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.

Good to hear! Hopefully since we are used to driving to and staying outside of Galveston it won't feel so bad to us? So a little photo package drama... I pre-purchased the 50 photo package and DH and I each had a free photo curtesy of C&A. I went on the last day and selected my 51 photos with a Focus crew member and was able to access them through the QR code at the end of the transaction. Then DH selected his one photo right after I finished my transaction again with the Focus crew member right there. I didn't bother checking his since it was just one photo, and to be honest, we were really happy with the 51 we already had so it was just a bonus photo. I normally download the photos right away to my phone, but my storage was almost maxed out (forgot to do a photo dump to my laptop before we left), so I thought I'll just wait for the email which I received while still on the ship disembarkation morning. Great, easy peasy, right? Wrong. My MIL came over today, and I was going to show her the pictures. When I access the link I was emailed...only our two freebie diamond pictures are there. Not the 50 "first choice" pictures. Ugh. I took screen shots of the confirmation pages/qr codes from when we selected the pictures and tried to load them using the code from the first transaction. The same two photos pop up. I look at my second QR code screen shot, and the codes are the same. Surely they didn't overwrite my 50 photo order with these two pictures? The photo website help button cycles you through a series of "how to download your pictures" pop ups, and there is no contact information listed. I finally find a photo help form on Royal's main website which will be answered in 10 business days. Y'all, tell me there is hope and these pictures aren't lost forever!

Final thoughts We sailed in connecting balconies on Harmony last spring, and these rooms were definitely smaller. Even the shower tubes seemed a little tighter. The beds were not as hard as those we have had on recent sailings though. Water pressure was great. Service was great. Food was good to really good. There were some definite misses. The Tapas Medley in the MDR was bland and the pizza at Cafe Promenade usually had a burnt outer crust, but for the most part everything else was tasty. We only thought we were prepared for the humidity in Costa Rica, Panama, and Columbia. I mean, we knew we were going to rainforests at the equator, so it was bound to be 90% humidity. But it's just something you don't really comprehend until you actually experience it. There are times we were miserable in the moment, but we all agree that we would go back to these ports. I don't like how all the Miami cruise ship terminals are on all on top of one another. It seems to create unnecessary traffic issues especially with 9 ships all trying to turn passengers over at once. I much prefer Galveston and Ft. Lauderdale, and the itinerary will really have to be worth it for us to consider going out of Miami again. We sail out of Orlando next year, so it will be interesting to compare. 11 nights felt like a good length for us. There is so much go, go, go that a 7 day can feel rushed, and it was nice to have two sea days at the end of this sailing. Next up - 8 days on Harmony out of Galveston in October. We're headed back to Coco Cay!

Day 12 - Disembarkation We decided to get the kids breakfast in the MDR instead of battle the craziness of the WJ. They were very disorganized though - it took a long time to seat us and orders were mixed up between tables. The kids must have thought they were never going to eat again, because they each ordered three breakfasts and ate it all! We then went to the theater to wait for our transfer to the airport. Our number was called right at the estimated time of 9:45. They had to keep stopping people from getting off the ship because of delays inside the terminal. Once we were called, we made our way to the outer deck and they stopped the process again. We finally were let off the ship after about 20 minutes of waiting on deck and made our way to collect our luggage. Then we snaked our way to the customs area of the terminal, and the delays all made sense. Of the 26 stations, only 6 customs agents were working to process 3500 people getting off the ship! We cleared and exited the terminal. The transfer busses are located on the far right of the busses parked outside. Fortunately traffic was pretty light, and we made it to the airport in under 30 minutes. We booked a 5:30pm flight because we didn't want to feel rushed, but in our waiting time the our gate changed twice and a plane was refused by the pilot because the AC was not working. We were delayed by about 30 minutes, but he made up quite a bit of that in the air and we landed just after 7:30 Dallas time. Because of all the changes, I was worried we would have issues with our bags. They all arrived, but one caught an earlier flight and wound up at a different terminal. We finally made it home at 10pm. We picked up burgers on the way, ate, and headed to bed because we had classes in the morning. Yesterday, we all felt the after effects of a long day of travel, but DH picked up the dogs, and we are all happy to be sleeping in our own beds again.

Ok. Back home and time to wrap this trip report up. I'm typing on my laptop, but my pictures are still on my phone so I'll post them seperately. The last two days of our cruise were sea days. On day 10 DH and I went to the Bachata dance class in the morning, then DS and I went to the flowrider for the last time. After 2 runs, he was worn out and we called it quits for the rest of the cruise. We tried to go ice skating, but I forgot we needed reservations. Fortunately they just added the sessions to the last day, and I was able to get a 10am reservation. We all napped, hit afternoon trivia, and got ready for our last dress your best night which was Taste of Royal night in the MDR. Escargot and Vidalia Onion Tarts, Chicken Marsala and lobster (DD explained to our waiter how to tell if the lobster was a male or female), Baked Alaska, Strawberry Shortcake and Warm Chocolate Cake. We received two mini towel animals this evening. The next day we went to our ice skating session. Because this was the first session of the day, I think we got a little extra time on the ice. DD asked for tips from the skaters running the session, and they offered her some suggestions and the let her use a walker. They only had one tall walker available, so I am glad we got there early. DH and I took the a Cha Cha dance class, we went to Johnny Rockets for lunch, and then we went to trivia and played a round of shuffleboard before packing to go home. Bon Voyage in the MDR - Mediterranean Tapas (blah), asparagus, shrimp cocktail, braised lamb, steak, and chicken. Peach trifle, Black Forest Tart, and Crema Catalana for our final desserts.

Curacao - day 9 We had another early RC excursion this day and met once again in the theater. The process was fortunately quick and we on our bus shortly for the Beach Hop and Turtle Snorkel. We drove for about an hour to reach the far north western point of the island where we donned our snorkel gear and walked into the cool water. As far as snorkeling goes, there wasn't a lot to see, but there were 3 turtles around the pier we were next to. My phone cooperated enough to get a picture of the largest. After 30 minutes in the water, we were back on the bus with a 20 minute drive to the second beach. We had an hour at this location and we're given a ticket for a beach chair, a shower, and a soda or water. We had about an hour and 15 minutes at this beach, amd DD and DH stayed on the beach while DS and I snorkeled a little more. Here we saw some coral formations and a skate, parrot fish, small barracuda, and a variety of other fish. It wasn't the best snorkeling we have experienced, but not bad for a quick swim. We were driven back to the port area where we picked up our souvenirs then boarded the ship. We had a quick lunch in the WJ then got in the hot tub while DS waited for the flowrider to open up. It was Taste of Asia night. Tom Yum soup, dumplings, and spring rolls for appetizers; pad Thai, Kung pao chicken, salmon teriyaki, and a steak for entrees along with the chicken biriani; and Bahn flan, lychee tart, and matcha passion fruit cake for dessert. Our waiter was very concerned when I asked for limes for my pad Thai, thinking it was dry. He kept asking if I wanted another one with more sauce. I had to reassure him that it was great, that's just how I have always eaten it - am I the only one who squeezes lime on this dish? After dinner, DH and I made our way back to the casino where we played blackjack for a few hours. We had a much better day, but are still down a little.

That night was Taste of Caribbean in the dining room. Bao Tacos and coconut shrimp appetizers, Caribbean chicken and tiger shrimp entrees, and pineapple sunshine cake and brownies for dessert. We ran off the ship to get some night time pictures, but we couldn't get far enough away to get the whole thing in one shot. Then back onboard for some latin dancing before bed. We have been getting the same towel animals in both rooms each time they are left for us. Tonight was a departure from that, and DH and I received the frog while the kids got the crab/spider/octopus (depending on who you ask).

It wasn't so much a tart, but a circle of puff pastry with a little ratatouille and goat cheese and herbs on top, basalmic on the plate. It tasted good, but it was definitely all made separately and scooped onto the pastry as opposed to baked together. Keeping with tradition, my live blog fell apart part way through the cruise. Here's the recap for our full day in Aruba. We had a 3rd party excursion with ABC Tours. All the excursions pick you up just steps from the ship, so they were easy to find. We made the short drive to their headquarters and we're assigned our jeep for the day. We chose the morning Natural Pool and Indian Cave Jeep Safari tour which included lunch. They advertised the tour for 8 people, and a couple on a land vacation were on our jeep. Another couple was assigned to our jeep as well, but they missed the departure (we waited a while for them). They eventually showed up, and someone drove them to the first stop on the tour to catch up with us. We're not sure if they were cruising or staying on the island - they didn't talk to anyone during the excursion. Our first stop was the Casibari rock formation where indigenous people would send other smoke signals to warn of invaders. You can climb to the top by a combination of crawling through part of the formation and steps, or there is a full set of (steep) stairs on the back. Next we drove to Arikok National Park for the rest of the tour. We saw one of the the remaining natural bridges then continued to the natural pool. The waves were too high to get in the water, but we did meet this guy on the 95 steps down for pictures. We then went to a beach where we could get our feet wet, but not actually swim. On to the Indian Caves. There is a small fresh water pool where you can get a free fish pedicure there too. This was the last stop on the tour, and we returned to ABC's location for lunch. They sent an email the day before the tour asking us fornour order - BBQ chicken breast or thighs (that'swhat we all ordered), fish, vegetarian pasta, pumpkin soup, and a vegan option. They also offered kid's burger or hot dog. After lunch, they dropped us back at the cruise terminal. Aruba was downright refreshing after the humidity of central and south America. It was warm, but the breeze keptnus comfortable. We had a good time on this tour, and would go with ABC again. My only complaint is that the seats face the center of the vehicle so I was looking over my shoulder to the left all day.

That's disappointing to hear. I usually get the crab cake, but on a whim decided to try the tuna. Glad I did. Yesterday was a sea day for us as we docked in Aruba about 4:30 or 5pm. We had WJ later than usual, about 10am, and it was a mad house! After breakfast, DS and I went to the Flowrider where it proceeded to rain on us twice. It really stung with the high winds, but we stayed our ground and boogie boarded for almost 3 hours. We were sure we would do well at the name that tune:Beatles vs Queen trivia, but we are consistently bad at all trivia. At least the drinks were good. We headed to the CL before dinner. The drink service has been slow to non-existent for us in the CL, even now that it is relatively empty. Dinner in the MDR was Taste of the UK. The kids had escargot and mozzarella sticks for appetizers, and DH and I both had the leek and potato soup and goat cheese tart. Entrees were the roast beef and yorkshire pudding, fish and chips, chicken and mushroom pie, and a strip steak. We shared the chicken Tikka Masala. Desserts included a berry sundae, chocolate cake, and sticky toffee pudding. At was all ok, with dessert definitely being the best part. I could have had a second or third toffee pudding. After dinner the kids went to the teen club, and DH and I sought out a dance floor. The Orchestra and singers were performing a jazz set in the Star Lounge, and we got in one good dance. DJ played latin music was supposed to be going on right after that in Dizzy's, so we headed up to deck 14, but the DJ was a no show. We will try again another night.