Leaderboard

The loft suite are completely and utterly aft. The nearest staircase or elevator is about 150 steps away. Be prepared, if you have this suite, to do a LOT of walking. Conceirge Club Lounge is 300+ steps and two long corridors away. Not complaining, lord knows I need the exercise. the club is large, quiet and also completely aft, hence the beautiful view. some photos of the long corridors you'll take to get here on deck 12 (or has my husband calls it "dick 12" in his best Aussie accent), some signage at the elevators, including an interactive sign. apologies for the poor photo quality......my husbands phone takes better photos but I can't download them right now for some reason. Will sort that out and post those later......

Some photos of 10324: ill post more photos later of the room, bathroom, etc. no bath tub in this suite which really bums me out.

Funny story! Twenty years ago, we were fairly young and on an 11 day cruise with a much older crowd. It seemed everyone was in a wheelchair, used a walker or had an attendant. I had packed gowns and shoes for every special night on the ship. One night we dressed for dinner and I was horrified that I had forgotten the shoes to go with whatever I was wearing that night. My husband said, "Don't worry, No one will be looking at your shoes. Everyone is going to be impressed you can WALK!" LOL So I think of that when I pack now, especially shoes. I take the fewest (is that a word?) number and make them work. More room in the bag!

Cruise -3 days Might I just say, packing sucks! Starting this process earlier than last Sunday might have helped but work was definitely in the way! I watched several Rick Steves videos all about the dangers of overpacking and how you should pack for best case scenarios. Yeah....no. I have packed for every worst case scenario imaginable. I swear I will try harder for our 17 days in Europe this summer, but I can’t do it now. Thank god everything is summer light weight clothes. My suitcase is at 48 lbs and I might have decided to take a carry on suitcase as welll. It might be that I don’t need 7 pairs of shoes for 9 days but after staring at them for 30 mins and not being able to make a decision! I decided to just throw them all in. My brain is most definitely shot and I need a vacation!!! My goal was to be packed, devices charged and photos cleared from my phone so I can be in bed by 10 tomorrow but that isn’t gonna happen either lol. I’m giving up tonight so I can nestle all snug in my bed while visions of beaches dance in my head! Jane

Holy smokes......that is a long flight. Managed to sleep off and on for eight or so hours, so actually didn't hit the wall til about 9 last night. we arrived in Sydney at 10 am, and got a cab, which cost $100 Australian dollars. The train would have been the same amount. Limo is available but it was 150$ or so. We opted for the cab and it took about 45 min to get to the port. Traffic was apparently unusually heavy. pulling into the port drop off area was a circus with lots of cabs ahead of us and we couldn't see the star class flag til we were out of the cab with our bags. A porter tried to take our bags, but we told him we were star class and showed him the banner.....he sent us off towards that big purple flag, and we rolled all our bags in the drizzling rain over there unaided. At the flag, the star class benefits immediately became apparent....an agent with a star class sign called Luciano and stayed with us as we checked in with another agent who had an iPad to do that on. From there, the agent with the sign took us through to a customs agent, bypassing a snaking line of about a hundred people. After clearing customs, she took us through security (no dedicated security line for star class in this area and it wasn't very busy; not sure what they would have done for us if the security line ups were long). Then we were off to the ship, where Luciano met us at the door as we came in, told us our suite wasn't quite ready, so offered lunch at Coastal Kitchen. After eating, Luciano returned to escort us to our suite (10324), provided us with a brief tour and gave us our "schedule" for the week. (BUMMER ALERT: KIDS UNDER 11 CANNOT DO THE ESCAPE ROOM). Luciano said he would see what he could do but it didn't sound optimistic. The suite is gorgeous, silly amounts of appetizers were waiting, at least a dozen beers in ice, a bottle of premium champagne on ice, more pop and juice than we would ever drink.......the balcony is amazing, with plenty of chairs, chair towels, a small dining table and a small side table. We unpacked after popping the champagne and beer........two huge wardrobes upstairs, a good size small closet down, with tons of drawers up and down also. muster drill was painful, with the usual delays bc of people deciding not to show up. After this, we went exploring.....I put my name in for a draw at the spa and won a $50 gift cert! Of course you had to be present to win, and I wasn't there, but hubby was. They wouldn't give it to him (fair enough) but a swift call to Luciano resulted in a phone call from the spa manager at around 8 pm saying they would honor my win. That was a nice gesture, and I suspect only happened bc of SC. sail away was on time. We decided to do the Seafood Tower, and a couple of cocktails......it was fabulous! Then, kids were starting to fade, so we put them to bed at 8 and pumpkin and I headed for CK. Staff there are lovely, but service seems a titch slow. asleep by 9 in that wonderful bed! Kids ordered breakfast to the room which by my estimation arrived way tooooo early, but whatever..... the coffeemaker in our room doesn't seem to be working very well, so am presently up in Concierge Lounge drinking.....coffee. Bing is the Concierege for this cruise. pumpkin is at the pool with the kids (10 year old b/g twins) sipping a Pina colada. He looked very happy about his drink. It was 10 am. Getting the party started, I guess....... Some photos of check in:

Hi everyone!! I can't even say how much I love the live blogs between cruises so I thought I would see least try andjot some things down this trip. I have never purchased voom before but we have the 2 dogs at home and I need to get updates as I have a new sitter and a very untrained 11 month old puppy!! I'm guessing that this will be a pretty uneventful blog since I plan on spending most of my time reading in my deck chair and using that deluxe drink pkg!! We have a ton of firsts on this trip... First time in Miami and labadee, first interior cabin and most of all first time on an oasis class ship. We have done vision, Voyager and freedom class but never the big ones. I'm excited for the neighborhoods, worried about deck chairs in the solarium and on the sky deck. Our group consists of my husband on his 3rd cruise, me (on my 5th) and our 16 year old daughter (her 4th). We are headed to St Maarten (I think this is the day I stay onboard and get the hopefully empty solarium), San Juan (we will walk to El Morro and just enjoy old Town for the brief time we are docked) and labadee (can't wait!!! My first Royal beach). We have the BOGO purchased and hope to get sabor night one and 150 night 2, but I'm worried about getting in so we shall see. We also have the izumi hibachi booked and the Brazilian steakhouse (leaving the vegetarian 16 year old to fend for herself that night). We leave out if O'Hare at 530am Saturday...ugh... and will be happily in the Miami heat by 10. We went relatively cheap and are staying at the Hampton inn and suites a couple blocks away from the beach. It will be a very low key day as work and the weather have been truly kicking me in the butt this winter. Feel free to ask me questions...I will try and keep up but this may definitely be more livish than live. I may try to Periscope too but with no ? and no mike I'm nervous about even trying! And now I'm off to read the allure blog from last week!!! Jane

In a desperate, last ditch effort to cure our post cruise depression, D10 and I finally had a chance to sit down and watch the replay of our sail away. This last pic is for @rjac. Here is another selfie for you. ? In the end, nothing fixes PCD, only the next cruise. Anthem GC, July 4th! 15 weeks dry dock until I finally get to meet @Matt and many other RCBlog friends! Cannot wait!

Here are the outdoor bridge wings on deck 13 off the Solarium on Quantum class:

Quantum class has two bridge wings, one starboard and one port accessed from the Solarium. They are small and will fill up quickly arriving in a port or other scenic area. The Solarium itself is two level and the lower level has great views looking forward. This is Anthem but same idea on Ovation: This level of the Solarium is on deck 13 and there are doors into the cabin hallways for deck 13 forward that would make this area accessible. It's also the level that has access to the outdoor bridge wings much like Harmony or Symphony. There is no helipad on Quantum class. There is a "winch pad" but it is not open to the public.

Day 7 -Aruba This is our last port stop on this trip, and maybe the one we were most looking forward to, because of the excursion we had booked. The ship docked about 7am and the gangways were down and open before 8. Our tour was picking us up just outside the port at 8:45, so we had a little time to grab a quick bit at the windjammer. Today's tour was a Harley ride, touring the island. We have done this kind of thing in Hawaii before, and have always said there is no better way to see the island. Today did not disappoint. We took off from the shop about 9:30am and the weather was perfect for riding, not so much for pictures though. Overcast for the most part Saw some beautiful sights along the way The last stop before heading back to the shop was Baby Beach. There is a new adults only bar/lounge/pool that just opened about 3 months ago that our guide took us to The tour lasted almost 5 hours, and it was incredible! After returning to the shop, they gave us a ride back to the port. We had gotten a recommendation from our guide about a place to eat, and we were hungry, so we walked there, about a 15 minute walk to a little place called El Gaucho. Incredible steak and fish! We spent some time walking around the shops, then headed back to the ship. All aboard is 6pm, and we were back on about 5. Dinner in the windjammer tonight was Indian theme, I didn't care for much of it, so I hit the Kids Corner for a burger and fries, perfect! We went to the main show at 10pm tonight, it was a ballroom dancing show by the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers, it was a lot of fun! As soon as the show let out, it was time for the 80's party on the Promenade. The people watching during and after did not disappoint! The cruise compass for tomorrow shows the drink card as coming available! That's about all for today. The next two days are sea days as we make our way back to Miami...

Lunch at CK

Some Show PIctures... Schedule Hairspray 1977 Ice Show iSkate HIRO Flight

Welcome aboard ! The only REAL mistake you can make is to not have the proper travel documents (I recommend always having a current passport). That is really the only thing that could keep you from boarding the ship. The rest of the details are far less important than you think they will be. Trust me, I've made plenty of packing omissions and somehow I have managed to have a great cruise every single time ! Probably the worst packing mistake is not having comfortable shoes. It's easy for me to say as I'm an old, fat woman BUT trying to be too cutesy can really cause great anxiety. FORGET about what looks good and bring what FEELS good. You will never see any of those people on the ship again...dress comfortably ! - especially the shoes ! You'll be fine !!! Enjoy your first cruise. You only get one <first>.

While I’m not a Diamond member yet, I feel I have some cruising experience. Yesterday, however, I made a huge cruising mistake. I thought I’d share my mistake so others can learn from it. It would be fun to hear if anyone else has made other mistakes. We were in St. Marteen and booked Billy Bones Snorkeling charter. I’ve been talking up this tour and my family is really excited for this excursion. We walk off the ship, down the pier when I pull out my confirmation for where to go and notice the date. It says March 27th! What? That’s next week! I booked the correct day of the week but the wrong week. That week is a week after our cruise. Quick phone one call and they are fully booked. In fact all the snorkeling tours are fully booked since for the first time post hurricane there are 6 ships in port according to the several boating companies we asked. Now what? Too late to do any research on a Plan B but I do remember many people talking about the beach just off the pier. We ended up walking to Great Bay beach and turned it into a fantastic beach day. Beach chairs, lunch, trampoline, jet skis, beach massage, hair braids and a trip to the Yoda Guy. I would have thought a beach day would cost less than a snorkeling tour but my family can spend money on food and Star Wars stuff! I only put a deposit down via PayPal and I already emailed the company. I should be getting a refund of my deposit shortly. I still can’t believe I did this. While I received a confirmation months ago I didn’t actually look at it. I printed out all my cruise documents however once again didn’t actually look at it. All I can say is that things have been super stressed and crazy over the past few months. With everything on my plate, mixing up dates is one of my fears and I can’t tell you the number of times, I check school calendar against the cruise dates and triple check my airplane dates. I guess if I’m going to mess up a date, booking a refundable shore excursion a week later is not too bad. Ok that’s my cruising mistake, anyone else have one?

White outfit, second from the right...right? I, too, am counting the days and checking for "deals". We're on the Anthem the week after you and the RC Blog gang for a 5 day-2 night- Bermuda cruise. Hopefully, we can all be on a future cruise together. Stay warm!

Welcome to the message boards, Kathleen! Below is the link for the current NextCruise flyer. http://www.royalonboardsales.com/content/assets/2015/05/19066784_NextCruise_MarchOffer_Flyer.pdf

Really depends on how many people are in your party. There are taxis, but Uber/Lyft tends to be cheaper for standard fares. If you have a lot of people or special needs (car seat) it is a little pricier. Plus with everyone getting off that ship at once it may even be surge pricing.

It's more about the party and the willingness to participate and have some fun for our group. being 50 now, i have a very diverse attitude when it comes to music these days. Grew up on 80's Punk and Metal myself but listen to it all dependent on my mood. There's a huge German Wurstfest festival here in New Braunfels, TX each November. I break out my lederhosen and alpine hat, drink lots of beer and dance to polka musik. With age comes a stronger attitude of not giving a damn and living in the moment. If the ships had a disco-sucks party, i'd participate in that as well. ?

I've used my iPhone (a 6s Plus) along with some lens attachments from Moment, and I've gotten what I consider some better than halfway decent photos. But I recently came into ownership of the same Sony RX100 that @twangster has, and after playing around with that some; having more than 2x the pixels on a big sensor, with real aperture and shutter control, makes an unbelievable difference even for such a "low end" camera. I'm going to be spending a lot more time shooting with that my next cruise. Not yet ready to shoot RAW, I need to learn better post technique in Pixelmator around that first; I haven't yet been happy with the results I create vs what the camera figures out in JPEG mode. But it will definitely let me step up my photography game and the desire for a phone with the best camera possible has gone down a lot.

whoa whoa easy tiger hahaha, quoting the label. besides Irish Whiskey is Champ. Jameson, Tullamore Dew (my Graddad worked there as a cooper), Teeling, and Redbreast are all wonderful.

Waaytoo reminded me of the time my sister booked a trip to Jacksonville, Fl. She never looked at the info well. Went to airport on the day of flight and found out the flight was going to Jacksonville NC!!! OOPS Yep, triple check all info.

Shoes are the first sacrifice. I used to bring tons of different shoes to make sure I had something to go with every outfit. Now ? HUH ! I am NOT joking....on my 16 night B2B Star Class cruises on Anthem I had 2 pairs of shoes for the cruise. I actually had 1 more pair that I used for flying b/c I knew it would be cold and I needed a pair that I could wear with socks, but the other 2 cruise shoes were flip flops and I never missed not having any other shoes. I did bring a pair of water shoes which I never wore but for regular use, just 2 pair. It was wonderful.

This varies. On Mariner, we sat with 2 other couples/families. Dinner lasted from 6-8pm, but the waiter was taking him time as he was letting us chat among each other. We just got off Symphony and sat just the four of us (we have 2 kids). The meal was a perfect pace. Dinner was 5:30pm and we were out by 7pm, or even a bit before. One night they had the ice show at 7pm and was worried we'd miss it. We just let our waiters know and we made it no issue. These are both traditional dining but would be similar for My Time. Just let them know that you want to make a show. PS - We really enjoy the MDR and it was especially good on Symphony.

The MDR is meant to be an upscale dining experience. My wife and I enjoy having a conversation with those we are dining. We like that each course is not dumped on the table within seconds of each other. Eating in the MDR is not a speed eating event. It is meant to be as much a social experience as a dining experience. We have met many other people from around the world when seated together in the dining room. It's a wonderful opportunity to learn about other parts of the country and the world. If you are concerned about being late for an entertainment event then take into account how long that dining in the MDR will be and schedule your plans accordingly.

A big "thank you" for the great info. Exactly what I need. Cruisecritic and TripAdvisor reviews just don"t give much specific info.

We vacation with friends from NJ once or twice each year, Florida, SC, NC beaches. Every week we spend together they always have to have at least one pizza night. We truly love these people but secretly DREAD pizza night. We have never found edible pizza according to those two, even though my wife and I have been satisfied with the selection every time. Our friends use the colorful NJ dialect to describe the pizza every time. But that being said.... there are never any leftovers. My wife and I are going on Oasis in two weeks. We may give Sorento's a try but not high on the priority list. I have had the most fun reading this thread.... I hope I'm not late for work!!

Even through we have sailed with RCI many times we have never done one of their shore excursions but some good things to do in New Zealand are: Dunedin: Early Settlers Museum, Speights Brewery, Railway station building looks amazing from the outside, Tairei Gorge railway has some amazing scenery. There all also some wildlife tours as well. Akoroa is a nice small French village that has great fish and chips. Lovely place to visit. I guess the cruise will offer excursions to Christchurch but that is further away. The Antarctic Centre is great place to visit. Auckland: Catch the ferry to Waiheke Island some some great vineyards and food. Davenport is an old village next to Naval base, it is a quick ferry ride away from the ship. Sky tower if you want a great view of the city. Kelly Tarlton’s has the glass tubes you can walk through to look at fish and other sea life in a natural setting. Bay of Islands: you will likely see dolphins well you are anchored here. Russell is a great historic village to visit as are the treaty grounds at Waitangi. Here you will find the Marae and the Treaty of Waitangi Most of these things you can do on your own without the need to book a shore excursion but i am sure mostcould be be booked through the ship. With Islands I would try the hop on/off bus in Noumea as we found Noumea city a bit dull. The first time we went there we did jet skiing which was fun. for all the other Islands we mainly just went to beach, but excursions are offfered and the locals will have plenty of non rci excursions to try. Have fun

You are going to have a great time! I bought a bunch of crap for my cruise on Freedom in 2015 that I never ended up using. So of course, I totally learned my lesson and bought $100 worth of more crap for my cruise next month! ? I think the essentials are what you’d take on any beach vacation plus some motion sickness medication and anything you can’t live without at home - for me, that’s a small fan since I have to have the white noise to sleep. This time I also sprung for the plastic luggage tag holders, a multi USB charging hub (no surge protection - search Anker on amazon), and antibacterial wipes that my husband will actually use. He detests alcohol based “goo” that is all around the ship. I also pack clips no matter where I’m going - they’re great for holding your drapes closed for a sleep in morning, holding your towel onto your chair during a windy sea day, and keeping chip bags closed on land vacations ? As for me, I’m not packing water shoes this time. I’ll bring my Chaco sandals to wear to the beach - in a pinch, they can stay on in unexpectedly rocky waters, but I didn’t need water shoes and regretted bringing them last time. We swear by our Deuter city light backpack - it’s great for everything from hiking to theme parks, cruising and more. Towels and water bottles fit great in a small backback. As a “must have” this time, I’m bringing the ultimate dining package. I very much doubt that @WAAAYTOOO is an “old, fat woman” but if I have learned anything from her expertise it’s that cruising is for enjoyment and happiness - for me that means eating great food, so I’ll spend all my dinners in specialty restaurants. Your mileage might vary!

@Bish they won’t let you do the escape room with young kids. Those who are paying for it probably would not enjoy having younger children in there. That is why we requested the private star class session. See if you can find another SC family who has younger kids as well and request a private session. That should not be a problem. You just need 6 minimum.

And finally.......That BODY PILLOW we ordered from the pillow menu...... the thing is hilariously massive. Pumpkin and I felt like we had a third person in bed with us....(which might have been fun a couple decades ago haha!) kidding!

Hopefully the study will reveal those results to them so they don't waste taxpayer money building infrastructure that won't return on the investment.

Last year we were booked on a 7 nighter on Allure. Were D+ but we showed up on Saturday to find out it was a Sunday departure. Had to find a room for the night.?

I was just on this ship in November 2018. At the time, the guitar player/singer at the Pub was very entertaining. All the production shows were terrific as well. There were a lot more spanish speaking folks on the cruise than I normally see, but this is due to being based out of P.R. The crowd was great!

It's not a soap. It's a liquid that you spray on dry clothes to help remove wrinkles. You can usually find it in the travel/sample size section of Walmart or Bed Bath and Beyond (I've seen it in some grocery stores too). I found a full size spray bottle that also contains an odor eliminator in the laundry detergent section of Walmart. We're going to refill the small bottles with that because we like to visit the casino and this way we can "de-smoke" our clothes. To use it, you just spray the item and smooth it out. You can also spray and hang in the bathroom with the shower on so the steam helps too.

If you have to catch a show, mention it to them right off the bat. They are usually pretty good about rushing it. We usually leave 2 hrs for dinner but when we have had to catch a show, we can usually get out before that. I might be wrong, but I think Solarium Bistro is a sit down dinner at night so it may not be any faster. Windjammer will be as quick as you want to make it.

I'm not sure about Budget, but I used Dollar and Thrifty previously at Port Miami. For both of them, there was a shuttle between the Port Miami and Miami airport Car Rental Center (even though I booked to Port Miami). It's not too far and they both were easy to use.

I have been to Mexico many times from Acapulco, puerto vallarta, Cozumel, cabo, and never used pesos. If you bring dollars bring small bills. Unfortunately vendors give you change in pesos and might try to take advantage of you. Happened to my daughter last year.

We use the glasses from previous cruises somewhat regularly - we hang with a crowd that loves to party and a couple times a year we do the layered drinks using those glasses.

We are on Navigator right now, our first cruise. We get back to Miami on Sunday, and I am planning on just getting an Uber or Lyft when we have all our bags and are ready to go

Hmmm....wonder if this stuff works on human skin...?

Just got back from a South Pacific trip, so I can speak to that part: -- we did the Advanced Snorkel on Mystery Island and it was fantastic. Beautiful, beautiful corals and nice big colorful fish. You will need to be pretty fit, though -- the swimming can be challenging and you have to be able to pull yourself back into the boat (with a little ladder and one person giving you a hand) -- Noumea you'll likely dock at the cargo terminal, but don't worry. The free shuttle zips you out of the port quickly. This is a cute town and the least "beachy" of your stops. FWIW, the Aquarium and a few other places are not open on Mondays, but will open for the RC shore excursions, so that's a nice plus if you happen to be there on a Monday. -- Isle of Pines has a nice beach right where the tender brings you if you want a free beach day. Please note that the RC snorkel excursions require you to have your own gear. -- Lifou is a quiet island. We did the Vanilla House tour and enjoyed it, then just kicked around the rest of the day. This was my first time in the South Pacific and I admit I was expecting a bit of "Caribbean West" feel. Boy was I wrong! These locations are much more primitive, not at all in a bad way, just different! Tourism is really only recently getting started in most of these islands (Fiji excepted I'm guessing). For Sydney, the Holiday Inn Rocks location is fantastic -- so much to do (and EAT) in that area! Enjoy!

MIAMI:

I've never had luck with garment bags keeping clothes wrinkle free. I now get the plastic from the dry cleaners and roll up my clothes (slacks, sport coat, shirts, etc.) and put them in a suitcase. They come out better than the clothes my wife insists on putting in a garment bag. And pack a small bottle of the Downy spray to get out any wrinkles. Works great!

Some more pics from this afternoon:

After the galley tour we headed to Studio B for an ice skating session. They set up an area for you to put on your skates. Each session lasts 30 min. The longer it takes you to get ready, the less time you get on the ice.

Galley tour this morning was arranged by all 3 Genies. They all met us outside of Silk and we went from there. Here’s a series of pictures that we took along the way. This is Omar, our guide. Room service area:

John Blair and wife have been posting some FB video and pics from their dry dock and tour highlighting the marine maintenance under the water line in the dry dock. https://www.facebook.com/john.blair.1401

Cucumber Martini!

I gotta go with Waaaytooooo as well. Look, it ain't artisanal, I get it. But when the time comes, and we all know what time I'm talking about, Sorrento's is as good an option as there is on the boat! If I'm looking a little cock-eyed and listing a bit when I walk, I don't want lobster or prime rib - just gimme some za, even Sorrento's.

Frozen, microwaveable pizza they sell at gas stations still beats Sorrentos and that's about as mass produced as it gets. There has to be more to it than that. I must understand this! You mention Indy's pizza being different and somehow more horrible, so maybe that's a clue? Majesty's my only Sorrentos experience so far. I'm sailing on the Allure this coming March. I will try the Sorrentos there and report back. For science.