mom2mybugs

Exactly! Gave up guessing long ago! 

And no one really knows how the system decides which one.

You can bid on as many as you want, but the system will only let you win one. 

ngl, I had to check the post date of this multiple times to confirm it wasn't an April Fool's joke.
Matt! Matt! Why hast thou forsaken us?!?
 
😉

I think those names might be the new combined tiers. 
Royal has the best loyalty program of the cruise lines imho. But if they could merge those perks with SilverSea and Celebrity, they would be top notch. I personally don't see any issues with the current program other than its not universal across the lines. With hotel loyalty, you can stay at different brands under the umbrella and get the perks. It means access to more revenue. As a pre-vintage I would love to sail Celebrity but between my casino and loyalty status, there is an issue of finances. It's not as financially feasible to sail celebrity when my sailings on Riyal are discounted heavily in the casino and come with discounted internet and free drinks thanks to loyalty. 

My cabin. Had no problems.
Enchantment of the Seas
14 May 2022

One of my favorite ships in the fleet!  Only one with a pool bar facing the ocean!   So classic.  

Discovery Class can't come soon enough!!!

I tend to get overwhelmed at midnight too. 🙂
When I was in college, midnight was still early.

We just completed an 8-day cruise on the Odyssey and we had 4 sea days.  As you can imagine, the chair hogs were out in full force but Odyssey’s staff were ready.  Each pool area had at least two attendants that worked all day long…They were tagging all unoccupied chairs and removing the items if the person didn’t return in time.  They were using little yellow stickies to mark the time they placed the tag, the number of chairs and they placed the tag on the chair in a location the person would not notice.  The staff got lots of thanks and I only witness one upset lady…She came back three hours later and was upset her stuff was removed.  Way to go Royal!!!

Get over yourselves. 

St. Martaan is one of our favorite ports in the eastern Caribbean.  The people there are friendly, it is very safe, clean, good food, incredible sailing, amazing art galleries and studios, and IMHO, the best shopping in the Caribbean.  Orient Bay on the French side is gorgeous!

So excited to have 2 cruises planned and this is the first.  I have been on Vision of the Seas twice, but this will be my first on Rhapsody.  Our last cruise was on Harmony, so I'm looking forward to a smaller ship, though I wish I could get onto one that's been amped with a new pool deck.  We picked this cruise for the itinerary... We've not been to St. Croix, St. Lucia or Barbados.  Wish they were doing St John's instead of St. Martaan, but we will find something to do!  It will be the first time we've cruised in June, so gives us something to look forward to at the end of the school year!!!  Jane

Cool.  That's what I was thinking but I will let you know...we are going in June!  

Rhapsody of the seas...June 2-9, 2025 7 night Southern Caribbean out of San Juan.  Jane

We walked everywhere and loved the 2 forts, as well as the old cathedral where Ponce de Leon is buried.  We were able to get a national park stamp at El Morro, which made me very happy!  We got mofungo at a restaurant that Matt recommended a long time ago.  I don't remember the name but it was really good!  I am so excited that we are actually embarking from San Juan in June, so we are going to spend the night in old Town! Jane

We walked everywhere and loved the 2 forts, as well as the old cathedral where Ponce de Leon is buried.  We were able to get a national park stamp at El Morro, which made me very happy!  We got mofungo at a restaurant that Matt recommended a long time ago.  I don't remember the name but it was really good!  I am so excited that we are actually embarking from San Juan in June, so we are going to spend the night in old Town! Jane

Just what we need, another blog from a suite sn... err... hope you win!
(Yes, the irony that my only live blog ever was from a GS is not lost on me, lol.)

I ordered a tube, too. Must have been a FOMO thing.  After I ordered it, I thought to myself, "Raye, you know you have to actually go OUTside in order to get a sunburn, right ?"  Oh well....if I ever do decide to go outside I guess I will be ready !

We went to all three last year - there is not a lot of touristy "Stuff" but we enjoyed all three ports.  In Nuuk - which is the largest city on Greenland - we took the shuttle to the town drop-off and then just walked around from there. You will see a couple of shops along the waterfront, a coffee shop, a very small local museum and a few statues/art objects. There is also a pedestrian mall-style and tourist area where the shuttle picks you up again that has a few nice souvenir places. We also stopped in the local grocery store, which includes hot deli items if you are hungry. Though we did not take one, there are walking tours available and we saw a few going by.
Qaqortuq was tiny but has some lovely walking areas, including "up" a gentle rise to see a small local lake, or along the waterfront where there are carved rock walls. The big red and white barn-looking building near the tender port had some great T-shirt prices. We did the excursion to the island where the Norse ruins were and it was interesting.
In Nanortalik we took the Iceberg tours and that was a highlight. You're in a very small boat and we got right up to the icebergs (literally touched one of them) - I recommend this one. 
You're not going to see or buy a lot in any of these places (there are no tanzanite stores!) but you can feel the history and the weight of living on the edge of the world here. Worthwhile for the adventure, the people are lovely (very excited to see tourists but not in a creepy way) and I'd go back.
Note: they use the Danish Kroner and I got some at my local bank before we left, which made the exchange rate a lot less pricey... every place we shopped took credit cards and the souvenir shops took US dollars but at an (understandably) unfavorable exchange. We bought postcards, a couple t-shirts, some Danish chocolate for a snack, a small carved reindeer antler from a local artist, and about a dozen cloth printed shopping bags from the local grocery store for about $1 each that folded down to nothing and made great gifts for everyone at home. 
 
 

Yes, but has anyone seen Blitzen lately? 
They do have other types of encased meats available (including I think a regular old hot dog...) Also they have a "Reuben dog" that is worth the ridiculous mess to try to eat it. I had not known I needed sausage, sauerkraut, swiss cheese and thousand island dressing on a bun, but I do.  Oh, I do...

The owner of Jesse's assured me that it's NOT Rudolph. 😉

Second vote for the hot dog cart - those reindeer sausages are REALLY good.  Assuming a stable location, it was close to the local pharmacy, on the left-hand side of the street when you are walking towards the open town square and sort of across from a local bookstore.
 Keep in mind salmon and crab both have seasons and crab season can be tricky.  If you're looking for King Crab it's neither better nor less expensive than what you may find at your local fish place. Tracey's Crab Shack in Juneau is right at the port and really popular but the king crab is priced at, like, $80 a pound and I prefer heading to CostCo and firing up the boil pot.... that said the place is really, really popular. 
You're just starting the salmon season in early May but if you can get it, I have heard really good things about the Gold Creek salmon bake.
It's neither salmon nor crab, bu the Halibut Tacos at Deckhand Dave's are messy perfection and only a few blocks away. There is a chowder I regret not trying, and they have a Catch of the Day board. Also in Juneau when you exit the dock area if you bear left along the waterfront you'll see two Filipino food trucks (usually with a very long line of crew), both of whom have terrific food. 
Ketchikan is a LOT of fun and there are several places that will serve salmon, plus if you walk right along the waterfront boardwalk when you get off the ship there is a fresh kettle corn stand almost at the end of the dock that is addictive. 
Good luck, and have fun!

It's neither salmon nor crab, but in Sitka try to find Jesse's Uptown Dogs cart. They have reindeer dogs and sausages.

Similar experience, we frequently travel with extended family and have young ones that our extended family (graciously) help watch after bedtime.  We also tend to prefer suites when possible.  This leads to a scenario where only certain rooms can really serve our preferences perfectly so we book far in advance. In the past we had difficulty adding even a newborn to a reservation after the fact due to timing and (we assume) muster limitations.  That cruise ended up being a COVID casualty so it ultimately did not matter.
More recently we were planning for a cruise (Jan 2025) where we anticipate having a 1 year old.  When making the reservation we worked with MEI and agreed the best solution was to place a reservation for the yet-unborn infant.  Currently the reservation is under the name of "Place Holder [Last Name]."  Once we have name and birthdate we will swap in the new identifiers.  Obviously for people booking more than 9 months out situations can change but I would recommend always adjusting your reservation ASAP because there can be situations where your room may not be able to accommodate additional people even if the stateroom theoretically has the space.  
As an aside, my wife has already vetoed naming the kid "Place Holder."