HeWhoWaits

I visited a monastery and as I walked past the kitchen I saw a man frying chips. I asked him “Are you the friar?” He replied “No, I’m the chip monk...”

Optimist - half full Pessimist - half empty Pragmatist - it's dirty and needs to be washed Opportunist - hey! free booze!

Johnny Rockets is an experience of its own. Playmakers is a sports bar atmosphere. Milkshake vs. beer. Different strokes for different folks.

The Viking Crown Lounge used to be a big deal. Now, there are so many other bars with live entertainment (not to mention other things to do on the bigger ships) that VCL is no longer "special" because it's often only open at night (thus no benefit from the amazing views). I use the area as a quiet place to get away from the crowds these days.

We experienced this very differently early in the cruise. When we clicked on the 9:30 show time, it shows up as 7:15 (the early show). Try to reserve the 9:30 and it goes onto your calendar as 7:15. Sometimes it got corrected on the day of the show, but not always.

Our experience has been that the morning you board is the first time that "everything" will show up in the app.

And you can't add a traditional dining time either - only specialty dining or MTD reservations.

Each leg of your B2B will be treated as a separate event, so no test is required for the first cruise. Royal already established a no test for the second leg of a B2B, so you're covered for that cruise under either policy.

The service was great. We put our checked bags outside the stateroom on the last night and didn't touch them again until baggage claim at our final destination.

YMMV. Some refunds hit your credit card in a couple days, others can take a full cycle of the credit card before they hit. If the refund is taking too long for your liking, the social media route suggested by @SpeedNoodlesis historically the best way to go.

If there is a Starbucks-branded location, beverages there are not included in the package (not sure if they are eligible for Diamond vouchers but suspect not). Cafe Promenade serves some specialty coffees using Starbucks beans. These are included on both packages and Diamond vouchers.

Recently this has been four cookies - two chocolate chip, two ranger - on each cruise. It's definitely an every cruise thing.

As @Mattsaid, it will vary by sailing. On Ovation in May, my estimate would be right at the 20% he mentioned. On a short Freedom sailing earlier this month, it was less than 10% from what I observed. The following week on Explorer, the number was closer to 30%. In each case, that percentage also varied by venue. Your party will definitely not be the only ones wearing masks.

Also tell your friend that the overall selection of beverages may not be what is expected from the video posted above. Selections have been limited in different ways on the three ships I've sailed this year.

I have never seen kosher items specifically called out, but my brother has dietary limitations that are easiest to explain by saying "if it's kosher, I can eat it." The staff has always been able to accommodate and will even remind him that something does not qualify for his "kosher" if he orders it.

And now we have a half-full MDR because the MDR experience isn't what it once was and/or isn't desired by many cruisers.

@Matt - this is your site and I respect what you do, but to put words on the page claiming that one-and-done troll posts are not a "thing" is naïve at best. Check your member list and see how many people "join" the site, post a single complaint or controversial comment, and never return. The number is bigger than saying "that's not a thing" leads me to believe you realize it to be. The OP in this thread is extremely likely to add to that statistic. It very much IS a thing. Happens multiple times most weeks. [/soapbox]

Not making a joke. Calling out the VERY likely one-and-done troll question.

Simple questions are okay. First-time poster claiming to be D+ knowing nothing about the cups for packages is REALLY pushing it. The only reason (so the number is ONE) I can come up with for somebody to be at that status level and not have a clue would be if they achieved D+ before there was such a thing as the package cups.

Those tip envelopes have been around forever. We were disappointed when we only had one dropped off. We always go to Guest Services and get more envelopes for the planned and unplanned additional gratuities.

I've also seen those tips moved from the shirt pocket to the pooled jar by the register. If you tip when handing them your SeaPass to process, it's efficient to drop the tip in the jar. If you hand them the tip when they bring back the card, it makes sense to put it in their pocket and take the next guest's order.

If you were a real Diamond+ C&A member you would NOT ask this question, troll.

Ovation had decorative insulated tumblers with embedded chips in May,

Multiple cruises in JS under the double-points this year got us to D+ as well.