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Oasis returning to Port Canaveral:

Filtering the photos out, some night shots of Harmony

Entering Windjammer like:

My most memorable moment in 2018 is when I realized we have 14 cruises planned from now until March 2021.

Because it's the right thing to do ...

Just booked the 10 Night Alaska Family Tundra Express Cruise Tour on the Radiance OTS August 11, 2020.

...and they CERTAINLY did not join the popular crowd !

We get the drinks package for a completely different reason. We get it so that it IS paid in advance (no surprise at the end of the cruise) and so that I feel free to order any drink at any time anywhere, even though we could get "free" drinks in the evenings in the lounges and we drink for free in the casino (which is where we spend most of our time). I blame Star Class cruising for this compulsion. LOL Once you travel in Star Class and never have to worry about anything you eat or drink you realize what a pleasure it is not to have to even think about it. There is NO WAY that it makes financial sense for me to have a deluxe drink package. There are many days when I don't drink any alcohol at all. I always drink sodas, water and cappuccino's though. I do it for the convenience and not for financial reasons.

I'm curious exactly how anyone is productive at work, in the first couple weeks after a cruise. I sure am not, lol! Also, anxiously watching and waiting for my C&A status to switch from Pre-Gold, lol. It's been 10 days!

You know it ..... and if they're getting back early, that'll give them some extra time ..... I just saw a news alert about this on my local news (Baltimore) --- just hoping if there's a delay for those waiting to board, it won't be too bad.

I was going to try to get it done over Christmas break but unexpected parental health issues induced an unexpected trip. All is well now.

Sucks when 3% of the population ruins it for the other 97%...... Sounds about right though in todays society..... As long as I was in the 97%...I wouldn't mind losing one stop and getting a full refund back..pretty sweet deal really.

Everyone on the ship is getting a full cruise fare refund ? It must be REALLY bad...

167 people did NOT make their mother proud.

Since I am a 911 dispatcher, I have 6 monitors for work and 1 personal computer to surf cruise stuff. Good thing my job forces me to be a good multitasker! ? Counting down the days until Freedom! 8 days!

^^^This is me! A while back, Hubby said I should have used the handle "worktocruise" instead of "lovetocruise" ?

Yeah, I’m the same way sometimes…

Here is the neglected Windjammer Recon from last night. The theme of the night was International with the Mongolian Grill once again plus all the other standards. International selections Tonights Indian selection Standard dessert bar Dessert in the giant pan

Nope just the standard one bedroom I've pulled my @twangster with @Matt on Brilliance back in September. One can only tolerate so much.

Toss in a few night time shots of Adventure.

Primarily camera (Canon 7D MK II). Pictures without a watermark would be from my phone (S8+). Pictures from the Old San Juan food tour were taken with my phone. Those were dumped into Lightroom Classic on my laptop for tweaking, cropping, and to resize.

Trying to make up for some lost time. Theme for the night in Windjammer was Caribbean night. Mongolian Grill yet again was the made-to-order selection for the night. Caribbean night selections ^ These were labeled as goat, oxtail, and chicken curry. ^ Fish warning in the next two pictures Getting a better look at what hides in the back corner of the picture above. Yup, that is exactly what you think it is. Whole fried fish, labeled as grouper. Wow, what a selection on last night's theme. Time for a close up of curry goodness Finally dessert bar Plus the cake in a giant pan Bonus feature for the night, Sangria. Not sure if it was the real deal made with wine.

I would, think about how clean it will be. But I am on the one after that.

I've been to St. Maarten five times since the hurricane. My first return was on one of the 1st ships to call on St. Maarten post-hurricane. I've done excursions including a bus tour, catamaran and self explored such as taking a taxi to Maho Beach. I thoroughly enjoyed every stop there. In all cases they were very happy to see tourists return and welcoming. It's bad enough a storm devastates your community but the loss of employment is like salt in the wound. Tourists mean jobs, a sense of purpose and reason to get up in the morning. Anyone who has lived through storm damage will know there is a funk that hangs over everything day after day. Having a job to do breaks that monotony, provides a distraction and a sense of normalcy, that everything will work out. On my visits I went out of my to buy things and didn't haggle on the price, sometimes giving more than they asked. This isn't their first brush with devastation. In the 90's they had a similar experience and lots of resorts, homes and businesses were lost. Some never rebuilt. Most did. It will be the same this time as it will in some future decade when it happens again. Very resilient people. Be kind and understanding when you visit, but do visit and do something there.

I need to place a caveat. I think it also comes down to how port intensive the cruise is. If you are at port everyday, than you will have to buy drinks in port.

I just did all my spreadsheet figuring to see if I thought I would hit the $42 per day based on the prices I've seen posted here before I pulled the trigger & purchased. Since I figured I would I bought & now I don't have to think about it on the ship & I can just go & enjoy being on vacation! 17 days to go

Don't worry, @Kyle_cardinalsfan51 - I will find out February 24th. I'm on that sailing. ?

Sorry I'm a bit late to the party here. I lived on Bermuda for 2 years and can confirm that if you work in financial services (specifically insurance/re-insurance or investment management) you can get a job in Bermuda fairly easily. That also includes skilled professions which support those industries like auditors and lawyers. As you note, since Bermuda has no corporate income tax these industries set up there to simplify cross-border business. For example, for investments, the fact that no tax is levied on the fund itself means that investors from any country can invest and then they only need to worry about being taxed once in their resident jurisdiction without having to worry about double-tax treaties etc.. Since you can fit more people in to a large-ish football stadium than live on Bermuda, there are not enough Bermudians with the qualifications to fill the jobs, hence the expat market. You still need to go through a strict immigration process involving the usual references, police background checks, chest x-rays etc., however most of the onus is on the business that is filling the role to prove that they tried and failed to fill the role with a Bermudian. I feel like I had a particularly easy time of it since I am British and Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory, however I worked with people from all over the world so its not more difficult to move there being one nationality or another. One thing I would add though is that just because you can get a job there doesn't mean they'll let you stay there forever. When you get a job, you'll be given a work permit for 2 or 3 years. If you want to stay they will make you re-apply and ultimately they decide if you stay or not. Lose/leave your job or get in any sort of serious trouble and you're kicked out sharpish. Generally speaking, Bermuda is very self-protective. Strict immigration (i.e. permanent immigration rather than a few years working there) is one way they do that. An example is that I have a friend who was born in Bermuda to British expat parents, lived on the island since birth (20+ years) and is still not considered a Bermudian legally. She has a British passport by way of her parent's nationality rather than a British Overseas Territory passport that are issued to Bermudian citizens. Other protectionist policies include things like owning property as you have already mentioned and also owning businesses. I believe any business needs to be at least 50% owned by a Bermudian. That's why you will see very few recognizable branded consumer locations - in fact you could probably count them on both hands: KFC, Esso, HSBC, Butterfield and M&S are the ones I can think of - all of which are either Bermuda-owned franchises or are grand-fathered in before the law came in to place. More protectionism: You won't find any legal 'lewd' businesses. There was talk about a riverboat-style casino at one point but that got thrown out pretty quick. The only 2 days there is table gambling allowed (sports betting is available year round) is over Cup Match weekend where they play Crown & Anchor. Cars are also limited throughout the island. Each eligible home is given a registry number and one car is allowed per registry number. That is why there are no car rental services available on island. To touch on the house prices discussion, I don't know this first hand but from speaking with a Bermudian friend, a nice proper house could be in the area of $4m. I think a basic small apartment would be setting you back $1m. I do have first hand knowledge of the rental market, albeit from around 5 years ago. As an indicator, a good average is $1,500 per bedroom per month. That is for a normal unfurnished outside of Hamilton (but not too far - everything's relative) without a pool or any other special amenities. You will pay more than that if there's fewer bedrooms (say, $1,800 for a one bedroom) and you will pay less the more bedrooms there are to split the overall cost (for example, say you get a 4 bedroom house, you could pay something like $1,300 for your one bedroom). @JLMoran - a couple of late blog related queries: 1. What is a 'The World'? 2. Do you remember the solutions to the Day 4 and 5 riddles/stick puzzles?

Yes, in my experience, it was quite easy to get my money's worth out of the refreshment package for $17, but full price starts to put it on the cusp of value vs convenience. I also found getting the water bottles every time I ordered something at the bar made me drink more water than if I had to go find a water station to get the free stuff. So really, if I squint and turn my head juuuuuust right, I can argue that a refreshment package is better for your health! ?

@JLMoran , I don't drink so I don't get the ultimate, but here as of late I have been getting the refreshment package if for no other reason to be able to get as much bottle water as I need, If I pass a bar, I get 2 bottles, they are the small bottles so I go though 6-10 a day. Just a thought, that way you still get you coffee and OJ. I wouldn't do it at the $26 PD that is offered but at the $17 I got it for on Black Friday seemed reasonable.

Same thing I said, like @twangster , you only have 2 hands it's not that hard to wash them.

Someone (or several someones) didn't pay attention to the Washy-Washy song. ?

Love their dogs!

Generally not. Unless they have group space that is at a reduced rate, it's same price as RC. Whichever is cheapest. Location of ship is not a big deal in my opinion. If price is same, I'd pick midship and/or near an elevator bank Paradise Beach: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/07/25/excursion-focus-paradise-beach-cozumel Pay as you go If you book refundable cruise fare and you make the change before final payment date (90 days prior to sailing), you can change at no penalty. After that, you incur a penalty to change. The exact penalty depends when you make the change after final payment date. Yes an automatic gratuity is added. You can pre-pay it or have it added to your onboard account every day of the cruise. You don't need to tip beyond that unless you feel its warranted. Windjammer, Main dining room, Cafe Latte Tudes. You won't go hungry.

I would be HIGHLY shocked if it became a free food option. That would require RC to pay the corporate owners of Johnny Rockets for their product when they already have passengers paying for it. My guess would be it is going to be a smaller venue for to go options only. Quick lunch/snacks, things like that. Less space for a full sit down restaurant that probably isn't as busy as most. Opens up area for new things. I'm sure someone will be on it sooner, but I'll be on Navigator in April. If no one verifies before then, I'll report back.

A little off topic but we visited Maya Chan last May (2018) and had an awesome time. We highly recommend it. And this was in spite of the icky water and sea grass (which I read has gotten better). JUST GO! We loved it so much that we booked another cruise for early next year that stops in Costa Maya just so we could go back there. As others have described, when we assembled at the meeting point we were shown pictures of the beach taken that morning and could have cancelled. One of the others had been there several times before and convinced us to go (so glad we listened to her). Lunch tip: Try a sea bass soft taco... Yum!! Also, if you like playing with dogs, take a small bag of dog treats. We had a blast playing with one of their dogs on the beach.

Thank you for your service.

Woo Hoo! thanks for the support

happy you are with the MEI-Family and thanks for Supporting the RCI Blog and Matt

Day 10 – Debarkation Day After our last breakfast in the MDR, it was back to our room to pick up our carryon bag. One final check of the room for forgotten items and it was up to the South Pacific Lounge to wait for our departure number to be called. We were scheduled for an 8:45-9:15 departure, at 8:45 they called our number and it was down to deck 4. Embarkation was painless, once we hit the gangway it was a brisk walk to customs, a quick glance at our passports and we walked into baggage claim. We walked toward the pickup area and waited for our son to pick us up. Soon we were heading up the ramp to I95 South and the cruise was over. I’m going to do a summary of the ship and cruise to finish up the review, thanks to everyone who followed along.

We use to pay $75 a day for ours for someone to stay overnight and come one during mid day (they had a doggie door and fenced yard). They were old and the one time I boarded them they were a wreck (and hoarse) when I returned so paying that was worth it to travel without feeling horrible. I can imagine 4 would be pricey ! It did keep us from traveling for quite some time until we found someone we trusted to that degree with our furkids and our home. Glad you found someone to help!

Going on Anthem on March 30th for the first time on a Quantum class, and we are staying in a Jr as well, absolutely can not wait!

Hi @mando6599, welcome to the Royal Caribbean Blog forums! I can't answer all of those as I haven't yet sailed the western Caribbean or Enchantment, but I'll help with what I can. Most do not, as it's a requirement of Royal (and basically every cruise line). However, some agents will choose to share a portion of their commission with you in the form of reduced price, on-board credit (OBC), or other "perks". Many here work with agents from MEI Travel, which is a sponsor of the site. While they do not generally give any discounts or other perks, many here (myself included) can vouch for the service they offer in terms of watching the sales and repricing your cruise as the promotions change over time, answering questions you may have, etc. And they have occasionally had specials where you will get gratuities covered. Whether you can expect the same level of service from an agent who gives a lot of their commission as perks is something I can't answer, but anecdotally it seems that with the reduced commissions they make off of you comes some level of reduced service. Will reiterate what @coneyraven said -- midship and lower / central decks equals less movement. Not coincidentally, these are also considered better areas when pricing is figured out, so cabin categories get better (and prices go up) the higher and more mid-ship you're located. As far as noise levels go, the rule of thumb here is pick a room with cabins on the decks above and below. The worst areas to pick are under the pool deck, under or above any restaurant, or above the night club. You can find maps of all decks on a given ship at cruisedeckplans.com. If you don't even drink a lot of soda, I'd just buy a la carte rather than getting a package. The soda package only covers fountain soda, not soda in cans, and the cheapest you'll find the non-alcoholic package that covers specialty coffee and teas is $18 per person, per night. If you potentially need to change the date, you definitely need to book with a refundable deposit. Booking non-refundable locks you in to the specific sailing on that specific date, and changing to another date will incur a penalty of $200 per person. As @Keeves indicated, gratuity is not part of the original booking cost. You have the option to pre-pay it before sail date and lock in the rate, or pay it on board and chance the rates going up before you sail. Many here give an additional tip to their cabin steward and waiter / assistant waiter. Many also give small ($1 or $2) cash tips to bartenders on top of the 18% gratuity already added on to each beverage, as it can lead to better service if you mostly frequent one bar and get to know the staff there. Either is totally optional, and you can make the call at the end of your trip before you leave the ship. Sorry, @monorailmedic possessed me for a moment there... ?

Another thing to think about: How do you need the internet constantly, frequently, or occasionally? The wifi connection is not 100% dependable in every single part of the ship. (There are plenty of places on land like this too, but I figured someone should mention it.)

I received my offer today for Brilliance of the Seas March 4 Western Caribbean. We went from an ocean view on deck three to a 1D balcony on deck 9 for 100 per person. I'm a first time cruiser and don't really plan on the ability to cruise often to build points so C&A status isn't something I'm chasing. For this trip I'm traveling with my best friend, I won't have better half and tiny humans in tow so many of the decisions I've made have been to purchase items at their lowest and make it as nice as a vacation as it can be within the budget I set forth because I'm paying for 1 (or 2 if I'm covering it as a gift) rather than 4. Even if I love this trip, as a family we wouldn't be able to justify cruising once a year much less multiple times a year so options like Royal Up and The Key allow me to have a wonderful vacation with my friend and enjoy amenities that would normally be out of my reach. I'm probably the target market Royal has chosen for these programs and I am very excited for my long overdue break!

Which begs the question -- how does one who doesn't have a day job fill the interminable hours between cruises? Model ship building? ?

Wait....we're supposed to work while at work???

You earn it every time ..... That's why you're one of the best

I love Grandeur. We booked two more on her recently.

Just for another option, Kathy Geiger with MEI won't steer you wrong. Long time friend that I highly recommend and use as our TA. [email protected] is her email.