codyh21

I have a couple from my RC Periscopers group I’m a part of. I actually like it because my room stands out when it’s in the middle of a long hall. I have friends who basically cover their doors with magnets, no issues.

We’ve had guaranteed rooms assigned a couple months out and others a couple days prior. There’s no guaranteed answer.

You can arrive around 10-1030. Boarding typically starts around 11ish with Pinnacles & Suites then works their way down. Shouldn’t take long though, the boarding process there is pretty efficient. They may give you a suggested arrival time but that’s all it is. Have a great time, you’ll love it!

We’re sailing for 13 nights upcoming and my wife and I always split a one device with no issues. Two iPhones and an iPad and have had no issues switching other than occasionally when one person logs the other off without them knowing but small problems ?

Normally we would but they were booked. Staying at a Marriott down the road for under $100 with some points so not bad. Just a one night stay.

Good morning everyone! As the title says, we will be doing a side by side sailing coming up a week from Monday out of Miami. As long as data/wi-fi/VOOM cooperates I will try to post as live as I can. I'll put some of the background and details below, and will also be commenting on our before/after plans as well so feel free to skip past all that if it's not your thing. Forewarning this first post will be a long one. I was back and forth on doing a blog, but I know I really appreciate reading them to get me by until my next sailing. As we go throughout the trip, feel free to ask questions and I will do my best to answer as I can. Who: Myself (Cody) and my wife (Ainslie). I'm active duty AF currently stationed in Colorado Springs. Just got back to the area in April after living 30 minutes south of Port Canaveral for almost five years, so this will be our first cruise in years where we have to fly to the port which was a big driver in the longer trip. No kids, so aside from getting the vacation time we have the flexibility to cruise any time of the year. We love this time of year as the weather is perfect, it's typically cheaper, and longer sailings (Explorer) often have a much more laid-back feel to them which we like. We are Emerald C&A members coming just short of Diamond after these sailings and won't be in suites so I won't be much help in regards to those aspects/questions. Why these sailings?: We did 14 nights b2b on Navigator a couple years ago over the exact same timeframe and loved it. We got off that sailing and immediately knew we had to get back to the ABCs, which this time is on Explorer. We considered doing the 5 night over Thanksgiving and making it a true b2b again, but this one went to Labadee & Jamaica and we're already doing Labadee the second sailing. We really enjoyed Navigator and were excited to see the amplified ship so got a great rate a year ago on the 4 night Thanksgiving sailing and we get to go to Coco Cay. I went in September but my wife has never been as we missed it the previous two attempts before the pier was installed. We'll get to sail on one new ship to us and one revamped ship coupled with getting back to our favorite ports in the ABCs so it was a no-brainer! Escaping the Colorado cold doesn't hurt either. Staterooms: Navigator we'll be in a deck 7 Promenade Room. Originally had the exact same room # on Explorer, but after final payment date the rates on Oceanview Balconies dropped to the point where we upgraded for less than $100, so we'll have a deck 7 Oceanview Balcony on the Starboard side which we prefer. Onboard Extras: We purchased the Deluxe beverage package + VOOM for myself and the Refreshment for my wife on both sailings. I waffled a bit on this but in the end got a rate we were happy with and I love not having to worry about a bill at the end for drinks. Coupled with the fact that due to work we may not get to cruise next year and it was a fairly easy decision. On Navigator I booked the UDP for us as there are some new venues I wanted to try and the price was $99pp so not bad. VOOM came with my DX package but we would've purchased anyways. No specialty dining on Explorer as we have some longish port days so a couple nights MDR but a lot of casual WJ meals for us. Travel: More in the itinerary to come but we're flying on the red-eye from Denver next Saturday morning at 12:45! Flying into Orlando to spend time with friends. We're flying Frontier (I know), but the ticket price was a few hundred cheaper than other airlines which allowed us to spend some time both before and after the cruise in Florida. After disembarking on the 8th we'll head back up to Orlando to get a couple days at WDW before flying out late on the 9th back to Denver. Got some great pricing on one way rentals both Orlando to Miami and in reverse with Avis. Dropping of the rental the night before the cruise so will use Uber/Lyft to get to the ship. Itinerary: 23 Nov- Fly to Orlando, spend day/night in Melbourne with friends 24 Nov- Drive to Miami, one night at the Gabriel downtown 25 Nov- Board Navigator 26 Nov- Nassau (8:00am-6:00pm) 27 Nov- Coco Cay (7:00am-5:00pm) 28 Nov- Sea Day (Thanksgiving) 29 Nov- Turnaround day, board Explorer 30 Nov- Sea Day 1 Dec- Labadee (8:00am-5:00pm) 2 Dec- Sea Day 3 Dec- Willemstad, Curacao (9:00am-8:00pm) 4 Dec- Kralendijk, Bonaire (8:00am-8:00pm) 5 Dec- Oranjestad, Aruba (8:00am-7:00pm) 6-7 Dec- Sea Days 8 Dec- Disembark, head to Orlando/Disney 9 Dec- Fly home late Excursions: Nassau- My wife is doing some sort of dolphin thing (I believe) and I'm going to just walk around, get a bite to eat, and spend some time at Pirate Republic Brewing (I'm a big beer guy) Coco Cay- I've got the all-day waterpark pass, but aside from that a leisurely day Labadee- Nothing planned, just relax Curacao- Rented a car through Advance and plan to drive up to some of the more remote beaches. Afternoon/evening will be spent walking downtown and getting a bite to eat at our favorite place Bonaire- Snorkeling again with Woodwind and then relaxing in town Aruba- Local bus to our favorite dutch pancake restaurant, then plan to spend the rest of the day at Reflexions Beach Bar while my wife shops in town Again, apologies for the long post and congrats to those who stuck with it! I will start with the live portion next Saturday once we start traveling. I will not be uploading the compasses daily but if you have specific questions on those I will try to answer. Have a great weekend and thanks for following along!

I would assume so, which will likely mean you'll arrive around ~9:00 and back on the bus ~4:00 or so. That should still allow you to see quite a bit.

In San Juan we typically walk to the forts and/or around Old San Juan and get some food as it's very walkable. In St Maarten, we usually grab a taxi and head to the other side of the island for some quality beach time. I've never done the tours you're referencing, but did have a friend do the ziplining while on the Symphony Presidents Cruise last week. He really enjoyed it. We typically book excursions on our own separate from Royal and ensure we're back in plenty of time to the ship, but one advantage is that they get you to/from places and the ship won't be leaving without you. From the photos I saw last week, I think your kids would love the zip line tour.

While I've never booked this excursion, we just moved away from the area after living there for nearly 5 years. I can tell you from the port to Magic Kingdom it's probably a 70-80 minute drive depending on traffic each way. Factor in that plus they will likely have you back to the ship at least an hour before sailaway. All that along with whatever the actual departure time from the port is and you're probably looking at 6 hours max IMO. I don't know the cost of the transport there, but I would highly recommend at least pricing out a one day car rental. There are multiple agencies in the port area and the drive there is pretty straightforward. If driving there isn't your thing, just be aware that you may not get as much time in the parks as you'd like. Not saying don't go (we do enjoy all the WDW parks), just set expectations.

$57.99 USD on our Navigator sailing and $54.99 on our follow-on (Explorer). As you mentioned, we have UDP on Navigator so if it was included I'd possibly be interested or even at a cheaper price but not at nearly $60.

I think that is by and large up to the bartender but I've seen people refused two drinks without two seapass cards. That or they wanted to charge them for the second. In regards to OPs post, as long as you have both cards I've never been or seen others refused the two drinks in recent memory.

Exactly what @twangster said... We've had inside cabins with better service than balcony cabins. It's all about proximity to the access points. That and the VOOM on some of the ships is just downright awful but that's another discussion.

I checked in for our upcoming sailings (25 November) about 2-3 weeks ago mostly because I got busy and forgot. No real advantage. Only big things to do ahead of time are cruise planner purchases as those close off three days prior and show scheduling on Oasis class if that's a big thing to you.

As well as a bucket of ice.

Buy the package now if you’re happy with the price. If it drops, you can always cancel and rebook up until three days before your sailing.

If you go to Izumi, you should get a $35 per person credit as it's typically an ala carte restaurant. Same would go for a place like Playmakers. Mileage varies on the Hibachi side as far as whether a given ship will accept UDP for there. Recent reports have been mixed for sure.

We always bring bottles of water with us into ports. However, any beers you're going to be served onboard are going to be opened when you order. I've never ordered cans of soda onboard so your mileage may vary there.

If you're assigned MTD or Traditional, you are "stuck" with that. Now you can eat @ different times each day for MTD but you will be on a separate level for dining. You would not be able to join them unless something's changed I'm not aware of.

Have also not sailed Harmony but every other ship we’ve been on has had 1-2 rowing machines in the fitness center.

We have the UDP on Navigator in a couple weeks. My wife doesn't like Izumi but I wouldn't mind getting a roll or possibly a simple appetizer before dinner somewhere else. I took a printout of the terms from the website and will have that with me. My hope is that this whole situation isn't a problem for us, but if it is, hopefully a polite conversation and showing them their own terms will help. Unfortunate that the policy seems to be interpreted differently everywhere but I will try and report back on how it works for us.

Ignore the % off/BOGO type sales on things like drink packages, just look at the bottom line price. There is no rhyme/reason it seems to how they advertise some of these things. If you're happy with the price, book it. You can always cancel and re-book if the price drops up until 3 days prior to sailing. Note that when you do this, OBC used is refunded immediately but money to your CC can take a few days.

Definitely go straight to a specialty dining venue as soon as you board (doesn't matter which one). If you have preferred venues/times for each night that will help speed things along. Would also recommend taking a copy of the terms & conditions for the UDP with you on your sailing. There have been a handful of reports from folks who have attempted to visit multiple venues (for apps, entrees, dessert) in a night or order multiple entrees and been refused. Seems like the experience varies from ship to ship but doesn't hurt to have. We're doing UDP on Navigator in a couple weeks and like you are excited about the wide variety of options.

Obviously not Anthem, but we're on the Allure 14-night TA from Barcelona next November after the refurb and the UDP is currently $336 or $24 per day which isn't bad at all. I can't personally do more than 4-5 nights max of Specialty Dining on any given sailing, but still not a bad price all things considered for the quality.

Despite the water park and all the other additions, we loved our visit there in September. There are plenty of places to just grab a chair and stare out at the ocean with no noise if that's what you really want. The food options are also much improved. I think you'll find it's an amazing time with as much or as little as you want to do!