JasonL

I went to my first Brazilian steakhouse as they're becoming more popular around these parts. Such a cool dining experience! I know it's a long shot, but how cool would it be to get one of these on the new Odyssey or on an Epic. If yall like food experiences( @Matt ) and haven't tried this style of dining, you definitely should give it a whirl. What I love about the one I went to is that they come around with like 15 different skewers of meats and you can get a lot of variety. It's great for trying new cuts without committing your whole meal to one choice.

Symphony, Symphony, Jewel, and Anthem

I'm not sure I see the problem.  
I can see it in Concierge Lounges on ships that don't have a Suite Lounge such as Anthem. I can see the hoards of D+ and P plus suite guests creating a very packed CL.  
RCI has already alienated some of the D+ level by converting CL into SL and denying D+ access to the very room they used to be able to access simply by changing its name.  That I think was a reasonable measure to create a better suite experience.  As a new D+ member myself I'm okay with this but it does have many long term D+ members talking about this "reduction in benefits".  As more and more CL disappear across the fleet I can see how this is being interpreted by those D+ folks.
Pinnacles tend to gravitate to certain sailings, especially "hometown favorites".  For Galveston or Bayonne I suspect P numbers are elevated compared to FL where there are many cruise ports and even more ships to distribute the P load across. 
In many cases I see Pinnacle in the D lounge despite an SL right across the hall.  In some cases I think they are there for the social aspects of the DL where friends who haven't made it to P are hanging out.  
I've only had SL access on Oasis class ships.  I'm not sure I even noticed there was Pinnacle present on those occasions.  I know of one P guy I met on my 1st RCI cruise and a year later saw him on Harmony in the SL.  We talked and joked at the SL bar for hours.  I certainly never felt like they were impacting my use of the SL or the Suite sundeck on Oasis class.
In my opinion Pinnacles have paid their dues by sailing a lot and I mean a lot.  Royal needs to reward such loyalty and the hundreds of thousands these folks have paid over the years compared to someone who drops $6k every couple of years for a GS.  As such I am fine with the current system.  

Oh, I love this post! Apparently we don't take many photos, but I love seeing everyone elses. Here's Maho beach, which I always think is fun and my beautiful girls at the alligator farm
 

Oh, I love this post! Apparently we don't take many photos, but I love seeing everyone elses. Here's Maho beach, which I always think is fun and my beautiful girls at the alligator farm
 

Oh, I love this post! Apparently we don't take many photos, but I love seeing everyone elses. Here's Maho beach, which I always think is fun and my beautiful girls at the alligator farm
 

I agree. My favorite beach as well. The absolutely perfect sandy beach is long, deep, soft & clean. There are floating things, volleyball, bar, food & music but it's still really chill too. Love love love this beach!

Since it seems to come up a lot, and although Twangster's detailed blog is far superior, I thought there may be one or two who might be curious about a recent experience.  I purchased it for my 4-night Mariner of the Seas cruise to Nassau/Coco Cay.  I was a solo traveler and I had a $25 onboard credit, so the price came to $55.  Between Voom and lunch on embarkation day, I'd already gotten my value, so it was really a no-brainer purchase for me.
Embarkation:  They called The Key people with the Pinnacle/Diamond/Diamond Plus members when they opened up the doors.  I suspect they just threw us in with them because it was so early and there were very few people in the terminal yet.
Delivery  of carry on luggage to stateroom:  A few of us wandered around trying to figure out where to drop off our carry on luggage when we first boarded - they were a little behind and didn't have a sign on the theatre door, or anyone in the theatre to take the bags yet.  In about 10 minutes we all figured it out (all 5 of us at that point) and someone did show up to start the process.  Unfortunately that person hadn't been provided with any luggage tags, so anyone who hadn't tagged their luggage had to wait a little while - I had my luggage tag on my one rolling carry on.  They also had business cards with Voom codes on it - but none of them matched the names of anyone who was there, so staff was confused. In the end they just gave us a card for whoever (sorry Adam Davis, or whoever's I had), and we were on our way.  I assume they managed to work it out in the end, but it was never an issue for me.
Lunch at Chops - was a nice treat!
Reserved seating section at shows - I only went to the comedy show really late on Embarkation day and on the last night.  There was a section roped off for The Key next to either higher C&A or suite folks - it really didn't matter at this show because there was really hardly anyone in the theatre.  The first night I sat in The Key section, the last night I sat somewhere else - it didn't matter.  But this is Mariner, not a Quantum or Oasis class ship, so I imagine it would make a difference on one of those ships.
Reserved times for Flow Rider/Rock Climbing Wall/Sky Pad/Perfect Storm - they had at least 2 hours set aside during the week for each activity. They weren't at the most convenient hours, but, at least on my sailing,  it wasn't necessary for a separate time - there was never a line at any of those activities - I never saw more than a few people in line for any of them and most of the time nobody was using them. Apparently this was a "sit by the pool and drink" cruise for folks.
On the 2nd day, I happened to stop by my cabin to pick something up and someone knocked on my door and delivered a fruit plate that was complimentary for The Key people. That was unexpected.
Priority tender - We only tendered at CoCo Cay - I went down to get on the tender about an hour after we anchored and there was a line (not a ridiculous line, but a line as you'd expect there to be).  There was no staff along the line at all to ask about The Key benefit, and I'm just not the type to walk past a bunch of people who are waiting to also get on the tender to get in front of them, so I just got on with everyone else.  I was able to get on the tender right away anyway, probably because I wasn't trying to get on the first tender of the day, so it was just fine with me. I could have been more assertive, but that's just not me. And the ending result would have been exactly the same in this case.
Disembarkation Day - it was nice to have a quiet, unrushed breakfast in the MDR.  It was the only time I'd sat with other people during a meal - almost the only time I'd spoken to any other people all week (I did talk to the iguana and the chickens on CoCo Cay earlier, that's a whole different story #retiredzookeeper) and I did enjoy that.  After breakfast, I ran back up to my room, grabbed my carry on, and went down to Deck 4, where there happened to be a staff member manning the line.  I asked him about The Key disembarkation, and he personally escorted me to the gangway past a long line, which was REALLY nice.
I liked the program, and it was defnintely worth it on a short sailing.  I was getting Voom anyway, and there were just enough things that I was going to enjoy along the way that it made it worth it to me.  I very much doubt that I'll get it on my Ovation sailing to Alaska in June - I will be going with my husband, who has no interest in Voom, and we will be meeting up with old friends, who will not have The Key, so we won't be taking advantage of reserved seating with shows and special times for activities since they won't be able to partake with us during those times. We'll evaluate it again on our Symphony sailing in Feb 2020 - things may have changed with the program, or the hubs may decide he wants internet access, so we'll see then.
Hope this helps someone out there!

Oh, I love this post! Apparently we don't take many photos, but I love seeing everyone elses. Here's Maho beach, which I always think is fun and my beautiful girls at the alligator farm
 

A nice perk of having adults in separate rooms each with a kid on the bookings is you can purchase an ultimate drink package for only 1 person. If me and the wife are in the same room we won't do the drink package because she will not drink enough to even come close to making it worth it.

Oh, I love this post! Apparently we don't take many photos, but I love seeing everyone elses. Here's Maho beach, which I always think is fun and my beautiful girls at the alligator farm
 

Hello! Every time we visit Barbados, we go to Boatyard Beach Club. http://www.theboatyard.com/adventure-beach It is $25 per person to enter which includes a chair, umbrella, snorkeling, a ride back to the ship, and more. We have eaten at their restaurant several times and the food is always great! We recommend the hot wings! ? I have attached some pictures. One of them is looking out at the ocean from the restaurant. It is a great place and actually our favorite beach in the whole Caribbean! 

I hate to do it, but had to "clean up" this thread.  It's okay not to agree, but there are two things we do not condone here:
1. Writing about ways to circumvent RC's rules
2. Personal insults/attacks
Keep it civil. Consider yourselves warned.

Oh, I love this post! Apparently we don't take many photos, but I love seeing everyone elses. Here's Maho beach, which I always think is fun and my beautiful girls at the alligator farm
 

Thank you OP for starting this thread.  Love it!  Keep em coming.

Wrong cruise line?

These have to be some of my favorites. Something about the AquaTheater at night I love.
Allure


Symphony


 

You said just for fun.

Mariner

 
 

LOVE that pic! Awesome shot!

I had the same thing happen last week for a cruise that had been paid off for months.  I asked Michelle to look into it for me and Royal had boggled the gratuities.  It is a Star Class Cruise and the grats are included in the price so she had to work with them to get it squared away.  It took a couple of days which sort of surprised me. Seems like that should be something easy to fix. Whatever.  My advice is to get it fixed. You don’t want to give Royal any excuse to cancel your cruise due to nonpayment....especially if you got a good deal on the fare.

I am almost always booked through a travel agent and once in a while that link will appear.  My payments are processed by the agency and i can't pay direct using the website even i wanted to.  
Royal IT... the mystery continues.  

Likewise, I think you can bring 2 bottles of wine per room (the.e. if an adult us in each room).
 

A nice perk of having adults in separate rooms each with a kid on the bookings is you can purchase an ultimate drink package for only 1 person. If me and the wife are in the same room we won't do the drink package because she will not drink enough to even come close to making it worth it.