HeWhoWaits

I have only sailed on one ship (Freedom) as a repeat and that was a last-minute additional cruise that allowed my wife's next crystal block to be on her favorite ship (Freedom, which she has sailed 7 times now) the following summer.

I have no objection to repeating a ship and the only reason for no repeats is as others have stated - itinerary selection has been the primary driver for cruise selection.

15 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

This has been the border policy for 15+ years. This is not something new.

And about 0.01% of people entering the country have their phones searched, according to data from CBP.

If you have such concerns about traveling, I'd suggest taking a break from cruising for a while.

Not "policy" but certainly something that every country reserves the right to do when you enter that country (soft exception moving within the EU).

9 for me (13 for my wife)

14 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

I suspect my bottles on Icon must have been labeled incorrectly.  My bottles Wonder this week are labeled corkage waived.  These are the free bottles for reaching “x” points crown and anchor.  I can’t imagine they’ll start charging to pop them open. 
What happens to carry on bottles? They don’t have stickers, is that an automatic fee?

 Time will tell!

{carefully peeling off the sticker before discarding the empty bottle}

The bagels on Royal aren't bad if you get them before 8:00 a.m. while they're still fairly fresh (think store brand pre-packaged quality, definitely not New York deli). After that, they've been sitting out too long (thus becoming like hockey pucks).

3 hours ago, CruiseRoyalDad said:

Uh OH! Now you've done it! Pitting the Scottish against the Irish and their respective spirits. That's going to cause a bar fight with some very colorful accents. As for Canadian whisky being superior to American. What!? It's time we take a tour through bourbon country together. I know what you're going to say, you meant Rye. I say US distillers have the friends up north beat in that category too! 

As an individual of partial Irish descent, it pained me to type about the superiority of Scottish whisky to Irish Whiskey (thus the caveat that read generally).

As for American whiskey, I do not include bourbon in the discussion. Bourbon is an entity unto itself to be savored appropriately (yes, it's technically whiskey, but...).

Best alcohol-based extra activity I ever participated in was a "Bourbon and Bacon Tasting" on Holland America because everything is better with bourbon AND everything is better with bacon - the ultimate combination!

14 hours ago, castle25 said:

Rhapsody - 2015...............please amend the selection list

The other ships are in the thread titled "First Royal Caribbean Ship You Sailed On Pt 1"

With Park West art, the value proposition varies across their offerings. There is much to be said for being an informed consumer as pointed out by @PhillyLady earlier in the thread.

Over time, we have purchased a total of 32 works from PW (some on cruises, others at land-based auction events). The PW appraised value at the time of purchase totals to just over double what we have spent. The most recently updated PW appraisals we obtained put the value at about 3.5X our total spend (a 50% increase in $$$ value). For comparison, we obtained independent appraisals on the seven highest value items. In six of seven cases, the independent appraisal was higher than the PW appraisal.

We definitely do not feel scammed by PW. We collect what we like for the personal enjoyment of the artwork but if we were to consider it as just an investment, only real estate has performed comparably to our purchases from PW over the same period of time. (past performance is not indicative of future results)

Does everyone have the same experience? Absolutely not, but that does not mean the auctions themselves are a scam. 

11 minutes ago, Jolly Ogre said:

they did not spell Whisky properly

They spelled it in American and Irish. You are quite right that proper Scottish and Canadian producers dispense with the e. Given that Scottish whisky is (generally) superior to Irish whiskey and Canadian is (typically) superior to American, the correct spelling is whisky.

Interesting note - while verifying that I had the correct local preferences, I learned that whisky is also prefered by the Japanese.

40 minutes ago, CruiseRoyalDad said:

Did this one on Harmony of the Seas August of 2023 out of Miami. Of all of the specialty tastings available I thought this one was very well priced. Maybe slightly more expensive than sitting down and ordering a few scotches outright, but the tour of the scotches with complete history of the distillery was done very well. It was interesting and worth the time and money for the experience.

The Celebrity version of this activity when I partook was discounted by half for those with a drink package. It was not a pre-paid activity and the discount was applied on the spot.

7 minutes ago, Bill Johnson said:

I see! Even if I wasn't the one who paid for it? Well, I guess not when I think about it.

If that is the case, then does that new person need to book everything themselves and how long does the refund take to get back to me?

The individual would need to book everything they want at the current prevailing pricing.

Time for refunds varies - we've had it happen within 48 hours, we've had it take several weeks.

29 minutes ago, Matt said:

I booked it for my kids to try this summer

Looking forward to the blog post reviewing their reaction.

2 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Yeah I saw that listed on all my booked cruises within the past month or so.  Looks cute and interesting to say the least.  I’m thinking might be just a little too sweet for me!  Pricey too!

For the sweet - do the Cupcake Decorating class.

If I'm making/eating sushi, I want it to be the real thing.

16 hours ago, CruiseRoyalDad said:

This is wonderful comedic timing. I must add a ROTFL.  

Let me and @HeWhoWaits know if you can join us in August. It's already shaping up to be an interesting conversation with many laughs fueled by Day 1 efforts to maximize the drink package. 

Sadly, August cannot happen with my schedule. You will have to throw down one or three on my behalf.

1 hour ago, CruiseRoyalDad said:

Bless your heart, aren't you cute.

For those who don't speak "Southern," @CruiseRoyalDad has just sweetly insulted me twice in the kindest of ways. "Bless your heart" is a passive-aggressive way to say "you're ignorant/foolish" without coming right out and saying so, while "aren't you cute" is sarcastic or dismissive way of saying the same thing.

@CruiseRoyalDad isn't wrong in doing so, BTW.

1 hour ago, ChessE4 said:

I think Charlotte is considered Queen City in NC; we are closer to the Cape Fear.

I know that Charlotte likes to try to be the Queen City, but it was Cincinnati's nickname long before Charlotte was anything but a bunch of donkey cart paths.

We are also closer to the Cape Fear River than to the "sovereign republic of Mecklenburg." Can't get from the Coastal Plain to the Central Piedmont without crossing the Cape Fear or one of its tributaries.

1 hour ago, CruiseRoyalDad said:

Fellow North Carolinian I see! We are from the Queen City! 

Cincinnati is not in North Carolina.

13 hours ago, Jneener79 said:

 

My check in date is this week! I don’t hate my room assignment for the Icon yet. 

Hopefully you won't ever hate your room assignment.

21 hours ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

I do the same thing, strictly for the perks lol. Having TA access also gets someone on the phone much quicker.

Or you can just choose the "if you're a travel agent, press" option and it moves you to the front of the queue - once connected, the rep doesn't know how you got to the front of the line.

9 hours ago, SplashOfWater said:

Yeah, no Sovereign or Monarch either. 

Or the original Legend for me. Not to mention the original ships before they started the "of the Seas" convention. Song of America was our first.

9 hours ago, BigKarl said:

And no Song of Norway.  My first cruise.

We have only used GTY once and the cabin was assigned very early.

On 3/19/2025 at 10:26 AM, happy cruisers 2 said:

And you didn't touch your cabin door handle, an elevator button or a hand rail between washing hands and getting your food?

Cabin door handle - yes, but having wiped it down first. Elevator button - don't use the elevator. Hand rail - don't need the hand rail going up stairs.

My hands would likely be less sanitary from touching something at the wash station (towel dispenser or the bottom towel that someone who didn't wash as well as they should had touched) than by not stopping there.

Sanitary conditions aside - "washy washy" is annoying.

46 minutes ago, CruiseRoyalDad said:

Very difficult to resist the washy washy when serenaded by the wonderful cruise members on way into windjammer, especially when the guitar is in use. Just thinking about something so simple puts a smile on my face. 

I know I'm in the minority, but I find the "washy washy" to be particularly annoying. It's cute the first time you hear it, but after that not so much. 

At breakfast, I have showered and don't need to wash my hands again. If visiting WJ at dinner time, I have just washed up after whatever daytime activities happened to be and don't need to wash my hands again. Even at lunch time, I've already washed my hands after a bathroom visit or will be washing them anyway without the "Hey, five-year olds - don't forget to wash your hands before you eat!" routine. The fact that "washy washy" is deemed necessary speaks poorly of our society as a whole (not just those on cruises).

20 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

2 rooms (2 bathrooms).

Always go for the second bathroom when you get past three adults and/or teens.

13 hours ago, PhillyLady said:

EVERYONE on both sides of the family has gone on a cruise, and they all love it, no matter their preconceptions. 

Our daughter-in-law was terrified about doing a cruise. She went on a three-night Bahamas cruise in June 2023 and is now pushing for a seven-nighter as their five-year anniversary vacation.