craig403

Here are jacks or better and deuces wild pay tables.  These are from Liberty of the seas a couple weeks ago.   I didn't play double double this time.
 


 
 

I was booked B2B on her but dropped both when my investments tanked and my cruise fund dried up.  

You are required to give Uber your passport details.  As long as you are okay giving this private company your details, it works pretty much like it does in the US.  

Oh yeah, one other VERY important thing. If your excursion indicates meeting at 9:00 am (or any other time) on the pier....DO NOT BE LATE. That will hold up the entire excursion process. Which will result in a lot of very upset folks who were early or on time for the excursion. I know this from experience, having always been early or on time. My wife has had to shush me or curtail my obscene gestures on many occasions towards these late comers.  

I see.  It's true, I didn't factor in the 0.001% I'd earn in my bank account...  ? 

What the hell is this on  board credit thing? No one ever told me about it. Is the 18% gratuity tacked on???

Why haven't I thought of this before???   Chocolate bar filled with Jack! 
 

Why haven't I thought of this before???   Chocolate bar filled with Jack! 
 

Why haven't I thought of this before???   Chocolate bar filled with Jack! 
 

Seems to me RC is aiming directly at the “family” market. Splashaway Bay, bumper cars, mini golf, water slides, etc. The nightclub crowd is a totally different demographic. Certainly not an absolute, but judging by the comments here it’s apparent their numbers are decreasing. Heck, just think of cruise ship demographics overall. Isn’t the largest percentage group 50+ ?  That’s me. And I’m not going to any nightclubs any time soon. Heck, I’m not even awake at that time any more ?

@twangster    gave some very good points on C&A benefits.  We enjoy going to breakfast in the dinning room every morning sitting in the Diamond section and being waited on.  We have found that being D+ we seem to get extra attention from the crew.  We get a lower number for disembarkation at the end of the cruise.  We get priority when a tender boat is needed.   Yes, the Diamond lounge is crowded but we still enjoy it.    The bartenders in the lounge work very hard at giving out free drinks but they will remember who is tipping and I have never had a short pour drink.  Most of the time my Jack and Coke is mostly Jack.  I'm not complaining.  ?  

@twangster    gave some very good points on C&A benefits.  We enjoy going to breakfast in the dinning room every morning sitting in the Diamond section and being waited on.  We have found that being D+ we seem to get extra attention from the crew.  We get a lower number for disembarkation at the end of the cruise.  We get priority when a tender boat is needed.   Yes, the Diamond lounge is crowded but we still enjoy it.    The bartenders in the lounge work very hard at giving out free drinks but they will remember who is tipping and I have never had a short pour drink.  Most of the time my Jack and Coke is mostly Jack.  I'm not complaining.  ?  

@twangster    gave some very good points on C&A benefits.  We enjoy going to breakfast in the dinning room every morning sitting in the Diamond section and being waited on.  We have found that being D+ we seem to get extra attention from the crew.  We get a lower number for disembarkation at the end of the cruise.  We get priority when a tender boat is needed.   Yes, the Diamond lounge is crowded but we still enjoy it.    The bartenders in the lounge work very hard at giving out free drinks but they will remember who is tipping and I have never had a short pour drink.  Most of the time my Jack and Coke is mostly Jack.  I'm not complaining.  ?  

@twangster    gave some very good points on C&A benefits.  We enjoy going to breakfast in the dinning room every morning sitting in the Diamond section and being waited on.  We have found that being D+ we seem to get extra attention from the crew.  We get a lower number for disembarkation at the end of the cruise.  We get priority when a tender boat is needed.   Yes, the Diamond lounge is crowded but we still enjoy it.    The bartenders in the lounge work very hard at giving out free drinks but they will remember who is tipping and I have never had a short pour drink.  Most of the time my Jack and Coke is mostly Jack.  I'm not complaining.  ?  

Climbing to Diamond was a significant milestone for me.
Free nightly drinks and diamond lounge access with concierge  Free photo (each for a couple) Day of free internet (each for a couple) Free entertainment tour Coffee machine in lounge makes much better coffee than WJ coffee Climbing to Dimond Plus also added:
Another free day of internet (each for a couple) 30% off drink packages on board Free bridge tours Free laundry bag BOGO specialty dining (buy one get one free first night) Always have a bottle of sparkling wine waiting for me in my cabin upon boarding Reserved entertainment seating areas (varies by ship) The onboard drink package and Voom discounts translates into not having to search and hope for cruise planner deals.  I can wait until I'm on board and buy them typically as cheap as cruise planner sales ever goes.  With diamond happy hours drinks I often sail without a drink package.    I can wait until I'm on board and if I'm in the mood I'll buy the drink package, if not I don't or I can wait until day two and buy Voom or drink packages even cheaper.  When traveling as a couple we both get 2 days of free Voom.  That's four days between us.  For many cruises that's enough to avoid buying Voom all together.  
Plus balcony discounts start to mean something.  On newer ships that have higher balcony to non-balcony ratios that often means a balcony is cheaper than or near the price of INT/OV cabins.  Granted on older ships that have fewer balconies it doesn't do as much for you, but I generally now book more balconies because they are closer in price or cheaper than INT/OV.    
For a married couple since they will status match you, it only takes one sailing solo on a couple of cheap interior solo sailings and both people in the relationship are moved up the ladder due to double points.    
If we don't want to visit the over crowded diamond lounge during happy hour we both get 3 free drinks every night.  On a 7 night cruise that's 42 free drinks for a couple, including bottled water.  

You do not have to schedule MTD in advance.  You can wait until you get on the ship to schedule exact times or just show up to MTD for dinner.  There are two lines for MTD.  One for reservations and one for no reservations.   We schedule in advance and if we decide to eat somewhere else we tell the hostess we will not be there that night so they can release the table.      

Great list.  We live in Texas and have cruised out of Galveston 12 times, so far.  Most of the time we stay either in Houston or Webster but we have stayed in Galveston a few times at hotels that provide parking and a shuttle to the port.  The problem we had was driving down Seawall Blvd with all its restaurants looking for a place to eat so I especially appreciate the list of local restaurants to choose from.  Thanks again!

@mom2mybugs Here's something you can do, it's free and your 16 year old will thinks it's really cool. After the muster, go directly to deck 14 as quickly as possible, port side, all the way forward and through the sliding glass door. That will put you on the observation deck right above the bridge and you can stand out on the "wings". Great place for the sail way out of Port Miami or any of the other ports the Allure visits. Word of caution, it is VERY windy up there! Have a great cruise!

Just ask a crew member where the free wifi is.  They always know.

@2Beeze  I have had good luck looking at different options by using  https://www.vacationstogo.com/   Many filters that you can set.  Keep in mind that the cabin prices displayed will be for guaranteed cabin categories but it will give you a good starting point to work with.   

yes...use some cruise travel sites.....I only booked with Royal my first few cruises and wondered how other people got such low prices and more OBC.....its cause they didn't book directly with Royal. Royals site is not very user friendly or quick either I find.
 
Lesson learned..never booked with them since......I use VTG......can search by cabin type as well as some other options..and always the best price I can find out there

I don't know if everyone will agree with me on this but my secret to having fun while cruising is going on board with realistic (maybe even low) expectations.   My reasoning is that if I expected everything - check-in/embarkation, stateroom, food, entertainment, etc - to be be perfect, then I will only be disappointed.  I'm especially very realistic with my expectations when it comes to the service staff.  After all, they're human... and humans have limitations and make mistakes.   With that in mind I just enjoy everything as much as I can. I did not pay for perfection, I paid for fun.
 

Yeah, I agree.  When they start “fixing” stuff that rarely ends well.

ATL is a very easy airport to navigate.  There is a train that will swoosh you from B to E.
I'm a million miler on Delta, almost exclusively on domestic flights.  I've transited through ATL over 1,000 times and that is not an exaggeration.  After all, DELTA stands for Deliver Every Living Thing to Atlanta.   
You're connection is very doable, even relaxed.  More than once I've connected in ATL where they closed the airplane door right behind me as I boarded and my checked luggage still made it.  I've mis-connected in a number of airports and the only time i mis-connect in ATL is when my arriving plane is so delayed my connecting flight has already left.  
I've had connections like yours, and walked from A to E underground just to get some exercise between flights.  

To answer your question that I missed earlier, my cruise kit now includes:
12mm Fisheye 12 - 24mm zoom 24 - 105mm zoom 70 - 300mm zoom All full frame.
I found use for my fisheye on Serenade (sister to Radiance) but then again, I usually do: