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I’ve seen posts about buying small models of cruise ships and what not, so for the purpose of entertainment, how much for this model I made of Oasis? Let’s start at $50 :)

Room Tour (Central Park Balcony - 10229) We booked a Central Park Balcony for this cruise because we liked the perks that came with it. You get a free bottle of red wine, which is nice, but we were really excited about the complimentary specialty lunch. I am a certified over-planner and this was a bit of a dream cruise for us, so I did quite a bit of research to find the perfect room. I wanted to get one of the larger balconies in Central Park that have been talked about on the blog in the past and I really liked that central area of the park near the Trellis Bar. When I originally booked on the RC website they didn't show any available so I just booked another room near the center, but then saw a comment on here from @Lovetocruise2002 about checking for all available rooms using Costco Travel's website. After doing this I was able to find one of the larger balconies available and called Royal to get it. Thank you so much for that tip! The rooms were available right on schedule at 1:00PM. The size of the room worked great for us and there was more than enough storage for us. We didn't have any problems with the noise from the pool deck when the door was fully closed. You could faintly hear the music, but if you wanted to take a nap during the day the sound of the TV would drown it out. We were also directly below where they play from so if you wanted to hear it even less choose a room near the ends of Central Park. You'll also be closer to the elevator there as well. At night it was always very quiet and peaceful. Here are some pictures of the room, the bathroom, and balcony as well as a video of the view from the balcony. It was a great people watching spot and we also took a few naps out there as well. Note: I am not sure how often they do this, but they were replacing a lot of plants on the first day. The last picture is all of the plants in paper bags before they put them out. It was cool getting to see them getting them all being placed out there. Day 1-Room Video.mp4

Day 0 (Pre-Cruise-Las Olas Boulevard) We went down to Las Olas Boulevard to find something to eat and drink. We didn't want to go anywhere expensive and really just wanted something quick and easy. We took to Yelp and found a place called Empanada Top that served Argentinian style empanadas and had 4.5 stars on Yelp so we decided to give it a shot. We sat at the bar and got great service from the bartender who explained the difference between the different types of empanadas served in Central America. He said Argentinian empanadas are baked rather than fried. They had several different choices but I went with Beef and Shrimp while my wife ordered the Spinach and Spinach and Cheese. We both thought they were all really good, but if I had to pick a favorite it was the shrimp. It almost had an Italian type of flavor to it with mozzarella cheese which I wasn't expecting. They were very affordable as well at $3.90 per empanada. After that we headed right next door to El Camino to get some margaritas. They have an incredible selection of margaritas and it was hard to pick one because they all sounded so good. We chose the Smoked Pineapple and Watermelon Jalapeño. They have a really good happy hour, even on Saturday, that we just missed where you can get them for $5 or $6 which is a steal. On the way back to the hotel we passed a Publix and decided to stop in to grab some last minute supplies. We also really wanted to check out Publix because we have heard a lot of good things about it. Here in Texas we have a similar store, H-E-B, that everyone loves and we were interested to compare them. I can see why people love it, and it is very similar to H-E-B. After that we headed back to the room to get some rest and get ready for the big day tomorrow. There is nothing quite like the anticipation felt the night before a cruise...

One more day!!!! My parents arrive today to watch the kids and we briefly considered staying in Tampa tonight just to start our vacation a bit early, but ultimately decided against it. Staying here would allow some extra time to get ready....and time to actually spend with my folks. One mistake I've already made is neither my wife nor I remembered to print out our SetSail Pass. This has occurred in the past, and it just means some extra time during check-in. So let this be a reminder for everyone to print out your SetSail pass before it's too late. Plan is to hit the road around 9am tomorrow morning. Should take us a little over an hour to get there. I already informed my wife I'd prefer to be in Tampa by 9am, but I got "the look".

Day 1 (Embarkation-Daytime) ?️ We woke up early with plenty of time to return the rental car to the location right outside of Port Everglades. We used Budget and they did offer a complimentary shuttle to the cruise port, but it was taking a while and we thought it seemed like we might not fit on the first shuttle so we decided to Uber for $7 instead. We arrived at the port around 10:30AM, had our bags checked in, and were through security without ever having to wait. We probably sat in the waiting area past check-in for about 5-10 minutes before we were called to board. When we got on it was a pretty surreal experience for us. It had been years in the making, and in a weird way it almost felt like we had been there before because we had watched so many YouTube videos and seen so many pictures. It would be cool to experience a ship without having seen any footage of it before, but that just isn't possible for us! The first thing we did was walk the promenade and check out the Bionic Bar before heading to the MDR to set up our specialty dining reservations. There were a few groups ahead of us so it took about 15 minutes before it was our turn to set up all of our reservations for the week. I am glad we went when we did because it looked a little busier later on. Shout out to @Matt for that tip! Once all of our dining reservations were set we headed down to Central Park to get a drink at the Trellis Bar and get a sneak peak of our room that was located directly above the bar. Our first drinks were a Ginger Rye for me and a Mudslide for my wife. I was immediately impressed with the menu selection at the Trellis Bar. They had a whole page of drinks dedicated to each type of liquor and I saw several I was interested in trying. At this moment I knew that we were going to have no problem getting our money's worth out of the drink package. We sat and enjoyed our drinks in Central Park while staring at our room above the bar excited for the rooms to be ready. I will do a separate post for the room. After we finished our drinks we headed up to the Solarium to check out the Bridge Wing. Typical first time Oasis class cruiser stuff, I suppose. We also had lunch in the Solarium Bistro, but as a true live blog amateur I forgot to take a picture! ? As all cruisers know, the cruise doesn't really begin until the muster drill is complete. Our muster station was in Guest Services so we headed down there to see this video I have heard so much about. It would have been nice to be in a station where we could sit for muster, but I do think the video is a nice change of pace from the regular old muster drill. Once that was completed we had one more super important thing to take care of: Avocado Margaritas! These were one of our favorite drinks we had on Liberty so we just had to go get one and check out Sabor on the Boardwalk. They were a little different then we remember, I think because they use a paste rather than mashing avocados but they were still delicious. After that it was off to sail away at the pool deck. We didn't know it at the time, but the man dancing in the referee uniform was our cruise director Daniel. He is filling in for Marc Walker while he is on vacation and we enjoyed him. The woman dancing in the photo was also the 2nd top cruiser at the Crown and Anchor ceremony. She was a lot of fun and you could always find her where the music was having a good time. Ft Lauderdale was a beautiful sail away, especially since we are accustomed to Galveston. It was cool seeing the tall buildings moving along the side and it almost looked like they were moving rather than the ship. I included a video down below to show what I am talking about. Day_1-Sail_Away_Video.m4v

Day 0 (Pre-Cruise Hotel) We flew into Ft Lauderdale a day early and rented a car originally planning to drive down to Miami, but the weather wasn't great so we decided to just stay in town for the day. We booked the Sheraton Suites-Plantation using Priceline Express Deals for $127 all in. They were doing some construction all around the hotel building some sort of new shopping complex. We think this may have been why the deal was so good, but there was no noise issues and it didn't bother us at all. The hotel was great for the price and we would stay there again. It is located in West Ft Lauderdale about 20 minutes from the terminal but since we were renting a car anyways that was fine with us. Here of some photos of the hotel and our room.

Welcome to my [not] live [at all] blog from my Harmony of the Seas Super Bowl Cruise. I originally planned to do an actual live blog, but I knew that I would struggle to keep up with it while on the ship. So instead I decided to use the notes app on my phone to document what we did each day while taking lots photos and a few videos. I have always enjoyed following these live blogs and they've helped me get through several dry docks and countless boring days at work so I am excited to pay it forward. I have a lot of respect for the amount of work it takes, especially doing it live onboard. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to do one. Bare with me as this is my first time, and if you have any questions about the ship or ports feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer. A little background on why we chose this cruise as well as on my wife and I… We are age 29 and 30 and we live in Texas. We usually cruise out of Galveston, but we have been eyeing the Oasis class for years. We actually booked Harmony through Next Cruise on our last Liberty sailing, but decided to cancel because the flight made it just a little too expensive for us. After testing the waters with Carnival last year we now know that Royal Caribbean is the line for us and decided to take the leap and fly out to Florida to sail on Harmony. We went all out on this one and booked both the drink package as well as a 5 night dining package. The dining package was a first for us so we were very excited to get to try all of the restaurants an Oasis class ship has to offer. My wife is a vegetarian, so there should be some good information in here about the vegetarian options at the different restaurants. The Eastern Caribbean itinerary was also a first for us which we were very excited for. We booked Harmony about a year ago not even realizing this was during the Super Bowl cruise. It worked out great because we both love football and we are Texans fans so unfortunately our team is never there anyways! ? Itinerary: St Maarten, San Juan, and Labadee Stateroom: Central Park Balcony I am going to try to post a day or two at a time to keep the same feel as a live blog. Here we go…

Since it seems to come up a lot, and although Twangster's detailed blog is far superior, I thought there may be one or two who might be curious about a recent experience. I purchased it for my 4-night Mariner of the Seas cruise to Nassau/Coco Cay. I was a solo traveler and I had a $25 onboard credit, so the price came to $55. Between Voom and lunch on embarkation day, I'd already gotten my value, so it was really a no-brainer purchase for me. Embarkation: They called The Key people with the Pinnacle/Diamond/Diamond Plus members when they opened up the doors. I suspect they just threw us in with them because it was so early and there were very few people in the terminal yet. Delivery of carry on luggage to stateroom: A few of us wandered around trying to figure out where to drop off our carry on luggage when we first boarded - they were a little behind and didn't have a sign on the theatre door, or anyone in the theatre to take the bags yet. In about 10 minutes we all figured it out (all 5 of us at that point) and someone did show up to start the process. Unfortunately that person hadn't been provided with any luggage tags, so anyone who hadn't tagged their luggage had to wait a little while - I had my luggage tag on my one rolling carry on. They also had business cards with Voom codes on it - but none of them matched the names of anyone who was there, so staff was confused. In the end they just gave us a card for whoever (sorry Adam Davis, or whoever's I had), and we were on our way. I assume they managed to work it out in the end, but it was never an issue for me. Lunch at Chops - was a nice treat! Reserved seating section at shows - I only went to the comedy show really late on Embarkation day and on the last night. There was a section roped off for The Key next to either higher C&A or suite folks - it really didn't matter at this show because there was really hardly anyone in the theatre. The first night I sat in The Key section, the last night I sat somewhere else - it didn't matter. But this is Mariner, not a Quantum or Oasis class ship, so I imagine it would make a difference on one of those ships. Reserved times for Flow Rider/Rock Climbing Wall/Sky Pad/Perfect Storm - they had at least 2 hours set aside during the week for each activity. They weren't at the most convenient hours, but, at least on my sailing, it wasn't necessary for a separate time - there was never a line at any of those activities - I never saw more than a few people in line for any of them and most of the time nobody was using them. Apparently this was a "sit by the pool and drink" cruise for folks. On the 2nd day, I happened to stop by my cabin to pick something up and someone knocked on my door and delivered a fruit plate that was complimentary for The Key people. That was unexpected. Priority tender - We only tendered at CoCo Cay - I went down to get on the tender about an hour after we anchored and there was a line (not a ridiculous line, but a line as you'd expect there to be). There was no staff along the line at all to ask about The Key benefit, and I'm just not the type to walk past a bunch of people who are waiting to also get on the tender to get in front of them, so I just got on with everyone else. I was able to get on the tender right away anyway, probably because I wasn't trying to get on the first tender of the day, so it was just fine with me. I could have been more assertive, but that's just not me. And the ending result would have been exactly the same in this case. Disembarkation Day - it was nice to have a quiet, unrushed breakfast in the MDR. It was the only time I'd sat with other people during a meal - almost the only time I'd spoken to any other people all week (I did talk to the iguana and the chickens on CoCo Cay earlier, that's a whole different story #retiredzookeeper) and I did enjoy that. After breakfast, I ran back up to my room, grabbed my carry on, and went down to Deck 4, where there happened to be a staff member manning the line. I asked him about The Key disembarkation, and he personally escorted me to the gangway past a long line, which was REALLY nice. I liked the program, and it was defnintely worth it on a short sailing. I was getting Voom anyway, and there were just enough things that I was going to enjoy along the way that it made it worth it to me. I very much doubt that I'll get it on my Ovation sailing to Alaska in June - I will be going with my husband, who has no interest in Voom, and we will be meeting up with old friends, who will not have The Key, so we won't be taking advantage of reserved seating with shows and special times for activities since they won't be able to partake with us during those times. We'll evaluate it again on our Symphony sailing in Feb 2020 - things may have changed with the program, or the hubs may decide he wants internet access, so we'll see then. Hope this helps someone out there!

Spoiler alert, the Rams lost!

Day 2 (Sea Day) We woke up around 8:30 and decided on Johnny Rockets for breakfast. How cool is it waking up in the morning and deciding between several different breakfast spots and none of them cost anything? I managed to remember to snap a picture of the menu but once again forgot to get a picture of the food. It was a really good breakfast option and it was nice to have a sit down type breakfast that didn't take a long time. I had an omelette and my wife had the two eggs "her way" which was scrambled. While eating breakfast the Ultimate Abyss caught my eye so I went to give it a try. It was a lot of fun. It isn't as fast as it looks but still fast enough to be a thrill. After that we took a walk around the jogging track. A lot of people talk about trying to find that connection with the sea on Oasis class ships and this is definitely the place to find it. The chairs on the track along the back and sides of the ship are great spots to read or just relax. I love that peaceful sound of waves crashing against the ship. I was still feeling a little bit groggy from exercising my drink package rights the night before so I decided to exercise them again, only this time on a juice from Vitality Cafe in the spa. I suck at eating vegetables so I decided to just have them put all of the vegetables they had in there with some ginger and lemon. The orange color comes from the carrots, and while it doesn't look all that appealing I really enjoyed it. They also have smoothies as well there and I think these options are an underrated aspect of the drink package. I swear they cure hangovers, but it may just be that fresh salty air. Then it was time for the World's Sexiest Man competition. If you have seen one of these then you have pretty much seen them all, but it is one of those fun things that remind you that you are on a cruise and we enjoy watching it. After the competition we stayed on the pool deck and enjoyed some music from the pool band for a while. We thought they were a really good pool band. After that we walked around in the Solarium and talked to a nice couple we met out on the bridge wing for a little while. Here are a few short videos of the Solarium and the bridge wing on Harmony for anyone who has never seen it before. Now it was time to head back to the room and get ready for dinner. We are going to 150 Central Park tonight. Solarium-Bridge Wing.mp4 Solarium-Above Scan.mp4 Solarium-Lower Level.mp4

Day 1 (Embarkation-Chops and Super Bowl Party) For our first night we decided to go to Chops for dinner. We went as soon as they opened so that we could make sure to catch the majority of the game that night. I had the lobster bisque and 9 ounce filet and my wife got the wild mushroom soup and a caesar salad. We had sides of mashed potatoes and truffled fries. The waiter did offer my wife something different since she is a vegetarian but she wasn't all that hungry and was just in the mood for a ceasar salad. The highlights of the meal were definitely the wild mushroom soup and the filet. The filet was a perfect medium rare and my wife liked the soup so much she ordered another serving. The fries were incredibly good too. Although it wasn't our favorite restaurant I thought the steak was exceptional and that is what a steakhouse is all about, after all. For any vegetarians out there Chops probably isn't the best choice, not that it should come as a shock. We knew that going in but I really wanted to try the filet, so there was no disappointment there. The service was a little bit poor to be honest. It took about 15 minutes to get greeted and there were only bout 5 or 6 tables in the whole restaurant. Once we ordered it got a little better but we still thought it took a little longer than it should have overall. It didn't bother us much though, nothing does on a cruise. No big deal. We skipped dessert so that we could get over to the Super Bowl party. It was also a part of our strategy to avoid feeling stuffed and miserable throughout the cruise. We were only going to order dessert if we still had room or something was just too good to pass up. We failed at that the majority of time but stuck to it on night 1. There were multiple places to watch the Super Bowl on the ship. It was on in the On Air Club, the Pub, and the Aquatheatre and all of them were decorated for the big game. The real action was on the Boardwalk at the Aquatheatre which is where they had a nice little Super Bowl party setup. Since we were late to the party we didn't get pictures of the food they had set up but they had the typical football food you would expect like nachos, wings, hot dogs, burgers, fries, and various other finger foods. The only catch was that you had to pay $6 in order to have access to it, which had a lot of people talking. I did think it was a little odd since, for the most part, it was the same food available in the Windjammer. It didn't bother us much since we were so stuffed from Chops! A lot of people were grabbing food from the Dog House or the Windjammer and bringing it down which is probably what we would have done. They also had a few ice sculptures and cakes set up that represented each team. The atmosphere was great in the Aquatheatre and even though it was a relatively uneventful game overall there was a lot of energy with the majority of people rooting for the Rams. We couldn't get a seat at first and watched the majority of the first half in the pub but we were eventually able to find seats in the Aquatheatre after halftime. I thought it would be a good idea in the future to maybe charge the $6 for access to the food and also reserved seating. Since we got there late I guess it is possible they did and we just didn't know, but I don't think that was the case. I probably would have paid $6 just for reserved seating because it was an awesome place to watch the Super Bowl. I know @Matt already spoiled the ending, but the Patriots won! Overall I think Royal Caribbean did a good job with it and it was a lot of fun to watch with such a large group. Following the Super Bowl we headed down to Entertainment Place to check out the night club in the Attic. It was really dead in there but they also had some music playing in Studio B and there were a few people in there but it was still a little slow. We decided to check out the Boot and Bonnet Pub and listen to some music to end the night. The guitarist for the week was named Kieron and he was from London. He was really good and became our favorite source of nighttime entertainment. We listened and sang along until he was done playing before grabbing some pizza from Sorrento's and heading to bed. Tomorrow is the first of two consecutive sea days.

A little more background information on the MORC! There are different levels of accommodations on the Monster of Rock Cruise. You have your the standard, let's call it General Admission, cabin. This get you your cabin, access to all music shows, food, and the ports of call (Ocho Rios and Labadie) for 5 nights. My wife attended her fist MORC in this capacity (I took a new job and had to back out) She loved it so much BUT insisted the that we do VIP. VIP comes in two levels Silver and Gold! we opted for Silver in 2014 -2017. For 2 I think it ran $2,300ish EACH and was a Jr Suite no roommates. ▶ SILVER VIP – Spacious Balconies, Junior Suites and Ocean View Panoramic Suites (click to open for details) We did the Silver Monsters of Rock Cruise SILVER VIP Amenities include: Spacious Balcony, Junior Suite or Ocean View Panoramic Suite (based on type of cabin booked) 2nd Priority VIP Entry to the main theatre and other select venues<<<front and center, baby!! 2nd Priority VIP Entry to all Photo Experiences <<<ALL BANDS VIP Cocktail Hour and Mingle<<<IF YOU CAN FIND IT...LOL Monsters of Rock Cruise VIP Gifts<<<<TYPICALL A TOTE AND A PLAQUE Monsters of Rock Cruise VIP Credentials<<<Backstage looking pass on a basic lanyard Monsters of Rock Cruise SILVER VIP Amenities include: Spacious Balcony, Junior Suite or Ocean View Panoramic Suite (based on type of cabin booked) 2nd Priority VIP Entry to the main theatre and other select venues 2nd Priority VIP Entry to all Photo Experiences VIP Cocktail Hour and Mingle Monsters of Rock Cruise VIP Gifts Monsters of Rock Cruise VIP Credentials ▶ VIP GOLD – Grand Suites, Grand Suites – 2 Bedrooms, Owner’s Suites and Royal Suite (click to open for details) This year we have a Grand Suite (FORMALLY THE ROYAL FAMILY SUITE) Deck 9 cabin 9496 Monsters of Rock Cruise GOLD VIP Amenities include: Grand Suite, Two Bedroom Grand Suite, Owner’s Suite or Royal Suite (based on type of cabin booked) 1st Priority VIP Entry to the main theatre and other select venues 1st Priority VIP Entry to all Photo Experiences VIP Cocktail Hour and Mingle Monsters of Rock Cruise VIP Gifts Monsters of Rock Cruise VIP Credentials Sorry for being lame and doing the Copy & Paste thing. OK, with us having such a large suite we took on some friends and one or two strangers to fill the cabin and get the best deal. There will be EIGHT of us in this cabin (Last year we had 4 in this same category...it was great). Of course, I have some reservations about this but who cares. I will drink a lot and not be around much...PLUS since we initiated the "getting the suite" so we'll be taking the "Master" bedroom are, which is kinda open to the common area...but we're in our early 50 and won't be going too crazy anyway. #FamousLastWords The cabin is a two bed two bath. One bathroom is like the basic baths in traditional cabin, Bank Tube shower sink and the sh!#$er and the other is what you expect to see in a suite...marble, full tub... but both have the upgrade amenities... shampoo etc. Huge balcony...I would guess 10 foot by 20 foot? the second bedroom is small and sleeps 4 two on the split Royal King and two pull down bunks...Like I mentioned earlier we are ALL in our early 50's and CPAP crazmo. I'd hate to have to be on a top bunk. #GettingOld Common living area has a larger flat screen TVs (WASHY WASHY CHANNEL)(as does the master) and large built in storage are chairs and a sofa. definitely NOT seating for 8. More later 11 days and counting!!

Engine failure, crashing at the dock and the crew dukeing it out. Dinner and a show!

DAMNIT, MATT!!! Enjoying your review @cruiselife

We will meet you there the next time and we will all shake our tail feathers with the locals! ????

The only time someone is upset their kids were free ?

At this point, I'd trust the Compass over the app.

Your wife has excellent taste ! I also love, love, the cream of mushroom soup. I can already (almost) taste it. Will be boarding Anthem in 2 days !

Too soon, @Matt, too soon. ?

Thanks @SpeedNoodles! We're on Enchantment to Nassau and CocoKey next month and have the Key. My wife probably be first in line for the tender as she loves the beach!

At first glance, I almost expect this to be a outline/wireframe to build some kind of Rube Goldberg apparatus that will make you a Labadoozie or something.

I've cruised a number of times with a minor child, sometimes with her mother and sometimes just her and I. We all have different last names. The background and logistics of the relationship are irrelevant. Custodial rights and court orders may or may not be irrelevant. In my case the birth father gave up his rights and it was so noted in a court order. When we travelled with the birth mother we carried that court order with us. When I travelled with the minor child without the mother on the cruise, I carried the court order and a notarized letter from the mother. For the first cruise with the mother we didn't say anything, we just checked in normally. Presented our passports and didn't call out the minor child and background. We had no issues and not a question was asked. On the second cruise without the mother it was like they were bound and determined to keep us off the cruise. When challenged, I had the notarized letter, when challenged I had the court order. When challenged the letter specifically addressed our excursions, gave me temporary power of attorney for medical reasons and stipulated the cruise line could change the itinerary. A supervisor was called over. Another supervisor was called over. You could see them processing all my documentation as if they were trying to rack their brains finding another reason why shouldn't be allowed to board. When they couldn't find one, they allowed us to proceed. Longest check in ever. At the end of the cruise when we reached CBP they hauled us into secondary. They poured over the same documentation again. They separated us, questioned us both then compared notes. I then had to call the mother and hand my phone over to the CBP agent who asked her a number of questions. In the end we were allowed to go, 45 minutes later. I've since cruised a number of times with the child, both as a minor and over the years after she was 19. Before she was 19 I always had a notarized letter but was never challenged like I was on that one cruise. The lesson of this is - be prepared and know exactly what you need. You may fly through check in and think it was a waste of time getting all the docs together or you may be challenged. International kidnapping is a thing. Human trafficking is a thing. They are only trying to protect children. Be prepared but don't bring it up unless they do.

yup I cried a bit but got the shot off

... and it was free!!!!! ?

These are real concerns and it would be irresponsible of me to put our vacation in jeopardy due to gators

They clearly love you best.

Likely a sign of supply and demand at work. If the initial response was favorable and they immediately sold out slots, the natural reaction would be to increase price. Sales trends will provide feedback if $32 is too much for the market to bear. If so, sales and price reductions will be forthcoming. I know it's sold out for Navigator coming up.

We'll have to see how this works out for RC. This is the first time, that I can remember, this program. If it gets crap reviews from the "Key Alumni" it may get adiosed. However, if it is successful, there will more than likely be a price increase with even more benefits....like reserved seating in the WJ 24/7, a meet and greet with the Captain and a free coke, cast member visits to your cabin at various times of the day, a special commemorative key chain or yellow highlighter, etc. I can assure you after our Bermuda trip this July, I will give you all our unbiased, straight forward opinion of our Key experiences which I will also share with the RC folks in Miami.

Welcome to the message boards! I just sailed Brilliance a few weeks ago. Brilliance has received some updates over time as noted above plus items like LED lighting in the Centrum and other places around the ship. In that respect she is much like Serenade more so than Radiance. I can't say that I saw anything that jumped out at me as if she needed to be further retrofitted. She was in great shape and I have no complaints. Some other Royal ships are going through an Amplification program at the moment where the ships are getting new features like water slides, Skypads, new sports bars, etc. Brilliance wasn't included in that program so it's not getting new features but they have been keeping the existing features and the ship in general in great shape. I think the difference is those ships are being "revitalized" and gaining new features that didn't exist before compared to "retrofitted" where existing features are updated as noted above. Keep an eye on the blog as @Matt who runs this site is boarding her very soon and will be blogging about it here:

RCCL feels since the "unaware" cruiser would pay $20.00/per day to get onboard 5 minutes earlier, that the same cruiser will even pay more at $31.99/per day to get onboard those same 5 minutes earlier. As I always said, there is a sucker born every 5 seconds!!

Fourth busiest US cruise port. When you leave the same ship in place for too long bad things happen. Carnival has moved a number of ships in and out since Libery had been glued to Galveston. Don't get me wrong, Liberty is a great ship, but briefly adding Vision or Enchantment doesn't come close to Carnival's movement and rotation of ships into TX, including it's largest ships. Liberty has been doing the same two itineraries (for the most part) for a dog's age. Yawn. Snooze. Even Baltimore itineraries get some variety. 5, 7, 9, 12 Southern, Bermuda, Bahamas. It's pretty telling when some of Grandeur's itineraries look more enticing than a Freedom class ship in TX. It was either give up on the fourth largest cruise port in the US or shake it up and try to take on the competition.

Hey @cruiselife I'm Following This Blog. Great Work So Far

Thank you - I did see that one and have based my choices off it, but my app has different show times so I was hoping to get a newer one.

I have also had it most times after a cruise for a day or two. I went on the Liberty of the Seas on Jan 13 and the last two days were very rough due to a cold front we were sailing through to get back to Galveston. So this time the post cruise vertigo lasted about 4 days which is kinda long for me. Ive heard from doctors and blogs that Bonine and Dramamine don’t do much post cruise, just gotta ride it out.

There are sample kids cruise compasses here. Just click cruise compass at the top and you’ll find some.

No pre booking into sessions. You will receive a daily kids compass from your stateroom attendant the night before. It is a general idea of the games and does not have specific times.

When I went with my mom (different last name than me) on a cruise a long time ago, I remember she had a notarized document signed by my dad stating that he knew I was leaving the country, where I was going, when, etc. I've seen a lot of posts about people having it just in case but normally they weren't asked for it. I don't think they checked on mine either but that was a long time ago. If it is a closed loop trip (begin and end in US), chances are slimmer that they ask since you are not leaving the country with a child. Might also depend on if you have sole legal custody or joint. But, if you can get it, its better to have it than not as you can be barred access if asked. Not saying for sure, but its possible. This is a precaution for the company so parents in a squabble for custody don't use the trip as an excuse to run off with the kid. If the father refuses to sign, you can always get a court order as this is not an unreasonable request. In addition, always be sure to bring documentation that links you to your child legally with different last names. From RC website: "Must present child's valid passport and visa (if required) and the child's birth certificate (original, a notarized copy or a certified copy). The name of the parent(s) and the child must be linked through legal documentation." Basically things that show your last name now is in fact the same person as listed as mother on the birth cert. Sorry you have to deal with this so close to vacation. My parents split before I was 2 and never got along so I feel your struggle trying to get things done with the other half. My experience is a decade old so hopefully someone else will come by to confirm or correct anything that may have changed.

I believe both are in Juneau

Loving the pictures and videos! That last one of central park was a really smooth pan, did you use a gimbal or is that just the built-in stabilization?

Maybe they roll your passport very tight, entering into a bottle and hope it will reach you after some time ? I guess , they have some kind of procedures before pooling off , checking which customers did not board , fetch there passports and leave it with RCL agents in ports or with the port authorities. what is strange to me is that RC allowed to go to you safe without a permission , so maybe the procedure is only for people that are calling before to say they are not going to make it .

Agree with the agent suggestion.. We are booked for Harmony in Sept 2019 and were offered the option of anytime or reserved.. Give them a call or drop them a quick email.. I'm sure they can straighten it out for you

I'm on team passport on ship, ID in port. I have a passport and a passport card, so I keep the book on the ship and the card in my wallet for port. I know a lot of people subscribe to keeping a copy of the passport for going into port, but that doesnt serve as an ID, it only serves as a way of keeping your passport number on you in case the passport is lost or stolen or damaged. But the passport wont get lost or stolen or damaged if its in your safe on the ship so.... yah. For the places you're going an ID should be more than enough, and keep the passport number with you just in case for the worst. That's why I love the passport card in addition to the passport. Its a little more expensive but it works for me.

I think RCCL are on too many funny little pills!!

Survey says.... Look at a cruise compass from a past guest on this site: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/symphony-of-the-seas/sat-2019-01-12-0000 Playmakers 11:30am to 6pm

Yeah, how do I choose “a” favorite ??? But I will contain myself (and reduce them). A nice pic of the Allure courtesy of hubster, Alaska’s Endicott Arm, and near San Juan’s port

Great Video @FlowBro Ty

I hear they are trying to bring Perfect Day into Galveston itineraries. If Vision out of NOLA can do Key West, Nassau and Cococay you would think they could do the same out of Galveston. Two sea days in that itinerary are done at ~12 knots to burn some time off. I just booked a Liberty cruise in April. Airfare much cheaper than Florida (from Colorado) $260 round trip on Southwest. Add an Oasis class ship into TX, some itinerary spice and I'd rather fly to Hobby than Florida. The Texas market has the potential to extend well beyond the Texas borders. Folks on Vision in January out of NOLA were driving vast distances from across the mid-west to sail her. With Royal lacking any West coast presence (beyond Alaska cruises) an Oasis class ship in Galveston has a pretty good sized market to draw from.

No concrete information. Royal has not offered any firms dates or specific ship. The good news is that by 2021 all Oasis class will be great! It really won't matter which one.