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The first time sitting on the balcony by myself and watching the ocean roll by all of my stress just drains out of me.

All of the above…plus; I usually sail solo. At first I planned cruises with others…and then tried cruising solo. Changed my life. Living in the northeast the winters can be annoyingly dull…short days with cold, wet weather. No outside activities for me…I don’t do winter sports. So I sail to summer. I love cruising out of the Hudson River in winter, usually on the Anthem in the fully enclosed, heated Solarium with the full glass forward view. And then, seeing how the temperature warms up virtually by the hour as we sail south. I’ll usually cruise from September to May. I love staying aboard at the ports (been there done that) and enjoying the near empty ship…although it seems a lot more passengers are opting to stay aboard. Port Liberty is a short drive. I love everything from planning, packing and driving to the port…and, after the cruise, I can’t wait to go back. I now do primarily b2bs. It’s a great feeling when seeing the luggage in the halls on the last night knowing I’m staying aboard. Being solo, I do what I want, when I want. I can meet people…or not. I can remain gloriously anonymous or join a conversation. I find cruisers are always welcoming and pleasant…heck, they’re on vacation. It’s a great lifestyle and I know that I am lucky to be able to do it…and grateful. Enjoy!

I don't even know where to start, but all of the reasons above and more. 1. We like the ability to book well in advance and pay over time before the cruise. It's nice after a great vacation to not have large credit card bill or have a considerably lower bank balance. 2. It's much less stressful than a typical land vacation. I don't have to rent a car and get us from place to place on a daily basis. Our "Hotel" takes us from place to place with spectacular views along the way. 3. Other than the occasional specialty dining experience, we don't have to worry about shelling out money for restaurant food several times each day. And where else am I going to be able to try caviar and escargot for no additional charge? 4. So many activities that would cost so much extra on land that are included; Entertainers, Theater shows, Flowrider, iFly Skydiving sim, the North Star, and so much more. 5. We have been able to visit destinations that we had never even thought we would be able to see. 6. We like being able to do "as much" or "as little" as we want. Particularly on sea days. Nothing better than having a cocktail out on the deck while the waves roll by OR while soaking in the hot tub in the Solarium. 7. SERVICE: Sometime during the first day of each cruise, I'm reminded of just how much the crew and staff spoil us! They crew on each ship we've sailed on aims to please. 8. The chance to "unplug". We purposely do NOT buy internet service so we can get away from the usual noise of our daily lives and live more in the moment. THERE'S MORE BUT THIS POST IS GETTING TOO LONG!

I like unpacking once and having the "hotel" transport me to new places.

Boarding Day! Finally, the day to board the Wonder of the Seas arrived. But, we did have one last stop in Barcelona first, due to our train issues. We had intended to visit Casa Batllo in the evening, with the light show and rooftop bar included, but alas, that was not to be. Instead, we opted for the early-bird special to be one of the first few people inside for the day. The house itself was only a couple of blocks away from our hotel, so it was a quick walk, and we arrived shortly before the doors open. I mentioned this in an earlier post, but you really can see Gaudi's inspiration from nature in all of his work. It's very clue that he considered God to be the ultimate designer and took his cues from what he perceived as the pinnacle of those designs. Nature is embedded in every element of this house, from the visions of bone and water on the facade, all the way to the way he designed the airflow inside the house itself. The tour of the house is a great experience, and surprisingly high-tech. The tablets they provide you not only contain a fully narrated (and scored) audio-guide, but they also have AR (augmented reality) views of each of the rooms, decorated in the way they might have been when the original owners lived there, as well as a bit of magic as the rooms come to life on the screen. Although the guide is excellent, my one criticism is that several of the audio sections are really long - upwards of 5 minutes in some cases. I don't really mind a bit of audio narration, but the length of these bits didn't really seem to match the size of the house, so there were several times when we would be finished taking in the details of a room, but be stuck waiting for the narration to finish before we moved on. There is an immersive digital experience right at the very end that I thought was a lot of fun. It's only 3 minutes, but you stand in a room that is completely covered with screens (literally all the walls, ceiling and floor) while they play a video of extrapolations from Gaudi's work that was created with machine learning and AI. It's sensational, and just gives the technology aspect of the whole tour a little notch upwards. After the house, we returned to the hotel, finished packing and grabbed a cab to the cruise terminal!! The Terminal Every cruise terminal is different. And Barcelona is no exception. Marla had provided instructions for us to go to Terminal C, which would have been a good idea even if we hadn't been Star Class, as there were just fewer people there overall (and I heard from a few folks that was the case throughout the day). We arrived at about 10:20 - 40 minutes or so ahead of our scheduled boarding time and headed over to the Star Class banner. Different from our last experience in Orlando, there isn't really a dedicated 'port genie' to help with the process. Most of the first steps are handled by the bag porters themselves. They tagged our bags with the star class tags and walked us right over to the check-in desk, where I experienced the absolute shortest check-in I've ever had. Beginning to end, including verifying passports, vaccine cards, covid tests and taking our pictures it took about 4 minutes. There were several other Star Class families who also arrived a bit early (official boarding was at 11), and while we waited for an escort to the ship, that group started to pile up a bit. Eventually, a staff member arrived and we made the hike up to the ship! We expected to meet Marla when we arrived on board ship, but unfortunately, that was not to be the case. We were instead greeted by Claudio, who let us know that due to all of the star class guests arriving sort of all at once, they needed to take folks to their cabins as they arrived, regardless of who their genie is. We learned later that a part of this is also due to the fact that Israel, one of the other genies on board, had taken ill, and his rooms distributed among the other genies at the last moment. As you might imagine, being a genie is already hard work, and having an extra room or two suddenly added to your list can make things pretty challenging! Claudio walked us to the elevator, up to the 12th deck and then down the long hallway to the AquaTheater suites. He ran through the typical first day information and then we had a chance to check out the suite. One of the reasons I was happy to have this room (instead of the Grand Suite we had originally been transferred to) is that we just had a 2BR ATS experience last summer with 6 people, and this really worked out well just for the two of us. The room is gorgeous (as is everything on the ship!) and we fell in love with it immediately. Again. Marla had, of course, provided us with small snacks and a few drinks (yay mango margarita!), so we set up shop on the deck and drank our first drinks aboard Wonder of the Seas. We didn't take too long to enjoy them, though, as we already had reservations for the newest restaurant in the fleet: The Mason Jar! The Mason Jar is just a delightful restaurant. The ambience is great. Our server was terrific, and the food and drinks were delicious. We had a bit of jalapeno biscuit to start with and then ordered our mains for brunch: chicken and waffles for me and the stuffed french toast for Ashley. They were every bit as delectable as I had hoped. After the main bit of our meal, we also split an order of red velvet pancakes because I just had to try them. And oh my. They were yummy! We will have to go back to the bar at some point, but we did managed to try four (2 each) of their signature cocktails: - Mississippi Moonlight (the only drink not made with bourbon!) - Southern Belle (my favorite so far) - PB&J Old Fashioned - Pretty as a Peach Tea The cocktails are all creative and clever and, of course, quite good. After brunch, we headed back to the room to change into swimsuits and ventured up to the new suite sun deck - which I loved. It's quiet and calm. It has a great bar and plenty of seating. As of this post, we've been up there twice, and it hasn't felt the least bit crowded either time. In any case, we sat in the loungers in the wading pool for about an hour or so (maybe an hour and a half), and let our food digest and our worries and anxiety of missed trains and sore feet melt away in the mediterranean sun. We headed back to the suite to continue relaxing, unpacked and just generally lounged a bit between then and dinner. I had momentary bit of panic when I realized that my only remaining clean button-up shirt was heavily wrinkled, but Marla had Alexis (our room attendant) rush to have it pressed in time for our dinner reservation. Trust me when I say there is very little that a royal genie cannot make happen for you on your cruise! Dinner was, naturally, Coastal Kitchen, in the time honored tradition of 1st night Filet Mignon. Dinner was excellent as always, and I still maintain that the CK filet is the best in the fleet. (Although - spoilers - the preparation we got for Chef's Table put it into the running again after a narrow miss at Chef's Table on Allure last summer). We also, naturally, split all three daily desserts, which in hindsight we probably should have just had delivered to the room for later. Dinner was pretty late in the evening, so we returned to the room to get ready to watch the brand new Aquatheater performance, inTENse. Marla had drinks delivered to us right before, and of course we got to watch the whole performance from our balcony. I won't spoil the show, but I will say that this performance is, and it's not close, the absolutely best aquatheater show I have seen to date. The energy, intensity and just overall bravado of the performance is absolutely top-notch. There is a slack-line trampoline sequence in the middle that will leave your jaw on the floor, and the aerialist is just outstanding. 7/5 stars, would see again, and probably will, on this very cruise. And that brings us the end of our first day about Wonder of the Seas! Stay tuned for tomorrow's update: The Drach Caves in Mallorca, Chef's Table and Tap Factory!

I don't have to do jack squat. Last cruise we went on a 5-day Bahama deal, I didn't even get off of the boat. Next cruise is just me and Mrs Fan. The cruise after that is with my grown kids and their spouses to Alaska (R/T Seattle on the Quantum). We tried the "rent a large house" thing and we were still falling all over each other. With the cruise, the only interaction that is somewhat mandatory is dinner. We are mostly on different floors. They may want to party late into the night, and I am ready for bed. I get up early and my daughter is an early riser (her hubby is a sleep-in guy) and she will meet me for coffee on deck somewhere (she is shipping her kdis off to her MILs for the week - she tells me "I need a vacation too dad" - LOL). Mrs Fan wants her tea in the room on the balcony and wants to be left alone to wake up. It works for the family as we can interact as much or as little as we want.

Cringeworthy: I tried a speedo once and got advice as to not embarrass myself or wife. Friends told me to strategically place a Potato in my speedo before I go out on deck. I was getting looks from everyone and thought I was magnificent until my wife told me I should have put the Potato in the front.

I don't have any problem with a patriotic shirt, such as an American flag shirt or what have you. The problem are the political statement shirts with slogans for their political leaning. There's no need for that, IMO.

Almost forgot. Here are a couple pictures of the flight in.

This is me!! I love peaceful I feel just sitting there even when it is totally dark outside and listen to the ocean. I love that I can see lots of places and sleep in the same bed every night and not pack and unpack each night. Sometimes we cruise with just the two of us, sometimes with our kids/grands, and sometimes with our friends. We really enjoy seeing places we have never been, especially this coming August when we cruise the British Isles (Bucket List). It will be port intensive and we have excursions booked to all the places. We haven't retired yet but we are close. We want to see and do while we are healthy.

We cruise because we get assistance with our special needs kids/teens. We travel with Autism on the Seas (AOTS) and they provide volunteers to provide assistance with our kids so we can enjoy and have a vacation. It can be difficult traveling with special needs guests and parents need a break, too! Cruising gives us a chance to travel safely and be able to relax. RCL staff is fantastic with our kiddos and it provides the kids with opportunities to see the world and experience things they may not have a chance to do. If you ever see a bunch or orange shirts that say STAFF on the back, pop on over and say hi! That is what we call TeamOrange and they are the amazing volunteers that help families. AOTS doesn't just help those who have autism or are autistic. They deal with all specials needs individuals needing assistance from age 3 to adult.

Smoking in the casino

For me, it's easy:

The ease of it all. Once you’re on the ship, all you really need to worry about is having a good time. With a land based vacation there’s usually a lot of coordinating between parties and vehicles and activities. On the ship, the activities are planned. You simply show up. The fact that there’s always something going on at all times. I know you can get that an an all inclusive resort but not for the same price. Being out on the open water and the calm that comes with that.

I tried to organize a professional Hide & Seek tournament, but it was a complete failure. Good players are hide to find.

I cruise because I like the tranquility of the water. Nothing like reading a nice book and occasionally looking out at the vast sea. Plus, you can do whatever: meet new friends, scavenger hunt/trivia, watch shows, and eat like kings. Even when I take a primarily land vacation, I end up cursing; whether it's a day cruise or a river cruise. The cost is a boon to. We spent almost as much on 4 days at WDW/Universal than a 7-day sky class cruise.

I love cruising for the ship, the open water, the views and the convenience and practicality of it all. Even with today's fuel costs and rising cruise costs, it's still reasonable. You get a week's worth of travel in one place! Imagine trying to book a regular trip nowadays that includes food, nice hotel and entertainment plus travel costs all under $1500 pp.?

Cruising appeals to us for the following reasons (in order): 1 - Sea Days - nothing is more relaxing than just watching the water, especially in an aft-facing stateroom 2 - Multiple places to visit while only unpacking/repacking once 3 - We can each do as much or as little as we want, and there's no concern about whether we do it together or not

Well, we made it. The captain must have been on island time, because his idea of a few minutes was closer to 45. The 2 hour delay put us in Anchorage around 9:30pm. By the time we got our luggage and caught an Uber to the hotel it was so late none of us really wanted anything big to eat, so it was sandwiches from the hotel lobby. Uber XL was easy to get and was less than $20 and 10 minutes to the hotel. We got to bed about 11pm local time which felt like 2am Texas time. Here are a few pictures of the room and lobby at the Embassy Suites.

I can pay for the vacation over time. I can pay almost 100% of what it will cost me ahead of time so don’t have to count every dollar for the duration of the vacation. The service is better than most resorts, the ocean is great, entertainment is included, and I unpack once to visit multiple places. Most of that stuff is unique to cruising (most). Royal has a lot of ships in multiple ports, there’s always a new experience to be had.

I like how you said number 1. We have been to a lot of places as an appetizer while cruising. We would have never thought about spending a vacation in Puerta Rico or even Panama. But we are talking about it now.

I like it to test out the waters. With the shore excursions, I can just get a taste of what a country is like. If I enjoyed my time, I will look into doing a land vacation in that country. But I relax better on a cruise than anywhere else. No worries!

Gives me a chance to visit places in an "appetizer" fashion that I might have otherwise not have gone to. All-inclusive. Pretty pretty sea.

Wake up when I want .... sleep when I want .... lay out by the pool when I want .... eat when I want. Hmmmm I think I see a trend here. Vacations before I was the elected "activities" director and had to plan for everyone else with no one being happy about the choices. Now my wife is happy she can do the things she wants to do, so am I, and I can go off and do what I want to do. We still do a lot together but having choices with no pressure of time is what keeps us coming back, plus the free Diamond+ drinks.

I do not have to make plans or decisions. The cruise ship gives me lots of things to do and if I feel like it I do them. If I do not feel like it I don't. When doing a vacation on land I am stuck to planning everything and need to stick with the plan. On a cruise ship I can do anything that I feel like doing.

Seriously, and that's hard for me to do, I cruise for the SHIP and the ocean. I grew up in S. Florida, (Dania, FL) about a mile from the ocean, so I love the ocean. The cruise ship's are amazing to me, especially the super huge Oasis Class ships. So, I cruise for those two things, the ship and the ocean, I really don't care if I actually go to a Port of Call, I'm as happy as can be just watching the ocean go by and exploring the ship.

The water brings me peace.

I specifically cruise for two reasons. 1) I love the fact that I do not need to plan too many things in additional to the cruise itself. I don't need to call and figure out what restaurants to eat at etc. I don't need to worry if the restaurant is accessible. For me cruising is very convenient. Everything is right there. Essentially its a traveling all inclusive resort that moves to different ports. 2) I love the mulit-generational activities on board. I do a lot of traveling with grand parents, kids, other parents. It is nice knowing that there is something for everyone no matter the age. I personally think RCL has done a pretty good job of emphasizing this. I have family members that want to just do nothing and enjoy the sea breeze and read, while others want to go to the casino, and others who love the onboard shows. Cruises have a good mix of things for everyone in the family.

Day Two: Sea Day and Inside Passage This is morning we had a bit of a late start. I, of course, woke up around 6 am and read a bit but everyone else slept in a little bit later. It’s colder today so I’m wearing a long sleeve shirt under a t-shirt and I’m warm and cozy. At breakfast the pancakes were wonderful as well as the chocolate donut. The whipped cream was a little strange, it tasted like butter and I didn’t really like it. We went to a sudoku competition and some other guy finished the puzzle in almost four minutes! I’m not great at sudoku so I turned my paper into origami. Afterwards we listened to a talk about the Klondike Gold Rush and Mounties, but we couldn’t stay the whole time since we wanted to go to the Alaska Port and Shopping Show where they gave us some great tips on where to shop and a coupon for a free pendant that I might show a picture of in the next post. Then we had a quick lunch and my mom and I headed off to a lady’s pamper party. A little bit later we went to a Disney trivia and we won, only missing one question! My brother and I went to go to Optix, but a sign on the door said “At the basketball court” so we figured they were playing basketball which neither of us wanted to play. We headed back to the stateroom and I wrote some in my nook. Later we found out from the Royal Caribbean app that they were playing dodgeball, not basketball. I would’ve liked to play dodgeball, but I only found out after they were done so I guess you should always check the app or go see what Optix is doing if they’re not there. Today’s duck of the day is Belle. She’s my favorite duck because she has a book. I wanted to make sure she liked where she was hiding so you can guess where she went. You guessed it, in the cozy little library on deck nine. We went back to see if she was still there a couple hours after we hid her and she was. Hopefully a book lover finds her soon. We played around in the room a bit and I read some. Surprisingly, we found internet from the Canadian shore for a little bit and posted my blog yesterday even though we were at sea. Tonight was formal night so we got all fancy and took some pictures. Sadly when I’m fancy, I’m wearing a dress and sandals and therefore a bit cold. But it was okay since we staying inside most the time. Once we got all the pictures we wanted, we rushed off to the production of Piano Man. We got there about ten minutes late but could still find some seats. I figured it would’ve been a bunch of Billy Joel songs with a small amount of storyline, but then they started playing Elton John and then Wizard of Oz. I got very confused and the storyline was nonexistent. The tech team had some problems moving set and with lighting and audio. I only stayed because the performers were amazing even with the random script they had to go off of and I love music. Then we rushed off to dinner. I had a fruit cup, roasted chicken, and carrot cake. I have to say, all three were amazing and I entirely recommend them, though the carrot cake is not there every day, so be on the lookout for it. These were some of the activities to do in Optix, but I didn’t do any of them. A friend told me the selfie hunt was quite a workout and was fun. I played on their foosball table. I won and then we went back to the stateroom and I read some more in my nook and watched the beautiful sunset which seemed to never end. I read until I almost fell asleep in my nook, then had to get in bed and sleep. Stay tuned for my Alaska Adventure!

Having just gotten up the courage, after much support from my teenaged daughters, to actually be brave enough to show my cancer scars in a bathing suit on my upcoming cruise, I'm just crossing my fingers that I don't show up as a "cringe-worthy" line item on this lovely list.

People who gladly share their opinion that only certain size women should wear certain types of clothes and the boneheads that laugh with him (notably usually a man who has zero room to talk about someone else or ones that last succeeded at secondary school sports).

As a former serving member of the Royal Navy, I genuinely rebelled against the whole idea for many years. As a professional sailor I had a jaundiced view of floating "Gin Palaces" one I freely admit was not correct. Finally though, I had to come up with something for one of Sheryls birthdays so I bit the bullet and booked a 5 nighter on Brilliance. From the moment my feet touched the deck, I changed my mind. Once more I could feel a ship under me, her motion, her machinery, her vitality. I was hooked. While leaving harbour from Tampa, I loved every moment. From assessing wind speed and direction, currents, potential hazards and more, it all came back. Later, after passing under the Sunshine Skyway and making her way to sea, Brilliance brought back so many lost memories. Cruise ships will never bring me quite the same feelings as one of the grey ladies of the sea, after all they have a different intent and purpose. But they are close enough that this old sailor loves them dearly. I can close my eyes and reminisce, which is as close as I will ever get again.

Finding Dirty socks ,mask and underwear in your cabin drawer. (Harmony)

The (mostly) all-inclusive nature that includes food, beverage, entertainment, and travel... plus I only have to drive an hour to my home port.

Nobody asks me any questions other than what would I like and would I like any more and they do it with a smile.

Fat shaming. FWIW, it only reflects badly on the person doing it.

Oh boy, this is a big one these days. I just dont understand the need to wear political clothing on a ship. All it does it serve to start arguments, or at the very least a lot of dirty looks.

Political statement clothing. Of any leaning. I like to escape politics on vacation.

We have been cruisers since I was a kid in the 1980’s in Fort Lauderdale. I am well traveled and have yet to find a land based vacation that was a better experience then a cruise vacation. The all inclusive (not referring to cost just amenities) aspect of the Oasis class ships is my families favorite vacation. Taking it one step further, Deck 17 makes cruising even that much better! The pool, the food & drinks, the balcony, the casino, the shows, the activities makes for an endless list of fun for everyone in my family. Can’t wait to get back on another ship very soon!

My wife's favorite tee shirt (not just cruise-related, but favorite in general) says "Wake view is the best view."

In our roomdidn’t get into sushi until 15 burpees a minute for ten minutes. Also got into the protein shakes (dos Equis and Coors light.

1. I get way more bang for my buck compared to staying in a hotel and finding food. 2. The warm weather. I am from Iowa and try to escape some of the winter weather. 3. I like all the different live music/bars and getting some Sorrento's late at night.

Do what ever I want, or do nothing. Sleep in. Sit on the balcony on sea days and enjoy the view. Spend great time with my wife. Enjoy great food and amazing shows. Disconnect from the world for a week.

I sincerely hope the key lime pie on Freedom in July would get this description from you @Cutieredhead107. The tarter, the better.

I wish we had such issues. So this is how the 1%'s roll. Great explanation and will file this for the future. We hope to achieve this milestone by early 2024, fingers and legs crossed.

I love the open ocean! For this reason river cruising is not appealing to me. The open ocean helps me feel disconnected. Ports of call are secondary to me. I love that the room, activities, dining, and entertainment is all within easy distance. There are not a lot of decisions to be made once on board.

Congratulations! The Pinnacle cruise certificate has two primary options. 1. Seven night cruise in a balcony cabin to the Caribbean for two guests. In this option you pay only taxes and port fees, plus gratuity. If the cruise cost $2,000 or $6,000 it doesn't matter. If it is a seven night cruise in a balcony cabin to the Caribbean the cruise fare portion is covered. Large balcony cabins qualify if the ship has them. If you don't want a seven night cruise in a balcony cabin to the Caribbean then option two kicks in. 2. $2,400 off the regular undiscounted price of a cruise. Not per person, total cost of the cruise fare. If you change anything such an eight night, or not in a balcony, or not the Caribbean, then option two applies. Alaska, Europe, Australia, Hawaii, Transatlantic, etc. for example are not the Caribbean so option two applies. A suite is not a balcony cabin so if you want a suite, option two applies. Any cruise length other than seven means option two applies. Any deviation from seven night in a balcony to the Caribbean means options two applies. Once you reach 1,400 points the balcony cabin becomes a junior suite but the same concept applies. Blackout dates apply, typically Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Peak Summer and Spring Break. A new ship in the first year of service is blacked out. There can be some nuances and some agents will interpret "Spring Break" or "Christmas" different than others. Once booked no changes are allowed so book wisely. For option two some discounts are not combinable so the website rate with your C&A, age, military, state, etc. discounts included may come out at a higher rate once the discounts that can't be combined are removed. You can call C&A and tell them you want to explore pricing for your Pinnacle cruise. They'll tell you what the final price will be when choosing to use option two.

Sorry, everyone, but each time this subject comes up, I have to post this!

People who allow their young children to play as if they were at an outdoor playground when they are actually inside at the Cafe promenade. Kids were chasing each other around other occupied tables. I really don't understand when it became acceptable for people to allow their children to bother other people.

The BBC!!! Delicious!!!! It is Baileys, Banana liquor, Rum, and Pina colada mix. Pool side will put in a fresh banana too sometimes.