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What do you say about a grand old Lady? You say she is still Grand! What a beautiful wonderful ship! We left Baltimore last Saturday and Sunday was well, let's call it a mini-hurricane for lack of anything else to describe it! No one was aloud on deck including crew. Hubby and I did well, I even took a nap! By the time Monday morning came around, the sun was shining and on our approach to Bermuda, the waters were their beautiful gorgeous blue/green that I remember from 30 years ago. I am happy to say, even after 30 years this gorgeous gem is still the same. For anyone living on the East coast and have not been to Bermuda, please try to get there. Our weather cooperated the whole time we were there. Now heading back on the last night, the Fog came in, temps dropped to about 50 degrees and we heard to the Fog Horn all night. Woke to a beautiful sunrise heading under the Key Bridge in Baltimore. Now the ship, staff, food etc. This staff was the most amazing staff I've even encountered (again from 30 years ago), but every crew member we saw, encountered, ordered from etc were the most gracious, with always a smile, always asking what else we needed. Our Stateroom attendant, Evangeline was fabulous! Our Concierge, Frances was fabulous. I can't say enough about the crew. We are blessed that we were able to be in a Grand Suite. The Suite was beautiful, very large and a large balcony with two chaise lounges , 2 chairs and a table. Lots of storage! We did have the infamous shower curtain and @twangster we never had to mop up the floor like you suggested! LOL. They sure give their Suite guests some very extra treatment, I can say that. It was like having a "Mini Genie"! LOL Always something wonderful in the stateroom in the afternoon, Drinks etc in the Concierge Lounge (they actually roped off part of the Viking Crown for Suite guests). the best part, is the Departure. Met at the Concierge Lounge yesterday, private elevator going down, different line for security and customs, our bags were right there. From Lounge to car, 11 minutes. I don't know if you can beat that! The Ship itself is in fine shape. Nothing really stood out to me and the staff were constantly outside painting, cleaning etc. All the venues were very well maintained. The Casino is HUGE compared to what I thought it would be (won $200 on slots!). The shows were fabulous! We had this group "Rookie" from Canada on board that was AMAZING! Lead singer was in Jersey Boys. They are headed to ANTHEM this coming week if anyone on here is going. You must check them out. There were so many activities all day and night that you couldn't do it all (we spent most time in Casino I confess!) The food was Ok, We are not foodies so the food choices for others were probably better but we are very plain eaters. The WJ needs to have a better flow going but I can't complain about that either. THE MOST IMPORTANT Factor for me was the way the Staff treated the handicapped. My husband has hip/back issues that we hope will resolve once surgery but in the meantime we rented a Scooter for him which we were glad we did. There were quite a few handicapped people on this cruise (and a lot were young in their 30's and 40's). The way the staff treated us and everyone we saw with such respect and dignity was amazing! Even the other passengers were so gracious. It meant a lot to me as I am not used to having a "handicapped husband" and he thought he would stand out which he didn't. He kept them laughing as he always does. I can say now, if there were no other choices of cruise ships or cruise lines I would not hesitate to just sail on Lady G. She is still a Gem in my humble opinion.

Have no fear @Lovetocruise2002 I will indeed being doing my live blog in hopefully all its usual glory. Finally, my turn again to set sail! As you might have guessed based on the topic I'll be setting sail onboard Harmony of the Seas. This will be my second time onboard Harmony and sailing ninth sailing on an Oasis class ship. Itinerary brief, Eastern: Ft. Lauderdale, Sea Day, Sea Day, St. Maarten, San Juan, Labadee, Sea Day, Eviction in Ft. Lauderdale An idea of what is to come can be seen on my last LIVEish from January on Oasis Only one new toy this time around, a new laptop. While my Surface Pro 3 has been a great travel companion, it has started to show its age. Last month I was able to get a deal on a discontinued display model Lenovo Flex5 at Costco. Only difference the new model has is a better GPU. Only other thing tech-wise this cruise will be an experiment that involves nonstandard use of tcp/5223. It’s Friday and the day just started, plus I still have a long day of travel ahead of me. I’m sure I’ll still be up for some time with final packing and other tasks. Keep an eye open on the Twitter and Periscope feeds listed in my signature. Can’t guarantee I’ll be active on those platforms, but I might do a few quick scopes. Ohh yeah, forgot. The 360 camera was replaced and I'll make plans to use it early on this cruise, maybe.

Hi All, I just created an account to add a little bit to the topic. My family and I just returned from a cruise on the Jewel of the Seas. While talking to a member of the staff (someone who would receive tips) about extra tipping and such, this person stated that they were less concerned about an additional tip and emphasized that they much prefer that we give highest marks on the customer survey post cruise. They stated that the survey provides a ranking based on feedback as to the number of guests that they will tend too. So for instance an assistant waiter in the main dining room who has higher customer satisfaction will get more tables/guests which equals more pay. Now they did not say that tips are pooled and I didn't think of it at the time but this persons comments would lead me to believe that they are pooled and people in customer service are vying for bigger pieces of the pie. Purposely not stating which staff member due to repercussions they could face if for some reason they could be tracked down.

First step on their new virtual cruise program ... ships are getting too expensive, so just sit down in the virtual reality machine and enjoy your virtual cruise ;)

You should state who asked you to provide high rankings on the survey. The survey has options like 'Main Dining Room staff', 'Cabin Attendant,' etc. Feel free to check all that apply, that is a good thing according to my MDR wait staff who were fantastic on Adventure.

Doesn't bother me on bit. Love all the off topic conversations. Reminds me of how @Matt's scopes will derail to a conversation about pizza or Del Taco

Keep an eye out for this man. Apparently he is on the loose:

And most of it is good!

Wouldn't call it an event, our pins showed up in our room one night I think.

For a number of years, WAAAYTOOO and I (RCL_Cruiser_Dan) have had a running joke...when we look at a lifeboat, there are rope loops all of the way around the outside of each lifeboat; I usually laugh and point to one of these loops, telling her that this is her Life Boat Station...does anyone know if the outside loops on lifeboats are used in the lifeboat to passenger ratio count?

The sales cha-cha

I was thinking about this. I can see the point you're making, but then again, it's none of our business. I mean, none of our employers disclose how exactly we are paid and what part goes to government in taxes, etc. Plus, these crew members know what they're doing when they sign up and understand how this works. No one forced them to take this job. On the other hand.... You're being told to make a gratuity payment that goes towards the crew, so I can see the original point being made. In short, I'm not sure how I feel. I do know that as @Snowchaser said, best thing you can do is mention them in a positive light in a post-cruise survey.

I will be on Grandeur in June for nine days. I am so happy that you had an awesome time. Less than 45 days for me. School will be out June 20 and away I go.

So having said at the end of my live blog that I wasn't going to buy the Deluxe Package on my upcoming Anthem sailing to Bermuda... I just went and bought it! For the most unexpected of reasons... My wife told me to go ahead and do it! Her words to me were, "It's our anniversary cruise, go ahead and live it up a little!" I think she's looking forward to this "just the two of us" getaway cruise even more than I am! ? I'm still planning to bring my two bottles of wine to have with dinner, though that might yet change; but between morning OJ and cappuccinos, sail-away margaritas, boarding day lava flows, and the fact that Bermuda apparently closes down around 5 PM every day, I think I'll be able to break even. And with $125 of OBC, even after getting a dinner at Wonderland there will be enough to let me get some "premium" reds at Vintages. And as with the last time, I bought the Refreshment Package for my wife by calling Royal to purchase directly. No fuss from the rep I spoke with, just told her the reason my wife couldn't drink alcohol and the purchase was made! At $18 per night it's a no-brainer, I never see it lower than that.

You've been counting too much lol! I've been teaching since I was 21, no joke. By the time I am eligible to retire, I will have put in 32 years into teaching. That is enough. I will not be hanging around the classroom until 65. That's rubbing it in for @JLMoran and I who do have eternity! lol Umm.. small chance that I'm wrong, but I would say they are more than friends!

You know how I feel about her ..... So glad you had a fantastic time .... October can't come soon enough for me.

We do love our Margaritas in Oklahoma...

Not even on the ship or at the terminal and it's become about pizza already. Sigh.

Thanks everyone for following along. Just wanted to report I've made it to the halfway point, Orlando.

Welcome to the blog, Dan. It took long enough !! ??

It makes especially "wrong" if the general public giving the extra gratuity isn't aware of this -- Deceiving is the word that comes to mind.

Agree- I have zero need to tip the head waiter as we eat in a speciality dining venue every night. I have not seen the inside of a main dining room since Before the Oasis of the seas set sail. My money should go to people who help myself and my family have a better vacation experience especially since by default they are all getting a piece of the pie through the auto gratuities!

Bayonne tip: Other people in the FB group reported Uber/Lyft prices in the $50-58 range to EWR. Those 1st off snagged it for $12. My brief delay caused me to pay $21 but that's a lot better than those 30 minutes or an hour after me. It pays (or saves) to get off early.

Day 5 - Afternoon I found the ice cream station on the pool deck, forward, port side: It had rained a good part of the day and the water was a little choppy but the ship handled it well. Late afternoon that changed. The water become calm and fog moved in. They added a few watch officers to the bridge wings and the fog horn sounded every two minutes. Our speed dropped to single digits. I attended another show in the main theater with the Royal Caribbean dancers but I missed the juggler. Since I had only a small carry on bag I didn't pack until morning which came awfully quickly. I awoke to a foggy NY harbor. Lady Liberty in the distance as we backed into the slip at Cape Liberty.

I keep looking out the peep hole but so far he isn't looking my way, yet.

I'm doing something I never do and don't recommend. I'm flying in the day of the cruise, tomorrow. Coming from the US West I'm taking a red eye tonight at midnight to NYC then off to San Juan in the morning landing in San Juan at 12:05pm. I booked air through Royal's Air2Sea program plus I have travel insurance so between the two and with a evening sail away I'm rolling the dice. I came across a deal on this 5 Night cruise and couldn't pass it up. $549 all in, solo in a balcony with $50 OBC. Air2Sea was actually cheaper than Delta direct plus it provides some limited coverage in case of delays. Between air and cruise fare I'm right at $1k for this trip. Shortly after I booked the news of a cheap cruise broke and many members of the RCPeriscopers.live group jumped on board including @mpoole3 who will be live blogging on the main page of RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com so this will be a light blog for me. Keep an eye on the main page for his blog. We have one port of call on this cruise, St Maarten. I have no plans this time and may just take a taxi to Maho Beach and explore that area and a few beaches nearby. On my last stop in St. Maarten I took a coastal catamaran and we sailed past Maho Beach but we were offshore. There are few other beaches close by so I may just beach hop this time. After St Maarten on day 2 we have 3 sea days on our way to Bayonne, NJ where Adventure will spend the summer alternating embarkations with Anthem. On this cruise I transferred the booking over to mpoole3's brother who is a travel agent which netted another $50 in OBC. Consequently gratuities are covered and I'll have little left over for a few drinks since I'm sailing without a drink package. I'm traveling light having crammed everything into a 22" carry on suitcase. That'll help if I have flight delays or need to leverage Air2Sea to fly me to St. Maarten. I should have enough time for a shower in the JFK Delta Sky club in the morning. With no checked luggage I'll have everything with me in the club and as soon as I board Adventure in San Juan. Two other new additions for me on this cruise are a new travel router and some iPhone lens(es). Credit for this travel router goes to @Galveston Steve and credit for the Moment iPhone lens goes to @JLMoran. Indeed this blog has the effect of causing people including myself to spend some money! I've used the new travel router on a couple of business trips to share my free wifi plan on Delta courtesy of TMobile so my non-TMobile work phone and laptop could join. It worked well for that so in the interest of traveling light I'm leaving my trusted travel router at home. It's been a while since I've taken a red eye but it's practice for my overnight flight to Barcelona to join Symphony on her transatlantic to America in October. Looks like my inbound aircraft is now in the air on its way here. So far so good.

This may have been beaten to death already but I’m gonna go ahead and ask again. I have heard a rumor that the stateroom attendants pool tips. I’m specifically referencing extra cash handed to an attendant for going above and beyond. I have heard that any cash earned (even on the down low) must be submitted to the head steward and pooled with other attendants. This upsets me because I like to tip individuals for assisting with the mess my kids make in our stateroom and for them to have to share this money is really not fair. Anyone heard of this?

Well, Frances does earn his keep for sure. he is fabulous and so kind. I think mission is accomplished with hubby, he felt very frustrated not being able to participate and "walk" (quite literally) but hopefully a resolve in the near future. The good news is, he did not tell me to cancel any other cruises! LOL!! Yippee! You must have had the same fog, we were coming in at the same time, happened before we hit the Chesapeake, so you were probably right behind us or in front of us. AND it was about 45 degrees or it felt like it. I didn't have a chance to check your Adventrue Blog yet but certainly looking forward to it!

Sincere thanks for the time and effort you've put in to educate all the thousands of children who will have come through your class in that time! I keep debating whether to semi-retire around age 55 when the kids should be done with college, and get a job teaching computer science at a local college or community college. But now I've got the cruise bug, and I kind of want the freedom to book at any time I want, since I'll finally be at an age that family cruises won't have to be held slave to the school schedule! ?

Nice! I think we encountered that same fog on the 10th heading into Bayonne. Frances is according to some, the best CL concierge in the fleet. Most importantly, if I recall this was a test cruise to convince hubby that cruising is great. Mission accomplished?

Glad to hear you had a good time. Thanks for sharing!

Schooner, anytime...

This is why we are friends.

Thank you for your fab review My first cruise was on Adventure and your pictures brought back happy memories

If the practice of pooled tips is in fact true and everyone stops tipping extra, who really loses in the end? The employee who is going the extra mile and you as the customer because of decreased level of service. I would still tip to those who deserve it even though it may be pooled with their peers. They are still getting something instead of nothing.

If true, I envision spending what we normally set aside for extra tips on each cruise to purchase stateroom upgrades.

That is crazy as some people tip well into the $1000s with their Genies! And they expect it to go their OWN Genie! I'm still trying to wrap my head around this and all the times I've tipped extra.... Hmmm.....I will reserve my comments for this one but I have a huge issue with the Head stewart/waiter getting an equal share. Most cruises we have been on they are invisible except on the last night. Now, I understand if you have been accommodated by the head waiter due to food allergies etc., then it makes sense, but for the regular, low maintenance cruiser...

The newly revitalized Oasis ?

Easy way to find out the formal nights is to refer to a past Cruise Compass. We keep an archive of past Cruise Compass here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass

As @KathyC mentioned, they are very aware when dinner is and they schedule most shows with dinner in mind and vice versa. They understand very well that delaying an appetizer means delaying an entree which delays dessert - this time management was discussed during the galley tour.. They know the entertainment schedule and they strive to be fully in tune with it. They are not perfect and they deal with staff changes all the time, on top of guests challenges but in my opinion they do a great job to get you onto what ever your next experience is.

What is up with its hair ? <shudder> Who thought it was a good idea to put a sketchy, creepy-looking ventriloquist's dummy in the glass case anyway ? ...and what do you mean, "at least it stopped staring directly at my door" ? Did its head move ? ...or is this just your weirdo bot senses THINKING that it's no longer staring directly at your door ?

Please! Make it go away... It keeps on telling me to do strange things... I'm tellin' ya! SLLLLLLLLLLLLLLAPPY! "Don't make me go back in the book!!!"

Well then, here is the full list of other "Common Drinks", Royal Caribbean style:

I know, but misery loves company and if am to have the image burned into my brain I wanted to share it with you! You are welcome.

Site Gremlins, I'm sure. I saw zero points & pre-Gold yesterday, but now it shows me having my correct number of 19 points again this morning. Maybe we'll all be Pinnacle by the end of the week. ?

When you see yourself in twangsters photos but did not realize he was twangster ?

Sabrina? ???

Wow. What a horrible mistake for them to make. You and Tonyfsu can commiserate about poor service by the casino host on a ship. I guess in your case, it is really not the hostesses' fault. She was given bad intel but it doesn't make it any more acceptable. Don't let them off the hook though. You are right and they are wrong. Keep after them and hopefully you will get satisfaction like Tony did. I still have gotten NOTHING from Club Royale. I found out our tier levels from the casino hostess on Allure 2 weeks ago but still nothing from the shoreside program folks. I have only tried to book 1 cruise since the new program took effect and I will say that if the price I was quoted is going to be indicative of casino rates and discounts for Prime, going forward, they are nearly useless. I thought the certificates were useless but the pathetic discount they quoted us for a cruise on Grandeur in Sept. 2019 was really horrible. I will give it more time to see if they get any better but what a disappointment. After having received casino discounts in the 48 - 55% range (off total cruise fare price), the quote for the Grandeur cruise was truly pathetic. A total of $237 for BOTH of us on a cruise fare of $6740.00. Of course, we still got our C&A balcony discount and the prevailing BOGO50 but for casino discount alone - horrible, horrible, horrible. I guess this is where the REAL negative benefits of the lower tier levels is going to hit us.