Firemanswife2

I get this! I could eat sushi every day. Perfect snack before bed 🙂 

When we have UDP, we usually do Izumi for lunch, early. We love sashimi and find that if we don't eat a lot of rice we wont be crazy full for dinner. 

Hi all, we are on Day 3 and at port in Grenada. We wanted to give a brief update. 
 
Royal Caribbean was terrific in the boarding process. All went smooth with the pre-COVID testing. 
 
Everyone on the ship is wearing masks. No complaints from anyone. 
 
We asked about number of passengers. The crew was told there had been 800 people booked for the cruise. The week prior to departure, there were numerous cancellations. Passengers actually on the ship is around 500. 
 
Lady G can hold about 2,000 passengers. It feels surreal with only 1/4 of the occupancy. I kind of like it.
 
Our lowest possible bid won the room upgrade to a balcony room. 
 
We feel sorry for the staff. Their pay is the tips. They are taking a huge hit in pay. Every Royal Caribbean employee has expressed how thankful they are that we are here cruising during this time. 
 
The itinerary changed a couple of times before boarding. The 1st day on the ship, we saw the itinerary had changed again by removing Columbia as a port. 
 
For this 14 day cruise it is not terrible to drop a port day. We only have 4 days at-sea for a 14 day cruise. 
 
We are glad we did not let our fears get the best of us and cancel our reservations. The water is warm, come on in. 

I don't recommend flying in the day of the cruise, but I did it out of the Bahamas in July.  It  worked out, but it's nerve racking. 
If you choose to do it, air2sea is the way to go.

Unless you're cruising on Hotel California of the Seas

You can fly in whenever you want, leave out when you want. We’re arriving 4 days prior for our Alaska cruise and staying 3 days in Rome after our Holy Land cruise

I definitely wouldn't want to fly in day of for a flight out of Barbados just due to the fact if there are issues with that flight, you may have no other options until the next day.
 
And yes, AIr2Sea will get you to the ship, but that doesn't mean they'll get you there on embarkation day.
 
But you don't have to fly in day of with Air2Sea. We flew in 2 days prior into the Bahama in July via Air2Sea

When you call Air2sea you can still select a flight that comes in the day before. Just tell the agent on the phone you want to do that. I did this with my last cruise just before the shutdown.

We decided to go for it as well. Staying in a Jr. Suite on repositioning (Barbados to Galveston) 10 night cruise = 40 points for the cruise and we'll be Diamond after this cruise. 

While I’m not a Diamond member yet, I feel I have some cruising experience.  Yesterday, however, I made a huge cruising mistake.  I thought I’d share my mistake so others can learn from it.  It would be fun to hear if anyone else has made other mistakes.  
 
We were in St. Marteen and booked Billy Bones Snorkeling charter.  I’ve been talking up this tour and my family is really excited for this excursion.  We walk off the ship, down the pier when I pull out my confirmation for where to go and notice the date.  It says March 27th!  What?  That’s next week!  I booked the correct day of the week but the wrong week.  That week is a week after our cruise. 
 
Quick phone one call and they are fully booked.   In fact all the snorkeling tours are fully booked since for the first time post hurricane there are 6 ships in port according to the several boating companies we asked.  
 
Now what? Too late to do any research on a Plan B but I do remember many people talking about the beach just off the pier.  We ended up walking to Great Bay beach and turned it into a fantastic beach day.  Beach chairs, lunch, trampoline, jet skis, beach massage, hair braids and a trip to the Yoda Guy.  I would have thought a beach day would cost less than a snorkeling tour but my family can spend money on food and Star Wars stuff!  
 
I only put a deposit down via PayPal and I already emailed the company.  I should be getting a refund of my deposit shortly.  
 
I still can’t believe I did this.  While I received a confirmation months ago I didn’t actually look at it.  I printed out all my cruise documents however once again didn’t actually look at it. All I can say is that things have been super stressed and crazy over the past few months. With everything on my plate, mixing up dates is one of my fears and I can’t tell you the number of times, I check school calendar against the cruise dates and triple check my airplane dates.  I guess if I’m going to mess up a date, booking a refundable shore excursion a week later is not too bad. 
 
Ok that’s my cruising mistake, anyone else have one? 

2/23/19 - Last night at the top of the Strait of Florida soon after Navigator of the Seas finished her dry dock in Freeport.  
Unfortunately it was in the darkness of night and likely few others than the bridge officers of each ship knew.  

Image source: MarineTraffic.com

Good question and one many people go through every cruise they take.
First of all, understand, you don't have to buy any beverage package.  
I'm not a soda drinker.  I often sail with no beverage package of any sort.  They have water, one or two juices and plain coffee included in your cruise fare.   I drink the tap water all the time and never have a problem.  
Do you or your son consume a lot of soda or other drinks?  
The reason to buy a drink package usually starts when the included beverages do not satisfy your needs.  I'm okay with plain coffee from the buffet.  It's included.  Some people love fancy coffee's and will drink several each day.  For them it's makes sense to consider a coffee card.  For me?  Not so much.  
If your son drinks a lot of soda (no judgement, he's your son) then getting a soda package for him might make sense.  
Unlike the deluxe alcohol packages, you and your son don't have to buy the same package.  If you love fancy coffee, see if the coffee card makes sense for you.  He can get no package or maybe the soda package.  
Most importantly, don't feel like you must get a beverage package.  

Nobody should be made to look like an idiot.  However, it’s hard to answer your question without knowing how much soda, coffee and water you and your son normally drink.  As for us...We always purchase the booze package...It’s worth it to us because we both like our specialty coffees in the morning...Three or four drinks during the day and we always grab bottles of water on our way back to the room to store in the fridge for shore days.  We also find that we will have another ice drink or two while sitting around the pool since we don’t have to worry about the bill.  You just need to ask yourself if the extra $100 would make your vacation more relaxing not having to worry about what you are drinking and how much.

+2, get something to eat and explore, like @JLMoran says it is a big ship, you can't possibly see everything but I usually try.
I just finished my 3rd cruise on Allure, and I'm thinking that is a sweet spot for me knowing where everything is and how to get to them, that is until she goes in dry dock, then I'll have to re-explore her again.

Some bars, pools, Windjammer will be open - rooms are ready usually by 1:00. It gives you a chance to grab something to eat before the crowds get heavy, to explore the ship a bit before there are a lot of people on board. You're going to wait somewhere - why not the ship? I like to start my cruise ASAP! The kids would probably rather hang out by the pool rather than in a hotel room, I reckon - just bring their suits in a small carry on so you don't have to wait for your luggage to be delivered.  And have a great time!

Knock down drag out brawl to see who gets the most/best t-shirts is what you mean correct?
Don't even mention the purse sale...

I'm married to one of you all.

I also like to buy the cruise ship Christmas ornaments. Lately, this has expanded to buying ornaments in port when I see them as well. I started with the coffee mugs, but the number of mugs I owned became excessive and I gave up. 
We also buy the bottle cap shaped magnets from each ship (unfortunately, some ships don't carry them but we get them when we can). 
As others have mentioned, there are no discounts really made available outside of the standard C&A coupon discount. Also, the $10 t shirt sale has happened on every cruise I've been on, and it's always the exact same t shirts and it's always a mess. That said, it makes for easy souvenirs for those back home. 

I buy the Christmas ornament on each ship. I've never seen it discounted. I just buy it early in the cruise.

I buy the Christmas ornament on each ship. I've never seen it discounted. I just buy it early in the cruise.

Dinner tonight is at Giovanni’s Table. Great choices all around. While I think I prefer Jamie’s Italian, this is a solid menu. 

Garlic and olive starter

Antipasta starter

Buffalo Mozzarella

Eggplant parm

Beef ragu

Tuna crudo appetizer

Pasta of the day in an aioli 

We are all jealous of @Matt  He is on a cruise without his kids, day drinking and napping and we are not.

Hola! Today we are in Cozumel, and arrived around 8.  I’m assuming it was 8 because I was sleeping. 

Speaking of @twangster I learned one important photography lesson, which is the best time for photos is the hour or so around dusk. Great contrast in the sky and the ship. 

One more very good reason why I want to move to Florida!