MaryCS62

@MaryCS62I am very sorry to hear that your daughter has passed.  I recall reading your posts with reference to her special needs and I always found them to be thoughtful and extremely helpful.  Please accept my sincere condolences.

No worries! Royal has always been excellent at this. For the MDR, they would allow her to order the night before, and they will make her a modified version of ANYTHING on the menu, modified to meet her specific allergies. We get to know the head waiter as he comes out during our meal each night and brings the next night's menu for her to peruse, she gets a sneak peak which she loves. They also would bring out gluten free bread with balsamic and olive oil each night for her. If we have specialty dining booked, we will typically visit the restaurant the day before to let them know about the allergies and usually they will handle on the fly. Buffet is pretty simple as most things are obviously safe and unsafe, we eat pretty clean at the buffet but you can always ask the staff about allergens. 

Disney no longer runs a bus to Disney Springs from the Magic Kingdom bus stop. Need to take from resorts. Found this out last month first hand. 😕

Thin like a noodle so you can be bent and all 42 feet squeezed into North Star.

Just to tie out since everyone has been so helpful in responding:

We decided that honestly only my middle son (age 26) and I likely will drink to a great extent.  My dear wife is kinda a 2 drink max (3 would be the most ever unless she wants the boat to spin) and my oldest son (age 28) is not much of a drinker.  Son #3 is 20 years old so at least officially cannot drink.

We shuffled the room occupants to put Son #2 with me and ordered the drink package for us.  Everyone else can just order what they want when they want it.

All good.  😃

that's what I said we are doing, at least for the March cruise.  DH will then decide if he wants to do refreshment with the occasional alcohol purchase, or get the DXB again for himself.

Due to health reasons, I will no longer buy the DBP - really can't have that much alcohol. I do get the refreshment package, even though I'm not going to have too many mocktails - again, health reasons, too much sugar - but will drink soda, sparkling waters & specialty coffee. Thinking about bringing on wine for dinner. Plus, if DH wants the DXB, I have to get it, and during the Black Friday sale, the price differential between that and the soda package wasn't too much.  We have a cruise in March, & DH will use that experience to see if he wants to upgrade from Refreshment to DXB for our Oasis B2B in August.  We were hoping to be Diamond by now, but Covid & other problems cancelled too many cruises, so not there yet.
 

Darn, I was hoping for Long Island, NY!  🤣

that's what I said we are doing, at least for the March cruise.  DH will then decide if he wants to do refreshment with the occasional alcohol purchase, or get the DXB again for himself.

It will be complimentary,  includes wash and fold laundry service for up to 3 laundry bags per week.

One thing I did not see anyone mention is you should confirm with the cruise line or have your TA confirm that the cruises are linked as B2B cruises.  I have done both Back-to-Back and Side-to-Side cruises and they have been linked or marked in my reservation.  Everyone on the ship that deals with you will know you are a B2B cruiser.   I have done a S2S with one ship on RCL and one on Celebrity and they treated it as if it was the same company and not sister companies.  In April 2024 I am doing a B2B2B2B and am really looking forward to living on a ship for 5 weeks.

that's what I said we are doing, at least for the March cruise.  DH will then decide if he wants to do refreshment with the occasional alcohol purchase, or get the DXB again for himself.

Use a typical size carryon and if it has the wheels that swivel it will be easy enough to roll with you.  I would not recommend trying a larger luggage with your medical equipment inside, what if they don’t allow you to carry it on and make you check it?
also cabins are not typically ready until between 1pm-2pm so if you have early boarding you’ll have your carry on luggage with you for most of the day
as for purchasing the Key, you would be able to leave your carry on bags at the dining room  for delivery to your cabin but those bags do not receive special treatment.  They are stacked on trolleys and moved/left outside your cabin, bags can fall off if stacked wrong. The statement they told me “remove your valuables before leaving the bag. “  I don’t think I’d trust my medical equipment with anyone but me. 

That helps, actually.  We will likely use either a middling size suitcase or a larger duffel - don't want to carry too much on, especially since we've only a balcony, so no special treatment, and would like early check in, so we will basically get on, check in at muster station & park ourselves til the rooms are ready.

It's a small couch. Pulled out into a bed it's roughly the size of an American full size bed. I have boys 11 & 12 and they would have had a hard time sharing. We ended up booking connecting as it allowed privacy for mom and dad as well as a second bathroom. 

Loved your comment about Granny - 9.5 years ago, my Mom (grandmother to 4 of the passengers) took all of us on a cruise for her 80th birthday. She & her gentleman friend, my brother, me, DH & 2 DD's, sister, her DH & 2 DS.  Same exact requirement - we were free to do anything we wanted during the day, but we had to be at dinner @ 6pm, all of us together. Her TA got us all at one big table, and it worked out well.  The only exception was that DH & I were allowed one specialty dining for ourselves, because that same year was our 25th anniversary.  One night, we were running late because we were coming back from an excursion - hot, sweaty, dressed in shorts or capri pants, and absolutely no time to go back to our room, so we just showed up that way.  Luckily not a Formal or Dress your Best night 🤣. 
We were in MDR, so not sure how Specialty will work with that, but yeah -- maybe assign different people to different nights for booking once you get on board, and be able to call or text each other (try to get as early a boarding time as possible) so that switches can be made. If any excursions are booked, you will have to keep that in mind also, since late returns are possible.
We used to go for early traditional dining - early because my older DD had special needs, and went to bed early, traditional because younger DD has celiac, and therefore MDR was safer. Haven't tried UDP yet - was going to last August, on our 2nd leg of a B2B, figuring we could ask questions about the options for gluten free for the younger one, but older DD was in the hospital, so cruise cancelled.

just booked sushi making for freedom in late January (2023)

Here ya go....

Just be aware it makes a lot! If you have others that would enjoy eating it, but not necessarily making it, have them join you near the end.  Or, you could ask if she could accompany you & "help" you make a plate, rather than make 2 plates for the 2 of you.

I haven't done Taste of Royal, but did the Bottomless Galley brunch (or whatever it was called) back in 2018 on Adventure -- Galley tour, unlimited champagne or mimosas, various appetizers brought to the table, then a choice of breakfast or lunch meal.  Don't know if you could get more than one entree, as we didn't try, but it was quite nice -- and a lot cheaper, I think we paid 25 or 29 for it

When I did it back in 2019, the food was more MDR standard whereas the Taste of Royal is more specialty restaurant standard.

How far into the dining time do you expect to return to the ship, and how likely are you to be able to show up looking decent (ie not dripping sand, etc) from your excursion?
If you can get to the MDR within 15 minutes of your time, you should be good.
We had one night (excursion got cancelled for weather), where DH & DD were going to get back too late for our dining time, and while they could have just gone to Windjammer, we didn't like that because DD has Celiac, and preferred to stick with our waiters, etc. Spoke to the headwaiter, and he told us not a problem, just show up when they could & he would take care of us.  
Speak to your headwaiter the night before, and see what he/she can do for you

Even had she booked on her own, teens are not allowed to be in a room by themselves, unless they are connecting, side by side but not connecting, or somewhere else nearby (I think, not absolutely positive about that). You can have the arrangements after boarding however you like, and you can get extra cards that are just room keys to each other's cabins at guest services, as well as make the bed arrangements however you prefer, but at least one person in the room must be 21 or over.
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/international-age-policy

DH & I are scheduled for this one - he teaches @ a community college & this is his spring break -- not sure if we will be encountering lots of drunken college students. We've had 5 cruises cancelled since our last one in Jan 2019 - July 2020, March 2021 (pandemic), Jan 2022 (covid + family member), and a B2B Aug 2022 (family member in hospital).  Fingers crossed we make this one!