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We B2B'ers did disembark, but as a group, through a separate line, to a separate waiting area, and then right back on the ship.  It was painless, and no crowds involved!  I honestly can't remember if I had to have my passport with me, but I don't think so.  

Day 4 Cozumel........
My brother and I headed to the DL for happy hour. Him to get a coffee and snacks, me to ask the concierge a few questions. In all honesty it seems like a huge chunk of the crew is new and can't really answer some basic questions. I wanted to know about possible shuttle service to and from terminals.  Apparently it's not at all a thing. We had a few nibbles and then decided it would be a good time to walk the track on deck 5. We did four laps and saw over half of the Aqua80 cast running and walking the track. While the rest sat in chairs behind the stage.
I still had 25min until dinner at Izumi so I played a little. There is a lady who has played the same machine every night. She says she brings $600/n to gamble with in hopes of making 5-10,000 points each cruise. I was fascinated, I like to gamble but not to that extent. I saw both of the cheaters in the casino. Dinner was at Izumi and it was good as always. This is not a brag. We keep ordering diamond drinks but are only being charged for half. We end up finding a bar late at night to get water and redbull from. We had 3 drinks each at Izumi and no charge for any.
People talk loud. The same party from Giovanni's came into Izumi and then realized nothing was kosher and had to leave.  It was a "thank you sweet baby Jesus " moment because the little boy threw a tantrum even before they sat down. Then red flag people came in loudly proclaiming they are gonna murder some sushi. I was also thankful they showed up on the wrong night. But there was a group of 6 drunk babies behind them.
I know I mentioned that this sailing has a large number of Jewish pax. The solarium bistro is closed to the "public" to be their kosher restaurant. I don't know if that has any bearing on this but the UDP was not sold out for this sailing. The specialty restaurants have been popping but not as much as I expected. Today they were selling reduced priced UDP and plans. The 6 drunk babies just got the UDP plan. They came in Izumi waiting to do hibachi and sushi. They were rude to the crew and confused. They ordered 6 espresso martinis and a bunch of a la carte rolls. They had a 9pm hibachi reservation but sat at the table for sushi until after 9:30. They were yelling at the staff, I felt so bad for their server. We also were seated next to a couple who thought they were going to have date night until AO called them and said their daughter was misbehaving. She was funny, she came to the table and said "my sister's still there cuz she good" We laughed.
After dinner we walked through Central Park and listen to the live music while having a cocktail. Then we went back to the room to get some sleep.  We want to try breakfast tomorrow.

T Minus 5 days!!  
OMG!  It's Wednesday already!  Where did the time go??  😳
I still have so much left on my to do list before we leave for 18 days!  I'm normally way ahead of things, but this time I'm almost wishing I had a little more time before the cruise - while at the same time wishing I was already on the ship!  😜
I made the mistake of ordering new walking shoes recently, and now I'm in a panic over the fact that both of the two pair I already received were so stiff that as soon as I took one step I lost my socks inside the shoes.  I just ordered three more to try and they say they'll be here on Friday.  🤞🤞  I need a new pair because we plan to be in the gym on this cruise and I've fallen out of love with my current pair.  Now, I'm not promising that will actually happen because I've not worked out on a cruise ship yet, but it's on our list!  We figure 18 days will ensure we'll finally do it. 
Hubby always asks me after I go through my shopping phase before a cruise if I have everything and don't need to do this for the next cruise.  I always tell him yes, but let's face it - a cruise is just another excuse for a shopping spree! 🤣🤣  Considering how many cruises we've been on, you'd think he would stop asking!  On my massive pre-cruise checklist, there is actually a line item that reads "shop for necessary items" - while some of my shopping may include some unnecessary items, it's still part of the cruise planning and I take it very seriously!  🤑
Okay - off I go to return the shoes to the Amazon drop off and run some other errands because we're running out of business days! 

Following with excitement and a feeling of deja vu!  Last year, I sailed on a B2B on Navigator -- a 3 Night and then a 4 Night -- and made Diamond after the completion of the 1st half of the B2B.  FWIW, my experience with your ~question~ ("We'll also share what happens when you stay on the ship for a second cruise and reach the next level with perks after the first cruise.  I read once that you stay on the ship and the Diamond Concierge comes and gives you an orientation (of sorts).  Hoping all this to be the case. ") was that I found the Loyalty Ambassador on Day 2 of the first cruise, and notified her of my impending "promotion."  She very kindly liaised with the Diamond Concierge (because she thought she would be getting off the ship on our turnaround day -- as it happened, she didn't), and so the skids were greased for me to receive and enjoy my Diamond status as soon as I reboarded the ship for the second part of the B2B.  I would definitely recommend locating and talking to the Loyalty Ambassador as soon as you can on the first leg.
Bon Voyage!

Following with excitement and a feeling of deja vu!  Last year, I sailed on a B2B on Navigator -- a 3 Night and then a 4 Night -- and made Diamond after the completion of the 1st half of the B2B.  FWIW, my experience with your ~question~ ("We'll also share what happens when you stay on the ship for a second cruise and reach the next level with perks after the first cruise.  I read once that you stay on the ship and the Diamond Concierge comes and gives you an orientation (of sorts).  Hoping all this to be the case. ") was that I found the Loyalty Ambassador on Day 2 of the first cruise, and notified her of my impending "promotion."  She very kindly liaised with the Diamond Concierge (because she thought she would be getting off the ship on our turnaround day -- as it happened, she didn't), and so the skids were greased for me to receive and enjoy my Diamond status as soon as I reboarded the ship for the second part of the B2B.  I would definitely recommend locating and talking to the Loyalty Ambassador as soon as you can on the first leg.
Bon Voyage!

Following with excitement and a feeling of deja vu!  Last year, I sailed on a B2B on Navigator -- a 3 Night and then a 4 Night -- and made Diamond after the completion of the 1st half of the B2B.  FWIW, my experience with your ~question~ ("We'll also share what happens when you stay on the ship for a second cruise and reach the next level with perks after the first cruise.  I read once that you stay on the ship and the Diamond Concierge comes and gives you an orientation (of sorts).  Hoping all this to be the case. ") was that I found the Loyalty Ambassador on Day 2 of the first cruise, and notified her of my impending "promotion."  She very kindly liaised with the Diamond Concierge (because she thought she would be getting off the ship on our turnaround day -- as it happened, she didn't), and so the skids were greased for me to receive and enjoy my Diamond status as soon as I reboarded the ship for the second part of the B2B.  I would definitely recommend locating and talking to the Loyalty Ambassador as soon as you can on the first leg.
Bon Voyage!

Following with excitement and a feeling of deja vu!  Last year, I sailed on a B2B on Navigator -- a 3 Night and then a 4 Night -- and made Diamond after the completion of the 1st half of the B2B.  FWIW, my experience with your ~question~ ("We'll also share what happens when you stay on the ship for a second cruise and reach the next level with perks after the first cruise.  I read once that you stay on the ship and the Diamond Concierge comes and gives you an orientation (of sorts).  Hoping all this to be the case. ") was that I found the Loyalty Ambassador on Day 2 of the first cruise, and notified her of my impending "promotion."  She very kindly liaised with the Diamond Concierge (because she thought she would be getting off the ship on our turnaround day -- as it happened, she didn't), and so the skids were greased for me to receive and enjoy my Diamond status as soon as I reboarded the ship for the second part of the B2B.  I would definitely recommend locating and talking to the Loyalty Ambassador as soon as you can on the first leg.
Bon Voyage!

I guess I need to go and trademark “Mouster” before Iger beats me to it. 🙂

Here's another one:

If sail away is at 4:00PM, guests have until 3:00PM to do the safety drill the new way.

After 3:00PM,  those who haven't done so have to do it the old way.   Line them up there in the muster stations, make them wait for the others to show up.
 
There's no need to "punish" those who have complied along with those who haven't
 

LMS.  Lazy Mouse Syndrome.  

Some ships won't let you do Izumi with the BOGO. Just a heads up. 

DIAMOND - Here We Come!
At the end of our last blog where we took a bunch of family on the cruise with us, I shared that hubby and I snuck down to the Next Cruise desk and we booked another cruise as a getaway for just the two of us!  This time, we opted for less frills (sadly, no suite this time), but we're doing a back-to-back-to-back!
When we set up our appointment with Next Cruise, we intended to just book a short 4 night cruise to get us to Diamond level because we were just a couple of points away.  Then we decided to add a second cruise to it so we could experience the diamond perks on the second cruise.  By the time we made it to our appointment, we had figured out that if we added a third cruise it would include Valentine's Day and the Super Bowl.  Had it been a longer walk, who knows what we would have ended up with!
Partners in crime on this cruise: 
Just the two of us (hubby and I) Ship:  Navigator of the Seas
Cabin:  Interior with Virtual Balcony – midship - same room for all three cruises
Dates:  January 30 - February 17, 2023
Ports:  
Cruise 1:  Sailing RT from Los Angeles to Catalina Island & Ensenada Cruises 2 & 3:  Sailing RT from Los Angeles to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, & Puerto Vallarta Booked Excursions: 
Catalina:  No excursion, but I'll be on the hunt for a good clam chowder and hoping it's good weather to walk around a bit Cabo:  No excursion, but our best friends go to Cabo all the time and have sent us a long list of things/places to experience Mazatlan:  Mazatlan Highlights Express.  During this tour, we get to watch cliff diving - a bucket list item for hubby! Puerto Vallarta:  Still evaluating - Spent a week there a while back, so we did a bunch, but looking for an adventure (a calm one - we're getting old) LAX:  We decided to try the LA Highlights and Rodeo Drive Tour with Airport Transfer.  Should be a fun way to get back to the airport. Other Events & Things:
Super Bowl:  We're crossing our fingers that the Eagles make it!   Valentine's Day:  My favorite holiday, so I'm happy we'll be cruising this day! Hotel & Flight:  
We are taking a huge risk and flying to LAX the day of the cruise!!!  We're flying from PDX to LAX, so it's a short flight, and there are a ton of other flights to fall back on, so we feel pretty good about it - unless our airline decides to pull a Southwest on us.  Cross your fingers for us!! We are the most excited that after the first cruise, we will move to Diamond status! I'm looking forward to the coffee machine and being able to venture into an exclusive lounge!!
Unfortunately, I have to work a bit while on this cruise because after we had booked the trip, my company changed our fiscal year and caused a bunch of initiatives (for which I'm responsible) to be due in February.  Ugh!  But I'm only working when I have to and I'm hoping the internet works for me.
What to expect from this blog:
One thing I've looked for from other B2B cruises is what happens during the debarkation/embarkation process if you stay in the same cabin.  We'll also share what happens when you stay on the ship for a second cruise and reach the next level with perks after the first cruise.  I read once that you stay on the ship and the Diamond Concierge comes and gives you an orientation (of sorts).  Hoping all this to be the case.  We'll share what the Diamond Lounge is all about and what to expect with those perks If I have any frustration with internet, you'll hear about it.  🤣 Just kidding...maybe If the weather is nice in LA during either of our turnaround days, we plan to hit the water slides since that's usually when there is no line! We're not planning on any dining other than the included options on the ship, and we're total foodies - we'll provide an honest review of the food on the ship and any tips and tricks we learn along our way.  We may stray from this for Valentine's Day - we'll see. We'll post pics of our cruise compasses from all three cruises, and any other goodies they leave us that could help you plan your getaway. I skipped the different phases ramping up to this cruise in the blogs because I've been so busy with the holidays and work that I haven't thought much about it.  But we're just a week out now and things are heating up!  The packing/staging has begun, and all of our documents are in order.
I hope you enjoy our blog sharing with you our adventure to Diamond status!

The DL concierge confirmed that diamond members can get bogo.

I am currently on ovation and I will ask the concierge and LA .

Well I can understand for most this is not significant savings but if I am doing a 4N and only want to do two dinners, not Chops, it works out well. First night dining seems to be the worse. I will be D+ my next sailing but it would have been nice to know since I booked a la carte dining for my current cruise as only diamond.

This has been valid for a while now, and FYI if you are traveling by yourself they will give you 50% off a specialty dinner (first or second night) if you ask the concierge in the Diamond Lounge.

On a side note on the bus ride I overheard a couple who were also on Serenade.  They were telling another passenger that it was too early and there were no whales to be seen yet.
Honestly I saw more whales from Serenade on this cruise compared to six other Alaska cruises.
It just goes to show you have to be very careful listening to past guests comments and user reviews.  I can't count the number of whales I saw from the ship without taking an excursion.   Granted many of them were not up close like you'll see from a whale watching excursion but there were plenty of whales to be seen on this cruise and my photos didn't catch most of them.  
 

This is as live as I will post.  The seas are broiling as we are now just sixty miles from Columbia.  Not sick but it's like riding a bucking bronco while try to sleep. The balcony door is creaking and moaning and ship is definitely shuddering every so often.  It's kind of amazing the power of the seas!  Hmm, interesting future name. 😀

It's been an interesting sea day. Seas are rough heading to Columbia with steady 30 knot winds. It's just below when things get bad so just being low key was enough to get by.  Good news is that the dining room has settled down by day 3 and felt better paced and much less hectic. Isn't that always the case.  It's definitely the most seasoned crowd on board I have seen so the main dinning room remains packed more than any other of my dozen or so cruises. 2100 on board and so far I may have seen 6-8 kids. There are probably more but it feels like the whole ship is in Solarium mode.
Now let's backtrack to the previous stop in Grand Cayman. We free styled our own excursion and walked to the Museum that is housed in the old court house. It was small but very well done. Well worth it for  $8. Also in walking distance is the legislative building and library. After the walk we took a taxi to the public beach on 7 mile beach. ($6 each way). You can rent chairs with an umbrella for $20 and local food vendors are close by.  Really only beer is available there besides the food. You could walk down either direction and eat and drink at the neighboring hotels.  All in all it was a great sunny day exploring and relaxing on our own time. We did all that by 3pm well ahead of the last 4:15 tender. 
I will take some photos tomorrow as we venture to Cartagena and the hop on hop off bus.  Anyone have any experience with that in this city?
Enjoy life!

Hello again, it's been a while as I last blogged probably in 2019 as a platinum and now am on the cusp of Diamond Plus.
This is our first Radiance Class sailing and will try to touch on the how the sailing is going compared to the topics discussed often in the other sections of the boards.
First off. Embarkation was really tough. The coast guard did a thorough inspection that delayed boarding until after noon. Leaving Tampa was a first for us and parking was right in front of the terminal but the chain link fence was closed due to the inspection. Clearly the size of the terminal with limited seating meant people were kept away. Needless to say, some people were up in arms about the start but hey, glad to know the ship was in top shape!
We had the Key for the first time so we enjoyed the sit down lunch and checked bags. It was all fairly smooth.
We do like big ships but the Radiance class does well for it's size. Absolutely Love the tons of outdoor seating for the Windjammer. We do stay away from indoor crowds and this is a very big plus.  Also the lounges seem larger and more open. 
Dinner is still on the old menu and our personal experience with the food and staff is again top notch.  Unfortunately, there are the biggest lines for My time dining I have seen each of the three days. I am not sure what the issue is but it's impossible to get through the fifth floor entrance without weaving through the multiple lines back past the stair cases. It took a day to figure out that the unstaffed 6th floor entrance was the work around. Still, there is much complaining in the halls.
The bottom line is that staffing seems thin but everyone working is doing their very best. It may be that, as mentioned by the CD, over half the people sailing are top tier status, the most for this ship ever and that may be putting additional strain on staff.
Tomorrow, day 4, is a sea day heading to Colombia. I will catch up on  Grand Cayman and other details. Let me know if you have any questions and I will try to answer them. 
Oh- on Serenade, Starlink has put the zoom in Vroom. Speeds around the ship so far are averaging  25 to 40 meg down loads but right now it's at 87

As I said above, we had mixed results all during the same meal !  😂
I got the half portion and Dan got the full portion.  😏

Have you looked at the menus in the app?  I wanna say ala carte prices are there.

Its no longer a lot of food, in my brother's opinion. With the $28.99 you can do a la carte or prefix. The current prefix will get you an app, a roll and dessert. It will only be a lot of food if you order the bowls or udon. They cut the sushi in half now so effectively you get a roll of 8 pieces that count as your 2 large selections.

I believe that is the price for the "regular" combo package during lunch. Certain appetizers may be an additional cost. Also, you can always order a-la-carte items as well like sushi rolls and drinks at an additional cost.

 
This was our lunch menu on Odyssey back in FEB 2022... The exact menu and set up of the restaurants ("Izumi" and/or "Teppanyaki") may be different depending on your ship class, but at least this gives you a very rough idea.
We were able to pick our appetizers, meal (one of the 7 choices here), and dessert from the areas I circled. The other appetizers were at additional cost if desired.

I don't know anything about the Citi card you referenced so I don't know how they compare. What I do like about the Royal card is..I'm going to cruise anyway, might as well get something extra for it. The dollars I spend on booking a cruise and excursions going toward a future free/discounted cruise or OBC is really helpful for maximizing vacations and I'm in no rush to pile them on.