Auto

Truth!!!! ?
And welcome Joy and Abi!

The top highlight was taking my first two cruises (only one on Royal) and seeing how much my family loved it.
The top memory was this view sailing out of Venice....

The top highlight was taking my first two cruises (only one on Royal) and seeing how much my family loved it.
The top memory was this view sailing out of Venice....

The top highlight was taking my first two cruises (only one on Royal) and seeing how much my family loved it.
The top memory was this view sailing out of Venice....

Have a great trip!
 
And although my wife doesn't know it, she hates you for inspiring my YOLO-book-it Christmas present to her and her sisters (but secretly loves you for it, too) ?

Or make it a necessity...?

Hope the "cramped" space isn't cramping your style. Looks like the perfect room for my troop of 6.

It's actually the whole lot of you on these forums...you're just the first instigator to post since I revealed the gift ?

No clue. Depends on if there is a shortage of hamsters. ?

@Auto...do you work for Royal IT? Sure looks like it! ?

ahhh crap....computer acted up and I submitted multiple posts....sorry!!!?

sorry for multiple posts!!! can't figure out how to delete them, so editing to at least say something new.
Enjoy the cruise and warm weather! It's freezing here!

It's actually the whole lot of you on these forums...you're just the first instigator to post since I revealed the gift ?

Have a great trip!
 
And although my wife doesn't know it, she hates you for inspiring my YOLO-book-it Christmas present to her and her sisters (but secretly loves you for it, too) ?

Wait, what?...people are seriously complaining that there was something given to non-suite guests for "free?" 
a) What has this world come to?
b) How would they know...much less care? I assume they had something of greater or equal value served to them up in Shangri-La
c) Seriously.....what?
 

Have a great trip!
 
And although my wife doesn't know it, she hates you for inspiring my YOLO-book-it Christmas present to her and her sisters (but secretly loves you for it, too) ?

Have a great trip!
 
And although my wife doesn't know it, she hates you for inspiring my YOLO-book-it Christmas present to her and her sisters (but secretly loves you for it, too) ?

Hi, my name is Auto...

Day 8: Boooooooo!
We woke up early, and sadly packed our last things to carry off the ship. Leaving our bags in the room, we got breakfast at a semi-leisurely pace, and then went down to say goodbye to our cabins. We then did a lap around the pool deck, and started to head for the theater to wait for our disemarkation number to be called. A crew member saw us headed that way, and told us we could wait in the Centrum, and she would come find us when our number was called, which was nice. When our number was called, we walked off the ship for the last time, and into the terminal. We were able to quickly locate our bags and walked on out. A benefit of sailing through the European Union is there are no customs/passport checks while leaving the port (at least for US/EU citizens). Our car service met us right at the exit of the terminal, and whisked us to the airport. Unfortunately, we had to sit in the airport for about 4 hours waiting on our flight, but the girls barely noticed since they all had their iDevices and wifi. I dozed off a little on the short flight home, and before we knew it, we were in the van and driving home.
 
Final Thoughts:
- I really enjoyed our cruise, ship, crew, and port calls. I was concerned about being on one of the oldest ships in the fleet during an off-season cruise, but my fears were nowhere near founded.
- We were keeping a running scorecard of the Disney Magic vs. Rhapsody of the Seas, and I must admit that Rhapsody stacked up favorably. Even in the areas where the Magic won, I kept telling my wife "if we were on a bigger and newer Royal ship...."
- I cannot say enough about how much my girls enjoyed their time in Adventure Ocean. Even though there were not as many kids on this cruise, the staff kept up a high level of programming and gave my girls all kinds of personal attention.
- With the exception of the tender debacle in Kotor, embarking and disembarking the ship was smooth and painless.
- I can't wait to try the other ships and itineraries Royal Caribbean offers. I am fully a "cruise person" now and constantly schemeing for the next one. 
 
Thanks for following along!

Quick update:
Uneventful flight to Venice and transfer to hotel. Made a game-time decision, on the advice of the front desk clerk to head into Venice, which was fully open for business. Had pizza and gelato and wandered around St Mark’s Square. 
Off to bed with embarkation day tomorrow!

Wait, what?...people are seriously complaining that there was something given to non-suite guests for "free?" 
a) What has this world come to?
b) How would they know...much less care? I assume they had something of greater or equal value served to them up in Shangri-La
c) Seriously.....what?
 

Wait, what?...people are seriously complaining that there was something given to non-suite guests for "free?" 
a) What has this world come to?
b) How would they know...much less care? I assume they had something of greater or equal value served to them up in Shangri-La
c) Seriously.....what?
 

Wait, what?...people are seriously complaining that there was something given to non-suite guests for "free?" 
a) What has this world come to?
b) How would they know...much less care? I assume they had something of greater or equal value served to them up in Shangri-La
c) Seriously.....what?
 

Wait, what?...people are seriously complaining that there was something given to non-suite guests for "free?" 
a) What has this world come to?
b) How would they know...much less care? I assume they had something of greater or equal value served to them up in Shangri-La
c) Seriously.....what?
 

@chalkdawg4 I am loving this blog for several reasons:  Love the pics so far.  Not sure if you know but I am a teacher.  I teach mainly 13 year olds but over the years, the writing skills of young people have been going downhill.  Quite scary at times.  As I read this with my "teacher hat" on, this blog is so well written for a teenager.  The style and wording is not only descriptive but there is an excellent voice coming through.  Love it!