Hoski

Hubby and I love relaxing in the Thrill Park Cabana while the kids enjoy the slides.  We all enjoy the wave pool.

Curious how many of you collect the cruise ship models?  Do you store them prominently on a shelf like trophies?  I started cruising in 2018 and mistakenly didn’t get one on my first cruise on Harmony. I have since gotten one on each of the 4 cruises since then. Have myself a little cruise ship shelf on my built in bookcase in the family room. 

The water park cabanas can be plenty relaxing if you want to be there where it’s easy for the 14 year old to come and go. If the others want the beach that won’t work well, but there is the wave pool and you can just relax, have someone bring you food and drinks, and the kid can have a blast at the water park. 

I'm on the symphony Transatlantic. Unfortunately we have a man overboard situation. We made a complete stop and now they are looking. Sad, we just left Barcelona.

This is 100% why they charge for popcorn, according to F&B manager.  And, for what it's worth, Disney charges for popcorn too unless you're in a suite (which, as you may know, is not cheap!!)

Disney doesn't charge for popcorn at their onboard theater; or, at least, that's what I've heard. That's a lot of popcorn for the differences in fares between everyone listed and DCL though.
I think Royal charges for popcorn because they can. High profit at low cost. It's cheaper and less labor intensive versus pizza, and Sorrento's is included.
Would everyone be happier if popcorn wasn't available versus Royal charging for it?

My best guess is that they charge for popcorn because it is a super messy food. Imagine the mess if there would be a FREE popcorn stand in front of a show venue! 🙈
2.50$ reduces popcorn eaters (and the mess) by like 98 %. 😅 Still, those who really want popcorn are able to get it with a quite nominal fee.

Although I agree charging for popcorn is kind of weak...it IS advertised that way. It shouldn't be a surprise. 

I always ask the concierge to arrange private table with a window for dining ahead of time and then follow-up as soon as I board ;).

If 12 bottles are enough you can bring them with you. A la carte you can buy fresh squeezed juices but not most other juices.

I am currently at sea on Liberty of the Seas. Being a watch guy I was intrigued by a contest they were holding at the jewelry shop to guess the price of a Tag Heuer  watch. All the hype around the contest and the staff lead you to believe the prize was the watch on display that you had to guess the price on. This evening was the drawing and myself and about four others guessed the exact price of $1450.00 so they put our names into a bucket to draw the winner. Sadly, or as it turns out not sadly, I did not win. The person who won was called up and instead of giving him the Tag they gave him a crappy Fit Bit knock off worth about $40.00. This is my first cruise and I have to say this has soured me, not to the Jeweler (they are bad in their own right), but to Royal Caribbean. Don’t they know it is bad business to allow unscrupulous raffles with a bait and switch ending? Royal Caribbean reign in your retail partners because, at least in my eyes, they are giving you a bad name. There is an old saying RC, people judge you by the company you keep. I am judging RC hard.
Mike the watch guy.

Not quite newbie (1 prior sailing).
But if there was free sushi at one point, I sure would like to have it available.  
And the 10-drink punch card.  With Mrs Fan, there is no way not to lose money on a drink package for us both.  Even if she would be allowed to downgrade to the refreshment package, she is a hot tea and water drinker.  And for the tea, she brings her own English Breakfast Tea bags called Awake by Tazo.  I'd love to be able to buy a couple of drink cards on board and use for myself.

Grand Marnier souffles.  😿
If printed cruise compass goes away, I'll miss them. 
 

We miss the ice sculptures...Use to love watching them and trying to figure what they were carving.

Quality. That seems to be disappearing.

discounted drink tickets!  Seems like a halfway point that guarantees RC prepaid money, without "making" 🤣 people drink a set minimum per day to validate the entire drink package.

I miss the fruity soup appetizers that tasted like a smoothie. I also miss getting the dessert menu AFTER dinner was over. I like ordering later based on how full I am. I miss the teen club cruise compass. It seems like there used to end more late night entertainment. I used to be up until midnight seeing a comedian or late night activity and now I’m content to be asleep by 9:30 knowing I’m not missing anything. The only thing I stayed up late for (besides waiting for my child to come back from teen club) throughout my entire 10 night cruise a few weeks ago was the Quest. 

The wine package. Seems like it was around $75 for 5 bottles and the waiter would bring it to your table and pour.

I miss the “horse” races on the pool deck where you make bets for who would win. Don’t remember exactly how it all worked but I’m it got the pool deck going good.

I miss the books they had in each stateroom which detailed the port information, shopping exc. Some of the books had interesting facts about the ship or detailed the ship building process which was a nice touch. I haven’t seen the books in years. I don’t really watch TV in the staterooms but I used to like the video showing the ship building as well (not sure if that’s long gone as well). 

10 drink punch cards.
Skypads.
Paper Cruise Compass.
Plastic straws even though I agree with why we don't use them anymore.
Reasonably priced drink packages.

THIS! I used to go get sushi as a pre-dinner snack every night!
I also miss First Night Done Right (BOGO for specialty restaurants on the first night open to everyone, not just a D+ perk like it is now).

I will never forget Shrek scaring the crap out of my then 3-year-old niece. It was at a character breakfast and he sent her hiding under the table. 🤣

I miss the old spa layout where one could use some of the amenities all day and for free!

I miss the DreamWorks characters/parades. They went away after I was too old to care that much, but now that I have kids of my own, I would have really loved that extra excitement for the kids!