Matt

Welcome! You picked a great ship for your first one.

I agree, we are better off fleet-wide than we were one year ago at this time, both in terms of prices and speeds.

Ken had lunch with the IT Officer on Liberty and this was the explanation that Ken conveyed: Liberty is the only Freedom Class ship that doesn't have O3B satellite dishes and there are no plans for her to get real Voom due to the lack of satellite coverage in the western Carib.

A good friend of ours was on Liberty last week and confirmed the internet on Liberty is not the same as on other ships. You will be able to send photos or texts easily enough.

According to http://www.cruiseportlandmaine.com/why-cruise-here/cruise-schedule/2018-2/ Freedom of the Seas is headed to Maine in 2018. Let the speculation commence!

Some entertainment/dining is not available to book right away. It should show up for booking eventually, so keep checking back.

To me, a sip or two is fine. We all do that at restaurants "my food is amazing, have a bite". The issue is when you give them that drink. I think Marc is correct in his assessment of the package benefits cannot be used for anyone else.

Which ship are you trying this on?

Post of the year nominee

My wish is someday we will have everyone from here on a cruise together!

Seems that way. Email and text

Never thought I would be so happy to be warned 5 times about Zika!

In my experience, "obstructed" has meant there is some angle blocked. Not like you have no view at all, just some viewing angle is obstructed. As an example, there is a lifeboat below your room, so if you were to peer out and look down, you cannot see everything because of the lifeboat.

The clothes pressing service RC offers is not that expensive either for ironing select clothes.

You will need the Surf & Stream to do anything video related.

Welcome Judy! We have a great group of folks here and look forward to you becoming part of our family!

Correct. This is true of cabanas and beach bungalows as well.

A courtesy dinner reservation will be made on your behalf in a pre-selected restaurant on day 1 or day 2. Guests then can make additional reservations on your first day onboard to guarantee preferred dining time and restaurants. http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/01/28/spotlight-royal-caribbean-dining-packages

Thank you for supporting our sponsor, which in turn, supports the blog directly.

I agree with others, where smuggling alcohol is just not worth it in terms of effort and inconvenience. Moreover, if you can afford the cruise but the drinks are too expensive, then perhaps a cruise vacation is not for you. If you are just being frugal/cheap, then drink in the ports you visit to save a lot of money. There are plenty of ways to not pay $12 per drink, while still playing within the rules. And regardless of how one justifies sneaking on booze, it's breaking the rules. Plain and simple.

Not sure, but China departures have always been handled differently.

TAs do grab rooms for groups. MEI does that for our group cruises, but RC can rescind any unsold rooms back to the "pool" at anytime.

This is why I do not recommend using the big box membership stores, or any TA that charges for their services. It's absolutely not necessary and asking for problems.

Michael has gone Hollywood

I missed this comment earlier. This absolutely not true. Royal Caribbean pays them a commission, nothing different price-wise on your end.