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I'm going to Alaska, why push Perfect Day Coco Cay excursions on me in Alaska? I'm going to Hawaii. No where close to Coco Cay: I understand that nothing else but Perfect Day matters to Royal Caribbean, or is that "Perfect Day Royal Caribbean"? Next ship... "Perfect Day of the Seas"! I was looking forward to Ovation of the Seas but not sure how I'll feel sailing the newly named "Perfect Day Ovation" Will Michael Bayley rename himself to "Perfect Day Bayley"? Perhaps the Key should be renamed "Perfect Day Key". Should I get the Unlimited Dining Plan or wait for the "Perfect Day Unlimited Dining Plan"? Enough Perfect Day! Seriously thinking about cancelling my 3/4 night B2B on Navigator to Bahamas. Or should I say the "Perfect Day Bahamas". /rantover

Solarium at night Nice being trusted with towels and not worrying about being possibility of being charge $25 for one...

I have always been "colorful" and not one to follow the beaten path. I have had a couple occasions where staff had to ask me nicely to stop fishing off my balcony. This time I decided to go a slightly different direction. Brought my daughter to Coco Cay when she was about seven and came up with a "good way" to spice her trip up some. I brought her to the little shallow beach away from the popular snorkeling one to do some "special snorkeling". Being a fisherman and diver over the years I developed a collection of old galleon "pirate coins". brought one along tucked in my waist band. The water on that south beach was maybe knee deep, sand bottom and of course gin clear. We were maybe thirty yard from shore and I tossed the coin out in front of us without her seeing... I nudged her and kept her on course to "find" it... I remember her making noises through her snorkel when she "found" it. "Daddy its a pirate coin!" Wow was she excited! Mission accomplished (or so I thought). We exited the water and she ran off showing the coin to every person she saw. Before I knew it, the other areas emptied out and we were "joined" with a couple thousand "treasure hunters"... She's 27 this year and getting married. I had that coin set and unbeknownst to her I will make it available for her to wear when I walk her down the aisle... ?

Good morning! Back to reality today, but I thought I would recap our trip for everyone. At least I can keep thinking about vacation instead of this mound of work on my desk. Embarkation Day- We left our hotel in North Miami Beach about 10:15 to head over to the cruise terminal. Again, we took an Uber XL and had a great experience (although it cost more than my estimates, but I think it had to do with surge pricing. Anyway, we made it to the cruise port right around 10:45- our suggested arrival time was 11. I was shocked by how many people were still trying to leave the ship and get transportation. It made getting into the terminal a little more chaotic than I've seen in past cruises. We went through the check in pretty seamlessly, but then we were sent to the giant room to wait. We were able to get the last few chairs, but they still hadn't let anyone on yet. I did have a proud momma moment during this time- you know when your kids do something and you think, "ok, maybe I am raising them well". I was reading a book, not really paying attention and an older woman came by with her elderly mother. The girls stood up and gave them their seats without any prompting. I know it is just a small thing and something everyone should do, but teenagers are not always aware of their surroundings and I was happy they made this small gesture. So, we were there until probably 11:30 or so and they told everyone to form a single file line to get on the ship. Well, that caused some chaos and some line jumpers, but eventually we were on the ship by 12:15. As we came on board, we walked up to the pool deck and settled in a few loungers in the shade as the kids wanted to change to go ride the water slides. We were bummed to find out that they were not open yet. So, we hung out by the pool- got a few pina coladas and just people watched. The kids did some exploring, but I hung with our bags. At around 1, the rooms were ready and we went to check them out. We had rooms 1862 and 1866 on the 12th floor. The rooms were nice and Gretchen was excited about her decorations that the social media staff had sent to her for her birthday. We then went to the windjammer for lunch. I had the Indian food and it was delicious. My picky eaters found things they were happy with, so I consider it a success. I was also able to step inside chops and settle our reservations for the buy one get one dinners we had purchased ahead of time. We chose Hooked for day one and Chopped for day two. We went back to our rooms to unpack and then went back out to explore the sports deck. The girls loved the hammocks and we watched people on the Flowrider. Ryan (my 12 year old) decided he wanted to try, but we hadn't signed the waivers, so that took some time. He wasn't able to do it before it was time to go change before dinner at Hooked. All three kids are avid seafood lovers and really enjoyed Hooked. I am not quite as into seafood as them, but I really enjoyed myself there. Our waiter was great and they gave Gretchen a special birthday Boston Creme Pie with some extra adornments. My husband got the raw oysters as an appetizer and thought it was delicious. Two of the kids and my husband got the selection with lobster, fish and .... ok I forget the last thing, but they were happy with it. My oldest daughter got the surf and turf and I got the blackened fish (I think it was grouper). I highly recommend checking it out. That evening we went to the opening show which was the comedian. Everyone enjoyed that and we watched a movie on the pool deck until I looked over and all of the kids were fast asleep. We took them to bed and got everything ready for our day tomorrow in Nassau.

Quick visit up to The Retreat sundeck One unique thing is the Edge Villa guests have direct access to The Retreat sundeck from their room. Doors on the left side I'm going to assume lead to a locked door to the Villa. Also a bar up here, just didn't get the chance to take a picture.

Someone at Royal must be reading this forum... my cruise planners for multiple cruises have been fixed. No more Perfect Day Alaska, Perfect Day Hawaii or Perfect Day Panama Canal.

Another thing about needing plugs and not understanding people who use electronics is that everyone's idea of a great vacation is different. I personally love to read with my kindle by the pool or listen to a podcast with bluetooth headphones while relaxing. I also enjoy the ability to share my vacation in real time with friends and family. All of these things need charging and it's amazing how quickly the plugs get full, especially once you factor in cabin mates. I understand that some people enjoy disconnecting or using very few electronics on a cruise but it's a pet peeve of mine when someone uses their personal preference to look down upon other's choices in how they choose to spend their vacation. I'm not saying anyone here is doing that, but I HAVE seen that condescension elsewhere and it's incredibly uncalled for, in my opinion.

For the random post of the night... Elevators! It is nice knowing clearly what elevator is doing what. On the call button panel pressing up causes the up arrow to outline in green, going down red. When the elevator arrives it is clear as day what direction it is going. Inside the elevator the screen clearly shows what floors have been selected. (I'm looking at you blue outlined buttons that just get brighter when pressed)

Go with an aft/corner S1...

Could almost call this a sneak peek at the future of the Royal app. This is the Celebrity version. Notice the three icons. Fork and Knife, Bed, and door knob. Hitting the "Fork and Knife" brings you to the well known screen showing what dining venues are open, menus, and what not. "Bed" icon brings up room control options, defaulting to the television tab. Room tab brings up various room controls Hitting "see all" dropdown next to lights gives granular on/off control of the various room lights. Finally the "Door knob" icon. The initial setup requires some authentication. Once authenticated no need to do anything more other than have the app open.

You clearly give me too much credit if you think I can fix Royal's website.

Because I travel to Europe frequently I purchased a dual power hair dryer. Problem is....it is so damn hard to change from 110 to 220 that I threw it in the trash ! I just use the <wholly inadequate> ones they have in the hotels over there. I look like a scarecrow but at least I don't have trouble with the crows over there. ?

Ramen anyone? Your choice of three stocks. Not your thing or don't want to stray too far from the pool. Stop by Mast Grill for a burger (beef, turkey, or veggie) or hotdog and some fries.

@twangster I hear ya...oh by the way....Have yourself a Perfect Day! ?

Here ya go Plenty of room to rearrange the furniture for a more ideal setup.

This is an excellent tip....just remember (those who may be considering it) that your device must be dual power and be compatible with the European currents. Using a US-only device in a European outlet is an easy way to burn up your hairdryer (or whatever else you have plugged in there). Most cell phones/computers are already dual voltage so that's a good thing - just be sure before you plug it in.

Navigator Ben & Jerry's menu:

Last year during the Cup final a guy was walking around with this

Me, husband and our daughter were sailing on Holland and we meant an older lady who used a walker to get around. Her walker had a bike horn on it and if you did not move out of her way she would honk away. So thru out the cruise we'd hear her horn and laugh. My husband was a frequent victim of getting the horn blasted at him. So as we where waiting to collect our luggage, we hear her horn. We all three turn and look, there she is strolling by but we notice on her blouse, it 20 plus name tags from the crew members. My daughter turns to us and says "Guess they did not get out her way, wonder what she did to them to get their name tags"

Is it necessary for a young person to have health insurance? My 20 something son hasn't needed a doctor visit in years. You can buy house insurance that covers the dwelling only, no content coverage. Do you need to protect the stuff in your house? You can buy the minimum auto insurance coverage required by your state. However if your car is stolen you are on your own. For anyone who has had something occur that they didn't expect the resounding answer is... YES! You need insurance. A cruise vacation can be a sizable amount of money. If you have lots of money and can afford to walk away from the potential loss then you don't have to have insurance. Insurance is for the unexpected. No one expects to miss a cruise when weather or an airline cancels your flights. No one expects to have a car accident on the way to the port. No one expects to be rescued off a ship with a $40,000 helicopter medical evacuation and placed into a foreign country in a foreign hospital that doesn't take your health insurance from home. If you decide to travel without insurance you assume any loss when the unexpected occurs. You can scream at an airport gate agent. You can shout at the cruise line on the phone. You can write a negative on the internet but at the end of the day it's not their fault and you have lost the money.

BTW, even if you find out in advance that your partner cannot cruise with you, do NOT cancel him/her from the reservation. Only bad things can happen if you do that. Just have that second person be a no-show.

Our Symphony of the Seas cruise leaves tomorrow, Apr 13th, 2019. “Our” being my husband Mike and 7 year old daughter Delilah. This is Delilah’s first cruise, Mike and my second. Our first cruise was Freedom of the Seas in 2007. I’m hoping cruising will become our family thing, but it depends on how this cruise goes with my daughter. I printed my Set Sail pass, cruise docs, and luggage tags. I packed magnetic hooks, a USB hub and sea sick bands and pills. I am at the airport in Sacramento as I type. We fly Sac to Denver to FLL arrive in FLL tonight at 12:30am. We have our drink packages purchased, alcohol one for Mike and I, refreshment one for Delilah. We have ordered the picture package, the octopus stuffed animal for D, and water in the room. We got the key because at 19.99 is was only $3 more than the internet and with the chops lunch, it was a no brainer. I would have even paid 24.99, since you don’t have to wait in line for shows and to get off the boat. Waiting in any line with my ADHD daughter is a nightmare. I was going to also take advantage of the key for flow rider and zip line times but I read in the cruise docs my daughter is not old enough for those. Had I realized that I would have probably picked a boat with iFly instead and dreamworks characters. My daughter loves zip lining. We booked an ocean balcony, #12610. I’m kind of worried this room is going to be too far from an elevator. We tend to forget stuff a lot and I think it’s going to be a pain having to run that far to the room. To make it less painful I bought a Fitbit watch, so I can be happy getting so many steps. We made low bids for each RoyalUp category, but doubt we’ll get an upgrade since the ship is full. It would be nice to get a bigger cabin but I mostly bid in hopes of getting something closer to an elevator. We requested early dining and have all our shows booked. My daughters bedtime is usually between 7 and 8 so we’ll see if she can stay awake through the shows. We have all our excursions booked, Atlantis in Bahamas, dolphin encounter in St. Kitts, and Turtle island Sail and snorkel on St Thomas. Most of my posts will be more pictures than text but I thought I would make an introduction post here. I have read all the other Symphony blogs and got a lot of my questions and info from them. I had lots more questions on traveling with young kids, so I’ll try and include info on that too. I have no idea if my daughter will like Adventure Ocean or if she’ll be with us mostly. 25 to 1 ratio of adults to kids with 40 kids may not be her thing. If anyone wants pictures of anything or has any questions let me know.

Hello Fellow Cruise Lovers out there. My wife and I went on a vacation of a lifetime and got a spectacular rate on the Liberty of the Seas Royal Suite #1640. Since we were with a group of our friends, we decided to go all around the ship and in our cabin and shot a music video. I hope you enjoy. If you have any questions about the experience or anything Royal Suite, I am happy to answer them. Cheers! YOLObookIT

It's very interesting that you say this.... Many years ago, when we were still very new to cruising, we met a couple of cruising veterans in San Juan and spent an entire afternoon chatting. They told us that one day we would no longer be "in love" with cruising in the Caribbean and we would need to branch out and start doing other kinds of itineraries. At first glance, this seems like a very Captain Obvious kind of statement but it's taken us a while to actually get there. We truly have evolved in our cruising style(s). We no longer get off the ship in many of the Caribbean ports. We are no longer satisfied with the MDR meals. While we still LOVE cruising, we really are getting tired of cruising in the Caribbean ! Since we are still working, it is difficult for us to do the longer and more exotic itineraries, but once we retire I can see a big change to the way we cruise. I think this happens to most long term cruisers. You see it with the Pinnacles. Of course they still cruise in the Caribbean from time-to-time but they definitely favor the longer and more "unusual" itineraries. I can't WAIT until we can do some Baltic states and Persian Gulf and Pacific Island and Australia and New Zealand and Far East cruises - all back-to-back ! ?

I think you just fixed it yourself.... #revisionbot

Sorry, but I think that thing is hideous. I don't use any of them so it's no problem for me but....really ? UGH

Who knew you were so influential? They are all gone from mine as well!

Thank you both. @Matt love the podcast also! I've found a wealth of information. I wish I had found this site before my first cruise. I'm definitely going to be posting a review after I get back!

I never thought travel insurance was necessary until 2 years ago when a friend had a massive stroke just hours of boarding a RC ship. Because he was already onboard, the ship's doctor arranged for him to be helicoptered off the ship and to a hospital near Miami (ship had not even set sail yet). The travel insurance not only covered the cost of the cruise, but also the cost of the transport. There would've been no way his medical insurance would have paid 100% of the helicopter transport. You may never need the travel insurance, but I would rather have it for peace of mind.

Spoke too soon... Some $45 dollar towles are left in the room...

Yes! ALWAYS a nice tip. Tipping says waaaaaaay more about the person tipping than about the service received. We should try to always be generous and gracious even when we don't feel like it. It says a lot about us. Even if the waiter says "no, I can't bring you the lobster" (many good reasons why they may not be able to, and that's none of my business as I am asking THEM to go out of their way for ME).

I get so tired of advertisements. Back in the 70's I went to Acapulco and the beach was so annoying because every few minutes another beggar would show up trying to sell cheap jewelry or something for a tip or handout. My latest pet peeve are ads on TV plastered across the bottom of the screen while the show I am trying to watch is playing. RCCL has gone the same path. They always had you the throat with drinks, artwork, watches and more. Every opportunity to try and sell you something and it just gets old to the point you become somewhat oblivious and numb to the whole process. Though there are a few good deals, the bottom line is some things are overpriced on board, most are about the same as anything you could buy off Amazon any day of the week and some things are just a rip off. For instance, never buy the 'by the inch' chains they always have, not unless you like your skin turning green. Any way, I agree .. enough of the perfect day. The day I drop a thousand bucks on an over the water cabana for a few hours someone needs to schedule a psychiatrist for me. ? Don't get me wrong. I love cruising on RCCL but don't let the glamor smother your common sense.

My parents are doing the Hawaii to Vancouver repo on Celebrity in two weeks. I am so jealous. That is also on my bucket list too.

I can’t believe it, for the first time ever I have received a Royal Insider CAS Quarterly News email i have heard such a thing existed but this is the first time I have ever received one. it is mainly just links to salesand promotions but also has some useful information on CAS benefits. One thing I found interesting was the Suite and balcony discounts. The numbers in here don’t match up with the discounts received. The link goes to the AUS website but does not specify whether these are NZ or AU dollars. I am sure they do this to confuse me. Still I just happy they finally found me on their mailing list.

Thanks! Some what the reason why I'm blogging here. Obviously over on that other site you'll find live blogs in the appropriate section. Big difficulty is finding a review from a Royal loyalist. Ship decor is very nice. Has a very modern vibe to the decor. I do feel odd getting the occasional "Welcome Back" comment when they see Elite on the card. Heck when meeting the Butler it was entertaining explaining being a 0 point Elite, first time sailing their Suite class and first time on Celebrity.

Last summer I was on my first cruise with my sister, and her family to Alaska on Explorer OTS. On the second night, we had dinner in the MDR. For dessert, a bunch of us also ordered espressos or cappuccinos. When the Assistant Waitress brought out the coffees, she puts down my nieces drink, and I start laughing out loud. She used a small oblong gravy boat instead of a small coffee (espresso) cup. Of course all our meals in the MDR we would look out for this waitress, as well as kept ordering espresso/cappuccinos to try and get a gravy boat again.

We have Center Ice - I always choose the non-LA feed because I just want to punch him every time he opens his mouth.

I spent the entire time they were interviewing Brooks Orpik after the OT winner yesterday letting Pierre McGuire know how much his commentary sucks ?

The Blues/Jets were on both Fox Sports Midwest and CNBC (yes, CNBC!), tonight. I like Darren Pang so I always go with Fox when I can. Besides when they use Doc Emeric on NBCSN, ugh. LET'S GO BLUES!!!

On our Canada/NE cruise on the Jewel in 2004 we were on the younger end of the average age of the non-crew ship inhabitants. We were selected to be on stage for the "Love and Marriage" game. I ended up giving a fairly risque answer to one of the questions during the game. I don't recall if we won the game or not. What I DO recall was the realization the next day that I had gained instant ship fame because they kept playing the recording of the game over and over and over on the TV in everyone's staterooms the rest of the week. The entire rest of the cruise I kept getting winked at, side-eyed, slapped on the back, and high-fived everywhere on the ship. "Hey, you're the girl from the "Love and Marriage Show ....". (To reflect back on that cruise, and my earlier response to this post, at least they didn't have footage of my pathetic attempt at ping pong on the ship. As it is my husband won't ever let me forget that fiasco).

Have not seen Jamie’s yet but here is playmakers from lots of angles.

Some of my responses tonight brought to you by... Mexi-Cali Martini: Grey Goose, jalapeno, pineapple juice, and vermouth. Dill Pickle Vodka Martini: Grey Goose and Dill Pickle Juice

Insurance is the only thing all of us have and never hope we use.

Some nice touches Pizza is made with fresh dough For people that have allergy or dietary concerns it seems everything has a tag listing the key concerns. This one for example would indicate "gluten free"

Another feature of the Terminal 25 waiting area for Suite and Zenith guests is rooftop access. Guess if you didn't mind being under the watchful eye of a security guard you could get a pre-boarding tan started.

Hello, I‘m on the Navigator of the Seas right now and it‘s my first RCCL cruise. I‘ve been cruising mostly NCL, but also did experience Carnival, Celebrity and MSC before. I‘m not doing a fully live trip report but I try to send a few impressions and maybe answer a few of your questions. I was at the port around 11:30am and had to wait until 12 until they let people inside the security area. No communication whatsoever about why we were delayed. Security and and document check went swiftly but then we had to wait once more on the gangway to finally board. People weren’t happy about those delays. Once onboard, around 12:30, the ship felt empty, we were the first to have a drink at the Bamboo Room and we got an excellent MaiTai. Rooms were ready shortly after 1 pm and we dropped our carry on luggage right before we went to Chops for Lunch. I honestly wasn’t blown away. I have the Key package, my parents don’t and paid for this lunch upfront only to be informed that they were also limited to the small Key lunch menu. What a waste of money for them. They didn‘t even prepare pepper sauce or bearnaise sauce and limited us to bordelaise sauce ??. The quality of the beef was fine though. I‘m used to inside muster drills on NCL and prefer those to the chaos that was here during sweltering heat on the outside promenade. ?? Sailaway came and we were delayed because of a medical emergency. The captain did inform us about a small delay which then turned into 3 hours delay because apparently an elderly lady died. So sad ?. Dinner in the MDR was very nice though and I think service and food was a step above NCL. Out of the major cruise lines, I still prefer Carnival for food quality though. The promenade was crowded for the balloon drop and the music was too loud for me. My promenade room has rather good soundproofing but I hope in the coming days, music won‘t be as loud. Had breakfast in the MDR today and felt it took too long for me because I want to be out on the deck enjoying the ship instead of wasting my daytime in a dining room. Once again, the food was rather good though and service was great again. I‘m now out on the 12th deck enjoying my day but the chair hog situation is out of control compared to the other ships I‘ve been to. At 10 am the pool deck was empty but there wasn‘t a single chair available in the Solarium or in the shaded areas around the ship. They really need to do something about this.

WHAT!?!?! But they have RUM there!!! ? When we went, even after being told 'no smoking' by all the staff there, one idiot lit up. He was all but body tackled by security. Certainly made the tour a little more exciting.

Thats how tips are supposed to work, nowadays the mentality is "if i give them a TIP before they do any work then they will do better work". While this may be true it sets a terrible precedence as at work we call it Bribery.

I agree that in today's day and age, cups need to be dishwasher safe or I don't buy it. Unfortunately too many RC coffee mugs I've bought suffer from not holding up well to the dishwasher, and frankly, I'm not spending time hand washing them.

Also remember that if you are dining in a specialty restaurant but there is something on the MDR menu that night that you really want (lobster tails or lamb shank comes to mind), you can always ask the specialty restaurant waiter to bring you something from the MDR. We do this often. No need to miss your favorite MDR dish just b/c you are dining in a specialty restaurant that night !