SpeedNoodles

My point being why is shorter "inferior"? You're basically saying it's not as good of a ship if it's not amongst the tallest. What an irrelevant way to evaluate a ship.

It's offered on almost all ships now - I booked it for my December 2019 Navigator sailing.

I'm seriously considering SC for our retirement, too. I can start saving now, lol.

These people kind of baffled me. They signed up for a program that cost them a bit of money without knowing anything about it, and couldn't find anything on the internet (when a simple search would have led them to info?). I loved the program and will definitely be using it again.

LOL! This didn't even occur to me! My name refers to my hounds (somewhat related to Greyhounds....really fast and really skinny).

I was hoping the noodle place would stay. I'm not a fan of JRs. But whatever.

@michelle makes you feel like you're the only person she's taking care of. And, yes, she's extremely patient!

Over on CC there have been several photos posted of the space recently. I believe it's just called "Poolside Cafe" and is selling items that people say you can get at Windjammer. There are photos of the menu. But nobody says that's a permanent feature.

Most likely either Tampa or Fort Lauderdale - I kind of have Key West on the brain. Thanks for your input!!

We've done this tour and it is SO much fun - so much so that we may just do it again this June. I'm so glad they are still offering it.

So my husband and I have decided that the only way to make the 5 years between now and retirement go faster is to take a cruise once every 4-6 months (yay!). The farthest out that I've booked so far is the October 2020 Group Cruise, so I'm starting to look at late winter/spring of 2021. I want to avoid all of March and the first half of April due to spring break, as well as summer once kids are out of school, so I'm pretty much looking at February (and the itineraries are out) or waiting until the itineraries are out for May. I may even go crazy and splurge on a JS or GS! (Shhhh, I haven't broken that part to my husband yet). Having never been to the Caribbean on a cruise (ok, I guess Nassau/Coco Cay briefly, and I spent next to no time in the water), maybe some of you can weigh in as to what the advantages are to the different times of year. I would assume that the water would be warmer in May for doing things like snorkeling, but that's simply a guess on my part (here in Minnesota I don't feel I can dip a toe into water until mid August, but I'm kind of a wuss that way - in May we might not even have full ice out in some years!). Also I suppose the prices may be better in February as opposed to May?

True. But it doesn't appear that you can access it until you are on the ship, whereas with the new app you can access at least some content ahead of time. And I'm impatient. ?

Even if some of the newer ships on other lines tower over some of the older ships from Royal, I'm not sure I'd call them "inferior".

When is your cruise? It could just be too early. I found it very useful. In fact, I'm bummed that it isn't available for Ovation yet.

Check these out: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/04/19/private-journeys-royal-caribbean-blog-podcast https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/03/09/royal-caribbean-now-offering-custom-shore-excursions https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/02/28/review-royal-caribbeans-private-journeys-shore-excursion-curacao

Regarding the carry on delivery to your stateroom benefit for The Key, I did have a carry on (actually it was all I had) and it was nice to be able to have that delivered directly to the room and to not have to drag it around for 2 hours and into Chops. I kept anything very valuable to me (credit card, cash, passport, phone) with me, but everything else was off my hands, which was great. It may have been one of my favorite things about The Key and I'll definitely miss having it on Ovation in June.

Right? I'm, quite literally, up all night and just wanted to boot them out!

Yeah, I've been watching it for hours (since I'm at work trying to stay awake) - it sucks :(

Thanks for the heads up on this one - I just watched it - very interesting!

pinging @twangster

If you just mean the regular lounging chairs on the beach that may or may not be under a palm tree, they are everywhere and complimentary. They do not need to be reserved.

Destiny, that's what it was! It's so fun to have the privilege of following along!

It really must be a subjective thing. I slept better on Mariner last month than I ever sleep on my own bed. I'm so sorry to read that so many have had such bad experiences :(

Guess I'd better just find the perfect 7 night Western Caribbean cruise then!

Man, that's perfect. I bet i can't get a pet sitter for that long, though.:(