OCSC Mike

If you buy the DBP and are in a suite, that makes sense. The Diamond drinks were a big deal to me b/c I'm frugal, not a huge drinker, and only in a suite if someone else is paying. Plus my wife doesn't really drink so I usually get 1-2 of hers and 5-6 drinks per day is fine by me. I also use the coffee machine in the DL every morning for several cappuccinos and we still like to pop in at night just to check out the snacks. We used to make more use of it before the switch to drink vouchers of course. There are a couple other perks, of course, like the free pictures we have printed and then don't ever display, lol, but for someone who sails frugally, 8 free alcoholic drinks plus several fancy coffee drinks per day is a substantial perk to me. That's a face value of over $100/day. At D+, I'll try my best to use up the extra drinks and we'll probably use the BOGO specialty restaurant perk on occasion.

Agreed. The biggest jump is getting to Diamond. We're about to be 7 points away from D+ and there are a couple added perks we're looking forward to but nothing like getting to Diamond.

Possibly b/c once you have access to the Diamond Lounge you get completely free coffee, espresso, cappuccino, lattes, etc. almost 24/7? This has always been one of my favorite perks as I have multiple cappuccinos every morning to go with my "pre-breakfast." I drink cheap coffee at home, I'm no coffee snob, but I still enjoy the machine very much.

Agreed.

New link... https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Promotions/rci_sales_event_USD.pdf

St. Martin... https://www.soualigadestinations.com/ Took this tour in 2017 and absolutely loved it. Sadly Hurricane Irma has affected the island and the bar & grill where you used to be taken for lunch was destroyed and never rebuilt, but I would still do it again.

It's not worth anything to me either as I absolutely love many different free food items on CocoCay. That said, I did enjoy some of the beach club food last May. Our steaks were excellent and I liked the coconut crusted lobster sandwich (more than the regular lobster). When not being treated by my generous FIL on a family cruise, my wife and I have a favorite spot that we parked at 3 times between July and October and we always have an amazing time there spending nothing but tip money for Diamond drinks. To each his/her own.

Figured I'd start a Roll Call for this one... This is a "bonus" family cruise for us after my generous FIL had such a good time on last year's family cruise (we normally take one every 5 years as the anniversaries of my wife's parents, her sister, and our own are fairly close together (May-June) and different multiples of 5 years apart). My FIL splurged last summer b/c it was their 50th (our 20th) and got us all suites on Harmony. Now he's spoiled and when he learned about the suite neighborhood on Wonder he booked this cruise shortly after we got back from the last one. Anyway, it will be wife's parents, us (mid-40's, no kids), and my SIL/BIL (mid-40's) along with my 13 and 9-year-old nieces (who you may find hitting the bars as frequently as I do to use their Diamond vouchers on virgin daiquiris ). We may not leave the ship except for Cococay (love it there and we have a Beach Club cabana after getting an OTW cabana last summer before prices went nuts). Don't love Cozumel, did have a great time at a smaller all-inclusive beach club in Costa Maya before but with suite lounge access & Diamond drinks, paying for drinks on land seems a bit redundant. We were supposed to tour Roatan in 2019 but the ship was unable to dock due to high winds which was a big disappointment. We still want to go but may save it for when it's just us and we're not in a suite. When we cruise without the extended family we do things very differently (i.e. frugally, different eating habits, etc.) I am not ashamed to say I cruise primarily for the ship's amenities and the food & drink, especially since we've spent 20 years going around the Caribbean because it's just too damn convenient to drive an hour to Port Canaveral to go anywhere else. (With the exception of our 2018 Alaska adventure which was our best vacation ever.) Anyway, that's us. Looking forward to all that Wonder has to offer that we haven't experienced on the other Oasis-class ships (along with long-standing favorites).

FWIW, we recently got our RoyalUp offer exactly 60 days out.

Florida/Caribbean weather forecasts are often wrong in the morning for later that same day. Don't sweat it. On one of my last Coco Cay days, it said 80% chance of rain most the next morning/afternoon when I went to sleep the night before. It didn't rain at all until 2pm, then stopped after a short time.

I hadn't realized the link changed. In the past, it was usually updated on Monday or Tuesday since the sale runs Wednesday-Thursday.

I misread the typoed thread title and thought it was going to be a far more exciting thread. Perhaps one of those stories of someone who forgot to close their curtains in an inside-facing room with a balcony or window.

Food is good but not for that price. I've only had it b/c my generous FIL got our family of 8 an OTW cabana last summer (which was amazing and he got a good price). I love the free food on Coco Cay (chicken sandwiches, mozz sticks, taco bar with fresh tortillas, funnel cake, cookies and ice cream etc.) I enjoy steak and lobster, but honestly, I'm just as happy eating the other stuff during the day while lying in the sun, dipping in the pool, etc. And I don't mind the short walk to both locations I frequent from our favorite spot.

Good info above. We spent 10 days on land in 2018 before cruising from Seward to Vancouver. Flew into Fairbanks (farther from Seward than Anchorage) and took the train the entire way from Fairbanks to Seward (with many stops along the way). The train is great and the land portion was the highlight moreso than the cruise portion (not that we didn't love the cruise portion as well).

One of us... one of us...

Yes, there are racks of free vests to use.

If you want to switch cabins, you have to wait to be OFFICIALLY assigned (i.e. not the bar code trick, when it shows up on your documents) and then your TA can move you to any available cabin in the same exact category. I recently moved myself (didn't use a TA) twice for the same cruise within a week of it sailing, lol. 1st move was to get out of a spot we didn't like. 2nd was when a spot we really like opened up late. P.S. You can find available cabins yourself by going to the RC site and just pretend you're looking to book one. Then you can tell your TA exactly where you'd like to be moved.

You're very welcome. I have that answer saved so I can just cut & paste it when someone asks about a GTY. I got tired of typing it since the topic comes up so often and I pretty much book GTY's exclusively since the cabin isn't important to us and I almost always switch anyway. Wound up 4 cabins apart on our last 2 cruises after switching to a location we like. We even saw our cabin attendant from the 1st cruise as he had moved a little ways down the hall but was still in the same general area.

Rarely. Have you used the bar code trick to see your cabin before it is officially assigned? Bar Code Trick Method 1. If you have an Apple device, add your set sail pass to your Apple wallet. Numbers will now appear under your bar code. The numbers after the dash represent your cabin. Method 2. Scan the bar code with a QR scanner from another device and that should also show you the numbers. NOTE: If you see "GTY" instead of numbers, you truly haven't been assigned yet. One tip off is that if you don't see a muster station on your set sail pass then you almost definitely don't have an assignment yet.

My young niece has severe peanut/tree nut allergies. In addition to contacting special needs as mentioned above, we have always mentioned it to the staff in the MDR, CK, specialty restaurant (wherever we are eating) and they have done an amazing job of taking care of her. In the WJ, a manager has hot dogs & fries made for her in the back so as to avoid cross-contamination and brought them out to our table. Short version... they handle food needs amazingly well in our experience.

There are so many variables from one cruise to another (ship, date, how full it was, how much you initially paid, etc.) that anecdotal past results aren't going to be very helpful with future bidding. That said, go for it.

Need? No. Never worn one in my life. I always have pockets and keep my sea pass and Diamond voucher tip money in them (I usually carry my wife's too). On a beach excursion (or Cococay) I have a little waterproof plastic container to hold it and cash which goes into the velcro sealed pocket of my swim trunks. Obviously they are popular but it's a personal preference thing.

Yep, I've been on 4 with extremely varied experiences.

I've even had activities for the cruise I'm on not populate in the app until DURING that cruise. On Indy recently, we got the paper version of the compass and it had stuff listed for the next day that wasn't in the app until the next morning. NOTE: Nothing major like shows but trivia-type activities.

As others have mentioned, it's not required, but if you are using a port with facial recognition for customs, a passport makes disembarking a breeze.