tiny260

Welcome Katie and Mom!

I don't think Harmony has a laundry room, but I've never needed one so I've never really looked. I always send my stuff out for pressing, but that is just me. I've heard of a trick of steaming them in a hot shower in the bathroom. I've also seen post for a manufacturer like "Shout" that makes a wrinkle release spray, but some reviewers say it is only partially successful. Hope this helps, the ship is usually pretty fast on their turn around time and IMO it is not very expensive.

Thanks, JLMoran, I limited my search to 7 days so that is why I didn't see it, that basically mimics my 2018 Freedom cruise except I won't have the sea days. 7 nights, San Juan, St Maarten, St Kitts, Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados, sea day, this also is called a Southern Caribbean. My last Southern Caribbean from San Juan on Adventure had St Thomas, St Kitts, Aruba, Curacao, when you include the ABC islands is when I (IMO) officially call it a Southern...

Forgot to add summer of 2018 Freedom will be based out of San Juan.

Freedom OTS will be sailing the Southern Caribbean route in summer of 2018, I have a Grand Suite booked for the first of June-2018, Freedom is by no means small, at their time the Freedom class where the largest ships in the world. Freedom has had some refurbishment done but may still be showing her age, but should have all of the "Bells and whistles" except for maybe the water slides. Agree with coneyraven, Anthem is sailing out of NJ, but does not go to the Southern route. Had a coworker that just went on it and loved it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0eXVuPhPg8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSVfzkXjnU8 The first link, is a Junior Suit on Liberty, The second link is from Harmony, but doesn't show the coffee maker.

The coffee maker is the type you might see in a hotel room, small 1-2 serving pouches.

I've been on Harmony, you will love her, she is a beautiful ship. I was on Allure-2012, Oasis-2013, Harmony-2016. Have a safe and wonderful cruise.

On my last cruise I used the diamond concierge twice to resolve issues I had with the ship, I had already spoken to an ship officer (Somebody with gold bars on their shoulders) and gotten no place. I went to the Diamond concierge and she successfully resolved both issues, one was no big issue, I pack a travel fan that helps me sleep, they confiscated it and were not going to let me have it in the room, she fixed that and I got my fan. Second was much worse, my cabin flooded and they said they couldn't move me because the ship was sold out, she got me another Grand suite. So for me the program works, the free drinks are great and all the other discounts, but to have an advocate on your side to work with the cruise line or the ship is pretty awesome.

I know Liberty has them already, I think some other smaller ships might be in the works or already have them.

My cruise history on the C&A web site still reflects the single numbers and then an adjustment to the new numbers.

I messed with this for awhile before I figured it out, I think (If I remember correctly), you go through each day and you have to completely check out for that one day and then do it again for the next day and so on and so on. I could never figure out a way to pick all the days I wanted and then check out just once. After I booked all of MTD, then I went back and booked a 3 night specialty dinning package, which conflicted with my first night MTD, but it let me book it anyway after it gave me an error message. Hope this helps and I remembered correctly the way I did it.

Christie, no sites that I'm aware of, there probably are but I've never searched for them. Etiquette is a different story, I think everyone has there own version, I do know that in Blackjack it is always courteous to ask the table before you site down if they mind, because if they are on a run and you sit down the cards are going to change, in reference to how they appear to the other players, they won't physically change. Maybe someone can chime in here, I play craps, not really a Blackjack player. No differences that I know of between land and sea, they both don't have any problem taking your money. Make sure you use your Sea Pass card when on a slot machine and give it to the table boss when you sit down so they can record your activity, in case you ever want to take advantage of Club Royal. Make sure you check in with the Casino hostess, tell them you are new and ask them to help you out. This also helps for the Club Royal. Usually on sea days the casino will have "learning seasons" that you can go to and observe and ask questions, this is how I leaned to play craps (Talk about intimidated) times and days are listed in the cruise compass. If you want to know about Club Royal, type it in to the search line for the forums and there is plenty to read and learn, WAAAYTOOO has a lot of input on these threads and I'm pretty sure doesn't mind answering questions (Speaking for her).

Switch to MTD and try and reserve the time you want, I'm booked on Liberty (Same type of ship) and was a able to reserve respectable times all week, Leaving May 28.

Thanks Christie, appreciate the heads up, I use something similar for flights, especially International flights because I mostly fly Business class.

I have two examples that support both sides of this story: 1) In 2016, I used Next Cruise to book a fall 2017 family cruise (Harmony OTS, 2 bedroom Aqua suite, Star Class), did not take the OBC for the 2016 cruise I was on I had them assigned to the future 2017 cruise, well my son and Daughter IL, got pregnant and the baby would not be old enough to cruise under RCCL rules. I did not cancel the room but moved the reservation to a summer of 2018 cruise, different ship, different dates, maintained a suite. This was not planned or the intention, but just how it worked out. It actually made more money for RCCL, because I quickly realized that I would not be taking a cruise in 2017, so I hurriedly booked a cruise leaving on May 28, 2017. Truth be told, I was already thinking of doing something similar, Fall of 2017 was looking pretty far off in March. 2) Knowing I would be on a cruise in May 2017, I was planning on using Next Cruise to book a suite in 2019, my concern about doing this was I thought my schedule locked me in to taking this 2019 cruise in June, reading all of the expert advice that this forum provides I knew that the 2019 Caribbean cruises for June would not be released until March/April time frame of 2018, so I thought, no big deal, I will find the options I need, ship, itinerary, suite, star class, book the best available date and then when the 2019 schedule is released I will just move it. I have now found out that my schedule is not locked in to June of 2019, so when I use Next Cruise and book my 2019 I can do it with confidence that I will be able to meet the dates, so no harm or foul, but I was prepared to do it to get the best price and the OBC etc.. My wife works in Education so she only gets certain dates off, but when I proposed the suite and star class to her she said she would miss school for that.

Thanks WAAAYTOOO, I have been asking since day one, when I took the junior, all the suites are full or they would be trying to fill them. Like I said in my original posting, I was hoping, knowing that there wasn't any hope, I'll keep calling and asking up to the date I cruise. I agree with KLA, your post are always very informative and helpful. Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks Matt and Klaconqueso, I think I will stick with my Junior suite and not get kicked off the ship...

I know, I'm dreaming, hoping for a better answer than what is reality, but thought I would ask the experts. Does RCCL hold back any suites and then release them before sailing? I'm not asking for a free upgrade here, I'm willing to pay the difference, when I call C&A, I'm told there are no suites available. I booked the cruise I'm getting ready to go on really late (Liberty OTS, Galveston, May 28th), I normally book 9-12 months in advance, but this time frame opened up and thought I would take a quick cruise, when I booked my Junior Suite, I was told there were no suites available, I was already in the 75 day last payment due window, so I figured everybody had either already paid or cancelled. Like I said, just hoping, but knowing what reality is...

Good point, 2 am feedings are always the best, pizza dough and grease always trumps a hangover...

I've never seen anyone "Cut off" from being served, but on one cruise, I saw a bartender tell a guy that he needed to go get something to eat, it was a sea day and the day they had hamburgers and hotdogs on the pool deck, this guy had literally been at the bar all day, never moved, drink after drink, when the bartender saw him eat something he served him again. I would not have wanted to be in his shoes in the morning when he woke up...

JLMoran, I agree, wouldn't the ISP at that time be Royal? I don't think they are going to be poking holes in their firewall, on top of that I would imagine that Royal would start throttling back bandwidth during peck times, just like cell phone carriers do. As far as being foreign or domestic on the ISP, I would imagine that Royal is using VSAT connectivity back to the satellite carriers earth station and then back hauled to Royal's Data center and then handed off to their Internet provider. Sorry, got carried away there, my company does this for off shore rigs, only difference is the rig is moving at 20 knots...

I guess there is one alternative, the 16 night Galveston to Barcelona on Vision OTS in April of 2018.

Yea, I was trying to interject a little humor by suggesting the Southern Caribbean, I agree, Galveston attracts a lot of Mid-western states for obvious reasons, it's close, the TA I used when I booked my first Galveston cruise even warned me, "I just want you to know, there will be a lot of Texans on this cruise!", I was like really, hummmm, well I'm from Oklahoma which is right next door to Texas, not a foreign country, LOL. No haters, I love Texas, except once a year, during football season, when OU plays Texas. It's a 10 hour drive from where we live to Galveston, But we are going to make a road trip out of it, first day we are driving to Waco so my wife can go to the Silo's (for those living in a cave this goes with a home improvement show on HGTV.), then we will drive to Houston and then to Galveston. Coming home we will do it all in one stretch. I believe it is a nitch market, just like New Orleans and Tampa that RCCL is trying to fill, if you were to see the states roll call members were from on CC, you would see a lot of mid-western states, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, etc..

Yes, they have a full menu, the lobster is just another entree offered on the formal night. I love seafood and fish but I'm really not a lobster fan, so there is usually a steak, chicken and pasta dish to choice from (And others). I don't remember your daughters age from past posting, but you can order anything (Within reason) that you want. I set next to a family last year that the son wouldn't eat anything other than a cheese burger or chicken strips and fries, the waiter got them whatever they asked for every night.