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Fair warning....please no political discussions here. It's a no-win and you'll never convince others of your opinion. Let's keep the bickering to whether or not the drink package or The Key is worth it! Thanks!

Just some final thoughts to wrap things up! This was our first cruise on an Oasis class ship. Our prior RC cruises were on Majesty, Explorer and Liberty (in that order). My wife and I have entered the bigger and newer is better stage of our cruising lives and the Allure exceeded our high expectations going into the cruise! My wife, from the time we booked over a year prior, kept stating that this cruise would be "epic" and she was not wrong! I was just hoping it would not be "NCL Epic"... no mechanical failures and dock crashes! ? We now want the "WOW" factor that these ships deliver. We definitely agree with @Lovetocruise2002 and the Oasis class is now our favorite class of ship! We still want to sail and experience Anthem too since she's in our backyard (no airfare - woohoo)! One of the most common misconceptions that I hear from folks at home that have yet to sail on an Oasis class ship is that it must be so crowded with 5.5K-6K+ passengers onboard. I think they believe it will be like Penn Station or Grand Central Station everywhere you go! Every person that we have spoken to (including all of the great feedback and insight on the forum) that has sailed an Oasis class ship has completely dismissed that assumption. These ships are so well designed to handle and disperse crowds (I hear the Quantum class has some traffic issues). OK... Yes, when you're entering or exiting any venue after a show it will be crowded, but that's certainly not unique and is unavoidable since everyone is leaving at the same time. Yes, on a sea day the pool deck and solarium will be busy by mid to late morning. That has been true of every ship we've sailed to date. However, we had no problem walking through the pool deck and solarium at any time of day. Yes, the Royal Promenade will be busy when they have some sort of show or event... true of any ship. We would avoid the Promenade if something was going on and would take an alternate route to traverse the ship (pool deck, Central Park, etc.). Yes, the Windjammer will be crazy busy by mid-morning especially on sea days! ... and Yes, you will have to wait for elevators during certain peak times of the day (around meal and show times, etc.). We would try to take the stairs if it was just a couple of decks. At other times, we could be the only people waiting for an elevator on our side of the deck! However, most of the time there were no crowds! You can probably see in my pics that most of the common areas were not crowded. I could walk through Central Park and maybe encounter a handful of people walking around (not of course including those seated in the restaurants). When we walked through the Boardwalk it was never crowded. Very few people on the Sun Deck and bridge wings. There are so many places to go onboard for peace and quiet when you would like some. Some Positives/Comments: We elected for My Time dining, our first choice, and booked our times (6:00 PM every evening except for later times on 2 port days - Jamaica & Cozumel) in advance on the Cruise Planner. We had the same awesome server team (Kadek, Oleksandr & Jose) every night (even on the later evenings) and we were seated at the same window table 6 of the 7 evenings (we had specialty dining only for lunch this cruise - Chops, Giovanni's and Izumi). The odd evening when our usual table was occupied, we elected to wait maybe 15-20 minutes for another table in the same section to open up. We wound up with the other window table in our section next to our usual table! The Key was worth every penny especially at $19.99! The overall experience was so amazing that we all feel we have to purchase the Key from now on as long as it's offered and reasonably priced! We are only Platinum level in C&A and it's unlikely we'll be able to book a suite anytime soon so the Key was the only way to get some of that amazing VIP treatment! We all wanted the VOOM package anyway, so for effectively less than $10/person per day more, it was a no-brainer for all of us! The Nellie's Beach over-the-water cabana was amazing (cabana NW4)! The attendant (Regis) and driver (Willie) made it even more special. If my wife an I had cruised alone, we would not have splurged for this cabana. If you go with family and/or friends, we highly recommend renting one of these cabanas! All of our specialty dining meals for lunch were outstanding (Chops - the Key complimentary lunch, Giovanni's - CP balcony cabin complimentary lunch, and Izumi). The Key debarkation breakfast in the MDR was really nice, but the expedited and escorted departure from the ship through the terminal and through security was amazing! We were led directly to our waiting luggage and proceeded through a special customs line (aisle we entered was marked for Star class) and were out in less than 10 minutes! Nice change in how they organize your photos taken by Royal throughout the cruise! It has changed since we last sailed in OCT 2015. The days of walking through the photo gallery hunting for your individual photos (often buried under someone else's photos) sorted by day and/or event are apparently over. They now create binders for each stateroom and you are assigned a specific tower and slot in the Focus photography store/gallery. Your photo tower info is printed on your SeaPass card. Just find your assigned tower and slot and grab your binder... the pics taken up that point are all together! Ahhh, the little things! Some Negatives/Comments: Checking in at the terminal and boarding the ship was horrible to say the least! We took the time to complete the pre-cruise check-in process and set up our profile, uploaded our photos, scanned our passports and linked our credit card well before the cruise. However, when we got to the check-in area, we were delayed as the terminal employee insisted she had to take another photo, re-scan our passports, etc. What is the purpose of offering pre-cruise check-in if you need to go through the entire process all over again at the terminal? The delay was compounded as all four of us had to wait while she went though the check-in process! Once we finally got past the check-in stage, we entered the waiting area and asked for assistance as we all purchased the Key and did not know where to wait to board. They looked at our printed SetSail passes and our digital SetSail passes, but stated we could not advance to the Key waiting area since the SetSail pass did not indicate we had the Key! Even after I showed them proof that we purchased the Key (invoice from the Cruise Planner), we were told we had to wait in another section along with everyone else. They seemed very confused and had to consult with each other. We could tell that it was going to be at least 30-60 minutes from that point. We grabbed another terminal employee to explain the situation... he explained that the suite and Key guests have already boarded the ship! He finally let us jump on the line to board the ship. I cannot believe that no one had iPads or printed lists in the boarding area (as they have in the check-in area) to confirm our reservation and Key status. Lesson learned... make sure you get a new SetSail pass printed with the Key logo at the terminal before entering the waiting area (one of the groups behind us had these) if your SeaPass does not have the Key logo! The Prohibition Party was not what we expected. We understood there was a story aspect to the party, but expected more music and dancing. I think the band only played a handful of songs the entire 2 hours of the party! We mistakenly expected a normal lounge/club style seating arrangement, but they set the club up theater style and we wound up sitting in the second to last row. A bunch of folks got up half-way through the party and left... It was fun for all of us to dress in 20's garb, but I don't think we'll ever do the Prohibition Party again. Once again, we had an amazing time overall and can't wait until our next cruise. My wife started planning our next cruise with our friends during the cruise! They have narrowed it down to Harmony, out of Port Canaveral (very convenient for our friends), in either April or May 2021... I think my wife is more obsessed than me with researching now! ? We definitely have to include Perfect Day as one of the stops this time. I don't know if we can wait that long! LOL! Now, Mariner and Navigator 4-night cruises have caught our eye... hmmm... may something to satisfy our hunger until Harmony? We didn't take advantage of Next Cruise promo because we did not nail down a month/year with our friends and the Summer of 2021 schedule has not been released. We met with a Next Cruise rep for info, but he confirmed that if we wanted the fully refundable deposit option, we would have to put down the normal deposit ($500 instead of $200 for non-refundable) and the OBC would be reduced to $75 (instead of $100 for a balcony cabin). Thanks for following and I apologize for the delay! I just found out this weekend that another really good friend of ours booked Allure for her family of four (6/30/19 sailing - same itinerary)! She's a hardcore Disney cruiser (18 cruises on Disney and counting!) and is a little overwhelmed with Royal's process with only 4 weeks to plan... she forgot that we just sailed on Allure and that another one of our friends just sailed on Harmony (same itinerary too)... I think we all can help! ? If anyone has any questions, please let me know!

Our 7/17 sailing now has Costa Maya - which means I'll be able to go to Maya Chan again! ? Woot!

Touchdown in Newark. It's nice being able to have free wifi and some decent movies to pass the time. Flight was a little bumpy getting out of Nashville but smoothed out soon. Off to grab luggage then to hotel

First I'm sorry you had a poor experience. I would agree with an earlier comment that a 3 or 4 day cruise can be a different experience than a 7 day cruise. Also we have found the date of the cruise can make a difference. Going at Spring break vs a time when more kids are in school comes to mind. I'm not saying one over the other is good or bad but individual cruises can take on a personality so to speak. Maybe this will help if you plan another cruise. I'm in the service industry so maybe I view the "sales" deals a little different. I think wait staff are professionals that are working hard to be promoted from say Windjammer thru MDR to a specialty restaurant. I know we have had waiters that were with us in the MDR who later were with us in a specialty. Anyway I think in addition to working hard at my venue I also have to cover shortages such as busy days in the MDR, and I have to make sales pitches to guest throughout the ship. So with that in mind I try to smile and engage them with a little friendly conversation. I can end it any time with a statement that I'm not interested. On our last cruise we were approached by a waiter with the sales pitch for a dining package. During the cruise we decided to splurge on a dinner at a specialty restaurant and sure enough the guy turned out to be our waiter. Not only did he recognize us but he made sure everything was fabulous. We've never received a response on the company survey either. My guess is RCL has a variety of sources it uses to gauge how effective they are being. I think they are very good at recognizing trends based on the ships and services they bring to the market. Finally I would offer that certainly cruising has changed in the last 10 years. All entertainment is constantly looking at their product. I think back to the all you can eat buffet that you used to see in Vegas. Those have largely been replaced as consumers have spoken with the pocket book saying they is what I like now. We cruise because the whole package seems to be a good value for us. Meals are not 5 star but are usually very good. Our room moves us each evening to a new location so I don't have to repack. We get to see great locations while being pampered by some very hardworking folks. Ok enough of my owns sales pitch. I hope you try another cruise again and you have the time of your life.

Guilty! ?

Great questions. I don't have access to the numbers, but I can imagine that when people pay less for the cruise itself they have more money to spend on related activities for that vacation. This possibly drives on-board revenue higher for short cruises compared to longer cruises. We know of several things that are related and might play out differently on short cruises. Two that come to mind are: Consumers are looking for an "experience" not simply a trip. Consumers will spend peripheral money that become masked by the larger purchase of the base fare. Let's say a 3 night cruise is $299 pp. On the surface that appears a whole lot less than a 7 night cruise at $599 or $699 pp. "It's only $299, we can afford that". Having spent that $299 pp now the drink package questions comes up. Short cruise, weekend, drink all you wan't, "We're on vacation, let's do it!". Drink packages on long cruises start to lose appeal. The longer the cruise, less appealing. Same effect as the cruise fare itself. The drink package for a short cruise costs a lot less than it does on a long cruise, $210 pp vs. $500 pp, times two. "We can afford $210 pp, but $1,000 for the week is too much!" which is pretty much how the mind that wants to justify it will look at it. Next come excursions, including Perfect Day excursions. Consumers are looking for an experience, how better than to add a few Perfect Day experiences? In the end the short cruise guest can buy a cruise, add the drink package and add a couple of experiences and still be under the base fare of a 7 night cruise yet they've bundled in so much more. Now they are getting an experience, not just a cruise AND it's all done for around $1,200 or so which is easy to place on a credit card absent of guilt. Carrying several thousand on a credit card for a longer cruise appears daunting if you are going float it on a credit card. Floating $1,200 on a credit card for a few months is no big deal and they still have those great memories in mind with each payment applied. "Totally worth it". The weekend cruises are easier to plan with friends... "It's only $299 dude, even you can afford that!". Three night cruises over the weekend don't require consuming vacation days. "Call in sick dude, it's just one day". So yeah, the short cruise market is a thing and is very attractive to consumers that are often younger, early into careers and can't commit thousands of dollars to a vacation but still want to experience something. Capture them now and when they have progressed in their lives and have more disposable income to put into longer vacations who are they going to cruise with? Even for seasoned cruisers, there is appeal for a quick inexpensive cruise. "We've haven't cruise for a few months, let's jump on a ship for 4 nights, it's pretty cheap compared to those 7 night cruises we just did". Put it all together and you have a business solution with near term revenue infusion coupled with a long term strategy to expand your customer base. If it were just a short term money grab you could question the tactic but it isn't short sighted in nature. There is a potential long term benefit as well.

Silks, Grande & American Icon are all considered the Main Dining Room. They all serve the same menu, just one is on Deck 3, one Deck 4, and one Deck 5. One of them will be reserved for My Time Dining and the other two are typically for the set dining times. Eating in any of the main dining rooms is included in the price of the cruise. They will serve breakfast and lunch in the main dining rooms sometimes as well which is included. The buffet is included and will be open for breakfast lunch and dinner. It's called Windjammer and will be on Deck 16. Park Cafe is included. It's located in Central Park and will offer breakfast and lunch. Johnny Rockets is included for breakfast only (you pay for lunch and dinner). It is located on the Boardwalk. Doghouse is included and usually open lunch hours til around 6pm on the Boardwalk. Wipeout Cafe is located up on the pool deck and will have breakfast and lunch available and is included. Solarium Bistro is in the Solarium area and offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner which is included. Dinner usually requires reservations. Sorrentos Pizza and Promenade Cafe are on the Promenade and have near 24-hour service and are included. Vitality Cafe which will be located near the gym/spa area..they have fresh juices and smoothies which are included in the drink package as long as you don't add the protein powder option to them. They also have some light bite, fresh food items as well which will be complimentary. The Cruise Compass will show ($) next to the Vitality Cafe, but that just indicates there is a charge for the juice/smoothies without a package. -- In the cruise planner you should be able to reserve American Icon (I think that's the MTD MDR) and Solarium Bistro for dinner.

Moderator Note As Matt mentioned just a bit ago, political discussion, well-intentioned or not, is not welcome on the boards. There are plenty of logistics and other legitimate questions and discussion on the changes to itineraries scheduled to visit Cuba - please keep the discussions on these topics. No one is likely to sway others' political opinions, and any effort should be made somewhere that is *not* RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com. I realize some discussion is good-natured banter, but to prevent issues please stick to this restriction. We don't want to freeze the thread, but will if political discussion continues. Feel free to message me with any questions. Thanks!

And to think, my fellow classmates said we'd never use this crap in the real world. ???

@HeWhoWaits, @JLMoran@twangster, I think you guys are on the wrong blog? I think you want the statistics blog. ???

"Only"... Says the guy with the bionic liver. ??

I needed to share my joy with someone so here seems like the place. We leave Sunday on the Allure just hubby and I to celebrate 25 years of marriage then on the 27th we board the Empress with our three children for a family cruise. I'm so freaking excited even though we just cruised in December. I cannot wait to be without the kids for a vacation and I'm also excited for Cuba.

Havana has been replaced with Costa Maya - that makes me happy, as I'll be able to go to Maya Chan again!

I did forget one other option..Vitality Cafe which will be located near the gym/spa area..they have fresh juices and smoothies which are included in the drink package as long as you don't add the protein powder option to them. They also have some light bite, fresh food items as well which will be complimentary. The Cruise Compass will show ($) next to the Vitality Cafe, but that just indicates there is a charge for the juice/smoothies without a package. Going back and throwing that in my original eateries response.

me. you forgot me.

On a per night basis that is correct. However when looking at the total costs of a 3 or 4 night sailing the stand alone price is less - exactly what the short market is looking for. $299 for 3 nights is less than $599 for 7 nights even though the first is $100 per night and the second is $85 per night. Four night versions are often cheaper than the three night versions, same effect. More demand for 3 night because they occur over the weekend so minimal impact to work. Experienced cruises and retired consumers look at these things. New to cruise and younger families have a different perspective.

You can opt for expedited passport processing and get it back in just a couple weeks. My opinion is the cost of the passport is well worth the simplicity it affords. They last for 10 years.

that's only 50 drinks each...over 7 days?..so like 7 "drinks" a day is not hard to do....when your talking beer, wine, hard stuff...plus the extras you get like the bottled water, soft drinks etc....

Great first scope @TheHobbys! Looking forward to more! https://www.pscp.tv/w/b8g7bDF4TlFhYVJPT2V3UWJ8MXluSk9Sa3ByTnZHUpHsBoWhfe0uERWrdxuQULs21Kl5omVVo3dmQatUkT4R?fbclid=IwAR2ulAiLt0nOKB5fBuV-idGg_LTD4u56cj4Bh50CqSgZKKXVTMQIUBk33p8

We are at the Hyatt Regency on the Hudson

So sad..... Again...I wouldn't ever have sailed majesty but heck... Maybe they will upgrade is for free lol! I haven't gotten any official documentation for June 15 but we will go no matter what...we have airfare and hotels booked and I'm not going to try and argue with Allianz over this one. I hear the service on majesty is amazing. So close...10 days away..... Jane

Wonder what will happen for Virgin( I know, its not Royal) but my understanding is that all their itineraries for their cruises include Cuba...and being a start up cruise line, I wonder how easy it will be to dock at different ports instead now. Quite the headache for the planning departments right now I am sure!

@AshleyDillo, your reply has to be in the running for best post ever! @deany On Symphony the drink package included a free milkshake from Johnny Rockets, no other purchase necessary and takeout was ok. So ask about it on Oasis.

Cruise compasses are printed daily and delivered to your stateroom.

With the drink package you can consider it pretty much all inclusive, the only thing that isn't included is the specialty restaurants like Chops and 150 CP, couple of others, you can Google them, Johnny Rockets is not as @AshleyDillo has already mentioned. The $12 limit is really $13 on Oasis and you should not have any issues going over, usually it is calling an extra shot or a really expensive wine, everything else is usually right at the mark. Just ask the bartender, they are really good at telling you. I don't remember if Oasis has a Starbucks but it isn't included but other specialty coffee areas are. Don't put a lot of faith in the APP yet, log in and use the online cruise planner to see everything.

I managed to do it last time, but that was only 2 months!

I cruise in 4 days. Was booked in Jr GTY SUite and bid the minimum on a GS ($300/pp) , and today (1 day later) my RoyalUp bid was accepted. I guess it depends on Supply/Demand.

I have heard some very unofficial yapping about a small Suites area somewhere...but nobody really knows much about it, if it even exists. I don’t think there is anything there but some loungers. I will find out soon. On a B2B on NAV in a GS at the end of June. I’ll report back if nobody else gets any intel before then.

For what it's worth, the impetus for me to make the original post on this topic was that I had been watching flights for my Freedom cruise last year, which sailed ON Easter! If you look at the original post, you'll see that I did actually report a notable drop in the price around the 90-day mark that gave me some price relief and feel better about booking. So if you're constrained on when you can book your flight, just watch the prices daily as you get close to booking your cruise. If nothing else happens, you may luck out and get a drop like I had gotten right around that 90-day point. Others didn't have as much luck around holiday weekend flights, so just be sure to keep on top of it and be ready to book the flight as soon as you see a number you're OK with; even if it's the same day you book the cruise!

If it's a RC excursion, you don't have to worry about getting back to the boat in time. That's one of the benefits of going through the cruiseline, so don't let that scare you from booking it.

From my interpretation, individuals who qualify are grandfathered in. The issue is that the cruise ships are immediately banned from traveling to Cuba..so the passengers who would be grandfathered actually don't have the ability to make it there.

Thanks! Can't wait. Only 486 days to go. The hardest part is keeping it from my wife, as it is a surprise and I'm not going to tell her until our half anniversary on April 3rd. Keeping this secret is killing me!

Maybe it's you??? Just saying. You haven't supplied enough details as to what happened.

Was this in the Schooner Bar or the stowaway piano player? This sounds like perhaps he/she was simply asking why you hadn't tried a specialty restaurant. Obviously they are trying to drum up business for that, but hard to believe they were giving you any kind of a hard time for dining at the Windjammer. Can you be more specific?

its not $10 a drink.. it has gone up to $13 plus tip which makes it $14 and change.. remember when you get the package you already paid the gratuity where as when you pay as you go you didn't... so I did the math its actually 70 drinks for 8 days which is 35 drinks per person which comes out to 4 drinks per day

No, I get it..I was even tempted to do a Cuban cruise at some point.. I meant this person to person or whatever sham they were calling it allowing American tourists to visit Cuba......I was surprised it lasted as long as it did....in whatever form ppl were visiting.

This close to the date, unless there happens to be a pop-up sale, it'll probably stay where it is. One thing to note, if you go ahead and book it at the current rate ahead of the cruise and you see it drop again ahead of your sailing (you can book this up to 3 days before you sail), you can cancel your current Drink Package and re-book it at the better rate. You can at least guarantee that whatever you see on the cruise planner will be a better rate than what you get once you board.

Someone forgot to tell IT to shut down the ability to book cruises to Cuba - they're still available to book.

Thank you ! I finally got someone who could make it happen.

My preference would be to get my cruise fare applied to a different sailing. Any chance of that happening?

I feel awful for those of you who are affected by these itin changes but I have NO sympathy whatsoever for Royal Caribbean. They knew da*n well that this outcome was a very real possibility back in April but they rolled the dice and continued to advertise and book these Cuba cruises. Now they're going to have to refund money and grovel for forgiveness when much of this could have been avoided. If I had enough vacation time on the books (which I certainly do NOT) I would have quickly booked one of the Cuba sailings JUST to get the doubtless OBC that will come the way of those who are being inconvenienced. As a shareholder I am incensed. Share prices are already falling.

@mom2mybugs When they did this to us on one of our cruises, yes at the end whatever credit was left was placed back on our credit card. I want to say it took a week at most for it to show up.

The June 10 Majesty sailing is still in limbo. I think they are trying to figure out if a specific license will be issued for a previously scheduled cruise or not. But having a bunch of tourists in Cuba limits how the country can respond to Venezuela, so that may be a factor in this whole thing. In a way it's exciting, my vacation is embroiled in world politics.

As for the ships themselves ..... perhaps that will open the door to provide sailings out of smaller ports that RCI isn't currently sailing from ...... for example, Charleston, SC

Welcome to every cruiseline now compared to 10 years ago.

We have stayed on the ship in a couple ports and loved it.. felt like I had the ship to myself.. no problem getting a chair by the pool.. no line for food.. it was great ?

Day Four - Stockholm Captain Ante recommended getting up at 5am for sunrise as the ship made its way through the Archipelagos... we didn’t make it up that early but once we did get up, around 7:30am, we could see just how spectacular the scenery was...nearly worth having a £1000 balcony for! With arrival in Stockholm not until 10am, we had time for a leisurely breakfast so checked out the MDR. For lunch and breakfast, the MDR is geared towards large sharing tables and so the hosts ask people if they’d mind sharing or not. We’d agreed in the queue that we had no objection to sharing, but when we arrived to the front of the queue the host simply “Good Morning...Table for three this way!” She’d obviously determined that others might object to sharing with an active toddler! The buffet in the MDR is considerably smaller than the Windjammer, but the service is sharp and the offerings on the menu are good and well presented. We had Eggs Benedict (I haven’t yet spotted any hollandaise sauce for this in the windjammer...but doesn’t mean it’s not there!) and pancakes which all felt quite fresh and well presented. Well worth a change. And now, our attention turns to excursions! Before having a child, our usual holiday strategy was to buy a Lonely Planet Guide, head off the beaten track and explore at our leisure. This isn’t as feasible with a curious 2 year old and so we’d given lots of attention to the various options for excursions and trips, trying to get a balance. I’ve popped a picture below of a letter detailing the walking and shuttle options at each port below. In Stockholm, however, we did decide to get a ship’s excursion called “Stockholm on your Own”. This is essentially billed as a bus only which drops you at three distinct parts of the city, City Hall, the Old Town and Djurgarden. We paid about £22 each (Henry free) in a cruise planner sale (onboard price was $49) so this was good as it worked out comparable with the cost of a shuttle bus, meant that we could explore on our own but get to see a broad overview of the city without public transport hassle, and we had the protection of a ship excursion. They were late in getting organised onboard in the theatre (it was semi chaotic...not like out and out carnage, think more sheep without a shepherd than a cat amongst 5e pigeons) which cut down the time at city hall, but we still had nearly 2 hours in the Old Town and 2 hours at Djurgarden. There were a few guests quite unhappy with the tour. The description said that it was three drop off points with no narration (and to be fair, the host did quite a bit of narration) but I’m not sure they’d read this as several guests expressed disappointment at the distances from the bus stops to some of the sights etc. I think that this tour isn’t really a tour in the traditional sense and (we’ve got the same thing booked later in the cruise too) to make it a success you need to have your own game plan already worked out for once you get there. Stockholm is beautiful. We enjoyed a quick run around the place. At Xxxx there’s loads of different museums that will appeal to all ages and tastes: ABBA museum, Skansen openair museum, VASA museum (about the ship that was a King’s vanity project and sank on the maiden voyage). We opted for “Grunaland”, a classic fairground/theme park. If you have kids then we’d highly recommend this, especially after a few hours of city sightseeing. You pay an entry free (Think it worked out about $10 per adult) and then you buy ride tickets inside (works out about $2.50 a ticket, discounts for books of 20) and then each ride takes between 1 and 3 tickets. Henry loved it, as did we. We were back aboard for 4:30 and then had time for a swim before dinner in the MDR with the outlaws. It was only our second visit (they’d been in between) but the staff remembered us and our drinks and really, the service is excellent! The food tonight was also the best quality from the MDR. I’ll put the menu and some pics below...but I had the bisque, the scallops (which were tiny!), the bass (which was excellent) and the Creme Brûlée. A really good meal, and about 1 hr 15 in total. The evening entertainment was something a bit different, and well worth a visit- Sean Alexander the “Confusionist” It was a bit Derren Brownesque, lots of illusions, tricks and audience participation. The variety of the entertainment is impressive really. For anyone who’s interested, the drinks package breaking even is definitely less likely on a port day. Today we had (each) 2 Coffees- $8 1 Mocktail- $6 2 Sodas- $7 2 Bottles of Water- $4 Which is $28 or around £20. We wouldn’t have broken even at full price, but still more than made it on the discounted price from the Black Friday sale. Things might go a bit quiet for the next 48 hours. The next port to report on is Tallinn but tomorrow we’re in Russia, and I don’t have data roaming! The data is quite slow here, so there mightn’t be a full picture upload.

Welcome @SummerJoy72. As far as I know, the gratuities go to the dining staff in general, not only for those working in the MDR. The staff in Windjammer work extremely hard. Some may work in both venues. Personally, I would not have the gratuities adjusted.

Pre-Cruise Hello! We are currently cruising on the Brilliance of the Seas on a 12 Night Baltic out of Amsterdam. The “we” is my wife and I, our 2 year old son and ‘the outlaws’- my wife’s parents! The outlaws are seasoned cruisers but it’s our first time and in the build up I’ve found these forums invaluable, so I thought I’d share a few bits from our trip as they might be helpful for others. They’re written from the perspective of a first timer family! We chose Amsterdam as it meant we could drive from our home in Kent (no worrying about luggage weight and airports with a toddler!). We had 2 nights in Amsterdam prior to the cruise and we stayed in the Adagio Aparthotel in the south of the city. For us, it was a trade off between central location vs standard of hotel vs price and this hit the balance. It was a fantastic studio room- large, well equipped and clean. The location was in a quiet suburb with free parking and restaurants nearby. The journey to central station was 25 mins by tram and metro, very easy to navigate. In Amsterdam, we reverted to the trusty red hop-on-hop-off bus tours from City Sightseeing. We went for a 24hr combo ticket which included the bus route and 2 canal boat routes. The narration was good, although the bus was packed with pesky cruise ship passengers! The bus and one of the boat trips stops directly outside Passenger Terminal Amsterdam for those arriving on cruises. As a tip, we pre purchased these through TripAdvisor and paid £18, as opposed to the £25 online from the official website or the £45 they were advertising on the day. (Sorry about currencies- £,€ and $ will probably be used throughout this write up, perhaps reflecting the confused identity of a Brit, in “Europe” on an American ship...and that’s before the conversation of Brexit comes up!) Amsterdam is a lovely city, particularly if you can get out of the de Wallen area...which I thought smelt a bit too much like weed and felt a bit like Blackpool. Neither of which are a problem, if that’s your thing.!