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Anyone want to bring up the wind ja mair?

Our final dinner on the ship was back at Giovanni's. of course we had more caprese and the meat and cheese board. I had the filet, which was really good. The Boss and Julie had the seafood linguine. They both said it was just okay. @asquared17Johnny again had the pasta with butter and cheese. When it came time for dessert, we ordered the tiramisu again. I noticed that each time the portion got smaller and smaller. We discussed many hypothetical reasons for this, was it they were running out of ingredients? Gradually going smaller to cut costs? Had sympathy to our waistlines? Regardless, I again forgot to take a picture. Whatever the reason, I actually thought the smallest size was actually perfect. It was still big enough that I was satisfied, but not so big that I left feeling stuffed and hyperglycemic. We returned to our room to find out there was some monkey business that had gone on. Our attendant Ketut, left us with a cute note. Brian, Danielle and their kids came over too and we spent the evening together. We cracked our bottle of Prosecco and toasted to a great cruise and new friends. No that's not pee in that 5th glass Sadly, it eventually became time to call it a night. Bags needed to be packed, kids put to bed, and preparations made to head back to our homes in the morning.

Our room stewards have been the best, ever! We keep our room so good that they feel bad that there’s not much to do. They left a few awesome towel animals last night.

Ate at chops last night, which hubby said had the better steak over Coastal. Service was excellent in both places. We saw the show last night, which was ok. We see We will Rock you tomorrow. The neat thing were our seats, were the best in the house! Now a bit of gossip. A few weeks ago, a room steward got off in Florida for a bit of R&R. He never came back, so no one fleet wide could get off the next week, anywhere. The next two weeks no room steward from Anthem can get off at any port. Next week will be their last week. I guess the guy decided to stay in the US, which could be a good deal for him.

I hope I have your luck when I go back to the casino.

An uneventful but wonderful trip thus far. Today is Feb 28th and we will be touring St. Maarten. I've been here a few times, but I forget... This will be a whole new experience all over again. I'll try posting photos. WiFi has been very intermittent and slow when it does work .

Boarding in Fort Lauderdale was easy. From my Uber to the waiting lounge was less than 10 minutes, then we waited perhaps 10 minutes after that to board. We had the Unlimited Dining Package and the drinks package. We went straight to Jamie's to book, but they weren't open yet, so we walked over to Park 150. Managed to book everything but Izumi for Hibachi for the days we wanted - they said only Izumi could book for hibachi. We managed to book for Izumi on day 2 for day 6. After booking our dinners, we went back to Jamie's for lunch and it was phenomenal. The wait staff was fantastic, of course. We sat outside and it was a perfect way to kick off the cruise. The pasta was the best I've ever had. After that the week pretty much becomes a blur, all the days blended into one glorious one, but here's what I recall: Most days we went to main dining for breakfast. Service was only OK there, but they were of course always super busy. I became partial to the create your own omelette with everything. The smoked salmon added great flavor. After breakfast, we went up to the pool deck. Found chair hogs out in abundance, usually all chairs taken by 9. When asked, the crew were enforcing the 30 minute rule - they had been marking chairs with sticky notes of when they were 'reserved,' then taking the stuff to the towel stand if someone came along needing a spot, usually this was 2-3 hours after they were marked, from what I saw. Wait staff on the pool deck was generally fantastic, and the bars were pretty responsive if you walked up to one. I had no problem making the most of my drinks package. Excursions: Haiti - Beach and Haitian village experience. Took a boat to a little cove, took a shortish tour through a village where they were roasting coffee and making peanut butter. I'm not sure how authentic it actually was, but the whole thing was fun, my kid enjoyed it too. The beach was nice but we didn't have long enough to spend there. Labadee in general was nice once we got back to the Royal Caribbean area. We brought snorkels and saw some cool fish. Burgers and hot dogs were good. Curacao - Excursion to Blue Bay resort and snorkeling there. Great snorkeling. Lots of fish and reef. Huge cool drop off, they scuba dive from shore. Great time. If I were to do it again, I'd take a taxi from port and pay the blue bay day pass. Aruba - Did the Kuku Kunukoo (I'm sure I mispelled that) party bus. Wasn't my thing, but the kid and wife wanted to do it. The bus was more loud and obnoxious than a party. Could have done without the whole bus tour, as I didn't really care about the church or the lighthouse we stopped at.. Ended at Arashi Beach which was absolutely gorgeous. Next time - cab straight to the beach first thing in the morning and get chairs/umbrella and drink myself stupid. Before the excursion we went into town and did some shopping. Dining, with our six year old every evening: Jaimie's Italian: Ate here twice, everything was good. Service was slightly better for lunch, if that matters.. probably because there were less people. Chops Grill: Ate here for dinner twice. Was fantastic, not much else to say about it. One of the more kid friendly dining options. Servers being more kid friendly helps a lot. My kid was thrilled that they sliced his steak for him both times(which he devoured). 150 Central Park: Good food. Ate here twice as well. Lobster Thermidor and Lamb Wellington were fantastic. They had a cucumber martini which was delicious too. The least kid friendly option on the ship, IMO. My kid ate well, but I felt like the server had an attitude of 'why would you bring a kid.' I was pretty annoyed by that feeling, but I understand as well. Adventure Ocean closes for dinner time unless you dine after 7pm every night. My kid enjoyed the beef short ribs. Izumi(sushi): Sushi was only OK. the seaweed was tough which made one of my rolls almost inedible. Service was POOR. We got seated at our scheduled time, then 5 minutes later asked if we could move so that 2 parties that reserved separately could sit together - not a big deal, but its there. After we moved, it took almost 30 minutes before our drink orders were taken, then quite awhile before we got our apps or food. Eventually I gave up on ordering another drink, though we tried them all throughout the cruise and liked them. Izumi(hibachi): Great food. Allowed to mix and match meats regardless of what the menu said. I got steak and lobster, my wife got lobster and scallops. Show was pretty good, but nothing better than what I've gotten locally for a lot cheaper(when you factor in $15/pp + UDP)...Keeping in mind its on a ship so I don't expect them to use fire much. Wouldn't waste the dinner again. Wonderland: Went here twice. Between the two visits, I think we tried everything except the tomato water. It was mostly really good, but you go here for the experience not the food. The first time, (day 1), they weren't busy and service was really good. The second time (day 8 ) the sever had 3 tables come in at once and the service was delayed but still good. Both times we had the same server, and she was fantastic. Really did a good job with my kid and his requests. The host(?)/ mad hatter was phenomenal. During the second visit he came around entertaining the kids. Made balloon animals, did some cheesy magic, etc. I'm bad with names, but him and the server deserve an extra kudos here. Shows: 1887(Ice skating show): We sat in the front row. Was a great show. Very entertaining. There was a storyline here somewhere, but I didn't catch it. Either way it was a great show Columbus(musical, comedy): This was really good. My kid was on the edge of his seat the whole time, dancing and smiling. Got pretty funny. Some adult jokes which will go right over a little one's head. The Fine Line (water show): Really good. Crazy how these people can do these dives and stunts on a ship moving as much as it was that night. Hideaway Heist(water show, not sure the name is right): This was good too, not as good as the fine line, but a lot of the same sort of things using the same performers. This wasn't a reserved show - it was walk in only... show up early. Grease(musical, comedy?): We left halfway through. If you've seen the movie you've seen the show. Acting was ok, singing was ok. the two mains did NOT harmonize well and there was zero chemistry in the cast. Too long at 1.5 hrs. I wouldn't say that if it was captivating. Adventure Ocean: My kid was only there a few hours. He seemed content enough, but wasn't thrilled to go. There's another significant criticism here: he was crying at one point and they wanted him picked up. They never bothered to use the RC app to message us, instead it seems they tried calling our stateroom, then the stateroom of the people we were cruising with. They could have seen we were at a show by our reservations, or could have messaged us on the app. Seems like a significant flaw in the system that should be ironed out. Other things to note: One particular lifeguard, Alvin, knew my sons name by the second day. Would say hi anytime he saw him, even when we were on our way through for dinner. Made my kid feel special. Keep this guy around. Elevator etiquette didn't seem to exist. Please teach your kids how to use an elevator. Teens were the worse on this ship. The casino blackjack tournament was fun. Few details were available ahead of time but it was $25 buy in for 500 in chips. tables of 7 people, play 7 hands per round. Top 7 from the first round move on to the second round for winner take all $500 cash. There were about 85 players at this tournament, which apparently was an unusually large amount. Room: We were in room 3178, a handicap accessible ocean view room, booked as a GTY. This also happens to be directly under "The Attic" which has the midnight night club in it. We woke up every night to the noise and the music from the club. Great job Royal, putting a family with a six year old below the night club. We got 3 towel animals. I feel like the attendant was doing the bare minimum, or perhaps very new. Not super personable, but we also didn't ask for anything special. I tipped an extra $100, which in retrospect was probably too much. We also had an issue on night 2 where the toilet wouldn't flush but seemed to be resolved a few hours later, and the shower would have no hot water sometimes. I may have forgot to add things, or if anyone has questions, please ask.

Final day on the ship and we were at PDCC. I woke up earlier than everyone else and took a stroll along deck 16. I walked into the solarium of the ship for I think the first ever time too.....It's pretty nice in there.I never even made it there last year. Wile walking around I got this nice shot. Freedom was already docked. We booked a water park cabana because now that both kids are big enough to do all the slides they are really into that sort of thing. We also like cabanas because it's an easier "home base" and we don't have to worry about finding chairs, and having someone bring our food and drinks to us is nice too. While we loved the Beach Club experience last year, the cabanas were going for 2k for a beach one and 3k for an over the water one, that was a price that I just don't see the value in. In another FB group a question was asked about what water park cabana to get. One that was recommended was #43. I asked Derick about this in pre cruise communication and he said he would see what he could do. It turns out with Freedom there, some were assigned to Oasis, and others assigned to Freedom. It turns out that 43 was assigned to Freedom, so he said he was able to get us 44. These cabanas are right by the exit of the Red/blue slides. Based on the map, it looks like 43 and 44 are tucked back in the corner. It turns out, that the numbers are reversed, and 43 is the one all the way right. We were the second one in. (where it says 47) We were too excited about the day, so I'm sorry to let all of you people down, we completely forgot to take pictures. I can say that there is some privacy, because there is some flowers and vegetation that separates the slide exits. We did have a couple people sitting in our chairs at one or two points waiting for their friends to come down the slides. This was easily solved by placing towels on those chairs. Other than that, I had no complaints about the location. It was fun watching people come down off the slides, especially the tall red one. Our cabana was tucked back enough that we didn't feel like we were completely on display, and our attendant was always there when we needed him. It also afforded easy access to all of the slides, activities and most importantly...the bathrooms! If you want total privacy, the ones by the wave pool are completely isolated, but you are far away from everything. Our friends we made from across the hall, Brian, Danielle and their kids also had water park tickets, so they found chairs right behind our cabana. Johnny was thrilled that he had a friend to do the slides with etc, and they were off. Lydia also got to hang out with a really sweet girl she had made friends with on our St Thomas excursion. We spend the whole day in and out of the cabana. We ended up inviting Brian and Danielle to hang out with us in in the Cabana. We approached the attendant about the maximum number of people we could have. He mentioned that the most he could serve was 6, so with the kids off all the time it never was an issue. We also made sure to not make it an issue either, and didn't abuse our privileges. We got some crispy chicken sandwiches and showed Brian and Danielle the mozzarella stick hack, much to their delight. We spent the whole day laughing and going down slides. I went down the red one, the drop slides, spent time in the wave pool and raced the kids on the mat slides, ate some great food and had some yummy drinks. At the end of the day, after getting off the last slide, Julie brought out her inner Clark Griswold and probably summed up what all of us adults were thinking when she exclaimed...HOLY SHIT!! WHERE'S THE TYLENOL?!!? I know it sounds so cliche, but it really was a perfect day. We headed back to the ship at the nearly the last possible moment. We had some time to kill and the kids were originally were going to do the slides on the ship. Instead, we needed up hanging out in the room prior to dinner just spending more time talking. Making new cruise friends is so great. The Boss and Danielle are already plotting our next adventures together!

So even though you know full well that this is the rule that your waiter needs to follow so as to not get in trouble, you are going to basically threaten him to do things your way? Perhaps asking to speak with the maitre'd or head waiter would be a better route to go? Please don't put the pressure on the lowest guy on the chain by holding his tips and ratings hostage to him breaking rules. You could probably ask to speak to the restaurant manager before your first meal to try and get this sorted out without involving the wait staff.

General rule for balcony rooms: 1. From the deck plans, position yourself in the hallway of the deck you are considering. Make sure you are in the hallway. If you use this process while viewing from the “outside”, you will be exactly WRONG. 2. Find the closest set of adjoining rooms to yours. The adjoining rooms are signified with a double-ended arrow. 3. Again, from the hallway view, select the room on the “right” side of the double arrow. This room is the “right” one….the one with the bed by the slider. 4. Then, begin alternating down towards your room. Right, wrong, right, wrong, etc until you land on “your” room. If your room is “right” your bed will be by the slider. If it is “wrong”, the bed will be by the bathroom. This process works regardless of which direction you start “counting”. Some people prefer the bed by the bathroom, so “right” and “wrong” is a relative term….but for me, “right” is the bed by the slider.

Oh you'll smell it. Don't worry.

A potential other option: if you and your hubby are okay snuggling on a full size mattress, the king can be split into two twins which the boys could use.

We woke up the next morning, and the elevators reminded us that it was the worst day ever. The view from the balcony confirmed my worst fear, we were back in Miami We met Derick outside coastal kitchen after breakfast and he used his magic genie card and brought us down to the promenade for disembarkation. He brought us to a door behind guest services, and we sadly scanned off the ship. We exchanged hugs and goodbyes at the elevator in the terminal where he turned us over to shoreside staff. I felt bad for him because you could feel his sense of urgency to get back to the ship and ready for his next set of guests. I hope all those events he has to plan for this week go off smoothly. Shoreside staff brought us right to our luggage, which was easy to find, and since we had passports we were able to do the facial scanners. I took all of 5 minutes from leaving coastal kitchen to being outside. Since there was a large group of us, I had booked with Uber premier to make sure we were picked up in a large vehicle. Our ride was right on time and soon we were off to our hotel. We were staying in Miami and extra day. We booked the same hotel as the one we used when we came down, so it was a short ride there. We dropped our luggage at the hotel. I had reserved a rental car from the airport to use for the day. Everything went super smooth. Total time from leaving Coastal Kitchen to calling an Uber to go get the rental was 45 minutes. I had planned on going to the airport to get the car myself to limit the craziness that the kids can sometimes cause when they have to wait in a line. When they heard that the uber coming to get me was a Tesla, they just had to come, to say that they got to ride in a Tesla. Our driver was cool, he was originally from NY and had some soft Jazz music playing in the car. He was really helpful too by letting us know how to get around the rental car center, and what to expect/where to go when we return the car the next day.

It's 100% obstructed, by a wall.

He should contact the Canadian Embassy and ask about this and if he may qualify for an exemption. George Bush had to get a special waiver for permission to enter Canada and he was President of the United States.

I JUICY DEETS!!!!!! Sad that he ruined it for others, but crazy interesting!

Both. We were Star Class, so i had a Bloody Mary standing breakfast room service order. But, i would bring a jar to the bar if i wanted a martini. I'd have loved it if they could've kept my jar there, but from experience on Norwegian, i know they are subject to Health Inspections at any time and that would be something frowned upon. I primarily bring them if our stateroom is close to a bar, because, let's face it ... it's a bit ridiculous to be carrying that around all night.

Options for RCI's tagline: Have a Perfect Day at Coco Kay or Have a Perfect Wee at Coco Key?

Oh I was in a food coma way before day 7. I never in my life thought I would say I was tired of eating Filet Mignon. By the last day I was wore out.

I have 4 rooms linked for an upcoming cruise, I have done this plenty of times now. I can check everyone in and make any reservations. I don't think you can swap reservations numbers, but you can change the people on the reservations. You said it's you and the girlfriend on one and your sister and the rest on the other. Your TA can swap one person as long as an original passenger stays on, which is the case. Sounds like your TA doesn't want to make any effort, you might want to look into another one.

Friday night, we were in CK for dinner. We again forgot to take some food picture for all of you. I can tell you we had escargot, and some French Onion Soup, Buttered Poached Lobster, Seared Scallops, The Roasted Pork Loin, and the grilled sirloin. All of the food was very good. I had some cheesecake for dessert, and we also got the chocolate crunchy bar. Johnny tried the baked Alaska and really liked it. This evenings activities included the adult comedy show. The kids were going to stay in the room. Derick was going to send Ice Cream sundaes from sugar beach up for the kids. Lydia said she was too full for dessert. Earlier we were joking about baked Alaska and how big they can be, so we thougggghhht Derick was joking when he messaged Baked Alaska for Lydia and Heather jokingly replied that she would take three.... If sure you can see where this is going, but with Johnnys sundae, three baked Alaska desserts showed up too. Turns out Lydia wasn't as full as she thought, because she ate them all!!! The comedy show was pretty good. Some of the jokes were really funny, others fell a little flat. We also had this sitting in our room regarding our waterpark cabana. I'm not sure if this in new or not, but seems to help with the organizing.

Do you have the reservations linked? We have 3 separate reservations all linked and I can see everyone and make plans/check in for them. Doesn’t have anything to do with being on the reservation only that they are linked. You can do that on the website or the app yourself.

Mer is french for sea..so wind ja mer!

Agree with barjpoe, weather was great this past year in late June. We had aft bcy 9660 and loved it. Bring some binder clips to seal up your balcony curtains for that late sun. You can see the date at the bottom of the TV screen. All we did was to layer up 2 shirts, or a sweater/light jacket.

I’m kinda over the whole hibachi thing. I know all of the jokes and I find the food to be average. However, if I was with others who had never been or a group with children, I would probably go. I would much rather go to the sushi side where I have more choices and it’s quieter.

I either need a wider table or I need move the TV higher on the wall. I have some duplicates too that I am trying to trade for a few missing ships. The old block random size issue becomes apparent when I stack the blocks wrong.

Monday morning, we woke up really early and headed back to the airport. Our flight out was at 7:15. Even with TSA precheck security took about 30 minutes. They have added clear at Miami Airport, but there were a number of people who had clear, but not precheck, and the "ambassadors" were escorting the clear people to the same scanner as the precheck line, so we were still waiting for people to take off shoes and belts etc etc, so that really held things up for us. Our flight was uneventful and we made it back to BWI. We hopped in our car for the drive home and we made decent time, and thankfully got home before the snowstorm hit. Reality had set in that night when we had to make our own dinner plans. Tuesday morning I woke up, and there was no coffee delivery, and I had to do this... This guy was happy I was home though

once again, your gif choice is top notch and completely befitting this scenario

I completely agree. Will wait and see…

My initial thought is we're going from something that was classy to something that looks like a cheap souvenir. I'll withhold final judgment until I actually see it, but that's my first impression

I truly have no problem with once-daily service. AMoF, I prefer it. It seems like we are constantly having to worry about getting out of the room (particularly in the mornings) so that the attendant can service it. Unlike many (I suppose), we love being in our room and spend a lot of time there. We rarely get off the ship and since we have seen all or most of the production shows many times, we rarely go to those either. Personally, I think that the idea of the attendant having to mix day and evening service is going to be a Charlie Foxtrot. Having to keep up with who wants what, when is a logistical nightmare and seems destined to fail….especially if they increase the number of rooms that each attendant services. I guess time will tell…

Funny story... I shared my dining experience from last year on Allure here: Well, we are going to be back on Allure this upcoming April and my husband just heard from our assistant waiter on WhatsApp! We absolutely loved Ali - he worked the WJ during the day and was always saying hi to us. My husband got really excited about dressing up for dinner and had gotten my son into it as well, so they were often wearing matching suits in the evenings and taking pictures with all of the décor in the dining room, so perhaps that was partly why we stood out for him out of all the thousands of people he has waited on over the past year. One day, he saw my husband doing the zipline and recorded a video of him from the WJ. When we saw him at dinner that night, he got my husband's phone number to send him a copy of the video. We're hoping that he reached out because he is still on Allure and somehow saw our names on a new list of upcoming passengers - do you think that is possible? On WhatsApp, he just said, hi do you remember me from Allure, and my husband responded back, of course, so now we're just waiting to hear back again if he is still on Allure and if we might run into him in April!

Totally agree with both your statements.

Yes, this is what I experienced last week. It's dumb. Royal really isn't accomplishing anything with that policy other than to annoy a guest.

And here is the ChatBoot song for CocoKey Verse 1) I'm feeling the sunshine on my skin As I step on the sand, I'm ready to begin Exploring a place, so full of fun CocoKey Island, where the good times have just begun (Chorus) CocoKey, CocoKey, where the island never sleeps A place to swim, surf, and play, the memories we will keep From lounging on the beach to zip-lining through the trees CocoKey Island, the place to be (Verse 2) The crystal clear water, so inviting and blue Jet skis, paddleboards, there's so much to do Taking a dip in the pool, that's just the start A day full of adventure, let's play our part (Chorus) CocoKey, CocoKey, where the island never sleeps A place to swim, surf, and play, the memories we will keep From lounging on the beach to zip-lining through the trees CocoKey Island, the place to be (Bridge) Feel the sand between our toes As the island breeze blows We can relax and let it go Or try something new, you never know (Chorus) CocoKey, CocoKey, where the island never sleeps A place to swim, surf, and play, the memories we will keep From lounging on the beach to zip-lining through the trees CocoKey Island, the place to be (Outro) So let's pack our bags and hit the road To CocoKey Island, the perfect abode A place to make memories and have some fun CocoKey Island, under the Caribbean sun.

If you made it all the way to day 7 before the onset of food fatigue you did damn well. It usually hits me by day 3.

Lobster is the entree with charge for 2nd one. I'd ask waiter for what you want and see if it's OK. It probably will be. No need to work around, just don't waste food.

We were thinking of bringing gummy bears and rainbow sprinkles to turn the free ice cream into a more special treat for the kiddos!

Considering 4/9 is Easter, I'm going to have to call that a holiday travel premium. A close relative of price gouging, but at least a predictable one.

I had to work hard to get a paper copy on the allure, they really didn't want anyone to use paper. But on the enchantment, I never even asked and it was delivered to my room every night. I understand the importance of going paperless, but I do have to admit that I find the paper compass so much easier to sort through than the app! And on Enchantment, the app was often incorrect.

I tried using the app but my screen turned yellow from my highlighter.

I, also, have been seriously disappointed with the pork belly in the past. A couple of weeks ago, on SY I decided to try ONE more time but when I ordered, I asked them to please make sure it was extra crispy. It was great ! When it’s soggy and kinda limp, it’s rather disgusting, but extra crispy made all the difference.

Keeping video off is always an option: this is how I eat, drink, roll my eyes, and make choking motions at others without getting in trouble.

for what SC costs, i should HOPE they don’t enforce the extra tail charge fee

Benefits changed. But RC's copy editing has not