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Just note that other than formal night (I'd guess 50-70% participate) and to a lesser degree Caribbean night (25-35%?), the dining attire themes are largely ignored or people simply don't even know.

Thank you @OCSC Mike and @SpeedNoodles -- you've been very helpful!

Yes. Just don't freak out when check-in doesn't open in the app right at midnight. There's often a 5-10 minute delay in my experience (my last one opened at 12:07am for example). Also, be aware that you have to select a check-in time for each member of your party so just go down the list. Not good ones.

Ha! I've been so busy, i didn't realize you were home briefly and then back out. I hope you have an another amazing cruise! P.S. +2 with you and Dan. We're also not flying any time soon which is also limiting our itineraries. Love your perspective on cruising in retirement. We have been thinking of calling it quits and Batman is 'suite or bust' so thinks we're going to cruise every other year. Um, not sure where that is coming from, but we're definitely not on the same page!

Wow! Securing a check-in time is really that easy? Thought I would have to have all of my stuff uploaded first. I had read in a few places that you should check-in through the website and not the app. Can you think of reasons why?

I agree with most of what you say. Bigger ships are Royal's focus and probably their future. However, there is one big reason why the size mentioned today is likely in the cards. That is the Panama Canal. Royal has been repositioning the radiance class ships through the canal as the Alaska season begins and ends. If they want to continue to do that, then there's a very strict size limit. If they decide that isn't really important then discovery either gets cancelled or grows to 300,000 tons.

If you check in using the mobile app you can just pick an arrival time and complete everything else later.

The Panama Canal is more a factor of hull design and avoiding things hanging off the ship. That's what is keeping Voyager, Freedom and Quantum class out of the PC. I don't see them building a ship just so that they can keep something in Tampa or Baltimore. They'll want Discovery going to exotic destinations that mega ships can't sail into. Those types of ports of call aren't within reach of Tampa or Baltimore. They need the exotic destinations to justify increased cruise fares. They need elevated cruise fares to satisfy the business model which is increasingly focused at mega ships for the mass cruise market. Absent of mega pax volumes, exotic destinations with an upscale pricing model can achieve similar revenue margins. Neither Tampa or Baltimore scream exotic elevated pricing.

My family is sailing on a June 15 sailing and check-in is available tonight beginning at midnight. Will my 3 young kids need to be awake so that I can take a photo of them live? Or will the check-in process allow me to choose an already existing photograph (passport photo) from my phone? Thank you!

This is huge. The elevator software is by far the most inefficient thing on a cruise ship.

It varies by ship/sailing (you can check previous Cruise Compasses on this site), but none of them are compulsory. A typical 7-night sailing out of North America will have 2 formal nights, and it varies how many people actually participate.

We've greatly enjoyed Edge class. As with any cruise line, enhancement and experiences can be expanded with a larger and more up to date ships. It's the nature of upgrading a fleet. When Millennium was the only class, we enjoyed that, and following Solstice improved the experience over Millennium class. But with each class, so has the passenger capacity increased; so as the ships get bigger, so do the crowds. At this point, as we sail suite class, and do not favor going back in ship class (M,S). The legacy ship class Retreat experience is far inferior to what Edge class offers (by design) when sailing in a suite. So to us, that's the most notable change that makes Edge class our new preference.

Vision class is 70-80k gross tons, Radiance class is 90k and fits those places, voyager 140k. obviously this is all speculation and would depend on how wide/tall they settle on going. will also need shore power capability and fuel cell or natural gas burning to meet strict emissions rules, still at such an early stage. like, drawing on a napkin in the bar stage. Project Eagle that led to the voyager class started in 1995 and Voyager entered service in 99. in that project the ship famously (infamously?) grew 40% from their first projected size. I think the same inevitable growth happens here, there's just no way they go as small as I've seen some people here talking after all the success the mega ships are bringing them. this is a business decision. Icon will be icon, this is a replacement for the tonnage they will lose as vision/radiance/voyager all get retired in the next 15-20 years, think of discovery as a newer, more efficient hybrid of those classes that royal can probably also build a discovery plus of as they evolve and/or share the frame with celebrity. royal is not an expedition line, they THE mass market big ship, big fun big family line. sure vision class still exists and is paid for, but how much EBITDA are they really kicking off vs the newer half of the fleet? what's the repair/maintenance cost as a % of total net profit that they return and how does that compare with the newer ships? these are the considerations Royal is weighing much more than "do we still need a ship that fits in new orleans or tampa or every other place?" We don't have to listen to what they say, look at what they're already doing. Royal wants to run more, bigger ships out of big port facilities that they control for a better, more efficient experience for the passengers and for suppliers and staffing. Royal wants to then send those passengers to island/port experiences that they control and can also profit from and on and on. 2,500 passengers with very limited opportunity for upcharge items vs 6-7k passengers on newer classes spending alllll of the extra money on shopping/dining/play. it's going to become a very simple equation and it's not going to be a 'small' ship in any sense, it's going to need space for the bells and whistles and space for the people needed to pay for those amenities.

Carambola was fantastic! But we didn't book through RC, we just walked off the pier and booked directly with the operators. Saved some cash that way.

Yes. The seagulls used to be insane, swooping in and stealing my tacos but in Jan, all three times I went I only saw feral chickens. Maybe the seagulls only hang out at the clubs now, Hideaway or Beach.

I have to echo that; Giovanni's on Freedom had the best chicken parm/ fettuccini I have ever had. Also, thanks for letting me know about the BOGO. I was planning to use it on my sailings but wanted the 2nd and third nights, so as long as I pay for it, I should be fine?

Dinner/night attire: Is there nightly themes such as 'wear white/black", formal etc. Another cruise I went on had different night attire themes, just want to be prepared.

I'm looking into a couple of beach excursions for St. Kitts & Nevis. Right now it's between the Carambola Beach Break and Spice Mill Beach Break. Has anyone done either of these? Was it worth the money? Good things? Bad things? BTW, I'm planning on having my kiddos with us (12 & 15 when we go). TIA

I think most people who take them back to the room end up keeping them.

Assuming they're careful with the dimensions, it should be able to go through the new panama canal locks. I doubt Tampa will be possible. Idk about Baltimore. Europe is going to depend on the port.

Would that make it small enough for Tampa, Baltimore, Panama Canal and some European Ports (e.g. Montenegro)?

Agree with almost everything you wrote and have posted the exact same sentiments about D perks and looking forward to D+ on more than one occasion over the past couple years. 33 days til we can finally enjoy them.

I'm enjoying following along @Cruisin and Boozin so thanks for sharing. At some point in the next few hours you're going to be more or less sailing past my front door. I say "more or less" because you'll be too far over the horizon for either of us to see each other but I'm tracking your progress on cruise mapper and will be waving madly as you go past anyway! I'm right where it says "Loule" on the map. The greenish ship ahead of you is Odyssey so I'll be out on my balcony waving to them imminently.

Staying our first night at the Embassy Suites Phoenix/Scottsdale. Doing a hot air balloon ride over the Sonoran Desert early the next morning and then taking our time while heading all the way to Flagstaff. I figure we’ll stop in Sedona along the way and possibly Arcosanti. I visited there many years ago when my best friend lived in Phoenix. Since then she moved to Nevada and is now in Tucson! My granddaughter is a few months shy of 14 and super excited for this trip! We’ve got a full day tour booked for the Grand Canyon too! Thanks for any recommendations!

As far as rewards cards go, it's not the best card. But it is a niche card and if you like it for earning cruise credits, that's great. I'd much rather have a 2-3% cashback card for everyday purposes and specialty cards for rewards specific to travel that can give up to 5%. As far as the bonus points up front, the offer I see is $1000 spend in the first 90-days of having the card to get those points ($300 credit). If you are using it for the bonus only, that's fine but over the long-term, actual cash back may be more beneficial.