KWong

I've never found Downy release to work well for me. I also don't like the smell, but had I got it to work I'd have lived with that.

Stick a washcloth on the shower shelf so that your small bottles don't fall between the cracks.
Magnetic whiteboard outside the door if you're travelling with a large group.
I think everything else I do is a general travel hack/tip.

Another thing I "learned" last week was that if I dry (as much as you can) in that little shower "pod"....then get out quickly and shut the doors right behind you to finish drying...you trap the steam in the "pod" and your mirror doesn't fog up nearly as bad (if at all).

As we say in Canada, "Sorry". 
And if it makes you feel better, I learned of this tip after a couple of trips and numerous battles with the shelf. 

As we say in Canada, "Sorry". 
And if it makes you feel better, I learned of this tip after a couple of trips and numerous battles with the shelf. 

From your list:
--Sailed with a sweetheart/spouse
--Sailed with other family members
--Done a repositioning cruise (technically - it was a Panama Canal cruise)
--Sailed in or out of a port in your home town (not unless the Toronto Island Ferry counts)
--Sailed in or out of a port in foreign country
--Visited a cruise line's private island
--Had a wardrobe malfunction on board (XYZ incident)
--Sailed on a cruise line other than RC (Princess, DCL)
--Had the chef make something special for only your table (it was because we found a plastic pouch in the soup (I presume it contained the soup) on a DCL cruise. I guess DCL gets some food from Sysco?)
Additional:
- My wife got to visit the infirmary
- Won money at the casino
- Lost money at the casino
- Cursed people that stayed on 14 vs a dealer 10 at the casino
- Wiped out on the pool deck
- Sailed a river cruise

Man...where were you a week ago with that tip when my razor kept falling to the shower floor and exploding into pieces?  This tip is HUGE!

Stick a washcloth on the shower shelf so that your small bottles don't fall between the cracks.
Magnetic whiteboard outside the door if you're travelling with a large group.
I think everything else I do is a general travel hack/tip.

After watching the sail away from the balcony, we did some unpacking, and then it was time for dinner. We did get the early seating (5:30 on Independence), and our servers were Ryan and Mutsam (I may have his name wrong). Mutsam was fairly new, and this was in fact his first contract. I thought they did a good job over the course of the cruise. Nothing spectacular, but everything was done competently.
 
My first night main was the Caribbean Jerk Pork Chop. Cooked very nicely, although perhaps not enough jerk flavour. We also asked for extra vegetables for our table. Seems weird, but we do eat a lot of veg, so this worked out for us.
After dinner, we wandered around the promenade a bit. They had singers and musicians doing some standards – it was nice.
 
(So much better than two singers and an iPad)
We then went to register Olivia in Adventure Ocean. Hannah (my older one) was 12 so she went to look in on the Teen club meet and greet, but the kids there were mostly older teens, so she didn’t want to join in. She’s actually quite sociable, but I could definitely understand her apprehension.
After this, I think that we experienced a first day adrenaline dump, as we all felt quite tired. I’d planned on doing some more first night exploring, but, well, sleep beckoned, and tomorrow would be a new day.

After watching the sail away from the balcony, we did some unpacking, and then it was time for dinner. We did get the early seating (5:30 on Independence), and our servers were Ryan and Mutsam (I may have his name wrong). Mutsam was fairly new, and this was in fact his first contract. I thought they did a good job over the course of the cruise. Nothing spectacular, but everything was done competently.
 
My first night main was the Caribbean Jerk Pork Chop. Cooked very nicely, although perhaps not enough jerk flavour. We also asked for extra vegetables for our table. Seems weird, but we do eat a lot of veg, so this worked out for us.
After dinner, we wandered around the promenade a bit. They had singers and musicians doing some standards – it was nice.
 
(So much better than two singers and an iPad)
We then went to register Olivia in Adventure Ocean. Hannah (my older one) was 12 so she went to look in on the Teen club meet and greet, but the kids there were mostly older teens, so she didn’t want to join in. She’s actually quite sociable, but I could definitely understand her apprehension.
After this, I think that we experienced a first day adrenaline dump, as we all felt quite tired. I’d planned on doing some more first night exploring, but, well, sleep beckoned, and tomorrow would be a new day.

There was another reason for staying on Deck 11. Despite the sign indicating a noon start, I figured that Windjammer would open early, and it would be good to get in before the crowds did. And it was!
 I have to say that I like the entrance layout of the Windjammer on Independence. Not only do they have the ubiquitous antibacterial dispensers, but the sides are lined with wash stations, making it easy to clean your hands before entering. The last ship I was on, Allure, didn’t have that. The space feels more open as well, but that might be because we didn’t seem to eat at the absolute peak time for Windjammer, which was the case for us on Harmony and DCL Fantasy. In fact, it was the logjam on Fantasy that led me to try and avoid the main buffet if I could.
 
After eating, there was still some time before staterooms were open, so Olivia (my younger one) decided to do some swimming. As we left the Windjammer, we noticed that the lines were way out the door.
 
After the swim, the rooms were opened so we went down to check our room out. We had a standard Oceanview balcony on deck 7, but it was right at the end of Independence’s “hump” so there was a wee bit more room there. And if I recall correctly, this was the first time that we had a single room with a bathroom/couch/bed setup – we’d gotten bathroom/bed/couch all our other times, or in one case a connecting room. No biggie, just a new thing for us.

After changing back into our regular clothes we decided to explore the ship a bit more. Deck 7 turned out to be quite an advantageous position as it was a short trip down to the Promenade, and a short trip up to the pool deck.
 We started down on the Promenade. I might be mistaken, but the Promenade on Independence is actually longer than that on the Oasis class ships. Granted, the promenade is certainly wider on Oasis class, but it certainly felt as if there wasn’t as much length. Perhaps I should’ve chalked that up to recency bias?
 


Our next stop was the sports deck. Kids tried out the sky climber, and we took a look at the Flow Rider and SkyPads, which at that point had already closed the line due to the upcoming muster drill. We gave the swinging benches a go, and then it was time for the muster drill. We headed down to our room first, and our luggage was waiting in the hall. Nice!
 

(This picture was not taken on the ship. But you can probably guess how we were able to spot our luggage)
Muster drill was what it was. We had some folks who may have taken full advantage of the drink package, and we were outside facing west, so that was… interesting.

The good news is that it gave me some time to explore Deck 11 and 12. Not having been on a Freedom class ship before, I was curious to see the layout. I liked it.
Splashaway Bay has a layout similar to what I saw on Harmony, with the addition of a kiddie pool that hopefully wouldn’t be a “kid soup” pool similar to DCL’s Mickey pool. If you’ve been on DCL, you know what I’m talking about.


The sides of the deck even had some windows open, to let in some air. 

The main pool area had a couple of pools bisected by a deck area, with a few hot tubs surrounding it. There was also a large video screen for movies.

Further back was Solarium, which was actually a nice layout.

In the bar, I noticed a BOGO deal on the drink package. Still more expensive than in the Cruise Planner, but hey, better than paying full price, if one were so inclined to purchase the package (I was not).

In the adjoining terminal, we could see the Majesty, set to sail out that day as well.

 

Day 1 - Embarkation Day
Whether it’s your first time or your 100th time, boarding your ship on that first day gives you that feeling that “it’s happening”. For me, it’s similar to when I finish checking in at a resort or open the door to my Airbnb. Nothing has really happened yet, but you Just Know that you’re ready for it.
As always, we got the complimentary Hyatt Place breakfast, ensured that we were ready with our carry-on gear, visited the “cruise tag station” (a stand with two staplers some pens and tape and ...waited. Because we’re always ready a wee bit too early.

No matter. We called an Uber around 10:15 and headed out to the terminal. We arrived at the terminal around 10:30, where it looked like there were people still getting out of customs. And it was early enough that few of the baggage carts were loaded up. This… was really early for us.
Naturally we squandered that because we couldn’t find the big sign that said “Expedited Arrival”. I’d checked in via the app, and 3 of us were given Expedited Arrival. My wife, inexplicably, did not. No matter. After about 5 minutes, we were good to go and over to security, which was fast and efficient. A couple of obligatory “heading onboard” pictures and it was up to the ship. On board before 11:00, an estimated 25 brisk minutes from car to ship.





We headed up to Windjammer to grab some lunch and… the sign said it opens at noon. Oops. 

Stick a washcloth on the shower shelf so that your small bottles don't fall between the cracks.
Magnetic whiteboard outside the door if you're travelling with a large group.
I think everything else I do is a general travel hack/tip.

I've been waiting for a new ship in Colorado but the oceans haven't risen enough yet.  That leaves me flying to my cruises - all of my cruises.  So I have little sympathy for folks who are bored of the show aboard their ship in their home port ???

Never fear..folks do complain about Grease's "mature" themes as well!

This pass September we flew into FLL and took a lyft to Port of Miami. We took the first flight out of Michigan and landed in FLL at 9:40am and got to the Port at 10:34am. Everything went smoothly but I was on edge the whole time worrying about what to do if we hit a delay. With me and wife high demand jobs it's not always easy to get extra days off.
If you can fly a day early, then do it. If you can't, take the very first Direct flight to FLL. Traffic can get really heavy going to Miami.

I would've blamed the autocorrect if it was wrong...

LOL.  I always cringe when I see someone write "mute point" when they mean "moot point".

LOL! So glad I spelled it correctly!

We used the dollar store magnetic whiteboard solution. Worked just fine but chat would be nice all the same.

In 2006 I went from Toronto to Dulles to San Juan on Boxing Day for a departing-the-same-day Princess Cruise. Zero problems but with basically zero slack it's not something I'd try to do again.
With that said, Virginia to FLL in April is obviously a shorter trip (and direct) so there is less chance for things to go wrong. It still might not be ideal to fly in the day of, but with that said I think it's an acceptable risk.
What I always think of when I see "moot point":

In 2006 I went from Toronto to Dulles to San Juan on Boxing Day for a departing-the-same-day Princess Cruise. Zero problems but with basically zero slack it's not something I'd try to do again.
With that said, Virginia to FLL in April is obviously a shorter trip (and direct) so there is less chance for things to go wrong. It still might not be ideal to fly in the day of, but with that said I think it's an acceptable risk.
What I always think of when I see "moot point":

Choosing a broadway show has its own set of challenges.  Chicago received a number of complaints because it was too risque for some family cruisers.  
Lately Royal has been investing in developing its own entertainment such as Flight and the Show Girls themed shows on many ships.  Flight is one of the most demanding shows for the backstage crew requiring a higher number of them compared to many other shows due to rigging and the number of aerial items.  
Royal entertainment and casting all the shows is a massive operation.  
If you ever get the chance, take in a backstage theater tour.  They are very informative.

Exactly.  You won't get the messages until you are connected back to the internet again.
Cruise ships existed before people had cell phones!  Just plan particular meeting times and places and congregate then.  It is possible..may not be as convenient, but it can be done!