accio7

Thoughts and well wishes to all of our RCB cruising friends affected by this huge hurricane! And remember: you're actually safer in a ship at sea so why don't you book a last moment Royal Caribbean cruise? :P

I'm very disappointed that the announcement was relegated to the Itinerary Updates section of the website and not on the home page. People should see this info right away when the site loads.

Edit: Please make an assumption that I suffer from reading comprehension as it could be already there!

21 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Can someone explain what "Best for Wellbeing" is supposed to mean? HAL won that one, and that's a line I'm considering for a future Norway / Iceland cruise. They're pricey, but hey! My wellbeing doesn't come cheap! 

Well being refers to the facilities, services offered by the spa and fitness centre onboard.

13 hours ago, Oliver said:

I’m not actually surprised. I plan to cruise more on Princess and Celebrity once the kids are older and/or gone. Don’t get me wrong I like Royal very much. Great for families. But there is something to be said for a premium experience. If you read magazines like Travel and Leisure or Condé Nast Traveler, Princess usually beats Royal Carribean. It’s doesnt have the Wow factor though that’s for sure. Very traditional. 

I agree 100% with you. Like Holland America, Celebrity, Disney, Princess is considered to be a premium cruise line offering a step-up in accommodation, dining, etc. from Royal Caribbean. I can't afford any of those cruise lines I mentioned, but, from what I've been told from friends and family, the additional cost is worth it. My mother and her friend enjoyed their experience aboard Regal Princess back in January so much that they booked a cruise on one of her sister ships, Royal Princess, for January 2019. 

On a personal note, being in my very early 40s, I feel as if I am still 10 years away from sailing with HAL, Celebrity, Princess etc. as their demographics tend to be older than the mass-market cruise lines (i.e. Royal, Carnival, NCL). 

16 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Depending on the ship, hole punching may not be an option.  If you are one of the newer ships (Harmony, Symphony, and Quantum class) the cards are RFID cards and you have to take them out to be scanned.  If you're on an older ship, hole-punching works great as @jurrjurr mentioned above.

I bought this lanyard  from the Tigers store when I was in Detroit this past January which I am intending to use for my Adventure cruise in December. My SeaPass card will get hole punched for sure, but, for my Harmony cruise next year, I'm going to have to get a pouch. Going to have to dig around at home for one, if not there's always the dollar store.  

4 minutes ago, FlowBro Ty said:

@accio7 We did the forts and the governor mansion and pigeon park then some one famous house and walk the streets of old san Juan. We Did The Fort Tour Through Royal would recommend it and we had the best tour guide ever. when are you going to be docked there

Thank you very much for this, we are scheduled to dock in San Juan on December 11th.

Congratulations to Royal Caribbean who were named winners in two categories of Cruise International's 2018 British Cruise Awards! 

• Best Family Cruise Line
• Best Cruise Line for Millennials

The cruise line also received commendations for the following:

• Best for New to Cruise
• Best for Onboard Entertainment
• Best for Innovation

The full list of winners can be found here.

On 9/2/2018 at 9:18 PM, Sweety said:

We take a cruise every year during the holidays. There is something festival going on everyday. The Christmas trees, every type of gingerbread house from small to huge and champagne for New Year's. The food is traditional with an old fashioned English Christmas meal. There are New Year hats, beads and singing. The entire cruise is extra lively. I hope this answers your questions. I would definitely recommend it. I have been on Grandeur, Allure, Anthem and Serenade as well as other ships. This gives you a range to tell you I have had fun on all.

Not sailing over New Years this year and next, but looking forward to checking out Christmas decorations on both Adventure, Harmony during the first week in December  This is the typical time that I vacation (e.g. Las Vegas 2017, NYC 2016), so I'm used to seeing the amazing displays but never at sea before. Can't wait! 

On 9/3/2018 at 8:56 AM, Matt said:

YOLO Book it!

*cough*Freedom of the Seas RCB NYE Group Cruise 2019*cough*

More people should join you, Matt! (I would totally, but I'm already booked on Harmony at the beginning of the month and can't afford to sail on both of them.) 

Love, love these photos, @FlowBro Ty! Thank you for sharing them with us

If you don't mind, what areas of San Juan did you explore on your cruise? I will be visiting San Juan for the first time on my December cruise aboard Adventure.

20 hours ago, Beyond Vertical said:

Found a video on the wet dock for Adventure earlier this year.

 

Adventure of the Seas Wet Dock

Thanks for this! I noticed that the person who maintains that YouTube account works for Royal Caribbean, lots of cool videos to check out later  

(Btw, I'm sailing on Adventure in December too! Are you booked on my December 8th cruise too?)

My embarkation day routine is pretty much as follows:

1. Board the ship while taking eight billion photos on the way LOL. 
2. Try not to look like a dork squeeing in delight as I step aboard. 
3. Try to patiently wait for elevator for that sweet, sweet buffet Jammer food.
4. Try to patiently wait in Jammer line and resist temptation to feel like Veruca Salt 
5. Continue to take eight billion photos.
6. Try to behave like an adult and not eat everything in sight.
7. Locate prison cell studio stateroom when rooms become available and praise the cruising gods that you don't have to share it with anyone else this week  
8. Find prison warden stateroom attendant to say hi. 
9. Continue to explore ship and take eight billion photos.
10. Post photos online with the explicit purpose of making people at home jealous. 
11. Attend muster drill and resist temptation not to sing along loudly and take eight billion photos. 
12. Celebrate, WE ARE ON VACATION! 

Just now, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Thank for following along. Today D9 turns 10 so it's all about swimming, slides, and Sorrento's pizza.

Happy birthday to your daughter! Woooo, double digits

Good morning @Lovetocruise2002! 

Just returned to the office today after a short weekend trip to the cottage and noticed your live blog aboard Mariner  Totally agree with your thoughts on sailaway from Miami, really going to miss this experience as my next two cruises are out of Fort Lauderdale and Port Canaveral  Loving your review, hope Day Two is a fantastic one! 

Loved your review, @hayley_bopp, I hope you and hubby had a wonderful time on your cruise! Thank you for sharing your memories with us

Late to the party, but I hope you are enjoying your time on Empress, @twangster! Considering a solo cruise to Cuba for 2020, so I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts about the ship and itinerary  

(And, happy birthday to @WAAAYTOOO! I am jealous because you share the same birthday as Harry Potter LOL.)

Loving your photos, @CraftyCat05! I know you are heading to bed soon, but I hope you and your parents have a very happy embarkation day tomorrow! 

Just now, canada55 said:

thanks to everyone for your replies, unfortunately, Royal Caribbean isn't following their own policies as per Matt's posting!  

@accio7, I am in Richmond Hill, so we are neighbours already! I will have to figure out how to post a pic to post in my profile, in case we run into each other in St.Maarten!

I really hope you can get this clarified! FWIW, my cruise confirmation paperwork shows final payment for my 8 night cruise due on September 9th, 2018 and I'm sailing the day before you.

(Hope to be able to say hi in St. Maarten!) 

Did you book this cruise with a TA? If not, have you reached out to Royal Caribbean yet?

(On a sidenote, I am sailing on Adventure on the 8th out of Port Everglades, and both of our ships are docked in St. Maarten on the 12th That would be too funny if we ran into each other onshore LOL.)

4 minutes ago, twangster said:

One problem is the work to keep it up to date.  Time goes by quickly and with many ships getting AMPED soon it's equally important to keep any database up to date.

I've often used the link @accio7 provided, but even so I take it with a grain of salt knowing it too can become dated.

Yep, that's Wikipedia in a nutshell lol, and why I try to do my own research online to verify. I usually start with RCB, love the blog, podcast, everything @Matt does for us, this message board, and our friendly, knowledgeable community (which includes YOU, @twangster!). 

Oh my, Chef's Table dinner looks absolutely yummy! I'm glad you and hubby had a fantastic time last night

Enjoy your day in Lisbon today!

Sounds like it was a good flight, safe travels to Barcelona!

7 minutes ago, spiralqueen said:

Is there any sort of resource you guys know of that is a bit of a stats comparison of the different ships all on one page? Like a spreadsheet or just general chart that shows things like which ships have broadway shows, slides, XYZ specialty restaurant, panoramic view stateroom, when their last refurb was, etc? (Not asking for answers to those particular examples right now) I think something like that would be supremely helpful for figuring out which ship to go on next . 

Are you looking for a comparison chart like this one for example? I should point out that this is not up-to-date; e.g. Empress, Mariner now both have studio staterooms. 

I would be more inclined to trust the information posted on RCB as Matt does a really tremendous job in keeping his readers updated on a daily basis  The link he posted above is a good start.

3 hours ago, CraftyCat05 said:

but... just got a text from American, saying that our flight to Miami has been delayed by 14 minutes, making our connection time a mere 59 minutes. Anything to do in Miami? Is the airport hotel good? I just don't think that we are going to make that flight to Barcelona...

@accio7, it may commence, but not where it's going to be! lol, thanks for the well wishes.

Oh no! All the best to you, my cruising friend, I hope you do make the flight as well!

Just realized that today your vacation COMMENCES, woo hoo! Safe flight to Barcelona, @CraftyCat05