AlohaLivin

That was what we did as well - we have only sailed in suites, but had a balcony through the casino so we bought the key to provide the priority boarding and a few of the benefits that overlapped with the suite benefits. It was worth it at the price point at which we purchased it, but I can’t see paying a ton for it. Since we did a B2B with a suite on the second leg, some of the debarkation day benefits were definitely wasted.

Actually we eat in the MDR on disembarkation morning and it has always been great.  Nice way to end each cruise!  And No We do not purchase the Key.

Completely agree with you. We worked it out and I am at peace going alone. I realize how he feels and I respect him for his choice. Thanks again!

Anxiety is more common than depression, luckily somewhat easier to treat. But he needs to want to do it. The gold standard treatment for anxiety is cognitive behavioral therapy or dialectical behavioral therapy (many licensed Psychologists can handle both of these). For more severe anxiety, the psychologist may recommend an adjunctive treatment with a psychiatrist (equal in education, this professional handles the medication part while the psychologist is trained to handle the psychotherapy part). But there is little more immovable than a person with significant anxiety - being angry with them or begging won’t change it. The rest of us may understand their fears are irrational, but the person experiencing it does not recognize that he/she is being irrational. 

Agree that anything other than the Pin badge is tough to see. DH puts his Diamond plus pin at the bottom of his strap badge holder, but it is hardly noticeable. There needs to be something useful to do with all the pins though!

Anxiety is more common than depression, luckily somewhat easier to treat. But he needs to want to do it. The gold standard treatment for anxiety is cognitive behavioral therapy or dialectical behavioral therapy (many licensed Psychologists can handle both of these). For more severe anxiety, the psychologist may recommend an adjunctive treatment with a psychiatrist (equal in education, this professional handles the medication part while the psychologist is trained to handle the psychotherapy part). But there is little more immovable than a person with significant anxiety - being angry with them or begging won’t change it. The rest of us may understand their fears are irrational, but the person experiencing it does not recognize that he/she is being irrational. 

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. 

"Serious" but lacking in the understanding of the math of BJ. When someone at the table makes a play that isn't mathematically correct, they are just as likely to help others as hurt them.
If someone doesn't like how you play, tell them to go find another table. It's your money and your right to play however you want.
That said, it is obviously beneficial to learn proper basic strategy... but to help yourself, not others.

specifically: at 6:49 you state that it's important to use the Sea Pass card so that Casino Hosts can track our points and reward us at the end of our cruise.  Do we need to speak with the host before the end of each cruise, or are the rewards posted automatically to our account?  How do we see rewards? Do they expire once the cruise is over? 
And: how can we get notified of offers that are valid beyond the end of a particular cruise?  We have used the drop-down box on clubroyaleoffers.com that says "not getting my offers"....emailed...called...and been assured that our account(s) are tied to one email, with permissions to receive offers....yet  we never know of current offers unless we specifically log in to the site each week. 
I've learned from long-time cruisers that the accumulation of points and offers is "voodoo" and "harder than quantum physics" to compute, and am happy to take what offers come my family's way....but we have 3 gamblers and I would love to know more about how and when to redeem these magical offers!

I really have no idea how it works these days.  BC you could go online and choose whether wanted to be automatically upgraded (should an upgrade opportunity present itself) or whether you wanted to be contacted and approve an upgrade first.  The auto upgrade happened for us twice…..then they implemented RoyalUp and I think the days of C&A auto upgrades is pretty much gone.  Why give away something that you can sell ?
I haven’t heard of a C&A upgrade in years.  I think @twangstergot one recently but they are very rare these days.

I have never heard this; I was told the envelops were to recognize particular crew members.

It is standard for them to leave those envelopes.  If you don’t want to use them, ignore them. We give some people extra tips including our room steward and the concierge so we find it helpful to have extras (although we usually go by guest services and get extra ones). I can’t see a reason to be irritated by it.
 

We're booked on this cruise, originally on Voyager but successfully switched over to Adventure. We actually have a somewhat better cabin than we had...our first Christmas cruise!

Update: All is good now. We got our same hump balconies that we originally booked for Voyager. Huge sigh of relief. Now I can get excited about this  cruise again. 😊

Our cruise planner finally says Adventure instead of Voyager but now has our rooms listed as GTY. We had booked adjacent hump balconies (our teens are still minors) so I am not happy. Waiting to hear back from my TA…

hopefully none of the cruises we take will resemble either one, although I would definitely take the latter over the former (and likely will be more of the latter in 20 years).

We test at 7 pm tonight for our 14th boarding. Looks likely it will be the last time we do it for a cruise (although of course we will keep some at home in case of infection). I am in dire need of a cruise!  The proof is below!
 

I do have to agree that the wording of these announcements has been horrendous - starting with the “welcoming” the unvaccinated. I’m not sure that they could be doing a worse job.

That sounds like a really tough time. I do hope you and your wife recovered well.
 
Like Matt, I would recommend Travel insurance for ANY future cruise you take, even if you opt to not do Royal again. Most lines (if not all) will not cover the costs of care and transport in events like these. (In fact, I'd like to direct your attention to this line in your cruise contract which you would have agreed to when getting your Set Sail Pass: "c. Payment for Medical or Personal Care Services. Passenger shall pay for all medical care or other personal services requested or required, whether onboard or ashore,  including the cost of any emergency medical care or transportation incurred by Carrier and any costs associated with the provision of medical services as provided in the CLIA Passenger Bill of Rights. If Passenger is unable to pay and the Carrier pays for such expenses, then Passenger shall reimburse Carrier for those expenses."
 
 
Food poisoning is difficult to prove (I say this as one who has had it before) and if only your party was affected it can be easily assumed that you caught something else that was not directly related to Royal's food. This may be why Royal is not immediately offering compensation.

Sorry to hear about your experience and most importantly, hope your wife is better.
What did the hospital diagnose your wife with?
At the end of the day, getting your wife to medical attention is the first priority. I think you'd agree getting her the necessary medical care is more important than anything else.
One thing for the future, travel insurance would have likely covered a scenario like this to cover a refund of time lost.

hopefully none of the cruises we take will resemble either one, although I would definitely take the latter over the former (and likely will be more of the latter in 20 years).

hopefully none of the cruises we take will resemble either one, although I would definitely take the latter over the former (and likely will be more of the latter in 20 years).

I too never use the ships 'materials" but my travel companion who had short, fine, curly hair said it wasn't too bad. Of course, she was also straightening her hair after each wash, so.......

I can definitely see that happening. Sometime it is a guess on how much product to bring. But we are about to shove off so I will make sure to try it at over the next two weeks. The worst that can happen is that I look like I have ship hair 😂

Thanks all!
I normally ignore it too but I ended up not packing enough conditioner last cruise and used it. It was lovely. (though I do have my hair in synthetic braids on vacation so I'm more lenient with what I use vs when it's going on my raw hair)