Matt

Depends how important the JR suites benefits are and the price. As a parent of young children, I'll always book 2 connecting rooms instead. Separation from my kids is better than a larger room.

Your wife has good taste. I feel the Promenade has a lot more going on than the Centrum, and the "flow" of the area works a whole lot better. Now the real test is if your wife prefers Promenade or Esplanade!

MSC is definitely aggressive in their pricing, but FWIW, I have heard from other RC fans who tried MSC that it's a different kind of experience. No question that deal you found Raye is super-duper cheap, just sharing what I've heard.

Wow, kind of surprising to see that. Way to be the outlier stat! :P

Welcome Joe!

I'm really interested to read about what this cruise experience is like. Thanks for sharing this here!

I think this will answer your question: http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/07/23/first-time-cruisers-when-can-i-prebook-entertainment-dining-and-more-my-royal-caribbean

Here is a good overview of what you get with a junior suite: http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/07/26/royal-caribbeans-junior-suites-what-you-need-know

Don't worry about pesos, they take dollars everywhere.

This process was first introduced with the Quantum class ships and as Kris mentioned, it is about expediting the boarding procedure. Waiting in lines at the embarkation port is slow and something guests do not enjoy.

I doubt it. First formal night is always on day 2. Anything is possible, but I think they'd be better off keeping that way, since guests tend to book specialty dining the most on formal nights or holidays. Combining is one less day of higher specialty restaurant revenue.

Yes, and it's why I'd probably lean towards Adventure. I sailed on Jewel doing the Southern Caribbean a few years ago and loved it: http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/category/category/jewel-of-the-seas-live-blog

If it's with Royal Caribbean, you will get an excursion ticket in your room. There are usually instructions on that ticket. If it's not crystal clear, then you can always go speak with the Shore Excursion desk (right next to Guest Relations) and get some more info there. I booked an excursion in St. Thomas once through RC but the tickets were not clear on one aspect, so I spoke to the staff at the Excursions desk and they could not have been more helpful.

I love documentaries on cruise ships. Couple years ago I booked a cruise on Brilliance of the Seas solely because I was watching a documentary on it and wanted to try it.

Thank you for supporting our sponsor!

Welcome to Royal Caribbean Blog! We have a great community of friends here, who are super helpful. Hope to see you around the boards. Gratuity is included with the drink package purchase. So after buying the drink package, when you order a drink, if the base price of the drink is $12 or $13 or less, you pay nothing for that drink. Here is a link to drink prices: http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/royal-caribbean-drink-prices Is your excursion through Royal Caribbean? Or via a third party? Personal opinion..... the whole Zika thing was blown WAY out of proportion, similar to SARS, Ebola, West Nile and a bunch of other illnesses the media loves to harp on. Winter is generally not an active season for mosquitos to begin with, but if you are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant, you should speak to your doctor about appropriate precautions. There are televisions in the room, but the game will be shown at many spots around the ship. As you might expect, a lot of guests are interested in watching it.

Was that during the 30% off sale a few months ago?

You're right. When I said "no dress code", that's just to say there's no restrictions on being formal in your clothing. Probably a poor choice of words on my part.

I think that will be reasonable to expect. RC usually celebrates holidays onboard.

Oddly enough, I don't think there's any compelling reason (financially) to book a spa treatment in advance. If you are dead set on having a certain treatment on a specific day and time, fine, but as others mentioned, onboard discounts usually beat what's on the site.

The dress code only applies to MDR. Specialty restaurants have their own dress codes, which supercede MDR dress codes. For complimentary restaurants (Windjammer, Sorrentos, Cafe Promenade, etc) and anywhere else on deck, no dress code rules apply.

Eagle Beach is pretty widely regarded as a great choice

http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/01/24/royal-caribbean-announces-2018-2019-deployment-opening-schedule-dates

By the end of the second day it will start warming up. Keep in mind there is an indoor pool and indoor Solarium pool, so still good swimming options.

I assumed that since they had the stickers, made sense to keep using them. At some point, having a sticker that says "UP" doesnt make much sense considering there is no Ultimate Package anymore.