twangster

At no port will you find Royal employes working at the port. From security, to check in staff to porters they are all contractors at every port. At least in North America. I suppose if you don't tip you might find an unhappy porter. I always tip a few bucks for my one bag. From the drop off point luggage carts are right there so there isn't anywhere to haul your own bags to typically.

On the plane now, live from 37,000' and 586 mph. Landing around 6pm in Ft Lauderdale. I have lots of time tonight so I might do the Tri-Rail thing again to get down to my Miami hotel. South Florida rush hour traffic in a $50 ride-share or $3.75 on Tri-Rail? I think I'll save the $45 and use it to pay for drinks on CocoCay. Here is a bit on my last Tri-Rail experience: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/11517-south-florida-tri-rail-ft-lauderdale-miami

Plans for this Cruise Only one excursion booked so far. A day trip to Jost Van Dyke in the BVI from Tortola. My last visit to Jost Van Dyke occurred when I lived on St Thomas. It's one of the smaller islands of the Virgin Island chain but she has a beautiful beach and is home to the Soggy Dollar Bar right on the beach. Boats anchor off the beach and visitors swim to land hence they have soggy dollars. The hurricanes that impacted San Juan and the US Virgin Islands did a number on Jost Van Dyke but I understand they've rebuilt. Time to contribute to the local economy again. I brought my snorkel gear this time and hope to snorkel at CocoCay if the weather is good. Then I'll jump in Oasis Lagoon to enjoy the fresh water and swim up pool bar. No CocoCay excursions purchased (so far). Lunch at the Snack Shack for another Shack Crispy Chicken Sandwich. Yum. With our late arrival in San Juan the plan is to wander around and take pictures during golden hour assuming there is no more civil unrest. St Thomas will be a boring work day for me.

While the items on the menus are common across the fleet, the order and combination they appear can change. If the last cruise didn't eat a lot of chicken they might adjust the menus next cruise to offer chicken entrees more frequently. The food and beverage manager and head chef can also adjust menus depending on how much food budget has been consumed that week. Each cruise has a specific budget. If they have surplus budget they will offer more expensive items into the rotation. They don't want to to fall too short of the budget or the budget will be reduced by corporate over time. If they are constantly $10k under budget, the food budget will be reduced by $10k. This is why the menus listed in the Royal app are often different than what actually appears in the MDR on any given night. Things you learn when you take the galley tours...

The mere potential thought that C&A points would be lost is nearly causing a boot loop.

They'll get a Chops lunch on boarding day and exclusive hours at certain activities that you will not as Sky Class. You already get Voom with Sky Class so that's a huge part of The Key wasted. You can eat lunch in Coastal Kitchen. The only reason to buy The Key is to hang out with your friends at lunch on day one and to participate in exclusive hours at activities with them. For me that would not be worth it.

Varies by ship. On Empress they had two drop boxes. One for ship books being returned and one for donations. All books in the library had a large sticker "Property of Royal Caribbean" so it seems they accept donations and brand them so they become permanent ship library books. I haven't seen this approach on other ships but I haven't put a lot of research into the libraries across the fleet..

Can't do it, bot wiring and programming doesn't allow it.

Interesting story from the previous 8 night Eastern Caribbean Empress cruise. A guest on my Empress B2B last week had been on for a month and she told me this story. Empress has a 2pm departure from CocoCay in order to make San Juan a day after a sea day. On the last run of this route, several guests missed the ship in CocoCay. Apparently they didn't note the 2pm departure. In one case a couple were enjoying CocoCay. Oblivious to the ship's whistle the woman went to get something to eat while the man went to a bar for a drink. When he presented his Empress SeaPass card they informed he was about to miss the ship and whisked him away in a golf cart. Unsure where the woman had gone he got back on board, she missed the ship and it left (late now) towards San Juan. Once she figured out she missed the ship, they put her on Mariner and she was taken to Port Canaveral. She then had to make her own arrangements to get to San Juan which she did at her expense. The problem is San Juan had some civil unrest and Empress skipped San Juan as a result. So she missed the ship again. This time, since Royal cancelled the call on San Juan they paid for her hotel and airfare to Tortola. Tortola doesn't have an airport so she flew to a neighboring island and had to take a water taxi over to Tortola where she finally re-joined the cruise. From what was explained to me they stated the excursion they booked said it ended at 3pm so they thought they were good until 3pm. A total of five guests missed the ship at CocoCay. Unsure what happened to the rest other than being put on Mariner for the ride over to Port Canaveral. Lesson learned. Even at CocoCay, don't miss the ship! Side note - when Empress skipped San Juan they had already taken on the San Juan pilot when Miami decided they should skip San Juan. Because the pilot had already boarded they were on the hook for the ~$10k pilot fee. Hoping we don't skip San Juan but an overnight in Tortola does sound very tempting.

In the words as sung by Britney Spears... ? Oops, I Did it Again ? For those who are wondering what is he talking about? (or thinking I've enjoyed one too many happy hour drinks) I just finished 14 nights on this little beauty last week. You can read about that B2B experience here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/14213-empress-b2b-14-nights-on-the-biggest-little-ship-july-2019/ Those cruises were great but they were Western Caribbean and this 8 night cruise is Eastern Caribbean including a stop at Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. Royal hasn't visited the BVI very much in recent years so when I saw the BVI added to the itinerary in the wake of the Cuba cancellations I knew I had to do it. Icing on my cake comes courtesy of another visit to Perfect Day at CocoCay. Itinerary Miami Perfect Day at CocoCay Sea Day San Juan Tortola St Thomas Sea Day Sea Day Miami Our Perfect Day ends at 2pm so we can make it to San Juan for a 3pm arrival after a day at sea. We stay until midnight in San Juan so if all goes well I hope to get some evening and night pictures around San Juan. Sailing in a Junior Suite I have scored one of the most forward deck 9 JS cabins this time. I love this small ship and her big heart. It's a good thing I love this ship because this will be my fourth cruise on her. My Crown and Anchor points haven't been posted yet from my last cruise on her so with the "paint still wet", I'm heading back to the love of my life, or at least the love of my life right now. Because I'm flying I don't like taking just one cruise so with a night off the water in between, I'm doing a side-to-side over to Majesty right after this cruise. A few years ago I started dreaming about a tour of the small ships and this marks another step towards completing that goal. I think I set a record this time having packed my suitcase a full two days before the cruise. Basically I took my cruise clothes from the dryer and put them right back into my suitcase. " You see my problem is this I'm dreaming away Wishing that heroes, they truly exist I cry, watching the days Can't you see I'm a fool in so many ways But to lose all my senses That is just so typically me Oh baby, oh " Okay that doesn't make total sense but it's the only part of the lyrics that somewhat fit so I'm going with it.

MSC ships are registered in Panama with a few in Malta so they can operate in the EU (much like Royal's one token ship registered in Malta). The Italian business environment wasn't favorable so they moved to Geneva. The company is registered in Geneva just as your post indicates. They market themselves as Italian though which is where the company was originally founded before moving to Switzerland.

Like a lot of things with cruising... it never hurts to ask. Technically they are not required to do so. Just be prepared for an answer you don't want to hear.

No.

I'm more of a forward person. Some ships do shake in the aft depending on ship speed but more importantly when I'm forward I get to where we are going first.

I must have missed it, where is the live blog? Surely you've started it...

Buy it! Even if you are unsure you can always cancel later. I scored a zip line and thrill water park combp for ~$60 for an upcoming cruise. Then Perfect Day demand went through the roof and prices adjusted upward.

Tickets will be delivered to your cabin. They will list the time and meeting place. They are all you need.

It's not something commonly mentioned. I often see towels left behind, sometimes at a beach off the ship, sometimes curled up in a wet ball near a pool when most people have gone to sleep. I suppose these folks might think their towel was stolen or maybe they just forgot about it. Either way it's going to cost them ;)

Yes, by the pool or by the ocean, they are everywhere and free.

Inevitable I suppose. The cruise industry will adapt.

Absolutely, and cruise planner prices will be better than on board prices 99% of the time. If you don't watch it closely you might not get the best price you could have, but it will be cheaper than on board. If you didn't score the best price, that's your fault, not deceptive marketing.

The majority of guests boarding Mariner have never been on a cruise before. Perfect Day is proving to be immensely popular for good reason. Combine the two and I can understand why they are trying this. If the feedback is positive they'll likely continue, if not they likely won't. The idea of two stops is appealing. That's taking me two cruises, one last week and another next week. Let's examine this concept that the new Perfect Day is a money grab compared to the old CocoCay. Thrill water park is a small section of the island. Beyond the water park the same excursions are available that always have been at CocoCay, except... Remember the old Aqua Park? $37 for one hour. That's it in the distance. Yep, that's what you got for one hour and $37 back in 2017. Remember the old slides from 2017? $26 for a day pass. Not included in the Aqua Park. Now for roughly the same price of the old aqua park and old slide you get an entire water park with wave pool and multiple slides that are incredible. Thrill water park is $62 in most of my upcoming stops at CocoCay. To me that represents pretty great value compared to the CocoCay of yesterday. BTW - see all those loungers in the top picture? Notice anything missing? The $20 umbrellas! Here is a Perfect Day picture from last week. Now, umbrellas all over the place and they are free! If you just want a relaxing beach day without spending a dime that describes 90% of Perfect Day including a free fresh water pool and now Perfect Day is so much nicer than the old CocoCay. If you want a water park, the price today has so much more value compared to the old Aqua park and inflatable slide of yesterday's CocoCay at the same price. Plus no more tendering! Come and go from the ship as much as you want. What's not to love about Perfect Day?

How will two sound machines work right beside each other? Any chance you can get them to share one and agree on the sounds? A cruise ship cabin isn't that big...

I see things differently. Once on board there are always new cruisers who have never sailed before lined up at Shore Excursion paying the full and higher price. Look at the excursion books left in your cabin. The on board prices are always highest. The same can be said for Voom and other items like drink packages. Anything discounted from on board rates is a sale price. Not all cruise planner sales are equal and not all ships and sail dates will get the same discounting but anything that is lower than on board prices is a sale price, not a marketing game trying to deceive guests. 99% of the time when you purchase something in the Cruise Planner you are getting a better deal. Just ask the folks on their first cruise paying full price on board. Once you tell them about the Cruise Planner, they won't make that mistake again.

Nothing specific to RCBlog but you can bookmark any page using your browser. Depending on your browser you could create an RCBlog Folder and save all such favorites posts to that bookmark folder.