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Eve: Here ya go, one champagne cocktail. Adam: Oh, thank you. Eve: I thought only hookers drank those things? Adam: Well, I know Mom sure likes 'em.

I'd say mine is going to be the first drink I have on my very first cruise! (Non alcoholic, of course)

My wife loves the Miami Vice. Half Pina Colada, half Strawberry Daquiri, All tasty. Don't have a particular fave myself.

I know! I've printed in B&W too! Some of the people on the crew said that they preferred it in color when I took the behind the scenes tour! I should have included that!

BBC! Baileys, Banana Liqueur and Colada mix.

Interesting. Many ships do start out in Southampton before moving elsewhere. However, a Quantum class ship would have a longer sailing window out of the UK as it's a good cold weather ship. It would also be a good response to MSC's new builds as their Oasis-like clone is set to sail from North America (likely Miami) in 2019.

Miami Vice sounds pretty good, I think my wife will like the combo. I will suggest she tries it on Navigator in August.

Well, if we had to go by volume drunk, I'm sure I drank a trough of the Liberty's coffee. Margaritas were mighty good tho. pops

I don't know, but I'd like them to run a contest to see how many days the site can go without it crashing or freezing up!

Hey Grubby, I share your enthusiasm on your up coming cruise, only mine isn't until next March! My wife says I'm starting to get on her nerves! I recommend you buy these cruise luggage tag holders: http://amzn.to/2thOxmj. They are fool proof and very durable, can be used on more then one cruise!

Hello Everyone, Just wanted to share something I learned last week regarding getting my American Express Platinum benefits added to two of my upcoming cruises. After debating the merit of the annual $550 fee, I decided to get the card earlier this month to take advantage of the airline benefits and now monthly Uber credit. After trying to find out whether or not my regular travel agent could add the benefits since Amex only advertises they work by booking through Amex Travel, I just asked my travel agent to try and see what happened. I had previously booked a cruise on a Memorial Day sale for Oasis of the Seas sailing next February so my travel agent was able to refund my $500 deposit from my previous CC and then charge it to my Amex Platinum without changing my previous booking rate. I had no idea you could retroactively change the deposit like that! My travel agent then also used the benefit to apply to a cruise I was booking then for a Navigator of the Seas sailing in November 2018. Couple things I learned: OBC in the amount of $100 - $300 Shipboard Credit per stateroom for sailings 5 nights or longer (depending on category booked): $100 for inside/oceanview, $200 for balcony, $300 for suites plus a complimentary bottle of wine or champagne no matter which cabin category. Your travel agent should have the ability to log into an Amex system to get a tracking number to apply the obc to your cruise, and can even be done retroactively to a cruise deposit previously booked provided you are not past final payment date. Amex benefit is not combinable with many promotions. For my Oasis sailing I lost a $50 obc from Royal Caribbean (but kept the other stuff from my travel agency), but I got the $200 obc for the balcony cabin (boardwalk category) instead for a net $150 gain. Amex benefit is not combinable with C&A balcony discount so I lost my $100 balcony discount on the Navigator sailing, but again gained $200 obc for a net $100 gain. I was able to see the Amex $200 obc immediately in my cruise planner for my Oasis February sailing. Do the math to see whether the benefits lost are less than the Amex obc. Hope this helps shed some light on how the American Express Platinum benefits might be able to work for you since there's really not a huge amount of information on other forums. Daniel

If you are going on a Cruise to Europe or the Canaries please feel free to ask any questions and I will try to help and if I don't know I will try to find out for you. Obviously I haven't been everywhere but I will do my best. Ships, ports of call , UK airports, shore excursions etc.

We just booked our first transatlantic cruise!! April 5-20th on Brilliance! I have always wanted to go to Ireland and hubby said go for it.

Brian is right. Just book for 1 person.

Just book it for one person. One reservation can have 3 other people in it with you. Actually, I think the number is up to 6. At least that's what the cabanas say.

Yes, I was pleasantly surprised. Amex only advertises this benefit through their travel agency, but my TA explained that most agencies have a system they can log into to get the Amex obc applied. The trick is just figuring out whether that makes sense given the other benefits that are not combinable. Given I only take about 2 RCI cruises a year and combined with all the other CC benefits I'm a lot more comfortable with the $550 annual fee now. Definitely not a CC for everyone but if you fly a lot and use Uber regularly, it can make sense. https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/card/platinum/

Thanks so much :) We are going with the tux because he doesn't currently have a shirt and tie that anywhere near matches the dress I'm wearing (woman problems lol) and by the time I buy those two items it will cost me the same as renting the tux. We also won't have the added weight of the suit in our suitcase :). We are celebrating my parents 50th wedding anniversary as well. We don't get to dress up too often so it will be fun. @DocLC

... I mean ... that's not the WORST idea ...

Monday, September 4, 2017

I don't always use IE, but when I do,,,I was also having problems. (That sounds like a TV beer ad) IE will not let you select which cookies to delete so I just deleted all. That seemed to fix it for me.

But we got Snapchat goggles doe......IT dept needs major help

This really stinks. Sorry it's happening to you.

I emailed customer service. I'm sure I'll get a clear explanation.

FWIW, it still isn't perfect but I have the best luck with IE. ... Royal's site is literally the only thing I use Internet Explorer for.

Sounds delish. I'll have to try it in 2.5 weeks!

Did you try getting into Cruise Planner without logging in? https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruiseplanner?icid=hpnvbr_pagehe_crs_hm_awaren_953

Thanks DocLc, shame about the freestyle machines but not the end of the world. As for Sabor hopefully he will be ok with that as he is a bit of a plain Jane where food is concerned.

Good luck, but it seems to be MIA onboard of late.

No Freestyle machines on the Navigator. A list of the ships that have them can be found here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/07/20/coca-cola-freestyle-machines-royal-caribbean Sabor caters quite well to all tastes. The barbacoa might be a good choice for someone who doesn't want something spicy as it was more sweet than spicy. Dinner if the items can be requested less/non spicy, too.

Ok...so jealous! What is your blog site again? Jane

I know...I've put in my email several times...i don't get them but my husband who doesn't plan anything with the cruise gets a gazillion daily! Arghhh! Jane

Ok...that was the most amazing 2 episodes. I loved their shows and want to watch more. These were incredible at showing the pluses and minuses, and in fact did the same ship and cruise we are looking at, including the 3 day pretour. Gotta say that i may have to do a day at disney! Thank you so much...these and the river cruise podcasts have been so much fun to listen to! Jane

I have to say, this is a first as far as I know. Never seen this before !

Excited about this one but even more excited about our Fjords cruise in Aug 2018

Hi Geema, my wife's favourite is a pina colada and mine is a B52 , I know it's not very manly but I love the taste

Good answer! Our next cruise is Oct 20 2018 on Brilliance of the Seas

I just booked our airfare for January. Before doing so, I called RC and asked about time for luggage valet. Was told anytime after 11:30am so our flight...with Southwest...is 11:55am.

Matt is spot on , we done it last cruise and had to eat in Giovannis the first night and Chops the second but they did let us change our dining times once on board. Very big advantage though is the saving , it cost us less for both restaurants than 1 visit to Chops. BARGAIN

We love Johnny Rockets it ticks all the boxes. Fun , great burgers and shakes and for $6 what more could you want. Oh and one other good thing is that if you want to chill on your balcony you can get take out .

We enjoy going towards the end of the cruise. I'm usually craving a burger by then and JRs fills the bill. Can't beat the milkshakes.

The Windjammer is my first port of call when we get on the Indy to get me some Honeystung Chicken

Good news Wine, beer, and soda is free flowing at dinner and lunch on Viking. While the pre cruise package is pricey, we felt it was a good value since it included transfers and tours and good hotels plus the move your bags such. The one bad thing about Viking they require payment is full 30 days after booking, so it you book a 2018 cruise you have to pay in full now. We never purchased a mix drink but I think the price is reasonable. We went the last week in May and it was hot and crowded already, going in the Spring or Fall you will have a cheaper rate and less crowds. We loved Paris and the whole trip on the Seine. I am going to listen to the link, thanks for posting it.

You rub them on your body. They have the ability to soak up water, so they take the water off of your body and into the fibers of the towel. They do a good job drying you off. Sorry, couldn't resist.

I saw no honeystung chicken on Anthem 6/22 to 6/27. And yeah, last cruise night, I was annoyed at a woman who was standing in front of the caribbean food selections at the WJ, her plate resting on the steel bar while she was eating shrimp from her plate for 4 minutes as he 14 year old child wandered around her. She saw people waiting to get to the selections, but would not move. Wasn't even looking at the caribbean food. Just standing there with vacant eyes eating shrimp. Shrimp wasn't even at that bar!!!

@mom2mybugs You can bring your own wine onboard, so that's one option to consider. Check out this discussion of Viking River Cruises:

While the ceiling effects on the Meraviglia's promenade look cool, the only advantage I saw that this ship had over Harmony was the tap with Murphys Stout on it. Despite this huge (to me) feature, I would book Harmony first.

Yep, traveling with food allergies can be a bear. I have to say, though, I have found that all of the restaurant staff on RC was totally on the ball when it came to working around mine (Shrimp, nuts, and, of all the things to be allergic to on a cruise ship, chocolate). DocLC is absolutley right... But moreover, be your own advocate. The TA let them know about my allergies, but the MDR servers still double checked, and if they hadn't I would've spoken up. Our server and the chef even went so far as to go over the menus for each night with me to make sure I had something that worked for me. Even the chef's table was worked around my allergies, and I still got the full experience... Outstanding.

We had that happen once. I learned the lesson to always bring a copy of the confirmation letter that BoA sends once the transaction is complete. Of course, ever since I started bringing the "proof" we've never had another problem ! Typical. We've had nothing but good experiences (except for that one time). Use of that card onboard has netted us thousands in OBC over the years. I caution anyone who is thinking of getting this card....you canNOT carry a balance on this card. The interest rate is VERY high but if you use it to pay for cruises and cruise expenses, it is extremely beneficial.

Johnny Rockets is about having a good burger, certainly above average compared to the burgers you might find in the buffet onboard.

We went once for food on Freedom, not expecting a gourmet burger, so for what it is, it's good. There's no singing and dancing (that we saw). My wife loves milkshakes (they were free with our C&A discount), so we went back just for that later in the week. We had no issues with food. Sounds like firegal ended up with a lazy worker, which is too bad. We met a worker from Russia who loved working on the ship, and was trying to work her way up the chain, so she had to work at each restaurant to get the experience needed. We ran into her in port one day and chatted with her, then went back to JR on our last day to say goodbye. She cared about her work, and the customer being satisfied.