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I only see an empty space where that arrow is pointing, right between two other people. Guess it goes to show that bots are like vampires in that regard; they don't show up in photographs or mirrors. ??

@ScooterScott22 - I tend not to do M&Ms. Another Alaska Enrichment talk on day three in Two70° at 1:30pm was well attended. This one focused on the Geography of Alaska. Temperatures were in the mid-50s and sunny. Some folks were in t-shirts and shorts. Flowrider was going. Voom is becoming very slow. We've switched to the old satellite platform that was designed for ships half this size. With 4000+ guests it's excruciating at times. Dinner tonight in Jamie's was very good and courtesy of my travel agent. I was in a corner with poor lighting for photography so I couldn't get good food pictures. I'm spending a lot time outdoors looking for photo opportunities and with the very slow Voom I'm going to switch from live blogging to semi-live or a few days delayed and will fill in the missing photos when I can give them the respect they warrant. As we move into the port intensive phase of the cruise I'm going to focus on the cruise and less on the blog, at least for now. Back soon...

The Case of the Disappearing and Reappearing Stacks In order to pass under the bridge in Vancouver they lowered the exhaust stacks at the top of the ship's funnels. This along with timing the transit to occur at low tide provided the necessary safety margin to sail under the bridge. May 13 - Vancouver harbor: May 15 - At sea.

St Kitt’s recap continued: We first drove around the city of Basseterre a bit to see some of the important sites. Thenford was great about sharing background information on everything and he seemed to know half the island as he would constantly point people out like “that man walking there is a prominent lawyer on his way to work. His son and daughter are also lawyers and his brother is the Attorney General of the island”’ The jail, also featuring a prisoner (in the dark blue in the shadows) being led out. The home of many prominent law offices. These buildings used to be where the wealthy families on the island lived. Then they moved to Frigate Bay. HQ for the labor unions which were vital to the growth of their economy. War memorial for fallen soldiers who served in the British West Indies troop in the World Wars. We then left the city and made our way over to Romney Manor/Caribelle Batik Lots of little plaques to show what plants were in the garden and their origin. Very interesting and gorgeous. We then saw a batik demonstration which is where they use wax and dye to create patterns on fabric. They had a shop attached with lots of batik made items. Watch tower for old plantation. Next stop was Brimstone Hill Fortress. It had phenomenal views but a killer walk to the top. Out of the question for anyone with mobility issues. On our way down I heard an 8 year old going the other way say to his dad “dad, this is HARD” and I muttered “you said it kid”. It wouldn’t have been as bad as it was if it weren’t for the heat and humidity. But....it was worth it. If you go here with small children, please please PLEASE keep them close as there’s many tall drop offs without railings or ropes and stone at the bottom of the hypothetical fall. I saw this one little boy running around and my second hand anxiety was through the roof for him. After the fortress our next stop was a lookout point where you can see both the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea at the same time. There were lots of vendors here including men with monkeys and a donkey. That part was upsetting watching the casual animal abuse like dudes feeding the monkeys beer or a woman GRABBING the donkey roughly by the face and clinging onto it. I’m shocked it didn’t bite her. But the view was amazing. After this stop it was time for the beach drop offs if you so chose. The first option was a place called Shipwreck bar and the attacked beach. It looked really neat, but we were beat and ready to go back to the ship. Since I was curious about this, the way it worked out was Thenford told the people who wanted to stay what time he would be back for them (3:15) and the rest of us went on to the next stop. The other beach option was Carambola. They were told a 3:30 pick up time. The rest of us went back to the port for shopping time or ship time. Overall it was a great excursion option that offered a lot of bang for your buck. Make sure to rest up though as it’s a bit tiring.

To be fair, she did cheat by starting her live blog early.....

Ok, this is like “Where’s Waldo?” We dropped in on the Cruise Critic meet and greet, since my wife was following this cruise on there. One of the attendees took the mic asked if @twangster was in the room. Only response was - the sound of crickets. He made a few quite complementary remarks about your photos that you have shared and remarked he is looking to run into you. Based on the pics you shared of sailing under Lionsgate I think I have might have a photo of you, if you were wearing dark pants and a grey Hoodie.

I was up early on account of still being on my home time zone two hours different. At 4:30am it was getting light out so I was hoping for a sunrise. Temperature was 39° F according to the itinerary channel. Finally blue sky above us! To the East the sun was trying to rise but cloud cover obscured it and the mountain range that I know runs along the coast here. If you look closely you sort of see mountains along the water's edge. To clear under the bridge in Vancouver with the largest margin possible they lowered the stacks. The gray area with the piping is an assembly that lowers as a unit. It appears it rides on those chrome support columns or they might be the hydraulic rams that lift and lower it. The indoor pool area was a nice place to warm up. It's pretty massive and should work great for families on these sea days in Alaska.

...to @Lovetocruise2002 for breaking 5000 reactions! Can't even imagine how many of us you have helped. Thank you!

#blamethebot #followtheleader ?

Since your cabin is port side I’ll share the view of the sunrise from our starboard side balcony this morning. The aft balcony was not as impressive but I can see we are much close to land on the port side from there. Hopefully you can find some wildlife with being so close.

Recap of the rest of the day: Ship neighbors view as seen from our balcony. And view of the dock and Magic after sail away. We ended up much more tuckered out from the St Kitt’s trip than anticipated because I came in from hanging out on the balcony to find both of my parents napping around 5:20. I asked if they still wanted to go to Coastal Kitchen at 6 because they did not look like they had any plans to start getting ready any time soon. They gave noncommittal answers until I finally said that I was fine skipping it today if no one else wanted to go, but we should make up our minds soon since we should tell them in advance so they aren’t holding a table for us. This next saga was quite annoying. I finally got a straight answer at 5:30. I went on the app to cancel the reservation but by that time it was 5:31 and I got an error message that it’s not possible to cancel that way within 30 mins of reservation. I tried looking around for a CK extension to no avail. When I pressed the “dining” key on the phone, it was not a named option. I tried to dial the operator and it rang without answer for 5 mins. I gave yo on that number and tried guest services. This time the phone rang for 4 mins without answer. Since I had now been trying for almost 10 mins to cancel this table, I finally dialed another specialty restaurant (it happened to be Giovanni’s) and pretended I got the wrong number and asked to be transferred to CK. They told me to dial 0 and I said I tried that and no one answered (0 is the operator). I then said I just wanted to let them know we wouldn’t be able to make it tonight. When he found out I was just cancelling and not making a reservation he said he could do that for me. So that was nice to get taken care of but honestly way too much effort. I wish the direct extension was posted somewhere in the app or the room. We eventually decide on grazing at the Wind Jammer for dinner. Quite a step down from Coastal Kitchen, but what are you going to do? Though I did start laughing when I saw this sign walking into the WJ as it made me think of @hayley_bopp‘s comment about noting a them with my desserts. I swear I didn’t plan this!!! So this was my first time in the WJ since boarding. It was quite overwhelming and I didn’t know where to start. I ended up getting some chicken wings and fries and other related comfort foods. The shrimp at the buffet are the same as the ones in Chops and CK, but the cocktail sauce is inferior. My mom’s fixings. I tried 2 different cakes and the ice cream was the best part. I have yet to try a truly phenomenal cake on royal. But again, reminder that I’m highly critical of desserts since I bake. We went back to our room just to discover that it hadn’t been done yet. I think us leaving an hour later really threw off our attendant. To waste time, we went off to read and listen to music in Central Park. I have to say, you can’t beat a cabin in deck 8 on an Oasis class ship in my opinion. Just so convenient! After about 35 mins we figured it was safe to check again. This time he was done and I knew this because of our little pal hanging out on the ceiling. This is another early night because San Juan starts at 7am tomorrow. I have some shops I’d really like to hit up. I’ve adjusted my itinerary since my mom has expressed interest in getting back to the ship for pool sun time ASAP.

Oh the other thing I forgot to mention, when we came back before my mom went up to the pool deck we made a nice little trip down to Next Cruise and....YOLO booked the Junior Suite for the Anthem 2021 11 night sailing! Worth it for the room, the balcony and the Coastal Kitchen access. Also we don’t have to pay for flights since it’s out of NJ. This is my logic and I’m sticking to it. Those 22 points aren’t too shabby either. The thing I was surprised by was that it’s still only a $100 per person deposit even for the longer sailing and now you have 2 months to make changes to your booking without penalty instead of 30 days. Very good surprises. Booking confirmation!

Anytime @Skid! I am just happy to have found such a great community to talk cruising with! No one IRL (except @bellemiche) shares my love for cruising. Training D10 though ?

That means there were times/days that were 89.00. Just like those big billboards that say HOMES STARTING FROM the 260's and when you show up all they have left are 400,000+.

Always go a day ahead. It's not just the insurance/money. It's about your vacation.

Quite a dilemma! But it's really a matter of accepting the fact that your partner is making a career move which will impact your future also....and he is sacrificing big time by being in the academy at Christmas time.. You are booked on a pleasure cruise which is a moment in time that you will enjoy, but it has nothing to do with your future. I would think you should enjoy being with the rest of your family and be appreciative of the fact your partner is pursuing an honorable profession. Enjoy the cruise and thank your partner for his sacrifices and future public service. Also, the fact that he was unable to go gives you a really good reason to book more cruises as you mentioned in your P.s. My $.02 worth ?

Day Three - Sea Day Here is the breakfast door tag I've been using to order a continental breakfast each morning. Time slots are 6am - 11am in 30 minute windows.

Today we were in St Kitt’s from 8:30a-4:30p and we had booked the Grand Tour of St Kitt’s with Thenford Grey’s touring company. Before getting off the ship, we went to Park Cafe to grab some breakfast. They had a make your own bagel station where the lunch salad station is and some breakfast sandwiches and breakfast burritos. I got an English muffin sandwich which had a fried egg, a slice of Canadian bacon & some cheese on it. It was pretty good. The banana muffin was nowhere and I make a far superior one so it lay abandoned after one bite. After debarking, we saw that we were docked next to the Carnival Magic. (the tiniest little roller on the end of the longest pole to allow them to paint the side of the Magic. She definitely needed more paint than they were able to apply that day) We were supposed to meet the tour at the Welcome center at 9am. We go off around 8:40 to allow time to find the tour group. We didn’t have to worry since it was beyond easy to find them. The yellow building is the Welcome Center we were supposed to find and the woman in the last picture had a sign for Grey’s excursions and checked us off a list of booked people. We then waited as instructed in front of a big mural until it was the start of the tour. We ended up having Thenford himself as our tour guide and he led us behind some buildings to a parking lot that had all the tour busses parked there. The bus we had was small and fit about 20 people in it. Most importantly, it had excellent, adjustable air conditioning. To be continued in another post which will be very picture heavy.

Day 5 is San Juan, PR from 7a-2p. Because of the hours, I didn’t have any breakfast onboard since I planned to grab some food in Old San Juan. We docked at 7am and the gangway opened around 7:30. Since most of the places didn’t open until somewhere in the 8-10 range, we decided to wait until close to 8am to get off. My mom really wanted to get in some pool sun time today so I modified our plans to exclude a tour through the governor’s house and a trip to various plazas and to simply hit up Cuatro Sombras for coffee, Chobobar Cortes for breakfast/buying chocolate and Spicy Caribbee for spices and teas. Those were the items I had as “must dos” and we could play everything else by ear. A picture of us docked from our balcony. Note the blue pattern on the dock. I was able to use that to figure out exactly where we were on google maps. Which is here: Also as you can see from the google maps screencap, there is a Walgreens RIGHT across from the pier. It has a ton of stuff and is great for things you forgot or ran out of. I got more icy hot lotion for my back/neck. They also have lots of wine and liquor prominently displayed. It’s been awhile since I priced liquor, but some of the stuff seemed rather cheap. It was around $50 for the biggest bottle of Patron and somewhere around $30 for the normal sized bottle. I thought I remember it being more expensive than that when I was drinking. Here is a panorama to show the placement of the Walgreens and how close to the pier it is. As we were walking down the pier, I noticed that they were unloading trash which makes sense to do as you are in ports so you don’t have to unload it all at once. It’s interesting to see and think about cruise operations and logistics. Another debarking photo op that we successfully dodged. But it’s there if you are not like me and allergic to pictures. Our first stop was Cuatro Sombras (Four Shadows) Since it opened at 7am. My dad ordered the drip coffee and when I asked about if they sold bags of coffee to take home the cashier pointed to this sign: In case it’s hard to read, Hurricane Maria devastated 80% of the island’s coffee crop and so they have had to start using coffee from other countries instead of their normal bean. This also means that they aren’t selling any coffee to take home right now. This is very sad news for PR but completely understandable and unavoidable. According to my dad, the coffee they were using was “like water” and a very light blend. However he vastly prefers dark blends so take that with a grain of salt. My mom got a brownie there that was very good. We all sort of split that since we knew more food was coming. Our next stop was Chocobar Cortes which is known for their chocolate and opens at 8am. We saw some really cool buildings on our way over. I forgot to take pictures of the exterior or interior of the restaurant, but it was quite easy to find and when you first walk in there is a sign telling you to wait to be seated. I think if you just wanted bars of chocolate to go you can walk past that sign to the display counter. We wanted to eat and were quickly led to a table. The back of the menu with the fresh pastries and hot chocolates/coffee options. I ordered the traditional hot chocolate (puertorriqueño) and the mallorca breakfast sandwich with ham, sharp cheddar & egg, my dad got the mocha chocolate and my mom got the European hot chocolate. We also got the canasta of pastries which was basically an assortment with chocolate dipping sauce and some fruit marmalade. The breakfast sandwich was phenomenal and the mallorca was a great bun for it because it was nice and light so it didn’t weigh the sandwich down too much. The fruit was a great compliment to the hot chocolate for when I needed to refresh my palate. The traditional hot chocolate was great and incredibly rich and smooth. You can tell it’s made with actual chocolate bars and not from a powder which makes a difference. My mom’s European hot chocolate was very good and thick but I preferred mine. Hers was very very thick which is nice, but it seemed to be made with more milk chocolate than the semi sweet in mine. The pastries were all great and very fresh. I highly recommend this place for breakfast. The prices were also quite reasonable for the quality of the food. $3.25 for my hot chocolate was criminally cheap. I would have happily paid $7 for it. After we paid, we made our way up to the front. I bought 2 of each type of bar since I have plans for putting them in the freezer to make them last and they were quite cheap. Much less expensive than the chocolate on St Kitt’s. I think I paid about $28 for 6 huge bars of chocolate with tax. They had a normal bar, a bar with cinnamon (SUCH A GOOD COMBO) and a baking bar (I already have the brownies planned out). My mom grabbed the powdered version for easier hot chocolate The next stop was Spicy Caribee because I wanted to get some spices maybe and definitely some tea for my aunt who was checking in on my cats for me. Again, passed some wonderful buildings on our way. We also passed this green space with fun, whimsical statues and art. (This is a line of school kids all carrying kites I assume off to fly them outside El Morro) This shop was a bit tucked away so I’m including some pictures of what it looks like when you should turn. Then you turn into an archway and see this. Honestly, I could tell we were close because I could smell the store from the sidewalk through a closed door: Again, I forgot to take pictures inside because I was busy smelling everything, but they had a ton of jams and hot sauces (that you could sample!) along with interesting local loose teas and Puerto Rican coffee. I was talking to the owner and I mentioned how we stopped by Cuatro Sombras for coffee and they didn’t have any because of the hurricane. She said that yes it’s very difficult to get local coffee right now, but she has a great supplier and relationships with local farmers and is still able to get some in. There was also a lot of local art and bulk herbs for sale. And they had fresh vanilla beans! My purchases from there. After stopping by there, we slowly started to wander back to the ship since our (ok, my) “must do” stops were covered. Our walk back happened to bring us along Calle Fortaleza which is also...umbrella street! Stunning visual and such a happy accident that we stumbled across it. We also stopped into a souvenir shop that caught my parents’ eyes. I didn’t catch the name but it was located here: and it had a TON of locally made art and crafts which were very nice looking and unique. Of course there was mass produce touristy crap in there, but there was also some great stuff and it’s worth popping in there. Also featuring these frogs that cracked me up: After that we were successfully back on the ship! We made it back around 11:20ish so lots of time for mom sun time. Oh! I almost forgot.....I took this time lapse of us passing by Old San Juan on our way out and finally past El Morro. Very pretty sail away. 896AA39B-86E9-44A1-AEF9-A7D95B0798B3.MOV

Thank you so much! And yes, the whole island is stunning, but especially the gardens in Romney Manor! It’s really a cant miss in my opinion. Maybe not every time, but at least once. Just stunning. Oh wow, that is the highest compliment! The new iPhone is just very good at taking pictures in full light and I admit to using a bit of after editing software on my phone so it’s less @twangster like skill and more just good lighting and photoshop express. And yes, your recommendation of Thenford made me feel much better about our choice in him and more excited for the trip ? You will LOVE deck 8! Park Cafe is especially handy throughout the day and I love walking past Trellis bar and grabbing a bottle of water almost every time I pass it. It’s also just a delight to walk through to get to your room. So peaceful. And thank you so much! I’m glad this is helpful for people since I found other liveblog super helpful and I just want to give back ? Lol yes, it was destiny! Though really, the best chocolate experience was at Chocobar Cortez in San Juan this morning. Recap of that to come shortly but omfg omfg! And yes, I too want to try our the bagel station one morning. I’ll prob hit it up tomorrow. I didn’t want to eat breakfast this morning since I had plans to eat in San Juan.

I saw the excursion from the beach, or I should say, I assume that is what I saw, I agree with @carlosalonsor, Maho beach is not worth it to me, even if you are on a boat in the water the views may not be great. You need to check how many other ships are in port on the same day you are, we were there in January and there were a total of 3 ships in port, here is a picture of what the beach looked like. It took us 45 minutes to an hour to get over to the beach and then another hour to get back. So the excursion will be on a boat, so you don't have to deal with the beach, I just think there are much more beautiful areas of St. Maarten to see verses Maho beach. We probably would not have gone except the daughter of a family friend is going to Med School down there and was very home sick so we went over and had lunch with her.

just got back from our first trip on Liberty and everyone loved it (including 4 who had never cruised Royal before). we wouldn't hesitate to cruise her again.

Wait until you get on the ship and go by the Spa, they usually have some really aggressive pricing for embarkation day, if that doesn't fit your needs have them look at port days, they are also usually discounted. Sea days are the most expensive so stay away from them.

Swapping names is quite simple and your travel agent can handle that for you, so from a booking perspective, that's easy. I wouldn't overlook option 1. Going solo (albeit with your family) is not that bad. There's so much going on during a cruise that I believe you can still have a great time cruising solo. Here are the top 10 tips for cruising solo: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/01/12/top-10-tips-going-royal-caribbean-cruise-solo

Haven’t even left for the trip yet and already missed a day of pre trip blog posting. Yesterday was a blur with a work trip and then getting our flight cancelled. Thank goodness for Southwest A-list status as it got us right through for rebooking. I had a random encounter on the plane home yesterday, sat behind Oliver North of Iran-Contra fame from the 80s.

@Vanessa77 I'm not here to tell you what you should do but I do know you an easily place someone in his spot. My cruise a few years ago was because my friend and her husband got a divorce and they already booked. All she did is call her travel agent and then I called and we switched the reservation. (and you're not a third wheel when you're with family!)

Maybe a silly question, but wifi calling is new to us. If logged in VOOM Surf & Stream, can we just "dial out" as we would here, or do we need to log in to an app first. We happen to be on Android. Also @Lovetocruise2002 CONGRATS ON BREAKING 5000 REACTIONS! (Sorry if I was little late noticing that).

So basically, this tells me to be a savvy shopper! Do your homework, compare offers, and go with a price that’s best for you! No need to get upset over Royal Caribbean marketing...it’s marketing, after all, and as others have mentioned, it’s no different than other cruise lines, retailers, etc.! Happy Cruising!

After the show there was an Elvis impersonator in the main theater but that isn't my genre so I skipped it. The cloud cover remained but i saw a sliver of a sunset on the horizon forward. I left my cabin to see what I could capture of this so called "sunset" from the Solarium. The bridge wings were closed so I had to settle for a shot through the glass with a reflection in it. Out of the Solarium and back into the indoor pool area where there are windows that slide open. By this time most guests had settled in for the night so I used the opportunity to take some pictures around the ship. Here are some: The VIA: The lobby art is in motion. It's a series of paddle like blades that swing back in forth. Finally the Esplanade without hordes of people. This next piece of art is from artist Celilia Lueza called "Epiphany II": Izumi: Wonderland: Some folks may not have sailed this class or a ship with similar decor so here is a typical elevator lobby : With that it was bed time.

You know my answer. For that price I would. Over $1000, no. I would think of it as $750 for double points, suite boarding, larger room, balcony, and living space (even for 2 I feel like the balcony can be a bit of a squeeze), escape from the phone booth shower. Hard to say though because what one person thinks is "worth it" to another, it's not. You have to know what you value when cruising and your "cruise personality". You do not get reserved seats for JS on any class.

Just cancel the excursion in the cruise planner. Money will be back on your card in a few days.

You were obviously destined to go to the WJ that night ? I'm looking forward to trying the bagel station on my cruise so thanks for the pictures ? Oh NOOOOOOO.... this is day 5.... I have a specialty restaurant scheduled on Thursday night on my August cruise.... I may have to change things around or go there afterwards just for the Chocolate Buffet.......

If it's the Snorkel and Maho beach excursion I wouldn't take it. They sail to the small bay where the beach is but you can't swim out to stand in the beach, all the planes you see you see them either from the water or from the boat.

Thank you...that does. The summary at the Suite level selection mentions dedicated entertainment seating, but that's probably for GS categories and more. A little deceiving.

Hi @chrgrfndan, welcome to the forums! This may just be typical (and stubborn) Royal Caribbean IT bugs on their web site. But you may want to call your travel agent (or Royal if you booked directly) and verify that you are indeed registered for My Time Dining. I've had to get that registration fixed on every cruise so far -- I always request Traditional Dining and get put on MTD anyway. ?

We did the 3 day pre-cruise followed by the 7 day South Bound cruise from Seward to Vancouver late July 2017. Fairbanks two days with Gold Dredge visit, River Cruise, Train ride to Denali, Tour of Denali, Bus ride to Seward. Liked the hotel in Fairbanks. The Gold Dredge and River Cruise in Fairbanks had great production value and exceeded my expectation. Museum of the North at UofA Fairbanks is well worth it. The train ride from Fairbanks to Denali was 1st class with a great fresh cooked breakfast. Did not like the Hotel in Denali. The long bus tour of Denali was great, but long. Bus ride from Denali to Seward was long with a stop in Anchorage for lunch on your own. Radiance was great. We had a JS port side amidship with adjoining ocean view for the DD's. The balcony partition was a solid bulkhead and could not be opened. Great ship, service, food, outings.

Someone that i know is booked for the 8A Alaska cruise/tour 29 May 2020. I especially wanted it this way because it allows more time afterward in Alaska to move about the interior for a longer stay. ?

in 2014 we did the Radiance southbound out of Seward with a pre-cruise tour that went from Fairbanks to Anchorage. The land and cruise portions are two entirely different animals and I would highly recommend that you do the land portion first so you can relax once you get to the cruise! The land portion you have to move from hotel to hotel each night it was nice to get to the cruise and be able to unpack for the entire week. We did the 8B cruisetour that Royal offers. It included a visit to Denali National Park, a paddlewheel boat ride, and the glass dome train ride on several days. Then at each stop of the land tour you had time on your own to explore the town and there were optional excursions. My father took a plane trip and got to walk on a glacier; I got to play with sled dog puppies..we saw tons of wildlife. The only thing that I didn't like was that the land portion ended with a bus ride from Anchorage to Seward. We opted to take the Alaskan railroad train instead on our own and it was definitely the better choice. We went end of May/beginning of June and it was a great time to go. We had two grand suites on Radiance on the opposite sides of the ship, so we would run back and forth between the two. If you book a suite on the ship, you also get double cruise points for the land portion but there aren't suite accommodations for the land hotels. While I'm happy to be doing Ovation for the "unofficial" group cruise next June, I will miss visiting Icy Strait Point. That was my favorite port on the cruise. We took a private whale watching trip and went out on a boat with 6 people and saw so many whales and had an excellent time.

The short answer is there will probably be a sale over Memorial Day. No guarantee, but historically there has been. I'd also advise you to book any of these purchases now to lock in the price. If the price does drop, you can cancel and rebook. But by booking now, you guard against a price increase.

I'll add my own experience, too:

I'm loving the message boards.. I've been on them for 5 days in a row now! Really great reading. Here is my question (and if this has been covered before, forgive me)... If I choose a drink package that includes soda, then I will have to carry a plastic cup with me all the time? I am imagining a scenario where my plan (hypothetically) is to have lunch at the Windjammer Buffet area -- and, then after - I just want to walk around some of the decks. Now, I have to CARRY THIS "re-usable" cup everywhere I go? Or, I have to take it back to my suite. Are those my options? What if I am at one end of the ship, and my plastic cup is back in my suite... and I decide "Hmm, maybe I'll go get a slice of pizza & a soda pop"... "Oh, wait... I don't want to walk back to my suite for the silly cup" (sigh) ..... SO --- I JUST GO TO THE PIZZA PLACE --- and, have nothing to drink. Is this, basically, a probably scenario, or am I way way off? I'm new, and still learning. Thank you for your patience. What about going to a bar & asking for a coke. Do, they make me a coke in a GLASS drinking glass with ice? Sorry, I just have to ask. LOL. What if I go do the MDR (I'm learning, see! I now know what the MDR stands for, woohoo), and want to have a coke with lunch/dinner.. do, I need to remember to bring my plastic cup? This sucker gets sticky, too.... yes!?!?!? Okay, enough typing. Thanks again.

There is a button on the Cruise Planner to link cruises. I also believe when making reservations it also allows you to link others.

Thanks for sharing. I'd love to do a Norweigian Fjords cruise on Brilliance one day...

“Mario Class” is the only thing better then Star Class.

Something else I forgot to mention... Normally the SeaPass cards on ships that use RFID can't be punched because you could cut the antenna embedded into the card. Here on Ovation the RFID cards come pre-punched in the lower left corner. This means traditional lanyards are back in play. This is the first I've seen this, granted my last RFID ship was back in November.

I often take excursions that differ from what others in my party are doing. Being solo doesn't mean you have to be limited in your selection. On some of the excursions, I have been paired up with another individual who wasn't part of a pair and on others I have been the odd man out - meaning I got to solo kayak, for example. If you're interested in a particular activity, go for it and enjoy.

My Wife and I cruise together, but any excursion having to do with going underwater is not her deal, so I usually book these excursions myself and I have had no issues.

@wmacooper I've cruised solo - I do whatever I want to do. I didn't feel limited, if I wanted to do something, I did. I've never purchased the photo packages, solo or not. It's really not a big deal. It's the bonus of solo travel, you do you.

You will have NO issues finding water, I have found that certain Coke Freestyle machines will dispense water (yes even if you don't have a drink package) if you look at the screen some will have a small blue water button on the main screen, so you will be able to tell immediately when you walk up to it. Second I also carry a YETI (or similar) cup or drink bottle and use it heavily. You can also get water at Cafe Promenade, they usually have a water station there, to be honest unless you are on a very small ship such as Majesty of the Seas there will be places that you can get water in far more spots that you think. It seriously is not an issue whatsoever! We do not get the drink package and are about to go on our 10th and have not had an issue finding water yet!

By the way, this website is great for a first time cruiser. And Royal Caribbean is THE BEST cruise line! Here are some other websites you may want to check out: First and foremost, download the ShipMate app! You can find your cruise on there and it's awesome to talk to others in "Chat" that will be on your same cruise. There is also a count down. Plus, there is a feature where you can check out your ship and any other cruise line ships. It's a very cool app. Be sure to like them on Facebook too. https://www.cruisecritic.com/ http://royalportfolio.com/ <- AWESOME website showing all the Royal Caribbean ports, etc. I love this website! http://www.cruisetipstv.com/ https://cruiseradio.net/ https://eatsleepcruise.com/ http://www.cruisehabit.com/ And of course, make sure you go to the Royal Caribbean My Cruise page and enter your reservation #. You will have a dashboard there too. Lots more info there too! ENJOY! One of my favorite parts of a cruise vacation is the planning and anticipation leading up to the cruise!