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Hi Everyone, Thanks for making my first cruise on Royal go well with all the tips and reviews on the board plus the blog post. Just a quick story time. The wife and I flew out of MSP on Friday, Dec 8th, 2017 to Fort lauderdale thru Atlanta. The same day a massive unheard of soul crushing blizzard fell on Atlanta. Our flight to ATL landed 45 mins late but our flight to FLL was a nightmare. We got on the plane at 3pm and then over the next 8 hours got on and off the plane twice, pushed back and then the flight got canceled because the crew timed out. ATL only has 8 deicing trucks and they apparently breakdown easily. MSP has 40 for a comparison. All the flights the next day were past the set sail time so we had to improvise. We stood in line for 2 hours trying to get our checked luggage back and Delta said no go at 1AM. I started the search for a rental car and all the one way, one day rentals were gone and was told there is no way we can rent you a car. Here is the trick: If you reserve a one way car but for a weekly rate it will come up and you can get out of there. It cost more but when in need its totally worth it. Most programs have an early return policy so you will get a little money back. In the end we got a car from Hertz for $360 and drove from 2AM-noon to fort lauderdale without bags. Did a quick Walmart fashion stock up and got on the boat. During the drive down talk to Delta and got our bags rerouted to Jamaica our 4th day stop and we picked them up there and enjoyed the rest of our cruise. So we were the casual people on formal night :)

I just want to say my prayers for those who were on the bus in Mexico with the Equinox and Serenade passengers. My heart is going out to everyone who may have lost a loved one or injured. Many prayers going out to those families.

If only all people paid attention in Kindergarten, then the world would be a better place.... ?

Consider the way they act until now I will not be surprise that they will have multiple version for the program and each representative will have a different answer . Seems to be that the compartmentalization in the Royal Casino organization is better than any intelligence agencies , no one have really the full picture.

Phew! Packing nearly complete. I've done quite well. Only 43 bags. Two less than I took on Anthem!

Even though I'm not Diamond level and you posted that you can't talk to me anymore I can still wish you a very Merry Cruisemas and a Happy New Year. Have fun and be sure to WASH YOUR HANDS! Looking forward to your daily reports, if you can find the time.

Is there a counselor on board...i have a cruise addiction problem...i now have 7 cruises booked I might need therapy, what say you all? It's official....I'm Fatigued!

I've only heard great things about Captain Kate. Hope one day to sail on a ship with her at the helm.

Kayla, I have to agree with you, everyone seems to stop and talk smack dab in the middle of a walkway. On my last cruise, one of the bars was in the middle of a walkway and a MDR was off on one side of the walkway. Passengers would always stop right in front of the MDR to decide if they wanted to have dinner there, go for a drink at the bar, go to a show, whatever, and there was no way you could get around them. My last cruise I decided someone needs to write the "Guide to Elevator Etiquette on a Cruise Ship for All Ages". The whole cruise was seriously spoiled by passengers trying to get on the elevator. I had several experiences on my 10 day cruise, including the elevator was full, you couldn't have fit a toothpick in there but when we stopped on Deck 9, an elderly couple decided there was enough room for them. He put his hands on the door to stop it from closing and she tried to wiggle her 200 plus pounds into the elevator. When she did this, the elevator signaled it was over capacity and she stood in the doorway with hubby asking what that noise was. I finally looked at her and said "It tells us that the elevator is over weight capacity, which it wasn't, until you tried to cram yourself in it." I am serious, everyone on the elevator cheered me. I am sorry, but that couple was rude beyond belief and, yes, I was too, but someone needed to say something so they would get off. After almost 5 minutes, they turned around and left. The other experience was the elevator had room for one more person and a family of 4 decided to cram in. All 4 of them had just come from the pool and were soaking wet and dripping water everywhere. The teenage boy was right up against my body, (I got to know him real well), when he got off, there was a water stain all down the front of my blouse from being pressed up against me and becoming my new best friend. I use a cane to walk and there are people who always tell me to go before them but I won't do it because they have waited longer then I have to get on the elevator. The days of people being polite are long gone. So, who wants to write the elevator etiquette book, you could also do proper line etiquette too! Candie

When we took our first cruise, on Freedom, I was confronted with just how massive the responsibility is for the Captain and his crew to keep his passengers safe, regardless of situation. So, from then on, I've added ship captains, pilots, train and bus drivers to my prayers. Really, anyone how is responsible for the well-being of another life.

We have had a similar discussion on this form before and I agree with what everyone is saying about both passengers and crew, but think about this, You have thousands of passengers and crew coming to and living on these cruise ships weekly, part of the check in procedure for all passengers is to fill out a basic health screening survey asking if you have any symptoms of various illnesses, seriously ask yourself, you have just spent thousands of dollars for this trip, spent hours traveling to the port, are you going to admit that you are having intestinal cramps and miss out on going on your cruise? I doubt it, your going to say it was the shell fish you ate yesterday, I'll be fine tomorrow, when in fact you could be carrying Noro or something else that you picked up at work, a taxi, the airport, the airplane, the per-cruise hotel, etc., etc. I have no idea how they screen the crew when they are coming on. So IMHO the blame goes all around, could the ship be cleaner? Yes. Could we the passengers be better at hygiene? Probably yes. A large portion of us take a flu shot every year, if there was a Noro shot should we take it before getting on a cruise ship?

Take a nap every afternoon is good!

I like the warm cookies and cold milk the best...

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/12/19/royal-caribbean-planning-update-casino-rewards-program

Yes, I saw it too. Unfortunately nobody at Club Royale even knows about it yet....the customer representatives anyway. i guess we’ll have more waiting to find out details. Shouldn’t surprise anyone.

We just couldn't justify the extra 2000 for the balcony, but for 600 we got the ultra spacious ocean view with 2 bathrooms and a tub, and a separate bunk bed room for my then 16 year old. Our itinerary is med/Greek isles (Barcelona, Cannes, Rome, Florence, mykenos, Santorini, athens and Malta, with 4 cruise days). I'm so excited I will have to remind myself that 1. It's not till 2019 2. I have to figure out how to pay for it and 3. I have my first visit to Europe (Paris) and a Viking river cruise on the swine to enjoy first! Jane

My cruise in February will be...2nd? My second cruise on Liberty, and the ports are all ports I have been to, as well. Not that excited about the ship. In this situation, I always go first to negatives about the ship because I've done it before. However, that's not really the experience I will have: I am sure I will love the ship. No ship is perfect, so this cruise just isn't our first date. As far as the ports, we are exploring excursions that are new for us. This should put a whole different feel to the port days. So, yeah: Ship Fatigue is a real thing. But it's not that big a deal. I sum it up with a slightly off color joke: Pizza is like sex. When it's good, it's really good. And when it's bad......It's still pretty good!

Wow, a Twangster/Traveller/Twangster triple feature!! Hot damn, less go!

I only go to Costco 30 mins before they close. I once saw a fight break out at the rotisserie chicken station. It's Black Friday every day there.

No need to go on a cruise for that....COSTCO ?

This is completely unacceptable. We need to start a GoFundMe page immediately.

Exactly what I was going to write. Can't wait to follow along!

I'd book Nachi - if there are that many people in port, other places will be even more overrun than Nachi.

I know. Everyday I get up and start looking at cruises. My birthday is Jan 2 and my husband's is Jan 26. To be equal I guess we have to plan another cruise to celebrate our birthdays. Woohoo!!!!!

I never go on a ship without my trusty armour. i am not going to let anyone ruin my holiday by making me sick

I would just ignore him for 2 reasons 1) It is not his job to enforce the dress standards and 2) It would annoy him. When we were in the concierge lounge on the formal nights I wore shorts and so did a few other people. It was hot in there because of its position at the back of the ship (Ovation) and I did not want to be sitting in my tux all that time before dinner. We were also talking to another passenger who had been told by another guest in a lift that they were not allowed to take food back to their room. I find it is just best to ignore these kind of people. They are usually D or D+ who feel they have kind of special authority to tell other people what to do. The bumper cars queue jumping was a noticeable irritation for people on our cruise. I have no issue when other passengers redirect them to the back of the queue in this instance. Everyone should know how a queue works and how rude it is to butt in. I don't think they would do it in a supermarket.

For those not yet aware, the TSA has a program called "REAL ID" that is going into effect on Jan 22, 2018. You can find information about it here. The upshot is that if you live in a state where the drivers licenses are not certified by TSA as REAL ID compliant, and your state hasn't been granted an extension, the only way you'll be allowed to board a domestic flight is with a passport. I got an alert email about this at work today. NJ happens to have been granted an extension, but NY has not (yet) and also isn't yet certified. TSA is working with them to get an extension in place or (if possible) get them certified, but nothing is locked down yet. You may want to check if your own state has been certified or granted an extension, and if not see about getting your passport ASAP.

Interesting info...I followed the link @JLMoran posted and found this map showing the status of each state and territory.It looks like 18 or 19 states have been granted an extension with several under review. It looks like if your state is green, you wont have any issues. It's still ideal to have a passport regardless IMO.