Shari

I wonder if there still will be chair hogs on these sailings.

I Can't wait till all these threads are buried deep in the boards and we are all discussing which excursions are the best, wether paying for the upgrade cabin is worth it, and should dress code being enforced. I miss those days

Try to disinfect the ship before my June sailing please?

Still planning on going to our Panama Canal cruise  4 May on the Serenade.
 

Still planning on going to our Panama Canal cruise  4 May on the Serenade.
 

Still planning on going to our Panama Canal cruise  4 May on the Serenade.
 

Our younger daughter will be graduating from college in May and our older daughter has been teaching middle school in London for the last 2 years.  With the prospect of having both girls working to establish their respective careers in both the US and UK, this summer seemed like the last time that we could vacation as a family in the foreseeable future.   So last summer we booked Allure out of Barcelona for a Mediterranean cruise as kind of a last hurrah.  
At the time of booking, it was evident that this would be a relatively expensive endeavor since Allure would be recently AMPed, we would need to arrange for three trans-Atlantic flights, hotels reservations in Barcelona for both pre- and post-cruise site seeing and we would be traveling at peak season in July 2020.  But bite the bullet and pay the fare.  We did.  Yesterday, I did a mock booking for our cruise and was surprised to see that current pricing was significantly below what we had paid.  In part, this was because a senior discount (yes, I'm old) and a Resident discount was available that had not been applied to our initial booking.
Bottom line, a call to RCI to inquire resulted in a re-calculation of our reservation.  Not only were the discounts applied but the current BOGO60 and several other current sale discounts were added that reduced our costs by almost $1500.00.  Excursions and drink packages, here we come.....!   ?  My lucky day!  
Barca, here we come!!

Repricing is not in OBC.  We repriced our 2019 Alaska cruise 5 times and saved over 2000 by doing so.
 

Repricing is not in OBC.  We repriced our 2019 Alaska cruise 5 times and saved over 2000 by doing so.
 

Repricing is not in OBC.  We repriced our 2019 Alaska cruise 5 times and saved over 2000 by doing so.
 

I agree with this.  From Australia we monitored the US site virtually daily to wait for our chosen cruise to become public and get our first or second choice of aft cabin (we got second).  It sounds ridiculous but the effort is worth it.

A word of caution about Radiance class aft balcony cabins is that they are booked in the first couple of days.  Was booking 2 on Radiance once and one of the cabins was booked by someone else while we were on the phone the very first day.  We also booked the first day on the Serenade Panama Canal cruise and we couldn't get next to our friends so someone else has the cabin between us.  We love the Radiance class aft balcony cabins because they are JS style balconies at balcony cabin prices.

We order continental breakfast items every morning for no extra costs.  Bagels, toast, donuts, pastries, fruit, etc.  Just remember to fill out the breakfast room service flyer and put it on the door knob the night before.  They call you when they are bringing it up in the morning in case you over sleep.  We love to eat our "breakfast" out on the balcony in the morning.

Hi everyone,

I am leaving on my very first cruise tomorrow (starting the drive today) and I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to Matt, and everyone else here! I feel so confident going into this cruise. Between these message boards and Matt's live videos, I had all of my questions answered. This community is so positive and it just makes me that much more excited for my vacation! So again, thank you so much and happy cruising to you all ?

This is not fake news.  The person first posted on FB and was told to report her.  He showed the picture to RCCL staff and they figured out which cabin she was in.  They confronted her and then she was ordered to stay in her cabin until the next port.  She was escorted off of the Allure in Nassau Bahamas this morning and is permanently banned from any RCL (corporate wide) ship.

This is not fake news.  The person first posted on FB and was told to report her.  He showed the picture to RCCL staff and they figured out which cabin she was in.  They confronted her and then she was ordered to stay in her cabin until the next port.  She was escorted off of the Allure in Nassau Bahamas this morning and is permanently banned from any RCL (corporate wide) ship.

Hi everyone,
 
For 6 months, I was working in the shops onboard Independence Of The Seas. I actually got the opportunity to meet some of you guys, and I just wanted say thank you for saying hello!
 
I actually made some YouTube vlogs of my experience during this contract, and wanted to share it with you guys. I'm trying to show what being a Royal Caribbean crew member is like, and I think a lot of you guys will find this very interesting!
 
In this first vlog, I show you the sign-on process. Me, walking on to the ship as a new crew member - followed by a ship tour.
 
https://youtu.be/TwY2wMDjpBk
 
I'm have begun my next contract onboard Mariner Of The Seas for 7 months, starting my new role as a Casino Host.
 
I hope to meet more of you soon, and ask me any questions you may have about being a crew member!
 
Please SUBSCRIBE to my channel as well. One day, I hope to vlog for Royal Caribbean full time!
www.youtube.com/ChristopherWongVLOGS
 
Chris

This is not fake news.  The person first posted on FB and was told to report her.  He showed the picture to RCCL staff and they figured out which cabin she was in.  They confronted her and then she was ordered to stay in her cabin until the next port.  She was escorted off of the Allure in Nassau Bahamas this morning and is permanently banned from any RCL (corporate wide) ship.

This is not fake news.  The person first posted on FB and was told to report her.  He showed the picture to RCCL staff and they figured out which cabin she was in.  They confronted her and then she was ordered to stay in her cabin until the next port.  She was escorted off of the Allure in Nassau Bahamas this morning and is permanently banned from any RCL (corporate wide) ship.

This is not fake news.  The person first posted on FB and was told to report her.  He showed the picture to RCCL staff and they figured out which cabin she was in.  They confronted her and then she was ordered to stay in her cabin until the next port.  She was escorted off of the Allure in Nassau Bahamas this morning and is permanently banned from any RCL (corporate wide) ship.

We have done Alaska twice (one was a cruise/tour) and we have done NE/Canada once.  If you love outdoor adventure you cannot beat Alaska but if you love history you NE/Canada outdoes Alaska.   So both are great depending on what you are looking for.  Also, take into consideration that next year will be the 400 year anniversary for the landing of the Mayflower.  If you sail from Boston or have Boston as a port there will be all sorts of extra things going on because of this major historical event.

Here is a video of the fantastic dessert from our experience at Chef's Table on Brilliance of the Seas.  It was a chocolate sphere with vanilla ice cream inside, there were toffee like crunchies surrounding it on the plate and then they poured hot caramel sauce over the top!
27740895707_1080p.mp4

love all sparkling wines too - wish they did not get rid of the champagne bar idea, I would love to see that on every ship...
 

The Bionic Bar was a complete bust on Ovation when I was on her in May.  Very sorry to see the Champagne Bar (my personal favorite) being replaced by something that should be going away fleet wide.

This topic has been discussed a bit here of late and I thought I would share my experience today.  As many of you know, I track pricing on my bookings.  Many have asked lately what happens when a cabin is "sold out" and if it would still be eligible for a re-price?  I have had very good luck with this situation in the past.  You can see how I go about doing it here. 
Yesterday I noticed that the current August promo includes KSF up until December 2020.  We have the Villa booked on Harmony with 5 kids on that reservation under the age of 12.  That cabin is obviously "sold out" as there is only one of those on the ship and we have it.  I did a mock booking yesterday morning and checked it against my records and there appeared to be a price drop on the suites overall with the KSF promo.  Later in the day, I emailed my TA and heard back this morning.  Saved an extra $1315 with KSF even with a "sold out" cabin. 
The reason why I am sharing this is not to say that this will always be the case, but it does pay off to check and ask.