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Of course there was more shenanigans. On our flight were two very Gen Z girls, could have just been 18/19 maybe. They boarded with a cat. The cat was in the carrier, but they also had one of those ugly Sprayground backpacks. They were in the row in front of us. As soon as they sat down, they took the cat out and put their feet on the back of the seat in front of them. A flight attendant was nearby asking if people need help. It had been announced that it was a full flight, and some people's carry-ons would have to be checked. She told the girl since her cat carrier was at her feet, she would have to put that backpack in the bin. They got really rude and was like "I know this F'ing B isn't talking to me!!!" She was like excuse me and they were like " we have flown before; we know what to do." She calmly was like I am looking out for your safety; you can't have multiple bags at your feet, nor can you have your feet on the seats like that for takeoff and landing. Her friend was like go away old B and bother someone else. I felt bad for the flight attendant, they started laughing and calling her names. She walked away to help someone else, and they got loud. Started doing Tiktoks or snaps, then playing really loud trifling music. So, she came over and said they needed to use earbuds. They started complaining about her only bothering them, she replied they were the only ones needing her assistance. She told them to be nice and turn their attitudes around or she would remove them. They shut up, and the friend put the backpack under her seat, since all she had was a fanny pack. They mumbled about her but other than keeping the cat out for the whole flight, they were quiet. We ended up an hour late and the flight, while direct for my brother and I, had 47 connecting flights attached to it. The flight attendants asked if we would allow those with less than 25min to connect to get off first. Most people had no problem with this........except those girls who were loudly complaining........despite the flight being their last stop. Once we let those people off, they stood in the aisle, waiting for their turn. Mind you I was in row 32 of a 39-row plane. Because of so many connecting flights our luggage was waiting as soon as we made it to baggage claim. A few minutes after getting our bags we saw them walk up. She loudly facetiming her friend, complaining that because the plane was late her "money pig" couldn't pick her up and she would have to Uber at his expense. I will admit I googled that term. We got Lyft maybe 5min later and was home before 5pm.

Just saved $1011 on a November Icon cruise.

Day 8: Miami, FL (Disembarkation ) Since we’ve had the Key for the last few sailings, we were so used to just disembarking when we felt like it. We would get to the MDR for our Key breakfast around 9:00AM and leave the MDR close to 10:00AM. Since we skipped the Key this time, we were assigned an early time to disembark (8:00AM). It was later changed to 7:45AM. We chatted with the waiter the evening before and he smiled and said not to worry, just don’t disembark before your assigned time. He told us to enjoy our breakfast and then disembark. We headed to the MDR (Deck 3) for our breakfast (around 8:00AM) as Deck 4 was reserved for the Key folks. Christine had the Omelet You Way and I had The Classic Benedict… of course we had the fresh squeezed OJ… had to use the DBP one last time! After breakfast, we headed up to the Promenade (Deck 5) to disembark. The announcement was made that all numbers had been called, but the promenade was still very busy. People were just sitting down at the tables inside and outside the bars/restaurants. The line to disembark was relatively long, so we grabbed a table in the back of the pub and waited for the crowd to disperse. We were trying to kill a little time as I had read that the Premium Lounge at the Brightline Station does not open for you until 2 hours before your departure time. We booked 11:45AM tickets, so we wanted to make sure we could walk right into the lounge upon arrival. When the crowd thinned out, we disembarked. Oh the temptation immediately as we entered the terminal… Our luggage was where it was supposed to be and a porter met us and escorted us to the waiting area so we could grab our Uber. These porters are awesome as he took us through roped off areas to avoid the masses of people and bottleneck waiting outside the terminal at this point for rides, etc. Our Uber driver dropped us off at the Miami Brightline Station. Once again, we decided to take the Brightline for a few reasons: (1) The flights from MIA and FLL had layovers in Baltimore (BWI) and would get us home after 10:30PM, (2) The 5:50PM flight from MCO was a non-stop which would get us home hours before the flights out of MIA and FLL, and (3) Just because… we always wanted to try Brightline! We booked Premium tickets at $104 pp (normally closer to $149 pp)… the rates varied based on departure time. The departure prior to ours (10:50AM) was $144 pp. Trains leave roughly every hour and the trip is approximately 3 hrs, 30 mins to Orlando. The waiting area… The Premium Lounge… all food and beverages are included in the Premium fare… It was so nice to relax for a bit before our train departure. Way too early for beer! … time to board! We were in the first car. The Premium fare also included one checked bag each. Since our bags were huge, we choose to check 3 bags and paid the $25 charge for that 3rd bag. Matt had pointed out in one of his reviews that you can take luggage into the car when you board… we did see the area in the front of the car for baggage. If we ride Brightline again on the Premium ticket, we’d probably take one of the bags into the car to save that $25 fee. Carry-ons go directly above your seats (think planes). Don’t expect a beautiful view during your trip! The windows are covered in the wrap you see in the above pic which doubles as tint (I’m assuming)… this is the view you will have if you have a window seat… Started updating the live blog! Made good use of the time on the train! Here is the menu. We had a dedicated attendant/conductor in our car that stopped by at least once between every stop. The menu has prices for the folks that choose the Smart fare. All of these items are complimentary with the Premium fare… The first little goodie box contained these items… Later, lunch arrived… you can choose the sandwich, etc… The food was not bad, but we missed the awesome food on Icon! A pic of our car… very comfortable seats with plenty of legroom! The seats in the foreground have tables. Our seats had the fold-down tray tables which we nice and large (see above pic with my iPad spread out). Yes… on the way to the Orlando station located inside MCO! A couple of shots once we departed the train… you can see the control tower at MCO in the distance… We stopped for our checked bags before heading to the Southwest terminal (A/B bldg.). Just a few more pics of the Brightline terminal in Orlando... We checked our bags and entered the terminal to kill more time. Our flight was delayed about 2 hrs, 30 mins due to weather in Texas that apparently threw off so many flights! Our 5:50PM departure did not take off until almost 8:30PM… Love this artwork in the terminal… looks so realistic! Once onboard, the flight was uneventful and we arrived home from the airport around 11:15PM. I’ll be back in the next day or so to wrap it up! Have a good night!

Day 3 - Beautiful sunrise and like glass blue turquoise water pulling into Bermuda at 8a. Ordered the Blueberry Muffins and Grits and Trish got the pink glazed donuts (still warm) on the balcony as we pulled in. We booked the 9am excursion (3 hour snorkel tour) to the shipwrecks of the Constellation and the Montana. I really recommend the excursion. Boat ride was just right temps were in the high 70s and water was just about the same. Great tour guide gave the history and answered general questions about Bermuda. 2 things I learned that all the roofs are white to collect and purify the rain water and Bermuda has the most shipwrecks, due to the large surrounding reefs. They provided quality equipment (snorkel, mask, inflatable life vest and fins). Great sightings of fish and the shipwrecks most in 20 to 30 ft of water. We spent about an hour in the water and the Capt. kept throwing fish food off the boat, which attracted schools of fish. Trisha was laughing the whole time in her snorkel cause I can't stand when fish try to nip at you she certainly didn't hold back..haha .I had the GoPro and captured tons of fish and the wrecks. I'll post some pics tomorrow. For the drinkers they provided free Rum Swizzles. Great views of Liberty going out and in. Dress in your best Whites for MDR. We got the reservation card for a permanent table 5:15p, so we scoped it out prior to committing...haha. Love the recon of the unknown table location. It was in a set of twos and 3 away from the window, so it was a go. Reuben the area supervisor in our section was like" where have you been the last 2 nights?" ahhh hello you had us switched to MTD..everyone acted so surprised..yea okay whatever. Trisha looked great and was looking forward to wearing her white dress. She had the Roast beef and said it was ok..a little fatty and I had the Chefs recommendation of Fish and Chips with pea puree. Same, it was ok. Love and marriage show was packed and great as usual. Another great day!

Oh my! I'm sure those brats consider themselves influencers. Beyond rude! And now, thank you, i too shall be Googling ....

Shut up!! Follow my lead here: Dear Michael Bayley, I have a personal favor, and I'm certain you will help. I was adopted. Recently i found my birth mother and learned that i have a half-brother. As it happens, he will be boarding the Wonder in Port Canaveral on 6/2 when we will be docked there on Symphony. I don't feel like getting off the ship that day (you should really reconsider that port stop); however, and here's where you come in, it'd be great if you could arramge a ship tour for him on Symphony so we can reunite after many decades. If not, I'll be forced to scream like a lunatic and wave like a mad woman and say hello for the first time from a hundred yards away. Does that sound silly to you? It does to me, so make it happen! I look forward to your prompt positive reply. Thank you. Best, SweetPea (find me on the Royal Caribbean Blog).

Ok…and I just looked it up!

Our first port of call brought us to Trieste, Italy. When researching what to do in this port of call Slovenia came up many times as the boarder crossing is only about 15 minutes from the port of Trieste. We opted to do a tour through Trieste Tours that would take us to Lake Bled followed by a visit to Ljubljana. Visits to Slovenia were not offered directly through RCCL which is unfortunate because the country has a lot to offer. I booked this tour for 95€ per person about a month prior to sailing and we got the last two spots. While sailing into the port today I noticed this abandoned yacht, come to find out it was a Russian super yacht seized by the Italian government. After some breakfast at blu we headed off the ship to catch our 9am tour. The trip to Lake Bled was around 1 hour and 45 minutes. On the bus we were given some historical information on the city of Trieste and the history of Slovenia. The drive was beautiful, between driving through mountain tunnels, to seeing Croatia, Slovenia, and the Italy coasts side by side from a mountain view it was worth the trip. When we arrived in Lake Bled we were given an hour to explore on our own. We took some photos and walked around the lake for a little bit and then made our way to a beautiful restaurant on the lake for a local glass of wine and beer. The lake was stunning to say the least. There are many hotels that surround and you can bike around the lake, take a boat out, swim, and visit the church and castle. We even spotted a chairlift for skiing and the alpine coaster they had running up on the surrounding mountains. I hope to visit again someday. We met the group back at the bus to make the trip to Ljubljana which was around 25 minutes from Lake Bled. The city was beautiful with a Boroque architecture blended with a mix of culture. The country is a hidden gem in my opinion. Ljubljana was a lovely city with cafes, restaurants, and shops lining the river. The local people seemed so happy enjoying a street faire and a group of young men singing a famous Slovenian song in the street. After a short city walking tour we had around 2 hours on our own to explore. We stopped at a local wine bar to enjoy a charcuterie board and some drinks. We then headed back to Trieste where we had about an hour long drive. Our tour guide played some traditional Slovenian songs including the national anthem on the drive back. I loved the tour and would highly recommend. Once back in Trieste we stopped to see the town square, the only one in Italy with coastal views and then enjoyed some delicious Gelato by Marco. Once we got back to the ship we freshened up and enjoyed an early dinner at blu. After dinner we got a glass of wine at Cellar Masters and enjoyed the sunset and sailaway from Italy on our balcony. Looking forward to a full day at sea tomorrow!

Let the record show that a Dyson Airstraight worked perfectly fine with and without a EU adapter when plugged into the 120V AV outlet on Icon.

Hurry up June lol! One week from today…..

Re: I looked up incognito because I didn't want them recommending anything like that for me.

This is it right here. In the grand scheme of things, recovering the cost of a vacation is important, but if I couldn't it's not devastating. Having an event that required getting Medivaced back to the US could potentially bankrupt us.

THIS! My wife is nuts and even misses snow. I'm perfectly fine without snow but I miss it being in the 50's or 60's for more than a few weeks per year. Anything below 70 and the locals grab their coats. It was near 100 here this past week (either tied records or missed by 1 degree)... and it's only May! Disgusting. Hopefully the weather is nice on CocoCay next Monday... low-mid 80's and windy sounds wonderful right now, lol.

The only pigs I want to see swim is the bacon in the pan

I am no expert....FAR from it, but I have read in many places that the insurance that you get through the cruise line has very poor coverage related to emergency medical and evacuation. Since this is my primary concern, we have used Allianz for many years. I have never made a claim so I have no idea how useful and/or comprehensive the coverage is....let's pray I never have to find out.

What is the attraction of swimming with pigs? Not judging, just genuinely curious. I think it sounds yukky.

Add me to the Google look up crew... yikes!

HA ! I knew pigs were smart !

Seconded. I already complimented your pics & told you I was following even though I have no plans to book Icon just b/c you did such a great job capturing it but it’s worth repeating. Same goes for Brightline. I looked into it since I refuse to drive to South Florida but it wasn’t appealing to us b/t price & logistics but it looks great. You really captured it & I understand why those who don’t mind a little extra travel (like Matt) use it. Sorry about the plane delay. I haven’t flown since 2018 but that last airport pic is exactly how we looked waiting for our red eye out of Vancouver after 18 days in Alaska. Thanks again!

Awesome.. thanks again for this. Great pics throughout the whole week, you really gave us a feel of everything!! At first I thought that was pretty pricy for a short train ride, but that lounge looked super nice, (and if I still drank- those beers woulda been flowing!. Looked like a nice hotel breakfast set up. I always love "The traveler" statue, as well... lol.

I always begin my live blogs with a firm intention of keeping up with them and posting amazing pictures. As the drink pkg takes its toll, I begin to peter out lol. But this time, I will once again do my best!!! I'm Jane and this will be my 9th cruise. I took my first cruise with my 3 teenagers in 2015 because I had to escape Chicagoland's brutal winter. Since then, I have found my love of cruising battles my love of Disney for my money (and now Europe, but I solve that by visiting Disneyland Paris and taking Mediterranean cruises). This cruise came about as my husband and I was sitting looking at the gloomy weather after a bottle of wine and realized that our school schedules would give us a week off together before Jeff started teaching summer school! YOLO book it so we could planner purchase stuff on Black Friday. Our last cruise was on Harmony, and we never got off the ship except for perfect day, so we decided it was time to look at itineraries and a smaller ship for this one. In the end, Rhapsody was perfect. Our itinerary is 7 days out of San Juan: Day 1: San Juan Day 2: St. Croix Day 3: St. Thomas Day 4: St. Maarten Day 5: St. Lucia Day 6: Barbados Day 7: Sea Day We originally got an Ocean view guarantee. It took forever but we finally had a master station and I discovered with the barcode trick we were on the 2nd floor, midship. I was a little worried about being that low simply for smells etc on an older ship, but you get what you get with guarantee. Anyway, decided to try Royal-Up, which I've tried a couple times before and never got. I put pretty low bids on a js, ocean view balcony, ultra spacious ocean view and a spacious ocean view. We found out last week that we were moved to a spacious ocean view #8048. The room has a floor to ceiling window and is right across from the elevators, which I love. My only concern is that we are right under the pool deck. But Jeff and I could sleep through herds of elephants crashing through our room, so I think we will be ok!!!! We bought several excursions (great black Friday sales, because they never went that low again), the deluxe drink pkg (that price did get better eventually... Lowest was $64.99 and it hit that several times including just a couple weeks ago). I purchased the internet for $17.99 but then cancelled... Because I had fomo. I stayed up and was on right at midnight ship time for check-in times and got 12:00, which I think was truly the earliest for our 8pm sailing. But when I thought about all those key people getting on an hour earlier, I couldn't take it lol. So the key was only $2 more per day and it included the lunch. That and the 11am boarding are really the only benefits on this little ship, so I figure I paid about an extra $40 for the privilege of getting my Lava flow am hour early. For me, it was worth it. We are being thrifty with dining though, and are planning no specialty dining this time (we were so fooded out by the end last cruise). We may regret it.. especially since I hear mixed food reviews. We have never had a overall bad cruise meal wise though, and really aren't picky, so we will be ok. If we suddenly get offered a BOGO or big discount off, I will maybe do it (I really love chefs table and we decided not to do that when we splurged for the drink pkg). We are figuring after the port heavy days, we might just be tired and hit windjammer but we are really trying to give the MDR and the new menus/shorter time a shot! I will truly miss park cafe and solarium bistro breakfast, but might actually try the MDR breakfast for the first time. We stayed home this memorial day weekend (exhausted at finishing the school year) so we can pack. The puppies (our 8 and 6 year old schnauzers) make us feel very guilty about leaving so we have spent the rainy weather today snuggling with them!

one of you DM me what this means with some creative asterisk pls bc i am not about to look it up

I haven't received a paper copy on the door or an email copy since the restart. Now I make a point of getting one at guest services before heading to bed on the last night.

@OCSC Mike I can vouch for this. Once upon an unfortunate time, @SweetPea and I had the same crappy TA. She is very good with photo editing. Let's just leave it at that

I've been known to do worse ....

Just realized you'll be at PC docked next to Wonder/me for a few hours until we leave. Does Royal offer an excursion to check out the ship next door?

There's a standard list to choose from that the Genie will send you for stocking the room. There are some drinks you know are available on all Royal ships, but they have to be requested specifically and won't be on the initial list. If you want something they don't carry onboard you make make a special request and they will fulfill it if possible. This is the list we got the last time: Minibar Selection As our esteemed Star Class guests, you get access to an exclusive minibar set-up which includes Evian & San Pellegrino water. With regards to other beverages, kindly let me know your choices from the selection listed below: Coca-Cola Beverages: Coke, Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Ginger Ale. Juices: Minute Maid Orange, Minute Maid Apple. Beers: Corona, Dos Equis, Budweiser, Coor's Lite, Heineken, Michelob Ultra. Once on board, if you wish to add anything to your minibar selection from the beverages available on board, you can let me know.

I work at a port in the Philly\NJ area and believe me, I've already started looking into the slim possibility of moving down that way and working at one of the container ports or warehousing facilities to have an excuse to move down there. Like Mike, I don't LOVE Florida, and I think I'd miss the seasons up here, but it's always nice to dream, ha. (Oh I meant to mention earlier, that Autumn dinner was one of our favorite meals, too... simple but good)

We have GEOBlue Trekker Essential annual plan. Like you, hope we never use it!!!

Check out this podcast episode all about travel insurance and why it's not all the same https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/podcast/episode-510-how-pick-travel-insurance-plan

I've posted this more than once. I'm definitely not Florida's biggest fan for various reasons but I cartainly appreciate and realize we are fortunate to live here when it comes to cruising.

SO agree with you. I have read instance of their little hooves [accidentally] scraping and cutting people....I think that's why you have to feed them with a long stick. I love love love pigs but I have no interest in swimming with them !

Agree with everyone else. This has been a wonderful blog and you provide soooo much information. Thanks particularly for the Brightline info. It's not in our immediate future but I would love to try it once the logistics are more favorable.

You're welcome! So envious of your location! Florida is a strong possibility for us when we retire due to the awesome proximity to everything! We enjoyed the Brightline trip, but it's not likely we'll repeat. We'll probably deal with the layovers the next time. It's definitely nice to have it as an option now.

Not until you get up into the highest level suites and even THOSE are sometimes hard as a rock. I will say this - we just sailed on Wonder in an average balcony and that was the most comfortable mattress I have EVER slept on, on a ship and that includes the Star Class rooms that we have had ! That mattress on Wonder was nearly as comfortable as my [very expensive] mattress at home. Royal made an enormous mattress buy a number of years ago and replaced a huge number of their mattresses. Whoever made that purchase should be required to sleep on one of those torture devices EVERY night for the rest of their lives. I think perhaps those awful mattresses are being replaced with "better" ones since Royal got such an earful over those awful mattresses.

Thats been a big problem dealing with itineraries outta Ravenna. You just have to mentally prepare if coming from Venice. Last cruise outta Ravenna, many passengers complained that logically it's more of headache to get to port and were totally exhausted by time arrived. All can say when buses pulled up at Ravenna port, someone had remark it looked like refugees arriving with long haul, traffic and packed bus like sardines. Port is industrial and so small, don't expect much of a terminal or anything. I did first cruise outta Ravenna when cruise line started and it was a pop up tent outside with mini holding area that was so small. No suite area nor barely any chairs to sit, luggage was lined up in same area as passengers waiting to board. Only way i do a cruise from Ravenna is flying into BLQ then train to Port. Much easier and enjoyable train ride.

I find it more logical to stay in Rome then take train down to port. The port area is industrial with limited options. Rome also wide variety of options and it's so easy to take train down to port or grab a shuttle. It's roughly 40 minutes to port from Rome near Termini station by shuttle. Might as well enjoy Rome for the attractions and great food.

I guess it depends on what you are trying to protect. Many people purchase travel insurance to protect against financial loss of the trip itself. I purchase it for the medical and evacuation coverage. With that in mind, I purchase an annual policy from Allianz. It has very good medical and evac coverage. It has decent coverage for things like lost bags, cancelled flights, etc. However, it doesn't cover things like missed ports or cancel for any reason. I believe the Royal policy has at least some coverage for cancel for any reason but doesn't cover expenses that aren't purchased through Royal. Hence, if you have an issue with the airline, I don't think it is covered under the Royal plan. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

The Senior discounts are back. I see some senior discounts on cabanas (PDCC). There is a "Diamond and Above" sale....first time I've seem that.

I hope I'm not the only one who had to google what this was.

I feel like I will spend a lot of my time here, especially if they have pistachio biscottis.

Also the sweet piggies poop in the water. I did it a very long time ago at a resort in Cabo. Never. Again.

You're welcome! For me at least (Christine sometimes gets a little annoyed when I'm posting during the day ), part of the fun is sharing the experience with our group since we've learned soooo much from everyone! However, as most of us know, it's near impossible to do everything on the larger ships in one week! I guess we'll have to figure out a way to do it again down the road!

My family just stayed on Freedom of the Seas last week and got back home yesterday. The mattress was awful, hard as a rock. It had two mattress toppers on it that were completely flat. After the 2nd night my back and hips were killing me so badly that I was having trouble walking on the 3rd day. I wondered if it was because we got a cheaper room. We were in a middle room with no windows. Do the more expensive rooms have better mattresses? I won't cruise on this ship again if I can't have a better mattress.

we did win our Royal up to an Owner's suite! has anyone stayed in 1334 deck 10 on the Liberty of the seas?

There might be truth to that lol

At least you have time to mentally prepare yourself... I think you'd rather have an appointment for a root canal than the WJ.

SWEET JESUS. GOODBYE FOREVER AND ETERNITY.

Now that I have made my way on board, I wanted to share the current selections at Mason Jar. We are having a great trip. Love the selections. Thanks all! Someone in the future may find this helpful.

May 20th, Freedom has at least 3 of us going, including Matt