Larry Muster

I threw the post into my voice to text software and made it through the whole thing.  I actually enjoyed it.  I give it an 8 out of 10.  I almost quit during the bit where OP does an impression of the on hold advertisement.  
To summarize, ship was unable to go to CocoCay because " the captain who decided to not take our ship to coco cay".  Port fees were returned and the spa ran a discount to make up for the inconvenience.  The cruise statement was not reconciled and the OP claims there were multiple new charges after the statement was reconciled.  These issues plus lots of time on hold leaves the OP has never been treated so unprofessionally and completely disregarded in their whole life.
I want to feel for the OP but each bump in the road is taken as a personal slap in the face.  Each bump seems to also generate another check in the ax to grind category.  Sure it would be nice to get compensated for missing a KEY port, but it does not always happen and it's not a personal affront.  Welcome to land of cruise lovers, but you've got to go with the flow and not take it all personally.  From here, we all know now NOT to step off the ship until you have a reconciled final statement in your hand and when the spa offers 20% off - go get that deep tissue massage!

I'm glad you were able to get out and do something enjoyable!

I threw the post into my voice to text software and made it through the whole thing.  I actually enjoyed it.  I give it an 8 out of 10.  I almost quit during the bit where OP does an impression of the on hold advertisement.  
To summarize, ship was unable to go to CocoCay because " the captain who decided to not take our ship to coco cay".  Port fees were returned and the spa ran a discount to make up for the inconvenience.  The cruise statement was not reconciled and the OP claims there were multiple new charges after the statement was reconciled.  These issues plus lots of time on hold leaves the OP has never been treated so unprofessionally and completely disregarded in their whole life.
I want to feel for the OP but each bump in the road is taken as a personal slap in the face.  Each bump seems to also generate another check in the ax to grind category.  Sure it would be nice to get compensated for missing a KEY port, but it does not always happen and it's not a personal affront.  Welcome to land of cruise lovers, but you've got to go with the flow and not take it all personally.  From here, we all know now NOT to step off the ship until you have a reconciled final statement in your hand and when the spa offers 20% off - go get that deep tissue massage!

I'm glad you were able to get out and do something enjoyable!

I'm glad you were able to get out and do something enjoyable!

I'm glad you were able to get out and do something enjoyable!

You upload an image and it goes though some validation process.  The app tells (me at least) that it's "validating my record".  it stayed like that for 3 weeks for me and just went to the green check (29ish days ahead of sailing).

Just had a little win I wanted to share.  My wife and her sister are cruising together each with a daughter.  We originally booked interiors.  I bid on obstructed view balconies for both at $10 over the minimum and won both.  
The reservation that was just a guarantee room came in first, (two weeks before sailing) and the other came in today (4 days to sailing).

I noticed a few complaints on these board regarding the service they have received from RCL. And while I am the first to say they aren’t perfect I thought I would share a couple of examples of where they have gone the extra mile to make things right when they have gone wrong. In each case we received service which was above and beyond what we expected. In each case we just let them know there was an issue and never expected anything in compensation. 
My advice. If there is an issue let them know. Be nice and polite. Remember every staff member wants to make your cruise  enjoyable and whatever went wrong it either wasn’t the staff members fault or if it was a mistake on their part they do it on purpose.
An issue with air-conditioning (we think)
We were in a room that had a bit of an issue with the air-conditioned. We mentioned it to our stateroom attendant who apologised and got maintenance to look at it. It took them a couple of days to fix it but eventually got it working. We thought nothing of it and forgot about it.
On our last day we got a letter in our state room saying a 30% refund had been credited to our credit card. They didn’t mention what it was for hence we ‘think’ it was due to the air-conditioner.
Cancelled excursion due to weather.
We were on an Alaskan cruise and had saved up to an excursion of a lifetime which included a helicopter ride to a glacier and then a bobsled ride. Unfortunately there was low cloud cover most of the morning so the helicopters couldn’t fly. This certainly wasn’t in RCL control but they offered us a more expensive excursion which also included a helicopter flight later in the day. Unfortunately this also got cancelled as the weather hadn’t lifted. We thought that was the end of it and resigned to not being able to take the trip. About an hour later we got a call on our cellphone only to tell us that they had one spare space on a flight leaving in 30 minutes which they guaranteed would fly. While it meant I couldn’t go as there was only one seat my wife had an amazing trip. What I was impressed with is they took the time t to ring us and see if we wanted the spare seat. They didn’t have to do that.
No sugar free soda in Coke Freestyle
We were on a cruise where they didn’t have any sugar free soda on the ship. We mentioned we couldn’t find diet free soda to one of the staff in the Windjammer out of passing. Before we know it a manager came and gave us bottles of diet coke and let us know we could go to any bar and ask for free diet soda.
We thought that was the end of it… then when we got back to our room that afternoon there was a plate of cookies waiting for us with a little note. Then every day or so another plate of cookies in our stateroom
Issue with on board credit
We made a booking for an upcoming cruise and there was a bit of an issue with the onboard credit. The indicated we would receive $400 when in fact we received $50. A quick email to RCL and not only did they fix the mistake but they added a whole $400 making it $450 onboard credit.
 
 

A Serenade cruise got me my Diamond status as well!

Fellow nerd here.  The whole process will take under 10 minutes.  No real need to try and do anything ahead of time.  Just have your COVID card, your passport, form of payment and be ready to take a selfie.

Don't talk about Alexa too much or RC may try to charge you for an extra guest.

Heading to Bermuda on Adventure in May.  Below is the guidance I received from a Royal Healthy Sailing communication.  Prior to this I did assume that I only needed to apply for authorization if I was going to disembark but this confirmed all passengers need to apply.  My agent does a great job keeping me up to date on this stuff and I'm pretty actively involved in keeping up to date with this stuff.  However, I could see someone who is more 'set it and forget it' about their vacation missing this step.  These country-specific requirements aren't part of the online checkin (yet) so unless you have a great agent, or are otherwise actively involved it's possible you could miss the email about this requirement.
Reminder!
All guests 2 and older must apply for the Bermuda Travel Authorization to enter the country. Applications can be purchased for $40 as early as one month before travel here. This Travel Authorization is required regardless of whether you will be disembarking in Bermuda and must be presented on boarding day at check-in.

We’re thinking about Bermuda for next year.  While I agree it’s a tourism tax, I don’t think it will prohibit us from going. We’re numb to being nickel and dimed, it’s par for the course.  Tolls on bridges and tunnels, hotel tax, paid WiFi on ships, paid parking, it goes on and on. You wanna play, you gotta pay.

I will say thatI thought I knew everything there was to know about preventing charges.  I am an apple user and have multiple devices.  The only settings I touched were "cellular data" which I turned off, thinking that's all I needed to do.  I was connected to wifi most of the time, and everything worked as expected.  I did notice that I was getting text messages from time to time (not iMessages).  I assumed that they were somehow coming through via the internet.
My first bill after the trip included charges for those text messages.  It wasn't major and could have been worse.  My carrier (Verizon) told me that turning off cellular is a start but recommended next time I turn on airplane mode (which will by default disable wifi) and re-enable wifi and bluetooth.

Casino or Guest Services. Heck, the bars each have a tip jar you can ask if they can break a bill with.

I'm also booked on a ship that does not have Freestyle.  When you have specific things you like that are really only available from Freestyle (like your poweraid) it can change the whole equation on the overall value of the package.  Glad I watched Matts video so I knew ahead of time!
 
JG

Impressive though that on day 2 you've concluded the food in the MDR has been sub par despite only eating there once since you ate at Chops, too.

Tasteless food...  isn't that a symptom of CV?  🤣

I love the new member rant posts.

Maybe cruising every month makes it harder to just enjoy being on a ship no matter what the little disappointments might be. Our first cruise since the shutdown is coming up this month, and I would be happy to help serve meals or clean stairwells, just to not be doing it alone in my own house!

Check this out.  I think it's as good of a product but uses the European outlet and frees up the 'traditional' outlet for other things.
 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088KJ9CPM/ref=sspa_dk_detail_6?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B088KJ9CPM&pd_rd_w=bfVK5&pf_rd_p=57cbdc41-b731-4e3d-aca7-49078b13a07b&pd_rd_wg=Ht06o&pf_rd_r=CXYN7HT3XC10H9T3PD98&pd_rd_r=a69705b3-52cc-4a7a-abe1-aa57034e7185&s=electronics&smid=A2TOK8BGDG5XUQ&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExWTZFR1c5N0o2Q0NGJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDkzNzYzMlFUOFBSTEhYSElZTyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwOTc3NzQ1MzRJUjJSS0FDRU4yTCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbF90aGVtYXRpYyZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
 

I think they are allowed because I see at least one group with them on every cruise.  They are SUPER annoying to others and don't seem to work well, no matter how high-end you go.  

Go to https://www.emed.com/ on your phone.  Create an account and then say "start test".
 
 

I recently got my first booking receipt from Royal where my age bracket changed.  YIKES!  Seeing my new age band for the first time was TOUGH.  However, as I get older, my post-booking expenses for cruise planner things is the one thing I can point to that is trending down.  My drink packages have moved from Deluxe to Refreshment and sometimes even soda (just so I can get seltzer from the self-service machine).  Partly due to me slowing down and partly to the free D+ drinks.  I even just got the water package on one cruise, and if you told the me of 10 years ago that - I wouldn't have believed it.