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Matt is going to be the new Captain of the Symphony! Michael Poole will be his Gilligan. Congrats all round!

is it really this big a deal? Like I get the impression its about a ship moving port or something at Coco Cay which really has been talked about and not a secret. Nothing that we haven't heard or speculated about before. Am I totally missing something here that is going to be earth shattering? God help me if its a new and improved BOGO sale....lol

I would try to find an excursion on your own instead of the Royal excursion. Might be a better experience. I think I've posted this before, but here's my son holding one the rays.

On behalf of a grateful blog nation, thank you, Matt! You're aces in our book!

Well here I set, waiting for the big announcement. When is it going to happen. https://gph.is/1LvJ9jq

Call in. Your better bet is to work with a travel agent. No mention of either ship in the report, or other ships (Quantum, Explorer, et al). I'm not reading too much into that other than they aren't changing much, and/or hasnt been determined yet.

Rumor has it....just after Royal Caribbean International's announcement, Matt has one......free upgrades on all sailings for members those of us who participate on this forum Make mine a double

So, it sounds like lower expectations may yield better results. Or bring a sting ray bat to fend people off with.

First of all, congratulations and good luck! Finding a quiet place on deck at sunset would be my suggestion. You get epic sunsets (and sunrises) out at sea, so if you're looking for a more intimate moment, that's what I would do. Possibly at the bow or stern somewhere. Again, good luck!!

Yes, its a short one, so I get they don't offer any perks. But a 20 or 30% sale off your cruise planner would still be nice. But I guess that is more of a Royal thing and for Celebrity its more about including perks at higher levels. Which will be great if this cruise goes well and I book another Celebrity cruise in the future.

Jeff Dunham: "You remember the taxi ride?" Peanut: "Scary as hell." Jeff Dunham: "And the stay at the hotel?" Peanut: "Expensive as hell!" Jeff Dunham: "And the stop at the beach?" Peanut: "Crowded as hell!!" Jeff Dunham: "So?" Peanut: "We're in hell!"

@monctonguy, I noticed that on the infographic / map that was in Matt's post, it said that this was only the Summer itineraries, and the rest of the announcement also seems to be centered on summer destinations. So maybe Empress and Majesty will be in Tampa for the Winter season? Whenever that's announced? I tried looking on the RCI site for that infographic, just to see if there was a second one for Winter, but the map isn't on the page announcing those 2019-20 plans.

Wow! Time flies!

Any idea what/where is happening to Majesty in all of this? What about Empress? And I don't see any ships listed out of the port of Miami?!!

The big announcement is the website wont work again today!

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/11/07/royal-caribbean-announces-new-ship-deployments-2019-2020-cruise-season

Matt just posted the details.

Royal Caribbean Press Center

Must be the new 50% gratuity policy and the wind jammer will have a cover charge....

I love that picture, Brian. He looks sooo excited !

Have a great time, Tony and good luck in the casino !!

Just hope your other half has not joined this blog!!! Good luck - and I hope she says yes!!! PS May be worth waiting until last night 'just in case'!!! PPS How about getting a waiter involved in the process and ring being 'delivered' under a silver cloche?

I know, I was just answering@orangecrush about the IT information.

How did you guess it?

I believe that's a NO then. But it's similar with an assortment of Italian antipasto.

I'm still waiting patiently for the update!

If you were willing to be part of one of those flash mobs, they sometimes do them on this ship. You can ask the CD staff if there will be one and you can ask for your proposal to be part of it. I've seen videos of others doing this.

We received our email on the Tuesday before our Saturday sail date. If it's Jeremiah and Checker then you are in luck. They are funny guys. You'll be their "beautiful people" for a week ?

Yes to the email you provided while completing online check-in.

You definitely have a case against the SO. This person essentially stole from you. Dispute the charge on your credit card.

Definitely not 2 weeks. Usually within the last week.

In May we received our email exactly 7 days prior to our Harmony cruise. Hopefully you will have Raj and Mohammed. They are amazing!

I received my email 3 days before the cruise.

You can book your excursions before you board - tickets will be in your room and will give details of time and place to meet for your trip; or you can book them onboard at the Shore Excursions desk if there are any spaces left

Unless you have prepaid your gratuities, a daily charge ($16.50 per person in a suite I believe) will be added to your onboard account each day. You will register a debit or credit card either when you check in online or when you arrive to board the ship - this is used as a key to your room and to make all onboard purchases. You can monitor your spending via the TV in your room or at Guest Services. Guest Services can help you to adjust the amount / remove the daily gratuities if you would like to do that

All excursions booked through RC provide transportation. You meet on the ship and walk off as a group, or you meet on the pier and they walk you all to busses or whatever they're using to get you to the destination. Tipping at the end of the cruise is up to you. You don't have to. If you receive exceptional service, then whatever you feel comfortable giving.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/07/26/royal-caribbeans-junior-suites-what-you-need-know

If you wanted something big in front of an audience another idea could be to do it at some point during the Love and Marriage game show. It usually takes place in the main theatre and is run usually by the cruise director and his/her staff so if you contacted the cruise director ahead of time they might be able to get you onstage at some point. Good luck!

I have, I did not make huge deal out of it, she had no idea what was going on, but her kids knew something was coming! I waited until formal night and told the person that was taking our pictures what my intentions were and to please catch it on film, which she was more than happy to do. After she was done taking the pictures of all of us she gave me the nod and I got down on my knee and asked her to marry me. I liked it because it caught everything on film including her expression when she realized what was really going on.

On the other hand, if you want to make a big scene out of it, approach the Cruise Director and ask if he/she can set aside a few minutes of time in the theatre one night. Get him/her to call you and your gf up on stage, play dumb, and then when you're up there, get down on bended knee, etc. No harm in asking

BEST THING I'VE EVER DONE IN ALL MY TRIPS TO LABADEE!!!

Don’t get me wrong, I think in most instances tipping definitely does produce a higher level of service so I am not opposed to it. The only real issue i see is when you operate a ship in market where tipping is not the norm and peoples attitude is “I don’t believe in tipping” then it is just best to build the cost into all additional spending so that everyone is happy. Maybe the staff are paid more when they are in the part of the world to compensate for smaller or no tips, It seems like RCI is fair employer who wouldn’t want to see their employees disadvantaged.

Tipping certainly raises passion in people. You have to remember that Australia and New Zealand don't really have a tipping culture as people are on higher wages (the minimum wage in New Zealand is $15.75) so here service is built into the cost. If we do tip people it is probably nothing like the tips that would get from the American market. For example on a 2 week cruise we are in a suite and I would normally tip the room steward an extra $20 at the end of the cruise. I do add a tip at the speciality restaurants and also give $20 to the bartender in the suite lounge. I don't normally tip the Concierge as he said he is well enough paid already and doesn't expect it. In fact I can't think to anyone else that I give extra cash to if it is not automatically charged to the sea pass card. I think the trouble with RCI coming into a market like Aus/New Zealand is people aren't used to it and expect an all inclusive price. Here gratuities for the dining room and room steward are included in the base fare but not for other services like spa, drinks etc. I think this adds to the confusion as they already think they have paid their gratuities. The best solution in my opinion for this market is not to separate it out and just have a set price that includes the gratuity (i.e. $14, not $12 + 18% . If you do that people just pay without issue. When you buy a cup of coffee you don't get an itemised account of how much the water, milk, and coffee cost. You just get an overall price and happily pay it. I know some people will not agree with me but we do not live in the United States are used to all inclusive pricing.

I definitely agree with checking some prices before you go. I was a little disappointed when I found out that a lot of what I brought home last year wasn't quite as great a deal as I thought, although Craig is spot on when he points out that most of what you find will be the larger 1liter bottles, so better ounce to ounce. I brought this home last year, and was never questioned when we went through customs (using a porter is the way to go). Still have plenty if any of y'all wanna come over for a drinkie.

The biggest thing people tend forget or just don't know...Tipping is mainly a North American custom that has expanded to other countries, However there are still country's that don't recognize or consider it an insult to tip.

How about after the automatic 20%, you are asked to if you would like to add "additional gratuity"! The whole practice of tipping has gotten so out of hand, everywhere you turn now a days there is a tip jar sitting there. I am firmly in the camp of just charge me a price that affords the business owner the ability to pay the employee a fair wage.

That's OK, what we have here is mostly presidents, plus a couple of founding fathers, one of whom was "a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean."

Not true anymore.