SpeedNoodles

I've read about people's difficulties getting RCCL's emails - I've received every Cruise Planner confirmation, my Royal Up email, and get at least 4-5 promotional emails a week from them. So apparently it's this: I'll call when I get up this afternoon and do just this. At first I wasn't too worried about it, then I passed the time during a very "q" night at work (we NEVER use the actual word here) reading @JLMoran s blog on his Anthem cruise (fantastic blog, btw - really enjoyed it) and noted that he had some trouble with prepaid gratuities not being recognized, so I decided that it's just better to have it printed and bring it with and not need it than the other way around. I cannot express how appreciative I am to have access to such great, experienced, helpful people like you all here. Many of you are actually "cruising mentors", whether you realize it or not! I really hope that I can get myself to a group cruise someday and say thank you in person!

Be sure to check to make sure your travel agent doesn't charge you. While possibly not the majority, some agents/agencies DO charge a service fee (I got stuck with a $100 service fee for booking my cruise with a local travel agent - she offered last week to book my flight for another $50 service fee - needless to say I've booked my next cruise with an MEI agent).

Wait, not everyone checks their cruise planner daily for sales? I don't know how to process that. ?

Literally me.

If anyone wants to come up and do 911 dispatch in Minnesota so that I don't have to work on my days off and get denied PTO, COME ON UP!!!. But for sure it's on my list!

Knowing which ships they are on and finding an available one are two different things. They must go fast, as I've looked at cruises on ships that have them, as far out as I can look, and have yet to find one (i guess this might be a good task for a travel agent).

We don't mind driving if we had the time but it adds 4-6 days of PTO, which we can't always get approved.

Ha! Yeah, I kind of went crazy this year. My husband had surgery in Sept and was completely dependent on me for a while, so as a thank you he's sending me on this short 4 night cruise in Feb (I'll take it!). We were planning a huge trip in June (Yellowstone, and then spend a week in WA State looking at real estate) before our Alaskan cruise, but he had to use so much of his PTO that we had to cut everything except the cruise (it'll be interesting, he's terrified of flying). So I said to him a few weeks ago "Hey, since we had to cut our vacation in half this June, why don't we take a winter cruise to make up for it?", assuming he'd say no. Turns out, I was wrong! We haven't been able to take a vacation of any sort for the last 10 years (the last time we cruised), so I'm pretty ready for it all! (Assuming that he is willing to fly next winter after enduring it this June - we'll see how it goes). #refundable

It's not, I clean it out every other day. I'm not sure I need it, or that I have time to sit on the phone for 20 minutes waiting for someone to help me - I just thought it was weird.

That's what I figured. It's been 2 months, lol - again, not worried about it - I've checked in and everything - I just went to compare some fares and realized that I wasn't sure exactly what I paid.

Love, love, love the big smile! Thanks for taking the time to blog - it's so much fun to follow!

Is it odd that when I booked my upcoming cruise directly with Royal Caribbean on the website that they never sent me an invoice? I mean, it's completely paid for, I have my Set Sail Pass, everything is cool, but if anyone asked me how much I paid for my cruise, I'd be doing some real thinking to be able to break it down. (Yes, I booked my subsequent cruise with Michelle at MEI - I learn eventually!)

Aaaaand, now I want to sail on Empress, too. Thanks, guys $$$$$$$

Well shoot, now I wanna sail on her, too (and I don't have time in the foreseeable future ?). Wonderful blog - -thanks for sharing your photos and experience!

I just thought you were really bragging about being retired! ?

It's definitely a learned skill ?

And thank YOU! My husband is also a LEO!

Thanks. I honestly wasn't sure if it was worth it for me because I'm not sure how much flying we'll be doing. My husband is going to try flying again for our Alaskan cruise in June, but historically it hasn't gone well because he has a major flying phobia - we typically drive to the ports (from Minnesota - explains one reason why we rarely travel). If it doesn't go well, we'll either be driving to Miami next year for our Symphony cruise, or canceling it altogether. :(

I got what I believe to be a decent price at the Atton Brickell - I couldn't find a bad review. But no way would I personally classify it as cheap. That's really a relative term.

You may want to define inexpensive as it means different things to different people.

Thought about TSA precheck. Not sure it'll be worth the money or if I'll have time to do it before I go.

Count me in! (22 days until Mariner)

On my first Alaskan cruise, during a sea day, we were in the MDR and suddenly a couple of the waiters started yelling "Dolphins! Dolphins!" - everyone ditched their tables and ran to the starboard side, where there was an ENORMOUS pod of White-Sided Dolphins, as far as we could see, swimming along with the ship. The crew there said they'd never seen it before - so you just never know what you'll encounter in Alaska!!

I don't think Vancouver/Alaska is ever NOT scenic.

9 is fine. I'm just happy I don't have to be out by 7:30. It'll probably take 4 hours to get through airport TSA anyway, assuming they still exist in February.