Iluv4n6

The R Bar is the bar on the main floor of the Centrum deck 4. It's the main floor where you board on embarkation.

Ah, now I remember. Several late night drinks purchased in cruises past.

With them changing the name of the Viking Crown bar on so many ships, I can't remember if that was its own standalone bar or just another dumb name for the Viking Crown.

The “R” of the RBar actually stands for Retro.  I remember when those bars were first created.  I cannot, however, recall the name of the bar that they replaced.

R Bars is a new thing to me...
 
I looked them up, discovered I've been in them, but didn't know it was anything other than just another bar.  Research says they feature drinks of the past, but still offer a menu of modern drinks.  So, I was right.  It is just another bar. 🙂

Celebrity ship are smaller than Royal's newest ships, smaller than Voyager class ships by the numbers of pax.  They are closer to Radiance class in terms of passenger count compared to something like Mariner.
At CocoCay if I had to be across the pier from another ship, which is likely, I'd much rather it be a Celebrity ship.  

This.

You should make sure their reservation number(s) are linked to yours on your phone App.  Then you can log in and just go to the check-in section and choose the time…you can skip the first section requesting personal/ travel information until later on.  Click your name and choose time and keep doing that for each name linked to you.  That’s it.
Yes, once you have checked everyone in and have boarding time…they can use their own app to add their info.   But this info is not needed for the boarding time checkins.

I'll take all the signage I can get to tell me where (and when) I am! 😅

I was just logged in, checking on things for our upcoming cruise and noticed this new "Courtesy Holds" tab. I like it. It's rare for me to only need 24 hours if I'm contemplating (and we book with a TA anyway) but still...pretty cool  I think.

I still say that knowing the day of the week is meaningless for passengers. What we need to know is what day of the cruise we're on.
I don't care if it's Tuesday or Wednesday. I DO care if it's Day 3 or Day 4.

It's the twilight zone, no day of the week! 

Only if you stay in that elevator

Does this mean my cruise goes on forever?

Hi @Pattycruise, thanks for your reply.  I have been using the website for pre-cruise reservations.  And I just noticed that when I clicked on the cruise planner button yesterday, I must not have scrolled down a little to notice cruise planner buttons for both reservations.   So I quickly and inadvertently clicked the first CP button I saw and could reserve for our friends but not my wife and I.  I just logged back in and scrolled down to click on our actual reservation and I can book for my wife an I after all.  But the error message still prevents me from booking anything for our friends, possibly due to them being in a different Group ID that they are also not aware of.  Not a big deal, just a minor snag.  Will ask our MEI agent about it after the holiday...
Besides the error message issue, this is essentially another of my "Oh, never mind" replies to a discussion I started, lol...note to self: just pay better attention to what you click.
Have a great new year!
 

In our experience, the check-in wait times (after you are inside the terminal) can vary quite a bit and the appointed times probably won't be checked by terminal staff after the first couple appointment times. For our last cruise on Allure through Port Everglades in Sep, we had a noon check-in time and entered a sizable but generally moving line outside the terminal at about 11:30 AM.  When we reached the door (at about our check-in appointment time), there were no signs for appointment times -- they just wanted to get all guests processed as efficiently as possible. 
Inside and after the bag scan, we entered the main room with probably two dozen small lines you could pick from to be checked in by staff using tablet computers.  This is where you arrive at the luck-of-the-draw stage of checking in.  You can't know which passengers will have problems with their check-in information, or which staff's tablet will go down preventing a line from being processed efficiently.  To my wife's (minor) annoyance, we each entered a line next to each other.  This turned out to be a good thing because one of the lines experienced an appreciable delay compared to the other.  The one in the delayed line (I won't say who) ducked under the rope and we merged into a moving line to marginally speed up our check-in. 
In the early days after the restart and before passenger numbers returned to normal levels, we breezed through check-ins.  We also recognize that each terminal's check-in layout and process is a bit different and some are better equipped to handle a larger stream of passengers than others.  It may also be that our last embarkation day was during a partial network outage at Port Everglades that affected many of the check-in staff's tablets.
All things considered, we will go with the flow of check-in even if it is a bit choppy so we can board the ship sooner.  We like to nail down some reservations and stop by our muster station right after we board and would prefer not to do this later in the afternoon.  Then we enjoy our first beverage and, mentally, our vacation really kicks off.   
What we will do for our next cruise is actually check in on the earliest date possible (45 days form sail date) and not dilly-dally with the check-in.  Nab an early check-in time right off the bat so you don't feel compelled to re-check a bunch in an effort to snag an earlier appointment if you can.
Happy Cruising!
 
 
 

St Maarten from Oct 2023

I also have never known the DBP to “sell out”.  Keep checking. I’m sure it will reappear - probably at a higher price !
One thing I have noticed…they seem to be decoupling the DBP and the internet package.  I have noticed that on a few of my cruises (something to do with Starlink ?  Who knows).  They could be decoupling these on your cruise and that could be the cause of the DBP temporarily missing from your Cruise Planner.  Just a thought.

Thanks @berkeleykel, @Summer Bee Sweet, and @ChessE4!  Always great to hear from folks who have experienced what these ships have to offer.  It sounds like the entertainment is similar for both Grandeur and Serenade.  If we go on one of the ships out of Tampa, we'll choose the cruise Tampa, based on schedule/cost/itinerary--nothing new there!😄

You might find it helpful to compare recent cruise compasses for the two ships: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass

Both ships have production shows that included musical numbers from older, well known shows. If you poke around on Royal’s site you can find the show names and a brief description 

I prefer the production shows and guest entertainers on smaller ships over the Broadway-style shows on Oasis class. When you sit up front in the theater, it is both an awesome and intimate experience.  You do miss the ice shows, however.

Good to know I'm not out on my own limb with this issue!  Will keep checking back here to find out who the lucky person is who is able to log back on first.

Good to know I'm not out on my own limb with this issue!  Will keep checking back here to find out who the lucky person is who is able to log back on first.

Photo packages are sold to the room. While it does (annoyingly) force you to put in under one person's name at purchase (and this is both onboard or online) the package will apply to all photos taken for those staying in the same room number. So you only need to purchase one.
 
Also happy honeymoon!
 
And now for some (Unsolicited but well-meaning) Tips for getting the best use of your photo package.
Have fun! The photographers are all really nice and really get into the photo taking if you're into it too. So what you don't know what to do with your hands? make funny gestures! They ask you to do a pose that's awkward or feels funny. Make a funny face! I always cruise with my mom and sometimes they like us to do cute mommy and me poses and I think they're so weird. So now, some of our favorite pictures are us pretending to start a fight, me rolling my eyes behind her back, her sticking her tongue out behind me etc etc. TAKE ALL THE PHOTOS. The package only limits how many you walk off the ship with NOT how many you can take. Give yourself plenty of choices by jumping in front of that camera EVERY time you see it. Check your photos often in the photo lounge. I do this for lots of reasons but what I get out of it is (a) knowing if a certain area worked for me (b) figuring out what photographer I like (c) making sure I'm not repeating too many poses. While you can't redo a shoot if you didn't like it, you can do similar ones (i.e another dinner shoot on the stairs). While Onboard.
 - Take Boarding day photos. There is usually either a photo area with a backdrop of the ship in the terminal or a section on the deck of the ship where you can take a photo.
 - Dining Room. A photographer will generally be floating around offering to take photos while you're at the table. While you can of course decline if you're elbow deep in lobster night, this is an option. You could probably have fun with it and grab photos of you guys feeding each other or re-enacting the cake-in-the-face that probably didn't happen at your wedding. They can sometimes be awkward and the lighting isn't always the best, but it's all about how you make it.
 - Dinner Time/Formal Night. Every night there will be 3-5 stations set up at hot points around the ship (crystal staircase, promenade, backdrops by the dining rooms etc). You can go to as many as you can put up with and, depending on the line, take as many photos as you and your photographer can think of poses for.
 - Pool and other events. Occasionally photographers will roam the ship at the pool deck or at the big events. If you see them, strike a pose While at port:
 - For the first few hours after docking, there will be crew stations on the dock (seen up to 5 stations once!) for photos. Crew in costumes, someone set up for the glamorous ship shot, crew with props etc. These are by far my favorite ones to do and I try to make sure I get off the ship early enough to take advantage before I head off to my excursions. Why early enough? Because they will almost ALWAYS be gone by noon (assuming you dock at 8AM ish) and they do not come back out. I have been very bummed to miss port photos. Finally...give yourself plenty of time to go through all those photos you took. Like an hour...easy. If you do all the stuff there will be lot to pick from and even the 100 photos package can seem small if you've taken a lot that make you happy (btw you can purchase additional photos but at $20 a piece they add up FAST).