JennyB

Face Mask Requirements
According to U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Information Bulletin 02-21 CH-5, face masks are no longer required while indoors in buildings located on Port Everglades property, including all cruise terminals.

$1000-1500 if you want all the photos and maybe 1 large one
I believe it is $800 just for all digital copies of everything they take.
Done it on Anthem twice 😉
We got these during the first pro session we did back in 2019

Most likely, but, judging from the prices I've seen in the Cruise Planner the past few months, it's gonna depend on your own personal definition of "SALE".

That would be great, maybe next Monday during the live blog Matt can maybe give us an answer.

Is email really going to be the easiest/most effective/most expedient way to contact the Cruise Director for what you are dictating is an Emergency?
The CD probably wouldn't be checking email until late into the evening (if even then) just due to a CD's usual daily schedule and workload alone.
You should probably contact Guest Services either in person or on your stateroom telephone.

My wife and I have a cruise booked out of Barbados with two other couples.  The two other husbands and I lived in the Southern Caribbean for two years on a church mission.  We all lived on Barbados as well as the other ports on the itinerary.  Yes it will be expensive to fly there, but it is worth it for us to take our wives back to the places that was such an important part of our lives nearly 20 years ago!  We can hardly wait! 

THANK YOU MATT!!! I have heard you say more than once to go to the helo pad for the sail away.  We did last weekend on Navigator of the Sea and yes the ship is beautifully redone, but the helo pad was by far one of the coolest sail aways that we have done thus far. So THANK YOU for all of your helpfull information.  And we also took your advice on booking your room by the elevator.  Yep, the next 3 cruises that we booked, our rooms are by the elevator. So much better. Loyal to Royal!! Thanks Matt... 

With the exception of our first cruise, we have only ever done My Time Dining and every single time we had the same table and server no matter what time we chose for dinner.  I honestly think they try their best to seat you at least in the same server area if possible, but that is really just my opinion about that.

Barbados is one of the islands that I visited on a cruise that made me say, "I want to come back here and spend some time." 
A cruise with a really unique itinerary is a great reason to do just that! Money well spent, imo. 

We got our ducks and tags this morning! In retrospect, I think we could have made the little tags ourselves.
A few tips:
1. If you decide to do ducks, don't go overboard.  I think I ordered 50 ducks and 50 tags but will only take about one-third of that to avoid using up luggage space.
2. Make it a family affair.  So much time between now and cruising, but filling out those little tags and choosing the ducks to hide take a little bit of time.  Have your children write out the tags.
3. Take this opportunity to really explore the deck maps on your ship.  Watch YouTubes.  Get an idea of where you want to hide the ducks! Remember, no hiding ducks in the pools, jacuzzis, shops, or anywhere else that might be a no-no.  Use common sense.
4. Some of these tags have lots of blanks to fill in information.  Don't over share.  If you are having your children fill out the tags, instruct them not to over identify themselves.  In this day and age of social media and public information availability, why share full names and other identifiers with strangers?  Fun doesn't mean ignoring safety and common sense.
One a side note, I guess the duck thing isn't as big of a deal as I make it out to be.  Not very many followers/commenters for this thread.  I apologize for my excitement with these ducking ducks.😆

"Royal Caribbean Cruising Ducks" FB page with #cruisingducks. Still active. We're going on Grandeur next week and they have been talking about having ducks.

(1) It gives customers different options and you could ask the same question about cruises in med which visit some of the same ports.
(2) You also have to remember that not every RC customer comes from the US! For those in Europe its just as cheap to fly to Barbados as it is Florida. And if adding a few days on at end of vacation personally i would rather be sunning it up in Barbados than Miami but thats just my opinion. 
 
 

1 - Barbados is beautiful so great to tag on a before and/or after stay
2 - Not only North Americans are allowed to book RCI cruises and actually quite a few of us Europeans like to go abroad too!
3 - Barbados is beautiful so why not??
4 - Got to go to Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Dominica, Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica & Grenada on a 14 nighter from Barbados on Grandeur earlier this year - could not do that from Miami or other US ports when itinerary was put out.
5 - Not sure mentioned it but Barbados is beautiful!
6 - Plus Barbados has a few great golf courses!
Cost is always a factor but not everybody is flying from the same place....
 

You can transfer FCCs now. So you can do a one time transfer of your mom's FCC to you https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/04/27/royal-caribbean-has-quietly-begun-allowing-guests-transfer-their-future-cruise-credits

4 kids?  Oasis.  Hands down.
Larger, more to do. 
Without the kids?  I'd do whatever would give me more days on the ship.  LOL

I personally don't think the Key is worth it. However, with the Key you get priority boarding, so you can show up at 11:30 and thus not miss the welcome lunch.

Just got back today from our first cruise ever on Oasis of the Seas, and it was hands down THE BEST vacation we've taken.  
Thanks to Matt, all his videos I watched, and all the advice from everyone here, we were fully prepared for everything. 

That's certainly my outlook.
I truly believe they understand and see the problem, so at the very least this isn't a concern among guests that management hasn't gotten wind of yet.
Piggy backing on what others have said, I hope for the best and will have to bring some extra patience for getting a drink, slice of pizza, or waiting for a show.

We're all still dealing with changes to cruising that may not match our expectations, which are based on previous experiences without the restrictions required by our current world situation.
I'm just happy to be getting onboard Ovation on Friday. If it's "not quite as good as my previous cruises" it will still be a cruise. If the experience is at the same percentage level vs. "normal" expectations as everything else in our lives, we will still have a great trip. 
It takes ten minutes to get a drink instead of seven? Okay. Fifteen minutes to get that late-night slice at Sorrento's rather than ten? So what? The drive-thru at Taco Bell last night took twenty minutes whereas it usually takes less than ten. That's the current reality we live with.

We're all just cruisers here, no one works for Royal. 

You wont find it here.
Internal staffing strategies and management is not something you're going to find on a third party fan website.
Referring to any of Royal Caribbean's job sites, you can see they are actively recruiting. Beyond that, we simply don't know and all we have is conjecture.

If you don't have a Travel Agent (TA), I'd call Royal.  If you have a cell phone, perhaps download a new version of the App (for Set Sail Pass).   We were allowed to print Set Sail passes as soon as we checked in with the App.  
As long as you have the set sail pass, you can have luggage tags filled out by the Porter.  I prefer to have my own tags, though, which our TA provides.
Iff you can't get a Set Sail Pass, then it is really important to clear up your check-in with TA/Royal.

I sailed this ship in Greece in 2020. I did not feel that it was worn out. We had a great cruise. 
One thing that did bother us and I wouldn't sail her again because of it: the adults only section of the pool was extremely loud as it was a passage area to other parts of the ships. Also the 'adult only' part of it was ignored by some and Royal staff didn't do anything about this.
For us that was a deal breaker. Of course that might not be the case for you. 

Hi everyone, I know we get heated debating which dessert is the best one to order, or if a balcony room is worth it, but let's keep these basic rules in mind when chatting here.
No profanity No personal insults No political discussion This includes tropes about politicians and generalizations about political parties No debating religion Keep your posts relevant and accurate to each specific thread. We can all have our little fun within each thread but please make sure the information you're putting out there is correct and current.   Topics not related to Royal Caribbean may be removed. Posts or comments encouraging cruisers to break any Royal Caribbean policy is not allowed and will be removed.