PhantomWolf

My best friend just booked a suite on the same sailing as me in September.  It'll be awhile until I'm in a place financially to be able to do that, but you better believe I will be taking full advantage of his! Otherwise it'll be the dark interior for this guy for couple years.

I agree with Twangster.  Being on Deck 17 is awesome.  You  are never more than a few steps from food or drinks or the elevator.  I believe in some cultures that is how they describe heaven ?

SpeedNoodles gets it! Can't wait to try one of these out, heard so much about them!

SpeedNoodles gets it! Can't wait to try one of these out, heard so much about them!

Just put a Labadoozie in there and it'll be complete!

Thanks! The chances of me missing the ship will be slim to none, I'm the guy that's annoyingly early to everything.  I'm excited for sure, kinda wish I hadn't booked it so far in advance because I am ready to go now!  YouTube and this blog will helped get me prepped but its still to far out. I do hope that this is the start of a new tradition for me.

Solo traveler here, so when I found out Royal was doing the 60% off on the "second person", I had to jump at it. My vacations have been few and far between, so I'm really itching to go!  I like the idea of possibly finding deals and cheaper rates ?  My idea was to just book it and save up for the trip without much worry.  Bought the drink package and an excursion already, love that I'm able to spread out the cost of the trip this way instead of getting the sticker shock at the very end. 

Solo traveler here, so when I found out Royal was doing the 60% off on the "second person", I had to jump at it. My vacations have been few and far between, so I'm really itching to go!  I like the idea of possibly finding deals and cheaper rates ?  My idea was to just book it and save up for the trip without much worry.  Bought the drink package and an excursion already, love that I'm able to spread out the cost of the trip this way instead of getting the sticker shock at the very end. 

Booking a cruise so far in advance is a good idea because if there is any sales for your ship and sale date and the price is cheaper then when you booked you can then call RC directly or call your TA and ask for the cheaper price and the new price will be a better deal from when you booked your cruise. You can also book shore excursions, drink packages, dining, internet, and spa packages before you even get onboard and at a cheaper price vs the onboard pricing for each of the packages. As the sale date gets closer the price of the cruise will increase  but there will also be sales on the cruise itself and there will also be sales on the cruise planner. 

When it comes to passports I'm #TeamSafe. 
If you miss the ship, for whatever reason, security goes into your safe and removes your passport.  They then give it to the port agent on the pier.  Security always has access to your safe.  If get locked out (like the time I forgot my passcode) security can open the safe.  
A water damaged passport becomes invalid because they can't verify it isn't an forgery attempt.  Fall off a tour boat, get soaked in a rain storm, etc, a water damaged passport is useless.  Stolen on a beach, mugged or it simply falls out of your pocket on a bus by mistake all can happen.  That is a much worst case scenario for me compared to having to track down the port agent, IF I miss the ship.
You will need some sort of government issued ID for any guest who isn't a minor.  This varies by port but Nassau has been known to insist on it.  Driver's license works great.  My TWIC card works great too.  This is the port people requiring this, not ship security.  The port employees are not Royal employees, they work for the local port.
Perfect Day (CocoCay) is Royal's private island and you only need the SeaPass card.  Bring some cash if you want to shop in the local market on the island.  No other documents are required at CocoCay.  

I'm personally in team "passport on ship, other ID in port".  There are ways to contact RCCL's port agent and have them leave your passport with the port authority if something happens and you are going to miss the ship.  It might seem to go against my firm "don't cruise without a passport" stance, but given the possibility of being mugged at any location (also a low chance, all things considered) I would rather not be carrying my passport around.
There should be little to no reason to carry it on Coco Cay, it is RCCL's private island.  On Nassau, it's just personal opinion.  The truth is that thousands of people visit that island every day and many don't even have a passport and get back on the ship in time with no issues whatsoever.  The odds of missing the ship, if you are being proactive and staying aware of the time, are low.  The odds of missing the ship and having no way of contacting the port agent in this day of cell phones is almost zero.  I personally consider the odds of taking the passport on land and having it stolen/damaged/lost to be considerably higher.
So anyway, whatever you do with it I hope you have a good cruise.  Welcome to the forum!

People tend to be in "team carry passport" or not.  You should have at least a copy of your passport as well as your sea pass card and a photo id.  Jane