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I think that you have created a monster! ??? Is there a cure?!??

As we plan our 2020 cruise, we asked our 9 year old if he wanted to go to new places on our cruise or have cool things on the ship. We explained that not every ship has water slides or laser tag. He said, totally seriously, "What about buffets? Do they all have buffets?" We assured that any ship we take him on will have a buffet. #priorities

@Auto...do you work for Royal IT? Sure looks like it! ?

We went to Cabbage beach last year in December, prior to this trip we did and excursion through Royal where we paid $85 per adult, and $55 per child to go to the beach on Atlantis. When we got there we had a beach chair and a towel and it was the same beach that Cabbage beach is on. When we went back last Christmas and I saw the rock formations in the water I knew where we were, and I felt pretty ripped off! The beach itself is great, it cost us $16 one way for four people in a taxi, only complaint was the amount of vendors going up and down the beach. They were not rude at all, and you just had to tell them "no thank you" once and that individual would leave you alone. You could rent chairs for the whole day for a reasonable price, I would gladly go there again with the kids, did not feel pressured or harassed whatsoever!

I mean... there is this... https://www.patreon.com/RoyalCaribbeanBlog ??

Arrived in FLL after a bumpy flight. The Holiday Inn Express Cruise Port hotel is your typical Holiday Inn. Functional for a pre-cruise stay. Off to La Bamba! ?

Poutine, of course.

The parents should be commended for bringing that child up right.... Well done

I also agree that it really ain’t a scam at all just another program that they are offering and some might find it worth the money while others won’t depending on what they value and what they like to do. Yes I think that it really depends on what you would do on the ship. Personally we don’t use any of the flowrider, rock climbing etc activities so those features aren’t of any value to us but would be very valuable to families that would use those features. Also, the price that we are paying for the internet for two devices is a total of 133 for two devices for our cabin since we don’t need any more than that. Also, we check our bags and just carry a purse on board so that feature wouldn’t be used by us either, but certainly might for other groups that might want to carry on luggage. The breakfast also isn’t anything that I would place value on solely for us because we are fine with getting room service or eating in the buffet, but again that’s only us. So for us I can only look at the value of boarding priority and reserved seating at shows as those are the only other features that we would be receiving in addition to the internet. Therefore just for us we would have a difference of around 147 for the added benefits beyond the internet. I personally don’t feel that monetarily speaking that priority boarding and reserved seats at shows is worth an additional 147. But it that’s just me. I would rather spend that kind of money on excursions and activities. But families might find this advantageous depending on what they like to do. To each their own though ?

That's a $19 wedding present to M&M Poole! ?

I really hate it when they remove the cruise from the website when it sells out. It just adds anxiety to everyone who is already booked on it. It would be much better if they would just show the cruise and indicate that it is sold out. Removing it just causes panic.

Forget New Years for now, I am so excited for La Bamba tonight! Have a great sailing!

Royal IQ is the old app that is still in use on Quantum class ships. It is more basic, mostly showing a part of the daily Cruise Compass and letting you see your reservations for meals, shows, etc. as well as make new ones. It’s only usable after you’re on board and connected to VOOM. The app that’s just named “Royal” is the new app, and is still in its early stages. It’s been rolled out to a fair number of ships now, and will eventually be the only app for use both pre-cruise and on board all ships. It also lets you see the Cruise Compass and make reservations, but on top of that it includes (or will soon include) other features like pre-cruise checkin (replacing the web site), ability to serve as your boarding pass, chat (in beta), and information about the ship. More information about Royal’s plans for the app can be found in this blog post.

Sad news.. @twangster gets the answer wrong ? This is me the rest of the evening:

Watch out...Matt will be adding gratuity for us members shortly if we keep asking for benefits.?

Maybe this is inappropriate, but I want to commend KLA for using the word "they're" correctly. In this day and age of using shortcuts for social media, many people have forgotten some basic grammar and punctuation rules. A personal pet peeve is when someone uses "there" for the contraction for "they are". OK. I'm done.

Can’t complain...off our driveway at 8:30am, crossed the border, got to DTW and through airport security by 9:50am. Pretty quiet Friday at the airport. Uneventful so far. Currently debating what we should eat ?

Following. I wonder if they will be broadcasting the World Junior Hockey games. Go Canada!

According to my MEI agent, I saved $200 on one leg of the Mariner sailings I have booked and a whopping $19 on the @mpoole3 wedding cruise,

No clue. Depends on if there is a shortage of hamsters. ?

It's actually the whole lot of you on these forums...you're just the first instigator to post since I revealed the gift ?

It really is addictive! When I saw people talk about it, I always assumed it was one of those online gambling things that required real money. Then I found out a bit over a week ago it’s free. Aaaaand now I have a bit over 25,000 reward point things. ? Halfway to $100 OBC!

You and me both!!!!!

Oh how I would love to be a Diamond with the Crown and Anchor! Currently we are at Platinum and with our cruise in March we will be at Emerald. Hopefully we will be breaking the Diamond level by the end of the year. We will both be doing cartwheels at that point!

Thank you for sharing, SO sad and tragic especially for his coworkers! I know that "the show must go on" but I also know that it will be extremely hard to continue and perform with their loss!

You wouldn't happen to be bidding on the Royal Suite on Rhapsody, are you? I've got a bid in on that for my Jan 5th sailing...

I am from Nassau, I live in Canada. I am actually currently in Nassau for Christmas vacation. I am very sad, upset to read all the comments on this post. Yes the Port needs a serious make over and it was recently announced they are going to fix it up etc etc. There are many things to see outside of downtown Nassau. Also is perfectly safe to walk in the downtown area during the day. My father is a lawyer and walks to courthouses almost everyday, in downtown Nassau and had yet to be robbed in 20+ years. There is a beautiful beach on Paradise Island, called Cabbage Beach (see attached picture) You don’t need to access it though Atlantis Day Pass there is public access for free. I go to it ALL the time. Nassau is not perfect, yes it has crime. I am sure the town you live in, is not perfect and has crime too.

How would your parents feel about adopting a 48-year old dude and his family? ??

My Parents Gave Me A Cruise For Christmas 7 Night Harmony OTS September 2019 .

Just catching up. Have a GREAT cruise. I peed a little when I laughed at the idea that your husband had....that you might fall in love with the ocean view room and never want a suite again. HA ! THAT was a good one. Happy New Year !

Have an uneventful flight! And let us know if the margaritas at La Bamba are still tasty! ? ?

Did not know that Hertz was in business there. Of course I could use the internet... duh. Thanks much!

The more I think about it the better of a deal it seems. Even at $23.99 a day on my Harmony sailing it seems like a pretty decent deal. It comes out to about $125 more in total than just the internet package for 2 people. So if you were both going to get the internet package anyways then you are looking at getting a specialty lunch at Chops ($22/person normally), priority check-in, early stateroom access, private FlowRider hours, priority seating at shows with no reservations, priority debarkation at all ports, and a debarkation breakfast. Really if you factor in the internet package and lunch at Chops you are looking at about $40 total per person total on a 7 day sailing for all the extra perks. I think it makes sense for people who are going to do get the internet and have lunch at Chops anyways. The argument could certainly be made that none of the perks are necessary, but I can definitely see the benefits of having them. Particularly the reserved seating at shows without reservations or waiting in queue, private FlowRider hours, and priority debarkation at every port.

My wife and I are on this cruise. We too are staying at the Holiday Inn Express this evening and looking forward to our first New Year Celebration at sea !

ahhh crap....computer acted up and I submitted multiple posts....sorry!!!?

sorry for multiple posts!!! can't figure out how to delete them, so editing to at least say something new. Enjoy the cruise and warm weather! It's freezing here!

IAH is basically set since its about $300 cheaper right now and for the $100 difference I'll take the later flight home. Thanks for everyones input, looks like we will be booking tomorrow.

While eating dinner tonight.... D10: “I can’t wait to try out that shower on the cruise! That’s going to be the best part.” At 50.5 inches and 48lbs, she is the one that is going to have the most space in that phone booth! ? Ran around today doing last minute errands. Boarding passes are printed, bags are packed, the only one missing is....if you have followed my past blogs, you know the answer ?

Only 73 more days!

Our cruise on Freedom in November just dropped $400 with the new promotion. ?

A compliment on my blog from the infamous twangster? I’ve never felt so honored before. I like the longer port days too. Bonaire seemed a bit short today, but other than that it’s been great.

No benefits, this is remarkably unmagical loyalty program!

I live in Chicago and going on a cruise in NJ soon.

Looks like you've already done that change. What are the new thresholds? 750,000 posts to reach Pinnacle? ?

I can't thank you enough for this post @twangster! Have a 7 night on Rhapsody coming up in Jan., and was wondering about this very topic. I sucked it up and did the cruise planner on sale price of $47/day. Very pleased with that price especially given the recent price increases elsewhere, but still all the while wondered if it wouldn't be cheaper to do as you described. Even I (probably) can't keep up the 6-7 drink/day break even rate, but I also don't enjoy spending my vacation with the 10 key in my brain whirring away each time I head to the bar. So using your math for the on board price, it cost me just over $52/pp for me and the missus to go with the website price over waiting. Taking your example a bit further, I predict that we would easily drink over $50 each worth of a la carte priced drinks over the first 3 days given the on board prices. So at worst, I will still probably break even and maybe even save myself $20-$30 rather than waiting. I owe you thanks for allowing me a bit of financial peace of mind for my upcoming cruise. I will be sure to hoist a drink or 3 in your honor!

I met a couple on my recent cruise who I had to coordinate with for our meeting time and place. The voicemail on the stateroom phone worked for us. I’m thinking, if the parents and the kids are staying in the same stateroom, they can use the phones in the public areas to call the stateroom phone and leave a voicemail. The intended recipient can then access the voicemail. If they’re in separate rooms, they can call each other and leave voicemails.

Thanks Twangster For The Great Live Blog And Cant Wait For The Next One FlowBro Ty

TGfF - Thank God for Facebook. I looked on my timeline and saw that "Naked Fisherman IPA" was one of the IPA varieties (they had 2 and both were good). My wife liked the Passionfruit Ale as well.