teddy

Photographers on the ship are very similar to salesmen on a car lot.  They are there if you want them to be or not.

You don't really pay extra to pick a cabin. You take a discount for not picking it. But that discount comes with the risk of getting an undesirable room.

Gross ton per passenger is a highly misleading since most of the space is not space passengers physically occupy.

But I ran the numbers a while back for RC ships


Ship Single Occ Full Occ Gross Tons SO space rate FO space rate Mariner 3114 3807 139863 44.9 36.7 Icon 5610 7600 250800 44.7 33 Star 5610 7600 250800 44.7 33 Adventure 3114 3840 138194 44.4 36 Explorer 3114 3840 138194 44.4 36 Voyager 3114 3840 138194 44.4 36 Independence 3634 4375 155889 42.9 35.6 Jewel 2112 2502 90090 42.7 36 Brilliance 2142 2543 90090 42.1 35.4 Radiance 2143 2466 90090 42 36.5 Serenade 2146 2476 90090 42 36.4 Oasis 5400 6780 226838 42 33.5 Utopia 5668 6788 236860 41.8 34.9 Navigator 3376 4000 139999 41.5 35 Freedom 3782 4515 156271 41.3 34.6 Symphony 5518 6680 228081 41.3 34.1 Harmony 5497 6687 226963 41.3 33.9 Wonder 5734 6988 236857 41.3 33.9 Allure 5492 6780 225282 41 33.2 Liberty 3798 4960 155889 41 31.4 Anthem 4180 4905 168666 40.4 34.4 Ovation 4180 4905 168666 40.4 34.4 Quantum 4180 4905 168666 40.4 34.4 Odyssey 4200 5510 167704 39.9 30.4 Spectrum 4246 5622 169379 39.9 30.1 Rhapsody 1998 2416 78878 39.5 32.6 Vision 2050 2514 78717 38.4 31.3 Grandeur 1992 2440 73817 37.1 30.3 Enchantment 2252 2730 82910 36.8 30.4

@Brookelynn. No, it's Royal IT. Please don't let it take away from your sailing. Did you uninstall and then install again? That is what I had to do, they will get it together. 
There is nothing like your first Royal Cruise, it is incredible. I look back and remember it so fondly, I met @SebagoSue on that sailing, actually @wordell1 and his family , what a warm wonderful welcome we received.
The only problem you may encounter is you will get hooked like the rest of us, the ships crew go above and beyond to make sure you are happy. 
Happy cruise and a big warm welcome to our Royal family!!

Pompeii is one of those places that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime.  

For our upcoming trip on Freedom, I had been looking at booking the beach club. However, as many will know the prices are just way too up there, it was at $190 pp. So sadly it was not to be.
Until a week ago when I spotted the price had gone down to $75 pp...  Instant book and pay, locked in.  Just as well, it was back abov $150pp the following day.
Seems it pays to be vigilant
 
 

I posted a while ago how I checked in at midnight for my May Liberty cruise from NJ and the first available slot was 11:30. I kept checking back and no earlier time has opened. My cruises over the winter have all had 10:00-10:30 available.
Keep in mind this is the time to arrive at the terminal. It is not ‘boarding time’.
I sail primarily from NJ and found it’s pretty good. Usually they just wave everyone into the terminal on to and the security lines.
The only hold up is the security line. It can get pretty crowded. Especially with people who don’t pay attention and have to waste time emptying their pockets and putting their metal stuff into their carryon when they get to the screener rather than before. So everyone else has to wait for them. Then there’s those who go overboard (pun intended) and waste time taking off their shoes and belts even though it was obvious nobody in front to them did that. If the security line gets too crowded, they may start enforcing times outside the terminal.
As long as everything goes as planned, there is usually little delay in getting checked in at a kiosk and then boarding.
But…here’s where that ‘Vacation Patience’ comes in…if the ship was delayed getting into port (diversion to medivac a patient, propulsion issue, harbor traffic, assist another vessel…or many other possibilities. Or the ship is undergoing a coast guard or public health inspection…or needs a ‘deep cleaning’) then boarding new guests can be delayed.
Then everything gets backed up.
 

I hear those noises every morning when I first step out of bed.

I seem to recall a limit on the use of outdoor PA announcements in Alaska but I can't find a regulation that imposes this restriction.  I think it was on a more recent Alaska cruise in 2022 when it was stated there would be minimal outdoor announcements while in Alaska so as not to impact wildlife.
I do recall in 2018 on Radiance the captain making some PA announcements while at Hubbard but it wasn't a narration of the visit.   
Here is some video from that visit:
Honestly I prefer not to have outdoor PA announcements so you can hear the glacier moan, crack and make other noises. 
It's bad enough that other guests can't seem to avoid talking nearly non-stop, often making obvious statements that amount to useless drivel.  "I hear it cracking" (duh!) or "I think its going to start, there it is, look, it's calving now, it's definitely calving, oh my god its calving, wow look at it calving I've never seen it calve like that and it's still going, OMG its still calving and blah, blah, blah".  Some guests, especially their spouses when talking to each other just feel the need to talk and talk and talk.  
In making the video above the hardest part was finding bits where there wasn't useless endless talking.
I guess many spouses in long term relationships learn to tune out their spouse's endless drivel but it can sure be annoying for the rest of us at moments like this. 🤣😇

Looks like a bunch of pool noodles laying there !

We liked it at first, but the questions rarely change and the whole thing can be boring if the cruise director isn’t good.
Any couple who’s sat through a couple shows should be able to do well if they were up on stage. 
 

@OCSC Mikehas it right.  Retirement is the key.  Of course, our cruising style has taken a bit of a downgrade since retirement, but where the quality went down, the quantity went up !  Nothing truer than the old adage, “When you’re working you have the money but no time and when you’re retired you have the time but no money”.

We liked it at first, but the questions rarely change and the whole thing can be boring if the cruise director isn’t good.
Any couple who’s sat through a couple shows should be able to do well if they were up on stage. 
 

A friend of mine was on it. He had a blast.  
 
He’s done a bunch of them. 

For us, it depends who the cruise director is. That is how we decide if we are going to attend or not. If it's a high energy, funny, CD, we try our best to go.  Much like The Quest, IMO, the CD makes or breaks that show.
However, our last two sailings, we have skipped (even one with Ricky Matthews who we love), because of the times that others have mentioned above. They keep doing the show at 2:30pm now and that does not work as well for us.

We have been on 80+ cruises with Royal Caribbean and we have never ever gone to a L&M game OR a Quest.  Just not something we enjoy.

Theres a bunch of different kinds of these cruises, but I been on all 11 of the Rock Legends Cruises. They are charity run so they seem to attract more of the big names on each cruise. I don't go for the cruise amenities. I go because the aging big names are performing 3 to 20 feet in front of me. That is a thousand plus dollar ticket to any shows on land. And theres over 20 bands per cruise. And if that is not enough, I run my video cameras in their face with 300x zoom. I can count their nose hairs if I want. On land you go thru metal detectors and no video cameras allowed. Only cell phones get a pass any more and those are only now getting better. Then you get meet and greet on elevators and toilets and buffet lines. It's like the legends are just like us. They get pestered abit, but it's not like what happened to the Beatles 50 years ago. So I dont book balconies and opt for a port hole room, since Im not in the room much. I played golf on only one of the 11 cruises and only because a lady asked me really nice to join her there. I rarely do the formal dinning because its small portions and way too slow. I heap it on at the Buffet and wolf it down as I look over the schedule for the rest of the days bands. It's almost impossible to see ALL of the bands so Im always running around to all the venues to see as many as possible. To get up to the front rows you have to wait for over an hour and even longer. 2 hour waits for the theater. I rarely watch at the theator. The Deck stage and the Studio stage is standing room in front of the stage. So that is where I mostly go. It's loud, but they perform right in front of you. It's so amazing. Sammy Hagar pouring his rum into my drink mug. Same with Rick Springfield. They both partnered to make their own rum brand after Sammy sold his Tequila brand. The access to this kind of rock and roll is matched by no other venue. I am so tired when its over in 5 days, but then I play with pics and videos all the rest of the year, and I am floored by what I did. Some people complain about service compared to regular cruises. But Im glad staff stays out of my way. On the first cruise staff came out and sold drinks at the theator all thru the shows. That has never happened again. Fabulous. Room service is as friendly as any other cruise and I leave them a tip. Rock Legends Cruise 2025 will be different. The woman that created this cruise passed away. A young lady has replaced her, and she seems too young for the job. I have not bought an advance ticket and may finally miss a Rock Legends Cruise. They started booking bands much too late and I think most big names have their schedules already finalized. But it has been 11 fabulous cruises. I stand all day every day, but there is plenty of seating for those that sit until everybody has to stand, hah.

For those of you who Facebook, the official Royal Caribbean Blog Facebook page was taken down by Meta. @Matt has had no luck getting the page restored, so a new Facebook page has been created. Please visit the new page and like and follow it.  Thanks!
https://www.facebook.com/royalcaribbeanblogcom

@FionaMG   
 
Here is a quick screenshot of what it would be right now, Friday at 939 local time. 
 
FLL to Terminal A
 

@FionaMG   
 
Here is a quick screenshot of what it would be right now, Friday at 939 local time. 
 
FLL to Terminal A
 

For the past 4-5 cruises I haven’t even been able to get the Health Questionnaire to pull up.  I’ve just started ignoring it.  Sometimes they ask me at check-in but most of the time they don’t bother either.  Utter waste of time. 

No luck with RU once again, but….. We were on Indy by 10:55 am hanging out sans kids! 

Be aware of any events happening in the local area on the day you disembark.  We disembarked a couple years ago the same morning as the Miami Marathon.  That was a xxxx show of epic proportions.

We are headed out on Indy tomorrow and I’m awaiting news on a GS upgrade. Hopefully my luck turns around!

I've only won twice lol