accio7

Sorry to hear about your confusion. It sounds like you thought you were booking a regular room, but you were in fact getting a guarantee room.
Couple bits of advice I can offer. First, a guarantee room is not bad option. I've done it many times with good results.  Also, once they assign you a room, you can move to another room in the same category if there are any others available.
Second, use a travel agent instead of calling direct. A travel agent can help mitigate miscommunication from RC, and generally make your life easier.

I am sorry to share - I went with a Corona against all advice. We had a prank going against my in laws - long story, but a beer worked bette for it!

Actually sitting in the Battle of the Sexes game show now!!!

My review of the MSC Meraviglia will air on Cruise Radio next week (March 8th).
I really did enjoy my cruise on MSC and have no complaints with regards to the ports and the price we paid. We also received excellent perks by status matching with our Royal Caribbean status. For a week, their new ships are quite nice and quite comparable to Royal's newest builds. There are just fewer complimentary activities onboard. In addition, since this was a winter cruise, we didn't have the opportunity to enjoy the ropes course or the water slides, which would add to the overall experience.

Unless I meet the girl of my dreams AND she is a Pinnacle, this is not going to happen anytime soon.

@accio7.....that's awesome...love seeing stuff like that!

Here’s a link to the podcast episode: https://player.fm/series/series-52225/bonus-010-msc-seaside-review-msc-cruises
Cruise Radio is probably my second fave cruising podcast (after @Matt‘s, of course :P). 

I was curious as to whether I still kept my Sea Pass card and other goodies from my first cruise in 2008 on Sovereign of the Seas...and I did! 
Enjoy this blast from the past! 
SeaPass card

Guest vacation document book complete with leftover luggage tags lol:



More goodies: 

Cruise Compasses:

I miss Sovereign so much, I hope Pullmantur is taking good care of her!

I was curious as to whether I still kept my Sea Pass card and other goodies from my first cruise in 2008 on Sovereign of the Seas...and I did! 
Enjoy this blast from the past! 
SeaPass card

Guest vacation document book complete with leftover luggage tags lol:



More goodies: 

Cruise Compasses:

I miss Sovereign so much, I hope Pullmantur is taking good care of her!

Day 2 Dinner, 1st Formal Night
Menus are in the Diamond Lounge so I went up for a sneak peak.

I've got two hours to decide.  Thinking about a shrimp cocktail, Duck or Pork and I'm not sure about dessert.  Feeling the pounds coming on faster than I am walking them off.  Might just do some no sugar ice cream or skip dessert. 

So firstly, I wasn't hungry but now I really am. I can see why norovirus (or any virus for that matter) would spread so easy with people putting the tongs back inside the food. (This is why I ALWAYS reach in the back under the top layer to try and get the safer stuff. 
Thanks @twangster so looking forward to next week.

$28 before tip for 6 adults and 6 pieces of luggage! 

Hello from the Adventure of the Seas! We are currently docked in St. Maarten, but checking in for a review on our day yesterday. 
We took a quick taxi from Old San Juan to Pan American Pier around 10:45. When we arrived at the port, we were able to go through a quick security check and board immediately after. One of the fastest I’ve experienced. The 12:30 pm check in time stated by RCCL doesn’t appear to be enforced. I did also notice that Platinum C&A and up were being allowed through the Suite/Pinnacle line. 
Upon embarkation, we made our way to the Schooner for a drink and to relax. Looking around the Promenade, the effect of the refurb was obvious. All of the furnishings and carpet looks brand new - the ship is very clean. We made our way to the Windjammer for lunch, and as expected the food was great. We noticed that on entry to the Windjammer there was a set of hand wash and dry stations placed outside, and thankfully they were being utilized! Nice touch!! The dryer appeared to come out the side of the faucet, which helps keep things compact and moving. 
After lunch, we hung around the ship until staterooms were ready right around 1:30 pm. We love our Promenade Interior room! As with the rest of the ship, everything in the rooms looks quite new. So far, I’m very impressed. 
This cruise we plan to eat in the main dining room each evening. We’ve had a hiccup getting a pair in our group seated with us, but hoping to finally get that resolved today. Dinner was great - others in my group raves about the prime rib and I really enjoyed a vegetable and polenta dish. 
After dinner we made our way to the casino, where I am happy to share I had some great luck on roulette! 
Thats all for now - about time to head in to st maarten for our tour! 

Ping time.   O3b is 200-300ms.  Legacy satellite 600+ms.  The Harris CapRock is the other give away.   If it were O3b it typically says O3b Networks instead of Harris CapRock.    It's the latency or ping time that is the important differentiator.  That's what make everything work better.   

Time for Muster - theres a pretty rainbow hanging out on the port side of the ship over San Juan 

Current VOOM Speed Test

HELLO from the Schooner! We’ve made it on board, and the ship looka wonderful. All furnishings have been refreshed and the exterior has been painted. She looks great! Stay tuned for a more extended update! 

The AirBnB looks great! I'd book it for myself, but then again, I don't want KLA cooties.

KLA I would recommend a Stella to start the cruise, I know that's always my first drink on board! 

I can answer both of these right now based on what I've seen in the Cruise Planner! 
For the sushi making class - it is not offered in the cruise planner. However, dining reservations for Izumi are also not available in the Cruise Planner, so I speculate that Izumi will be more focused as a casual walk up sushi bar. That said, if they happen to offer this on board I will be sure to report back and I will definitely be hanging on to my cruise compasses. 
The Mystery Dinner Theater is being offered at $79/pp. 
Also noted (@CruiseLifeRick - I saw you ask about this on Cruise Critic) - Unlimited Fitness Class Passes are available under the Spa & Fitness section of the Cruise Planner. 5-7 Days is $49.

Yesterday in St Maarten was quite an experience - all around an awesome day  
We started the day slowly with breakfast in the main dining room, featuring Crab Benedict. For our day, we had planned a third party tour with Bernards SXM Tours. I can not recommend this tour enough - it was absolutely excellent. For $40 (tour 1) we had a Air conditioned van taking us all over the island, with a cooler of beer, soda, and rum punch provided. Our tour guide was the Mailman, and he was AWESOME. Incredibly nice and knowledgeable. 
The thing that appears to be the most marked difference is that the theme of the tour became less about the island, and more about the damage sustained from irma. There is still evidence of damage everywhere, particularly on the French side. One of the stops was Orient Bay Beach, and it looked like the entire thing was still covered in the rubble of old buildings. Most places you go on the island, you will be seeing mangled metal and piles of debris. It was incredible to see and learn what these people went through. All of this said, don’t be deterred from going. Take this tour, see the island, learn their story, and spend some money on souvenirs if you can. This island is reliant on tourism, and due to how insurance works on the French side it sounds as though it will still be quite some time before most of it is built back up - probably another year. 
Kind of an afterthought, but I wasn’t a huge fan of Maho Beach. It struck me as a bit of a tourist trap with kind of a Senior Frogs vibe. 
After our tour, we enjoyed another dinner in the dining room, happened upon some additional luck in the casino, and went to the silent disco in the VCL - don’t miss that late night event! It was a blast. 
We are currently docked in St Kitts after having spent a morning poolside with mimosas! We will be headed off shortly for a quick afternoon excursion. 
Thanks for following! Here’s a photo dump. 

Ferry explosion in Playa Del Carman. Canadians among those injured.
Video included in the story
http://www.khou.com/article/news/ferry-explosion-injures-25-in-playa-del-carmen-mexico/285-521662657
 
UPDATE....Americans among the injured, but no deaths.
http://abc13.com/18-injured-when-mexican-ferry-explodes-after-docking/3120258/?sf182708964=1

I was curious as to whether I still kept my Sea Pass card and other goodies from my first cruise in 2008 on Sovereign of the Seas...and I did! 
Enjoy this blast from the past! 
SeaPass card

Guest vacation document book complete with leftover luggage tags lol:



More goodies: 

Cruise Compasses:

I miss Sovereign so much, I hope Pullmantur is taking good care of her!

Since ya’all know that I like to flaunt my status.....I’ve decided to show you all my cards I’ve acquired over the years of cruising with RCI...are you ready to feast your eyes on all these cards?   
 
Here they are!