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Day 3 — Allure at Sea I woke up to watch a nice sunrise with a plan to lie around and eat all day while doing next to nothing with a couple exceptions... All Access Tour Bring your long pants if you book a ship tour. I had the slip resistant shoe thing down, so it created the need to sprint from the Silk dining room which is aft all the forward to my stateroom and grab a pair. I made it back in time for the start which included chocolate dipped strawberries and champagne we started in the galleys, moved to the storage areas around deck 2, the engine control room, I-95 hallway up to the entrance to the crew mess and then waaaaaayyyyy down into the bowels of the ship (I saw bilge signs —> that’s when you know you’re way down there) three decks below the water line...there’s deck 2, deck 1 (water line), deck 0, TW (tween deck), and HW (I think —> I can’t remember what it stands for) where we saw some incredible laundry facilities. The scale of it is staggering. Mid-Day We spent some time on the pool deck before hunger set in and I tried a coney on the Boardwalk followed by a burger, fries, a cookie and some pudding in the Windjammer...then some ice cream on the pool deck. That held me over till dinner. One nap later, I felt the need to burn some calories, so I headed to the gym for 45 minutes prior to the aqua show, Ocean Aria which was delightful. Immediately following Ocean Aria, I went back to my room to grab one of the CP balcony perks of a bottle of wine, and we proceeded to 150 CentralPark. It was an excellent meal and experience, and AI really enjoyed salting the butter. I liked all of the flavors, Alaea (Hawaii), Sel Gris (Mediterranean gray sea salt), Murray River (Australian), Sel de Mar (French Med), Salish (Washington State —> love it or hate it, it’s like a campfire...really), and then Kala Namak (if you like sulphur, you’ll like this. Me? I’ll just say that I needed to cleanse my palate) Following dinner, we headed to the Amber Theater and watched the Love and Marriage game show. It’s pretty much the same every time...lots of laughs and embarrassing moments...I was ready for bed afterwards, so I retired. (Photos are uploaded randomly...more on IG @dunkelbier_jay)

Glad he is alright, hope for many more anniversaries, my wife and I are also High School sweethearts and celebrated 38 this year.

Well to say that we are extremely grateful is an understatement! Hubby had a heart attack this past Thursday, heart cath on Friday to find what the doctors call the "widow maker" with the main artery in his heart 99% blocked. They were able to fix it with a balloon and stint. We came home on Saturday and other than being very sore is feeling pretty good. He has to take it easy for a few weeks. I asked the doctor about flying for our Alaska cruise and he said he could fly in 4 weeks. We were 2 days shy of the 4 weeks and the doctor gave his blessing. I did have trip insurance but thankful that he is still here and to be able to still go. Hubby is very active and that was in his favor too.

Exactly! Ocean waves are created by weather which is constantly changing and waves can travel hundreds of miles so the waves may or may not be created by your immediate weather. I have 4 kids: 2 never get sick but 2 are more prone to motion sickness (car, plane and only with bigger waves on a cruise). I always pack over the counter medicine. While they don't need it every day of the cruise, they usually need it for 1-2 days as we've always seen bigger waves at some point in the cruise. Better to have it and not need it!

Yes. Bottled water is on the list (500ml) but only during diamond happy hour. Like in the suite lounge I often ask for one or two with each drink order and like a squirrel storing nuts I build up the water reserve in my cabin. I take them on shore excursions and such.

For the past 2 weeks he had a few chest pains that only lasted about a minute or so. Then Thursday morning at 2:30 am, he had chest pain that went thru to his back and wouldn't go away. I gave him 4 baby aspirins (equals 1 whole one) and took him to the ER (I wanted to call 911 and he wouldn't let me). ER got in straight back and did blood work checking for the "t" enzyme. He did have the enzyme show up but only slight. 2nd blood draw in 3 hours was up a little more so they admitted him. At 3 pm same day, he had very strong chest pains and the nurses gave my nitroglycerin and aspirin and called the doctor. More blood work was done and enzyme was up a good bit. Having him already in the hospital is was saved him because treatment was done immediately. For what it's worth, every EKG the normal (even immediately after this bad attack), his blood pressure, pulse, and oxygen rates were all good. So being already at the hospital with our early warning signs is all that saved him. If he had been out working or even at home, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.

that even a 20% drink package will still cost over 1400 for the 2 of you on a 12 day cruise. Yikes.... Royal has the drink pkg on vision next summer on sale for $52 a day, but even if it drops another 10, it will still cost over 1000 for the 2 of us. Did I say yikes before??? Oh for the days of 1 person drink pkgs....I can justify it almost because I pretty much do nothing on sea days but sun and drink, but on this port intensive day, even with 2 glasses of wine at dinner and a post dinner cocktail, my husband wouldn't come close. I guess we will have to hope for drink cards and just bite the "post cruise bar tab" bullet. Another interesting point (which has come up on a bunch of other threads) is that the combo drink/voom pkg is $25 percent off...they are only charging 11/day for 1 device. Which I'd love to get but I can't justify paying 17.99 without the drink pkg. Wait....if we dont get the pkg, is the vat charged on every drink? I know this came up before too....maybe 1400 would be a deal lol! Jane

Bingo. It's like asking if it will rain in NYC in March. Maybe? Maybe not. Don't let weather, regardless of time of year, stop you from booking a cruise. Bad weather can happen throughout the year, and no one can predict it. You should make plans that work for you and roll the dice. More than likely, it will be fine. ?

I am so so happy for you and your hubby. Blessed is right and I want you to make sure you both relax and just enjoy the beautiful scenery. Many many more anniversaries!!

Great blog so far, loving the sunrise pics! I hope you're a natural extra-early riser!

So glad you were in the hospital and they could catch this. Prayers for a speedy recovery and that your cruise is a celebration of his recovery and your life together! Jane

Ooooh,...I LOVE the sulphur salt. It's my absolute favorite !

Yeah...I'm having to rethink my cruise life now with kids in the picture. I want them to have a good time on vacation, but the costs add up quick for sure.

Welcome @lanny68! Hope you enjoy your first cruise aboard a Royal ship! If you haven't read it already, a great article for your to read from Matt is this for first time Royal cruisers! https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/06/14/first-time-cruisers-getting-ready-your-first-royal-caribbean-cruise Hope you enjoy it, we really do love Royal!

Great point - a lot depends on cabin type.

Is your hotel in Orlando charging for parking? Taxi isn't going to be cheap, much more than parking assuming a 7 night cruise. Uber/Lyft is $60-$80 each way. Parking at the port will resemble airport parking rates but it is convenient - load up your car and hit the road.

+1 for Brilliance

I agree with @twangster. I would choose Brilliance too. I have sailed both Brilliance and Vision. Brilliance is a little bigger and the cinema, in my opinion, is a nice option. Love those glass elevators with ocean views.

You avatar is holding a wine glass. Brilliance has a Vintages. One of the best at sea in my opinion with great ocean views. It also has a pub and cinema. Nice on those sea days after sea days. All things being equal I'd probably pick Brilliance.

It's always the stubborn Canadian's fault.

Ummm.....isn't that what I've been trying to tell you Mr. Oasis Denier! ?

Cruising with my adult son this week in the same cabin. I added his C&A number to the reservation then had him log in himself. He added his passport details and his own credit card to his account. He basically checked in as if I wasn't cruising.

Day 2 — Nassau Mornings at sea are by far my favorite time aboard I don’t need to sell that idea to most people on this blog. It is a restful, relaxing and exciting time The kids had not been to Nassau, so what do you do? You walk around and go to the ship by lunch if you’re not doing the British Colonial Hilton, Baja Mar or Atlantis. We walked off the ship beyond the tour operators and cab driver and headed to the Queens Staircase. We were corned at the parking lot area behind Princess Margaret Hospital and the entrance to the staircase by a man who gave us the full history. Sometimes, you just stay and listen, and I’m glad we did. He gave a quick and through history of the staircase and Queen Victoria’s role in ending slavery. I’m glad my kids heard it from that man rather than a tour operator. I gladly tipped him and we walked into a sacred area.

I am so very happy to hear of your great fortune life is so precious I hope you have many many more sailings together and enjoy every precious moment sail on my friends ?️

Glad to hear hubby is recovering, a nice cruise is probably needed, gives you both a chance to relax and enjoy yourselves

I have not gotten e mails for 2 years and have given up on calling and or submitting e mails. Customer "NO SERVICE" and then some. You can call them 5 times and get 4 different answers. I know as they say been there done that numerous times over the years. Thank goodness for this blog site.

Happy to hear that he is doing well. Enjoy Alaska it is beautiful. If you are sea food lovers Copper River Salmon season is about to start. It as most sea food is heart healthy. Enjoy the cruise. The scenery is breath taking.

For the record, I'm still home ?

I'm with Twangbot on this one. Even if I was inclined to buy a drinks package (which I am not) I don't think I could sustain it for 12 straight days. I would be a zombie by day 6.

Yeah, I rarely get the drink package even when I'm solo and just need to buy one. Even before making diamond and getting diamond happy hour drinks, 8 nights or longer and the drink package was too much for me. Drink fatigue kicks in around day 5-6. That isn't so bad on a 7 night cruise but 8 or longer and no way, the drink package is just too much to justify. I have some 13-16 night cruises next year coming up. I'm not even going to do the math. Just no. Bring two bottles of wine. Buy some drinks in port. Use the BOGO beer/wine C&A coupon. Go to the Captain's address. Go to the top tier event if platinum or higher. Buy an occasional drink. Hope for the drink card.

Embarkation Day continued The naughty room was entertaining though. A man near us was arguing with security about his steamer that they were confiscating. *Dude* He would not take no for an answer, and was taking names of the staff there, their supervisors and their family. Voice raised, eyes popping out of his head, the world is coming to an end because he was going to be without his steamer. My daughter wanted to tip the security guy he was yelling at for putting up with him. Wow, I thought. The long wait till Izumi involved grabbing our first lava flows in the Schooner bar and browsing the shops which just opened. 9:00 pmcame before we knew it, and we had a fantastic time enjoying the experience at Izumi hibachi. The chefs are a couple notches above who you experience on shore, and we did lots of laughing as they enjoyed over feeding us. One feature of this restaurant is they allow you to mix the proteins that are listed on the menu. That was nice because I put the filet together with the shrimp. Fantastic. Wow, I thought.

In am returning right now from Harmony of the Seas. It was our first cruise ever! My hubby and I took our14 year old son, and I just wanted to share his first time with the teen club, which was VERY important to us on our vacation. The first night, there was a meet and greet in the club, and he said that it was PACKED! The kids seemed to exchange Instagram addresses, phone numbers etc. the first night and then arrange to meet up throughout the week in groups of 5-30 kids. He had a blast! The kids met for lunches, dinners, Flowrider sessions, and the late night dance parties were amazing he said. The Hush silent dance party with the headphones was the best party of his life he said. They had games like Battle of the Sexes, which was a boys vs girls very competitive game, karaoke, and many other events. They had an ice skating party, which required long pants, so pack those too! My son is pretty outgoing and had no problem making lots of friends and tearfully told us this morning that he had the best week of his life........ my hubby and I felt like we had a “date” with it being just the two of us for the majority of the week, so keep that in mind parents! To sum it up, have no fears about your teen making friends and finding lots of kids to do fun things with all week! Have a great trip!

There should be Canadian kids! Most schools here return the Tuesday after Labour day.

And this would be a great idea....if my other obsession (disney) didn't require having a Disney Visa that I put my cruises on so I can rack up disney trips at the same time!! So many choices ? Jane

I know there has been discussion before about the use of the Royal Caribbean Visa card and that there are better cards for money back, credits, etc. We have been using our RC Visa cards for any and all Royal purchases and accumulate quite a few points. Of course, we book our cruises as far out as possible and typically redeem points for a minimum of $200-$300 on board credit which we use for drink purchases. Next year, 5 day Bermuda trip has us in Bermuda for 2 days. No need for a drink package, just OBC!

By the way, am I the only one who read "OH MY!" and heard it in George Takei's voice. OHHHHH MY!

Today was all to prepare for Izumi....Wow, I thought. Embarkation Day We woke up with a task before heading to the port. Unsuccessful in our attempt to fill a prescription the night before, we packed our bags, loaded our rental and headed to a location of the drug store chain we use. Since filling it would take 20-30 minutes, I decided the best way to get close to our original schedule would be to take the bags to the port and return. It worked well, and within about 45 minutes we were dropping our rental at the off site location very close to the port. I called a ride share, and were entering Port Everglades. .. Entering the Port and Check-In it’s necessary you have your passport and cruise docs ready to enter the port and terminals. This is where having a print out of your set sail pass is handy, even if you are using the Royal App. A short line of cars to enter the port gave us a chance to get everything ready for the officer at the gate. We entered the building with our passports and mobile phones in hand. We had our backup printed set sail pass at the ready just in case. When the port staff saw that we had our apps ready for scanning, we were ushered to a central area where our Mobile SeaPasses were scanned and our passports checked. Those who did not have expedited check-in with the app we’re on either side of our area as best I could tell. We turned a corner to our right and went through security with the suite guests and Pinnacles. Wow, I thought. After security. We entered a separate line adjacent to the suite guests, which was shorter. I gather a small percentage of overall guests are able to use or even know about expedited check-in. There were a few ahead of us, and when we went to the check-in desk, we provided our apps with SeaPass cued up along with our passports. The agent checked everything against the pics we uploaded at home during online check-in, handed us boarding vouchers and we were on board in as long as it took to walk there. Wow, I thought. We headed straight through the Royal Promenade and up to Central Park to Giovanni’s for lunch. They now only offer the Central Park balcony lunch perk on sea days on Allure. Still, it was a great, restful way to spend the first hour or two on board. We ate in anticipation of off-setting hunger waiting for our 9:00 pm Izumi Hibachi reservation. Wow, I thought. After lunch, we circled aft to the Boardwalk to check things out and then to the Royal Promenade to walk to the forward elevators. Up to deck 10, turn left and enter our adjoining staterooms at about 1:30 pm. This was pretty seamless...or frictionless... Wow, I thought. Most of our luggage (except mine —> more below) arrived within minutes. We explored a little and decided naps were needed. Naps didn’t last, so a few of us explored the ship. It is no lie that Oasis class ships are easy to navigate. Despite the monstrosity of Allure and the number of steps you take, you never feel lost or disoriented. Wow, I thought. *Back in the cabin* *Knock on the door* *A man hands me a slip of paper* I had a summons to the naughty room!!!! *What???? Me??? I didn’t try to break the rules...this time....I put it in my pocket. Wow, I thought. Soon, our stateroom attendant introduced herself and we had lots of laughs as she talked about going to muster. We decided to go early which had its merits as it was in the Blaze nightclub. It went longer than hoped, but not too bad. They made us watch the “Wash Your Hands” video and the James Bond style safety video. No wow...An episode of Royal crush would have been better. After sail away, which was fun on the bridge wing while failing to get on PTZTV, I headed down to the naughty room on Deck 2 with a couple of my kids, and the staff there were very nice. They found my bag, scanned it and said I had power strips which are verbotten. *Scratches Head...* *Really?* Anyway, I opened my bag and they were there. In my packing rush, I threw in a couple of the surge protectors thinking they were power strips. Nope. Surge protectors. *My bad* To be continued... I’m baking in the Solarium while docked in Nassau and need a beverage while writing this...

Aloha! My name is Lanny and I am from Atlanta, GA. I took my firt cruise on NCL's Pride of America this year. I feel in love we cruising. I meet so many wonderful folks aboard. I will be sailing on Royal for the first time in October on Mariner of the Seas. Lanny

My nephew found friends for life at the teen hangout. Now he let's them know what cruises we are taking and vice versa with his friends. We have become friends with their parents. Now my nephew is graduating from college next year and the friends are joining us for a graduation cruise. We are calling it Florida-Illinois graduation cruise.

I had bought the coffee card from the cruise planner for Brilliance last summer. I was very disappointed, The cruise planner says "card that entitles you to any 15 specialty espresso-based coffees throughout your vacation" But, when I got my first drink, I ordered a large latte and the crew member then scratched off 3 bubbles off of my card. So it's only 15 shots total not 15 drinks! The cruise planner is misleading.

Website was supposed to be back up by 9am ET. Maintenance has been extended to 12pm ET. I'm expecting great things Royal Caribbean!

I am kinda disappointed about that...as it was the only part of the upgrade experience at Cococay that was free....and I really want to make it to CocoCay on my Oct/22/18 cruise as it maybe the last time to see the island before it totally changes.... Fingers crossed on calm enough weather to tender!

Looks like the Pier is now scheduled for November 2018 https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/06/05/royal-caribbean-officially-opens-perfect-day-island-experiences-bookings

Believe it or not, I see all of these little maintenance issues on the website in a positive light. I knew a guy who did a lot of work on their old databases a few years ago, before I even started cruising Royal. Like most US airlines it's a pretty complex environment with legacy baggage. Royal is making baby steps towards a better place - I honestly believe that. It can't happen overnight or in just one maintenance window, it will take time. Just wait...

I have a feeling this has to do with being able to open up the casino fully. Currently when we are in Coco Cay we are tendered and still in the water so they leave the Casino open. But when we go to Labadee they only have slots open and not tables so maybe there is some rule against it. I am not sure but just a thought..

Has anyone else noticed the inclusion of a common step ladder in the play area? i think this is brilliant. If we teach our children at a young age how to use a step ladder, then soon they can clean the gutters, paint the house, hang light fixtures, etc. All those things that bog down the honey-do list. Well done Royal Caribbean!

aka - chaos at the Pringles factory.

This thing falls into this category:

We were just there three weeks ago, still pretty tore up but shopping was fine, and taking the water taxi from near the port pier to the beach was running just fine and the beach amazing.