twangster

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/11/13/harmony-of-the-seas-officially-named-her-godmother The couple in question are Symphony's Godfamily since their baby Ocean is included.

Timely with the earthquakes today.

Past cruise compasses here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass They will list open times for all venues.

I assumed it came with being named Godparents of Symphony.

In a suite or solo, or solo in a suite?

The "sale" is in comparison to on board pricing, not the rate you saw last week or last month. I suppose if Royal would regularly post the full price and only occasionally discount it then people would see it is as being "on sale". The problem is many people don't even know about the cruise planner or think items might fluctuate in price. If Royal only offered a sale once a month for a week many, many people would miss it. Be careful what you wish for or they might just do that. Also, cruise length is a big factor. Short 3 & 4 night cruises have higher DX prices because people can and will drink more for a few days. Someone on a 7 night cruise will pay less than someone on a 3 night cruise. Just because someone claims they paid X doesn't mean you will ever see that price. Know what your limit is and buy it if it ever is below that.

I should try to find my platinum pin and wear it next cruise. Get all the D and D+ in the DL spun up.

Colors observed to date have been black, white, blue and yellow.

Since it was July you could email Royal with their picture and provide positive feedback that way. Crown & Anchor can forward your comments to the appropriate team. crownandanchor@rccl.com

Here is 1748 on Oasis from 2016 Upstairs bathroom. Downstairs bathroom. View forward. Here is 1750 on Allure from 2017 Upstairs bathroom. Downstairs bathroom. As you can see the ship cabins were virtually identical back then.

I suppose the self serve beer machine might work with a wow band.

A SeaPass card is always required to leave or return to the ship. Local authorities at a port of call would have no way to read a Wow band and know if a person is really a guest on that ship. That leaves wow bands for on board use only. They are only available once on board but can usually be reused on another future cruise if the next ship also supports wow bands (most Quantum and Oasis class at time of writing). They do unlock your cabin which is where I find the biggest benefit. They can be used to make purchases on board or order drinks at a bar but often the card reader isn't close by so you end up having to take it off and handing it to the bartender so that isn't always convenient.

Excursions I've watched the cruise planner for months and booked these very early on. With regular checking I've managed to get several price drops and great pricing on all of them. A big lesson here is to understand that excursion pricing can fluctuate over time regardless of announced sales or major holidays. Check often and rebook when needed for the best deals. My general strategy is book something through Royal then begin to review 3rd party options. At the same time I check the cruise planner for price changes frequently. In doing so I often save anywhere from $5 to $75 per person on excursions by cancelling and rebooking when I see price drops. Quite often I end up sticking with Royal's excursion unless I see something that jumps out at me through a 3rd party. Bay of Islands - Lunch cruise Our first stop is a tender port. On a large ship like Ovation I always try to do a Royal excursion at tender stops simply because it makes the tendering process seamless. If it's anything like past tender days, my excursion will meet in the theater and we'll be escorted down to a tender used just for Royal excursions. Tauranga - Deluxe Rotorua Booked through a 3rd party this tour operator picks up right outside the cruise port area. Only downside is a 24 hour cancelation policy so if there are last minute itinerary changes I may be out this money. The Māori culture run deep in New Zealand heritage so this guy alone sold me on this excursion. Can't wait to meet him With watching sales the next three were good deals versus anything offered through a 3rd party and it will hopefully give me an area overview and local awareness for another future visit. Napier - Hawkes Bay Panorama Wellington Panorama Dunedin - Taieri Gorge Train I wanted to do this through a 3rd party but their times didn't work for me so I accepted taking it through Royal at a slightly higher cost for timing and convenience. At least my sale pricing came close to the 3rd party. It went up after that and stayed up.

I've noticed in the app that when a ship like Allure has the chat feature available an icon appears in the upper right. I'm still several weeks away and I'm not on the ship but the icon appears just the same. For other ships, no chat icon, no chat, yet.

A good example of what a dry dock is really used for. You can't do work like this with the ship wet unlike changes to guest areas which can be done anytime there are no passengers on board regardless if the ship is wet or dry.