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Well, after 3 cabin moves and who knows how many phone calls by our TA, we are back in the original cabin we booked a year and a half ago! @Matt is 100% correct when he says use a travel agent, John Ames at MEI really came through on this! Scott

Did my daily price check in the Cruise Planner, had a nice surprise. After buying 2-device VOOM for $18.99/night on the Black Friday sale, today the same package is listed for $17.99/night. Canceled and re-bought, easy peasy. All of $5 saved, but that's almost half a sail-away margarita (or 1/3 a glass of my preferred red wines) right there! Here's the weird part -- banner on Black Friday said the $18.99/night price was 50% off on-board pricing, and today's $17.99/night rate is listed as 40% off. ? So check your Cruise Planners, folks! Maybe you'll also find a random drop on something. I certainly doubt I'll find 2-device VOOM for a better rate than this, but then again I thought the same thing about $18.99 just a couple of weeks ago!

https://twitter.com/cruiseindustry/status/1070029489088868352?s=21 New Galveston terminal coming. Looks like an Oasis class ship will be announced for Galveston soon. And for those that doubted the Houston area could support an Oasis class ship, read where it says ships are operating at 110 percent capacity and maybe two more cruise terminals possibly coming

Saga continues.... Just went to print a new set of passes and tags, and our cabin was moved again. This time to 10th deck, but opposite corner from our friends on 9. Wish they would have just left us in previous cabin, it was a deck below the pool. What is more frustrating is this newest cabin if classified for 3+ people, which is the whole reason they moved us from our original cabin! In the grand scheme of life, this doesn't matter one bit, but it has been a frustrating situation. Scott

Holy Cow ! Is that an ostrich ?

Lesson learned, don't ever remove guests from a reservation, just show up without them. You'll get the portion of taxes and fees refunded for them anyways. PS - I agree that Royal owes you something. They moved you in hopes of selling that cabin to 3 other people, double dipping your wife's portion so it's not like they are losing money here, they got paid twice for one guest position.

Looks like pictures didnt copy into the last couple of post.

After lunch Addie wanted to head to the face painting and Ultimate Abyss slide. Quick tip, before you head up there be sure to have shorts and a T-shirt on. Addie had on a tank top on so I went back down to grab her a T-shirt while they played some miniature golf. The slide was busier than yesterday but still on a five minute wait. The platform before the slide might have the best view on the whole boat with the unencumbered glass and the clear platform beneath your feet. This time even Nikki came along rather than meeting us down on six. The pool was the next thing on the agenda, but it was a bit windy so we spent most of the time in the hot-tub. We did make time for The Perfect Storm water slide which was really fun. I was worried about not making it around but went all the way around the funnel twice at what seemed like high speeds. Adventure ocean was having a family activity in the Science area which fit in perfectly before we left for dinner. Today’s active was a Volcano experiment. It was anticlimactic at best as rather than the kids creating a volcano an instructor did just one in the center of the room.

Honestly, I personally would only bid if I was going from a JS to another suite category. Anything else would not be worth it to me since you don't get the double points. The other situation where I would bid is if I was with my kids and I could bid on a cabin with more than a sofa bed.

Blessings to you as well @bcarney! I’m glad to have met you and your family too. I don’t have a family of my own so I sort of enjoy family life vicariously through families around me. Seeing you with your lovely family, whether it was watching eggs drop from the upper decks or beating the competition at the Boat contest or just simply being together as a family, was always an awesome sight for me on the cruise.

The cast of the Love Boat had a reunion on The Today show today. One of them said that the show "created an industry... that used to be only for affluent people." Agree or disagree? I watched this show in my native country growing up and I must admit it developed in me an interest in cruising. Add to that a good number of people in my circle getting jobs in different departments on cruise ships . Before the day of live blogs and periscopes, I would say I got to "cruise vicariously" through them. I remember saying to myself, "I'd like to go on a cruise someday". I think I'm beginning to see the fulfillment of that childhood dream.

Yes. It’s nowhere near inedible. Considering it’s pizza made by a concoction of nationalities which none of which are Italy it’ll do. And having had that same pizza on Getaway this time last year it’s much better than NCL

Here lately, if you book the BOGO60 you do not get the C&A discount, one or the other, our at least that is what I was told by my TA.

Aruba - SeaSalt, local restaurant, easy walk from cruise ship pier, all the times I've been to Aruba the ship tends to leave later than normal ports, so my wife and I went and cleaned up on the ship and then walked back to the restaurant for dinner, I don't know if it is there specialty but the Paella was amazing, for desert have the deep fried cheese cake. https://www.google.com/maps/place/SeaSalt/@12.5164562,-70.0374469,19.09z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x8e8538cfe25a77db:0xf16a8a3e89818c2f!2sAruba!3b1!8m2!3d12.52111!4d-69.968338!3m4!1s0x8e8538bd5fa90491:0x13d4a34ebd71d20d!8m2!3d12.5169737!4d-70.0368628?hl=en

Gotta love random % Discounts. Today I am running a sale on a cup of coffee, its 97% off...... ONBOARD PRICE $100.00

Well, then I shall be the first. And I will report back.....

But they CAN project your status for 2019. That's what's (or one of the MANY things) so frustrating about this program. They already know whether you have accumulated enough points to reach the threshold of a certain tier status. As she said, she can tell that you have already at LEAST reached Prime level. My guess is that, while they know you will be at least Prime, they would prefer to wait and see if you reach Signature again. Since the points accumulation are iterative, you will continue to accumulate points right up until March 31 2019. Have you been keeping close track of your points ? I have. I get a final point count at the end of each and every cruise and record the points and all information related to rewards (certificates, etc.) in a spreadsheet. I have a bad feeling that there may be a "disagreement" about point accumulation when it comes time to place everyone in tiers next year. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised, but I don't think so. I could have given you a very reliable answer to this question last week....before this whole RoyalUp program started. Now, anything I say is purely a guess based on past experience but with no real way of knowing how the whole bidding thing is going to affect Club Royale members. My best experience has been to wait until I am awarded ANY kind of "free" cruise. I have done this with my annual Prime (inside) rooms and I have done it with rooms awarded through a casino certificate. In my experience, $$ off certificates are worthless. The only thing that really helps is a FREE room, regardless of what category it is. If you are using your "free" annual cruise (Prime, Signature or Masters....shouldn't matter), all you do is choose a cruise you want to take. The only restrictions are that it cannot be a "holiday sailing" and must be 8 nights or less in duration. As far as I know, there are no restrictions on which ships you can sail. The issue of "holiday sailing" is a bit nebulous. I have read that some people were denied if their cruise was during ANY Federal holiday. We were able to book during President's Day week (15 Feb 2019) without an issue but I have heard of others who tried to book that same week and were denied. It will just depend (as it so often does) on who answers the phone when you or your TA calls. If you receive a "free cruise" certificate, you MUST choose from among the cruises listed on the certificate. Pick one you like and go for it. I have done this both ways - on my own, direct with RC and with my TA who is a superb asset in dealing with the casino folks. Once you have picked a cruise, just tell them that you want to upgrade to a Star Class suite. They will tell you how much it will cost and you either do it or you don't. My experience has been that that the upgrade from inside room to Star Class is very reasonable....but Star Class is still expensive, no matter how you look at it. For my Prime room (the one that we booked for President's day of next year on Anthem), we started out at "free" (inside), upgraded to a 2D, ocean view balcony for $448, upgraded to a J4 JS for another $412, and finally upgraded to a Grand Loft Suite for an additional $2884 - making it a grand total of $3714. That cabin category is sold out for that cruise so I cannot tell you how much it would be if you bought it now but I can tell you that the same exact cabin for the same week in 2020 is currently $9443 with the current BOGO60 so the casino price is 40% of the full "retail" price. We are also on the Feb 15, 2020 cruise on Anthem also in a Grand Loft Suite. Having said ALL of this, I have no idea what the new RoyalUp program is likely to do to casino pricing. We will just have to wait and see but I think that if you book beyond 90 days, you will still get the good casino pricing. Just my opinion, of course.

Get the molten chocolate cake with a side of vanilla ice cream. I agree on the apple pie.

You really don't need reservations. I walked in to Independence shows 5-10 minutes early and had no problem with seats. If you are picky about a seat, then you should show up about 30 minutes early. Check previous cruise planners (tab at the top of this page) for an idea of times and shows. The headliner act will probably change but it should give you an idea of times. Here is a November Freedom compass http://royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/freedom-of-the-seas/sun-2018-11-04-0000 Yes.

Texting on Allure is in a testing phase right now. Ordering drinks is forecasted to become a future capability. See these blog posts about texting on Allure only: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/09/20/royal-caribbean-adds-chat-feature-allure-of-the-seas https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/10/22/first-look-royal-caribbean-smartphone-app-chat-feature

If you haven’t already, I would recommend you look at past Cruise Compasses for Freedom. From what I understand the shows and entertainment type things do not change very often except for maybe the comedian and special guest. Here’s a link to the Freedom Compasses filtered: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass?ship=278

Took my very first cruise in 1985 on the SS Norway BECAUSE of that show. Turned 18 on that cruise, had my first beer and played my first slots on that cruise. We were seated at the Captain's table every night. No MDR and specialty restaurants back then. Just THE Dining Room. Never ended up on Fantasy Island, though!

Annual cruise from Quebec City to Fort Lauderdale. Adventure of the Seas at the moment, 13 nights. https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/cruises/itinerary/13-night-the-snowbird-migration-from-quebec-city-on-adventure/AD13YQB-2112901123?sail-date=2019-10-07&currency=USD&wuc=USA&ecid=sl_mdt_shrdln__4645

You have so many cruises booked I bet you'll get plenty of chances ? LOL I'm curious - I may have to start a ~gasp~ spreadsheet and track prices to see if bidding is actually a worthwhile thing. Just because a bid starts at, say, $100 to go from a balcony to a junior suite, doesn't mean that if you bid $100 you'd actually get it at that rate. Since it's per person, that means $200. You know there will be others bidding much higher than the minimum, so what are your chances anyway? And at what price point does it make it worth it? If the price between an balcony & a junior suite ever drops to that $200 difference that you'd be willing to bid, then it's worth it to secure the room in the location you want. I'd be afraid I'd be stuck in the least desirable cabin that category by bidding. And by bidding, I'm forfeiting those double points I'd have received by booking directly. For those of you that are already getting the double points, bidding for a higher category won't matter as much, but again you're giving up choosing which cabin you'd be put into. We usually book a balcony room, so that's the scenario most relevant to me. I do have a couple oceanview and inside booked for quick not-in-the-budget-but-we-want-to-go-anyway so I may consider bidding up from inside to oceanview or oceanview to balcony but that's it. My offers for my oceanview on Brilliance in January were starting $40 pp for balcony, $100pp junior suite, or $100pp grand suite. Somebody else on this sailing reported getting an offer to upgrade to a royal suite. Someone in our group has that one and only suite, and he's not going anywhere. So not sure how much stock to take in these bid emails anyway. They are offering bids on rooms not available! LOL

@betatke1480 is calling it the "unofficial" pre-cruise hotel lol. There are quite of few of us booked there already!

We were just in that hotel right before our Thanksgiving cruise on NAV. The hotel itself is a bit old but it was fine. The best part about our stay was that they put us in the "penthouse" (31st Floor) and the views were incredible. At first Dan had been a bit annoyed at me for choosing this hotel (he would have preferred something less expensive) but after he saw our balcony and the view, he was blown away. I think the only reason they put us on 31 was b/c we got there late and I'm thinking everything else was sold out. LOL Even the bell hop couldn't believe they had put us up on 31.

I booked the Marriott Biscayne Bay for a January 2019 cruise on Allure, it was expensive for one night also, could just be the area.

the rooms were nearly ready and we were nearby we decided to just hang out in Dazzles for 15 minutes. Sure enough right at 1pm the stateroom hallways doors were open and we could get to our room. While comparable in category there are several places where the Royal Caribbean Junior Suite and Norwegian’s Mini Suite with large balcony diverge. Bathroom- even though the RC room has a tub/shower combo I have to give the category to Norwegian. The bathroom on Harmony felt kind of squished together (I know the interior room people are giving me dirty looks right now) and missing the second sink is a big thing when everyone is trying to get ready for dinner. Storage space- this one isn’t even close, the junior suite closet is as big as some New York City hotels I’ve been in. It did seem larger on YouTube videos though, so I guess instead of ten pounds, the camera adds 10 square feet. Room Layout- the extra walking space between the bed and the desk and on the side of the bed makes the room feel very spacious and you don’t feel like you’re constantly bumping your knee on the bed. Balcony- our Norwegian suites had not only the two chairs but also two loungers in case you wanted to sun on your balcony. On Harmony in a similar location the balcony was a little less deep, but still very serviceable

If anyone has the opportunity to sail with @RatedPG, please do so. He's a great person, with a perpetual smile on his face. I had the opportunity to shake his hand, and frankly that may have been the highlight of my cruise. He's a great human being, and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to have met him. Blessings to you, RatedPG. I hope we cross paths again someday.

@mworkman has been doing this for a while but he's lucky and busy cruising. Thought I would post it for him. Happy Sailing to all those cruising this month! And hooray, I'm one of them! lol December 2018 8 - accio7 (Adventure of the Seas) 9 - Wilson (Freedom of the Seas) 9 - MFisher89 (Mariner of the Seas) 9 - canada55 (Harmony of the Seas) 9 - Dcruiser (Liberty of the Seas) 9 - Traveler (Allure of the Seas) 10 - dochedges (Independence of the Seas) 16 - CowboyMedic (Navigator of the Seas) 16 - Hoski (Navigator of the Seas) 16 - Dcruiser (Liberty of the Seas) 21 - HtownHolly (Navigator of the Seas) 22 - WAAAYTOOO (Grandeur of the Seas) 29 - KJ1231 (Brilliance of the Seas) 29 - Lovetocruise2002 (Independence of the Seas) 29 - Sweety (Anthem of the Seas) 30 - Dcruiser (Oasis of the Seas)

Adding a couple more photos from the loft suite we toured on the cabin crawl

Our Sea day was spent relaxing by the pool, enjoying the nice weather and taking in the poolside activities while sipping some cocktails. Unfortunately for me due to the rays from the sun and the lack of sun cream i now look like the Lava Flow cocktail i had been consuming at the time. Having never cruised before i cant comment on or compare atmospheres between cruises out of different ports, but there is no doubt peurto ricans know how to have fun and enjoy themselves. The poolside was turned into one big party atmosphere with their own band playing while sitting in hottub. Formal night corresponded with St Andrews day so the kilt was worn, must admit most made the effort, however one woman turned up in the sportswear she had worn 7hrs earlier while doing poolside zumba in 28c sunshine. Noticed her again next day still wearing same outfit, must be the only woman who packs only a toiletry bag for a vacation. Next stop St Maartan by far the best island on this cruise, we booked bernards tours after reading reports about them on here, and they Didnt dissapoint! Our driver The Mailman delivered a great tour full on facts regarding the places we visited and also kept us laughing with his stories. Forget about the damaged buildings, this island is rebuilding and deserves eveyones support For those that know the docks at st maartan the mailman made An interesting point, that being that RC are building a new pier on the land where bernards tours currently occupy for a ship to be homed there. back to San Juan and we disembark this wonderful ship very soon, Without doubt this is the first of many cruises Next stop new york

Pre-Cruise Hotel While normally Marriott loyalists (yeah I know, probably time to change that card number after yesterday’s leak) as I stay in Hotels about 120 nights a year. But as I’ve already requalified for Marriott Platinum Premiere I’ve focused the back half of the year on Hyatt properties where available. We decided on the Hyatt Place 17th, but after some bad experiences with Similar properties, we moved fairly last minute to a fairly new looking Hyatt House. The Hyatt House is located only about two miles from the airport and as you have to navigate around the airport, it’s about 6 miles to port Everglades. Paid rates for the stay were in the 160 per night range, so redeeming points was the better option. Point rates are pretty low in this area as all the FLL properties cost the same 8,000 points per night. We booked our two night stay in a king suite. Check in was quick and friendly and we were on to our room in about two minutes. Breakfast is complementary at the property and even includes a fresh made omelette station for registered guests. The room was quite comfortable and the entertainment center made for a nice division between the living room and bedroom. My only complaint during our stay was the spotty housekeeping services. It took an hour the first night to get linens for the sofa bed and on our second day, we never got housekeeping at all. We were gone from 11-4 so there was plenty of time for service the room. A call downstairs for towels was made and they were delivered within 15 minutes. To keep Addie busy the day before leaving we decided to go bowling. She had a great time bowling and playing games and best of yet it ate up a couple of hours. The highlight was definitely what looked like a hilarious mashup of a Duck, a Dalmatian, and a turkey. In what has become a precruise tradition we decided on hibachi for dinner. Normally as we’re on Norwegian we depart out of Port Miami. There’s a Benihana in Coral Gables where we meet up with friends who live in Miami. This time however they were out of town so we found a different Benihana closer to the hotel. The service and entertainment was good and the food was above average. The location over the water would definitely be a highlight if it wasn’t December and dark by 5pm

We did an extended family cruise to Alaska on Explorer in August. Our youngest was 2 and 3 months and was not a damper at all! Some things we learned before and experienced on the ship that may help manage expectations. 1. No Nursery on Explorer so babysitting was not an option, I read above that Radiance does have it though so you are already better off! 2. No pool allowed unless fully potty trained so don't show up expecting to use the pool if they are still in diapers. 3. An umbrella stroller is a must, our large one would have been a real pain and take up lots of space in the elevator etc. Get a reasonable umbrella stroller if you don't have one, it's worth it! Even the odd time when he fell asleep we could just go about our day with him sound asleep in it. We got one that reclined a bit and were happy with it. 4. We didn't miss the entertainment on his behalf. He was happy to come and enjoyed the lights and music. We made a point of sitting back row in case but only had to get up and go once. As long as you're respectful of others enjoyment of the show I think nobody is upset that a toddler is there. Depending on how much family is with you they can sit in the middle of the larger group! 5. Early supper time was great and the waiters always brought food right away for the little guy to help stay happy. 6. You specifically asked about excursions so here's what we did! We did bring him along and he did great. Just be mindful of what you book and if there's one you really don't want to miss that a toddler can't join on you may have to make other arrangements. We did whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau and the Train and Sled Dogs in Skagway and both were good for toddlers. Another bonus is our 2 year old was free of charge on both excursions so if paying for something they won't remember is a deterrent it shouldn't be and they enjoy the moments! 7. Have fun, Alaska was an awesome trip! An aside is I have been reading these boards for months now and just decided to jump in and comment as we had a 2 year old in Alaska recently! Everyone is very informative and just reading the boards without asking questions helped us tons!

Anthem had a shake up in their Cruise Director staff in the last two weeks. Wonder if that could be the hold up?

Wonderland on Symphony is amazing and the mad hattter is to best in the fleet!

I also agree.

100% agree. I watched that show as a little girl and loved it.

I've done both. On Anthem I tried "getting with the program" and letting the power go off and it worked out fine. I mean that's the purpose right? To save energy. So I'd suggest trying it and if it works out for you stick with it.

Not sure. Depends which way the wind is blowing. If I have a lot of contract work I'll be busy and have less time for it.

I've monitored the entertainment daily from 180 days out, i think there waiting till the last minute. Activities have been available for at least 2 months, all 4 of them ?