accio7

Have a great cruise, @twangster! Thanks for the pictures and updates :) 

54 minutes ago, Matt said:

I didn't know C&A cards were a thing, let alone not being sent anymore

I haven't sailed on Royal Caribbean in over 10 years, and was surprised to locate mine when I booked my December cruise on Adventure last summer LOL. Why did they stop issuing the cards?

52 minutes ago, Matt said:

We got passports for our kids when they were 6 months old.

Passports are just so much easier.

My sister and BIL did the same for my nephew and niece, both kids traveled overseas to Europe and Japan when they were under 12 months. (My niece was six months old when she went on her first cruise, she's almost four now.)

4 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

First and foremost, the smaller "open air" Sabors do not have queso fundido, which is my favorite dish BY FAR from the full service Sabors.  The menus on the O class Sabors are a subset of the bigger (and better, IMO) menus of the full service Sabors.

I'm sure it has a lot to do with the "fiesta" influence of the O class Sabors but the ambiance is just so different from the regular Sabor restaurants.  The full service restaurants have a more sedate and sophisticated feel and the O class restaurants feel like a seaside bar - which is intentional, I'm sure.  Bottom line - I have never been disappointed in my visit to a full service Sabor and I've never been happy with a visit to one of the O class Sabors.

If you're going for the chips, salsa, tacos and margaritas, you will be fine.  If you've never been to a full service Sabor then you will not know what you are missing !!

Thanks for the honest review, I really appreciate it. Interesting how subjective food is and how a restaurant on a particular ship can differ from person to person, Matt seemed to have enjoyed his experience on Harmony. I'm going to try specialty dining for the first time later this year on Adventure, and, if I really like it, plan to try a different restaurant (or two!) on Harmony the following December. :) So, this thread has been really helpful! 

On 2/5/2018 at 9:58 PM, henrysea13 said:

I have gotten accustomed to taking the summers off its way to hot and too many band of brothers teenagers roaming the ships SOOOOOOOO my next cruise is a single western on the brilliance oct 1 5 nights have a studio room love to try all the new cabins then have adventure for an eastern 8 nights nov 24 - dec ?so excited we have a large panoramic if you haven't tried one of these you have no idea what your missing the views are breath taking I would always wake in the morning rush to the Viking crown for the beauty nature has to offer then on to a fresh made omelet in the WJ now I don't want to leave the comfort of my cabin so I order from room service which in no way equals a fresh hot omelet BUT trust me the incredible vistas viewed from the whole wall windows floor to ceiling will absolutely make up for the difference well this is my present bookings and I am sure there will be more yo ho yo ho a cruisers life for me remember there is no greater gift you can receive then your set sail pass I hope each and every on of you out there appreciates what you have that joe average non cruiser doesn't SAIL ON MY FRIENDS

Have a great time, Henry, I am sailing on the same Adventure itinerary and will embarking the ship two weeks after yours :) 

On 2/5/2018 at 10:25 PM, twangster said:

Liberty 2-25-18

Awesome, just in a few days! You sailing solo on this one?

My next two cruises are Adventure of the Seas on December 8th, 2018 and Harmony of the Seas on December 8th, 2019.

Edit: @DocLC, could you please update the master list to include both?

4 hours ago, KLAconQueso said:

As discussed, here’s a few villa pictures! 

3 bedroom (1 queen, 2 double), 2.5 bath Villa located in Old San Juan. AirBnB host has been great, and the property and location are incredible. 

 

Gorgeous property! You and hubby planning on doing some sightseeing today? I've never been to San Juan, but am very excited to tour the city on my Adventure cruise this December :)

On 2/9/2018 at 12:05 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

Sabor on Harmony is definitely not as good as Sabor on Nav or one of the other non-O class ships.

This is really disappointing as I will not have the chance to try Sabor for the first time until my December 2019 cruise on Harmony. Would you be able to please elaborate further as to why? I am curious to hear your thoughts.

Have a safe flight tomorrow, Kayla! I hope you and hubby have a terrific time on your cruise, looking forward to your live blog :D

Don't forget to take lots of photos for us!

Thanks for your great review, @HLWIser! I'm a member of the Adventure Facebook group too and am really looking forward to my December cruise on Adventure :D

On 2/19/2018 at 10:18 AM, Matt said:

The June 2018 date for completion of the pier at CocoCay comes from RC directly.  As to whether the dock will actually be completed sooner or later, that's a different story.  But for now, I can only report on what RC has indicated to me.

Hope that makes sense.

I haven't been back to CocoCay since February 2008 (my first Royal Caribbean cruise LOL), but it's the first port on my Harmony cruise in December 2019. I remember enjoying my time there, it will be fun to return :) 

For reference, here's the 2019-2020 deployment schedule for Freedom: http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/2019_2020/2019-2020_FR_Deployment_Caribbean.pdf

So, last summer, when I booked my December 2018 Adventure cruise, I booked directly through Royal Caribbean as unfortunately I had not discovered RCB until after the fact LOL. For this December 2019 cruise on Harmony, I booked through a specific agency, local in my area, to use two $50 cruise vouchers donated to my mother's church auction that she coordinates every year. Although I did my research prior to booking, and provided the agent with the itinerary, sailing, stateroom, I found her to be very helpful in that she and her family had recently returned from a sailing on Harmony and was able to give me some helpful tips (most of which I already learned through @Matt :D). (She has also sailed on Adventure in the past.) Also, she told me in writing that, although the $100 voucher was technically applicable to double occupancy, the agency would honour the full $100 amount for my solo cruise and be applied on my final invoice.

My Harmony sailing is obviously a long ways away, but I'm hoping that she will monitor pricing and notify me ASAP of any onboard incentives as discussed. So far so good!

I wish you nothing but luck in your search for a TA, @Iluv4n6!

Really surprised that the new app hasn't been rolled out to Harmony, one of Royal's newer ships. How is the Royal IQ app in general? I'm planning to use it for my Harmony cruise. 

12 hours ago, Sabrinaklai said:

+1 here

The people here are wonderful!

10 hours ago, rjac said:

We have fun here, share info and don't complain....too much...unless it's about a certain pizza on board or RC's math computations on the drink package discounts. But, it is  GREAT place to hang out and learn. 

9 hours ago, Sabrinaklai said:

Agreed 100%

Thanks for the positive feedback, @Matt and his staff have built up a great community :) I'm growing tired of the constant negativity on a certain cruising message board, so this is a nice change :) 

Just to stay on topic, I'm thinking of enrolling in one of Apple's free photography workshops this weekend, specifically one of these courses. They really sound interesting and think that it would be a good start for me!

2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Actually, since you have an iPhone 8 I'd make one other suggestion, if you want to start seriously learning the manual camera controls and getting a little more control over your pictures, rather than letting the phone make all the decisions.

There's an app named "Halide" that has gotten a lot of positive reviews. It's $5, and while it has its own automatic mode that's generally gotten good reviews, it also gives you the option of full manual controls while also shooting in RAW format if you want (not required). It's gotten a ton of positive reviews from experienced photographers, and supposedly doesn't have too steep a learning curve. Many controls are gesture based so you don't have to deal with really deep menu controls or the like.

This app has become the one after Camera+ that I pretty consistently see as a "must have" app for serious iPhone photography, especially on the newer models that support RAW format.

As far as other apps that I'd recommend, there's Camera+ and then a pair of long-exposure / slow shutter apps I've installed for night-time photography: Slow Shutter and NightCap. The latter seems to be the better of the two from playing around with both, but I've kept them since each has slightly different features.

I love this forum, you guys are so nice and helpful! Thank you! ???

11 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Well, if you're mostly looking to improve your photography skills, it might not be a bad idea to start off with a photography class or just read up on some general techniques from sites like dpreview.com. There are a decent number of classes on Udemy.com, and most of those typically go for around $10-15, so it's not a big outlay compared to getting a lens set or the like. I've used Udemy for some tech training I needed at work and I can say that the well-rated classes do seem to deserve that rating, and the typically low cost of a class makes it easy to try out a couple and see which ones work best for you.

Not being flip here, I've read a lot of sites that all say a variation on, "Don't worry about adding lenses or other things until you've got the basics down for things like framing, composition, any manual controls your camera offers, etc. After you have a solid grasp on that, any investment you make in lenses or other kit will return even more to you." I've tried to follow that, and for the longest time I've just worked on trying to take good photos with my iPhone even knowing all the limits it has. I've gotten enough positive feedback from friends and family that this is the first year I'm seriously looking at extra lenses and such.

If I had to pick just one item to start with, I'd personally go with a clip-on CPL filter for my phone. Most of my photography is done outdoors on vacations and family outings, and a CPL helps a ton with eliminating glare and improving the overall photo in bright sunlight. You can find those on Amazon, and they tend to be fairly cheap (under $20).

If you want an actual lens set to try out, then I'd say go with the Olloclip 4-in-1. Gives you wide angle, fisheye, and two macro lenses. No telephoto option, but their separate tele clip with a CPL on the other end has gotten fairly uneven reviews and probably isn't worth the money.

 

This was an expensive investment, for sure. Almost $300 total: Each lens cost $99, plus the cost of the phone case (which is like another $35 IIRC). Then there was the travel case, wrist strap, and the lens cleaning pen. You don't have to get all of those, of course; each lens comes with a cover and little microfiber travel bag so you can just throw it in your pocket or backpack if you'd like (and feel safe letting it jostle around). You could get the phone case and one lens, then build up from there as your funds allow. The good thing is that the design of these new lenses allows them to work with any current and future iPhone or supported Android model -- you just need the case for the specific phone and your lenses are perfectly good to go. So the initial cost isn't complete throwaway.

I mainly bit the bullet on this after asking for birthday money from family instead of gifts, and getting enough to cover it, as I've had a lot of other expenses for myself and the family this year besides covering cruise fare, and buying lenses is definitely a "can put off another year if needed" kind of thing. May spend a little of my year-end bonus as well to "fill the gaps" for the filter adapter and filters, but have to see after I've taken care of other outstanding items.

A big driver for me was that tele lens, as there are very few lens add-on companies that sell telephoto lenses, and Moment was one of only a couple that got generally good reviews and also worked with a case instead of requiring a "naked" phone or some other attachment mechanism like a small plate or other incomplete covering for the phone. I do as much video recording as still photography, and having a good telephoto lens to get me closer to what I'm recording and "neutralize" the inherent wide angle view of the standard iPhone lens, is really handy. And since I'm a total klutz, having it attach to a case instead of through a clip or other means that could detach is really helpful, too.

Big thanks to both you and @LetsTryThisTech for your recommendations and guidance, this was outstanding :)

2 minutes ago, LetsTryThisTech said:

Are you looking to spend a small amount or go for pretty good setup? I know @twangster shared something elsewhere. I bought a kit for about $15 that's a good starter kit. I bought it for my last phone (which I killed  ) and it was actually not bad for the price. However, you can also go all out and get a really nice set for $150 really depends on what you're looking for. If I get a chance tomorrow morning I'll try out the lens and post some pics too (although I do not own an iPhone so final images may vary slightly)

A basic kit is fine unless there is one accessory in particular which you consider essential for photography. I have seen lenses for sale in the Apple Store, but never paid them much attention LOL. 

Thank you so much!

9 minutes ago, jticarruthers said:

As of a couple of years ago (last time I carried on wine on RCL) yes absolutely. I don't think anything has changed but defer to my co-posters to correct me. AFAIK corkage fee is only applied if you have an employee doing the opening/pouring/storing.

This is what I have read on Cruise Critic as well. I honestly don't drink a ton, but I enjoy having a glass of wine with dinner or poolside at sailaway :) I'm glad Royal will allow me to bring two bottles of wine with me and not charge me to open the bottle in my stateroom. 

5 hours ago, Matt said:

There is a corkage fee, although it's not always charged.

Basically, you bring the wine to any restaurant you're going to (like the main dining room) and your waiter will open it.  You can ask them to store it for you, and they will mark it with your stateroom number.  Then, any other evening, ask the waiter to retrieve it.  You can take the wine back with you, if you like. 

And yes, specialty restaurants can get your wine from MDR.  Just let your specialty server know that it's at the MDR.

Stupid question, but can I open a bottle in my stateroom, pour myself a big glass of wine, and carry it throughout the ship including the MDR and not get charged a corkage fee? 

So, I own an iPhone 8 and enjoy taking photos while on vacation but it is not my primary camera. I use a Canon point-and-shoot/non-SLR camera for the majority of pictures. Which iPhone photo accessory would you recommend if you were only to purchase one? I'm really not familiar with cameras in general, but would like to improve my photography skills. (I just can't afford an SLR camera right now.)

Thanks ahead in advance :)

On 2/13/2018 at 5:32 PM, LetsTryThisTech said:

For our freedom trip next month I thought I saw it at $22. I have convinced my wife to go to chop lunch one day after seeing so many yummy pics lol.

Managed to get a hold of Compasses for this week's re positioning cruise from Miami :) Chops is $19 for lunch ($35 dinner), Giovanni's $15 ($28 dinner) on Adventure. 

On 2018-02-07 at 12:28 PM, Suzanne said:

Say a little thank you to the "Big Guy" of allowing me to be on vacation. And by Big Guy...I'm not talking about my husband...lol 

We've had a rough year....cancer diagnoses for me, Major surgery, 12 chemo treatments, (finally finished), Hurricane Harvey flooding our home 2 weeks into my chemo.  I wasn't allowed any alcohol during my treatments......yea, I'm ready for a cruise...and a big ole Bloody Mary!  Come on May!!

On 2018-02-08 at 10:35 AM, Sweety said:

I was diagnose with breast cancer twice. After my last treatment, I went on a cruise to refresh and relax. This last bout with breast cancer, my husband told me to book more cruises after my last treatment. He told me no pressure, no problem mon ( a creole saying). So I am say to you, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! NO PRESSURE, NO PROBLEM MON! HAVE A GREAT TIME IN MAY!!!! HAVE A BLOODY MARY FOR ME.

My heart goes out to both of you and your families, big hugs! ?Wishing you both nothing but the best and best wishes on your recoveries! *hugs*

I pretty much have the same tradition as everyone else of hitting the buffet once I board the ship LOL. Afterward, I like to explore and go photo-crazy; the best part is getting lost and seeing where the road takes you :D By then, my stateroom and luggage will be ready and, after unpacking, it's time for everyone's favourite muster drill. (I'm glad to hear that Royal Caribbean eliminated use of life jackets as with my very first cruise on Sovereign in 2008.) I like to relax with an adult beverage during sailaway, enjoy being out on the water, and winding down the day with dinner in the MDR and evening's entertainment :) 

Can't wait until my upcoming cruise on Adventure!