hooked-on-cruising

Great story...  Thanks for sharing ?

Great story...  Thanks for sharing ?

Great story...  Thanks for sharing ?

Dining Operations has a pot of burnt beans.

Hell would break loose.  If there was such an uproar about proper attire in the MDR, imagine the chaos if RCL took another place away for the smokers.

maybe a smoking casino and non-smoking casino could be an option to try on one ship..and see if all the non-smokers really do spend all the time and $ in there or not before rolling something out fleetwide...
 
Still not realistic to expect there to be nowhere on board to smoke....still a good portion of cruisers who do smoke and/or take a cruise for that very reason......I think that its a pretty fair balance now as the smoking areas are extremely limited....and besides when you walk by a smoking area on a ship, I don't ever recall smelling it in or having to sit there and breathe it in..95% of the ship is smoke free
 
More smoking on my land based vacations to Cuba, Dominican and Mexico etc to be honest.......

I believe Empress is the only ship in RCCL's fleet that has a 100% smoke-free casino. 
Royal is in a tough spot.  Do you completely segregate your traditional money trifecta (gambler+drinker+smoker) as your ships are offering more family-orientated experience?  At the end of the day, it's all about the Benjamins.

I'm not even sure I'd trust the cruise planner as an indication of itinerary change. Check directly with Royal Caribbean.

Can you cancel and rebook? Or cancel and use a travel agent?

FYI - the ones in the back actually had a ramp and not two steps up so those may be better.  They had beach wheelchairs at the end of the dock too which will help get you there.

@SMM799 As of last month, the cabana area is surrounded by sand.  So your brother would need to be able to transfer to a beach wheelchair to get to the actual cabana.  
Here are some photos from last month:




 

Yes, right next to the chairs is why I wouldn't include #8.  It was a lot louder there with people talking and we wanted a nice quiet day.  I honestly wouldn't even mind the back row either as the cabanas were staggered.  Overall, it is a wonderful experience no matter which one anyone ends up with.
 

They all face the same direction so the "front row" has a better "full" ocean view.  

On recent video's I have seen the wheel chairs with the big sand wheels on them and they usually always have a golf cart or similar transportation for people with limited mobility.

which part of Chill Island is for suite guests only?

We just got back from our cruise on Anthem this past Saturday and I wanted to give those interested e a little information on the Chill Island Cabanas because I couldn't find out much online before we left.
- The cabanas are amazing but there are definitely some that are better than others.  We specifically chose #14 which is at the end so we had less people around us....unfortunately, it had more birds!  The rock wall on the right of the picture is where the seagulls hang out.
- Next time, we would book book Cabana #9, #10 or #11. 
- Cabanas 8 through 14 are in the front row and 1 through 7 are in the back. 
- There are chairs on the left of the cabanas that are for suite guests and it is first come, first serve.
- If you have access to the Chill Island Cabana area (rented a cabana or are in a suite), there is an upgraded lunch buffet.  Our buffet had lamb chops, ribs, chicken, salmon, shrimp and scallop skewers, Maine lobster tails, hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, fruit, cookies, etc.  A lot of food!!
- There is no bathroom area in the cabana area but it isn't that far of a walk
- The beach is roped off for the cabana area 
- The snorkeling right beyond the roped off area was really good.  We saw hundreds of fish of all different types.
If anyone has any questions, let me know!!
 
 

Nice setup!

Perk # 1 = your own personalized cabana/office on the ship. 

Apparently it’s an 8,000 cruise point milestone for Mario onboard the Navigator!

Here is the menu from Chef's Table on Independence last July. 

GET A SUITE! ?

How about a dining package, that or turning that money back in and using the funds to book another cruise......that would be a GREAT birthday gift!!!!?

DH and I have a cruise on Adventure.  For my birthday last week, DH bought me They Key, but looking at the features I'm don't think it's worth it for us.  He knows i love shows and thought the reserved seating would be great.  However, upon further research it looks like the reserved seats are in the balcony.  (Need to confirm but I've heard reports of the location on Adventure).  I'm a "front row" gal...or at least get seats as close as we can.  The Chops lunch and last day breakfast options are nice but not sure worth The Key cost per day.  We don't get internet as we disconnect form the world (only thing is our kids will be at home but we can try and find wifi when in port to check in).  And we don't do Flowrider, Rock Wall (just our kids but they aren't with us on this cruise).  Priority boarding and getting off the ship is nice, but overall it really doesn't seem worth it...esp at the raised cost.  
He has no issue cancelling it but wants me to splurge on something else.  I think I've seen on other ships that there is sometimes a ship tour but am not seeing it on Adventure...just a Bottomless Gallery Brunch.  Anyone tried that?  Adventure has Chef's Table but not sure as it seems pricey (and I eat fish/seafood but not beef or chicken so not sure if its a set menu).  Our stops are Costa Maya, Cozumel and Grand Cayman..so perhaps an excursion or something.  Or any good spa packages?  I don't want to book something for the sake of booking something.
I know everyone is different but what do you splurge on?

Good to hear about using a FSA/HSA card.
Luckily my dad had insurance on two fronts travel policy and a Medicare Advantage plan. One fun thing about the travel policy he had was secondary coverage. So in order to file a claim he had to submit the the Advantage plan provider. Well to his suprise it covered all but his deductible and something else, think he was reimbursed around $1300 or a little bit more. I'm sure if he submitted to travel insurance he could get the remainder back.
Still the sting can be bad if you don't have flexibility of available funds.
One suggestion is some travel policies offer primary coverage with direct medical provider payment.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/podcast/episode-182-dealing-being-sick