KJones

Congrats to our friend @CHRIS WONG on being featured!
 

I’m booked. For me it allows me to see so much of the world without the hassle of flying and changing hotels. We’ve done 2 land tours (Alaska and Ireland) and moving your personal stuff can be exhausting. Plus waiting for everyone to get on the bus.
This cruise also took away the struggle of selecting an itinerary. I want to do Med and Baltic, but there are variations in itineraries. I picked the “I want it all” cruise
 

There’s a much cheaper coffee card for that.  I bought mine on the Allure and am now using leftover allocations on Freedom.

From Allure of the Seas, October 2021. 
The offers are typically consistent across the fleet.
Current offers implement temporary changes for pandemic protocols.  Offers are subject to change as protocols evolve.
Gold

Platinum

Emerald

Diamond

Diamond Plus

Pinnacle

Youth

Woohoo!  Reduced single supplement applies for being over 340 points!
 

Theoretically a room for 2 at the start could end up a room for 3.

Sure, they offer this AFTER the double points promo eligibility is over.  

Thanks all - I made the switch to the catamaran!

I agree with @Plumlee2028and @WAAAYTOOO's reviews. We had so much fun the first time, that we chose the Champagne Catamaran excursion again on our 2nd trip to St. Thomas. The crew was different the second time around, but still had the same fun atmosphere. Great snorkeling at St. Johns and very strong rum punch on the leg back to port. We also bought the "crew" shirts and its one our favorite souvenirs from any of our travels! (shirts were about $25-ish, cash only I think, FYI)
 

Next June is a lifetime away at this point

I really have no info BUT I would suspect that it has been chartered.  A certain lifestyle group charters an O class ship every year in January.  In 2022 it is Oasis.  I know b/c the 1-16-22 sailing was the middle sailing of a B3B Star Class trio that I had booked.  It totally dicked-up my plans (see what I did there ?).   So it could be something else but my money is on this explanation.

It's like thrill water park, but on the ship! With no excursion fee!

Guest services will give you as many envelopes as you wish. We hand them directly to the intended person so that we insure they receive it. Another option is if you have on board credit there is a form guest services can provide to you so you can dedicate specifically who and what amount you wish to tip someone.  I just found out about this form last week on the oasis. It's great if you have extra OBC. Hope this helps someone. 

It's like thrill water park, but on the ship! With no excursion fee!

It's like thrill water park, but on the ship! With no excursion fee!

It's like thrill water park, but on the ship! With no excursion fee!

If you ever need a benchmark for how rough the seas are - rank it on a scale of 1 to 5.
One - smooth sailing
Two - a little choppy
Three - "Oh look, they put out the seasick bags!"
Four - The pools look like the below pictures...
Five - "Are we sure he steered around that hurricane?"
 

We ended up LOVING Maya Chan! We were there October 3 and had a great time. Our drive was only 22 minutes.  We timed it.  It may be 45 minutes including the walk, but the drive wasn't bad at all for us. I wrote a lengthy review!  Here's the long review with photos.
In a Nutshell:  Do yourself a favor and go.  Just go.  My bet is that you will not regret it.  It’s the relaxing day you may not have realized you needed.  The location is dreamy.  The staff are kind and attentive.  The owners have set it up to make it very comfortable and stress-free for the guests. Just go.

I don't know if anyone really knows how long the onboard-only reservations will continue. But for dinner scheduling purposes, you could look at previous cruise planners to see what time shows typically have been.
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass

My normal goto is xe.com plus they also have an app.

Look, it's a long time between now and this Friday when I go on Mariner...

It's going to vary by ship arrival time. IIRC, our shipped docked at maybe 8am? We were on the slides by 9am.

Waiting for the announcement on "what cruises get final payment dates pushed back next month" is a lot better than "what cruises get canceled next month"

Almond butter for those with allergies. 
 
Disclosure: I profit from almond butter sales.

Shocked there's not a thread for this already, if there is and I missed it I apologize.
Figured we could use a thread to give shoutouts to specific crew members that you've have go above and beyond for you.
For me, our most recent cruise on Ovation was extra special thanks to a couple specific restaurant / dining crew members. Our waiter, Mega, realized quickly how much our 2-year-old daughter loved grapes, so she had a serving of cut grapes waiting at the table for us every night at dinner. Our daughter looked forward to going and seeing her every night, to the point that we even dropped by after one night when we ate in Coastal Kitchen just to chat with her for a bit. The last day of the cruise, our daughter was having a rough morning, but we were able to stop by the host stand where Mega was working for breakfast to let her say goodbye and help cheer her up.
The other was James down in Sorrento's, our daughter's "pizza buddy". We'd stop by for a slice or two late night after the shows or for a mid-day snack and he made a point to chat with us and her every time. The last night of the trip, he made her special heart-shaped mini pizzas and a paper rose.
*This* is the kind of service that keeps people loyal to Royal.