averbeck

30 years old

Deleting post 

The Trojan horse was really just a wooden towel animal and you saw how that worked out for the Greek-Trojan friendship.  j/k

I strongly advise against walkie talkies.  With all the metal bulkheads and radio interference, their effectiveness is limited. 
Arguably more importantly, they are quite annoying to other guests around you.

For those that don't cruise often, it doesn't make a lot of sense.  Essentially you get 2% on RCI purchases,  but I have a Citi Double Cash card that gives me 2% on EVERY purchase.   And on top of that, I can use those rewards for statement credit (aka I can use it right away).   The RCI card can really only be used when you go on another cruise.  So often you're sitting there with points accrued and  a) You don't have enough to get anything  b) you have to wait 4 months before you can realize that reward.
Also, there aren't really any intermediary things you can by.  And by that I mean, you need lots of points to buy anything and there's nothing you can really spend any extra you have on, until you accrue more again.  
I agree the sign up bonus was really the only perk that caused me to get it years ago.  I never use it now.

@KathyC
My last post indicated that it was showing me Serenade in the filters, but she is not actually in Europe.

@KathyC
My last post indicated that it was showing me Serenade in the filters, but she is not actually in Europe.

Yeah, for some reason the filters were showing Serenade as a filter option, but when I removed the Europe filter, it was actually in Alaska/Panama/West Coast during the date range I picked.    So Phase 1 is really just 2 ships...boo

@RCVoyager Of course I googled- how could I not lol. The picture is hysterical. It’s such a large group that you really can’t see much but you can definitely tell. 
I think I would do this- but NOT be in the front lol.

For those that don't cruise often, it doesn't make a lot of sense.  Essentially you get 2% on RCI purchases,  but I have a Citi Double Cash card that gives me 2% on EVERY purchase.   And on top of that, I can use those rewards for statement credit (aka I can use it right away).   The RCI card can really only be used when you go on another cruise.  So often you're sitting there with points accrued and  a) You don't have enough to get anything  b) you have to wait 4 months before you can realize that reward.
Also, there aren't really any intermediary things you can by.  And by that I mean, you need lots of points to buy anything and there's nothing you can really spend any extra you have on, until you accrue more again.  
I agree the sign up bonus was really the only perk that caused me to get it years ago.  I never use it now.

Personally, sign up bonus is really all the card is good for.
Many other cards will give you either 1-2% back.

I think the general rule of thumb is that dinner can take up to 2 hours.   You could also look at past cruise compasses to see what typical times of the shows are.
 
I'd also add the shows are generally timed to align with either early seating or late seating.  So your Mytime dining is smack in the middle so my opinion is that you will either be rushed or miss the beginning/end of the shows.

So that means you are going to miss the special charter cruise on Nov 11th?  You know, the adult-only clothing-optional one that advertises special "play areas"?  You have to be really upset to be missing out on that one! ?
I'm so glad they sterilize the ship top to bottom between every cruise already...

As Matt says often on his Podcast,  it varies. It's USUALLY out there 90 days beforehand.   But not always. Keep checking back every week after 90 days out.

I would recommend clicking on the "Cruise Compass" link at the top of this page and look at one for Symphony.  It'll have all of the planned events that went on.    My assumption is that they'd do stuff like the rock wall, zip line, flow rider, water slides, laser tag  (I think they have that on Symphony although I'd check)

I'll defer to someone who has actually gone to the comedy show, but I would not be surprised if it was the same comedian.  I think it's a pretty small venue and they're probably making it so more people can see "the show".
Regarding the headliner shows, I always book the first available aqua show that fits into my schedule as it is the most commonly cancelled show due to high winds.  They usually try to reschedule, but even if you miss it, you can always go to a second/third show without reservations.   The ice show is the next one you'd need reservations for. 
All of the main shows rarely fill up in my experience. I'd still get a reservation for one, but I'm not as worried about showing up 15 minutes before the show as I am with the others.

I believe the OP's question was whether or not you could still see the ocean if you are in one of the rooms where the bed is near the closets (and the couch is closest to the sliding doors).
The answer is, "yes" you can still see the ocean but not nearly as well.  Also, IMO the staterooms that have this configuration are more likely to experience traffic bottleneck issues.  Since the bed, which is the longest piece of furniture in the room, is located almost immediately after you enter the room, your choke point is there, near the stateroom door.  With the bed located further away, near the balcony, your chances of having as traffic choke point are diminished.  That's just my experience.  Others may have a different experience.  I have never been in a balcony room on Harmony but I don't think the closets are in the way of the view.
I definitely prefer the bed near the balcony for those 2 reasons :  (1) the traffic flow seems to be less restrictive and (2) you can see the ocean better from the bed when it is near the balcony.
To determine whether your cabin will have the bed near the balcony or near the closets, go to the nearest set of connecting rooms.  "Stand" in the hallway.  The connecting room on "right" is the "right" (bed by the balcony) configuration.  Move toward your room, alternating, "right", "wrong" and what you end up with when you reach your room is the configuration of your room.  MAKE SURE YOU ARE FACING THE CONNECTING ROOMS FROM THE HALLWAY before you determine which cabin is "right" and which one is "wrong".  If you start counting from the ocean orientation you will have it exactly wrong.

Don't go into the Casino  ?
Eat at complimentary places
Bring your bottle of wine/champagne in your carry-on  (2 per room)
Don't do extravagant excursions
 

Don't go into the Casino  ?
Eat at complimentary places
Bring your bottle of wine/champagne in your carry-on  (2 per room)
Don't do extravagant excursions
 

Don't go into the Casino  ?
Eat at complimentary places
Bring your bottle of wine/champagne in your carry-on  (2 per room)
Don't do extravagant excursions
 

Don't go into the Casino  ?
Eat at complimentary places
Bring your bottle of wine/champagne in your carry-on  (2 per room)
Don't do extravagant excursions
 

Don't go into the Casino  ?
Eat at complimentary places
Bring your bottle of wine/champagne in your carry-on  (2 per room)
Don't do extravagant excursions
 

Don't go into the Casino  ?
Eat at complimentary places
Bring your bottle of wine/champagne in your carry-on  (2 per room)
Don't do extravagant excursions
 

@JLMoran  I would highly recommend any of the build your own stations assuming you have time to wait in the Windjammer....that's the best way to guarantee your food is fresh/hot with all of the complimentary options.    I'm pretty boring in that I basically eat Pasta, Burgers, Chicken every day.    I will say that the Windjammer Pizza was in my opinion better than the pizza I've tried in other Windjammers.  Maybe there's a new recipe or just a guy who knows what he's doing. :)  (It's still not the best pizza ever...)
I wasn't a fan that there didn't seem to be a bar in the Windjammer.   They had a couple carts with some beers. But if I wanted a mixed drink, I had to bring it from outside.
 
Nothing really stands out about the MDR, other than our kids lost patience waiting for food.  Which then makes it seem like the service is slow to us.  But I know they say, plan on it taking 2 hours, so it probably was average.   We didn't have a lot of good service related to beverages in the MDR though.  

I would recommend last weeks Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast....   Short answer, Allows it yes, they don't block anything, but just significantly limit your bandwidth with the one package..  So for streaming the video portion, not as ideal.  You could try it of course.  Worse case you could do data audio calls.  You might get some frozen screens or unable to connect if you're trying to stream.    I've done it before,  it involved several dropped calls and choppy video.  So it depends on whether that matters to you.
For Facebook and Messanger and Uploading photos the cheaper one is fine.