AlohaLivin

I personally would never withdraw my gratuities. That’s not fair, in my humble opinion, to all those people who get part of the  tips that we usually do,not see in person.   We do tip extra to the cabin steward and waiters at the end of the cruise. We also tip something with each drink and tip the concierges (Diamond Lounge/Suite lounge). I’m one of those who comes down kind of hard on the side of tipping because I think if you can afford a cruise then you can afford to tip the  people working hard to make you happy.  While I think that tipping in the US has gotten a bit out of hand,  with cruise staff I have zero issue with paying gratuities.

I personally would never withdraw my gratuities. That’s not fair, in my humble opinion, to all those people who get part of the  tips that we usually do,not see in person.   We do tip extra to the cabin steward and waiters at the end of the cruise. We also tip something with each drink and tip the concierges (Diamond Lounge/Suite lounge). I’m one of those who comes down kind of hard on the side of tipping because I think if you can afford a cruise then you can afford to tip the  people working hard to make you happy.  While I think that tipping in the US has gotten a bit out of hand,  with cruise staff I have zero issue with paying gratuities.

I would personally keep the prepaid gratuities and still pay cash tip to room steward and bartenders. I have even be inclined to give a little extra to specialty wait staff for a job well done.

As others have said, you’re not going to be on board by 10. Recently the first time to even get into the facility is 10:30 AM (that isn’t boarding time). Even if you are a Pinnacle, have a suite, or have the Key you likely would be onboard at earliest at 11 or 11:30.  As has been noted by others you won’t have access to any room before around 1 (even in a suite) and your luggage will likely be hours later than that. Even when we do a B2B and are the first ones back onboard (say at 10-10:30) it’s not much of a situation of leisurely checking out the ship as crew is rushing around for the ship and nothing much if open. But your best chance of getting close to your fantasy, at least for a short time of time, is to book a suite, purchase the key, or do a B2B.  It’s just hard to conceive of embarkation day as being remotely leisurely and relaxed as there are a lot of staff and a lot of guests trying to get so much done all at once.

...wait but what does all of that have to do with stopping the unlimited drink plan....?

Likely never. Way too much like a floating Disney World. We prefer a less crowded, more laid back vacay 😬

Likely never. Way too much like a floating Disney World. We prefer a less crowded, more laid back vacay 😬

Likely never. Way too much like a floating Disney World. We prefer a less crowded, more laid back vacay 😬

As others have said, you’re not going to be on board by 10. Recently the first time to even get into the facility is 10:30 AM (that isn’t boarding time). Even if you are a Pinnacle, have a suite, or have the Key you likely would be onboard at earliest at 11 or 11:30.  As has been noted by others you won’t have access to any room before around 1 (even in a suite) and your luggage will likely be hours later than that. Even when we do a B2B and are the first ones back onboard (say at 10-10:30) it’s not much of a situation of leisurely checking out the ship as crew is rushing around for the ship and nothing much if open. But your best chance of getting close to your fantasy, at least for a short time of time, is to book a suite, purchase the key, or do a B2B.  It’s just hard to conceive of embarkation day as being remotely leisurely and relaxed as there are a lot of staff and a lot of guests trying to get so much done all at once.

I am a RCL newbie and this is live from the Voyager of the Seas. 
Boarding with the Key was a huge "cluster" this morning in Boston. We had a 10:30 check in plus the Key. Got to the terminal at 10:28. Per the rep at the Key line queue, the line was full and we needed to go to the end of the regular Boarding line. Well, we walked probably 150 yards, passing hundreds of people, the entire length of the terminal to get to the end of the line. I was fuming hot mad. We stood there for about 10 minutes not moving. I told Mrs Fan that I was going back to the Key line to see what was up. I ran into another rep and told her that we had the Key. She said follow me. So she walks us back to the Key line and the queue is nearly empty, but the rep we initially met was not letting anyone get in line. The second rep pulled her aside and kind of pushed us through. The entire time, the first rep was trying to keep Key purchaser's out of the Key line. Finally, she relented and Key purchasers started getting on board. She had been sending Key purchasers to the back of the main line for probably 30 minutes. 
I have no explanation for her actions and I am still mad about it. Thank goodness for the second rep I met.

Also, if you get the “30 days” message and there is more than 1 name on the booking, try putting the “other” name and associated info in and see if that works.  That has never worked for me, but I have read of it working for others.

Come to Fort Lauderdale we have Publix, Publix Greenwise and Trader Joe’s all within 1 Sq/Mile!!

We really enjoy the Las Olas Boulevard area for shopping and dining (and there are a number of places that are relatively reasonable to stay overnight nearby also). It is lively and wonderful in the evenings! 
 
@FSUFAN I have 4 Publix stores within about 3 miles of me, I will be glad to send one to you 😬 I will trade you for a Trader Joe’s!

Awesome, thanks for the tip!!

If you don’t get your pins , you can see the loyalty ambassador next time you are onboard about that. They may be able to give you the ones you’re missing as well. 

I'm not sure if anybody plans on sailing BOTS anytime soon. But if you are and are interested in a GS, may I suggest Suite 1060. We just got off of her on Sun and loved every minute of it. Check out this fabulous balcony! By far the biggest one on the ship for the size of the cabin. Even larger than the adjacent OS balconies. It is the first balcony off of the centrum and adjacent to the elevators and stairways. For full disclosure, we did hear some music coming from the centrum at night, but that did not bother us. 
 
Happy Cruising!

You lost me at driving 17 hours straight. I'd rather shell out the $600+ for airfare. 

It isn’t too early. We had one much earlier and we had plenty of time (we were the first group off bc of the suites, but the first walk-offs were very close on our heels). We were at the airport 2 hours prior to our 10:20 am flight. Don’t stress 🙂

It isn’t too early. We had one much earlier and we had plenty of time (we were the first group off bc of the suites, but the first walk-offs were very close on our heels). We were at the airport 2 hours prior to our 10:20 am flight. Don’t stress 🙂

First, I would not believe everything I heard someone say in a casino.🤣
Second, when someone says they “only play “X” amount in the casino” that can mean different things.  They can mean once they play that amount they are done, that amount per day, or that amount per hand/spin.
There is also the difference between points and amount.  The initial amount you place into the machine may not correlate directly to the points you play through the machine.  For example, I put in $100 once on the last cruise and cashed out $80 a little later. Due to a few wins instead of accruing only $20 worth of points, I actually played long enough, or had enough spins/bets to get $105 worth of points.  

Going to have to admit that I don’t spend a lot of time with professional nitpickers, but since this nitpick quoted me in particular I suppose that I should respond with a correction of your correction. 😂 In the cruise business all of these destinations are referred to as private “islands” (often both officially by the lines and in the common use by cruisers). Thus, in this case the definition is not a geographic one but a cruise specific one and therefore “island”is correct within that morenarrow vernacular (as evidenced by the highly  knowledgeable bloggers here at RCB when referring to Labadee). 😬
 

We are on Rhapsody in March '23 and have not seen the deluxe beverage pkg in our planner for the past 2 weeks, only the non-alcohol packages. It was there previously. I called customer service and was told that it is rare, but the DBP is sold out for our cruise but would be available for purchase when we board. I have never seen this on any of our cruises, especially when we are almost 5 months from our cruise. Anyone else experienced this before?

Lou Ann is the Suite Concierge on Grandeur and like the others is fantastic. She was the Diamond Lounge host and we miss her. 😥

We will be onboard for a b2b in a few weeks, good to know the Diamond concierge is so good! Any idea who the suite concierge might be? We are so ready to see Lady G again after two cancelled cruises on her during the shutdown!