StayFrosty

If you read the original article (http://www.tribune242.com/news/2020/feb/27/royal-caribbeans-pi-land-deals-revealed/), it sounds like Royal is buying up pretty much everything west of the Yoga Retreat (https://goo.gl/maps/o25HT4S8Gf4meN4f7).  They are now trying to get access to the undeveloped government land between the last of the houses and the light house.  When I was in Nassau in June, I thought that it was weird that a lot of the properties looked run down and abandoned.  At the time I just thought it was just hurricane damage but it might have just been that Royal had bought them and were just letting them rot until they could tear them down.

Obviously more cruises is better than fewer cruises,  but I do really like a balcony room.  If the upgrade is reasonable, I will do it every time.  Not so much for the balcony but because the room itself is larger.  Give me a balcony size inside room and it would be much harder to justify an upgrade to a balcony.

It doesn't matter how you group the ages, you will never please everybody.  If you do smaller groups people are mad that their kids can't be together and if you do larger groups people are mad that the range is too large.  (I am not saying that anyone's concerns here are not legitimate just that it is impossible to meet everyone's expectations)

It doesn't matter how you group the ages, you will never please everybody.  If you do smaller groups people are mad that their kids can't be together and if you do larger groups people are mad that the range is too large.  (I am not saying that anyone's concerns here are not legitimate just that it is impossible to meet everyone's expectations)

It doesn't matter how you group the ages, you will never please everybody.  If you do smaller groups people are mad that their kids can't be together and if you do larger groups people are mad that the range is too large.  (I am not saying that anyone's concerns here are not legitimate just that it is impossible to meet everyone's expectations)

It is okay to keep mentioning the "other" ship.  I think we all like to hear how they compare.

It is okay to keep mentioning the "other" ship.  I think we all like to hear how they compare.

It is okay to keep mentioning the "other" ship.  I think we all like to hear how they compare.

? I love it! I am a Star Trek straight, not nearly as fun. 

? I love it! I am a Star Trek straight, not nearly as fun. 

? I love it! I am a Star Trek straight, not nearly as fun. 

Here.

One week to go!!!!!
Here is a little update. Booked a massage for my wife while I am off at the flight simulator, but mainly I am trying to finish all of the stuff around the house that needs done before we leave. 
We have an uncovered exterior stair well in the rear of our house.  We have a toddler, so we’re are constantly worried she will fall down those stairs.  My in-laws are staying with her and my two collies while we are on the cruise. 
I didn’t want them to have to worry about it so I got it fenced in. Sounds good right? Wrong, my younger collie is afraid of the gate and will no longer go down the stairs...

Oh well, cruise in a week!
 

BREAKING NEWS! We interrupt your obsessive reading about cruises to bring you this important report. We are no longer in “Guarantee” limbo.  We have been assigned a spacious ocean view balcony on desk 8 starboard rear. More news as it becomes available.
We now take you back to your regular cruise programming.

Airports in NYC
JFK - The largest and located on the east side of the city.  Jet Blue, American, and Delta have the largest presence there.  It take about an hour by taxi or public transit to get to midtown.
Newark - Still a large airport. United has by far the largest presence here.  It takes about 30 min by taxi and about 40 min by public transit.  This is also the closest airport to the cruise port which might be handy if you are heading straight to the airport after the cruise.
LaGuardia - Is the closet to midtown but is a mess with construction right now. Delta and American are the biggest airlines here. 30 minutes by taxi and 50 minutes by public transit (the least convenient of the public transit options).
All of the times will depend on time of day and traffic so take them with a grain of salt.
I know a lot of people like Southwest; they fly out of LaGuardia  but not in large numbers compared to the other airlines as well Long Island MacArthur Airport (about an hour and half east of the city)

A new card room replaces the Diamond Lounge that was moved down to deck 4.
The upstairs section also has a desk for the loyalty ambassador.

I was just cleaning out a drawer and found something that I kind of miss. This is from my 2nd sailing with Royal Caribbean.

I think that the staff member running the escape room on Navigator said it had around a 30%ish success rate.  It was not the hardest room I have done but it was a lot of fun.  We only barely finished in time mainly due to not being able to fine something at one point.

I'm merciless with chogs.  On my last cruise, there were 4 sorta suite "cabanas" in the suites-only area that folks staked out at 8AM, clipping towels to chairs.  They'd literally be empty 90% of the time I walked by... hour-after-hour.  After seeing one empty for over an hour I just un-clipped their crap, folded it up on a table and made myself at home.  After reading a book for ~2 hours, I had an indignant couple ask me to leave "their" cabana.  Nope.  Take your stuff and find an empty one (if you can dislodge one of the other chogs).  If you really want to, complain to a crew member that I "took" the cabana and see how far that gets you.

They have added stuff other then specialty restaurants to the smaller ships over the year just not on the same scale as the Amplification Program.  Most of the smaller ships have had kids splash pads installed, rock walls were added.  The most significant renovation to a smaller ship was when they cut Enchantment in half and lengthened her.  That added an additional pool and pool bar, more shops, Boleros and obviously more cabins.  At some point they also added the trampoline thing to the front of the ship (not that it ever seemed to be open when I was on in 2015).
All that said, I don't think you will see any big changes anymore.  The ships are paid for, just keep them in good shape and make the money.

I found this on Facebook from Rob Stone Photography. He brought a drone to Coco Cay (he was initially told he could use it before someone else told him no).  You can see a tiny bit of what is going on behind the construction walls. Unfortunately is is not very much. But hey, something is better than nothing. 
 
Edit: new link as the last one was private. 
 

I found this on Facebook from Rob Stone Photography. He brought a drone to Coco Cay (he was initially told he could use it before someone else told him no).  You can see a tiny bit of what is going on behind the construction walls. Unfortunately is is not very much. But hey, something is better than nothing. 
 
Edit: new link as the last one was private.