Leaderboard

Solarium Photos: RC did an awesome job with this area. Loungers have been replaced and they have added in sun beds and other areas to lay around in. It has a very modern Miami type feel to it. I tried to capture what I could. Look for better pics to do this area more justice by @twangster in a few weeks ?. It really is a beautiful area. Solarium scope for those not on Periscope: https://www.pscp.tv/w/bkTGiDF4TlFhYVJPT2V3UWJ8MU1ZeE5xQVhEQnZKd2L3HVhFS_TfNLsCp9ejeQ6_QFliG6jbiulMOMpCMA0N

My next cruise (6 and a half months to go, but who's counting, amirite?) will be my first cruise solo and only my second cruise ever. (Explorer, South Pacific, March 2019) This thread has been hugely informative for planning purposes! I hadn't got much past the "drink package, here I come - cue the party goblin!" ? So, here's the plan: 1. Arrive early! 2. Drink - and toast to the beginning of the rest of my new life sans overgrown man-child 3. Find a spot to sit and people watch 4. Spa open day - forgot totally about that! 5. More drink! More people watching. 6. Check out cabin when ready 7. Food at some point, depending on hunger 8. MDR visit to secure two person table for solo dining 9. Muster drill 10. Sailaway party And, like @KWofPerth, I'll be happy to achieve any part of this, so long as the first two items are done. Oh, and I will be photographing my drinks, my stateroom, my view when people watching and everything else, and then posting it to social media. I want people to know just what a great time I'm having!

Deck 4 areas: Boleros & Menu: Izumi: 5 Hibachi tables here. 2 more than OA class. Deck 4 scope: https://www.pscp.tv/w/bkTa2zF4TlFhYVJPT2V3UWJ8MUJkeFlvdldQTGdHWFEcO0ZYsosVZ7GQuXpYy9CuGt1rhJE5dAsJyed-RwQX

Pondering life in Coco Cay and whether or not I really need to go back to work....but I do...I need to work to cruise ?

Deck 5 Promenade photos: Today Hubby and D10 stayed at Coco Cay until 4:30pm (I thought I was going to have to do a tender boat runner scope featuring Hubby and D10) and D12 and I returned early. I noticed that the public areas were still quite empty so I took the opportunity to take some photos and do a few scopes. Be forewarned...I was totally on my own for these photos with my iPhone so it's not going to be pretty ? Entrance to MDR from Deck 5: Bamboo Room & Menu: Side note: We walked into Bamboo Room around 9:45pm tonight and it was completely empty. Not sure if that's a one time thing, or if it has been quiet all along. On another side note: I mentioned in a scope earlier that the Pub has been quiet so far but tonight is was packed! Deck 5 scope: https://www.pscp.tv/w/bkTYgzF4TlFhYVJPT2V3UWJ8MU9kSnJweW9ia1FLWD9xdCV0FuIa3PkAdZrH0d6THp4C1s8aSQFU1VbVhNMm

Day 4 Sea Day and last day ? We are sailing ever so slowly back to Miami today. The ship is moving along at about 5 knots. That pretty much describes our morning too today. D10 is still in bed. This is my view as I write this: We have no set plans today other than rock climbing for D10. Billy Pando is playing again tonight in the Schooner Bar so hopefully we will be able to catch a bit more of him than Tuesday night. Last night we finally got around to checking out the WJ late night snacks. They open at 10:30pm every night and we wandered in around 11pm. Only a portion of the WJ was opened (that was expected) but it was crowded that there was no where to sit! That was unexpected. We did not stay to eat but I tried to grab a few pics. They are not great ones (it was crowded and the food was picked through), but it gives you an idea of what is offered. It was typical late night snacks. Nothing out of the ordinary. Burgers, tacos, hot dogs, fried chicken, and some desserts. Hubby and I were talking last night about whether or not the late night snacks take away from business at Playmakers and Bamboo Room. Also, they have put Jamie's and Chops right next to the WJ, and I wonder if that also takes business away from those restaurants. It could be the sailing but those restaurants have not looked busy at all the times that we have walked by. In addition, there have been more people walking around trying to drum up sales for specialty restaurants here than on any other cruise. We have been offered a discount of 20-30% off every day so far!

Dinner Night 3: Eggplant Tartare: Beef Stroganoff: Lasagna: Jerk Chicken: Chocolate Soufflé: Kid's Brownie: It was "Wear Your Best"' tonight. Attire ranged from T-shirts and shorts to suits for men and just about everything for ladies except swimwear. So really, it's totally up to you on this one.

I find chicken to be very therapeutic. Especially after a big night out, a couple of spicy wings really put me at ease ?

Great day in Coco Cay today. It paid off for us to leave later. It started pouring rain around 10:30am and by the time we were ready to leave at 11am, the rain had stopped. Most of the time we spent walking around and laying in the sun. There were plenty of beach chairs available even though we got there late. The lunch was your typical BBQ offerings, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, ribs. It was from 11:30-1:30pm. Construction was clearly visible but did not interfere with our day at all. Here are some construction photos. It's going to be a photo dump because I have no clue which ones are good and which ones are not ?

Bamboo Room when cruising with children ??

The bar crawl needs to be accompanied by intermittent runs to El Loco Fresh for Guac and chips. ?

@Matt has had a bunch of us badgering him for a 2020 July group cruise to Canada & New England. Granted, that's only a 6-night itinerary; we might have to make it a B2B with the 8-night Bahamas & Perfect Day run for a proper vacation, not to mention giving enough time for all of us to properly sample the Kraken and other libations. ?

The 5k bar crawl idea isn't bad at all! Someone suggested it be called the 5Kraken bar crawl.

People abuse the system all the time. A former neighbor claimed support animal so he wouldn't have to pay pet rent. I drove him to pick up his puppy from the breeder. It wasn't trained at anything, it was a ten week old puppy. Sure enough though, he didn't have to pay pet fees. With the talk of more restrictions coming, a year later he signed up for a 4 hour session that provided a whimsical certificate so that he could argue the dog had received professional support animal training. It was basically a play session with other dogs or so he told me as he encouraged me to follow suit. There have been many incidents reported on trains, planes and ships where a claimed 'service' or 'support' animal bit someone or otherwise behaved inconsistent with a properly trained service animal. I imagine there is potential liability if another guest is injured by a fake service animal. Even if the risk of legal action against Royal is low (or the chance of winning a suit is low), it certainly will create a negative experience for a guest to be impacted and have their vacation ruined by a misbehaving fake service or support animal. Seeing someone else getting away with it may tempt more to try it. "Why not bring Fluffy?, they did". If Royal needs to lean on the ADA to support this change in policy, I'm all for it.

The Italian - American New Yorker over here just died. ?

While I'd probably say 'yes' if it was like, a 10:30 flight, 8:30 is far too close to comfort. A lot of times people aren't even leaving the ship around 7 AM, so you'd pretty much have to be first in line with luggage in hand and then cross your fingers and hope that there isn't an issue with customs/the ship getting cleared by customs/security isn't totally backed up at the airport. Missed flight = really good way to undo all of the relaxing you just did on board.

Make it the 5K* Pub Crawl. Not sure how many stops are typically planned. If it happens to be five, naming is perfect. *Kraken

I too was surprised by the low crowds in Playmakers and Bamboo Room last night. However, it was only around 9:45pm when I went by so maybe the crowds are later? Both venues open till midnight. What I wonder is if the late night WJ offerings have anything to do with the low crowds at other venues? We went by the WJ last night around 11pm and it was packed! You couldn't even get a seat! So maybe people figure that included food is better than food that costs extra?? Or maybe it is dependant on the sailing as I know which review you are referring to ? Thank you! Trying to make it up to you for being a traitor ? Very much so. They have done a great job! I'll try to include a wine list from the MDR tonight too. I don't have drink package this cruise and I'm with my kids, so I have not paid much attention to the beverage offerings.

Maybe you'll get a better response than i did...he just laughs at my group cruise ideas ? He lets small things get in the way of my suggestions...like his kids need to attend school and he has to work and ect...?

No cruise ship preparing food for thousands of guests can present true authentic local foods. There may be theme nights where the food is oriented towards a region but even then it isn't truly authentic.

Deck 12 Sports Activities: ? All hubby Sky Pad: Requirements for Sky Pad. So many people were surprised by the shirt and dry requirements ??

Lazy day around the pool day. Overall it was a great day to check out the various activities on deck. Minimal to no lines everywhere. Pool photos: ? All hubby

So, I keep seeing these "chilled soups" discussed on dining room menus and seem like a popular cruise ship option overall. ... isn't a cold fruit based soup essentially a smoothie consumed in bowl and spoon format?

ok aren't the ships confined spaces and the lack of personal sanitation the cause of noro virus with all the people crammed into small spaces now we add dogs cats turkeys hamsters and whatever to the mix where does the litter box go where does the dog poop and pee I have seen a great dane that its owner said was a support dog the smell will become overwhelming and what about fleas and ticks does the ships doctor certify the health of the animal I think not I applaud you Royal for doing the right thing in my humble opinion animals do not belong on cruise ships yes it costs me a lot of money to board my 3 cats and 2 dogs when Im cruising but I accept it as part of cruising it would never occur to me to bring little poopsie or Sylvester on a cruise its not fair to all the passengers with allergies or just don't want to cruise with other peoples pets

@June May Congrats on your new "unencumbered" life. Enjoy !!! Hope you make lots of new friends and have an amazing cruise. Cheers.

I just got an email today regarding the upgrade opportunity. I am currently on the wait list. We are already in a Jr Suite (hump room) and set sail on the Freedom in 2 days. I guess we wait and see what happens!

Just do what we're doing in Feb...Short Indy (4d) followed by Serenade (11d). Off one ship, back on another that same day...savings on airfare.

That would put a damper on your day! Now you have to just figure out how you can wiggle in another on Christmas break! LOL

haha...if I move I am becoming "floridaguy".......I would be cruising every weekend! 4 day cruise...really hoping to go all out this winter and do a 7 day one..that's the goal..have seen some "cheap" airfare to San Juan out of Halifax so that may be the way to do it....

There were no sales for the Escape room that we came across. Just specialty dining. Today we were offered kids eat free!

It's really close by - you can see it from the ship! However, as far as the sidewalk quality from the pier to the Hilton I'm less sure about. There are some rougher patches IIRC.

Bahamian Cookin' Restaurant and Bar is a small place offering authentic local foods. We found out about it on the Tru Bahamian Food Tour. http://bahamiancookin.com/ https://www.trubahamianfoodtours.com/ I would highly recommend both the tour and the restaurant when in Nassau.

Thank you - that would be wonderful! Just trying to figure out which red wines I'll have access to within the drink package or with paying a few extra $$$!

I believe we need to move the decimal point and make it a point 5K pub crawl.

I need more vacation time!!!! That sounds amazing and I’m droving distance to NJ ?

@Lovetocruise2002 Great Blog and Periscope...keep it coming! Your doing b2b right! YOLO ?

What?! I didn't even know. Last day is tommrrow. I'll let you play with it in a few weeks ?

What you might try doing - call customer service and if the other members of your cabin would be interested in the Royal Refreshment package, they might allow them to purchase that and you could purchase the Deluxe package? You can't do it through the site but if other cabin members don't drink I've heard that support might be able to arrange it as long as the others in the cabin purchase the Refresh package.

Welcome to the board, my wife and I will be on Freedom on the October 13th sailing this will be our 5th cruise out of San Juan and our 3rd to the Southern Caribbean, our 16th cruise overall, so don't be afraid to ask any questions, I will help where I can.

Diet Sprite (canned). Don't recall seeing diet tonic. I've done vodka and Coke Zero (canned) with the Deluxe package. Sprite Zero is normally available at any bar, Coke Zero can be hard to find.

Day 3: Coco Cay Good morning all! Sitting here on my balcony looking out at Coco Cay. It is 9:50am and my kids are still half in bed. I did a scope earlier if you want to see what the island looks like. Photos to come later after Hubby gets out of bed. The plan for today is not a whole lot. We are not really beach people so we'll head over to the island and walk around. Hubby's one request is that we check out the BBQ lunch there. ?

Send selfie to friends and family. Wait for the bird-flipping emojis to come in.

I know, they won't let me bring my emotional support alligator on the air plane anymore. He used to fit under the seat but I guess since he's 8 feet now the over head was the only place.

Emotional support animals are not recognized by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Royal is following the law to the letter in differentiating emotional support animals from service animals that are trained and certified to perform a function for a person with a disability, such as a blind man walking with his trained eye-seeing dog. They are updating their policy as other travel outlets have done recently.

Where is the tomato, celery salt, pickle slice and Poppy seed? Oops that's Chicago Style.

Run, Don't Walk (just kidding), to the nearest bar for ceremonial Bloody Maryland's --- Then straight up to the Wind-Ja-Mair.

Straws are low hanging fruit. Something easy to eliminate. Over the past 30+ years when I've been provided a straw in a drink (soda, water, cocktail, etc) I haven't used it. Frozen drinks excluded from that list, so eliminating straws is a no-brainier for me. Zero impact to me and they went into the trash unused with each drink I ordered. To draw the conclusion that to give up straws one should also give up everything industrial in life such as cruising, flying, cars, electricity, processed foods, and so on is hyperbole. I've stopped drinking from plastic water bottles at home. I still use them while traveling on occasion, including at sporting events and yes on cruise ships. You don't have to take everything to the extreme to have an impact. Humans do cause a lot of pollution. Many cities suffered terribly from smog issues decades ago. By putting restrictions in place and changing human behavior that smog has been reduced. Industrial cities in Asia are living this today, where North America was 40 years ago. Mass transit supporters often cite pollution reduction as a benefit but that isn't the primary driver for mass transit solutions. Building 30+ lane highways in all major cities isn't feasible just to handle the volume of cars with a single occupant inside. You simply can't build infrastructure big enough to avoid traffic jams without looking at means to more efficiently move tens of thousands of people. Emissions reductions is just a side benefit of mass transit. Electric cars simply move the problem to someone else's backyard. Generate electricity here and through a maze of transmission systems recharge your car hundred of miles away over there. Energy required to move a mass doesn't change because the car is electric. This is especially true where electricity is generated by coal but nuclear is no saint either. You are simply pushing the pollution somewhere else.

Did someone say spaghetti bolognese???

First they came for my straws, and I said nothing. Then they came for my plastic cups, and I said nothing. Then they came for my ocean cruises, but by then the internet had also been shut off to save electricity so I could say nothing. ?

So if you've been following these boards for a while, you will already know how much I love La Bamba when sailing out of South Florida. You probably have already heard @JLMoran, @tonyfsu21, and @bellemiche make similar comments. Be sure to to give them a try the next time you are in the area pre/post cruise. Their food is delicious, portions are huge, their margaritas are perfect, and service is wonderful! Here are a few photos to try to do them justice. House Cheese Dip and House Nachos and Cheese: El Patron Margarita: Kids Chicken Taco (Hard Shell): Chicken Quesadilla: Chicken Fajitas: Chicken Tostadas: And to finish it all off (even though we were completely stuffed), Fried Ice Cream! (Minus the Whipped Cream). Current situation: Food Coma