OCSC Mike

Sorry to interrupt the graduation tangents...
Very happy accident with that Next Cruise re-booking of Star. Aside from the significant base savings, NC giving me an extra $50 off the website price, $50 OBC, and the smaller deposit, that flash sale must have ended yesterday b/c the price went back up by about $200.
It could easily go back down during the next good sale of course but that's not a bad thing. I had fun checking and re-pricing cabins for the family cruise multiple times since they didn't have group rates so now I get to do that for next 9 months for myself while obsessively checking for our GTY assignment using @jdeath's program.

I actually did one load earlier. I was very proud of myself, lol. Knock on wood, I’m not feeling my usual cruise hangover. It’s probably a byproduct of not eating or drinking as much as usual (which I see as a bad thing) but I guess there’s at least some benefit.

Just be aware you’re still basically limited to what’s being served that day. You can lose the sauce, ask for well done, get a veggie but with no olives, etc. but it’s not like a real pizza place with a ton of toppings of course.

Sorry to interrupt the graduation tangents...
Very happy accident with that Next Cruise re-booking of Star. Aside from the significant base savings, NC giving me an extra $50 off the website price, $50 OBC, and the smaller deposit, that flash sale must have ended yesterday b/c the price went back up by about $200.
It could easily go back down during the next good sale of course but that's not a bad thing. I had fun checking and re-pricing cabins for the family cruise multiple times since they didn't have group rates so now I get to do that for next 9 months for myself while obsessively checking for our GTY assignment using @jdeath's program.

That's the only reason I never tried them when I was getting my nightly to go snacks in March. I was waiting for a night to sit outside on the boardwalk to eat them but it never really materialized.

I think you already know I love the burger. I know it's just a bacon cheeseburger (of course wings are also just wings and onion rings are just onion rings) but it's made well, two small patties and comes with a healthy amount of bacon and cheese, an onion ring (I usually pull it off and just eat it alone), and I love the garlic parm they put on the fries. 
I do enjoy the crunch rolls as a snack. The rolls themselves aren't spicy, kind of like crispy chicken egg rolls, but they come with sides of buffalo sauce and ranch for dipping. The only negative is that one order has four rolls and they're pretty small, IMO. I know you said ignore frugality but for info's sake, I feel like the burger/fries for $12 is a lot of food, the onion ring tower is obviously huge, while the $8 crunch rolls are definitely not a lot of food  by comparison.
Those are my top two items if we're ignoring size/cost.
Picking a 3rd is tough. I liked the BBQ wings (I'm sure buffalo are good too since I've had the buffalo sauce with the crunch rolls, not sure what heat level it was). You've had the onion rings which I also like and the tower is huge. My SIL thought the poke nachos were amazing but I only had a bite and that's a fairly unique item that will either look good or you won't even consider them. Lastly, I thought the jalapeno poppers were terrible.
The cookie is good if you want a dessert. I've only tried it once or twice and that was when my wife got it without the marshmallow. I had planned to have my wife order the cookie to go with my snack since she isn't usually looking for a big 11pm snack, and I figured even if I'm stuffed I could have some of the cookie and she might have had some but that was part of the failure.
Hope that helps. As always, food is subjective.

I would go burger, wings and some version of nacho. I get the pull pork and plain nachos and I am a happy camper. I have even gotten the nachos to go, they don't hold up well but they are still delicious. My brother would say wings and onion rings. 

I’m still waiting for my IT department to set that up for me 😁.  My Explorer sailing has dropped $800 since we first booked but I still check every day.  Now if the darn CP would just start showing ANY sales I’d be a happy camper.  Er?…
Cruiser’ 

The poke nachos and the buffalo crunch rolls are my favorite at Playmakers. I'm a sucker for anything with a fried wonton involved.

Sorry to interrupt the graduation tangents...
Very happy accident with that Next Cruise re-booking of Star. Aside from the significant base savings, NC giving me an extra $50 off the website price, $50 OBC, and the smaller deposit, that flash sale must have ended yesterday b/c the price went back up by about $200.
It could easily go back down during the next good sale of course but that's not a bad thing. I had fun checking and re-pricing cabins for the family cruise multiple times since they didn't have group rates so now I get to do that for next 9 months for myself while obsessively checking for our GTY assignment using @jdeath's program.

It's been two whole days! Joking aside, I'll be checking at least twice daily, it's just in my nature.

Sorry to interrupt the graduation tangents...
Very happy accident with that Next Cruise re-booking of Star. Aside from the significant base savings, NC giving me an extra $50 off the website price, $50 OBC, and the smaller deposit, that flash sale must have ended yesterday b/c the price went back up by about $200.
It could easily go back down during the next good sale of course but that's not a bad thing. I had fun checking and re-pricing cabins for the family cruise multiple times since they didn't have group rates so now I get to do that for next 9 months for myself while obsessively checking for our GTY assignment using @jdeath's program.

This once again seems to be the case but I have a few thoughts. Just to preface, anything that sounds negative doesn't overshadow the fact that we had a great time as always, I just come away with a couple regrets no matter how well a cruise goes.
- I know I said I was OK with it at the time but I can't help but be a little sad that I didn't have fun with the nighttime Playmakers snacks like I did in March. I was looking forward to a night of wings and more crunch rolls but it is what it is. Obviously I could just take some of the savings from cancelling the UDP for July and get something at Playmakers if the mood strikes but I'm frugal and OCD about planning. The sale is good enough that it's either the UDP plan or the non-UDP plan (with BOGO's and Playmakers dinners) and we're set on non-UDP for various reasons. Now if we turn our free play into something on night one maybe I'll get less frugal.
- Despite the above comments, I really am looking forward to the old non-UDP routine of pre-breakfast with coffee, an actual sit down breakfast, and more ELF and Dog House snacking in the afternoons like I did during the 3N leg. Sorrento's was also good (for Sorrento's) and I enjoy this one chicken salad sandwich at Cafe Promenade (don't think I posted a pic but I had one) so it's not like I won't have night time snacks, they're just obviously not as good as Playmakers. As much as I enjoy MJ brunch and GK lunch, I'm looking forward to less reservations and more freedom to have lunch or just snack whenever. 
- If you couldn't tell, we really enjoy meeting crew members and going back to spend time with them, which we did quite a bit of on this cruise. Jen will be sorely missed next cruise, we really did get close with her, but we still have some crew friends onboard (I already filled one small gift request when I went to Publix earlier b/c chips they asked for were BOGO). Snooky was also a great cabin attendant (not just for the towel animals) and we should have her again next month so add her to the list.
I feel like I'm already rambling and talking more about the next cruise than this one so I'll leave it there. Thanks, as always, to all who followed along. I don't plan to start my July blog as far in advance as this one but only time will tell. If any tangents come up and this one keeps going for a bit, that's cool too. 
I'm off to lose back my cruise weight (while finishing the Ziploc of ranger cookies in my pantry of course). July 4th is always tricky since I'm not skipping food that day so I'll just try to be pretty healthy until then and then we'll have a little over a week after that as well.

I’ll chime in with you!
Our oldest grandchild graduated from HS last Saturday as well.  Such an amazing experience to witness!  Teary 🥲 eyes 👀 were quite prominent!  We have Another one next year…another one the following year…a year off…and then the following 2 years will have both HS and College graduations!   Looking forward to all this warms my heart ❤️…as I’m sure it’s the same for you!  Who said growing old is tough?  😂 
 

I think you already know I love the burger. I know it's just a bacon cheeseburger (of course wings are also just wings and onion rings are just onion rings) but it's made well, two small patties and comes with a healthy amount of bacon and cheese, an onion ring (I usually pull it off and just eat it alone), and I love the garlic parm they put on the fries. 
I do enjoy the crunch rolls as a snack. The rolls themselves aren't spicy, kind of like crispy chicken egg rolls, but they come with sides of buffalo sauce and ranch for dipping. The only negative is that one order has four rolls and they're pretty small, IMO. I know you said ignore frugality but for info's sake, I feel like the burger/fries for $12 is a lot of food, the onion ring tower is obviously huge, while the $8 crunch rolls are definitely not a lot of food  by comparison.
Those are my top two items if we're ignoring size/cost.
Picking a 3rd is tough. I liked the BBQ wings (I'm sure buffalo are good too since I've had the buffalo sauce with the crunch rolls, not sure what heat level it was). You've had the onion rings which I also like and the tower is huge. My SIL thought the poke nachos were amazing but I only had a bite and that's a fairly unique item that will either look good or you won't even consider them. Lastly, I thought the jalapeno poppers were terrible.
The cookie is good if you want a dessert. I've only tried it once or twice and that was when my wife got it without the marshmallow. I had planned to have my wife order the cookie to go with my snack since she isn't usually looking for a big 11pm snack, and I figured even if I'm stuffed I could have some of the cookie and she might have had some but that was part of the failure.
Hope that helps. As always, food is subjective.

Super helpful!  Thank you!

When you upgrade a casino comp you pay the difference between the current price of the comp you were offered and the current price for the upgraded cabin. What you "paid" is irrelevant in these situations.
When I check for free upgrades I'm looking at the difference between categories based on current website pricing and nothing to do with my actual reservation. I don't even log in for them to take into account any specific discount I might be entitled to as it's hit or miss whether that's combinable with a casino rate. If my casino comp category is priced higher than a better category, usually I can call Casino Royale and get upgraded for free to that category. Even if I've already upgraded, the price difference between the current prices is what determines the upgrade cost, if any. 

I know!! 
If you could order 3 things at playmakers (that you DID have to pay for) what would you get? Pretend you're not frugal. When we went with friends we got the onion rings. Should we try the buffalo crunch roll? The kid would love the campfire cookie. 

Not Ashley, but honestly, I have just given up trying to figure out the casino pricing.  I've asked them over and over again to help me understand where they come up with their "base" price and they always say that it's casino special pricing.  Funny how that base price is always waaay lower than you think it should be when they're calculating upgrades (making your upgrade more expensive) and upgraded category is waaay higher than you think it will be when you ask about upgrading later (making your upgrade more expensive).

That I can do! 
My husband wants to get wings at playmakers, so we'll see if we actually make that happen.

Aww congrats! IT IS SO CRAZY HOW FAST TIME FLIES. (I didn't even mean to type that in caps, my caps lock got stuck lo)
Congrats to your son! I am feeling upset that my son didn't have an 8th grade graduation as we switched him to virtual learning this year, but trying to get over myself. lol. I can't believe I have a high schooler now! 😮  and my step-son is now a middle schooler! 😭

This once again seems to be the case but I have a few thoughts. Just to preface, anything that sounds negative doesn't overshadow the fact that we had a great time as always, I just come away with a couple regrets no matter how well a cruise goes.
- I know I said I was OK with it at the time but I can't help but be a little sad that I didn't have fun with the nighttime Playmakers snacks like I did in March. I was looking forward to a night of wings and more crunch rolls but it is what it is. Obviously I could just take some of the savings from cancelling the UDP for July and get something at Playmakers if the mood strikes but I'm frugal and OCD about planning. The sale is good enough that it's either the UDP plan or the non-UDP plan (with BOGO's and Playmakers dinners) and we're set on non-UDP for various reasons. Now if we turn our free play into something on night one maybe I'll get less frugal.
- Despite the above comments, I really am looking forward to the old non-UDP routine of pre-breakfast with coffee, an actual sit down breakfast, and more ELF and Dog House snacking in the afternoons like I did during the 3N leg. Sorrento's was also good (for Sorrento's) and I enjoy this one chicken salad sandwich at Cafe Promenade (don't think I posted a pic but I had one) so it's not like I won't have night time snacks, they're just obviously not as good as Playmakers. As much as I enjoy MJ brunch and GK lunch, I'm looking forward to less reservations and more freedom to have lunch or just snack whenever. 
- If you couldn't tell, we really enjoy meeting crew members and going back to spend time with them, which we did quite a bit of on this cruise. Jen will be sorely missed next cruise, we really did get close with her, but we still have some crew friends onboard (I already filled one small gift request when I went to Publix earlier b/c chips they asked for were BOGO). Snooky was also a great cabin attendant (not just for the towel animals) and we should have her again next month so add her to the list.
I feel like I'm already rambling and talking more about the next cruise than this one so I'll leave it there. Thanks, as always, to all who followed along. I don't plan to start my July blog as far in advance as this one but only time will tell. If any tangents come up and this one keeps going for a bit, that's cool too. 
I'm off to lose back my cruise weight (while finishing the Ziploc of ranger cookies in my pantry of course). July 4th is always tricky since I'm not skipping food that day so I'll just try to be pretty healthy until then and then we'll have a little over a week after that as well.

I'm about to walk out the door to my sons 8th grade Graduation! Congrats to your Grandson! 

Randomness from me.  Just attended my oldest grandson’s high school graduation 🥹🥹