WannaCruise

Here’s my advice. If you can name all the future cruises you have booked, you haven’t booked enough 😉

The farther out you book, the better the price. More availability = lower prices
It’s fun to have multiple booked. Nothing more depressing than showing 0 cruises upcoming. 😁
 
 

We too recently booked for March 2025, which means we currently have 5 Royal bookings.
Anyone that doesn't cruise like us (and "us" as some on here on Royal Caribbean Blog) may think we're nuts and don't get it.  But...we know school dates far in advance, we know we want to cruise and this is how you get the best price.  I find, especially these days, cruise bookings only go up.  I have one that has gone up by $1000, another by $3500, and even our Icon booking has already gone up by $500 and it was only booked just over 2 months ago.  So definitely good to book as soon as you know your dates.
Also, for our March 2025, we booked one of those staterooms where there are only a few and they are already no more available, so always good to book earlier rather than later if you want a specific room.  We do book refundable though so as it gets closer, there is no harm (aside from sadness and disappointment) if we need to cancel.
P.S. - OP, DH and I were just on Liberty.  Great ship!

DAY 3:  Perfect Day Coco Cay (cont.)
Another really busy day! Let’s see what I can do to catch up!
After lunch in the beach club, we decided to walk the island. When you leave the beach club, they ask if you plan on returning and give you a bracelet. We walked around the island until we wound up at the entrance to Coco Cay. Here are some random pics including the Oasis Lagoon Pool. The pool was not nearly as crowded as the last time we were here. Of course we could not enter Thrill Waterpark.













We went back to Coco Beach Club, collected our belongings, and returned to the ship.


 
This evening, we had 150 Central Park for dinner. As usual, the service and food was excellent. I apologize for not taking pics of the menu and food. Just liked Hooked, they dimmed the lights a little too much to allow for decent photos. Some of us actually needed to use our phone flashlights to read the menu! Not sure why they have started this trend… I love ambiance, but this is ridiculous, LOL!
The internet has really been inconsistent/spotty in cabin and throughout the ship… slowing me down especially with uploads.
Heading to bed once again… have a great evening/morning!

You can request a table for 2 with traditional dining too. If you booked with Royal, call them and they will update your booking on their side.  We've never had an issue with this.  If you booked with a TA, then I imagine they would handle the update.  Also, when you get on the ship, I would check out your table when you get on in case any issues.  On our recent Liberty cruise, we noticed the table number assigned in the app so we just searched for our table after boarding.

One size doesn't fit all. Everyone should always do what works best for them. The "value" is such a personal thing and should not be compared against someone else take on it. 

I cannot say that I can cut the cord because I never plugged in the cord in the first place!!  In my almost five decades of cruising I have NEVER:  purchased Internet service, bought a drink package, paid for beach clubs, or used specialty restaurants. Yes, I am old school--I remember cruises before we had televisions in the room.  Everybody would go down to the theater and watch the movie! 
I do admit excursions are one of our highlights, but my husband will also scuba dive independently in the Caribbean, and I often book Resort for a Day beach time instead of taking a cruise beach trip.  I just like being on the water and seeing new places--I do not need all those other extras to have a fantastic cruise!

We don't do a lot of extras.
We stick to MDR as we like the experience and same waiter, same table each night.
We don't get internet as we like to disconnect.
If DBP is cheap enough, then we will get it, but I think those days are long past.  Last time we got a coffee card which worked well for us so will purchase for our next cruise (2 cards).  Otherwise, we purchase drinks a la carte.
We don't purchase many excursions.  The exception is the Thrillpark at CoCo Cay if it's within our budget (it wasn't initially but we went ahead thanks to Black Friday).  We booked one additional one for our cruise in March but that's it.
We also tend to book basic rooms...2 connecting rooms when with our kids if it works.  But with the new ships, even then we stick to lower category stateroom or even all of us in one room again for one of them.
Between airline and the cruise itself (and cruising 2x a year), it's pricey but we still get basics to enjoy....and we still have an amazing time!
 

I think you might have answered my question...can everything be booked ahead of time (like pre-covid) or just some of the shows?  For example, what about the headliners?  We are on Oasis in March and even if I look at the next sailing in the app, the headliner isn't even listed.  We are 62 days away and so check every day if booking is available.

We don't do a lot of extras.
We stick to MDR as we like the experience and same waiter, same table each night.
We don't get internet as we like to disconnect.
If DBP is cheap enough, then we will get it, but I think those days are long past.  Last time we got a coffee card which worked well for us so will purchase for our next cruise (2 cards).  Otherwise, we purchase drinks a la carte.
We don't purchase many excursions.  The exception is the Thrillpark at CoCo Cay if it's within our budget (it wasn't initially but we went ahead thanks to Black Friday).  We booked one additional one for our cruise in March but that's it.
We also tend to book basic rooms...2 connecting rooms when with our kids if it works.  But with the new ships, even then we stick to lower category stateroom or even all of us in one room again for one of them.
Between airline and the cruise itself (and cruising 2x a year), it's pricey but we still get basics to enjoy....and we still have an amazing time!
 

I always laugh when someone tries a stall door, finds it locked, then knocks. 

We don't do a lot of extras.
We stick to MDR as we like the experience and same waiter, same table each night.
We don't get internet as we like to disconnect.
If DBP is cheap enough, then we will get it, but I think those days are long past.  Last time we got a coffee card which worked well for us so will purchase for our next cruise (2 cards).  Otherwise, we purchase drinks a la carte.
We don't purchase many excursions.  The exception is the Thrillpark at CoCo Cay if it's within our budget (it wasn't initially but we went ahead thanks to Black Friday).  We booked one additional one for our cruise in March but that's it.
We also tend to book basic rooms...2 connecting rooms when with our kids if it works.  But with the new ships, even then we stick to lower category stateroom or even all of us in one room again for one of them.
Between airline and the cruise itself (and cruising 2x a year), it's pricey but we still get basics to enjoy....and we still have an amazing time!
 

We don't do a lot of extras.
We stick to MDR as we like the experience and same waiter, same table each night.
We don't get internet as we like to disconnect.
If DBP is cheap enough, then we will get it, but I think those days are long past.  Last time we got a coffee card which worked well for us so will purchase for our next cruise (2 cards).  Otherwise, we purchase drinks a la carte.
We don't purchase many excursions.  The exception is the Thrillpark at CoCo Cay if it's within our budget (it wasn't initially but we went ahead thanks to Black Friday).  We booked one additional one for our cruise in March but that's it.
We also tend to book basic rooms...2 connecting rooms when with our kids if it works.  But with the new ships, even then we stick to lower category stateroom or even all of us in one room again for one of them.
Between airline and the cruise itself (and cruising 2x a year), it's pricey but we still get basics to enjoy....and we still have an amazing time!
 

We don't do a lot of extras.
We stick to MDR as we like the experience and same waiter, same table each night.
We don't get internet as we like to disconnect.
If DBP is cheap enough, then we will get it, but I think those days are long past.  Last time we got a coffee card which worked well for us so will purchase for our next cruise (2 cards).  Otherwise, we purchase drinks a la carte.
We don't purchase many excursions.  The exception is the Thrillpark at CoCo Cay if it's within our budget (it wasn't initially but we went ahead thanks to Black Friday).  We booked one additional one for our cruise in March but that's it.
We also tend to book basic rooms...2 connecting rooms when with our kids if it works.  But with the new ships, even then we stick to lower category stateroom or even all of us in one room again for one of them.
Between airline and the cruise itself (and cruising 2x a year), it's pricey but we still get basics to enjoy....and we still have an amazing time!
 

DAY 1:  Embarkation Day (Port Canaveral)
Hi everyone! Wow, busy first day as usual! Everyone else has hit the hay except for me. 
I’m sitting outside on our CP balcony and enjoying the light breeze that’s passing through Central Park. CP is still busy on this first evening. The musicians stopped playing less than an hour ago and many folks are still enjoying the park. I love the evening since the balconies are more private since there are no balcony lights. I do not see a single person out on their balcony across the park from us. Maybe many of them are going to the ballon drop.
Now back to this morning… we ate breakfast in the hotel and checked out. We booked the shuttle to the port through the hotel. It completes the loop of terminals on our side of the port. First we stopped at the Carnival terminal to drop folks off for the Mardi Gras, then we headed to Terminal 1 for our sailing. I believe the final drop off for this shuttle was the NCL terminal for the Escape.
Just some random shots heading to the terminal…


 
Let me tell you this was the easiest boarding we’ve ever had to date! The shuttle bus dropped us off and the baggage porters immediately greeted us as we exited the bus to collect the luggage. We arrived at the terminal about 20 minutes early around 10:10am. We have the Key and we also selected the earliest boarding window of 10:30am-11:00am.
At the entrance there was signage for the Key guests. We entered the “line” (only us, no other passengers ahead of us) and promptly went through security. Next, we were directed to lines dedicated to the Key for Royal’s check-in process which literally took about 3-4 minutes. The waiting area is adjacent to the check-in and we were told to walk to the Key waiting area. As we approached the area, they had already started boarding the suite and Key guests so they directed us to just walk right through and board. We never had to wait on a line and were on the ship and in the promenade at 10:20am before our scheduled boarding time! Literally, 10 minutes from baggage porter outside the shuttle bus to entering the Royal Promenade! Very good timing and very smooth process for sure!
We headed to the Key check-in desk located at Deck 4 of the MDR. Checked in and dropped off our carry-ons for delivery to our stateroom. The Key lunch was scheduled from 11:00am-1:30pm. Since we had some time to kill, we headed up to Central Park and stopped in Chops Grille to make our specialty dining package (3-night) reservations. So easy… no line once again. We booked Hooked for tonight, 150 Central Park for Day 4, and Giovanni’s for Day 5. We may book Izumi for lunch on the last day… we’ll see!
Our friends had to take care of something at Guest Services, so we all agreed to meet back at the MDR for the Key lunch at 11:30am. Lunch was the typical Key menu…

 
I ordered the Wild Mushroom soup, Angus Filet Mignon, and Mac & Cheese and Mashed Potatoes. For dessert, I ordered the cheesecake.



 
The soup was excellent as usual. The filet was good, but not as good as in the past. This is our third time with the Key. First, back in 2019 (Allure) when it was actually held in Chops. That of course was the best experience all around. Back in FEB 2022 (Odyssey) we had it for the first time in the MDR, but were wowed and felt it was just as good! This time, the filet was not quite hot enough (had cooled before serving)… the waiter brought broccoli instead of mashed potatoes and the mac & cheese was luke warm to cool. We believe the waiter was relatively new and there also was somewhat of a language barrier as he had difficulty understanding most of us. The cheesecake was excellent of course! Overall, most of the group’s food was good, but I was not overly impressed this time around.
During lunch, we completed 2 of the 3 steps for the muster drill. After we finished eating we headed to our muster stations to check in and complete the drill. We headed back to the Royal Promenade to walk round and kill time before the staterooms were ready. Around 1:00pm or so, the announcement was made and we headed back to our staterooms. Our Key carry-ons were on the bed waiting for us, but our luggage had not been delivered just yet. Eventually, they were delivered to our deck, but the bags were left about 10 cabins away down the hall.
Some random shots…



 
Some pics taken from our CP balconies on Deck 11 above Giovanni’s and across from the Park Cafe…



 
After unpacking we headed to the aft of the ship, had a few drinks from the Wipeout Bar, and waited for sail away. Some more shots from our vantage point including the port, Grill’s Restaurant (where we had lunch yesterday) and the Carnival Freedom, NCL Escape, and Disney Fantasy heading out… the Mardi Gras was on the other side and departed before us…








 
With the setting of the sun, I need to go to bed as it’s now 1:00am! The lights in CP just dimmed to the overnight light levels.
We’re getting up very early tomorrow… Christine is going to the gym with her friends. I may wander the ship and try to complete Day 1 tomorrow morning!
Have a good night if you’re still awake like me!  😆
 

Where are we off to next? 


It’s cruise day exactly 9 weeks from today!
 
Wondering if we will find any harmony on Harmony? 😉
 

Just woke up!  She’s here!  😀
https://www.portcanaveralwebcam.com

 
Cropped shot through a dirty hotel window… sooo close!

 

Back home and almost unpacked from this cruise.
Overall it was a good trip.
For Christmas, the Centrum was very nicely decorated. Most all the crew members wore Santa hats. Many of the guests wore Christmas themed clothing. A lot of cabin doors were decorated.
The weather was great. We got out before the dramatic Arctic chill hit most of the US and we got back just in time for warmer temperatures at home. Most every day during the cruise the temps were in the 70s and 80s.
We attempted to get photos taken but the waits were long and the end results were not good enough to take advantage of even though we had some free ones we could get.
Overall, the food was very good. There were a few duds but considering how much food and the variety available, I would not complain.
As usual, there are always a few guests that could stand to have more patience and consideration.
Jewel was near capacity and probably the most balanced group I have seen with young children, teens, family's and older adults.
Entertainment was somewhat lacking I thought. There was a 4 member band, Kronos, that were excellent but there play list was almost the same every time they played. There was a 3 piece Latin group and a classic violin and guitar duo. That was it. The rest of the entertainment was crew members trying to engage people in trivia and karaoke.
The RC app was helpful at times. Other time it was not up to date with schedules/events and times were wrong. It has a lot of potential but I miss the Cruise Compass.
I missed some of the attentiveness of past cruises. Nothing major but things like Windjammer staff offer to get you get you water, coffee or refills. This just does not happen much anymore.
Dinning room staff seem to be short handed. You don't see them as often, they seem to be always rushed. Service was generally timely and if something did not meet your approval, staff was eager and willing to make it right.
Jewel was tidy, clean and a good looking ship but again, lack of attention to some details was present. In the past, it seemed every opportunity in port, crew members could be seen touching up paint, cleaning windows etc. Jewel had a few rusty spots and some windows need attention. Minor stuff but things did you would not have seen ten years ago.
Yes, I am being picky and nothing was noted that would keep me from cruising RC again. It just seems RC has lost a little of its edge. Maybe its due to COVID, maybe inflation.
Cruising is still the best bang for the buck but I see and read a lot of things where cruise lines are raising prices and catering more to the wealthy.
At the end of this cruise I found myself owing about $300 just for tips. I don't begrudge the staff tips and I should have expected it but it is disheartening to think you have paid everything in advance to be hit with a sizable bill when you get off.
So that's it. My totally biased opinion. I have some other RC cruises I am looking at that are interesting to me but the general trend of decreased service and increasing prices are starting to make me look toward other types of vacations other than cruising.
 

Inconsiderate people who think they are above everyone else.  DH and I were on Liberty in December and had to go to Guest Services when we boarded.  There were two women ahead of us and could hear their discussion with the guest service representative.  They were friends travelling together and they had rooms down the hall way from each other.  They asked the person if there were any connecting room left to which they could switch.  The Guest Service person said no as it's a full ship.  Ok, I get that they must be new cruisers and so don't realize that you need to book specific staterooms at booking time, but then they proceeded to have the nerve to ask "Well, can you just move someone else?".  I mean, really???

Inconsiderate people who think they are above everyone else.  DH and I were on Liberty in December and had to go to Guest Services when we boarded.  There were two women ahead of us and could hear their discussion with the guest service representative.  They were friends travelling together and they had rooms down the hall way from each other.  They asked the person if there were any connecting room left to which they could switch.  The Guest Service person said no as it's a full ship.  Ok, I get that they must be new cruisers and so don't realize that you need to book specific staterooms at booking time, but then they proceeded to have the nerve to ask "Well, can you just move someone else?".  I mean, really???

One more day!

 
Our SW flight this morning is currently delayed 45 minutes... very light rain and 42 here on LI, but it's supposed to be sunny and 69-70 in Orlando today.  🌞

Since I have some time now, I wanted to give some feedback on the Portrait Session. Originally, we booked this for the March Oasis 2022 sailing. But for those who follow the live blogs, you all know how that story went. Anyway, we rebooked it for this cruise at the Black Friday rate of $174.99. That is the sitting fee, plus it includes 5 digitals on a USB. 
 
The plan has always been to take the 5 digitals and run with it. I have seen @dodgestangpost his pics several times in the past and the look fantastic, but we were pretty skeptical on what they could do.  We have one empty wall in our house that has stayed empty for 10 years now (since we moved in) and the goal was always to fill that wall with the large family portrait. That was the main mission here. But we would use the digitals to make our own canvas back home. 
 
The instructions when purchasing in the cruise planner is to make your appointment with the photographer once on board. We did that first thing last Saturday and no one was around. The next stop was the suite lounge, and Mohamed very quickly secured us a reservation for the next day. Had we had the opportunity to do this on the Oasis sailing back in March, Allan would have made the reservations for us. We wanted this done asap as we seasoned cruisers know that the sea air shrinks our clothes 😉
The next day, we met with the photographer and he suggested we take some in the studio and then head to Central Park. All of us, except for Hubby have long hair. It was a sea day. That was an easy pass. And humidity is bad for curls lol. We took all our portraits in the studio but they can basically go wherever. You can even schedule them on a PDCC day and take beach pics. 
 
Going to be very honest here, our session with the photographer was super quick (maybe 15 mins actual photo time), and we did not feel like the poses were great. It felt like he was rushing. The kids would not stop complaining and eye rolling. Teenagers are most difficult. Leaving there, we did not feel too great about whether or not we could even choose 5. 
 
We had a follow up session with the photographer the next day to view photos. This is where I would suggest to do this earlier on in the sailing because this is the part that is time consuming. They show you the photos in the form of a slide show, then they show you your photos in various layouts for canvas or acrylic products.
 
We were floored. The photos came out great! There was no way we were going to just be able to walk away with only 5. We have not taken family portraits for almost 10 years. Life is busy at home, and there are not many good photographers around that will do the style that Hubby likes. We asked for time to think and consider the prices, and we made another follow up appointment for two days later.
Here is an example of some of the prices: 




 
If you purchase a product from them, then you get the digital packages at 50% off. 
 
Two days later (on the second sea day), after much debating, and giving up my Effy purchase from Cozumel, we decided to go for it and walked away with a canvas of the Parquet collection, as well as 15 digital prints. 5 from the ones included with the original purchase, 5 additional ones that we purchased, and they included the digitals to the 5 canvas selections. We are happy with our decision, although Hubby did grumble slightly. In the end, the decision maker was the fact that we probably would not do this back at home, and we really did like many of the shots. 
 
Is it worth it? That depends on your situation. For us, it was. If you are the type who does this frequently with your family back on land, then no, probably not worth it. We did some research while on board to compare the cost of just purchasing the digitals and doing the canvas on our own at home, it is pretty much the same, except Hubby was saying that if we did it on our own with Shutterfly or something similar, we would not be able to get the sizing or layout that they were offering with the Parquet collection and he really liked that. 
 
We were able to pick up the digitals on USB the day after confirming the order. We picked it up last night between Flight and the comedy show. The canvas product will be shipped back home to Canada. Shipping is included to Canada and the US. Other countries they have additional info but we did not ask. It should also be exempt from duties. Hopefully they are correct on that. They said to expect shipping to take 6-8 weeks. 
 
I know that many of you might be wondering at this point what the final product looks like. Keep in mind that Hubby downloaded the files to his laptop, and sent these to my phone (which I blog from) so the quality is a lot better with the original file (which I do not have). But here you go…
Hello, from the @Lovetocruise2002 family. Come say hello if you see us on board one day. 🙂
 

Inconsiderate people who think they are above everyone else.  DH and I were on Liberty in December and had to go to Guest Services when we boarded.  There were two women ahead of us and could hear their discussion with the guest service representative.  They were friends travelling together and they had rooms down the hall way from each other.  They asked the person if there were any connecting room left to which they could switch.  The Guest Service person said no as it's a full ship.  Ok, I get that they must be new cruisers and so don't realize that you need to book specific staterooms at booking time, but then they proceeded to have the nerve to ask "Well, can you just move someone else?".  I mean, really???

I didn’t even look to see what the ports were 😂

Funny, we just booked that a few days ago.  I like how it goes to Grand Cayman.
I know...so sad and strange to not be booking both kids.