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Phew! All done! The most stressful part of committing to a live blog is naming it! @Lovetocruise2002 sets the bar so high! I waffled between “ICON Sea Clearly Now” and “ICONic Anniversary Cruise”. I hope I made the right choice! Once again, starting the blog a little early to get a head start. We set sail in 7 days! It’s so crazy how time flies… we booked this cruise almost 19 months ago back in late OCT 2022 when they first opened up the bookings for Icon! My wife (Christine) and I (John) will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary a little early on this cruise. Our actual anniversary is June 4th… the not so clever “6404” in my screen name! It will be just the two of us this time since none of our cruising cohorts could make this sailing due to scheduling conflicts (both couples booked, but had to back out early on… they are soooo jealous! ). Our last “solo” couple cruise was back in OCT 2021 on Oasis shortly after the return to cruising. There will be a number of new experiences during this vacation both on land and on the cruise. Of course, Icon is completely new to us! So excited and ready to go! This itinerary has eluded us to date. We had booked this itinerary on Harmony prior to the shutdown. Harmony turned into Symphony (moved us as Harmony’s planned dry dock was moved up at that time), but when Covid hit, that sailing was of course cancelled. This will be our first visit to Costa Maya and Roatan! * Time for some trip details… Cruise Details: Icon of the Seas, 7-night, Western Caribbean & Perfect Day itinerary Out of Miami, FL 5/11/24-5/18/24 Itinerary: Day 1 (5/11): Miami, FL Day 2 (5/12): * At Sea * Day 3 (5/13): Roatan, Honduras Day 4 (5/14): Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico Day 5 (5/15): Cozumel, Mexico Day 6 (5/16): * At Sea * Day 7 (5/17): PDCC, Bahamas Day 8 (5/18): Miami, FL Cabin Details & General Plans/Stuff: Ocean View Balcony Stateroom (Deck 12, Midship, Starboard side) Selected Traditional Dining (5:00 PM) Purchased the Deluxe Beverage Package Purchased VOOM Surf+Stream Package Purchased 10-Photo Package Purchased a-la-carte specialty dining lunches (Chops Grille, Hooked, and Izumi Hibachi) Purchased Chef’s Table... wanted to try Empire Supper Club, but the $472 charge for the 2 of us was a little too steep this time around! Purchased the Day Pass to Hideaway Beach (CocoCay) Purchased “Semi-Sub Glass Bottom Boat and Monkey & Sloth Park” excursion in Roatan (Christine insisted) Purchased “Chacchoben Extreme Tour” through Native Choice in Costa Maya Purchased admission to Nachi Cocum in Cozumel Purchased Crown’s Edge for both of us (Note: Christine is terrified of heights, but insisted on joining me when I booked it! ) Booked all major entertainment via Cruise Planner (The Wizard of Oz, Starburst: Elemental Beauty, Aqua Action!, Headliner: Adam Kario, The Effectors: The Origin Story, Adult Comedy LIVE! (x2) What did we skip this time? The Key… we do not feel it’s worth it right now with all of the changes and price increases (we’ve purchased it 4 times since 2019 – painfully familiar with the changes to the program). It’s also been holding at $49.99 pp for our sailing! Unlimited Dining Package… tried it for the first time last OCT/NOV on Wonder. Enjoyed it, but we don’t feel it’s necessarily worth purchasing every cruise (our decision will likely be based on cost and itinerary). Will try it again down the road. Currently selling for $420.99 pp! We usually purchase the 3 Night Dining Package, but also skipped it this time and elected to go with specialty lunches and Chef's Table for a change. Miscellaneous Stuff: Flight on Southwest Airlines out of Islip/MacArthur Airport (ISP) on Long Island (NY) very early on FRI (5/10) morning to Ft. Lauderdale (FLL). Taking a shuttle (SAS Transport Service) from FLL directly to our hotel. Staying overnight at the InterContinental Miami (booked a Bay View room). Plan on exploring Bayside Marketplace and some other local areas as time permits. Our current plan is to use Uber or Lyft from the hotel to the port on SAT morning. We booked the earliest boarding period available (11:30-12:00) for our sailing (completed check-in right after midnight). We likely will arrive a little earlier just in case! We love to start our vacation and exploration of the ship ASAP! I think that’s it for the synopsis... now we just need to pack this weekend! *** As always, please let me know if you have any questions or would like me to post pictures of something you are interested in... I'll do my best to keep up throughout the sailing! My current iPhone lockscreen… always a pic of the next ship we’ve booked! Keeps us happy! Have a good night everyone!

I ended up using 1 1/2 sticks of deodorant. I also had to purchase hair conditioner and it was twice the price I would have paid at home. Everything else was fine. I did Laundry at the end of the 10 day cruise and 1/2 way through the 17 day cruise.

I am sorry for the late response. I stayed at The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel. It is a pub with 7 or 8 rooms above the pub. It was a great experience and I would stay there again in a heartbeat.

Thank you for all of the info. My TA offered to quote the refundable deposit prices for me, but like FionaMG said, I hate to ask her to do all of that extra work until I am pretty confident which cruise(s) I want to take. I was hoping there was an easier way that I hadn't come across yet.

Or bring soda for the kids.

margaritaville is much easier to get to and a fun day for the kids. The service is typical Bahamas “slow” so if the kids are hungry at a certain time you will need to plan ahead. The bar service is actually slower than slow (like reverse) so grab a couple while you are already at the bar because it’s a hike from the pool area. Despite the service issues, the pool area is very nice and well maintained. I recommend it for sure.

I finally won an upgrade through RoyalUp on an upcoming Mediterranean cruise at the end of May 2024 on Odyssey of the Seas. I noticed the ability to bid on an upgrade in my Cruise Planner 75 days before my sail date and I won my RoyalUp bid 60 days before our sail date. We were originally booked in a category 4D Oceanview balcony stateroom and we were upgraded to a J3 Junior Suite on deck 9. The minimum bid for us was $450/person and I bid $475/person. Our cruise appeared to be selling well with not many cabins left and I believe the reason I won my bid so early was to free up an Oceanview balcony stateroom that could be easily sold.

We'll be arriving in Ravenna a day or two before the cruise departs. Any suggestions for hotel(s) for 4 adults? Already inquired at M Club Deluxe B&B and they have no availability.

tnx missed it

AVOCADO MARGARITA Sabor NOTE: Don't forget to add 1 oz of sugar syrup. The original recipe says to use 0.5 oz of avocado. That's about one tablespoon. It looked too thin and the lime juice overpowered the avocado flavor. Recipes I found online mostly used half an avocado per serving, so that is how much I used for this.

I have bid up and won an upgrade twice. Once on Princess and once on Royal. Both times I did the same thing. Princess was an Alaska cruise early in the season. I was in an ocean view room. I noticed that there were a number of balcony cabins still available. I bid slightly above minimum; I believe $150. The Royal cruise was a January Caribbean cruise to Labadee, Puerto Plata, and Nassau on Adventure. I had an inside cabin. I noticed that there were a number of inside promenade view cabins. I bid slightly above minimum; $50. I think the key to winning was the number of cabins available and being slightly above the minimum bid.

Nope, unfortunately not in a suite, two balconies were expensive enough! Might have to go with booking each separately since these are special occasions. Just really stinks to pay more for two nights than we would for three!

Do you happen to be staying in a suite? If so, the concierge can almost certainly make it happen. If not, I'd probably just book the specific nights to be sure, but I'm a fairly risk-adverse type person!

Our particular sailing had Cannes France, Funchal Portugal, and Malaga Spain. We enjoyed the stops but they were not stops limited to small ships. We’d like to find one in the future with Canary Islands.

Maybe I jumped the gun on taking her off moderation.

Yes, we are, definitely will report back! Obviously still using the zip top bag to satisfy Heathrow but I should be able to make a good judgement of how strict FCO is. - Ashley

Yes! This was our exact experience in Heathrow in the summer of 2022. We had to move our liquids from our Ziploc bags to theirs. So annoying. Oh...good to know. Are you returning back from FCO after your cruise? If you are, let me know what happens. I am always interested in how I can carry more liquids. Good to know. Thanks!

I normally use something like this for my liquids bag (and definitely fit a lot more in it than a zip top bag, you can also find cheaper ones on Amazon, I just got this one when I had container store rewards): https://www.containerstore.com/s/travel/makeup-toiletries/rezip-zippered-travel-quart-bag/12d?productId=11022247 From my experience in Heathrow this trip, this definitely would not fly as they were stopping people with reusable bags and making them transfer their items to the zip top bags Heathrow provides, although I know that rule will be going away soon there. Also, based on my research (no direct experience on this yet), a reusable bag would be fine in FCO, they have the new scanners and have stopped having you take out your liquids bag like Heathrow still has you do. So really our only problem child was Heathrow. Of course these are fine in the US thanks to TSA pre check, and I don't think they are that picky when you have to take them out either. Our Vatican Tour today was booked through LivTours and the guide was absolutely wonderful! Anyways, the golf cart tour stopped numerous times, we got out to take pictures of the Colosseum, Circus Maximus, etc. We were in the Borghese Gardens when it was still raining so we didn't stop and get out but I think normally you would. The guide also parked at the 2 churches we went to and guided us through some things inside them (he was really into optical illusions in some of the art and stuff ). We all enjoyed our golf cart tour so I am sure you will have a blast!

RC is sailing at well over 100% occupancy. I doubt they're worried about Virgin. I'm sure like any other competitor they're doing due diligence, but I doubt they're concerned.

Drink packages cannot be shared. If the kids don't drink much soda, you can just buy their sodas individually.

Since nobody here has access to Royal's internal decision process, all we can do is guess how much they worry about Virgin Voyages. With that in mind, my thoughts are Royal doesn't really pursue the Panama Canal market. They reposition through the canal, but that's not the same thing. What other lines do is really irrelevant. Therefore, Royal will have to balance the economy of scale that can be achieved by going larger than new Panamax vs. The operational flexibility they get by being new Panamax class.

Thanks for the reply. Thats our concern. The first night is our daughter’s 16th birthday and the last night is our 20th anniversary. I might need to just book them individually at the higher cost, it’s just a shame to lose out on the third night that would pay for itself in the package. Tough call!

As long as you are flexible on days, times and restaurant, you will be will be fine with no issues. If you have your heart set on always eating at a certain time or want a certain restaurant on a specific day…then you may run into some issues

Psst... wrong live blog. What did you drink at CocoCay? @calvink669, keep an eye on your better half, lol.

After a nap in CoCo Cay, we finally hit Rye & Bean for some caffeine. The espresso martini and the coconut cold brew are both excellent, beautiful view too! I should’ve taken advantage of this earlier.