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Welcome to the longest month of my entire life! Also luggage tags JUST became available to print today!

Back from dinner in the MDR… more on that later! Need to wrap up yesterday… Since we got back from the excursion at around 2:45PM and we were starving, we grabbed some hot dogs from the Boardwalk Dog House. Tasty, especially when you’re hungry! We did not want to ruin our appetite since we had booked reservations for 150 Central Park this evening for 6:00PM. Here are some pics of the outside and inside of the restaurant…. Here is the menu… We started with the house bread… I cannot recall the name of the bread, but it freshly baked and delicious! My wife and I had the same appetizers… Seared Honey Glazed Scallops and the Roasted Spiced Pumpkin Bisque. Both amazing! The soup is assembled at the table… the bisque is poured onto the other ingredients… We had the Beef Tenderloin (not for two or carved at table due to Covid). We agree that it was the second best steak we have ever had on any Royal Caribbean sailing! Second only to the Filet I had at the Coco Beach Club. Yes, we still really like Chops Grille too! For dessert, we had the Fried Cheesecake… also delicious! We thoroughly enjoyed the food, experience, and service and would definitely book it again! OK, going into Cats with an open mind… hopefully, I’ll be able to wrap up yesterday tonight and start today, Day 6!

Day 6: Sea Day (2nd Formal Evening - Lobster Night) Here is the Cruise Compass for today… Breakfast this morning was in the Windjammer. Plenty of seating and the service was excellent (so many crew members). We had booked the Escape Room (Mission Control: Apollo 18) for 10:00AM. This was the first time that either one of us had participated in an escape room. You can book it once you’re onboard and the cost is $19.99 per person. Here are some pics… Pretty intense puzzle solving. Fortunately, we had a couple of folks that had some escape room experience. Our team solved the puzzle with just 2:01 remaining on the clock! You are given 45 minutes to solve the room. Hanna, our escape room host, explained that this room is solved approximately 30% of the time and is one of the toughest she has hosted. Bypass the next few pics if you don’t want to see the end result. Don’t worry, no clues or solutions are provided! Definitely would like to try the escape rooms on other ships down the road! For lunch, we decided to go to Playmakers… here are the menus… We tried the Knockout Punch… tasty drink! My wife tried the Truffle Burger… … and I tried the Playmakers Classic Burger… Both of the burgers were decent, but we felt that Johnny Rockets has juicer burgers. The fries were very good. I would like to try the nachos and wings during our next cruise on Odyssey. We also shared a Campfire Cookie… After lunch, we stopped by NextCruise and booked a cruise for ourselves (YOLO booked it! ), as well as, our good friends and cruising buddies from Orlando. We each booked balcony staterooms next to each other and took advantage of the reduced deposit ($200) and $100 onboard credit. You can book up to 3 reservations per guest for you or for your family and friends and they will receive the benefits as well. You can also transfer the reservation(s) to your travel agent if you prefer. We decided on Harmony out of Port Canaveral in January 2023. We liked this one as it was the only 8-night sailing on Harmony and the itinerary includes both CocoCay and Labadee, as well as, San Juan, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas! We have never sailed on Harmony… Can’t wait! We spent the afternoon in the solarium pool and hot tubs and eventually headed back to get ready for dinner in the MDR. Here is the menu… Lobster Night! For appetizers, my wife went with a Caesar Salad and I had the fresh mozzarella (Insalata Caprese). We both had the lobster of course! … and I finished with Baked Alaska and my wife had the Molten Chocolate Cake… The captain spoke briefly and mentioned that on this sailing there is almost a 1:1 crew member to passenger ratio! Carlos at NextCruise mentioned that capacity is just shy of 2,800. OK, I’ll have to finish up Day 6 tomorrow… time to turn in! Have a good morning!

Thank you for sharing all your experience. Sounds like you had a fabulous time! I hope I experience the same. My divorce became final 3 years ago and I decided to step outside the box and try something new, that I would never have done in the past. Nervous, scared, but very excited.

They can be removed, yes. Just call or have your TA call.

That's not on you, as I have been saying for the last year and a half they are SO SLOW on the phone. This is why it sometimes takes me days to get things done, when I'm on the phone with them for 2 hours for one thing it really eats up my day (and another reason why I'm working at 7:30 on a Friday night). I hope you get your room, but you can ask for it to be waitlisted. Good luck!

Miscellaneous musings #3 The gym In these Covid times, the gym was the only indoor space on board (at least that I encountered) where masks were not required but there were "masks on" reminders as you exited. Every second cardio machine was switched off and had a sign on it saying that it was not in use due to physical distancing. Even so, the open ones were never fully occupied when I was in there, although I make a point of going to the gym in the late afternoon when I cruise because I know that's a quiet time, so it's possible it was busier in the mornings. The free weights and pulley machines were fully available. Not much physical distancing there but again with so few people around it wasn't hard to keep your distance. People would scrupulously sanitise whatever machine they'd been using when they were done, even the mats used for floor work. Note that on this cruise the gym was operating fewer hours than normal, from 7 am to 7 pm rather than the usual 6 am to 10 pm. I got caught out the first evening and ended up doing my session on the running track instead, making use of the space at the aft where they normally have the deck chairs (and which were not there on this cruise). Shows There was only one production show on this cruise: the Broadway musical, Grease, which we did not get to see because it was only performed 3 times and we were unable to secure a booking for the only time that suited us. The other shows - the ice show, the aqua show and the headliners - were all good. I liked that there were later show times available (between 10 pm and 10.45 pm); when the shows are at 7 pm and 9 pm, I invariably miss them because the earlier time clashes with my work out and the later one clashes with our dinner. At the start of the week, most passengers were pretty compliant about wearing masks in the show venues but, by the end, many seemed to be tiring of the requirement. On the second-last night, in the main theatre, probably around 50% of the audience "chinned" or entirely removed their masks as soon as the lights went down. The show times for this sailing can be downloaded from the PDF I posted near the beginning of the thread but I expect they will change very soon since the ship is due to return to the US at the end of the month. Loungers Although the ship had few passengers, it was rarely easy to get a lounger right by the pools at the times we went (never early). I put this down to the large numbers of European passengers refusing to pay the outrageous excursion prices and simply staying on board. However, if you didn't mind going up to the deck above the pool, you could usually find loungers without too much trouble at any time of day. The Solarium A great spot and always very quiet. Southern Europeans tend to want to be in the middle of the confusion where they can all socialise together, so there did not seem to be much demand for the solarium. Plus, of course, Harmony is the ship with no pool in the solarium, which may have been significant. The wicker chairs with soft cushions and padded footrests in there were soooo comfy. Final thoughts We really enjoyed our cruise. It was very relaxing and just what the doctor ordered after the stress and anxiety of the last two years. However, it was definitely NOT the same experience that we would have had pre-pandemic. The ship was very quiet, too quiet in fact, and missing the usual buzz. Conversely, the service was magnificent, with the staff falling over themselves to make sure we enjoyed ourselves and, very importantly, felt safe. Departure was different too, since you go and have breakfast and then wait in your room until your tag is called. I would actually love to see this procedure maintained going forward as I felt it reduced the stress of departure considerably. Having booked a a cruise to the Greek Isles cruise on Odyssey of the Seas for next May just a few weeks before we sailed on Harmony, we booked another at the Next Cruise office, to the Canary Islands on Anthem of the Seas for next September, taking advantage of the low deposit, OBC and double points. We are thrilled to be back cruising again and are keeping our fingers crossed that the impact of Covid will lessen in the coming months and we will have a more "normal" experience on those two cruises. I have never before had two future cruises booked at the same time and I can't wait to get started on the planning for those! That's all for this one; if there's anything I've left out, do feel free to ask. If I know the answer I'll be delighted to help. Happy cruising!

The reality is Royal processes are not perfect right now. Upload your vaccination card but you need to show it three different times before boarding, sometimes at checkpoints that are literally 25 feet from each other. Does Royal think it's possible to become unvaccinated while walking 25 feet? Do they not trust their own processes? Maybe the first checkpoint forgot to ask for the card so have checkpoints two and three ask for the same documents again after asking the guest to upload it. If an unvaccinated slips on board they deserve to be there after making it through the gauntlet.

I can confirm that as of yesterday, he was still on the Odyssey and celebrated his 9000th point last night!

When you use a TA, you no longer ‘own’ your reservation. That’s why finding a good TA is critical. Most great TAs get repeat customers because they offer fantastic service as they advocate for you…find the price drops…find the best deals. It takes a lot to manage a reservation. It’s not just book and forget. A good deal from a box store, or a discount company, or even a credit card company may be great when it’s booked, but if prices drop as time goes on…or a better cabin or upgrade is possible…than you can miss out on a much better deal. Good luck and I hope everything works out for the best!

I cruise solo most of the time. I think the best thing is you do what you want, when you want and with whoever you want. You’re not tied in to someone else where you have to be flexible and considerate of each other’s choices. You get to meet lots of different people and can come and go as you please. It’s surprising how many people are open and welcoming to fellow passengers on a cruise ship. It’s different than it is on land. It’s sort of like we’re all in the same boat (pun intended)! Even if you don’t want to join with others, the crew is fantastic! They are always great to talk with…about them; their families; their lives at sea. I have learned so many amazing things about different places from crew members. As I always say…I cruise solo, but never alone! Enjoy your cruise!

Good morning! Let me wrap up Day 6… We went to see Cats last night. I went in with an open mind. I have never seen Cats, but my wife had seen it many times on Broadway when she was a child with her parents. She enjoyed it on Broadway, but she was disappointed with this production. Part of the confusion stems from the fact that this is an abbreviated version. I know they shortened it during the amplification as it was way too long and people were apparently walking out, etc. I guess it remains due to the contract, but they need to replace it… maybe something new or bring back Chicago and run it on Oasis? The musical seemed disjointed and was confusing for me (I should have researched the story line first). My wife was disappointed as she kept waiting for songs she remembered as a child, but most of them were either shortened or not performed at all. The only song I recognized and enjoyed was “Memory”, which effectively closes out the show. I’m glad I went to see it for myself, but it is one of those shows I will avoid the next time we sail Oasis. With that said, the performers and musicians were amazing, but the show was not for me. Here are some pics… We wandered around the ship and headed back to our cabin. This guy was there to greet us! We have the Key for our February Odyssey cruise and we received this e-mail from Royal yesterday concerning changes to the Key program. We’ll probably keep it especially since Royal plans to return to normal capacity levels by year-end. Just an FYI for those interested… Wow! I’m finally caught up! LOL!

I travel solo when I can. I love it and love doing what I want when I want. My only tip is to be prepared for people to comment or ask why you're alone...or be told how brave you are (I think that's a female thing). People mean well. If you're open to it you will meet other people. I enjoyed the excursion I did and it was great to meet so many new people and share the experience. Side note and not cruise related but travel related - my tour to Italy solo was the best experience ever, two years later I'm still in contact with a bunch of people.

OK, hmmm… what’s left for Day 5 (THU). Here is the MDR menu for Day 5… We just walked around after dinner and stopped by the Bionic Bar and the Schooner Bar. Watched the Rising Tide Bar come back down to the promenade. Checked out Next Cruise too and finally called it a night.

9 days out and starting to gather “stuff” for the trip. Two updates for today: 1. I noticed yesterday that a new (at least new for me) section was on the Royal app for check in. So this morning I loaded all the vaccination data for Stacy, Taylor Kaitlyn and the old man. Including photos of the cards. That’s when I noticed that there was no Lot# on my card for the first dose! Uh oh. I will return to my pharmacy in the morning to have them fix that. They told me on the phone not to worry. We shall see! 2. Our kids are self-sufficient, confident and as grown up as it gets. They rarely ask for anything specific. But when they do ask, I try to make it happen. The birthday girl, Taylor, sent me a photo and asked that we recreate it this year. This photo was taken on the Disney Magic 17 or 18 years ago. Our amazing Romina has confirmed that Royal no longer rents tuxedos on their ships. So I’m shopping local for a tux. Taylor is shopping for a pink dress. One way or another we’ll recreate the moment. This is what it’s all about!

I saw this happen in Vegas, I went solo for my 30th. Met a lady on the airplane celebrating her divorce, both staying at the Luxor and we hit it off. We decide to hang out, since we had similar plans. After dinner we hit the slots and I hit a $2300 mini jackpot and claimed my winnings. When I came back she had hit jackpot, a little over 100k. She told me she was going to cash out and meet me at the show, so I left for cirque du soleil Zumanity. She never showed, I assumed she was maybe shopping or met someone. Came back because it was my birthday and I felt lucky, she was still there and down to her last hundred dollars. She did hit another mini jackpot but I think it was less than $4k. I always pocket my wins and just play what I was comfortable losing....if I feel like playing more.

It’s finally happened!! Just got our long awaited Genie email for our sailing and we got Shane!!! I’ve heard nothing but RAVES and so we requested him and now it’s official! So excited!!!! Ok so is this the time that I send him my two year in the making prep/wish list and hope he doesn’t immediately give us to someone else?

I usually wait when I see a discrepancy in my posted points. Most times it self corrects after a day or two. But this time, I know there are lots of issues with Royal’s systems being very busy during these confusing times. So I saw my points posted for my Sept 26 cruise were wrong. I was due 42 points for the seven night cruise but only received 28. Also, the cruise before that…on Sept 19 didn’t post yet. I called C&A and the call was answered quickly. The agent, David, saw the discrepancy and got it corrected right away. Now I have the 42 points added for the second cruise. He also took care of the first cruise but I have to wait a few days for those 42 points to post.

I knew it was you, Pat -- that's why I said it like that. Consider it payback for the early birthday shoutout at dinner that one night. You folks really did make my cruise 10x better, though as I said, I know I would've had fun being much more solo, too. To anyone reading this thread and feeling on the fence about a solo cruise, I think everybody should try it at least once if they get a chance!

Day 8 - Puntarenas, Costa Rica Oh, hey, a port day! I almost forgot what those are like Puntarenas is a tiny (tiny, tiny) town that pretty much exists to provide a berth for a cruise ship. This is literally the whole town: We chose this excursion: The bus was nice. The trip was about 2 hours each way, unfortunately. It was broken up with a photo op of an old church on the way up and a souvenir stand on the way back. This was our guide’s first tour in 20 months! They also opened the nature park just for us. Costa Rica has been hit hard by the lack of tourists. There were news crews filming as we got off the ship and everyone we met was so happy to see tourist again. The Costa Rican Minister or Tourism was even there, welcoming the ship! Reminded me once again how lucky we have been during this whole mess — both MisterZ and I have been fully employed the whole time. We had a nice hike in the cloud forest and saw interesting flora and fauna. Here are a few snaps: Full disclosure, MisterZ took the hummingbird pics with his good camera. We left port nearly an hour late, as one shore excursion ran into a delay and was late getting back. Fortunately they were a ship excursion and we also were going to be at sea the next day, so waiting wasn’t a problem.

No reprice. Their deposits will just get rolled into what's already been paid for the cruise and credited towards the remaining balance.

Some fun facts we learned today from the Cruise Director: Serenade was the first ship to return to revenue service in Alaska after the shutdown. Serenade was the first ship to return to Costa Rica since the shutdown. Serenade will be the first revenue sailing of a cruise ship through the Panama Canal since the shutdown when we make the transit tomorrow!

"I'll take 'Projects that will be 2-3 years late and hundreds of millions over budget' for $400, Alex"

When the military discount for our Explorer cruise showed up, it was $620 and I had my TA jump on it. Now the discount is only about $300. So even though the other discounts may be a little higher, doesn’t make up for the difference in the military one. Bottom line is the only thing that counts. I look almost daily.

In Miami it was all the same terminal contractor uniforms. The last two checkpoints were in the suite lounge in terminal A. I was the only person there since it was after 3pm. The one person sat me down and did the check in thing. The other lady guarding the rope barrier to the ship watched. Next I went to the lady guarding the rope barrier. After checking my documents again she literally said "...and now I will open the barrier for you". It was like a skit out of a Monty Python video. They should really have something like checkpoint charlie and a big swing up barrier to make it more dramatic. "Show me your papers!".... "You may pass... THIS TIME".

Repricing can be pretty confusing b/c there are so many factors that have to be considered. This is the sequence that I use to see if there has been a price drop or not : 1. Has the base price of my cruise changed ? This is the original, retail per person price before any discounts have been applied. 2. What are the current discounts ? This is the hard part. You have to be able to determine what the current offers are and that can be confusing but the bottom line is all that matters. If the base price has gone down but the current reductions are also less than your original price then there may or may not be an actual overall price reduction. Check each one to see if it still applies or if there are any new or different ones. 3. When you call make SURE that the agent applies ALL of the effective promotions and discounts. I had an issue with this very recently. The agent (this was a casino comp so I was working with a casino agent) told me that my current price was lower than the “new” price but I knew that was wrong b/c the base price had gone down and they were still offering all of the promo/discounts of my original pricing so I knew there HAD to be a reduction. After a few minutes of discussion she realized that she had not applied one of the discounts. She made that change and sure enough, the overall price went down ! This can really get confusing when you start talking about Kids Sail Free or Single Supplement pricing and since none of those ever applies to me, I’m useless !

This reminds me of a number of people each handing me their smartphones to take the same pose/shot. I often say, "Can't you just share (Airdrop) photos?"

Hang in there and hope you get it.

If the movies that you GOT TO see are in the theater then I would suggest going there to view them. Nothing beats the big screen and sound system for the movies. Otherwise the suite is a good place to see them. As far as the 6:45pm reservation I will defer to our other members who regularly sail out of NY. To me that is a little short on time and would move it a little later.

Just Update from yesterday.. All but one of our bids have expired last night(9-days out). One shows pending(the one we wanted to get the most, will give those details later). We checked the website for available rooms still available for our cruise, and all the rooms have the same amount still available. With having all but one offer expired, that is usually a good sign from what I have seen on these posts. Will update in in the following days to let everyone know if we got out upgrade or not. As of this morning we are 8-days till sailing! And so looking forward to just getting away! Again this blog has been a great help in navigating and learning the process of RoyalUp, and what to look for, and excited when I hear someone else get an upgrade as well!

I had a Southern Caribbean to the ABCs from San Juan booked for January that I originally booked back in 2020. I checked prices, and they were (seems like they still are) selling without a singles supplement, so I went from about $2500 for the trip down to $950 for a 7 night.

As a parent with two girls in that phase between little and not yet grown, and thinking lately that they are growing way too fast, I just completely love this idea. That picture is so sweet…

Just did my first solo in September. I left the husband and college age kids home. Facebook has a groups for most sailings. I joined the group, saw there was a solo meet and greet/sail away Day 1 at one of the pool deck bars snd met a WONDERFUL group of people. We met the next day for 10am trivia (and every day after) and I think by day 3 we went to the main dining room manager and got ourselves a table and we had dinner together every night. At 10am trivia people would discuss their plans for the day and some would go together. At dinner plans for the evening we’re discussed, and some would go together. I hung out at Beach club at CoCocay with a pair of women in our solo group traveling without spouses. I loved traveling solo so much I booked a few more cruises. I hope I meet some equally as nice people. hint: don’t wait for others to create a solo meet and greet….or sail away/whatever. Otherwise it might not happen!

Had a great dinner at Jamie’s Italian. There was a thunderstorm on our way out of Port Canaveral with a lot of lightning, so we enjoyed our meal with a light show. Wifi on Mariner is downright awful. When it’s functional, it’s extremely slow. Walked by Shore Excursions and saw this great price for a CocoCay cabana. Got this letter about kids and excursions in Nassau.

So OBC through Royal is usually a booking deal that pops up occasionally. The most sure fire way I've found to get it is to book with next cruise while onboard. There's almost always at least $100 OBC offered. Price drops on the other hand happen almost all the time because the fares fluctuate and you can get that new fare by either contacting your travel agent or Royal directly and saying "hey I see this new price for my room can I have that?" and they will essentially rebook you but if they do it right, you won't lose your room or any other benefits you got on that initial booking. To check for a price drop, you can go on the website and do a mock booking which is basically going ALLLLLLL the way through like you are booking a new cruise on your ship in the same room category and when you get to the end page you'll see the new fare. It was suggested to me by next cruise to check twice a week but I've really been doing it more or less once a week.

I can not speak for cruising solo personally but I met two ladies on our cruise last week that were traveling solo. One ate at chefs table with us and the other I met in the Solarium pool. Linda, whom I met in the pool was cruising solo because her sister was unable to travel. She said she was loving it, she could come and go when she wanted and not have to worry about her sister who preferred her quiet time. She had the unlimited dining and beverage package and said she would probably not get it again because it was just too much for her. We actually had lunch at Izumi one afternoon and she gave me one of her entree items because it was too much for her. So we hung out in the pool, then had lunch at the taco place(yuck), then later in the week ate at Izumi then just sat around and chatted. One was in her early twenties, Linda 62. Then I met another woman at Coco Cay, she was widowed and decided to keep going with her life and was finding that she loved cruising so she was booking cruises around her work. Her motto was you never know when it will all end, enjoy it while you can. Then I made all of their trips better by telling them they were getting four points per room by traveling solo during the promo!

Symphony of the Seas, May 7th, 2022. First cruise and SOLO!

Also seen on Odyssey today - Super Mario’s 9000 point party in Coastal Kitchen! There was a cake and the captain apparently had come by just before we were there. Neat!

Going on Celebrity 14 days cruise next year from Singapore to Japan.

For background, after I separated from the military, I worked at two Atlantic City casinos on the overnight shift as I worked through college. Here is my biggest tip, and I cannot stress this enough. If you are fortunate enough to hit a big jackpot, CLAIM YOUR WINNINGS AND WALK AWAY IMMEDIATELY. I have witnessed more self-destructive decision making after hitting big than I could possibly begin to explain. Probably most egregious, I saw a 23 year old kid hit the progressive jackpot at a Caribbean Stud Poker table. Just under $300K. Immediately they comped the kid a suite, treated him and his friends as huge high rollers, offered him a private table with his own personal cocktail server, top shelf liquor, etc., etc. Long story short, what started out as, "What the heck, I'm playing with house money, let's go ahead and enjoy this" ended up with him a few grand in the hole by the time the sun came up. Casinos can be fun and entertaining as long as you play with what you plan to lose, but they're not built on winners.

It looks like they have “Family” shows and 12+ Vaccinated Only shows. You’ll be fine.

One of our Genies actually had a couple request a photographer to follow them into the theater, taking pictures as they went to their front row seats so people would think they were important!. @Booscruize, you should be fine!

Steven made me promise I'd take this one off from blogging. Last cruise, I stayed up late every night making sure I blogged for the day while he went to sleep only to wake up 2 hours later and me still be up blogging. Blogging is a ton of fun, and I plan on blogging many more in the near future, but this cruise I'm going to let @Booscruizetake point, and I am just going to be lazy haha. While it does add more onto your already full plate, you will be glad you did when you look back and you have all the memories written down of your amazing trip. I went back and reread one of my live blogs during the shutdown, and I was amazed how many of the little details that I had forgotten. This will be a special way to always remember the lovely time you and your husband had with all of your friends.

Same here. And I received the notification for Liberty in late April.

Yes ! I think so.

The eDocs for our October 31st cruise showed up this past week (just under 30 days out). The itinerary for that cruise has changed due to port closures and the documents are not updated but they did show up. All that really matters is the Set Sail pass anyway!

We have had multiple price drops on our May 2022 AK cruise, Ovation. We have 2 balcony cabins, and have saved over $1200 per cabin. We had saved a lot on our December Oasis OV balcony cabin, but I wiped that out with upgrading ourselves to a JS. Just waiting for a potential price drop on that now.

Hi! We stayed in Amsterdam before and after our "British Isles Cruise" three years ago. We chose Movenpick Hotel Amsterdam before the cruise because it is literally located right at the cruise port. The hotel is also a short walk to the central train station so we had easy access to most areas of Amsterdam. The Movenpick reminds me of the Hilton Hotel chain in the U.S. by comparison. We tend to stay in "bargain" places so the Movenpick was a splurge for us as it was somewhat expensive. We would stay their again without hesitation if we are fortunate enough to visit beautiful Amsterdam again. After the cruise we spent additional time in Amsterdam but stayed at the Hotel Herbergh, out near Schiphol Airport, which was smaller and very quaint. The Herbergh offered a small brick house, on the property, which we rented for a few days - it was adorable! Although we loved our stay at the Herbergh we grew tired of having to use a shuttle and train to get back into the city. I hope this is helpful and that you have a wonderful time in Amsterdam and your upcoming cruise!

We stayed and really enjoyed the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver 900 West Georgia Street It was about four blocks up from the cruise terminal and we found it a nice walk and close to restaurants and bars, shopping centre and grocery stores.