spiralqueen

Ohhh thanks for the heads up on this! I had purchased at $38 for my May 2020 Harmony sailing but with the full intentions of cancelling it if it never dropped. I saved $168 and got the lower $30 price which is the high end of what I'm willing to pay. I also hope it goes down more but I can rationalize $30. $38 is just absurd though.

Damn, luckily my fares aren’t released until the next batch but looking at flights to MCO there’s a TON of completely sold out flights no matter the fare. Out of curiosity, what time on the day listed are the fares normally released?

Same! That's why I bring a backpack even if I'm just going to the pool. Toss those waters in there to bring back to the room and add to my stash. Great for at night or on port days.

Ohh I like the layout of this. Which app is this?

When we went to CK on Allure we had different servers almost every night because it just depended on where they had room to seat us that night. What we did is figured out how much we would normally tip 1 person who had excellent service on a 7 night and divided that by the number of times we ate there. On day 7, I swung by guest services in the afternoon to grab some extra tip envelopes and we used those to distribute the tips on the last night. There were a couple of people who we didn’t immediately see, so we left those tips with the host (who also got a tip because he went out of his way to help us get reservations for the rest of the nights as a JS without us asking and genuinely improved our cruise experience). To make it easier on the last night, I had a note in my phone where we wrote down the server’s name for each night and little notes about them which also doubled to make complimenting them in the survey easier.

Lol I initially misread that as you had plenty of lava flow in your kraken.

The gratuity charge is not added on to the dining package if you buy it ahead of time in the cruise planner. I just double checked my confirmation email to make sure I wasn't making that up.

Lol Sabrina you remind me of my friends I know I can text going “hi, here is a big purchase I just made. Help me justify this and reassure me this was an excellent life choice” These friends are well aware of their roles and exactly why they got that text. ?

Kraken is a really nice, smooth spiced rum that is popular around these parts. Especially tasty in tropical frozen beverages. Best enjoyed at sea!

Just a quick note about this $10/day plan. Most people who have older AT&T plans can use this, but if you have a really old grandfathered plan, you might not be eligible. I found that out the hard way when I tried to get that set up for a trip we were taking and found out that we could only use the $60 for 30 days international plan. My family has a super old grandfathered plan that has unthrottled unlimited data.

I’m a huge fan of the Cats trailer set to the music from that movie Us. SUPER creepy.

I have sailed both Allure and Enchantment and as much as I adored Allure and how many things there were to do, one thing I found was that I enjoyed much less live music than I did on Enchantment. I mean, there were options a plenty to listen to it on Allure, but in my mind I wanted to see the bigger shows I couldn't see on smaller ships. I'm really looking forward to my Grandeur cruise where we can enjoy music in the centrum and Schooner bar without feeling that FOMO.

Agreed. I think there’s nothing wrong with a reminder of the devastation that families and communities are suffering from right now, but it’s also possible to be concerned about multiple things at the same time. Worrying and wondering about vacation plans isn’t mutually exclusive from being concerned about the effect this storm has on people both in the United States and abroad. I appreciate that for the most part this board is keeping things positive and not jumping at throats as much as CC. Who needs that much negativity??? Too stressful.

When you board with the Key in FLL, make sure you use the right entrance so that you can also benefit from expedited security that the key allows. There will be an entrance past the main entrance that is for suites and also has a sign for Key guests too. Once you get through security, there will be some windows or people standing around with iPads. Just tell them you have the key and they can send you to the right person to get checked in and on your way to the waiting area. It’s pretty well labeled where you go. If I recall correctly, the key seating area was just beyond the suite area (sectioned off area with awnings) and there was a blue sign with a white key on it directing you. You will wait there until they start boarding the ship. The order will be back to back cruisers (unannounced....you just see some people get off for a few minutes and then return on) suites/pinnacles, and then Key.

Besides the delay in reopening the island from repairing the damage to existing structures, I wonder what kind of delay this will inevitably have on the progress of their South Beach/Coco Beach Club construction.

I am very sorry for those who had their vacations cut short by this. Silver lining is that due to the port, it’s likely that most people drove in vs flights. At least Royal is making it right with the 100% refund plus 100% FCC. Hopefully with this being a smaller ship than the Oasis class ones it will be much easier to repair it since there are more options for location. I’m selfishly happy that they are at least knowing about this and fixing it now, decently far in advance of my Nov sailing.

Yep, website seems to be broken currently. I hope it comes back soon since it has great info!

Agreed! I’m a huge huge fan of booking a bunch of refundable hotel options. I currently have like 3 different hotels booked for May in 2 different cities. It’s sailing out of Port Canaveral so I have a Coco Beach option for if we come in a day early, a Coco Beach option for if we come in 2 days early, and an Orlando option if we have a later flight. I just make sure to put all the cancellation deadlines in my calendar so I don’t get screwed by forgetting about a reservation.

I really hope this doesn't end up being true. Especially since a major part of our decision to upgrade from an interior to a JS for our Jan 2021 Anthem sailing is for CK access. Well, no use getting upset about it in advance. It's just a rumor for now and that is how I will treat it.

A lot of people will (correctly) say that the filet is excellent and a must try. But one I don’t see mentioned as much is the rib eye. If you are a fan of steak, I’m telling you. Try the rib eye. So. Good.

Well it wouldn't be Royal if it wasn't predictably unpredictable! ?

@BB1 When I was on Allure in May of this year, CK had filet on night 7. I agree that the filet is incredible, but I would be remiss to not also rave about the rib eye. It was melt in your mouth and incredibly flavorful. I think that was maybe night 2 or 3? I have a liveblog in my signature where I talk about Allure CK for dinner 5/7 nights.

Ohhh thanks for the heads up! I snagged the 3 device plan for $24 per day for my May Harmony sailing. I didn’t think Harmony would have Internet prices that went down to the price I got on Grandeur. Definitely want to lock in that price in case the Key never comes down in price.

Ohhhhhh this sounds very relevant to my brunch loving mom's interests. We are going on Grandeur in November and I'll have to keep an eye out for this! Where did you see this advertised?

There are a couple of items that have an upcharge associated with them. Perhaps that is what they were referring to? But it's similar to how it is in the MDR and the extra cost items are clearly marked.