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The build-up. Counting down the days and obsessively checking the Cruise Planner to try and snag a good deal on something. Checking a gazillion excursion websites for each port in an effort to find the best ones. Reading and re-reading the live blogs for our chosen ship in the run-up to cruise day. It's hard to get excited and enjoy the thrill of planning when you can't be sure your cruise is even going to happen.

I miss CK!! ? I have to keep cooking dinner these days!

Just being away from the "real world"

So I have folks in my neighborhood (Harbor Inlet Neighborhood) in Fort Lauderdale that see the ships coming in and out on a daily basis and are fuming mad that “cruises are still operating”. Literally people so uninformed as to believe that cruises are coming into Fort Lauderdale and leaving with passengers. I’ve had to explain to my neighbors and friends that these people they see on the ships going out the inlet are in fact crew members not in uniform. Interesting to note we are seeing lots of ships come in for fuel & provisioning then heading back to anchor off shore.

I miss everything. The excitement of embarkation day, the first drink by the pool, getting to see our room for the first time, first night in the dining room, and so on. But one thing that particularly stands out for me is watching the sun go down, the stars come out, smelling the clean ocean air, and watching the wake drift lazily behind the ship. Such a calm and peaceful experience (for me anyway).

Under no circumstance should anyone book an aft balcony on any ship. As a service to all of mankind, when I cruise, I will think of the other person first and take the aft balcony off of someone else's hands. It's a heavy price for me as just one humble individual to pay, but someone's got to do it. TIC of course. Aft balconies are the bomb.

Wow, the above is the first post I’ve ever made that got all six possible reactions. RCLBlog achievement unlocked! ?

Hearing "welcome home" as I board

Well everything but that is not the real question. I love when you first enter the ship, first walk onto the ship, that to me is when vacation officially begins and this is my home for 7 days. God I love Royal Caribbean!

Other sites are reporting positive tests for Corona-virus amongst the crew on Oasis, let's hope they all have a speedy recovery and that Chris Wong is well back in the UK, scary times ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVHHMkz2Tz0&t=106s

We have an aft JS booked for Odyssey inaugural. It will be our first aft cabin. Sure hope we will be able to go!

We had 1388 this Past Christmas and 1390 for New Years on the Adventure. B2B

Now for the Izumi enthusiasts! Complimentary Edamame... Shrimp wonton soup... Pork gyoza dumplings... love gyoza! Snow crab California roll and Surf & Turf roll (I believe is the name)... yumm!

Perhaps some Jamie's from Anthem? Peperonata Bruschetta Simple Baked Lasagna:

Pre-dinner cocktails at the Champagne bar (sad its gone off Oasis), sitting on the balcony with a cup of coffee in the morning, hitting Sorentos 10-12x per day for a slice, basically everything!

I miss night one dinner & Jamies/Giovanni’s (early of course because I have 2 young kids). After dinner I usually hang out on the promenade with my family and get the kids tired & ready for bed. I really miss that first night in the casino Royale after the kids are in bed. It’s the simple things about cruising that make me happy. I really enjoy an early morning walk with a Starbucks coffee in hand and being one of only a few people out & about the ship. I am hoping this crisis is behind us by Thanksgiving because I have one heck of a great trip planned on Oasis of the seas!

No words needed ????

I miss watching the people, kids so tired they can´t hold their heads up, parents also. lol Breakfast on the open deck at the back of the windjammer on the Anthem. My wife makes crocheted snowflakes and gives them to crew members before christmas, the joy in their faces is a great gift, You are right the RCL crew is the best!

I'm not sure when Chris shot this video, but he posted it today... at the airport...

I miss the experiences, emotions and the feeling of nothing holding you back. I miss the RCL crew the most. Without them cruising would be uhmm blahs!

I simply miss the views of the open sea, at & just before twilight.

... I also miss that first tropical drink after lunch to kick off the cruise!

Everything except for the last day! If I had to pick one thing... definitely the moment after checking into your cabin and the unpacking is complete... realizing that your cruise is just about to begin and you're now ready to leave the cabin and explore the ship!

Meeting New People ?

At this point I miss just being excited about any of my future cruises. There are just too many unknowns.

Apart from all of the wonderful aspects of cruising, right now, I am missing the anticipation of the next trip. Even with upcoming cruises, the usual excitement is tempered knowing they may not happen. ???

No matter how late I stay up being an early riser on the ships is one of my favorite things too.

Just me, but I would do Brilliance over Rhapsody due to the size of the ship. However, the negative I find with the Brilliance is I don't like 4 night/5 day sailings, they're just too short.

That's me too! I also take so many photos at every port and just stare at the ship for a few moments before moving on for the day. Sometimes it drives my wife a little crazy, but she of course knows me! LOL!

Cruising is by far my favorite way to vacation. I will miss the build up/anticipation that builds as the time grows near. I will miss the vision of the ship for the first time as we pull into port and be in awe of its size. I will miss the first steps on the ship and the feeling of vacation. My wife makes fun of me, but I really will miss waking up early and watching the sunrise with a coffee at the back of the ship on the top deck then head to the gym. I could go on and on, but even though my sailing (May 24 on HOS) hasn't been canceled yet, and I'm sure it will, I am switching my sights to our April 2021 sailing on OOS.

I agree, when you step foot on the ship after walking up the gang way and a smiling face welcomes you aboard.

The link embedded in this email should work for any cruise in the latest phase. To avoid waiting on the phone to cancel, please click here and we will get the process started for you. https://rccloffer.questionpro.com/ This takes you a questionnaire where you enter ship and sail date and initiate the refund process.

Yes, I have seen they are mostly anchoring in the same area. They are probably enjoying their self isolation a lot more than we are.

I just made a new booking using the casino discount offer. As @michelle noticed, it looks like the gratuities for suites has gone up from $17.50 PP/PD to $19 PP/PD. Not sure if the other stateroom categories has gone up or not. It looks like there was a 38% discount on the upgrade. Not great but no worse than last year so that's a relief !! 2 years ago it would have been in the neighborhood of 60%. UGH

We're booked in an aft cabin on Adventure on a Baltic cruise next year, and cannot WAIT...

I just prefer the configuration with the Windjammer in the aft as opposed to it all the way forward. The Radiance class is really an elegant class of ships - smallish sleek and very classy. Lots of natural wood. The biggest reason that I don't prefer the Vision or smaller class ships is b/c we usually book suites and the suites on the small ships are all the way forward - inconvenient and subject to motion, IMO. I much prefer suites in the center of the ship which is why I rarely go above a JS on any of the Vision class ships. The cabin are also a bit larger on Radiance class vs Vision class. I know exactly what you mean about getting lost and having to backtrack. It used to happen to us all the time when we first started cruising. I think you get better at navigating the hallways once you have had to take the walk of shame a number of times. LOL That's another reason why cabins midship are more convenient....less distance to walk if you go the wrong way !! Your opinion is always important and as you cruise more, your experience will make your opinion even more valuable !!! I have been on over 40 cruises and while some have been better than others, I have never been on a bad cruise. The truth is, we have cruised more on Grandeur of the Seas than on any other Royal Caribbean ship and Grandeur is a Vision class ship....so I do not DISLIKE Vision class ships, I just prefer the Radiance class. The good news is....there is no wrong decision here ! Good luck

I had one directly under the Windjammer last December (Navigator). We never heard a thing from it. The only thing was they kept the music on up by the Flowrider all night long - we could only hear it if we went out onto the balcony, but it was on all night long.

He was posting his vlog on a 1 day delay while they had the suspension. Based on that timeline he would've left on the 23rd or 24th, arriving home on the 24th or 25th. My presumption is that he's in self-isolation now. Also, that shot of the sandwich section at Boots was very sad. I've never seen one that empty...

So far we re-booked on the Symphony for 6/6 but that may be too close to getting operations back in order! We had the Indy 4 night booked for Turkey day on 11/26, going to add the 7 night starting on 11/19 to make it a b2b.

Those were my thoughts exactly !

OK, now some dessert in the MDR (same Allure cruise)! Baked Alaska! Birthday cake... silly friends (wasn't my birthday)... embarassing! Royal's 50th Anniversary cake... Pavlova...

How about some breakfast, Empress style. Eggs Benedict:

I agree, like I'm perfect for hurricane season because to me the ship is the destination. I'm flexible and don't care where I end up. The only reason that doesn't work for me is going to Bermuda because it's one stop and you need time to explore otherwise it's really a loss because that's the only place you are going to. If you don't get time there then there really is nothing.

I assumed since they were told 125% that it meant 125% of fare only. Moral of the story.....never cancel. Make the cruise line cancel first.

+1 on this one too. ?

Thank you for doing this belated review. It is well needed right now. I love reading about how your love of cruising happened. You never know until you try it . Looking forward to hearing more. Congrats on your engagement.

Take the gamble. We cruise multiple times a year during hurricane season and have never had a single cancellation. It’s a great time to cruise.

Beef tenderloin and Lobster tails on formal nights in MDR (Allure, 5/2019)... Another French Onion Soup pic... ... here's a video I just stumbled upon that makes my mouth water and crave the next cruise! Overview of Symphony's food operation... $1 million weekly budget! Somewhat of an abbreviated version of the Mega Foods episode on Oasis... just under 8 minutes long.

French onion soup. Main dining Adventure of Seas.