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3 days to go...... I am so ready to be on a ship, eating drinking and being merry. Today is my very busy off day involving hair, mani/pedis and all that fun stuff. I am fully packed and with my backpack I have three bags in total. So does my brother. My mom texted me a photo and she has two bags, but her weekender is massive so, there is that We have had some interesting conversations over the past few days. As I stated she has had her bus ticket since Oct but on Mon was the first time she opened and looked at the ticket. Just for reference I brought the ticket for her because she found the Greyhound website confusing. It is a direct route with a total of three stops . My brother sent her detailed instructions; which boiled down to take the bus and get off at the Hollywood Sheriadan TriRail station and then take that to the airport to meet us. He sent her step-by-step instructions, with Google images and maps. We spent over an hour on the phone, explaining it to her. Then last night she texted me like "I am getting off at the last stop Miami right?" It was a time. Then despite her cruising several times and making copious comments about the naughty table, she was trying to bring a travel iron.......because it was too cute The husband was doing okay but then he went back to his old ways and now he has an infection in his foot and needs to be taken to the hospital for 10 days to treat it. Luckily, his words, his last friend is getting cancer treatment and will bring him. I told my mother that I am sure this friend will no longer be a friend when she gets back. Because he is an angry vintage that takes his pain out on those trying to help him. Flights are showing on time. Chicago weather is pretty decent for Jan, with current highs in the 40s, but I am still looking forward to warmer weather.

Getting closer!!! Almost single digits!!! Busy weekend... we watched our friend's 3-year-old dog (Cosmo) for the weekend while she went on a short well-deserved getaway. Doubled as sort of a trial run for next week! This time, we're dropping our dogs (Jake & Ginger) off at her house on Wednesday next week (instead of my sister's). All three of our Goldens seem to really get along... The Three Amigos... or should we say Two Amigos and an Amiga? Cosmo (back left), Jake (back right), and Ginger (bottom)... Jake (8), Cosmo (3), and Ginger (9-months)... Ginger is only 9-months old now and she has not met my sister's cats yet... I did not want to take the chance especially since my sister may be away for 8-10 hours each day during the work week. A bored puppy can only get into trouble! I know , any excuse to drop pics of my Goldens! Many of you may remember that our first Golden, Bella, passed in April just shy of her 13th birthday. After we returned from out last cruise, we rescued an 11-week-old puppy and named her Ginger. She has almost tripled in size since June! The first week after adoption (11-weeks old)... Tucker (her littermate adopted by one of my lifelong friends) and Ginger... What a long tongue on Tucker... we joke that he has a "Gene Simmons" tongue! Ginger and Jake playing in the leaves... she's growing like a weed! We've broke the news to them that we won't be seeing their "cousins" Rover or Sailor on this trip... not until next year! OK, got the pups portion of my pre-cruise live blog out of the way! This is our last full week of work and of course we have still so much left to do to prep for next week!

The weather has been absolutely perfect since Jan 2 down here (a little south of @OCSC Mike). THIS is why you move to FL....it's the perfect time of year, weather-wise.

Oh yeah... officially single digits!!!

I was also at the Royal Beach Club yesterday, and man was I pleasantly surprised by how great it was. To be fair, we got lucky. It was flawless weather (75 and a warm ocean breeze) and the resort was very un-crowded. Only ships in port were Wonder and Radiance, so we didn't have the crowds of a third ship to contend with, which I think made a BIG difference. Any time a decent beach club is featuring perfect weather and low crowds, it's going to shine as brightly as it can. But shine it did! Everything about the place was lovely. The beaches are immaculate. There was tons of seating. The staff was fantastic. The place feels so clean and fresh. The drinks were flowing. Even the towels they provide have that lovely soft new towel feel (no need to tote those mediocre towels off the ship!). The pools were warm...so warm...and that was lovely. I'd guess they were set at 86 or 87 degrees, which felt great given that the air temp was a bit chilly for unheated pool swimming. As others have said, the logistics of the tenders over to the resort are fantastic. We walked straight onto a tender in the morning, and departed within 3 minutes even though the boat was only half full. On the way back, same deal. (Note that on less crowded days, it seems like they only drop off at the Family Beach/Party Cove drop point, but they pick up at BOTH drop points so you can get on at Chill Beach). The ride itself is so quick. It's great. So smooth! The food isn't AMAZING, but there was no line over where we ate, the food was ready instantly, it was hot and reasonably tasty, and there was plenty of table seating available. That's good enough for me. All in all, I had modest expectations and it ended up vastly exceeding them. I still think this is more of a prime winter cruising destination than a summer destination due to the value-add of the heated pools (when the ocean is 90 degrees, you don't need heated pools!), but we will go here every time in the winter. And, honestly, we'll probably go in the summer too because my 3 teenage kids all loved the whole thing.

Ooooh..you all will have to report back on how the Silhouette is. I will be on her July 2027 for a not publicly announced yet RCL Blog Group Cruise

Two days until my flight and three until my cruise. Got my small bills yesterday at the bank before work and found our European plug adapter so that is another small thing off my list.

Charlotte Amalie…we are port side aft facing out so I can’t see the dock or town we backed in quite a bit…

Yeah, I guess I'm a cat guy now... never really liked them, but this guy grew on me. and for some reason I'm the person he tends to gravitate to the most, so I'm stuck with him now. My kid and his friend were walking to the store in the pouring rain, heard a kitten crying under a car, shaking. SO he picked him up, put him in his coat and 3 years later he's still here

This is Senator Meowkins, sen for short. She loves everyone, even dogs. She has mushed face, so she looks mad even when she actually isn't

Thanks..when I first looked I thought it said caddy daddy..which kind of describes me

Loved Rover! She was so cute and small! We were lucky enough to get a few good pics with her back in 2024! Oh, I understand! We worked the other way... We had two rescue kittens and littermates (Simba & Nala) from before we moved into our house. Definitely easier to leave and/or coordinate minimal care while we were away. We rescued our first dog (Bella) when they were both still with us, but when they both passed, we rescued Jake and decided to stick to two dogs at a time at least for now. Love cats... I'm sure we'll have cats down the road once again. These were our two cats... first our big boy (18 lbs.) Simba! ... and his little sister, Nala... The "Dynamic Duo"... our first pets... you can see how much bigger Simba was!

I never know what reaction emoji to use for your posts. This is the important part and I'm of course happy when anyone is excited for their cruise... but then there's the obligatory part about shenanigans involving your mom, husband, etc. Bless you for dealing with all that. You know I try to keep things as simple as possible and even reading some of that stuff is anxiety-inducing. I'll just be sitting here following along as usual and even I can't wait for all of you (mostly your mom, obviously you know where you're going) to be in one place waiting for the actual embarkation. I don't envy that though I obviously understand it. I'm happy that my version is just pulling out my hair clippers for a quick buzz like I do every 2-3 weeks and being ready to go. You have good timing for your arrival at least. FL seems to be alternating warm weeks with cooler weeks (still pleasant for you and we don't mind highs in the 60's but the locals sure do, lol). Should be pretty warm this week and then drop back down next week. Worst case is you may catch a cooler turnaround morning/day at some point but it will obviously always beat Chicago. It will also be warmer down south than here but the trends usually hit most of the state.

The doggies are beautiful and I will be seeing Rover in less than 2 wks. I had pugs and after I lost mine I went over to cats. Cats are cleaner and less trouble. My food and pet insurance/vet bills are about a quarter of the cost. I still love all the doggies but I have turned into a cat lady.

Me too! I've only been able to enter the CL on Allure since it was our first sailing as Diamond, but we tended to go when it wasn't busy (very early or late). Hopefully, any C&A level restrictions on Odyssey will not impact us. I actually like having the CL to myself especially late at night after Christine goes to sleep. I used to sit out on our balcony to catch up with everything, but the CL is much more civilized! On Icon, I climbed up into one of the pods in the Overlook, but people kept coming up (since you cannot tell from below if anyone is up there)!

St Thomas today looks beautiful so far… oh @asquared17any leads on a travel foldable drink carrier from Bezos? I was not worthy this am to witness a gentleman with some sorts of travel drink carrier…do you know how much hand burning that will save me in the am…. I would have chased him down but I was waiting for my order.

Resting "leave me alone" face! Purrfect for avoiding cruise shenanigans like some of us do! Love it! You and your brother just can't help smiling too much.

Did a very quick search... looks like there are lots of options. I think I need something more like a cafeteria tray. Wife doesn't drink coffee but I often bring back some pastries for both of us (some may go in a ziploc or container for later, some obviously go in my belly). I'm fairly good at the juggling act but with at least one to-go cup of coffee, the small plates can be problematic, especially since I now walk the length of the ship to get to the CL and back to our cabin. Depending on timing, with the new CL and windows, I've been trying to actually drink more coffee in the CL if I'm up especially early. Super peaceful and I often catch up on my blog there. When I was using the old dungeon CL that was just an elevator ride straight down, I often stacked multiple to-go cups in one hand and had a plate in the other. It was still a juggling act but it was more elevator ride than long walk so I managed.

We had to take a year off but the hubs and I are so ready for Adventure on the 31st! Happy Cruising Everyone!

Tonyfsu21’s ready for the beach club again! Wonder 1/16.

Can't wait, only 5 more days! By the time I step onboard it will be 680 days since I last set foot on a ship. My New Year's Resolution is to never go that long again!

January 2026 9 - AshleyDillo (Utopia) 9 - Southern Dan (Radiance) 10 - BR34 (Explorer) 10 - SplashOfWater (Icon) 11 - Hoppy2BHere (Star) 15 - JohnK6404 (Odyssey) 16 - AshleyDillo (Utopia) 16 - Snotarni (Liberty) 16 - tonyfsu21 (Wonder) 17 - SPS (Jewel) 17 - mworkman (Icon) 17 - Mike n KY (Allure) 19 - AshleyDillo (Wonder) 19 - JustinandBrooke (Utopia) 21 - MarvinS (Quantum) 21 - TexanTwoStep (Quantum) 23 - Cactus527 (Adventure) 23 - Floski (Adventure) 23 - Ryan79 (Navigator) 24 - mworkman (Freedom) 24 - WAAAYTOOO (Oasis) 24 - Wayno (Icon) 25 - Tanya S (Allure) 25 - LandstromCruise (Star) 30 - Snotarni (Liberty) 30 - BoxerMomNC (Utopia) 31 - Dan Curtis (Jewel) 31 - Hoppy2BHere (Icon) 31 - SemperMom (Adventure)

I can relate. I grew up with multiple dogs and eventually had one cat. When I got my first apartment the cat came with me (he was pretty old by then) and was later joined by a kitten I found under a car in the snow. Eventually I lost them both (the young one way too soon, health issue) and haven't had pets for a long time but I definitely preferred cats by then for many of your reasons. I appreciated that they could both enjoy affection or go chill on their own and be perfectly content either way.

Don't worry a ton about the restriction, it would only affect the nightly happy hour when the snacks are out (5-8pm or so). Very early or late should be fine. I like the late night use idea, BTW. If I stayed up much later than my wife I'd consider that. She may crash before me but I'm not usually up super late unless I just can't sleep so I'm content to just sit on the couch for a bit (no balcony in our caves, lol). Most people dread sailing when we do (school break with tons of kids and inflated prices) but there are some small benefits. I haven't seen a crowded CL, even during happy hour, in forever. The top tier numbers are always low and families with kids don't frequent the CL. The Solarium can also wind up on the peaceful side b/c of the kids but it can get crowded at times, though that's not a big deal. Basically, to anyone who avoids kid-heavy cruises (which I totally get, for the prices too), I do like to mention that they're really not bad b/c I don't spend time where the kids do... main pools, water slides, etc. Sure they're going to be in the common areas, food venues, etc. but we don't mind unless they're really acting horribly. We got friendly with the CL concierge last cruise and it was so dead around 5-6pm that he was thanking us for coming up to chat each night (we usually check the snacks anyway). He kept telling us how bored he was on Utopia on the summer b/c the CL was never busy.

Aw that puppy pic makes me want another dog! We lost ours four years ago, and instead of another dog, my kid took in a stray kitten. Only one week left! Hope it flies by for you!

Just FYI. I noticed you scrubbed your booking number on the first page when you were showing RUB but forgot to here. Just letting you know in case you didn't realise...! 3 more days until cruise day! Enjoy 21 days at sea.

7500 USD PER PERSON is insane, even if I had disposable income, I would never pay that much. It doesn't help that translates to 11.5k AUD for 1 person. 25k for 2 people... that's enough for a deposit on a car and for me to pay off half my University fees.

Just wanted to share this. There was recently an article on this site about discount offers sent to some members based on whatever crazy algorithm RC uses, some got them some didn't. I had a couple of them but I was skeptical about using them because I figured they would offer the same deal or "sale" RC is always offering. Luckily, for the first time, I had used a travel agent so I asked them to check it out using my code and it did indeed save me $400 off an already booked cruise. So I just wanted to share A. The code actually has value and B. I picked a great time to start using a travel agent. C. I would have never done any of that without RC Blog.

panther kitty!!!

And it's about time. Crown Bay is an undesirable port right now, especially compared to Havensight. This has been rumored for a couple years but now is official. Though the press release gives zero information other than "we're doing stuff"

Thanks for this information. I have an offer and just emailed my MEI TA to see if it can be applied to a cruise I booked for June 2026. My offer says I must sail by August 2026. It’s for $275.

+1. Also no discount codes in loyalty tab. Also never offers for cabanas. They must know I am not a fan of PDCC lol

I agree that 150 is not the restaurant experience it used to be. I think it was originally affiliated with Michael Schwartz (sp?) when it first opened and it was a truly upscale and enjoyable dining experience. Since they did away with the exotic salts I haven't enjoyed it nearly as much. We go about once every 3 or 4 Oasis-class cruise and never ever go anymore unless we have the UDP. It is way down the list of the top restaurants we frequent and we only go when we need to fill a night somewhere to reduce repetition. I'm sure it's on its way out now. You have to pay the big $$ to get that "upscale" feeling these days - the Supper Clubs.

You NEVER need an excuse to give us Goldie pix. They make my heart sing ! (WILD THING).

I’ve been watching the SoFl weather like a hawk the last week…looks like all is good for my time down there Thu-Mon. Hope you have a productive day and get everything done!

I hold onto my money for as long as I can. I keep the money in my bank account earning as much interest as possible. The only time I will consider paying early is if there's some credit card spending bonus that I need to hit nets me more than my bank account interest would have.

24 - Waaaytooo (Oasis)

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2026/01/02/royal-caribbean-targeted-discount-code

That hasn't been announced. You could probably derive it with the temporarily-posted RC to Celebrity translation though.

You know we also treat it as a sea day but I thought I saw a recent thread that might help. It's not long but it's something...

Thanks so much for sharing this post. I just repriced an upcoming cruise using the Royal Caribbean promo code. It saved me $351. Nice savings!

So I booked the Refreshment Package... surprisingly my mum didn't say much other than "you have too much money". I've also got Izumi booked, we both love Japanese food and I had Izumi on Ovation last time, so keen to try the Izumi on Voyager... My plan is to stay at a hotel near the airport, since the airport and the cruise terminal are so close together and then just Uber into the CBD. That way on the morning of Cruise Day, we don't need to be rushing to get to the cruise terminal and we don't need to worry too much about traffic. Brisbane Cruise Terminal and Novotel aren't too far apart. But according to Google Maps, it's still a 2hr 22 minute walk.

James and I will be taking this cruise to re-group and spend quality time together.

peace be with me...

oh and they had a blast at candy sushi making...Trisha got accused of stealing pop rocks from children.. the boys set her up..

Day 2 sea day..WOW. You were not exaggerating about the meat sweats after Samba Grill aka the meat train I knew what we were walking into…the rest were clueless, which made it pure entertainment Waiter spoke in riddles long enough for them to believe you order one app and one meat. Then the carving chef cleared the salads and asked if we were ready…and unleashed chaos Absolute excitement in their eyes...we laughed so much as it kept coming and coming..the carving chef didn't stop smiling as he piled it on.. pics not so good..hands were permanently occupied defending plates. B-man went full carnivore, C-man announced “this is great!" B-man even pregamed at the WJ for eggplant parm definitely a one-and-done experience, zero regrets. Afterward, the boys took off, we walked around..no shows. This morning we hit the pools before chaos fully set in..partly cloudy and being an hour ahead meant way more humans roaming early. Still meat-filled, but I managed a solid waddle-run on the Love Track on Deck 5 (one of my favorite Oasis-class perks). Then ELF for nachos and margaritas at the Wipeout Bar...no regrets. After that, it was a jungle out there, so I escaped to CL for some peace, coffee, and cookies Dinner at MJ at 6...woohoo! Still haven’t seen B-man. Also…I cannot believe what they did to the room. Beds split to opposite ends, couch barricaded in the middle like a demilitarized zone. The cabin attendant just shook his head. I told him at least they didn’t drag a mattress onto the balcony...and promised it would all be put back. Oh..and last night I ran a little surveillance mission and bet the rest of them I’d get into the CL for happy hour Walked right in, empty chairs scattered, zero card check. Didn’t even get the “are you lost?” look. Felt like a full-blown rebel… basically 18 again sneaking into a bar. Mission accomplished!!

Haha, being Scottish there is no way I would do that, I would probably apologise to guest services for being an inconvenience and offer to clean the room! Going into this eyes wide open

That looks like some Coast Guard drug trade map.

Kind of how I feel about the Bahamas and the Caribbean. Time to venture further away.