Srp431

Thanks for the cruise compass always a joy to read 

Just off Mariner, and dress was not enforced in the main dining room at all. On "Dress Your Best" night, adult men were being let in wearing tshirts, sloppy cargo shorts and flip flops. I would say more than half the dining room was not participating in any sort of formality. It was kind of a bummer honestly, because I was looking forward to it, and felt like my feet could've done without the 4 inch heels after all the stair climbing and dancing I did that night.

Any stateroom on a RCCL cruise ship is ok with me

Day 1 MDR menu.

As an example of how complicated the whole thing is, here's what just happened to me:
I'm in a Jr Suite on an upcoming cruise. All suites of all types have been sold out for 6 months.
At 58 days, RoyalUp became available and I bid the minimum for a GS. At 49 days, my bid was accepted. I can guarantee it wasn't my piddly bid money they wanted. They obviously wanted to free up my cabin, perhaps for someone who had bid the max for a Jr Suite. Or to accommodated an oversale or special passenger or something. Regardless, there is movement in inventory *all the time*
Personally, I always bid the minimum. If I don't get the upgrade, no worries -- I'm in a cabin I already like. If I do, I got a steal. I'm averaging 40% success so far!

Love the shirts and I'm following as well

There has been a New York Strip on the main dining room menu every night that I have spent on a ship.  Its my husbands go-to.  It comes with Herb Butter or Peppercorn sauce but you can get that on the side.

Senor Frogs and DRINK!

This may be more trouble than its worth. You need to be on board I believe at least one hour before sail away, so if your tour runs long, or get stuck in traffic you could be denied boarding. I have never tried to get off the ship once checked in, but overall this just sounds like a missed cruise waiting to happen.

That chicken sandwich really looks good. I may have to get at least 2 of those .

I'm in the same boat on timing, which is school calendars. We normally cruise end of March during spring break and again in late June right after school gets done for the year. We also live in Minnesota, so in addition to paying high cruise fares we also deal w/ crazy airfares as well.

Just like the bacon trough in the windjammer, one of my favorites?

We sometimes use a highlighter on the paper compass to help us remember what activities we don't want to miss later

Following as well. Harmony is my favorite ship

Following looking forward to your report on the ABC islands, we're going on Freedom in March 2020

Just like the bacon trough in the windjammer, one of my favorites?

Enjoying this so far. Great tip about the Uber ride. And happy cruise day!!!

Well... today is the day! We were prepared in the usual fashion of pre-cruise excitement. For us, that means I obsess over the minutia, while typically missing the bigger picture of intentionally needing to relax ?? Our nails freshly manicured, our tans freshly sprayed, and our nose hairs freshly waxed, I was starting to feel better prepared! (Too TMI with the nose hairs? ... I’ll rein in the descriptors... But man... getting old sucks sometimes). 
 
We are sailing out of Orlando today on Harmony of the Seas. Of COURSE I’m up at 5am eagerly anticipating embarkation on one of our favorite ways to vacation. 
 
I’ll try to keep this as ‘live’ as possible! (Hence the Ron Burgundy question mark at the end of the title). I just wanted to post some tidbits that we are learning along the way. We are doing a lot of firsts on this cruise! This is our first junior suite, our first time purchasing The Key, our first time booking UDP, first cruise ship escape room, first time maybe eating in CK, first sailing out of Port Canaveral, and first time in Harmony OTS. We originally booked a New Zealand cruise during our Cuban cruise on Empress last year. We saved and saved, but ended up canceling around June due to scheduling conflicts. This cruise was a spur of the moment purchase in our desperation to take a reprieve from work... so we just said “the heck with it” and went all in with the bells and whistles (well... all the bells and whistles as far as we can afford...I’m the cheap one in the marriage by the way). 
 
Thanks for joining!

Welcome to the message boards.
The Key does not allow you to move to the front of all lines.  The Key does provide priority at specific events such as on boarding day in the terminal or at the times listed for specific activities such as FlowRiders, Zip Line and Rock Wall.  These times are set aside for guests with the Key.   It can also provide a designated seating area in some theaters that is set aside but you have to get inside the theater like everyone else to reach the reserved seating area. 
Don't confuse that with "if there is a line, the Key allows you to go to the front".  That is not the case.

Bear in mind the Crown & Anchor Society is a loyalty program.  We all had our first sailing on a Royal ship at some point.  None of us could claim to be loyal the first time we sailed with Royal.  Upon returning to sail again we could then claim loyalty and begin to reap the benefits.  The more you return the better the loyalty benefits become.    

I believe you'll be Gold once you complete your first sailing.
 

Just like the bacon trough in the windjammer, one of my favorites?

We were on FOTS 2 yrs w/ connecting balcony rooms and on Deck 9 and it was fine for our Western Caribbean cruise . No issues with wind, only glare from the sun.

Just like the bacon trough in the windjammer, one of my favorites?

I'm in the same boat on timing, which is school calendars. We normally cruise end of March during spring break and again in late June right after school gets done for the year. We also live in Minnesota, so in addition to paying high cruise fares we also deal w/ crazy airfares as well.