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I second this. The first night I had 2 drinks and it wasn't easy to walk to my cabin. Second day I watched the bartender pour a jigger, move it, and continue pouring for another 5 seconds - making for a double. Kept tipping, but drank fewer drinks so as not to fall asleep during dinner or the show.

You're correct, 'bottomless' doesn't mean "trousers optional". Perhaps RCI should make that clear in the description. After finding out it's endless champagne some might also think wearing their pants like a chef's hat is a good idea (hic). Not that you'd ever catch me doing that.. Sorry, I'm originally from North County STL (Bellefontaine Neighbors). Edit: Added photo of sign that confused some Cebuanos after maybe 6 drinks. And 295 PhP is about $5.80.

4 May 2019, Independence of the Seas. T/A.

My small group always gets late seating at a large shared table. Last cruise on the Symphony the waiter was from the RP and brought Filipino dishes (family style) for the table after I greeted him in Visayan. The food was great, but the people Royal chooses to sit together has never let me down in 14 years. That time there were a couple who just retired from the US State Department Foreign Service as Cultural Attaches, a couple who were both retired US Air Force Officers, and a tattoo shop owner/landscape photographer. We'd miss meeting folks like that eating by ourselves at a premium restaurant - and I'm basically an asocial person. We've been seated at a small table by ourselves a couple times and it just wasn't the same. Obviously YMMV if you're newlyweds or traveling as a family.

I think the crust has improved quite a bit. Previously it seemed a bit thin yet doughy/steamy - as if someone took my native St. Louis style out of the oven too soon. Now the crust seems cooked longer and is more chewy. Crust preference starts a lot of passionate discussion, but the latest offerings at least seem to belong to an established style and not just doughy.

Can someone pay to be a suite-guest and bypass the levels? <stirs up swarm of hornets>.

Phones are badly shaped for shooting photos and video. Anything that changes that will help steady your images. There are a lot of gadgets on Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&amp;_trksid=p2334524.m570.l2632.R2.TR11.TRC1.A0.H1.Xcamera+stabili.TRS0&amp;_nkw=camera+stabilizer&amp;_sacat=30090&amp;LH_TitleDesc=0&amp;_osacat=625&amp;_odkw=steady+rest But a counterweighted gimbal mount (about $20 and up) is what I pack for shooting video. It's a budget version of the Steadicam and can be used with small and medium size cameras as well as phones.

Arron Hough, the missing crewmember, is the dancer furthest right in the line closest the camera. I took this on the Freedom. In addition to Mr. Hough, let's remember the rest of the cast who are left to perform without him.

Independence - May 4 to May 18. T/A

If you order the night before they'll know to add another portion. Tell the server the next day you've made the request previously. Thankfully the entrees can be held and don't have to be cooked individually.

If it also had huge bones (oxtail) and peanut sauce, it was kare-kare. Tripe alone sounds like callos if it was in a tomato sauce. Callos is influenced by the Spanish, kare-kare is more Malay/Asian. Eating oxtail in a formal dining room is like having spaghetti in a white shirt - challenging.

Their non-vegetarian Indian selections off the nonpublished menu are really good. Ask your server what's on the menu for the next evening. My favorite was Butter Chicken. They aren't afraid to add spice. And if a couple of people order they'll serve it family style. It's not a special order, but a compromise fleetwide. Our headwaiter said that cruising was becoming popular among the middle class in India, but Western food was unpopular - resulting in a lot of special requests every night. Royal countered with an unpublished menu with a vegetarian and a meat-based Indian entree and traditional side dishes nightly, with entrees varying from the different states of India. Anyone can order if they give 24 hours notice, or you can opt in for the entire cruise.

Reminds me of a useful Latin phrase. Semper ubi, sub ubi - Always wear underwear.

The monthly fees starting at $4,700 for the smallest cabin are pretty steep.

Checked luggage, mostly because there are 3 for cameras and a 4 port USB charger. It's just easier than having all those wires show up in the carryon. I've carried the same number of chargers on at least 6 RCI and 2 Princess cruises without a problem.

A different show every night included in the basic price. As a stage photographer there is no better way to get practice and meet talent at a reasonable price. Great food. Free drinks in the afternoon. Excursions.

Psst, buddy. Wanna buy a new excursion? It fell off a truck. Ten cents on the dollar. Now do those above a certain class of accommodations get both foils and sets of protective gear?

One of the dancers said that they keep nonwashable costumes from getting nasty by spraying them with a 50-50 mix of cheap vodka and water. I'm going to experiment using 60% isopropyl alcohol and just enough cologne to let the booze police know it's not for drinking. Should work OK on wool jackets. She wouldn't tell me how to find inexpensive vodka on a cruise ship, though.

Old time 2600 subscriber and hacker in my wayward youth. I grew older but never grew up.

Only in the sense of being a real fan of something, not like doing cosplay on a "Crafts and Quilters" Cruise.

[As Homer Simpson] "He thinks he's people!"

I didn't have any luck connecting with UDP over ports 53 or 1194 a couple weeks ago using OpenVPN client.

Has anyone noticed that a large cruise blog switched today to Invision Community as their engine? Nothing can top the quality of the conversations on this site, though (in my opinion). The focus on one cruise line seems to cast the right size net for retaining a real core of otaku but welcoming a wide range of users.

Just off the Harmony. Our Headwaiter said that there is nonpublished Indian menu nightly with a vegetarian and a meat entree. They were getting so many requests for different Indian dishes this was a compromise. Anyone can request either entree 24 hours in advance. Their Butter Chicken was great and the chef wasn't afraid to use chile pepper.

On the Harmony last week my cabin attendant actually put a dummy card in the Sea Pass holder and left it there the whole cruise. On an interior cabin you can turn the A/C to way warm and it's still cool if you leave the card in.