June May

First - and only - cruise was on Independence of the Seas, 7 night Western Caribbean cruise out of Fort Lauderdale.
Ex-husband and I were doing a "trip of a lifetime" because I'd come into some money from my mother's estate. The cruise was a bit of a splurge item after seeing a show (not even about RCI) on TLC about cruising.
Chose the cruise because I wanted specifically to go to the Mayan site at Cozumel and that didn't disappoint - it will be one of my forever memories.
That being said, the ex was generally a surly wet blanket most of the cruise (most of the whole trip) so for my next milestone birthday in 2022, I'm celebrating ditching the ex and planning on going back to Fort Lauderdale and doing another Western Caribbean cruise so I can truly enjoy it! Stretch goal - doing B2B and taking in the Eastern Caribbean as well. 
In the meantime, I've got Explorer of the Seas booked for March next year (South Pacific) and Ovation of the Seas in February 2020 (New Zealand). 

Dining packages just came out for my cruise on Explorer of the Seas next year (270 days and counting!) and I was so impressed by your experience at the Chef's Table that I've booked it for myself.  Thanks for sharing the review - I never would have even thought about this otherwise ? 

Watched this just now on my TV. What would I do differently?  Book an earlier cruise so I didn't have to wait til next year! ?
In all seriousness, I'll be watching for cruise planner sales, and noting the prices of my preferred shore excursions, so I can cancel and re-book if a cheaper price presents itself.
Great video - thanks!

I prefer the term "re-purposing"

What an excellent idea!  Going to try this in July!

This cooking your own meals on land sucks.  I so miss being on a ship.  Ugh. 
Like a song stuck in my head, I hear @Matt's Periscope voice in my head asking .. "How many days until your next Royal Caribbean cruise?"

Just wanted to say hi and thanks to all for the news and tips I have gained over the last month. I have two cruises booked, my 4th and 5th all with RCL. 
I wanted to share that although the website is not up to par, we now have our countdown clock back. ?

You said it --- we'll be hitting Platinum after our October cruise...... we literally do nothing with our lives except work (and having our beer and bonfires up on the mountain behind our home) and planning on our next cruise.  Over the weekend we were watching YouTube Videos on different things to do at the places we'll be going.
We surround ourselves with cruise related items at work to help keep us focused on the prize.

Rather excited to realise that I'll be at Platinum after my next two cruises - I had for some reason thought that it was a long jump from Gold to the next level.
As I'm now essentially working to cruise, hopefully I'll start racking those points up!

I love seeing Royal Caribbean ships doing things like this...sorry for the image quality...basically, Navigator provided diesel to this sail boat in the open ocean when their rudder broke and weren't able to navigate by sail, but could using their motor. The problem was they were over 1000 nautical miles from shore.

Well said!

I don’t know which “middle aged entitled people” you know but this middle aged entitled person and her husband worked for 40 years, raised & educated 2 millenials and aid in the care of 4 grandchildren.  I assure you no one waits hand and foot on me!  So yes,  I deserve a little entitlement.  Maybe when you are my age, you’ll understand how “entitled” your comments sound.

Royal Carribbean CEO Michael Bayley just did an interview with Business Insider and dropped this gem:
Contrary to what clueless CEOs think, it's a stupid idea to insult people you'd like to be your customers.
There are few things that irritate me more than watching middle-aged entitled people who are typically waited on hand-and-foot through their entire daily lives whine and moan about those selfish entitled millennials.
He goes on to talk about not specifically chasing millennial cruisers and once they start families, their preferences tend to align with other families regardless of generation.  That's fine, I don't think Royal should chase fads and make assumptions based on opinions not backed up by the data of actual spending habits--all the more ironic, since he starts out doing that very thing by throwing a barb at millennials at the top of the article . . .
My advice to Mr. Bayley is to remove his foot from his mouth and avoid insulting large swaths of your guests, check his own entitlement at the door when he comes in to work, and redirect that energy to thinking about how he can improve his cruise line for all guests.  A good place to start might be on the apps and websites which are an absolute horror show right now.  And if that's too millenial-focused (us and our silly obsession with technology and smartphones and all), take a look at the main dining room food quality which has been taking a nosedive for the best 15 years.