melmar02

We're on Harmony again in October, so I am curious about this as well. It looks like the last run of Grease according to the app is Aug 30 sailing. It is not listed on any night of the Sept 7 sailing.

I will say, that we have purchased group Flowrider lessons on several sailings, and usually it is just me, my two kids, and one or two other people. I felt that the lessons were very beneficial, for both boogie boarding and stand up. You get one on one instruction time for the skills you want to (and are ready) to learn and then at the open sessions after your lesson, the crew tends to give us a little more attention / tips than everyone else in line. They see you are there to improve and not check something off the "things to do once on the cruise bucket list". We are fortunate that a community center about 45 minutes away from us has a Flowrider, and we have purchased summer passes there the last two years - I think this hobby is my mid-life crisis.

Here is the link to Royal Caribbean's Travel Protection which is through Arch Insurance. Scroll down the page a little to the drop down boxes and select your state to see the full policy - for Texas, the cancellation penalty waiver is on the second page. https://www.archinsurancesolutions.com/coverage/Royal/

Have you looked at your sailing in the app? My sports section typically loads months in advance because they want to pre-sell those services along with drink and dinning packages before the cruise embarks. There are two ways to see what sports are available on your sailing: From the main page in the app, swipe up on the grey dash towards the bottom of the page that is between "Daily Planner" and "My Calendar". This is how you will access the daily activities schedule (Cruise Compass), and once within a week or so of your sailing, it will be loaded with all the trivia/shows/bingo etc. times as well. Before all of that loads though, the only things listed are things like casita rental, sushi classes, and the sports offerings. You can switch between the different days of your sailing at the bottom of the screen. If you are about to sail and all the other onboard activities have loaded into the Cruise Compass, there is an easier way to see just the sports. Click on the ship icon at the top of the main page in the app. Then in the "Things to do" section, click Onboard Activities. Across the top of the screen, you can filter to just Sports. My next sailing is on Harmony, and the only Sports items available to purchase are Flowrider lessons and Pickleball lessons. On older ships without a Flowrider, they would obviously not be able to offer the lessons, hence the disclaimer about activities varying by ship. If you are looking at Flowrider lessons, there are two options - Group lessons or Private lessons. In the group lessons, you will be with other people and they need a minimum of 4 people to sign up (they do not all have to be from your party), and you would need to make a reservation for every person that wanted to participate. The private lesson is renting out the Flowrider for yourself / your group, and only one person makes the reservation...just like only one person in the cabin purchases the photo package or would rent a cabana. I have never purchased the Key so I am not sure how the discount part works - if you can pre-book items and receive the discount or if you have to wait until you are onboard to book. Also, I would be surprised if the 25% discount is on top of any other sales they might have going on. For example, Pickleball lessons are showing as 30% off in the app for my next cruise so the Key would not save me any money there.

We received an email about theme nights for our cruise that sailed a couple months ago about a week before the cruise. We don't really participate, but I don't think a week is a lot of time for someone to prepare if they wanted to. I get the themes are the same for each cruise, but wouldn't a first time cruiser want more time than just a week - it would take me at least that long just to pick out my Cher wig for 70s night!

Thanks @Villageidiot and @WAAAYTOOO. Unfortunately I still have to call RC. The whole reason I was in the CP in the first place was that I received an email saying that I owed them $50 for purchases, which I made last Black Friday. I paid part of the purchase with OBC, and wouldn't you know, I now have $50 OBC available to spend.

I have two cruises coming up, each with a set of connecting cabins. These four reservations are with a travel agent. I went into the Cruise Planner today and instead of clicking on Plan My Cruise to look at excursions, I accidently clicked on Manage Reservation. I don't know that I have ever clicked on this before, but when I did, a separate window opened up which shows the details of my sailing - itinerary, cabin number, names of people in the cabin. However, at the very top, is this note that says "This reservation is not associated with your account". I checked the other three reservations, and they all have the same note at the top of this page. Is this normal because we are booked with a TA? Or do I have something to worry about here?

On Liberty you can use your soda package at any bar that is open - it will most likely be from the bar gun and not a can though. You used to be able to get cans and Powerade at Ben & Jerry's with the soda package, but we haven't been on her since they removed that venue. Not sure if Sugar Beach (I'm assuming that what replaced B&J) still offers them.

@mikeMTL I can comment on the sea sickness as I too cannot swing on a swing set or ride in the back seat of a car. Forget trying to read a book in a moving vehicle! On a large ship link Wonder, you won't feel much motion, if any at all, unless it is unavoidable that the captain to go through a storm. Out of an abundance of caution, I take a half of a non-drowsy Dramamine every morning of the cruise starting on embarkation day, and I have never had an issue at sea, even taking advantage of a drink package / drink vouchers. If the captain announces that there will be rough seas, I up the dosage to a full tablet. You may want your dad to check with his doctor to see what would work best for him and any other medications that he may take. There are a couple of over the counter brands, the sea bands that sit on pressure points on the wrist, or his physician can prescribe him sea sickness patches that go behind the ear.

Every excursion I have done with Royal that was "something and beach" the beach time was only an hour at most.

San Juan - we skipped breakfast on the ship and ate at a restaurant that looked good along the way to the fort. Took pictures on the hill and toured the fort. Walked down the wall and around the city, then stopped in for drinks at El Covento on the way back to the ship. I think we spent less than $20pp all day, but that was also 15 years ago.

I loved the sticky toffee pudding on UK night on Explorer a couple months ago. Fish and chips were just ok, but DS enjoyed the chicken and mushroom pie. Welcome night is out least favorite followed closely by Italian. If we eat in the MDR on night one I usually get the crab cake, prime rib, and DH and I also split the chicken saag. None of the desserts jump out at me either.

The kids loved to use their C&A drink vouchers on Johnny Rockets milkshakes every day. I'm a simple coconut ranger cookie girl - on Explorer last month they were sometimes on only one side of the Windjammer, so walk around to the other side if you don't see them. The lychee tart was good in the MDR on Asian night, but I wish the raspberry jam they filled the tart with was seedless.

You can get an idea of what to expect in the app by switching your sailing to the current one. There are several steps to get there... Click the person/profile icon at the top of the screen then "select a different cruise". Scroll to the bottom of the screen to the "Don't see your cruise?" section and click "let's add it now." Then you can click "browse our ships". From this point it is easy - choose your ship from the list and then click on the current sailing which is at the top of the dates listed. To get back to your sailing it is a little bit easier. Click the person/profile icon at the top of the screen then "select a different cruise" like you did before. Then you should see your actual cruise listed, and you can just click on it.

Great news! Royal just emailed me the link to the rest of our photos, and they are downloaded! Thanks for following along.