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Hey everyone, twangster here.  I've lived in many different states, coastal to the western mountains where I currently reside.  I have a Bernese Mountain Dog who gives me the stink eye when he hears me on the phone booking my next cruise.  Seriously, somehow he knows.
My upcoming Harmony cruise will complete the Oasis class trilogy and will be number 21 for me, but whose's counting?  Switched to RCI last year, very glad I did, but should have switched a long time ago.  Finally made Platinum and after Harmony I'll be Emerald.  Diamond here I come.  Lesser cruise lines I've sailed include Radisson, NCL, Disney, Carnival and Celebrity.  Often cruise solo or with family when they can keep up with me.  
I've been watching the scopes on the Harmony GC.  Awesome!  Keep them coming.  Looking into the next GC but just did Alaska in June.  Might go on the GC anyways.  Love Alaska!
Cheers! 

Tiny, DFW is five minutes away. Unfortunately I haven't found a hotel with a room for one person for $100 a night. Most of the time they are closer to $200. Tiny you can come stay with me and leave your car parked in my driveway. I will play Uber and take you to and from the airport.
Candie

We sailed out of Miami on Monday Sep 4th for a 4 day cruise to what was supposed to be Nassau, Coco Cay, and The Keys. At that time the hurricane was in the Atlantic and we were not too concerned due to the uncertainty of how it was going to behave in the coming days. Besides, we were confident the captain and RC's meteorologists were watching the storm closely, and we would just change itinerary if needed. 
On Tuesday Sep 5th we docked in Nassau and spent the day at Atlantis. We got the package on RC's website and it was a better experience than we were expecting! The slides, pools, and facilities were extensive, and we had access to their private beaches, casino and aquarium on site. We got to spend the entire day there from 9am to 7pm with shuttles leaving every 30 minutes to take us back to the ship. It was well worth it in our opinion! Unfortunately later that evening, the captain came on the intercom to tell us Coco Cay and The Keys were being evacuated, and we would be staying in Nassau overnight.
Everyone on board was obviously disappointed, but the tension and nervousness could be felt for the entirety of the cruise. There was a huge line at guest services after the initial announcement, partially for refunds and partially questioning our safety. For us, we decided it was out of our control, to trust the captains judgement, and enjoy ourselves as much as we could. 
The next day (Wednesday) we got another announcement on the intercom from the captain. We would be staying another day in Nassau but would cut our cruise short. We would begin our return to Miami that evening as the city was beginning evacuations. Commence another ship-long line to guest services with people in varying degrees of distress. Everyone had their own situations, but for us, we were planning to stay in Miami through Friday and fly home Saturday afternoon. Hearing forecasts that the storm would hit Friday or Saturday, we were almost positive our flight would be cancelled, not to mention our hotel closed. RC opened all the phone lines for us to make international calls without being charged. They also offered anyone who could not make travel arrangements to stay an additional night docked in Miami through Friday morning, the original time we were supposed to leave.
That night we got a notification that our flight was cancelled and there were no room on earlier flights. Our hotel called us to say they would be evacuating and could not honor our reservations. I'll admit I felt the panic welling up at that point. We were being dumped in an evacuating city with no where to stay and no way to leave. After calling home to my dad, he went online and arranged a car rental from MIA to drive home to Cleveland, Ohio. 
In the moment, I was angry we were going back to Miami. We overheard angry cruisers saying we should have left Nassau for Miami earlier, or they should have sailed away from the storm, not in the path of it. How would it make sense to drop a bunch of tourists in an evacuating city with no where to go with a hurricane coming? Later I realized there were Florida residents on the ship that had to prepare their houses and meet with their families. Others that drove from other places that had their car parked by the dock. I came to the resolution that we took a risk taking a cruise this time of year and once we disembarked, I alone could be responsible for my own safety. 
Thursday morning we chose to disembark, everything riding on the car rental. Sailing up to Miami was eerie. Few cars were on the roads, resorts and beaches were deserted. We joined the line to get through customs, people in line still calling their airlines and trying to make arrangements. Once we left the terminal, there was a roped off area of taxi companies yelling at us like paparazzi that they would take us to the airport. They were playing off our fears, but it was working. It was chaos and the air started to feel panicked. We jumped into a nearby taxi and decided anywhere would be better than staying there.
We drove through nearly empty roads to get to the airport car rental area, which was very busy, but to our relief, had a car reserved for us. We set off and ran into some serious traffic by Daytona Beach. Hundreds of thousands of people trying to go North. The first time we stopped for gas, they were empty. Nervousness set in as we drove off the beaten path a bit to find a gas station that had just been filled up, the worker starting to open pumps again. We got lucky. There was a line of cars waiting and people filling red gas containers. To avoid traffic, we drove through the night until we couldn't stay awake anymore, pulling into a rest area literally packed with cars. I don't think I'll ever forget what we saw there. We saw people with elderly and disabled parents, children, babies, dogs and cats. People with U-hauls and trailers. All these people prepared to lose everything. I could no longer complain. We drove up onto the grass and slept for about 2 hours. The drive home ended up being 26 hrs with traffic.
I was grateful for my time spent at the beach and in the sun. I enjoyed the drinks and food on the ship and appreciated everything the staff did to make our trip fun despite the circumstances. We got refunded for the day we missed and the excursions we didn't go on. The staff remained professional and calm in the midst of stressed and angry customers. I will definitely be going on another cruise to get the complete experience, just not during hurricane season. 

Hi Everyone!
I'm Kerri and I'm currently living in Cincinnati, OH.  I say currently because I've moved every 2-3 years for the last 11 years.  I have 2 dog children, a frenchie and a great dane.  We are sailing on the Harmony November 4th.  I went on a carnival cruise when I was 17 on a school trip but I haven't been on one since.  I talked my boyfriend into going this year and we are really excited, he has never been on a vacation cruise (we were both in the Navy but obviously that is much different).  I've been stalking these boards for awhile since I am an over planner and I feel like I need all the information for all the things! LOL  I look forward to getting to know some of the people on this board.  I plan on taking quite a few more cruises in the future.

Hi, I'm Christine from Toronto! 
So, my first RCI cruise was on the Sovereign of the Seas in February 2008, but, due to work commitments, wasn't able to book another cruise for a while. Flash forward to a number of years later, and my mom has completed three cruises with Carnival and fell in love with crusing. Instead of taking a WDW vacation which my nephew and niece would be too young to enjoy, my sister recommends a Disney Caribbean cruise on the Wonder in 2015...and then another Caribbean one on the Magic which we completed this past March LOL. Anyway last month, while out on my lunch break at work, I happened to pass by a travel agency, picked up cruise literature on a whim, and decided quite impulsively to book a solo RCI cruise for December 2018 on Adventure of the Seas :D 
I really want to take another solo cruise next winter to escape the cold Canadian winter, but I'm not sure what itinerary I would take. Wherever I decide to travel, I try to make a conscious decision to  visit new ports, new cities. We'll see, I'm in no rush :) 
(Matt, if you're reading this, just wanted to thank you and your team for all of your hard work with RCB.com! This site and the podcast are a great source of information, enjoyed your recent episode on embarkation day :D)
Happy cruising everyone!

Also agree, depending on relationships, the dividing door is a blessing towards the end of the cruise, been there and have done that, if it weren't for being able to close the door for privacy someone might have ended up thrown off the ship, or someone jumping (I'm joking of course). It was my daughter and Son in law...

Interesting, "tea kettles in rooms instead of coffee makers". The only coffee maker I have ever had in my room was room service and I had to stir in the sugar & cream! Tried to get my wife to do it for me, once (nicely I will add),  and she quickly told me where I could "stir my coffee". 

We are currently on this cruise.  The weather has been beautiful (except for departure day) and all is well.  Hopefully it remains that way !  We're in Bermuda now...will stay overnight and leave tomorrow afternoon.  Very enjoyable and relaxing.

Thanks everyone!!  Regular Soda Package it is.
 
 

Do we are very diplomatic in the Rafalski Household, so we let our daughter pick what deck and staterooms for this voyage.  We gave her this opportunity because her brother has been able to celebrate his birthday now on two cruises since it is four days after Christmas.  Thought this would be a nice perk for her.  Oh, so we will be sailing on Deck 7 staterooms 7288, 7290 and 7291.

Maybe RC will have a black Friday sale and discount the drink package at that time.  One can only hope.  

Look a friend on our balcony.
Have another picture, not going to post that one.

Cabin Crawl snacks, have arrived!

 
Note: Forgot to post this earlier. Was delivered around 1:30.

I liked the new menu. Just like the old menu, some things were better than others.  The spaghetti bolognese on the "Classics" menu is amazing!

Last time I wore a dress the first night then nice black pants the second. I never want to be disrespectful to the room but I'm not a dress person and I wanted to be comfortable. I'd dress up for a 70's or 80's party tho.

I would be a happy camper indeed if I could get that sale!
 

$38 unlimited alcohol package.  I heard some folks on Oasis got it as low as $34 or $36.
In both cases, those discounts were in very early 2017.  

Best I have seen is 20% off...although some ppl have been lucky enough to catch it at 30% off for the drink package.
 
Best deal I have seen is $169 plus taxes for a 4 cay cruise, which I booked!.....I booked a 5 day cruise for approx. $289 plus taxes....both of these were inside rooms.

Both the Carnival Breeze and RCCL Liberty of the Seas appear to be headed for Galveston.  Carnival has cancelled Thursday's cruise on the Valor, but signs are pointing to this weekend's trips happening as scheduled.  There appears to be some movement at the Port of Galveston this morning.  I can't imagine there not being problems getting to and from Galveston in three days.  
In all the loss and devastation, I hope at least that folks scheduled for a vacation, many of them from the Houston area, will get to go as planned.  Most of us on this board have been on several cruises and other vacations.  I hate to think how a person who's had very few, if any trips like this, booked a September trip because it's so inexpensive, and then not get to go.

On our last flight leg home. Made it off of the ship by 3:30 Miami time. Customs did a great job speeding things along.  We were one of the earlier ones off but speculating all who had a 7 pm flight or later booked made it just fine. As promised, RC had buses waiting to wisk us to the airports and even supplied a care package for all to have water and snack on the bus ride.
Communication was great onboard the ship all day long. I didn't catch his name but I gathered he was a top RC executive - he addressed the entire ship once we arrived Miami. That was a nice touch!  
We saw local news crews near some of the buses as we pulled away from the port but didn't see any broadcasts on the airport tvs.
Hope to hear the remainder of our fellow passengers make it safely back to Galveston sometime soon!!

The secret ingredient is love

ALWAYS fly or drive in the day before.  Our flight to Barcelona last year cancelled due to bad weather in Chicago. We are at Knoxville airport.   Had business class seats for flight over the ocean.  Got a refund for them.  Got put on a different airline  with a different route and no business class seats.  Did not get seat next wife either.  Didn"t care. Just wanted to get to Barcelona.  Point is we got to Barcelona a day before cruise.  Also after arriving in Barcelona I had a crown come off.  Fortunately our Hotel hooked us up with a dentist so I got my crown re cemented.  Could not have done that the same day of arriving into port city.     Too many intangibles will cause you to miss a boat any time of year.  Choice air is way inflated.  And yes RC will get you to the ship.  They just don"t say when.    

I just had Sabor room service delivered to my balcony. 
 
Life is good.