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I'm telling you, Batman has come around to having "cruise underwear" that he now keeps in a packing cube! And @Yesiamthere, you're handling it all wrong! Batman packs because i do everything else trip-related and he once made an empty offer, asking if he can help with anything. I called his bluff and now the rule is that i get to throw whatever i want to take on the guest bed and he packs it like a game of Jenga. My only job during this time is to keep him plied with cold beers. Glorious.

3 days to go. Chicago weather is horrible. Almost 2K flights have been cancelled. I am so thankful that I wasn't traveling before Saturday. It might still be a mess to fly out in below zero weather but at least I know I can fly out. It snowed quite a bit and there is still one more winter advisory in effect for more bad weather. It will be negative digits on Sun and Mon to top off all this wintry mix of snow/rain. I hope those who cruise on Sat/Sun make it to their destinations safely and on-time. CP closes today and I have received several emails telling me to book my dining, excursions and drink packages. Also, CP said there was a sale on Hideaway passes but they were "sold" out on all my sailings........I personally don't ever think they were available. Shows are still available to be booked for Wonder and Allure, I changed two of my shows and all the times were available. Another confusing thing is the Solurium Bistro became available to book on Wonder yesterday. Well, it popped up in CP but it says, 'We're stuffed! reservations are not currently available." I assumed since we are sailing around certain Jewish holidays it would be reserved for kosher dinning . I received the "arrive at your........" email which has the link for stateroom preferences. I asked for the beds to be split but I don't think they actually read those documents . Mariner will be in terminal 5 and both Allure and Wonder will be terminal 1. Luggage was packed and sat in the living room to be out of the way. Then the winter storm happened and so luggage is now open in the middle of the floor for reconfiguration. When you live in Chicago you own multiple boots and coats to contend with the weather and sacrifices need to be made. As it stands there are 8 bags between the 3 of us , thankfully only one of them is big. I know it's only been three months since my last cruise, but I am excited to not have to cook, clean, or wear a lot of clothes.

Side note here, with most likely an unpopular opinion. I actually think the bow and Aquadome of the ship look silly to me. One day I was looking at a picture, and all I could see was that the bow area of Icon reminded me of Popeye The Sailer Man, with a giant forehead. I cannot get that image out of my head, so personally, to me, I will be renaming Icon Of the Seas to Popeye of the Seas. I submit for your viewing pleasure/disappointment the photo inspiration

Oh my, it’s going to be a tough ride for all of us to get to Galveston. Son number two, from Milwaukee, decided to fly out last night, after getting a warning from his apartment complex that their heating system may not handle the upcoming temperatures and wind factor. Son number one, from Indiana, is on the list for possible delays or cancellations. Not sure his game plan. South Carolina group seems to be fine. Coming from Kentucky it’s all about the wind. Main problem is we are not going to really know until flying day tomorrow on just how bad the wind will be. Trying to think of back up plans. I think there’s going to be a lot of people that are not going to make this trip, pray we are not in that group!

Myself I wouldn't buy anything over a couple of hundred on the ship or in ports.

just don’t tell batman @SweetPea

I hate that suitcase leaning against the wall. Well, it’s not actually the suitcase that I hate but what it represents. It represents years and years of this: Me asking hubby to start packing. Hubby saying he will. Me telling him if he waits until the last moment he may not be able to replace what he needed to take. Hubby says, he’s got it. Years and years of this same conversation to where we both knew we were now in “battle” mode. There could only be one winner. Either I would stop nagging or hubby would pack before the clock struck midnight. I’ve increased my nagging, in hopes, he will give in and pack the day before leaving. He started leaving his suitcase leaning against the wall knowing I would have to pass it many times a day. Now we are adults about this. My nagging is done under the disguise of “love” and he answers under the disguise of “love”. An outsider would never detect that there was a battle going on. I know he knows, and he knows I know that only one of us can be the winner. Marriage is the reason the words “passive/aggressive” exist. He will find out packing, just before we leave tomorrow, that he has no clean underwear, and I will be crown Queen!

@Lovetocruise2002That’s what I’m afraid of too. Plan is if lots of delays and cancellations tomorrow then we are driving to Nashville and take a direct flight. Never check our bags.

Brad and Evan here from Florida. We will be in a junior suite on this cruise and then move rooms to the Sunset Corner Suite for the second sailing. We have the unlimited dining package, deluxe beverage package, and passes to Hideaway in Coco Cay for both sailings. Gonna be one hell of a party for 2 weeks!!!

120 days to go! Balance just paid off! All CP items purchased and excursions booked (except our Costa Maya excursion... waiting for it to go back on sale again!). This will be our first time sailing out of Miami since our very first Royal cruise (Majesty) back in 2010! Just updated my iPhone lock screen... love to do this leading up to the next cruise!

We did the same on Wonder on our Halloween cruise. Amazing tour worth splurging for at least once! Hi @Momof4crazytocruise, as @WAAAYTOOO mentioned, you can't access the engine room, but you do get a tour of the engine control room. Just a few pics from that tour! Capt. Rob (far right) returned to the bridge during our tour!

It was going to rain on our embarkation day so Batman waterproofed our luggage with a garbage bag, which i made fun of by referring to us as "Star Trash." He saw my point and decided to waterproof from the inside with a painter's tarp. The underwear was missed in that repacking effort ..... He blamed all black underwear inside a black suitcase. Where it all started:

My 11 year-old at the time went overboard with pina coladas and milk shakes from Johnny Rockets using the refreshment package on day one of his first cruise. He learned his lesson with a massive bellyache that night and was a lot more responsible the following days. But he loved being able to go to the bar by the pool like an adult whenever he wanted. I am taking him again next Christmas and the first thing he asked was if I was going to get him the drink package again. I do go to guest services and have them shut off his ability to make purchases with his sea pass.

I think it's more of a keeping the swiping in check..making the kiddo ask for the card and to get a drink so they don't down 65 pina coladas and go into a sugar coma.

This was my parents, but about leaving to go somewhere on time. My mom would do all the stuff to leave a little early and my dad would habitually leave just slightly late. As kids, we would be sitting in the car watching my mom fume...

Picture courtesy of CD Marc Walker

A new data point…. I checked in today for the second leg of our Radiance B2B and just as with the first leg, I received the invitation to Royal Up shortly afterwards….so it seems to be very consistent for me that RU becomes available immediately after check-in. Not sure I will bid on this one since I have a room exactly where I want to be for leg 2. I’m still thinkin’ about it.

Uggggh human interaction

I can't speak to the coffee as I do not partake, but the soda is only at the bars and would come in cans. They do have bottles for mixers but I believe they give full cans if you just want soda to drink

I am at school looking at the window. Hubby is picking me up. I don't like driving in the snow. Have a peaceful flight and cruise.

I just checked Hampton Inn Webster. Since I don't know your schedule, I selected 1 room, 2 people January 27 for 1 night. Price on the hotel website started at $80.

125 Days to go!

Canceled for weather? Could be up to several hours, unfortunately. Because half the people don’t want their bags, or are trying to reroute them to another flight or airline. Source: my 14 years as a ground baggage handler in a prior life

Hello! The remainder of 2025 including Cape Liberty will be out the week of FEB 12

Royal tries to maintain relationships with countries around the globe. Yes, the U.S. is liberal now regarding these products but in Europe alone as an example CBD products (non THC products) require prescriptions in Austria, Belgium, and Finland. They are outright illegal in Albania, Belarus, Bosnia, Malta, Serbia, and Slovakia. In South America Argentina and Brazil require prescriptions and CBD is outright illegal in Venezuela and Ecuador. I’m sure there are similar lists in Asia and the Caribbean. Are there CBD sniffing dogs at check in? No. Will you get away with it, probably. It’s against policy and I just steer clear of potential travel issues.

see this just goes to once again prove that I know nothing about bars and booze because I thought you were complaining about floaters (ie bugs, hair, spit, dirt etc) in the drinks being served on board..... granted I still don't know what you DO mean...but context here has shown me it's definitely not what I was thinking lol

I can’t agree more. If you’re really interested in seeing the ship, the AAT is the way to go. The Suites bridge/kitchen tours are ok but they don’t go anywhere near the engine room (or should I say, a look INTO the engine room. As @F1guynz said, you can’t actually go into the engine room), or the laundry or the storage/freezer areas or the recycling area. All of that you will see with the AAT. We were very fortunate to have taken the AAT many years ago when it included areas that are no longer included like the crew mess and their lounge/bar. We even got to see the stateroom of the lady who gave us the tour. It is money well spent if you are interested in such things.

While we were offered the suites guest tour we opted for the all access. It was worth it! Here are a few pics! Long pants and closed toe shoes were required for all access though, just be aware. This was on the Wonder.

My only knock on this ship (other than pricing) is appearance. To me, the ship is ugly. Once boarded, it doesn’t matter in the least. But, I feel like in the zeal to pack so much onto one ship, aesthetics got very short shrift. I prefer RC to Disney. But, you have to admit that those Disney ships are just beautiful from afar. The Oasis class started the path down less than beautiful ships from the outside. This one seems to complete the journey.

My kiddos use lanyards when we cruise - while one does tend to try to push the sugar coma thing with drinks, the other just likes having it so she can access the room whenever she wants. They are also older than 5 or 9. I agree with @DoomSlayer that the 5 year old would probably do best with someone keeping their card, but the 9 year old would probably love the responsibility of having to keep track of their own card (via lanyard).

i feel like this tracks wasn’t it one of your kiddos who thought it was “waitress of the seas” instead of oasis? the artistic vision in your family is strong

OK the general consensus in the cruise Facebook group is that so many port excursions were canceled because our time in port has been reduced a little bit, and the excursions that were canceled were ones that were six hours or so and would not have put everybody back to the ship on time. we are in Port from 10 to 330 Today for the first time, all the day-to-day activities became visible on the app. You can't add them to your calendar yet, but you can browse through them. I am remembering how much I enjoy these active, nonstop busy oasis class ships. I have been heavily focused on destination cruising in 2023, this is going to be so much fun to return to the resort style of cruising and fun atmosphere. not to say that I'm going to do all those activities, there's going to be plenty of laying around by the pool. But it's so fun to have so many options.

obviously missed that...guess my quest for perfection in 2024 has ended. What a relief. lol

Many of you know that I was on fence with this sailing for the longest time. Even after we made final payment, I still could not find the excitement for this class of ship. And then over December with my Dad's health, I thought I would be cancelling (still could, I feel like every cruise is a game time decision these days). But yesterday morning, watching live, as Icon rolled into Miami, with my beloved Intercontinental in the backdrop, that is when I first felt a twinge of excitement for this ship. And then, like you said, entertainment opened up yesterday, and now seeing some of the content that has been posted today, I am pretty excited too! The icing on the cake will be if I can get the heck out of Surfside lol

I was looking forward to the cruise, of course, but over the past two days, that feeling has grown to absolute excitement. Reservations for entertainment finally opened up yesterday, so I'm all set there. And today, @Matt got on the ship and gave a live mini-tour of the ship. I'm half packed (since I never fully unpacked from my Harmony cruise), and the dog meals are all prepped and in the freezer. Seriously, gang, I'm ready to go. I have 6 more days of work left.

I always like to save my OBC for on the ship. Because all you see before you are on the ship is pre-cruise purchases, I think of "to spend on pre-cruise purchases" as available to spend on pre-cruise purchases (but also available to spend on during-cruise purchases).

We don't eat out often due to cost and few restaurants where we live, so anything that someone else cooks is a real treat for us.

IME food is basically the same on all ships. Love it or hate it, the food is created from the same fleet standard recipes and fleet standard items. Nearly all ships are supplied from the same warehouses supplied by the same food distributors in bulk. If the food doesn't work for you on Royal that is perfectly acceptable. We all have different tastes. Someone else may love the food I dislike. Someone else may dislike the food I love. That is fine, we are unique individuals. However to be perfectly honest and blunt the food quality has declined considerably on Royal over the past 18 months, for my personal tastes and I do now struggle at times on Royal when I did not three years ago. As a result the number of my Royal cruises has declined and I am now sailing other lines on an increased basis. No one who loves Royal's current state of food should feel insulted by my personal views, we are different unique individuals.

Just wanted to report on my experience with this since I asked the original question. We had booked the 2 bedroom grand suite for myself, my wife, and my daughter's family which included a recently turned 2 granddaughter. The waiter went out of his way to take care of her and help keep her entertained and quiet during dinner (and other meals). However, I did find myself excusing myself early after the main course on most nights to take her down to the merry-go-round while everyone else finished deserts and after dinner drinks. Her attention span was just not there for the duration of the courses. For me, as a grandpa that lives in a different state from my granddaughter, this worked out because we spent some quality one-on-one time together. But for others, I could see them getting frustrated if they felt they wanted the "whole" costal kitchen experience.

We are on another thread for the inaugural, but Brad and Evan here from Florida. We will be in a junior suite on this cruise and then move rooms to the Sunset Corner Suite for the second sailing. We have the unlimited dining package, deluxe beverage package, and passes to Hideaway in Coco Cay for both sailings. Gonna be one hell of a party for 2 weeks!!! Hopefully lots of fun party people to meet

On my C&A free drinks, when I have a rum punch, after it’s made I ask for a floater and have never been charged. Helps to tip.

Wow that is something I have never been reminded about! And it is so easy to not think about those benefits…you’ve apparently had better wait staff than I have! I will just need to be extra cautious in remembering from now on because yes, I have left a cruise or two never having used my 50% off wine benefits …but did enjoy the !

I feel your pain. Hubby feels once he uses his credit card, it's my job to pack.

Same here. We stayed at the Days Inn by Houston Hobby last year. Cheap but recently renovated. I would stay there again.

As we get older, we have to think positive. Just the other day I fell down a flight of stairs. Instead of getting up I just sat there and thought, that<s the fastest I have moved in years! I doubt liquor is the answer. But it's worth a shot. What do you call children born in a brothel? Brothel sprouts.

I'm just glad that I'm going on the group cruise on Icon in June so I get a second week on her. I'm realizing more and more what a big deal this ship is. My only other inaugural was Wonder and that was pretty low key relative to the hubbub surrounding this. Makes me more anxious than excited I feel like it will be a struggle to do and see anything despite having a suite and all I feel like these extra cost items at the complimentary places won't be covered under the dining package..and there isn't any new specialty restaurant to try. We are in a suite so Coastal Kitchen and the Grove might be the way to go over UDP..and I'm especially worried about being told "no" hurting my mother's feelings.

We moved from a connecting ocean view (category CO) to ocean view balcony (category 1B), which was the highest category I was able to bid on. When I booked this cruise (which was an add-on to another Radiance sailing to create a B2B), the CO was the best category left. UGH It was on deck 3. Double UGH. I hesitated even booking this sailing when I saw what rooms were bookable....but I wanted to do a 9 night cruise instead of a 5 night cruise so I booked that crappy CO in HOPES that I could Royal Up. And it worked !!! I agree - I don't recall ever having anyone say that their RUB was accepted the same day they submitted it ! This is pretty much exactly what happened but in truth, the bid was only about 1/2 way to max bet. I was prepared to do whatever it took to get us OUT of that CO room on deck 3. As it turns out, it only cost $300 ($150 each RUB) so I got off cheap. These Radiance sailings (most of Feb and some of March) have been very screwy. One day they are completely sold out and all categories are showing "Closed" and the next day there are new/different categories available. I'm very relieved to be out of that deck 3 CO ! Another reason that I was willing to submit a RUB on half of our B2B is b/c we were already going to have to change rooms, anyway....so there was no incentive for me to just suck it up and stay with my original room. Thanks !!!! I'm about 3/20 on RUB ! LOL

We received the official Royal Up email today... Looks like we need to bid $11,450 total to have a "strong" shot at Sky Junior Suite. LOL. I think we'll pass! We already have an ocean view balcony on the stern (14th deck), which I'm looking forward to!

Kareem, welcome to the Royal Caribbean Blog. Nice to have you here. Now, let's talk about your attitude...

Two words - Brittney Griner