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Well...I am turning into the "Girl who cried wolf"...we just turned our 169 day dry dock into a 98 day dry dock. Just booked Indy for NYE 2018!!!! We've done some pretty "not so wise" things in the past but this booking has got to be "our best" example of "YOLO Book It" to date. Suites and connecting rooms are completely sold out. All 4 of us are cramming into an Ocean View Panoramic cabin (1L). Going to be a very tight squeeze! Not even close to good value as the cost of the 1L can get me a JS on Indy next NYE (but I am not good at waiting). Airfare is double what we normally pay to fly from DTW to FLL. Definitely a YOLO moment! The surprise this booking was that airfare was cheaper to book through Air2Sea rather than direct with Delta. Not a huge savings, but $164 cheaper, same flight times, same airline. I always thought Air2Sea would be more for domestic. Worthwhile to check.

Day 6 continued... The weather was fantastic with following winds keeping the wind well in check on deck. With us doing 20 knots, I would say the apparent wind was about 10 mph. Super comfortable as we made home base on the sundeck right before the solarium starts. It's a great place to have the best of both the solarium and pool deck fun. Finished the daytime off with a five mile run on the track. Hope to do another five tomorrow as it's my incentive to eat just a bit more ? Talking about eating, the food on the 2nd formal was delicious as the lobster tails came out. What was lacking was the organization. This particular service was slow while the wait staff seemed to be running around. Please share, if anyone knows, what is so different about the 2nd formal night that makes it so hard? The main stage computer was still down so no show tonight besides a comedic magician who did a fun yet corny 25 minute set. He is a current entertainer on the ship who offered to do magic. The effort was appreciated. Although disappointed with not seeing Come Fly With Me we stumbled into Dazzles and stayed 90 minutes listening to an talented and energetic band called the Temperature. We missed their Motown show a day ago but caught this country and rock themed show that had us dancing the night away. Just wish Dazzles was a but bigger as the audience was full and chairs hard to come by. A stroll around the ship took us to midnight so we turned in. One more day and we hope go out with a bang!!

Well , it was long time ago since the last cruise . I guess its another Med cruise before Symphony is going to Miami. Actually this cruise was the original cruise we planned for this ship but then we added one in April. This time we are going to focus mainly on exploring the ship , we scheduled only 2 tours so I am not even sure we will go out of the ship in every port, but things can change. The main different for this cruise is the fact it will be our first time on a JS , The price was right and hey YOLO , I booked it. As always we arrived 1.5 days before the cruise , after all there are allot of things to do in Barcelona , this time I found a flight with a connection in Istanbul with Turkish Air as they are part of star alliance and we get points and access to the lounges (due to the status in United). It prove itself as we enjoyed the very impressive lounge while waiting between the flights and they also upgraded us. Tomorrow we will tour Barcelona , not decided yet where to go so it will be a free style and mainly for the day to pass so we can board the ship ? Not everyone were happy we are cruising again : The lounge : They have food stations were they prepare some fresh dishes : And how I can Ignore the Baklava cakes, mental note to myself - avoid checking you sugar level at least few weeks after the cruise

Wished I was going to Falmouth. My family visit me Everytime. They bring me jerk seasonings and rum. Oh yeah I forgot, I get to see my family.

Day 6 mid-day live update (Wrote it but never sent it until now. Consider part one of today!) A relaxed start of the day led us to Johnny Rockets for breakfast. The sweet spot seems to be about 15 minutes after opening so you miss the line waiting to open and it filling up later on. Service was spot on and the food delicious. We took the back stage tour and learned a lot. Of note was that the Andrew Loyd Webber company has sign off on each performer and the music is not live as the company was worried about quality. With that said each instrument has its own track so mixing is up to the director. Since I know some do not appreciate the show I asked if it will be replaced at the next dry dock. No confirmation on that but I was told that the agreement was for 6 years or 10 performing groups which will be close to being done at drydock. They could always negotiate a new contract but I would bet on a new show. Some odds and ends. The water was shut off shipwide at night for maintence and the Opal theater shows had to be cancelled last night due to a computer malfunction. They are working on it today and promised at least a variety show as a replacement. That may be interesting!! In name of live, I leave you with my current view. Enjoy!

Original link: https://cruisefever.net/royal-caribbean-cruise-ship-upgrade-schedule-2019-2021/ Royal Caribbean continues to upgrade their fleet of 25 cruise ships with many of the cruise line’s ships being enhanced last year and this year. The cruise line is currently in the middle of a $900 million renovation program (Royal Amplified) of their cruise ships. When cruise ships go into dry dock, they receive routine hotel maintenance (new beds etc) and cosmetic upgrades in public areas that include lighting, new carpet, tile work, and wall coverings. Also, the dry dock gives cruise lines time to work on parts of the ships that are under the water line (azipods, propellers etc). Royal Caribbean has been adding incredible new features including the Skypad, thrilling waterslides, laser tag, and escape rooms that is part of the Royal Amplified upgrades. The enhancements allow Royal Caribbean to offer a wider variety of specialty restaurants and features to their cruise ships. Mariner of the Seas and Independence of the Seas were the first two Royal Caribbean cruise ships to receive the Royal Amplified upgrades. The schedule for Royal Caribbean dry dock enhancements and upgrades for 2019-2021 is as follows: January 3 – February 23, 2019 – Navigator of the Seas September 22 – November 23, 2019 – Oasis of the Seas September 10 – October 17, 2019 -Voyager of the Seas January 20 – February 22, 2020- Freedom of the Seas 2020 -Explorer of the Seas 2020 – Allure of the Seas 2021 – Liberty of the Seas 2021 – Adventure of the Seas

Quick review on Little French Key,,,,,, Not a fan !! Heard wonderful things, and was well aware of the fire & obvious issues they're having w their government. But decided to keep our booking and go anyway. The fire was limited to the animal sanctuary, and as sad as that is, it didn't impact the other areas of the resort. However,,,, the other areas are not that nice IMO. Sure, it was scenic, in a Gilligans Island sort of way. Lots of palm trees and jungle-like environment, but as far as soft sand & crystal clear blue water we really didn't see it. Much of the swimming is accessed from a dock area, where chairs/bars are. What was included for the $175 "all inclusive" package (for 2) was a "lunch plate" and 4 drink tokens. The lunch was 1 bbq chicken leg and a side which I don't even remember. Very disappointing. As far as drinks/tokens,,, You can get either 2 cheapo drinks (soft drink, beer, well drink) OR use BOTH tokens for 1 top shelf drink, for example Crown Royal, Johnnie Walker, etc. Bottom line for me, think of it this way,,, It was kinda like paying $85 pp to spend the day in Labadee without the wonderful all you can eat buffet they set up there. I don't regret going, we made the most of it, but I would certainly never go back, nor recommend it.

I would if there weren't so many of those!

It's official........ Happy New Year!

Dont' you just love those YOLO moments!!?

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Woohoo! One more sleep!

For sure. We have filed this into our knowledge box fork future holiday cruises. We usually book way in advance when bookings first open and have never entertained the option of a Christmas/NY cruise so we waited too long. I was reading on the roll call for this sailing that the price was not as bad at first. It has gone up dramatically. I suspect the same for air fare. Next time we will look far ahead like we do for most of our cruises. This is more of a YOLO moment.

I think you are right on & Anything sailing even a day before or after will be tough booking?

YIPPEE !!! Holiday cruising is the best. It's pricey but so much fun. I know you will have a ball.

We are on the NAV 18-22 Nov and our drink package price is $45 PP/PD. I'm thinking about just waiting until I'm on board and checking out the D+ discount. I've never tried using that before. Also, very interesting that they are apparently "sold out" of specialty dining packages for this sailing. First time I've ever heard of anything like that. My guess is that b/c it is Thanksgiving week they aren't offering any packages just like they do for the Christmas + NY cruise we're on in December. That seems a little arbitrary to me since there is really only 1 holiday and that's the last day. Whatever. The MDR has great food. I'll just save my money.

Day -1. Barcelona , so many things to do here but I really want to board the ship already. We did not had exact plans for the day so we decide just to improvise. After quick breakfast at the hotel (four points near Diagonal) we decide to first be done with the ship shopping (AKA , two bottles of wines , water and things we forgot) so we went to the nearest supermarket. next we went to see the famous church - Sagrada Familia , it was about 30 minutes walk from our hotel but hey we need to burn some calories before the endless visits to the WJ and the weather was just perfect for walking. the church looks amazing from the outside and I would not skip it. Next came my favorite part , the tapas bar visit , this time we went to a place call Tapas Tapas , the menu is the table cover so its very easy to choose from it. It for sure not the best tapas in town but everything was good and we enjoyed it with a jar of sangria. we took some mussels (which were very very fresh) , olives, patatas bravas (a must for me in any Tapas bar), some fried papers and a small salad. The sangria is not included in the ultimate drinking package, should I go on the other board and complain or since we did not order the package I should leave it ? We continued to walk a while until we decided its time to head back to the hotel. really nice day, we passed near several game tables which apparently were something like tennis tables but you play it with soccer ball (or football in the rest of the world) , we saw two that played it and it was fun to watch for a while. And now , we are not in London , but still this building is near our hotel Now I finally starting my favorite part in a a day before the cruise , making the luggage tags. I guess we will find some place to eat a light dinner and try to go to sleep early as I know I will not be able to sleep late at a cruise day. We did the online check in using the application and it approved us to do the expedite boarding (which I Guess its just to show our online sea passes and the passport). On the expedite sea pass its says board between 1:30 to 2 PM , yap , sure , that exactly what we are going to do ...

You could trade your Anthem NYE cruise for Indy ?

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Woohoo!!!!

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Indy - December 29, 2018

Following as always! ?

Last night my wife brought up our desire for a kid-less vacation to her parents, and they were open to the idea of coming over to watch the kids! So this pipe dream may be a little less pie-in-the-sky than I thought. Depending on when they could come over, it would either be the fjords at the end of May or Western Med in the beginning of the month...fingers crossed it pans out!

We did Krazy Lobster per @twangster recommendation! We had a wonderful time! There was a small beach with lounge chairs, but we didn’t partake! We sat at the tables and had the best guacamole and the freshest pico de Gallo I’ve ever eaten! Did I mention the homemade chips——— to die for!! They also had $5 buckets of beer, if I remember it was 5 beers and it was maybe three choices! I found something I liked, for a dollar a beer, how bad can it be!? We had a great afternoon!

Maya Chan is the place to go https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/04/23/excursion-focus-maya-chan-beach-costa-maya

Day 5! Our last port day was a full beach day at Great Bay Beach. It started relaxed with room service and breakfast in bed. Just fun to do it once during the week. ? After that it was a leisurely get ready to meet the group at 9:45. We did the typical herding in line to and from the water taxi and were sheparded to a fairly packed area with chairs, umbrellas with drink and food service. It was definitely a party feeland fun to meet others. Also we were informed that since there was not a second group our 3 hour beach adventure was actually all day with the return taxis running every ten minutes or so. It was enjoyable but completely opposite of the relaxed, room to spread out beach time of Mehgan's beach yesterday. Vote goes to yesterday! Back on board with a fantastic dining room dinner. Service has been top notch with offers of seconds every time we finish our plates or for something different if we leave a bit left over. We tend to search out quiet places on the ship so we strolled around the track after dinner taking in the moonlight and the appearance of the planets as it got darker as more stars could be seen. The ice show on the Oasis was more high energy than the others I have seen and was appreciated. Studio B on the Oasis seems to be the same size than other classes but better designed to move crowds in and out. The Freedom and Voyager versions all had a single choking point. Talking about quiet spaces, we finished the evening with the Central Park violen concert. 6000 people on the ship and you can find entertainment with a few dozen people spread out under the stars and among the plants listening to a pair of talented artists. Next up is a first of two sea days! Who knows what Oasis adventures awaits!!

Hi, I’m Chris, I'm a database programmer in the direct marketing industry. My family & I are from Connecticut and have somewhat recently re-caught the cruising bug. Our kids are 12 and 14, and up until the last few years we've spent most of our vacation time in Disney World. Before we had children my wife, Dawn, and I were cruisers, starting with our honeymoon back in 1999 on the then, somewhat new, Grandeur of the Seas. We have been on NCL and Princess, but we have found that although they are good cruise lines, RCCL seems to do most things better. We would love to try Disney, but the costs for a cruise with them is just too crazy to consider - we could book two (or more) cruises with RCCL for the price of one with Disney. Our last cruise was this past April, on the Liberty sailing out of Galveston and we all loved it! I have also been on the Explorer, and the Serenade. This week I just booked two cabins for the group cruise next July 4th on Anthem. We are all super excited! Chris

Checking in using the Royal Caribbean app has streamlined check-in for Mariner of the Seas. I was able to load my passport information and then use my iPhone’s camera to take a selfie for the ship’s records. I selected the time I expected to arrive at the port and the app produced a SetSail pass that could be scanned at the port. The new process looked good and it worked well. Around 10am on Monday, I departed from the CruiseHabit.com Global Headquarters (aka Billy and Larissa’s place) and drove to the port. This a drive I’ve made a few times now, but I still use Waze to get me there. Upon arrival, I promptly forgot the order of the letters in the alphabet, and even though Mariner of the Seas was at Terminal G, I drove to the Terminal A-D parking garage. Thankfully, Port Miami is one big loop. After a course correction of my own, I was able to get a parking spot, cross the street, drop of my checked baggage with the porter, and proceed through security. Once in the terminal, a Royal Caribbean agent noted the Gold status on my SetSail pass and directed me to the line for Gold members and fortunately, I was next to be checked in. After asking me a couple of public health questions, I got my SeaPass card and I walked right onto the ship. Easily the smoothest and quickest check-in process I’ve ever experienced. My first stop was of course the Windjammer, and of course, it was packed. After loading up a plate with some curries and chile con carne, I found a table with a young woman sitting alone and, with no other tables available, I asked if I could join her. I also got to meet her husband and learned they were on a vacation with the kids back at home. We had a great conversation (minor spoiler, I’ve run into both of them a few times on the cruise, and we have great conversations every time). Once the staterooms were available, I made my way down to Deck 2, where I’m staying in one of the four new single-occupancy staterooms. The staterooms are tucked away behind the Loyalty Ambassador’s desk, so there’s a feeling of being in a private space that no one else knows about. Having seen how small the interior staterooms on other lines can get, I was nervous. Turns out, I had nothing to worry about. The bed is approximately full-size and the bathroom is a standard size bathroom for a cruise ship. Given the chance, I would book this cabin again without hesitation. After staying up so late catching up with Billy and Larissa the night before, I was pretty beat, so I decided to set an alarm for 3:30pm and get a nap in before muster. Once I was up and moving around, I did a walk around the Royal Promenade and got to compare the area to the one on Harmony of the Seas. I sought out Playmakers to get a drink and see what Royal Caribbean’s new concept was all about. At 5:45pm, I went down to the Main Dining Room for an early dinner. The waiter assigned to my table, Rowen from India, was great. As I was dining by myself, I didn’t want dinner to go on too long. He picked up on this and made sure my courses came out with very little time in between. I started with the crab cake and the mushroom soup (both hits), and then had the fried seafood mix. The fish and shrimp on the platter worked just fine, but the breading on the scallop didn’t stick — still an enjoyable dish. After dinner, I went to The Bamboo Room and ordered a Saturn Landing. The flavors in this drink were unexpected, but all worked well together. I think the ginger syrup and the allspice liquor were flavors I’d never tasted in a drink before, but they were a hit. I’ll probably get another one of those before the last night of the cruise.

Norwegian Fjords!

I cruised Explorer in June. We ate in the MDR almost every night, never had any issues with the food. They ran out of food? I've never heard of such a thing. I met people this morning while waiting to board Mariner who were on that same cruise and they didn't mention any issues. It's unfortunate you got sick from another guest. I've heard of people refusing to give up their cruise because they were sick and they boarded any ways. Getting sick happens on land as well. As a frequent business traveler I can't count the number of times I've gotten sick after flying domestically within the U.S. They only quarantine when it's appropriate. Not going to the doctor for fear of quarantine puts other guests at risk. If you've both gotten this sick you've likely infected someone else. Imagine how they feel.

My friend and I are also not doing Voom, we're planning on a small whiteboard or even just a notepad and going old school. ("@ Solarium if you need me", "Wandering around, be back 4:30 to get ready for dinner") Also packing two different color highlighters for the Compass to highlight what we each think we're interested in going, as that will also probably provide a tentative help to track each other down at any point in the day.

Pretty sure it is...I cant think of anything on Royal that doesn't have the 18% grat on top of it.....

After checking in at the Cruise Terminal, you will be directed to sit with other guests in the same C&A level as you. When boarding begins, they board from highest C&A level down to lowest. So being in C&A (even at Gold) means you get to board before the unwashed masses non-C&A members.

Sadly, complimentary VOOM for GS+ is only available for Oasis and Quantum class ships.