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Once again, I remind all to make your points without resorting to personal attacks or insults. I know it becomes unfathomable that someone could not see your line of thinking.... ...but at the end of the day, share your point and then move on. We're discussing cruising, it should be fun!

Have to agree with this - it's vacation, enjoy yourself because be you know it it'll be 365 days before your next cruise ? and you'll be counting down all over again. Also, be nice to the staff - cause, yeah, they might be slightly moody but remember there have probably been other not so nice to them.

For shirts you want to bring and keep them without wrinkles - A week before the travel , I give some shirts to the dry cleaning , ask them to iron it , fold it and pack it in nylon bag with the tick paper inside. Yes it cost money but it saves allot of time later on. Shampoo - bring with you small bottle of your favorite Shampoo/conditioner the one they have on most of the rooms are OK to use but not everyone like them (its one dispenser which being used for all three functions) But the best tip I can give is to remember . you are on vacation , do not rush (well maybe only when its close to all aboard and you are still on the peer) , do not get mad on other people behavior and just let yourself enjoy the cruise.

Oh gosh, there are so many “musts” I have now (so many that I keep a permanent list of them and it definitely includes some of those shown above {like the wrinkle spray and a mesh bag for dirty clothes to hang inside the closet}).. But here are the ones that I have added to the list in the last year:: 1. small sissors (small, blunt ones such as the type for nails or the small ones used for needlework and tip cover that comes with them). I am always shocked at the number of things that I need to cut when I’m on a cruise! 2. Moisturizing eye drops (I have spent my life near water, including the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, but the water in the Caribbean seems 50x saltier and my eyes really hurt after a dip!). So, I now always carry this if I am headed to the beach or snorkeling and it really makes my day much nicer. 3. 1-2 disposable food prep containers - sometimes I want a small snack at night, but the room service menu is almost solidly very greasy foods and that is the polar opposite of what I want in the evening. So when I get a chance I sometimes squirrel away a roll and a small slice of cheese or a less sugary pastry into my lidded, thin food prep container that I can toss at the end of the cruise). Happy Sailing! ????

Thanks everyone! I just called to reprice and it dropped my cruise from $3019 to $1994. Over $1,000 in savings!!!

Ahh- I found it. On the page that has your photos to download, scroll to bottom and there is a "copyright release form" link between "Contact us" and "FAQ" Thanks for all the above replies!

This is exactly the reason they put the new policy in place. They watch for this pattern of consumption and will revoke the package without a refund if you are caught doing this.

Part III, Onboard Planning Wait, what? Being a Havenite on Norwegian and being Star Class on Royal are 2 completely different things when it comes to booking reservations for onboard activities and dining. On Norwegian, at about 45 or so days out, you get a generic welcome letter and your luggage tags from shoreside concierge with their contact info. NCL shoreside concierge tends to be hit or miss. Sometimes they respond straight away. Sometimes it takes a few days. You hardly need them at all though. Most things you can book online yourself or handle directly with the ship concierge or your butler as soon as you board. On Norwegian, for ships that have the Haven restaurant, you get to show up to eat whenever you feel like it, no reservations required (plus for NCL. Minus for NCL: the Haven menu never changes, though with some advance warning, the kitchen will accommodate your special requests). When making specialty dining reservations, the NCL system recognizes you have a dining package and you can make these online (as well as show reservations) at 130 days out from sailing (10 days ahead of everyone else) and you are not charged in advance. The #TeamSuperFOMO dining reservation schedule (regardless of cruise line) is an intricate operation: I give Batman a cruise itinerary with port times and our scheduled activities. I also provide him a list of dining options with the number of meals allotted for specialty dining. Batman then fills in the table of where we are eating when and gets to designate which nights he wants to be “Game Day Decisions” with no strict plans on when we are dining or where. This way, if Batman has made a reservation at a restaurant, and we come back from an excursion that involves day drinking and he hasn’t yet rallied … GUESS WHOSE FAULT THAT IS?! (Genius, you say? Yes, I know! Thanks for noticing!) Royal’s system doesn’t seem to grasp that you have a dining package and wants to charge you when making the reservation. I understand these charges are refunded onboard. Sailing Royal Star Class, it took me a bit to figure out that I don’t need to reserve anything other than shorex (and spa appointments, but I avoid spa appointments on the ship like the plague.) I’m just supposed to wait for the Genie to contact us directly, and we can tell this magical person what we want, and it will all magically be handled. I was not used to this. I felt like I had nothing to do. Batman actually said to me, “Are you OK? This is a bit left field for you.” Um, I will figure this out. It will just take me a half second to wrap my head around it. Batman was a little wary of leaving everything up to the Genie also. (“Does the Genie understand we need downtimes from sit-down dinners?!”). Oh, he will, Batman, he will. We got our Royal Genie Welcome email on March 28, just about one month shy of sailing. Here our Genie introduced himself and gave us some tidbits. Our Genie for this sailing is to be Derick. Of course, I did some recon, and it looks like we scored in the Genie department! Guests and crew alike seem to like him and respect him; not a single negative word was uttered. Positives all around. I was happy that were teamed up. Now, let’s see if the poor chap will feel the same way about us, after Batman’s survey responses … If you want to see the shows, Derick recommended dining between 5:30p-6p or after 7:45p. He also sent along weight, height, and age restrictions for the various ship activities, found here: He recommended arriving at the port between 9:30a and 10:30a. That is just not happening for us. We like to eeeeease into vacation and awaking at 7a for an 8a car service pickup doesn’t rank high on our list of fun. I was eager to respond to Derick (esp after Batman’s survey), and thanks to Sabrina (@Lovetocruise2002), I knew I could ask for PDFs of menus, so we would know which nights we’d like to eat where. In my response, I told Derick very briefly that although we are new to Royal after 11 years, we are very experienced cruisers. I think cruises for first-time/inexperienced cruisers and seasoned ones are quite different. I hoped this would help him understand that we can skip all the things like the port and shopping talks, the gym tours, etc. All those newby things you do on cruises 1-3, but maybe not on cruise 31. I also told Derick that there were 3 easy ways to keep us happy: No unsolicited disturbances before 11:30a if he could help facilitate that. (After all, “awake” and “up” are 2 very different states of the morning for us.) Thank you @WAAAYTOOO Keep Batman watered with Coors Light. (See what I did there: water/Coors Light? Yeah, we have his and her separate beer drawers in the fridge at home. We do not open each other’s drawers, even when desperate. I’m of the opinion that you could put some caramel food coloring in carbonated water, and Batman could not tell the difference.) We are happiest sitting at a lively bar with good bartenders and then coming back to the room for late night comfort foods, primarily foods that anyone the age of 50 or pushing it should not be eating. If he could make bar recommendations based on that and tell us how to best handle our late-night feedings, that would rate on the scale of Super Awesome. It did not take Derick long to respond, but I will break up this post for now. ?

Bow Thrusters

Why not just walk into the onboard shops and use the 5 finger discount at the same time? Stealing is stealing and to promote it on a message board is publicly saying "I dont follow rules, your welcome to everyone else who gets to suffer because of me"

Small food containers are good for bacon for your hamburger at lunch.

I’ve seen those ships when several singles are sharing a cabin. It always reminds me of college back back in the olden days before cell phones when there was a pay phone in the hall and people used the one on your door to let you know who had called ???

With the highlighters we have two colors. One color for adults and the other for children/family.

Excursions St Kitts, we did the dolphin experience. Was awesome and we had time to shop after. St Thomas, we did a sail and snorkel to Turtle Bay. It was awesome too. I wanted to see turtles and we did, they were all over. A guy from a diff boat almost drowned though. They had to rescue him on a raft and revive him. I swam right by him and saw him hanging onto the boat line. A few min’s later we heard the call for a rescue. I kicked myself for not recognizing he was in trouble. We had rum punch on the boat back and it was all around awesome. We even had time to buy some souvenirs at the port before our excursion. Nassau, we did Atlantis. I’m glad we did it but it was a rip off for that price. By the time we got to Atlantis it was 11:30, and we were the first group off the boat. The bus and directions and wristband were so disorganized. We had to head back to get the 2pm bus at 1:30. We basically had 2 hours there. We did the rapid lazy river twice, had lunch and left. It was basically $100 a lap around the river. We we’re back on the boat by 3 and I watched for pier runners. The boat left around 5:00 ish, even though all aboard was 3:30. Not even the late people were not running. If you want to watch for pier runners on the Eastern Caribbean get a room on the starboard side. We watched for runners at all 3 ports. Limits on Things One thing I did not like was the limits on things for my daughter. Try telling a 7 year old she can’t do a zip line cuz she doesn’t weigh enough, or go on the flow rider cuz she’s not tall enough, or swim with dolphins because she’s not old enough. She does zip lines all the time off the boat. We took her to Theater of the Seas after the boat to get pushed and pulled by dolphins, so it wasn’t that big of a deal, but RC seems to have higher limits on things than other places. Oh, and they said kids under 18 couldn’t even play some game at on air on night. It was a finish the lyrics game and the host said kids wouldn’t know songs from the 70’s and 80’s, or something like that. I thought it was pretty lame because compass did not list the game as 18+.

Forgot to mention this before, check this link out. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/radiance-of-the-seas/deck-plans/1829/02. Deck plans for the Radiance, study them before you get on board. That way you will know where everything you are interested is once you board the ship. Some folks like the idea of wandering around aimlessly looking for a particular place. I prefer not spending my cruise time like that. Bring a highlighter. Every night your cabin attendant will place a copy of the Cruise Compass on your bed. The Cruise Compass has all of the next days activities, shows, etc. listed. We highlight those we are interested in. Take a look at the Cruise Compass heading at the top of the page and you can see exactly what this thing is. When is your cruise?

Someone here mentioned they bring a spray can of Downy Wrinkle Releaser, https://downy.com/en-us/fabric-softener/downy-wrinkle-releaser. to use on wrinkled clothes.

Welcome to the message boards @Andrew3232 ? Although it is not evident in this particular thread, this is a great community here.

I’ll second this one, the Doubletree next door or the Hilton across the street (connected by a bridge). Not sure if you have a preference on hotel chain but if not here are a few items to consider about these properties. - Easy access from the airport via the dolphin expressway. - They tend to be close enough to the cruise port and the Bayside Marketplace. - They tend to be a little less costly than the ones near the Intercontinental. - if you are using Uber or taxi and don’t have a car there is a small mall between the Doubletree and the Marriott. Good enough for some small last minute items, if needed, and a few options for dining without leaving the property. - All tend to have rooms that overlook the water and can see the cruise port. So a great way to start the cruise experience.

We stay at Marriott -Biscayne Bay https://www.marriott.com/hotels/maps/travel/miabb-miami-marriott-biscayne-bay/

We did Enchantment about 2 1/2 yrs ago. For us, the ship was too small. However, our itinerary was port intensive so we didn't mind at all (Bahamas, Coco Cay and Key West). IOWS, I would do it again just for the itinerary. We did MTD and had no problems, just walked up and we were seated immediately. No problem getting a seat at the pool. The plus size of this size of a ship the staff really gets to know you personally. The negative were the shows.

Me And @FlowBro Ty Yolo Booked Navigator Of The Seas Leaving Oct. 28 To Nov. 1 2019.

I had used my dad's TA for almost 10 years, but started realizing their benefits had diminished (like any OBC or other perks they give) They price they quoted was the exact same as we could get online. Thus, we found a new TA that is local to us. I've already had her upgrade our next cruise, reprice and even add some casino stuff all within just a few days with no problem. A good TA will be able to reprice without any hesitation

I tried to reprice my next cruise with THE (non-MEI-I-paid-her-a-hefty-booking-fee) travel agent a few months ago. She didn't remotely understand what I was asking and told me I was ineligible. I decided that the savings were negligible enough that it wasn't worth risking my sanity to get the box of block letters out of the toybox and spell it out for her. So, yeah, not all travel agents know how/that you can do this.

It's probably best that they still allow smoking in the casino, it keeps me out of it for the most part lol.

In dry Dock

Same here. Have repriced a November 2020 sailing three different times over the last six weeks without issue.

You should be able to re-price with without any penalty provided it is the same ship/sail date and that you are in North America. I book non-refundable deposits all the time and re-price. The $100 change fee only applies if you are changing ships/sail date.

I'm amazed that Air2Sea would schedule this late flight. Makes no sense to me. Even if they do honor the Air2Sea and fly you to the next port, the per day cost of your cruise just went up because you missed out on one day and one night of cruise fun. In other words, you're now on a 6 night cruise, but paid for 7 nights.

UGH. Live and learn. UUUUGE disappointment but we managed to survive. What IS a surprise to me (from above) is that the deck 10 non-corners are actually the biggest of the bunch ! I have never been in one of the deck 10 CLS (non-corner) so I don't know, first hand, but if the numbers you provided above are correct, they are the biggest ones. Who knew ? I do NOT believe that the deck 10 corner main balcony is 20 sq ft bigger than the deck 8 balcony. NO WAY

Ok Sorry Everyone This Blog Is On Pause Until I Get Home From My Next Cruise.

Agree 100%. This is a terrible, terrible, terrible idea. Do yourself a favor and fly in the day before the cruise. Don't put your entire vacation in jeopardy over a late flight attendant.

Overall, I think Royal did pretty well. Highest was Rhapsody of the Seas and Celebrity Summit at 100. Lowest was Mariner at 89. Most Royal Celebrity and Azamara ships scored in the mid to high 90’s. It says ships are inspected twice a year, yet some of the inspection dates on the report are from 2017?? Per this site: Twice a year, each cruise ship that sails to or from a U.S. cruise port goes through an unannounced public health inspection. This surprise inspection is done by the VSP (Vessel Sanitation Program by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to determine how well the cruise ships are operating and to the check the sanitation standards on board each ship. During the inspections, all major areas of the ship are inspected including medical facilities, portable water systems, swimming pools and hot tubs, galleys and dining rooms, child activity centers, hotel accommodations, ventilation systems, and common areas of the ship. To receive a perfect 100, the ship must receive perfect marks on all 44 items on the USPH’s Vessel Sanitation Program checklist. A score of 85 or below is considered a failing score. The most recent score for every cruise ship can be found here.

Love this advice.

Stocking up on bacon; best tip of the entire thread!

Um - lol - so, guess you 'stockup' on bacon during breakfast ? #LooksForBaconEmojii

I will echo everyone else’s recommendations. Having been the shepherd for many a group cruise, do NOT wait for others to decide and/or act. Everyone always says “yes” to a group cruise and then many will balk when it comes time to pony up the cash. If you wait on them you will end up paying more and they STILL won’t be going with you. There is no down side to booking early unless you book a nonrefundable deposit and later decide to cancel. If there is a price drop you can reprice. If the fares go up, you made out !

I always bring , never had issues.

Oasis is now entering dry dock

Oasis in December right after she comes back from her AMP are some of the cheapest Oasis class sailings I've seen. They are even discounting the single supplement. Oasis in Bayonne is higher in price because of the market. Folks in the greater NYC area are excited by the prospects of the first ever visit of an Oasis class ship in Bayonne. Cruise pricing follows supply and demand principles. High demand equates to higher prices. Lower demand equates to lower prices. The first two weeks of December is a seasonal low for the cruise market year after year. Despite being fresh out of her AMP and refresh the prices are low because demand is low. Clearly they have not placed a premium on Oasis just because of her refresh, any price trends are because of demand. Certain cruises have a premium applied because they are bucket list itineraries. Panama Canal, Alaska, Transpacific, etc. Royal has a lot of historical sales trends to use as a basis to set initial prices. They know Oasis in Bayonne will be popular so they can nudge initial prices higher. They'll watch bookings and adjust accordingly. Just like a transatlantic on a Vision class ship will not be in demand so they know they have to lower prices, often below $50 per person per night to try to fill it.

We don’t know much information about them yet as I havent seen talk of them being open for use yet, but according to the map, they should be where I circled by the pool.

I never buy the Voom package since it gives me a chance to unplug from the world. I always take dry erase markers that we use on the mirror to put where we are going to be. Its an easy way to keep up with kids and husband. If we travel with a group we put a dry erase board on the outside of our cabin door.

Ok I know that this is more than one, but the cheap over the door shoe hanger is an absolute must!!! Saves quite a bit of space in the bathroom, and while I am on that subject Poo-Pourri is another absolute must!!! Not going to go in great detail about that product but the stuff absolutely works and the stuff is a game changer. Strong magnets are another wonderful item to add because the walls are metal, and it is wonderful to have the extra hooks from time to time!

Come on hurry up guys!! I loved CocoCay the way that it was and actually against what they were doing to it UNTIL seeing it for the first time a few weeks ago. I am actually looking forward to our return soon!! I know its going to be absolutely AMAZING!!!

Another one of our favorites is Brining a 3oz size bottle of the dish soap to keep the cups clean. After seven days of being all over the ship no water is going to do that job.

I love the Intercontinental Miami! It is minutes (by car) away from the port. Fantastic bay views. Classy property. With my kids though, I would not be as likely to stay there. There is also Holiday Inn just down the street from the Intercontinental that is more family friendly. Good options in the Miami Brickell area too. Hampton Inn in Brickell is great for families. There is also the new Hyatt Centric in Brickell that looks amazing and has a variety of different room types for families. With my kids, I would likely choose the Hyatt Centric even though it is a bit further from the port. I haven't really researched South Beach as much so hopefully someone can give recommendations there. Here are a few reviews by @Matt: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/06/11/intercontinental-miami-hotel-review https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/11/07/holiday-inn-port-of-miami-downtown-hotel-review https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/12/13/doubletree-hilton-grand-hotel-biscayne-bay-hotel-review @Ralph, the port of Miami is not really set up in a way that you could walk there. The ships dock on Dodge Island so you would likely need some sort of transportation to get there.

I guess the virtual room tour excursions are sold out for now. ?

The Survey Debacle Not too long after booking (I believe we booked the weekend of 3/15 or thereabouts for our 4/27 departure) we received the infamous Genie survey for all Star Class guests. For some reason, known only to the cruising gods, they chose to send said survey to Batman, not me. Bad idea. Horrible, in fact. It probably seemed like a good idea at the time. Why Batman would be the lead on any vacation is mind blowing. Batman has never booked a vacation in his life. Batman is Mr. Just-Tell-Me-Where-and-When-to-Show-Up-and-What-to-Bring. Must. Be. Nice. (I kid.) (Sort of) Surely, he is going to grasp the magnitude the survey responses carry. I can trust him with this. Batman knows what’s at stake, right? Right?! Um….. Let’s hope they do not read the surveys at all… That they are merely a means to entertain yourself while counting down to your cruise. (Humor me this.) Survey: Complete this sentence: “The hardest I ever laughed was when …” Batman: When SweetPea began speaking in text. “Dub Tea Eff” (WTF), Bee Tea Dub (BTW), Eye Dee Kay (IDK), etc Really, Batman? Really?! Dude, that was literally 10 years ago. That was the last time I made you laugh like that? "It was classic." Let's be clear. Not Audrey Hepburn in an LBD classic. Blue eye shadow and leg warmer classic. You at least could’ve made it relevant. Like when I insisted my skin looked pulled tighter lying down, looking face up, and I tried to take a selfie in that position for the required security photo for online check-in “to speed up the embarkation process.” Fun fact: my skin did not look pulled tighter. I just looked like a mannequin. Survey: If you could invite 3 people – famous or infamous – throughout history for a dinner party, whom would you invite? Batman: Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Harvey Korman One) Great. Not to diminish the comedic genius of the Carol Burnett Show, but now Royal also thinks we’re “dinner at 4pm” people. Two) If I get a Blu-Ray edition of Harvey Korman’s Greatest Hits as a random gift … Dub Tea Eff would I do with that? Batman, you know I do not have an eBay account, right? Survey: If you could only bring three things with you to a deserted island, what would they be? Batman: SweetPea, Satellite Service, a SMART TV. First, I mean, hey. Priorities. Second, it’s sweet that he wanted me with him on the island. Honestly. I mean that. I do. But that should’ve been a GIVEN, no? Clearly Royal assumes your stateroom party will be stranded TOGETHER. I was a wasted pick!! You get 3 items, Batman, and you just wasted 33.33% on me! Besides, every chick knows that if you’re going to be stranded on a deserted island, you need a high-quality lip balm with no menthol and an SPF of at least 15. And iodine for drinking water. Please. Survey: Are you more of a morning person or “night owl?” Batman: Midnight Mongoose. Succinct. I like it. “Mongoose” though?? Survey: What are your culinary delights and loves – for meals, snacks, and “comfort food?” Batman: If SweetPea asks for breakfast, she means a Bloody Mary. Spicy. With a slice of bacon. Credit where credit is due: #NailedIt Survey: Over half our guests onboard are celebrating something – are you celebrating anything? Batman: Me, making it to 50! Oh, and SweetPea has a birthday on the ship (Wednesday) Batman has declared 2019 as the Year of Batman: he gets one vacation for every decade he’s “made it” to. This is vacation #2, with 3 planned and 4 and 5 TBD (that’s Tea Bee Dee, if you’re keeping up). So yes, although it's my birthday on the ship, he's commandeered this vacation as 1/5th of the Year of Batman. Survey: Are there any morning rules we should know about? Batman: What is this “morning” you speak of? #Truth. Even a broken clock …. (Both Batman and I work shifts; never 9a-5p. The older we get, the harder it is to adjust to a normal schedule when we’re not working. If you read live blogs for breakfast food pics, you should stop reading now to avoid future disappointment). Survey: Is there anything else we need to know? Batman: We are leaving two black cats at home who we will miss horribly. If our beautiful stateroom is made into a quasi-cat sanctuary for our cruise so we “don’t miss our cats so much,” please call the Coast Guard in advance as there will be a man overboard. I will allow him to dress warmly and put on a life jacket first. I’m not completely inhumane. Perhaps though we won't need to miss one of them at all, if this guy has anything to say about it. I've heard there may be a dog called Tommy onboard. Maybe he'd like a playmate? ? I digress. Of course, those are not all the survey questions. @Lovetocruise2002 has them all listed in her brilliant "I Dream of Genie" blog. I only note these here to see how (if? God, I hope it’s “if” and not “how), these in particular are interpreted onboard. I can't even stand the suspense.

Hello everyone! My name is Sarah and I’m a first time cruiser ? my first cruise will be in September of this year and we’re going to Cozumel, Mexico. I currently live in Las Vegas with my husband, we moved from Los Angeles early this year. I’ve always wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise but I figure México would be an awesome destination for our first cruise together. I found Royal Caribbean Blog from YouTube this week as I plan my cruise.

Ok, then let’s go with √2. ?

All good reasons to use RCCL for your excursions. I know it costs a little more, but I like to think of the extra money spent as insurance. Like most insurance, we all pay for it, even though we hope to never use it.