FionaMG

You'll be able to get your own free day without going to the desk as you don't have a package in your name. For the other two days, yes, you'll need to go to the desk. Check the opening times in the app or compass as it's not open 24 hours and on some days may be quite limited.

Yes, exactly what @Pattycruise said. I once tried to trick the system by logging into my free day first but that backfired royally because instead of my free day being inaccessible my whole package was inaccessible so I had to go to the voom desk anyway and it took them longer to sort it out that way around so I ended up wasting extra time.

In my experience, and as @smokeybandit and @Pattycruise said, if someone has purchased an Internet package, which is the OP's case, the free days are locked/hidden and you can't get to them without the assistance of the voom person. @MidwestIA, I'm guessing it's been a while since you've used the Internet onboard? Since Royal switched to Starlink, there's no slow/fast Internet any more; it's all the same speed. Just so you're aware for the next time you might want to use it.

Safe onward travels everyone.

Or the crystal block fiasco? I am very glad they backtracked on that decision as my one and only block was earned after they reinstated them.

Tips are neither standard nor expected. For a tour guide who's done a good job, I'd potentially give €5. I know it sounds like a very small amount to those of you are used to the tipping culture in the US but there really is no need to give any more. They'd have to go way above and beyond for me to do that and even then it'd be unlikely to be any more than €10 absolute max. You'll sometimes see a basket on the dashboard of the bus and people will maybe put a few coins in there. You can do that if you need to get rid of some local coins. Currency should preferably be local rather than USD because they won't be able to spend USD locally and bank exchange commissions will often eat up a large part making it not worth their while to take the time needed to even go to the bank. For taxis, I would just round up a couple of euros max on the fare.

Only on cold weather cruises, e.g. Alaska, Norway, the Baltic and the winter cruises out of places like NJ, and even then it depends on the ship. If a ship has an indoor family pool, like the ones on most Quantum class ships, there will be no family time in the solarium.

From his signature, it looks like the OP is on Radiance in Alaska. Family time in the Solarium is not uncommon on cold weather cruises but the one time I experienced it personally there was only one session during the day, not two.

The breakfast burrito in the MDR is one of my top favourite breakfasts on Royal. The Mexican dinner menu not so much.

Have an amazing time everyone! One of these days there will be a blog cruise with dates that work for me!

Looks like those lucky pups just won the doggy lottery.

That's right. You would only lose your whole deposit if you completely cancelled your booking.

Thanks for a great write-up about what was clearly an amazing cruise. I've thoroughly enjoyed following along with your adventures and I'm glad you had such a fantastic time.

Hi @BettyWork and welcome to the boards You are allowed to share the name of the hotel here. If you liked it enough to recommend it that would certainly help other posters who might be looking for a similar experience.

Glad to hear they are on the mend. That must have very scary for all of you.

Even in the speciality restaurants you get inconsistency. I remember raving about the banana split in Jamie's on Anthem so I ordered it in Jamie's on Symphony and it was a real disappointment. You win some, you lose some.

The menus in the app tend to reflect the current sailing of the ship in question. It sounds like your ship may be doing a 6/8 night rotation and is likely currently doing a 6-night cruise. That would explain why you're only seeing 6 nights of menus.

We had it on an 8-nighter on Anthem out of Cape Liberty back in April 2023. I had the teriyaki salmon and it was delicious.

I have only once had the misfortune to be confronted with the Mexican menu. I did make an effort but I really didn't like anything that I ordered. Curiously, DH who is the picky one loved everything he ordered. Go figure

That's one of my favourites too. The one I like most of is the Asian night but that menu tends to only show up on cruises that 8 nights or longer.

Yes this is me too. I know the standard menus off by heart and will know what I am going to eat on any given night months in advance. I have a cruise coming up on MSC in July and it's driving me crazy that I don't have access to the menus! My choices from the welcome aboard menu will be the crab cake or spinach and artichoke dip, followed by the fish fillet or the chicken saag depending on how hungry I am, and the Boston cream pie for dessert, potentially accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Btw, has anyone else noticed that the MDR menus now have a different mocktail each day in the featured beverages section? I'm not sure how long those have been there. I didn’t notice them on my recent Allure cruise but that might just have been lack of attention on my part.

Me! Me!

I think you did very well for a whirlwind tour. You certainly seem to have packed a lot in. Great pics. The Caribbean menu is one of my favourites. I always have the coconut shrimp, followed by the garlic shrimp and the royal chocolate cake. @OCSC Mike isn't the only food porn fan here!

Confirm notification button is working again for me now.

Glad to hear you made it home safely. Since business class is a budget breaker for us, we always do this on our transatlantic flights. It makes a massive difference. We usually book the seats as soon as we book the flights to make sure we actually get them.