mom2mybugs

Joe...vintages was my go to stop before dinner to grab a glass of wine and I loved the bartender there.   It was one of my face spots on freedom (next to the schooner bar and 80s trivia) and I never understand why it isn't more crowded.  Jane

We live in Canada but it's way easier to fly from Detroit when we travel.

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."
The Gingerbread Houses of Anthem of the Seas

Interesting that @Matt 's cup specifically directs you to Share the drink package 

My wife and I just got off the DIsney Dream yesterday, Concierge level.  I'll be honest.... Disney does have a nice ship - the fit, finish, and attention to detail is incredible.  The food was great as well.  The concierge suites were so plush it was hard to leave when the cruise was over!  
That being said, the ONLY reason we did Disney was because RC has stationed the Majesty of the Seas at Port Canaveral.  We live ten minutes from the pier.  We had actually driven down to Miami a few months ago to go out on the Enchantment we were so desperate for a decent weekend cruise......  On Saturday my wife and I were in Nassau standing on the top of the Dream and watched the Majesty pull into the dock.  Ugh.... it isn't a very pretty ship and shows its age. 
Thankfully RC has heard our cries and is moving the Enchantment and eventually the Mariner to Port Canaveral.  Now my wife and I can get back to going out on weekend cruises every few months in addition to RC cruises from other ports.  Loyal to Royal!  :-)  

We have done 3 cruises... all on royal.   I took the first one because I was dying to do Disney,  just couldn't afford it and everyone said try royal as a good substitute.   I have never been sorry.   While I would do Disney on a heartbeat of someone else paid for it (i admit...I have a mickey obsession), royal is quality for what you pay.   I love the food, the service and the amazing views from the ship).  I will repeat my first ship (freedom)  in March and can't wait!   I will take a break after that (trying my first river cruise in Europe in August) but looking at maybe the Mediterranean or the gc in 2019!  Jane

In my quest to capture the best Northstar image I could I've come to realize that my big DSLR with it's enormous bulbous ultra wide lens is more of a liability in Northstar.  The curved glass of the gondola reflects so much that a small lens is actually better.  A nice small lens such as the one on an iPhone 7 Plus is ideal because you can get it closer to the windows in Northstar and since it's tiny compared to my big UWA DSLR lens it doesn't capture so much reflection.
Promise - last Northstar photo.  This one is a vertical panorama   With the sun directly in front of the ship you see the shadow of Northstar on the pool deck.

Day 2 Sea Day
Mixed weather today.  Mostly cloudy.  Rain at times.  Sun trying to peak through at times.  
Jumped into Northstar again. Northstar had a little bit more of a bumpy ride today. 

As I sit here writing this it dawns on me this feels like a completely different cruise.   You might be thing thinking, DUH!  it is a different cruise!  
We have different entertainment acts on board.  I saw some folks with instruments in the terminal waiting to board so I knew we would be getting some different acts.  From the comedian in the Welcome Aboard Show to the band in the Music Hall. 
Something I missed the last cruise was a Two70 show at 9:45pm on day 1 to illustrate what the venue can do.  The show is called 'Two70 Tonight' and it's a sampler of different types of Two70 entertainment .  It's quite an amazing venue that cost $37M.
Eighteen individual projectors that need to be synched.

Throw in some aerial artists...


Then some awesome projected effects...

Plus a Symphony.  Hmmm,  Symphony... sounds familiar for some reason.

Then some singers and a band...

More aerial artistry.

Then Dance In a Box.  Too hard to explain but it really shows what the robotic flat panels can do.


Some aquarium time...

You have to see this live to get it.  Quite impressive to a geek like me.
Off to the Music Hall.  The Journey cover band has been replaced by a Led Zeppelin cover band.  Cool!


I thought I would be able to skip some stuff assuming it would just be repeats from last week.  Yeah, that's not going to work.   I better get some sleep.

We are Chicago suburbs... husband teaches Homewood flossmoor and i work in Arlington heights.   We got a good deal on freedom for 2... but definitely not a is.  That's a great price!  I haven't been on navigator but I hear good things.  I definitely can't wait to get out of the cold winter (although it sure had been crazy warm this November! )   Jane

Loved the stingrays!  Lots of people can be annoying (long story short my wife finally had to shove people out of the way because they were being "ray hogs" and not letting others feed or get pictures), but overall a good time.  I enjoyed just snorkeling/swimming with them away from all the people.

I have done Stingray City at GC and while it was VERY crowded, there were no shortages of stingrays for everyone to enjoy.  I agree that everyone should do it at least once.  I will probably never do it again but it was quite an experience.

Huge thank you tony!   This helps a lot!  It certainly narrowed us down which we needed because I was feeling a bit overwhelmed!   Jane

We sailed on her for thanksgiving and I'm on shift today at the fire department.  I will post tomorrow, I hope it is easy as this will be my first time posting one.

In September we ate at a cute little place on Las Olas called Sweet Nectar. Small plates kinda place, with lots of cool craft beers.  Dessert was AMAZING; it was a peanut butter ice cream sandwich made with a toasted glazed doughnut.  DIVINE.  

Hello- Local here. Sounds like your looking for the Fort Lauderdale experience & money does not appear to be a factor. My suggestions would be:
1. Marriott Harbor Beach
2. Hilton Fort Laud Beach
3. W Hotel Fort Laud Beach
4. Atlantic Hotel Fort Laud Beach (Botique Hotel).
5. Ritz Carlton Fort Laud Beach.
*** Don’t concern yourself too much w/ shuttle service exc as just about everything (including the port) in Fort Laud is 15 min away via Taxi or Uber. Any of the choices above will give you the full beach, restaurant, pool, 4-5 star resort experience. If you have any questions let me know. I live 1 minute from the Port & know the area like the back of my hand.
 
 
Jane-
I have a couple options for you for Fri:
1. Riverside Hotel (las olas blvd): historical Hotel that is located directly on Las Olas where u can easily access all the dining exc right out the front door. Also, the water taxi stop on the new river is a short walk. Cons: older hotel “historical”. I believe it was renovated not so long ago but I haven’t seen for myself. There is a pool area located close to the new river which is nice. 
2. Hilton Marina- for a quick one night stay before a cruise my parents always come into town and stay here. Pros: water taxi stop right outside under 17th street bridge. Nice resort style pool. If you have HHonors status try to book a high floor looking South and you can watch your ship come into the port. Also, you can easily take the water taxi to the las olas stop or a short Uber ride. Cons: just your same old ordinary and cookie cutter Hilton Hotel. Nothing too special here but it does offer a good location close to port, short walk to dining, water taxi exc.
 
Sat after your cruise:
1. Marriot Harbor beach is a great choice to get the full beach & resort experience. In fact it’s so great that we SoFL folks actually pay to join the beach club and use the pool + facilities! 
2. I would also recommend the resorts listed in my previous post for you as they are located on A1A and most have private beach access across the street. I am not very familiar with the Westin but I drive by it all the time and it seems to be in a great location. Not so sure about B ocean Hotel if your considering that...
 
***** note- Uber to Pirate Republic (great Brazilian influenced menu on the new river) and take the water taxi through the new river where the captain will give you a tour of all the famous peoples homes exc. 
Dining recommendations:
Franco & Vinny’s Pizza Shack- Local favorite Italian (very casual).
Cafe Vico- Great Italian food (you will thank me later)
Chima Las Olas (Brazilian steak house). Quite an experience.
Le Tub (Hollywood beach): google it, Oprah made it famous.
Jimbos Sand Bar: Tiki hut vibe & excellent food especially the blackened shrimp or mahi tacos.
Rustic Inn: Garlic crab out of this world. 
 
Please let me know if you have any other questions as I am sure I can help.
- Tony 
 

HELP TONY!  ok... spent hours today on this lol and can't make a decision.   What I want for the Saturday before my March freedom cruise (embark on Sunday)  is a more central hotel.   I want to do the yellow water taxi and be close to restaurants and things to do.   I can't figure out the best location.   Ideally I'd love to walk to the water taxi.   Is there a hotel near there that is easy to get to Las olas bld... should I be near there?  Are there other things we should do as tourists?  And is the Blvd or the Las olas riverfront better to be near?   We get in very early and have all day... ideally if love an outdoor pool if the weather is good.   I'm not worried about being close to the port as we will taxi or uber no problem. 
  On the Saturday night after the cruise I want oceanfront resortish.  I want to cry getting off the boat and park on the beach one more day lol.  Which resort is the best for that?  I think I had narrowed down to westin or Hilton but is there better or is one of these better? 
   I would seriously live local input.   Because we could only do the 6 day cruise,  I really want to enjoy lauderdale...I've never been and I'm not sure when I will get back.   Also is spring break brutal in terms of craziness or has the 80s spring breaks moved elsewhere lol?   THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!   Jane

The ships are virtually identical, so either would be a good choice. Let convenience and price of getting to the ship decide. 
I understand what you mean about your head spinning. We cancelled a Western Caribbean cruise on the MSC Seaside next month for a Med cruise around the same time as the process were much cheaper since it cold on the Med and the airfare wasn't much more for us than flying to Florida. 

Thanks so much!  I didn't even consider the price of the shuttle to Canaveral!  Now my husband upped the ante and brought up the whole should we do Europe for the destination or just Caribbean for the getaway.   Then I started looking at celebrity.... argh.... head is spinning.   I thought my teen would be all over going on the oasis class too and she says smaller is fine.  I think I will have to wait on this sale... too many choices!   Jane

I don't know if I've even seen a discount on the coffee card.  I did get a sale on the refreshment package for my 20 yr old - it was discounted to $18 from $26.  May 2018 sailing.  I think the same price was offered for my October 2018 sailing.  I did NOT see a sale for the soda package though. 

I've sailed both and those ships are practically identical. I would sail either one again any day. That being said, I always fly from DTW, and it is way easier and cheaper to get a flight to MCO than MIA. However, the terminal in Miami is way easier and faster to get to than Port Canerval from the airport.  You could look at it in terms of by saving $375 sailing Allure is that your difference in airfare? Or is it actually more than $375 to sail Oasis because you have to factor in the approx. 45min way to the terminal? Sorry, now I've created more questions for you. Lol. 
Not sure if entertainment choices play a role in your selection but Oasis has Cats and Allure has Mama Mia. Both have their own RC production and the aqua and ice shows are different but still very similar.
In the end, if it were me, I would probably pick Allure over Oasis only because I prefer the ease of getting to the pier. But either way, you wouldn't be missing out much by picking one over the other.  What I would do is sit down and break down all the costs of each ship, factoring the airfare, cost of transportation, and cruise fare. And then factor in the pieces you can't put a price on like ease of getting to the ship, options for flight times etc. Hope that helps a bit and doesn't add to your decision making already ?

It seems the rates for the VOOM multi-device offerings may be actual sales, even if not flagged as such in Cruise Planner. I got an email from Royal stating those multi-device plans were on sale, and a rep I spoke with while re-purchasing my Dragon's Breath zip line tickets also said that the 4-device package I decided to buy today ($39.17/day) was a 30% discount off of onboard rate.
If not too late and you are looking for a multi-device package, may want to snap it up. Email said it was for Black Friday only, not a weekend long offering.

No, not on this cruise. We are in a D1 “hump” balcony.  You don’t need any kind of mattress topper when you’re in Star Class.  The Duxiana mattresses in the Star Class suites are the most comfortable beds I’ve ever slept on in my life !
i won’t lie though.  I miss my Genie !  ??

Let's see, so far I've cost @Sweety a new lens and @Sabrinaklai a new cruise.  Not bad for a few days work...  

Ok...i need a scorecard lol.  Just when I thought I knew where the ships were.....