Digmenow

No Sorrento's on the Jewel of the Seas but a late night pizza and bistro in the Solarium yielded a fairly edible offering. Here's the veggie pizza. The lady gave me the whole pizza at my request (albeit grudgingly) on my tray that I brought from home.

Just to close this out, the pack and play, though smaller than he's used to, was large enough for him to move around. We pulled the sofa forward and put the crib between it and the wall. The cabin steward congratulated our layout, saying that despite his recommendation to do it like that, most folks ignore him and put the crib in front of the sofa, rendering it unusable for seating. The room darkening curtains attached to the ceiling with small, strong magnets from Amazon and clipped to the wall with (barely sufficient strength) dollar store magnetic clips, create a tiny bedroom for the little guy. We had to pull down an opening at the ceiling and aim the back panel inward whenever he was in the crib so that all of the AC didn't blow directly down into the crib. Otherwise, sweet!

@FlowBro Ty  Hey Ty!  Thanks so much for posting this recap.  We're sailing on the Oasis this Sunday (12/09/2018) on the same itinerary.  I haven't been active on this site for quite a while due to other responsibilities so this was a great way to get up to speed on what to expect next week.  If you or @Twangster Fan would be so kind, could you expand on the boarding time?  I saw that you mentioned the Coast Guard inspection holding things up but had that not happened, was noon the earliest you could board?
We like to get to the boat a little early and were hoping for an 11-ish or even earlier boarding.  We like to beat the rush when we can.
 

 

...and, I just got a text informing me that boarding has been pushed back from 11:30 to 12:30. ☹️
 

@Digmenow You Can Arrive At The Port At Any Time. When There Is No Coast Guard Inspection They Let You Board The Ship Around 10:45 Am.  
 

@FlowBro Ty  Hey Ty!  Thanks so much for posting this recap.  We're sailing on the Oasis this Sunday (12/09/2018) on the same itinerary.  I haven't been active on this site for quite a while due to other responsibilities so this was a great way to get up to speed on what to expect next week.  If you or @Twangster Fan would be so kind, could you expand on the boarding time?  I saw that you mentioned the Coast Guard inspection holding things up but had that not happened, was noon the earliest you could board?
We like to get to the boat a little early and were hoping for an 11-ish or even earlier boarding.  We like to beat the rush when we can.
 

 

It's been a while since our last cruise and I can't quite recall what some things were like (or perhaps I do but maybe it's changed since then!).
Back story.  As the years have passed, I've become an early riser. Three or Four AM is not out of the question for me.  Whenever we travel, rather than wake MsDig (who can saw logs until a more respectable 6 or 7), I usually leave our room/cabin/tent/etc. and make my way to wherever an all night coffee pot is waiting and sit and sip until she wakes up.  I like to bring a cup back for her and if there are breakfasty type nosh foods/pastries available, I'll tote some of her favs along with the coffee to tide us over before our whole party of 5 is ready to shove off for the real breakfast.  I realize that Room Service is always an option but given the uncertainty of when she'll awaken combined with any potential wait time, I wanted an easy alternative.
As our sailing date approaches, it occurred to me that I could not recall if there were any trays on which to carry the above mentioned items in any useful quantity,  My recollection of the Windjammer was that there are plates only and getting food back to one's table looked a lot like this.  

 
I'd much prefer to go from food source to cabin with everything safely arranged on a tray.   Loosely held cups of coffee and napkin wrapped muffins never seem to survive the elevator portion of the journey.

 
We have some of these fast food size (NOT cafeteria full size!) plastic trays that we use when we go camping.  They weigh less than half a pound and will slide into one of the outside zippered pockets of the luggage. 

I was thinking that I might  bring one along for this early morning task.  If anyone can tell me that I shouldn't because RC has thoughtfully provided this item, then I'll leave it home.  Otherwise, what do you think?
 
 
tldr; Does RC provide food trays in the Windjammer?
 
 
 
 
 
 

Funny that I just caught up with this thread and saw this as I was on the phone today with supervisor Megan (after upgrading from talking with CSA Tim) from RCI to ask exactly that.  I was told that when the conversion took place, ALL previously completed cruises were changed from 1 point per cruise to 7 points.  They had determined that the average cruise length was 7 nights. You were then assigned 'bonus points' based on the number of cruises you had completed.  Our two cruises netted us ONE additional bonus point. 
The problem with the 7 points per cruise calculation is that people who had moved quickly and cheaply through the tiers by taking short (2-5 night) cruises were given extra points that they would not have earned under the new system and the folks who liked long cruises (14 nights, anyone?) got those same 7 points instead of the 14 or so points they should have received!  When I mentioned this to Megan, she told me that RC didn't want to have to demote people from the classes that they had reached (by gaming the system IMO) under the old accounting method. 
For an apples to apples comparison, someone who took 3 Four night cruises got their old '3 point' total upped to 21 points under the new system while someone who took a 14 night cruise got their '1 point' total upped to only 7 points under the new system.  Does that seem fair?  It makes sense to Royal Caribbean.
I politely pushed Megan to the point that she became rather icy in her refusal to award points in a more equitable manner.  I'll wait a few weeks and try again.  I want my missing point!

At least we now know it is partly our fault ?

I was reading the comments from the OP's link and realized there's always something new you need to pack in your luggage!

I was reading the comments from the OP's link and realized there's always something new you need to pack in your luggage!

Okay, so I managed to sign in, update my profile, add my C&A number with no issues. BUT WHERE IS THE FREAKING CRUISE PLANNER?! I really dislike your website, Royal Caribbean :(

Passed by a diner today named “ReBAR”, with the “e” backwards; couldn’t take a pic because I was driving, but until you were almost directly in front of it, it looked like it just said “R-BAR”.
Thought of this thread when I saw that!

Here's another reminder ---- A triangle hashbrown from Arby's ...
Oh, how I long for a Windjammer Breakfast

Yes, this is perfectly fine to do. Like @Boston Babe, I converted my refundable Junior Suite booking on Anthem to a non-refundable a couple of months ago, mainly because of a promotion that came out which made it worth my while (equivalent base price vs the original refundable booking, plus on-board credit). No fee for this, I'm just fully locked into that sailing now and will have to pay the change fee if something forces us to cancel.
I definitely got lucky on that front. As noted, the initial conversion didn't really help me much in terms of the base fare. But then another promo came along after that which ended up saving me about $100, at the cost of some of my OBC (which I was willing to sacrifice for a lower up-front cost in this case). Then luck came my way a second time, when the very next promo kept the same base price as before but increased the OBC to almost what I had before. So overall I lucked into a net win.

I tried that and after looking online my hair hurts!!

I love this --- one minor flaw in your story though, the Grandeur was never stretched ..... It was Enchantment.  Although, Enchantment did do a stint in Baltimore for a while so you get a pass on that one.

Since we were swindled out of one of our C&A points when RC went from counting cruises by single points to counting by total cruise nights (currently sitting at 22 points for some inexplicable reason ), we'll be one point shy of Platinum after our December sailing on the Oasis.  I was thinking that one of the short jaunts on the Grandeur to Bermuda would be a perfect lower cost way to bump out of Gold a bit earlier than we could otherwise afford.
Our first trip on Grandeur, back before they stretched her, was memorable in that when the luggage arrived at the stateroom, we discovered that MsDig had somehow forgotten to pack any of her dresses (most everyone dressed better for dinner back then).  I was seriously considering calling our daughter who had driven us to the terminal to ask her to run to our house, pack them in a bag and drop them off of the Key Bridge as we passed beneath!  I mean really, what could go wrong?

Cooler heads prevailed and we decided instead to purchase suitable dinner clothing for her in the next port.  True story, though!

Since we were swindled out of one of our C&A points when RC went from counting cruises by single points to counting by total cruise nights (currently sitting at 22 points for some inexplicable reason ), we'll be one point shy of Platinum after our December sailing on the Oasis.  I was thinking that one of the short jaunts on the Grandeur to Bermuda would be a perfect lower cost way to bump out of Gold a bit earlier than we could otherwise afford.
Our first trip on Grandeur, back before they stretched her, was memorable in that when the luggage arrived at the stateroom, we discovered that MsDig had somehow forgotten to pack any of her dresses (most everyone dressed better for dinner back then).  I was seriously considering calling our daughter who had driven us to the terminal to ask her to run to our house, pack them in a bag and drop them off of the Key Bridge as we passed beneath!  I mean really, what could go wrong?

Cooler heads prevailed and we decided instead to purchase suitable dinner clothing for her in the next port.  True story, though!

And Grandeur --- My baby

Garment bag is helpful but you could always just pack in a regular suitcase.  And if you don't want to send out for pressing, Downy Wrinkle Release works AWESOME!!!  Just hang your suit up as soon as you get your luggage, spray this on it and smooth the wrinkles but gently running your hand over the suit and pulling lightly on the fabric.  You can also spray the stuff on and then use a hair dryer.  Works like a charm on ALL clothes and does NOT make your clothes stiff.  It actually has a nice smell to it (fabric softner smell).  I bring it with me on ALL our cruises!!!!  Hope this is helpful!

I feel you. My first ever cruise is in just 12 more days, only 9 until I get on the plane down to Florida. My family is as excited as I am but really tired of me going on about every little update I found. "Hey, I just discovered this on the boards I follow...", or "You've got to listen to this podcast episode!", are becoming phrases that evokes fear and dread in my home. Well, either that or the feeling that an intervention might be necessary. 

Which is why we booked the 7-nighter in October.....
We love Grandeur, that's the easy part .....
In this case, here's the itinerary
Thurs. Oct. 25, Depart Baltimroe
Fri. Oct. 26, Sea Day
Sat. Oct. 27 -- Arrive in Bermuda at 5:00 p.m. --- Just in time to see what's going on over at the Frog & Onion
Sun. Oct. 28 - In Bermuda all Day --- that's the day we're devoting to St. George.
Mon. Oct. 29 - Depart Bermuda at 5:00 (I believe)
Tue. Oct. 30 - Sea Day
Wed. Oct. 31 - Sea Day -- AND Halloween 
Thurs. Nov. 1 -- Arrive back in Baltimore.
There's so many plusses here ---- 3 Sea Days, 3 Days in Bermuda, and Halloween.
Can't wait..... 
 
Mark
 
 

We Love, Love, Love Bermuda ....... And, as you look at my signature, Grandeur ..... in fact, we'll be going back again in October for the 7-nighter (3 Days in Bermuda).
Instead of going into something wordy, here are a few pictures ....