of like the permanent address of the ship. Thanks for clarifying!

Hi, I want to start check-in at midnight on the day check-in opens, and it seems from what I have read that I need to target midnight for the homeport of the ship. We are cruising on Jewel of the Seas out of Boston in September, but I don't think Boston is any ship's homeport. What time zone should I be thinking for calculating when to try to check in? TIA!

Hi all, I just wanted to report back that I just got cancellations of all the My Time dining reservations I had made, and when I went in to the app, I saw I now had Early Seating dining. We actually hadn't even been able to get on to the Early Seating waitlist when we booked, and it was only a week ago that our TA said she had been able to add us to the waitlist. Super thankful this piece of things worked out as I had hoped!

@Geoff P I'm no expert, but Celebrity ships were not designed with kids in mind, whereas Royal Caribbean ships were. I don't know that either ship has much for the under 5 crowd, but everything I've read indicates that while you can take kids on Celebrity, Royal is far better for kids. If we were taking kids, I would definitely stick with Royal. I'm only looking at Celebrity because this will be our first cruise without kids.

Hi all, We really enjoyed our cruise last summer to Bermuda on Liberty of the Seas, and would like to do the trip again. I was looking at the sailings for June 2025 that were just released, and website prices for two people in a choose-your-room standard balcony in the forward section on the five-night roundtrip to Bermuda from Cape Liberty on June 12 is $2784; our travel agent can get us a slightly better rate which includes refundable deposit. I happened to look at Celebrity, and the Silhouette will be doing a series of SEVEN night roundtrip to Bermuda from Cape Liberty in June 2025; on the website, the base price (no drinks/wifi) for a non-obstructed standard balcony on the June 15 sailing is $2896. I think I did an apples-to-apples comparison, and I am really surprised that I can get a two-night-longer cruise on Celebrity for about the same price I would pay for the shorter cruise on Liberty, especially considering that I thought Celebrity was the higher-end cousin of Royal. Can anyone offer some thoughts on this? Like why the pricing is that way, and things we should consider when making the choice? No kids in tow and just going for some unwind time in a beautiful context. 7 days to relax sounds nicer than 5 for the same price. Thanks.

Boston and Cape Liberty departures through Feb 26 went up last night (Feb 13).

Hi, We just booked a cruise for Sept, and had to go on the waitlist for Early Seating dining. In the meantime, we are booked with My Time dining, and I was able to go in and make reservations for all the nights of our cruise. Will the computer pass us over when it would be our turn to get off the Early Seating waitlist because we have the My Time reservations? Thanks.

Hi, Is there a way to figure out the cost to purchase the Royal Caribbean Travel Protection plan for a particular cruise without actually going through the booking process? Also, the word "may" in "In addition, should you need to cancel for "any other reason" you MAY be eligible for credit toward a future cruise " is a little bit concerning. Are there some hidden caveats that would make you ineligible for the FCC if you had to cancel? Thanks.

Hi, In a standard non-suite room, it seems there is a $7.95 charge for ordering room service, and that "An 18% gratuity is additional and will automatically be added to your check." It is just 18% on the $7.95, or is it 18% on the value of the food you ordered (even though the cost of the food to you is zero)? Thanks.

@Pattycruise Thanks so much for the info. Super helpful to know that it is a possibility on that cruise. If you don't mind some more questions, from what you said it sounds like they might have been visible multiple nights on your cruise (or maybe multiple times on the same cruise); is that correct and, if yes, can you please give some more specifics? Also, was it possible to look for (and see them) from the observation lounge or some other indoor areas, or did you have to sit outside on the deck to watch for them? Thanks so much!

Hello, I'm considering the Greenland cruise from Boston in September, thinking that there might be a decent chance of seeing the Northern Lights since it is 15 nights and I'm guessing that 7 of those nights will be in the aurora oval. Would appreciate any thoughts on how overly optimistic this might be, but also, if the Northern Lights are out, will the captain announce that? Or do you just have to sit in the observation lounge and watch? Thanks.

Hi all, Looking at excursions for a trip to Bermuda on Liberty of the Seas in summer 2024. Can anyone tell me who the actual provider is for the "Devil's Isle Cruise Beach Snorkel"? I really like to be able to read reviews on TripAdvisor before booking anything, and I can't do that without knowing the company that actually runs the excursions. Thanks in advance!

Hi all yet again, You all are fantastically helpful. Getting ready to book on the Liberty of the Seas, and #8638 seems to be still open. This is the center hump balcony, and I am planning on spending a lot of time on the balcony, so the idea of being out as far as possible with the best possible view seems lovely. I've been reading up on noise, and it seems that while Centrum and foot traffic noise is an issue for hump balconies on Radiance class ships, for some reason, it is not an issue on Freedom class ships. Can you all share your experiences regarding whether or not someone in this room (or similar) can hear a lot of noise drifting up from the Centrum through the elevator corridor, and also if you can hear a lot of noise from people going to and from the elevator? Also, on the balcony, do you hear a lot of the churn/engine noise from the aft of the ship? Thanks so much.