SpeedNoodles

Plus.....elephants.  It's difficult to beat elephants.

Umm...have you seen all his blogs?  He's a bot. 😄

Quantum class have the best Solarium.  
The layout, size and design gives it visual appeal with different water features and quad-ish hot tubs with awesome forward views. 
The pool isn't suitable for laps, it's more of a sitting pool so the only drawback is for folks looking for a deepwater pool to swim in.  

I'm officially ON VACATION!!!!   I worked my last overnight (dog) shift last night and my last night as a 911 dispatcher .... it crawled along for the most part.  Now I have 2 1/2 days to get house and hounds ready for our pet sitter, and to get us packed.  The weather away from here is looking like it's going to be pretty good, except when we leave.  5 degrees? REALLY?  I do NOT want to drag a winter coat with me to Miami, to the ship, and back.  This is BS.  I'm going to FREEZE  in the Uber.  I want to talk to the weather manager.
Speaking of wanting to file a grievance, the first hound to be bathed has some issues with this entire process.  (i.e. the princess is NOT happy).  I'm sure the boys will feel the same way.

Since we’re officially 4 weeks away from our cruise I thought it was an appropriate time to start the blog? (No? Meh, I’m going with it anyway).
I never expected to book a cruise like this with Mr SpeedNoodles.  He’s more into the “culturally enriching and/or scenic” sort of cruises.  He wasn’t really thrilled about booking a cruise to the Caribbean because “they’re just islands - what is there to see that’s different from the next island?”.  Plus, he’s a small-ship guy.  He likes being able to walk around that outside Promenade level and visiting the helipad.  He likes that connection to the sea.
Honestly, since I’ve never been to the Caribbean myself so I couldn’t really negate his impressions. I have no idea myself.  My two, short, warm-weather cruises were to Nassau/Coco Cay.  
So how did we end up booking this? Well, a year and a half ago, we had our Alaskan cruise booked on Ovation for June 2019. We hadn’t taken a cruise, or any vacation that didn’t involve showing dogs, in ten years (pet sitters are hard to come by). But we finally secured one, and we had quite the trip planned.  We were going to drive to Seattle, spending 2-3 days in Yellowstone (we had the historic Yellowstone Inn booked), and then we were going to spend about 4-5 days exploring the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, where we plan to retire, before we boarded Ovation for our 7-night Alaskan cruise.
But things happen, and in September of 2018 my husband slipped on a wet floor at a business and tore his quadricep.  He was out of work for 4 months after his surgery, which ate up a significant portion of his PTO that he had saved for the trip.  We decided that we couldn’t pull off the 3-week trip, and would have to fly to Seattle if we wanted to still go (note: Mr SpeedNoodles is terrified of flying - serious druggage is necessary to accomplish a flight).  So MY thought process was that we could use the money we were saving by shortening our trip to Seattle to book a winter Caribbean cruise! #speednoodleslogic.  I threw the idea out there at him, expecting him to poo poo it, and to my great surprise he just said yes! HOLY CRAP!  I emailed @michelle at MEI and quickly booked Symphony before he could change his mind. 
During the 13+ month span of time since I booked the cruise I’ve been exposing him here and there with Royal Caribbean Blog podcasts (as well as the Cruise Tips TV Unplugged podcast), live YouTube and Facebook chats, etc etc.  After the Ovation cruise, he was even more excited about Symphony.  Planning. Could. Begin.
Itinerary
Miami - Sea Day - Sea Day - St. Maarten  -  San Juan, PR - Sea Day - Coco Cay - Miami
Pre-cruise hotel: Kimpton Epic
What have we booked onboard? We went all out on our first Oasis-class ship.
Unlimited Beverage Package ($18 intern special, TYVM)
Unlimited Dining Package
All Access Ship Tour
Escape Room
The Key
Excursions? You betcha!!! (#OfficialMinnesotaTerminology)
St. Maarten - 3rd party ATV tour
San Juan - ATV tour booked through Royal Caribbean (this one should be very special to me and later I’ll tell you why!)
Nothing special on Coco Key - Mr. Speednoodles’ plan is to snorkel, eat crispy chicken sandwich, snorkel, eat crispy chicken sandwich, repeat. I'll do some of the same with breaks to find the chickens and iguanas (I believe we are now on a first-name basis).
This cruise is actually ending up being a sort of celebration.  Immediately upon our return I’ll be starting my new job - I’ve been promoted to supervisor!  I’m very excited (for many reasons, not least of which it is much easier to get PTO approved at that level!!)
Ugh, the waiting is the hardest part (or so said Mr. Petty).  I want to pack and go NOW!!!!!
(Shameless Fezzik photo, just because).

 

I also use Michelle.  I had three cruises booked and she has helped me navigate each one.  She is responsive to the point of even telling me she is unable to help at that moment but can the next day.  Most of these changes I made in advance of any cancellation and yet she still found the time to help.  She has also been a superstar navigating the ever changing interpretations from Royal.  Thank you Michelle!

I respectfully disagree. H1N1 was nothing like this. Ask any doctor, nurse, or respiratory therapist. in any hospital who is treating Covid-19 patients.  

Panama Canal Grooooop Cruuuuuuuuz!

My car. The side mirror is the little silver dot in the middle of all of the white.

I respectfully disagree. H1N1 was nothing like this. Ask any doctor, nurse, or respiratory therapist. in any hospital who is treating Covid-19 patients.  

I respectfully disagree. H1N1 was nothing like this. Ask any doctor, nurse, or respiratory therapist. in any hospital who is treating Covid-19 patients.  

I fear the same, Kristi.  That’s why I opted for B2B Symphony Cruises in Feb 2021 rather than the super military discount deal that I found on a 12 night Grandeur cruise. I just don’t think Grandeur is coming back to Royal. 

These are sucky times for everyone 😥

Does anyone else think Grandeur may never sail again? I'm booked on her final sailing next March, but I fear with the Pullmantur bankruptcy and the expected staggered restart of cruising that she might not come back for those last 6 months at all.
Tell me I'm crazy! 
 😞 😞 😞 

First of all, if you are unhappy with the service you got on the original booking, I recommend that you change Agencies for the rebooking.  The FCC is in your name, not the Agency’s, so if you want to change you can. I certainly would !
You should have gotten an email from Royal with the certificate names, amounts, and numbers from the cancelled booking. That’s all you need to get started on the rebooking.  If you didn’t get that information, call Royal and request it. Just leave the bad Agency in the dust. 

I for one think you could pull this off, @twangster.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

While it's not a mass-market cruise line and it doesn't stay out to sea for more than a few hours at a time, this may give some hints to how casinos might operate on the big guys when sailing resumes!  Doug Parker, from Cruise Radio, took one for the team and went for a little sail to check it out.
https://cruiseradio.net/florida-casino-ship-offers-preview-of-cruise-gambling/

I'm pretty sure I'll lose my January Empress sailing.  I'm so afraid I'll never get to sail on her.

@monctonguy I said the SAME  this morning, my husband was concerned I was moping around so much...... no sailings/all cancelled in 2020. Fast forward, just booked another 2021, I just hope I get my cruise planner refunds by then......fingers crossed. Cheers! 
But I agree, this needs to be over!

They are separate.  The form to use to apply for the 125% obc is in the cruise planner - when you choose your sailing as though you were going to go in and book something it's at the top.

They are separate.  The form to use to apply for the 125% obc is in the cruise planner - when you choose your sailing as though you were going to go in and book something it's at the top.

It was going to be our first B2B as well, but in reality, if they hadn't canceled we would have had to.  Besides having high-risk conditions, I wouldn't want to use my PTO for the 14 day quarantine that I'd likely have to do before going back to work.

45 BUSINESS days, lol