Leaderboard

Great flight, and made it safely to the hotel! The boarding bridges at MCI are all-glass, which certainly makes for an enjoyable experience. We flew Southwest, which has an open seating policy. We boarded between A and B group with Family Boarding and found 3 seats together near the back quarter of the plane. My parents boarded around B30, and managed to snag two seats in the row directly in front of us. The flight was largely uneventful - enjoyed some podcasts and a magazine while my daughter enjoyed her favorite movies on her tablet. The best part of the flight was certainly the drink service. We both enjoyed Dogfish Head Strawberry Vodka Lemonade tonight. Would definitely recommend! The best part was that we weren’t charged for them. In my experience they are less likely to charge you if you experienced any sort of delay. Our baggage arrived at the carrousel really quickly. We called our airport hotel for the shuttle service - turns out there is Ground Transportation at both terminals at MCO, and we managed to be at the wrong one. By the time we walked to the other terminal, we didn’t have to wait for than 5 minutes for our shuttle to arrive. It brought us to Hilton Garden Inn Orlando Airport. It is currently under construction for a remodel, so that made me a little nervous initially. But after navigating through the construction structure we made it to the lobby where they were expecting us and already had our keys made out. The rooms are clean and absolutely serviceable for an overnight stay. Didn’t manage to take a photo before we unpacked for the evening, so I may take one before we leave in the morning. Hoping to fall asleep before midnight - big plans to board the world’s largest cruise ship (for now) tomorrow morning!

Took a minute today, no blogging and very few pictures. It was a great day! Early morning walk with cabash and skipped breakfast as well. I don't know why but kiddo wanted JR'S for lunch, why, why why? She works at Culver's, not my favorite but she doesn't ask for much. We got our Diamond photos and attended a dance show at 1200, there's no business like show business. Heather's Dance troupe from Georgia. The dancing was great, energetic and entertaining. The costumes were very appropriate and it was a very nice performance. Tap, Contemporary, Hip Hop and lots of tumbling. JR'S was packed no seats open but some how some way we walked up to the podium as a family was leaving from inside so we had lunch around 1300hrs. The concierges are super on this ship I "wonder" if they will continue as a team, they are marvelous. Kenny asked how it was so I brought up the most important issues for me and the Sky class product. I said if the perks of sky are not afforded on the Wonder like at embarkation it should be noted. We also spoke about how the suite deck was not exclusive at all. Lone behold when I brought up the constant door bell ringing he said security was called when someone caught the kids. So in a nutshell, I'm pretty sure moving forward things will be good. Kenny was very understanding and I felt like he was going to take care to make sure the suite product stays in tact. Even today the suite deck as not secured in any way had lots of people enjoying the space, very few from the actual suite neighborhood. Dinner was good, portions are noticeably smaller which I like. Food was tasty as always. We are packed and meeting Kenny at 0630 for self debarkation. Oh, we saw Effectors 2 again as I had difficulty enjoying it last night. People in rows infront of us were jumping beans, up and down all show. Then there was the loud audio, a mixture of an aqua net/ all spice smell and of course flatulence that made for a show I couldn't enjoy. Kenny got us in again tonight and we sat in the front row, wow did we walk away saying what a great show! Elevators should detect how much weight is in there and skip opening on every floor, sardine can elevators were not much fun. We took the stairs when possible. A bulk of the day we sat on the balcony and read our books, it was glorious. We loved our server, so attentive. He worked on the Symphony for 10 years! That's all for now. I am ready to go home.

First, you weren't even close to what I'd call "whiny" for forum-land. You mentioned reasonable complaints (some of the things people complain about are laughable to me but to each his/her own). If you enjoy blogging, please reconsider. I had no idea if anyone would like my picture-less blog (until I added them at home) and I didn't really care, lol, as long as anyone was reading or clicking the like button. Personally, I want to hear the truth. Your experience is your experience and some of it is subjective anyway (like food). If something bothers you, share it! That doesn't mean I'll experience it or that it will bother me as much but I sure as heck won't stop reading because you had some complaints. If you decided you didn't enjoy blogging or it got in the way of your cruise, then by all means don't. Just my two cents. Have a happy 4th!

July 16th on Brilliance. Chart last updated July 5 at 11:09 pm. Sailing Date Royal Caribbean Ship Person July 6, 2023 Serenade WAAAYTOOO Vision TomGlo July 7, 2023 Anthem FionaMG July 8, 2023 Liberty Melkaps July 9, 2023 Allure luv2sail Wonder Ndfan89 July 10, 2023 Serenade TimeRacer July 14, 2023 Independence Snotarni Navigator WannaCruise Radiance alaska mcleods July 15, 2023 Serenade need2cruz July 16, 2023 Allure Cactus527, DJsMrs Brilliance Rackham Symphony Shaun530 Wonder Bruceleroy, CharmMicah68 July 17, 2023 Independence BethGR July 18, 2023 Liberty Robert M July 23, 2023 Allure CowboyMedic Wonder lovetocruise2002, TXcruzer July 27, 2023 Liberty Irene P July 28, 2023 Oasis PPPJJ-GCVAB July 29, 2023 Adventure smokeybandit Harmony Hutcherl July 30, 2023 Brilliance Fuzzywuzzy Symphony ckruetze Wonder letscruise July 31, 2023 Quantum Ryan79

It feels good to be home! Our day started early in Orlando. Had breakfast at the hotel restaurant - pancakes, turkey sausage, scrambled eggs and fruit. When headed back up to our room to finish packing, I noticed Aziz from Ace Luxury Transportation was already out front waiting for us. I introduced myself and told him we’d be back down shortly. We loaded up the van and made the short drive to PC. There was absolutely no traffic - combined with leaving a bit early, we were standing in front of the terminal at 9:20 for our 10:30 check-in. Were definitely some of the first but didn’t feel totally out of place as there were other groups already there. They had us congregate on the side of the terminal to wait. Eventually, someone came over to first escort Pinnacle, then suite guests, then I think Masters, and then finally 10:30 check-ins. We were probably the 5th group or so in the 10:30 line. By the time we got inside we didn’t stop walking, which seems like par for the course at PC. Everyone was super helpful - the people operating the X-ray machines even gave our daughter a duck. By the time we made it though, we were the second group seated in the 10:30 group of chairs in the terminal. Boarding started right around 10:15. The first hiccup was taking our picture with the WOS back group outside the terminal. When we gave our stateroom numbers, names other than ours were showing up. My guess it was still showing the previous passengers as it wasn’t 10:30 yet. So we’ll see if those show up. Upon boarding, I went straight to Izumi to hopefully make reservations for Hibachi. I was the first person there which I figured was great. The lady working the desk first told me that Hibachi wasn’t included - which I guess is technically correct, but I told her I was happy to pay the up charge. She then told me they were already completely booked for the sailing. That was fine, I had already mentally prepared for that. I wasn’t getting a great vibe from her, so I decided to cut my losses and make reservations elsewhere. Found a kiosk on the promenade with a short line. While in line, I *somewhat* panicked and booked everything in the app before getting to the front of the line. Once there, I explained that I made reservations in the app but was charged was wondering if she could just switch them to my package. She explained that they would be able to see my package and they could take off it once I was actually there at dinner. I’m in YOLO cruise mode so I went with it and we’ll see what happens. Meanwhile, my wife made reservations in AO Babies. I also stopped by the MDR to ensure that everyone in our party was seated together. We are, but in one of the auxiliary rooms. Not thrilled about it but oh well. This all took maybe 45 minutes. The rest of the day so far has included several bars, pizza, hot dogs, the Windjammer and a tour of the main areas of the ship. One moment to share from the Windjammer - my daughter had an accident and slipped and hit her head on the edge of the table. She screamed and cried but settled fairly quickly. One worker named Jam came to our assistance immediately to help comfort her, and offered to get her ice cream. Jam mentioned to us that she has a two-year-old. We are looking forward to recognizing her extraordinary service later this week. We all unpacked and took a nap once the rooms were open. Changed clothes and are heading to the pool deck for sailaway before Giovanni’s at 6:15, followed by inTENse and the comedy show. Will be a fun filled evening! Photo dump:

Half the fleet represented by this site in July alone

A few thoughts, will be adding some pics later that are in Cabash phone. First I know this is a fan site, so I do apologize if I offended or came across as whiny. I was just trying to report our true experience. It was very apparent when I started to report some of the short comings many, many dropped off. I think no more blogging in the future. Be that as it may I had some thoughts as I just mowed my lawn, yes I'm home. Debark was stellar, we had signed up for 0700 with Kenny, but last night he asked if we would like earlier, um yes please! 0630 we hit the lounge and he expressed us to Noreena who was standing by on 5, she walked us to the gangway where there was...ready? A separate line off for Pinnacles, Suite Guests and Keys. We were the first suite guests off I believe. Out of the parking garage by 0645 home by 0840. I can't say enough about how these two concierges worked in unison and complemented each other so well. When I was asked about I did offer how the teens area is more secure then the suite sun deck OR the "if you can find it you can use it deck" and of course the cluster that was in fact embarkation. Cabash went out early this morning 0345hrs or so (he loves to watch the ship dock) & he said there were teens in the hot tub and "sleeping together" on the round day bed nearest the ocean port side, lol! Even the last morning, they must have just met, taheeheehee. One has to separate what Royal can control and what it can't. @Geezer Of The Seas had a great point at what number is there just too many passengers for the sailing to not be enjoyable. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Cabash always reminds me it's a business and business are there to make money. The ship & artwork are beautiful. The elevators for 6936 passengers, many with baby carriages, walkers and scooters as well as 4323 first timers inadequate. Lesser numbers I'm sure would be absolutely fine. One can never fault the Company for other passengers lack of manners OR as I think just ignorance in the nuances of sailing with others. I strongly feel most are not purposeful that just don't know.....Except, I would think it is common sense when you see someone in a wheelchair you hold the elevator door for them, don't rush around him with your party so he has to wait some more. Ugh, that one burned my butt! I actually saw this once so I stayed with him and when that elevator arrived I blocked it with my entire body & called him over to get on, then I went on my way. That still get's my goat!! OMG the water situation was comical. I tried what @asquared17 did, I could not get spring water from the restaurants. Even #CK they would try to pour the ice water and then I would ask for the bottle (sitting right there in the wine bucket) & they would come back with the Tru filtered water ALL WEEK, we took turns guessing how long it would take to get my spring water ( I like it tepid when I eat, no ice) they only gave it to me and then ran and hid the bottle, it was wild. I had the audacity to ask to bring the bottle that was opened for me back to my cabin, NO! Not allowed to leave the restaurant...okay may I please have a few clean glasses? I drained the bottle into my glasses and we brought them back to the cabin, things that make you go hummmmm. Maybe provisioning was short our week. So these were my grass mowing thoughts I may have a bit more of a wrap up later today. I'm looking forward to all you guys trips reports moving forward I hope I took the crazies off with me and your sailings are indeed amazing. Cheers to all who stuck around, thanks for joining us. Take it away @ZBrady I'm excited to follow along... Oh how I missed you!!!!

Resurrecting this! For those who have been around this community for a while, you will remember I use to post this once a month. Then it went by the wayside with Covid, and then the last two years have been so busy at work that I only managed to keep the "When is your next cruise?" thread afloat. Anyway, happy to bring back the "Happy Sailing" thread as well. July 2023 8 - Melkaps (Liberty) 14 - Snotarni (Independence) 23 - lovetocruise2002 (Wonder) 23 - CowboyMedic (Allure) 29 - Hutcherl (Harmony) 30 - ckruetze (Symphony) 30 - Fuzzywuzzy (Brilliance)

@Neesa I don't feel like you were whiny at all. I actually found it to be a positive blog. You always rallied after human error. I often feel like by sharing my honest account of my experience people find it more negative than my intentions. Lots of people forget while it is your vacation, it's also the same for others and we need to remember that. I even have to remind my friends and family of this. Another thing is if the CEO/CFO/COO of any company tauts an experience they need to provide it. Sky class and suite amenities come at a much higher price. That whole area should have been a peaceful Oasis but proped doors meant anyone could be there, making value lost. I say blog if you want. I don't always know who is actively engaged in mine but if it is just @asquared17 I am happy. I enjoy having records of my vacations.

Day 6 Chania, Greece. The Chania stop was not planned but added after Salerno port was canceled. That was not a big issue to us although I wanted to have a tour in the Amalfi cost, we'll next time. There is a shuttle bus that takes you to Chania from the port and its 20 minutes ride . Usually it cost 3 E but this time it was free , maybe due to the last minute port change. Chania is a lovely port city with nice old port and a decent archeological museum. Chania also a very good place to taste Greek food and for some local shopping. We took the 10 am bus and started to walk into the old port. The port: Water were crystal clear Time past fast and we went to catch a snack and headed back to the ship. The last shuttle bus was scheduled to around 2 pm so we opted for the 1 pm bus. It took us some time to find it as many of the streets looks the same but I took a picture of one of the stores next to it which help us to find it. There was a queue of 3 busses by the time we arrived and I guess a 10 busses queue by the time we went on the bus , always it's good idea not to wait for the last minute. Going back to the ship was fast and we went to El Loco fresh for q quick bite, there are serving sour cream who ever is asking. Who said they not allowing pets on board : For dinner we decided to give a try to the main dining room. Service was good and fast although we have been asked many times were we have been hiding until now. The melon avocado salad was very refreshing: The spicy shrimp was RC spicy level which mean not notable but still good After dinner we went to see the showgirl show , it was good and we might see it again. The layer club was next (it was with the captain) followed by the quest , both in 270. The venue was packed and everyone came with high energy, by the way the 270 was always packed , I think some of the activities needs to move to a bigger place. Our team was doing well (guess who came with cruise compas , extra belt and a 20 Dollar note) but due to unfair judgment we came only in the second place. Tomorrow sea day.

On a more positive note, we visited the Solarium on Costa Maya day when the suite sun deck was being chair hogged by who knows ??? A picture of Wonderland and the Wonder model. Random, for such a large ship the Arcade was super small.

There is never a perfect environment at all or we would all be in a bubble 24 7. Reality is everyone is entitled to opinions good or bad. If each of us wasn't truthful on Royal survey or on this blog then how would we know what's going on. Honestly currently on Explorer and it's again things aren't consistent across the fleet with things. First upon arrival at port it doesn't matter who you are key, suite, pinnacle or a pion, people board to time checked in. No designated suite waiting area either. Told cleaning of rooms is only between 8-1pm daily was another example. We haven't left port yet and security already reprimanded a bunch of kids for misbehaving...... As usual parents didn't see anything wrong..... Will say chair patrol is being enforced and no Evian either Hope Neesa you continue to blog and have great holiday weekend For me i am on a cruise which is better than nothing at all....

first off, you were in no way whiny or offended. i actually felt that your reactions were tame, given the circumstances. maybe folks didn’t know how to respond (and it’s okay not to respond), so that was part of it? unsure. but your honesty was welcome, and it’s always nice to speak about the good bad and the ugly. i feel like the concierges redeemed the trip for you all, and that makes me happy. i am NOT happy with the way the suite deck and embarkation was handled. but that’s another story. what on EARTH. i am not sure if this is a wonder thing or a new policy, but… it just seems so bizarre to me. i had previously held the belief that harmony was the “stricter” of the oasis fleet, given some of the experiences that sabrina and others had relayed in their live blogs. and yet i had no issues with water consumption. also i would like to add IF THEY WOULD JUST COMMIT TO EVIAN FOR THE WATER PACKAGE, we would all be fine. (or similar) i know in the cruise planner now it says “evian water package” — and i appreciate the clarity, but i also am so sick of the Tru water that i don’t know if i can trust it. [shakes fist at sky] I HAVE BEEN BURNED BEFORE, ROYAL!!! i am glad you are home safe and that getting off the ship today was seamless. i remember being on odyssey last december and just being READY to depart. it’s the opposite of what you want to feel when you’re on a trip. kudos to you for keeping your objectivity and kindness throughout the trip. i am not sure if i would have been able to do the same.

Oh have I got something good to report, @Lovetocruise2002 and @asquared17. Our very last night, yes actually last night lone behold a clear glass bottle of EVIAN was pulled out of the wine bucket. I was elated, this way.... my water!!! I was poured one glass and as I was having some last night red yummy sangria with my egg fried rice dish, super tiny BTW they tried to take it away, out of the wine bucket before I said oh no, give me some clean glasses. I drained it (like the other) and took them to the show and my cabin to enjoy. I'm sure it was for a Star family who was scheduled to sit at an adjoining table. So they have it!!!! They hide it, but I'm to stealthy for them. Ah, I said that's all me. I asked for just one bottle to take with me, ahem a resounding no! It did seem the Star suites were at maximum capacity and extended family in other cabins so there were a few large 9 and 10 tops set. Keep the water package, if it's the disgusting filtered water just cancel, I did this. It was refunded to my on board account. Easy, peasy.....

First of all, definitely not "whiny". Those points you brought up are legitimate ones. And I truly believe that a blog cannot be all roses either. It should be an accurate reflection of your experiences. I agree with @OCSC Mike, if you enjoy blogging, don't stop because of that. I can speak for myself in that I learned a lot from this blog. It prepares me a bit more, and for that I am grateful. And like @asquared17 said, you reacted better than I probably would have given some of those situations. Yikes! Good thing I did not cancel my water package yet. Now I don't know what to do? Hubby is going to have fit if I end up getting water like @asquared17 did, but if I cannot, then I will be thankful for the water package. 2 weeks and some to figure this out lol Yes! This! According to our Genie on HM, they were having "supply issues" with Evian, hence Vellamo lately on most ships.

premier pass... the gift that keeps on giving

oh i am HERE for this!!!!!!! such as i am but honestly you make me laugh with the shenanigans that always seem to find you, so it’s a mutual joy, my friend AMEN. and i also have to remind myself of this sometimes when i’m frustrated with my perception of things (deck 11 frat parties rip) but there are limits to bad behavior. again, you handled this much better than most of us would have. 100% THIS. i echo @Ampurp85s earlier thoughts of how you always rallied and kept a positive attitude. i can already tell you the hell my mother would have raised about this and it would not have been nearly as well handled wait first of all, i did not know this. and secondly… i am HOWLING THE KMART OF SUITE PERKS oh man the way i needed that laugh. our snarky jersey really does shine at times and i am ever so grateful for it. AGREED. social media has us in this chokehold that everything is ~perfect and we only share the highlights of our life. but that’s not the full spectrum. and sometimes it’s just a bit of a fail. AND THAT IS VALID, too. i can’t wait for @SweetPea and batman’s trip but also… this was a great liveblog!!

Day 7 - Sea day. Today was our second sea day , it was suppose to be a port day but since we had the change in ports we enjoy it. I prefer to end the cruise with a sea day always. Breakfast was in the diamond club, following WJ after we spotted people eating cherrys, as you can see we found the the honeypot:-) , love cherrys I went to the captain corner to hear if any new news about one of the projects, nothing really new but still it was interesting at noon time they hosted the nightmare kitchen which was first time for us as they not doing this game on most of the ships. It a compilation between two teams to cook 3 course meal from products they have to collect in 1 minute. In between , the cruise director change the rules like changing products or switch stations. Each team also getting one real chef to work with thenIt was fun but results were already predicted by having one team with children only. For lunch we went to 270, salds and some melting cheese sandwiches. There was one special show with the ships vocals. Dinner was at the CK again we were happy to see day one menu appeared with the filet mignon, it was called @Lovetocruise2002 night. Once again service and food was not disappointing. Next was the Gold Art duo in a 45 minutes acrobatics/ circuses show. Silent party was organized on the promenade and it was very busy. We went to pack our luggage and prepare for early embarkation day.

Our travelling party was so tempted to leave some bananas in his open palm!

Travel Day! Probably the most we have ever packed for a week-long vacation, but not totally sure what to expect on board with our little one. We have a stroller that is fairly compact and folds up well. One suitcase and one carry on each, which is pretty good I'd say. The large black duffle is for our youngest daughter that is staying with grandparents for the week. For the uninitiated - the Kansas City International Airport opened in 1972 and featured a unique design; the "Airport of the Future" has separate terminals but did not feature people movers, instead opting for a drive-to-your-gate model, with flight gates as close as 75 feet from the road. The major flaw of this design was a lack of centralized security, as each gate area had to have its own security check with limited services inside of the security gate. In 2019 construction began on a single-terminal airport, which opening in February of this year. Our 5:30pm Eastern flight has been delayed until 6:45pm Eastern - our plane coming from NY experienced weather which delayed its departure. So we have even more time than we anticipated to explore the new terminal. The new terminal is particularly spacious and definitely feels like a modern airport. One centralized security check for both "nodes" of the airport. With lots of time to kill we found a place to eat a late lunch and opted for Smoke 'n Magic BBQ - despite KC being known for its BBQ, this restaurant isn't one of the popular ones and its original location is in a distance suburb of the city proper. The food was only mediocre - the best part of the meal was the fries, which you always hate to see. We drank a few Captains and Dr. Pepper (yum) - really looking forward to utilizing the drink package. We spent quite a bit of time at the Inclusive Play Area. The airport also features a Sensory Room and a Flight Experience. One of the coolest features of the airport is the addition of Gender Neutral Restrooms. Airplane just arrived - we'll be in Orlando in no time

I know definitely makes me rethink not using a travel agent.

July 6 on Serenade !!

Definitely note it on the survy. this happened on Allure, I talked to Dexter who was a concierge at the time and he had security patrol for a couple of days. This was during spring break.

Update: Since our GTY cabin was already assigned, I took the advice of you smart people and I called our travel agent and requested a room change to a different available room in the same category. I’m now directly next to our friends. They paid significantly more to choose their cabin. The GTY deal worked out very well for us and I sure appreciate the advice for changing the cabin!

Not sure, but I think there is Blake Shelton song about it. Thank you! We have created a little monster and she loves movies. Luckily she *mostly* will cooperate when it’s time to take away the screen. She is great.

My mother does this. She also makes them come pick up the case of drinking water if that's what it ends up being even if they tell her to keep it when she is refunded. She always gets refunded if she can't get spring water since that's what is advertised when she purchases the package.

oh i am HERE for this!!!!!!! The pressure is on!! Oh ... if we notice this, as we say ... THIS IS GOING IN THE COMMENT CARD!!

@Lovetocruise2002 i thought of you IMMEDIATELY when @Neesa relayed this. almost wondering if you'd be better off KEEPING the package(s) and then seeing if you can use your vouchers to get water. if you so, you can return the water package via a request at guest services -- or a suite concierge i should think would be able to handle this, i would imagine. and if you can't, well... at least you'll have water. though there is the part of me that wonders (...ha... hahaha ) if this is a wonder restriction/limitation rather than a fleet wide issue. i would honestly be okay with the vellamo water except i think it might be tricky to fit in the mini fridge? either way - if i could get a cold vellamo or acqua panna (which DID fit in the mini fridge) on an as needed basis, that would be fine by me. this is just too much oh, the trials and tribulations of water struggles

it's CRUISE DAY!!!!! also your daughter watching the movies on her ipad... girlfriend is living her best life and i am HERE for it hope you guys are aboard by now, if not soon, and settling in your cabins!

No way! First of all, everyone here should be able to take the bad with the good. As you said, your cruise was predominantly full of first time Royal cruisers. Inevitably, at least some of those first-timers do research and enjoy reading blogs before they cruise, even if they don't comment. Clearly some first-timers had unmanaged expectations, and blogs like yours help to set them. You were NOT at all whiny. I checked your blog for updates twice a day! I enjoyed it! I've said this before but our first cruise on Royal on Mariner in a Grand Suite was absolutely abysmal. We were experienced suite cruisers, just not on Royal. We were left wondering why we booked a suite at all; we called Royal the Kmart line of suite perks. I remember finishing the post cruise survey with, "There is a cruise line for everyone. Yours is not for us. We won't be back." Which was true for 11 years, until they finally implemented some rules around mixing loyalty perks and suite perks and introduced Star Class. (Even booking Star Class, with how horrible Mariner was, we were STILL nervous about booking and actually sailing Royal again.) In our 40ish cruises, Mariner still remains "the cruise that shall not be mentioned." So please keep blogging! I've been reading Sky Class blogs a lot to see if we could make the switch. I love hearing all the juicy deets, good, bad, or indifferent. I plan on blogging our September Oasis cruise. We're not loyal to Royal, so inevitably I'll have an opinion or eight on things that i find ... odd. That's what blogs are for!

July 23 Wonder

July 16th Wonder of the Seas!

Sounds like something I would drink... but what the heck is a honeyberry? Hope embarkation goes smoothly! it usually does at PC, not to jinx you.

Each has its pros and cons as noted above. So, the perfect solution would be…do both! Save money on your wedding. Elope on a cruise ship and let the captain marry you!

Thank you for the wonderful pictures. I spent a month in Greece. I love the lemon potatoes. I had a favorite restaurant and they started making them the moment they saw me. I spent some time at the top less beach. That’s another story.

Just got off Explorer and the MDR food was very disappointing, particularly the red meat dishes: steak, roast, prime rib, etc. full of gristle, fat etc. people next to me ordered premium and had to send it back. On the other hand, the service was wonderful, which leaves me in a bind when I give my review to RC. I don’t want the staff to be penalized for food quality over which they have no control.

i wanted to check in but then i also wanted you to be present for the last day and not remind you of needing to pack but here you are!! i…. don’t know whether to laugh or just stare in disbelief right now. WHAT ON EARTH. you and cabash are great parents; we knew this of course, but then to take one for the team and go to JR for lunch… cmon. that’s true love!!! this is the dream, tbh i am praying you all have a sound night’s sleep and smooth departure tomorrow.

Our early morning went well. Left for the airport around 2:30, snagged a parking spot around 4am and was at our gate an hour before our boarding time. Thankfully we took off right on schedule at 6:10. The flight was very bumpy as I don't think the pilot even tried to go around the storms Oh my word, people were coughing and sneezing like crazy at our gate. I definitely made note of who to not sit next to on the plane lol Spent the day driving around Galveston before finding a cute place for dinner near our Airbnb called Lil Buffalo. We split the fries and I had shrimp while Matt had a burger. We are still pretty full I guess we were trying to stretch our stomachs for the cruise. Now just relaxing at our place for the night. We have an 11:00 boarding time. We first need to drop off our rental car then grab a lyft to the port. Can't wait to board!

We've bought policies from insuremytrip for our last 3 vacations - I've never checked out their articles but thanks for letting me know they exist! What I'd love to see is a list of all the coverages available (i.e. lost luggage, delayed luggage, medical coverage, etc.) with a range of their values (lowest coverage to highest coverage, approx) and a *short* paragraph explaining who & when different people should think about each level of coverage for different types of trips. Something really easy, so I don't have to become an expert to feel like I can choose a decent policy for my family/my trip. Or a site that has a slider to choose each item, with a sentence that pops up, like "this is a good level of coverage to have if you are/have/want/care about..." Then recommendations of plans that most closely match my selections.

Day 5 -kusadasi Today we arriving to a new port of call in Turkey, until now I only done some connections via Istanbul airport never visit it yet so we were happy to try this new port. As always for a new port we decided to take a ship excursion to get familiar with the port. We decided to take the panoramic Ephesus which takes you to the important locations in the very old area of Ephesus, as it was going to be very hot the excursion started at 7 am . We drove to Ephesus with a very nice bus while the guide pointing us with several interesting points , this tour is not including entrence to the Ephesus main archeological site and you see it only from the outside which I think is a miss I hope to fix next time. We stopped near what left from Artemis temple which use to be one of the old 7 wonder of the world , as you can see it was repressed by someone (look on the top of the pool) we also passed by near Mary house (which some believe she lived after she left the holy land). The tour was also included a visit to a carpet school which demonstrates how the process silk and weaving the carpets. Usually, such tours are not that good but we both found it to be very interesting. They also offered some snacks and drinks (including wine and raki). After the tour ended we wanted to try some local food and tour the city. We ended up eating some sweet dish and bought some local sweets to bring home , prices are very low and it's a good port for souvenirs. They also sell allot of fake products, like watches and other stuff, many use this signs to indicate it: They sure love cats in Turkey and you will see many shops owner attending to the street cats bringing them food and water. Also many cats statues are found around: We went back to to the ship , while passing via security we saw lots of police officers running and shouting after someone that appeared not local while was cursing them. Later we came to know that some crew members, not sure from what ship, tried to buy drugs , unfortunately for them they tried to buy it from undercover officers... I am sure they never saw the oscar winning movie midnight express ... I do hope everything is OK. Beside that we found this port to be very nice and allot of things to do there, we will surely try to come back. Later we went to see The book production in 270 , although still die not figure the plot the show was nice. There are many more sunset picture so for a change here are some moonlight one.

This. Agreed.

You are overthinking it. Change husband and son now before going, no need to have adult booked in room for adjacent cabins. Cancel the internet and Key perks as well, don't think you will need it for your family.

Day 4 Mykonos. At this day we arrived to one of my favorite ports of call Mykonos. The ship arrived around 7 and they started to hand tickets to the tender boats around 8:30 . Until that time whoever wanted to go just went to the small queue to the tender boats , we got number 28 so you can guess when we worked up, at least no need to work on the cruose anymore. The tender boat brings you to the old port which is 10 minutes walk from the city. Mykonos is very accessible and even for people that visit the island for the first time you don't need any planned excursion . Weather again was very good and we started to walk around the narrow streets. Mykonos is a lovely island with nice restaurants and galaries. We went to see the famous windmills and took some panoramic pictures. After strolling around we went to one of the coffee shops which adjust to the water to drink a Greek coffee and eat some Greek yogurt with honey , it was very good While seating there we saw one of the famous resident of the Island , he was roaming around between the coffee shops and let people take selfie with him. Another island resident complaint about all the tourist We continue our trip in the small city also took sellf with the salt chef that was outside of one of his resturants. We decided to go back to the ship geting ready for dinner which was again at CK with , once again kept its excellent service and food quality. Really like the CK on this ship. We went to see one of the shows , nothing to wrote home about , it was OK. Some more contributions to the RC founds and wrap it with some live music in the music all (and yes also late Pizza and sandwiches) Coming back to the room this guy was waiting for us , we are lucky to have a talented cabin attended Tomorrow, Turkey

Hi, Congrats on the business doing better! You can cancel the extra internet in your cruise planner if you know how. What I'm seeing that you should call about is the room situation. If the rooms are right next to each other or across the hall, you don't need to have an adult listed in the room with the children. That would seem to solve your problem. Otherwise, what I've done when not in rooms next door was go to guest services with both key cards and ask them to swap the guests. They do it no questions asked so that would also take care of getting your husband where you want. I get that it bums you out, but the cruise line is providing you all the benefits you purchased. In any case, if you're cabins are truly adjacent, your problem is solved already.

Day 6 - Ketchikan We woke up today to beautiful views from the balcony of the approach into Ketchikan. Where we had some rough seas last night, being back in the Inside Passage calmed things down wonderfully. On the way into port, we passed by a cruise ship that wasn’t at the dock. I’m not sure what this is. Anyone know? My wife and the 13yo were pretty tiered and didn’t feel up to exploring Ketchikan, so it was just me and the other two kids. Ketchikan is pretty, but there’s a lot of the standard tourist shops. We checked out the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center (run by the US Forest Service). It was $5 to enter for anyone over 16, and free for kids. There were a few really interesting exhibits on the forest lifecycle, indigenous people, the Alaska ecosystem, and the ways people interact with it. It was centered on the Tongass National Forest, which is the largest national forest in the US. It’s nearly the size of Ireland! After the museum, we walked over to Creek Street, which was actually really pretty. The shops were touristy but more interesting than the standard t-shirt fare. We were ready to walk back to the ship at that point. We stopped by Jellyfish Donuts right across from our berth, because I had to try a salmon donut. I’m happy to report that it was excellent. I’d definitely eat one again. It wasn’t too sweet - think salmon spread on a Hawaiian roll. After dinner in the MDR (Italian night, nothing to write home about), I’m hanging out in the Schooner bar. I’m listening to Jayne on the piano, who has an incredible voice. I don’t know if she’s on this ship often, but she’s really great! One more sea day tomorrow and then it’s over. There’s apparently a longshoreman strike in Vancouver scheduled to start tomorrow. Hopefully we can still disembark ok since we’re doing self assist.

From what I've seen and read the earliest time right now is 11am for Galveston. The process is still the same but they pushed back the arrival times. It is a newly built terminal in Galveston and a much larger ship than they were used to so they're probably still working through the process of finding out the operational areas they can improve.

I called 305-539-6000 and was able to speak to someone. They have assured me the resolutions desk removed the gratuities and that we can “sort it out” onboard…

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/international-age-policy It states the rooms must be connecting to do it, but it is allowed.

I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a potential repo from Europe to Singapore... probably won't be able to make the dates work even if there is one but hope springs eternal, as they say.

Yes I do. Royal needs just under 1 ship per year to keep the fleet less than 30 years old. There's a lot of debate about what size/classes they will be, but it is inconceivable to me that Royal will allow the ships to get much older than 30 years.