SpeedNoodles

I was at Coco Cay early last Feb - the air temps were in the low 70s, and the water (esp the shallow water at South Beach) was extremely comfortable (and I'm a wuss with cold water). I thought it was an ideal day. I wilt above 80 degrees.

Both of us found the WOW bands to be perfectly comfortable and convenient when we were on Ovation last month. Unless I have a shirt with a collar (which I hate wearing) so that the lanyard doesn't sit directly on my neck, I might as well be wearing a sloth around my neck as much as a lanyard. I hate when they hang around my neck directly (don't get me wrong - LOVE sloths, don't wanna wear one 14 hours a day. Seriously, 30 minutes TOPS on the sloth scarf).

I like your priorities!

My IPad took a nosedive and Apple gave me a new one, so I had to reinstall everything. Maybe that's why. That's one hell of a bonus if that's what happened!

Just what you want to sit near at dinner - someone wearing the same clothes they wore at Zumba. I'm sorry, but I don't even want to sit in Windjammer with sweaty, post-Zumba chick. This is basically someone who is just giving the middle finger to every single fellow passenger.

I'm really looking forward to this blog. This is one ship we are really wishing to get on - I may have to do some fast talking to work my way onto this one between the ones we already have booked! Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

^^ This ^^ Plus I think I'd just be upsetting my dogs with all the screaming that I'd be doing at the TV the whole time.

I had a break in play for a couple of months. Right before I stopped, I only had about 10,000 points. When I logged back in, I had 460,000 points. Not. A. Clue.

Don't put out anything that you won't care if it sprouts legs. In Feb I had magnets - one walked off within an hour. In June one of the other people we were cruising with gave me a magnetic white board to put out on our door so we could leave each other messages about where we were - within 24 hours someone was defacing it - and each time I erased it, they'd return within 2 hours and deface it more. It was frustrating.

Agreed - and I've been in love with the poems and the music (with the exception of "Memories", which just doesn't fit in AT ALL). The movie looks just uncomfortable and it'll be hard pass for me.

I think @michelle has told me she can place a courtsey hold for 5 days, if I'm remembering correctly. (She's so patient with dumb me, lol).

Which ship? I know Ovation already has a nightlight built into the bathroom lights. It was great.

Life is short. Book the cruise. ?

I have a strong feeling I'll want to book another group cruise, but damn if most of them aren't over holidays (I can't get PTO over holidays, booooo).

Also why I never, ever, use debit cards for traveling.

It doesn't include any Starbuck's stand-alone venue - but it will cover specialty coffees (and regular coffees) at Cafe Promenade, 270 Cafe, etc (including the super-charged expressos and those with alcohol). I think my husband may have gotten as much or more value out of the specialty coffees than he did the alcohol. We got to know the barista in the 270 Cafe pretty darned well.

I love this thread ... maybe more than I should, lol.

We thought that it was very good on Ovation (Sorrento's).

This happens most Saturday nights. I work overnights, and visit the site nearly every night and I just know that I won't be able to get on if it's a Saturday night/Sunday morning.

It varies, just keep checking your cruise planner.

We considered it on Ovation, but then remembered that if there's a way for my husband to dislocate a shoulder, he'll find it, and it was just wayyyyyy too risky for us! Everyone else looked like they were having an absolute blast, though.

I've been tracking promotions (daily) on Royal for 6 months now. There is no time when the 2nd passenger isn't 50% off. This is just the base fare. If it's more than that (60%, for instance), or " plus $150 instant savings", or anything else, then it's an actual "sale". I wouldn't wait - prices just climb. If it does go down, you can reprice it through Royal, or better yet, your travel agent can do it for you.

I"ve heard Matt suggest on podcasts to book for 2 people (any person for the 2nd person) and when the 2nd person doesn't show up they'll just refund the port fee and taxes on the 2nd person who doesn't show.

Check your cruise planner frequently, especially with shore excursions. I've often found weird deals even when there's no actual advertised "sale" going on (for instance, we got our Oasis Lagoon Cabana for $309 one day - no sale, it was higher the day before and has never dipped down to that point again - now it's $800). Same with one of our Alaska excursions - got a price that wasn't during a sale and that I never saw go that low again.

On Ovation 2 weeks ago we had MTD. The first night we were given a fabulous table next to a window (which was so fabulous while cruising through the Juan de Fuca Straight), but we were really unhappy with our wait staff. The next night we had a table far from a window, but with a fabulous wait team. We spoke with the Maitre de after dinner the 2nd night and requested the same table with the same wait staff for the rest of the sailing and they were able to accommodate us - so it never hurts to ask. We were very pleased.