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Kilo is the RCCL version of General Quarters. It's to get crew to emergency stations. Hopefully it is a drill, or that someone was just smoking in their room and set off their smoke detector. Stay safe, and keep us informed when you can. At least you get another story to share from your trip ?

Either a fire that is not an immediate risk to passenger safety at this time, or another fairly serious incident.

As always, thanks for all of this!! I wonder if the timing of the trip is the cause for some of these observations. Bunch of extended families who have never been on cruises could account for the craziness of Windjammer because they don't know about other options and are oblivious to the proper protocol (plus my experience makes me think the big families on once-of-a-lifetime trips tend to be more "I spent all this money, I'm doing what I want" mindset). You aren't the only one mentioning buffet crowds. Same with lines at MTD, seems (from my prolific reading) a lot of new cruisers choose MTD but then still go to dinner at 6 every night. Also the number of kids makes me think a bunch of teens with VOOM clogging up the bandwidth. Or at least, that's what I'm telling myself as my embarkation date quickly approaches. Hope disembarkation goes smoothly, but if there is drama make sure to document it ?

I'll be following along closely, we are 2 sailings later on her! Thanks so much for taking the time to blog it, even if the updates are short and sweet it's greatly appreciated! With less than two weeks to go I'm ready to soak up every little piece of information in anticipation ? Best of luck with the travel, sounds insane but it also sounds like you are doing everything you can prepping for every possibility. Something my wife and I can relate to. Looking forward to hearing all about it!

Pier won't be finished until January at the earliest. They just began dredging the channel about a week ago: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/11/05/dredging-begins-perfect-day-cococay Here is the most recent (AFAIK) list of when things will open. I would take it all with a grain of salt and consider these dates the absolute best-case earliest they will open: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/08/16/perfect-day-cococay-construction-progress-photo-report

Welcome to the forum! Mostly just wanted to welcome you, but I will parrot CookingYo. Your Set Sail will just get you on the ship and then you get your Sea Pass which is everything on the ship. ID (you will need that and a photo ID to get on and off the ship at port), charging purchases on the ship, room key, etc. You won't need your Set Sail paper after you get your Sea Pass.

So that means you are going to miss the special charter cruise on Nov 11th? You know, the adult-only clothing-optional one that advertises special "play areas"? You have to be really upset to be missing out on that one! ? I'm so glad they sterilize the ship top to bottom between every cruise already...

Twangster is showing up in Google searches now? That [probably not a] robot is getting famous!

As much as I'm not a fan of the Perfect Day makeover, I agree with the above. Extras on private islands are always expensive, DCL keeps raising their cabana prices on Castaway Cay and they keep selling out almost as soon as they open them for booking. Each Disney Cruise several people go to guest services to be put on a wait list to hopefully snag a cabana and pay the $600+ for it! I'm a bit reluctant to be too upset at a cruise line for charging prices that seem insane if people are tripping over each other to pay it. Coco Cay will still have free stuff to do, I have no intention of boycotting the island just because I'm not interested in paying for the premium things. If you want a beach stop on a private island then there is no reason to stay on the ship.

You are free to order a hundred drinks every single day and leave them to waste. That is entirely within your right as a Deluxe package purchaser. Of course I don't think wasting drinks should be "outlawed", where do you get that idea? I fully intend to try a bunch of drinks I probably won't finish on my next cruise. It's a big benefit of having the package, trying new drinks you wouldn't otherwise have paid for out of fear of disliking them and wasting the money. However, if share a single drink for your wife then you are in violation of the terms of the drink package. They can revoke it without refund and you will just be another reason for them to revoke all exceptions in the future. Honest? Yes. Frank? I try to be. Opinion? Afraid not, it's all in writing. Whether you think your argument makes sense or not is of no concern. RCCL makes the rules, you simply agree to abide by them when you sail on their ships. The only way for you to get the drink package rules to not apply to you is to cancel your package.

Are you seriously insinuating that RCCL is stupid for expecting people to actually follow the rules to the packages they purchase? Huh, apparently so. And that is exactly why both people in the room are required to get a Deluxe package, because people constantly cheated the system. Even now when they allow exceptions people like you are already openly planning how to cheat the system! Drinks obtained by you are to be consumed by you. Period! You agreed to that when you got the package, are you not a man of your word? Won't be long before they just don't allow exceptions at all because some people just can't abide by the rules.

Yeah, don't you hate it when someone writes those? ? Just because someone makes a comment that could be construed as partisan and nobody yells at the person about it does not make a site "political leaning" or "only for right wing folks". I do believe it is typically called "tolerance", "not reading any ill-intent", or at the very least "letting it go". I do, unfortunately, very much believe you are being serious. I do sincerely hope you enjoy your cruise. I hope when something irritates you on the ship you can let it go and not allow it to ruin your trip.

Exactly, I feel people almost always get the math wrong on the drink packages. As you mention, assuming someone books their cruise well ahead and keep an eye on the Cruise Planner it is very likely they will get a sale package. For reference I have seen it several times at $48pppn, so that's not even the biggest sale. Now, if you are someone like me (or OP) who is choosing between the soda package or deluxe package (rather than deluxe package or no package) then we should factor in that it is between an $8.50 package or $48 package. So now we can consider the deluxe package to actually be $40 (rounding for simplicity). Now, coffee or fresh squeezed OJ? So if we get a single glass of OJ and a single premium coffee, we are talking another $10. Feel like some bottled water? Three would be another $10. Now we are looking at needing to buy $20 worth of drinks. That's 2 mixed drinks or 3 beers (wine somewhere in between). The point is not to encourage anybody to get a drink package they don't want, rather make sure you are factoring in the complete value of the package as it's much more than booze. The Refreshment Package might make sense as well if all of those things sound good but the 2 drinks average per day still seems excessive to someone. Just know that the 5-7 drink estimate people come up with is leaving a lot out of the equation. As to the actual question of the thread: you can't just get a package for one day for the reason you can't just sign up for a week at the gym. RCCL knows many people won't take full advantage of the package throughout their cruise, rather it is a convenience for them. So those people essentially subsidize the package for those taking plenty of advantage. Much like all the people signing up at a gym in January are subsidizing it for those still working out in March. It's all a numbers game and RCCL has the numbers down to a science.

The Sun? Have you no standards, sir? ?

The refreshment package is an option if you don't think you would drink more than a couple alcoholic drinks in a day. However there are plenty of free options and tap water is readily available (and although some dislike the taste it is processed very similarly to bottled water and many find it quite acceptable). Regular drip brewed coffee is free so if that and tap water is what you will be consuming the most then a package is probably not a worthwhile purchase.

If your friend is suggesting you will probably get a free room upgrade, that is almost universally untrue. Cruise lines know that they can usually sell upgrades as the cruise gets closer, at a discount and somewhat randomly offered, but not free. It happens, but more often because the room booked is unusable for a reason (maintenance, required for a performer, etc) than just random kindness by RCCL. It's not a zero chance to get a complementary upgrade, but "probably" is not the word I would use. As for a discounted upgrade offer, a better chance but still wouldn't call it "probably".

You're welcome, just know that the cruise line does not offer updates unless there is a problem so no news is good news. The best place to look up tropical systems and where they might be heading is: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ Welcome to the RCCLBlog forums and I hope you enjoy your first cruise!

What updates are you expecting? There are no tropical systems near or looking to be near Miami, Nassau, or Coco Cay in the next week. Is there something else going on that you are concerned will affect your cruise?

I don't think driving from Baltimore to Florida on Saturday is going to be a good option. Not unless you intend to drive over to Kentucky and pick up I-75 to go around the storm that will be directly between you and your destination. I would consider calling your airline about rerouting and connecting elsewhere if at all possible.

CPAP machines are fairly common today and RCCL, as well as all cruise lines, are well prepared to assist. Fill out the form SPS shared and they will be happy to supply you with an extension cord and distilled water for your machine.

Cruises are rarely cancelled due to storms, more often rerouted. With rerouting it can be extremely last-minute due to the unpredictability of the storms and reluctance of the lines to make changes unless absolutely necessary. Rerouting can be as small as a single stop changing or being replaced with a sea day, a fairly significant change such as an Eastern Caribbean cruise becoming a Western Caribbean cruise, or an extreme I have seen was a Caribbean cruise turned in to a Canadian cruise in October. Cruise ship captains are generally good at avoiding storms and sailing around them, though the exceptions will always make the news making it seem like it is more common than it really is. Cancelling a cruise is usually because a hurricane is pointed directly at the port of embarkation. Cruise lines do what they can but sometimes the options are limited and not palatable to anybody. Trip insurance is always a good idea, doubly so during hurricane season. Also be sure to have the means of arranging and paying for alternative lodging and/or travel if you end up stuck somewhere with flights cancelled. It might be covered under trip insurance, but that is usually after the fact.

Is this just an advertisement?

Am I missing something? Hurricane Florence is tracking to the Southeast of Bermuda in the 5-day. Even if it stays on a straight line from there (it won't) it wouldn't be in the NorthEast for 10+ days. What is the concern?

The devices you mention will need to be connected to the wifi network and won't have a way to input a device code. As such even if you can get it connected to the TV you will need to set up a wireless router to be able to pull this off. @twangster has a writeup on how to accomplish this here:

You are allowed to pick things for trivial reasons. You are even allowed to admit that (in fact, if someone asks you why you prefer one thing over another and you admit they are trivial reasons they will usually not try to sway you). Some things should have good reasoning and logic behind the decision. Picking the cruise ship you like shouldn't have to be one. Just a personal example, I am a Walt Disney World fan and absolutely love the Contemporary Resort. I see so many people on message boards complain that it isn't "Disney enough". I disagree, but I don't try convincing them. I see actual arguments over it, quite silly really. Enjoy the ship you prefer on the line you prefer and don't feel guilty for having a favorite.