CruisinUngs

wish i got this advice before i met my wife ???
Apologies to any wifes on forum ? 

Always be careful reading reviews from regular guests.  You never know what their expectation was or what their travel resume looks like. 
Some people don't travel well.  Even long time friends have sometimes turned into not so good travel mates at times.
Traveling around the world and expecting it be American everywhere is going to lead to disappointment yet some people do exactly that.  Other people embrace the cultural differences.
For me those differences are why I want to travel abroad.  If it will be very close to a home experience why bother sitting on airplane for a day to get there?
 

Yikes !  Hoping you did not get sick.  Nothing worse.  Well, yes, there is something worse - being sick and NOT being on a cruise is worse.

Terrible. 
Hopefully Royal will cancel this excursion and stop using this tour operator.  Even if the husband went without being given the instruction to, that possibility shouldn't be allowed to occur and that is the zip line operator's error. 

Being that I'm the Grandeur Poo-Bah ..... Naturally, I'd go for Option 3.
 

So, are there bars at all these pools? That would be one hell of a bar crawl, sign me up! 

It's definitely creative math

I'm with you -- Karma will take care of them .... have faith.

I love going with the flow in life and cruising. My husband tells me all the time, I have the islander peace of mind. I say in life flow on.

Lots of new content on my Royal Caribbean blog guys! Let me know what you think!
https://www.chriswongvlogs.com/work-on-a-cruise-ship-uk

@CHRIS WONG VLOGS meet @twangster...our resident photographer, Mr. Knowledgeable, and climbing the C&A ladder probably faster than anyone else here! ?

If you want to see a comedy show just go the Windjammer  everyday.  That is one of the best people watching venues around.  You won`t be disappointed.  No reservations required.

Never mind! I found it in the Cruise Planner. It was weird: When I first looked at the Cruise Planner, there was a main menu called "Photography", but after I logged in, it was gone. So I tried looking in "Internet & more", but that had only 3 levels of Voom. But then I went into "Internet & more" a second time, and it had 3 three Voom followed by two photo packages.
Okay, I have now been initiated into the "Buggy Website Complaints" group. ☹️

Just shove me out the door.  I will drift down to the helipad just fine....

If you've seen Deadpool 2, you'll get this. ?

T minus 2 days.
Bags packed.  Boarding pass printed.  SetSail pass printed.  Luggage tags ready.  Check, check, check and check.  I think I'm ready. 
Amazingly I don't feel like I forgotten anything, which means in about 10 hours at 35,000' I will remember exactly what I forgot.  Such is cruising.
For the flight to Seattle tomorrow I have a 6am departure.  I had plenty of choices of flight times all day but I chose 6am so I could visit something in Seattle I've always wanted but haven't been able to yet.  The Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit at the base of the Space Needle.  I'm a sucker for blown glass so I'm looking forward to this as a pre-cruise excursion.
I'm flying with Delta, my favorite airline since I am heavily vested in it's frequent flier program.  At 13,500 Skymiles this may be the cheapest round trip flight I've booked using frequent flier miles.  A direct flight was available departing later and arriving at nearly the same time but at several thousand more miles so I chose a connection in Salt Lake City given the early time of day plus day before cruise booking.  Connections don't bother me since I've flown a bunch.  Loyalty pays - I've been upgraded to first class on both segments.  Not bad for an 'award' ticket.
My son is joining me on this cruise flying in from the East coast.  With a Friday to Friday cruise itinerary it meant an extra day of vacation for him so another day on top of that to fly in the day before was a problem.  He doesn't get that much time off at this point in his career.  He elected to fly in the day off the cruise, something I tend to avoid.  Flying from the East coast the time change is working in his favor.  Fingers crossed.
I booked my cruise through MEI Travel and added the official hotel for the Royal Caribbean Blog Group Cruise when it was offered oh so long ago.  Time flies, it's almost cruise day!   Shout out to Jacki York at MEI Travel for proactively checking each and every sale over several months to verify I had the best price.
Our cabin on this cruise is an interior with virtual balcony.  A full balcony cabin was nearly twice the price, per person of course.  I did an Alaskan cruise last year on Celebrity with a balcony.  One Alaska lesson I learned last year was that good excursions can be pricey.  Alaska excursions are well worth the price in my opinion to experience Alaska however adding up the total cost of a vacation experience on my second Alaska cruise I chose to spend money favoring excursions that were my second choice from last year over the cabin so interior virtual balcony it is.  Basically by booking an interior cabin we got our excursions 'included' compared to the cost of booking a balcony.  
Excursions this time around:
Juneau

Skagway
(The description read much better when I booked it!)

Victoria

Booked during various sales it definitely pays to book excursions early and watch sales.  Most of them have increased in price over the months since booking.  I booked our excursions with enough time for us to self explore before or after as weather permits.  Alaska here we come!
With that it's time to close my laptop and pack it, else I might forget it in the morning at oh-dark-early when my ride arrives to carry me to the airport.

I sat here for 10 min deciding if I was going to reply but I figured 1. You all seem like really nice people and 2. it’s not CC so hopefully this will not be taking in a combative way but more an FYI... I have a close family member in jail (will not go into details and its complicated anyway) but it is definitely not a resort. He also developed medical issues while in there and the care is definitely just enough to keep him breathing at times. Also things like education really helps to prevent these people from being repeat offenders.  Totally can see how people who do not have insight would think differently as I did before this entered into my life. Also I know it differs greatly from state to state and the type of facility you are in. They are all definitely not resorts though. 
@Sweety my stepfather is a middle school teacher for 20 years and it scares my family every day. It’s APPAULING that we can’t keep our schools safe. They should be the safest places in our country. It’s not like every little girl and boy are dreaming of being teachers these days so it also scares me to think of what the profession will lead to in the future. Thoughts are with you and your family. 

aka...SPREADSHEET TIME! ?

@Th3CruiseGuru, do be aware that buying two of the Deluxe + VOOM packages may not be as cost effective as buying two Deluxe packages and then a single two-device VOOM plan. Since you can share the code for the 2-device plan with anyone you wish, if each of you is using only one device then this might be a better option.
I've repeatedly priced out the combo package vs. whatever current sale price is offered for Deluxe and 2-device separately, and I've yet to see the combo sold for a better combined rate than buying the two separately. In fact, on most of the "deeper discount" sales for the drink package, getting the combo would have been more expensive even if I just bought for myself vs. getting the deluxe package and single-device VOOM!
As with most things on the Cruise Planner, gotta be prepared to track the prices and do some math here and there. ?

I sat here for 10 min deciding if I was going to reply but I figured 1. You all seem like really nice people and 2. it’s not CC so hopefully this will not be taking in a combative way but more an FYI... I have a close family member in jail (will not go into details and its complicated anyway) but it is definitely not a resort. He also developed medical issues while in there and the care is definitely just enough to keep him breathing at times. Also things like education really helps to prevent these people from being repeat offenders.  Totally can see how people who do not have insight would think differently as I did before this entered into my life. Also I know it differs greatly from state to state and the type of facility you are in. They are all definitely not resorts though. 
@Sweety my stepfather is a middle school teacher for 20 years and it scares my family every day. It’s APPAULING that we can’t keep our schools safe. They should be the safest places in our country. It’s not like every little girl and boy are dreaming of being teachers these days so it also scares me to think of what the profession will lead to in the future. Thoughts are with you and your family. 

I even got a new GoPro... so there should be video!

We are now 14 days from our cruise, and 7 days from our vacation (we're doing a week in Orlando before heading to the Oasis).  It's going to to be a super busy week as I wrap up work and get ready for the cruise.
So, in case I don't have time later, I wanted to say thanks to @Matt, @WAAAYTOOOand all the rest of you on this board, especially since many that I want to thank are going to be on the group cruise.  Your insight and recommendations have been awesome.  My cruise came together faster and better than I expected and this board is largely responsible.  Keep up the awesome work!  Can't believe it's finally here.  I think booking 18 months out is great for getting exactly what you want but is terrible for the anticipation...  Those of you who have the luxury of multiple cruises per year make me jealous...  Maybe some day soon I'll be in those ranks.

Back of the line, lady!!!

Can you adopt me?  So jealous!  Jane

sounds like someone deserves an extra lobster night for all the inconvenience?