DublinFC

Next week, we should be able to book short cruises. I was told this information while I was on Explorer 2019.

I paid 429.52 for myself (with gratuity). I think that breaks down to $52 or so per day.

I was on the Freedom NYE sailing I nabbed it for $49 which was the lowest that I saw.
It was also BOGO50 when boarding at $70 for the first person and $35 for the second making it $105 for two or $52.50/person.

Sooooo updating, again....
Oasis 12/13/2020
Anthem 4/18/2021
Harmony 11/21/21 The RC Blog Group Cruise!
After booking Allure for 12/12/21 and reading all about the various NYE sailings my wife and I canceled Allure to find a NYE sailing that would work for our typical Christmas plans.  The sailings we wanted to book were either right before or right after Christmas and we decided not to book one since our daughter is still young.  We host Christmas every year and she loves having all the family over.  That is when I remembered the Group Cruise and thanks to Heather over at MEI we are now booked to join the Harmony sailing.  A HUGE shout out to Heather for helping us with our sailing and dealing with my all of my, what Im sure felt like, billions of questions.  Super excited to join the Group Cruise I have really enjoyed following along on the blog during the past few Group Cruises.

YIPPEE !!  First cruise....so exciting !
As Cruisegirl1976 said, a great deal depends on the time of year you are traveling/cruising.  Also a factor....whether or not you have any connections or if the flights are nonstop.  Most regular cruisers will advise that it is BEST to arrive at the port [area] a day in advance of sailing but we all know that it's not always possible to do that.  If all goes as scheduled, you will be fine.  If, however, you are traveling in the winter months and you have connecting flights somewhere, your risk is significantly increased.
Just to show you that I am complete hypocrite, next month (arguably the coldest and most unpredictable month of the year) I am traveling from DCA to Newark via Charlotte on sail day...so I have violated all of the recommendations that I just made to you. ...but I like living on the edge.  #notreally

I would never fly in on the day of a cruise.  Too many chances for things to go wrong.  My humble opinion.

Thats good information.  Especially on the OBC IF the price actually drops lower than the online purchase.  Some shopping would be warranted then!  I grabbed my drink package as soon as I could for our Dec 2020 sailing.  I like the option of cancelling and purchasing again if the price does drop.

The price may be a bit higher on those cruises that haven't opened for the package yet.  I have a June 2020 cruise that I haven't seen go higher than $59 to date (currently $48 again with this "sale").  My October 2020 cruise stays in the mid-$50s range.  But I also have a November 2020 cruise that's kicking around the $62-$65 price point.  I've lucked out with my last 7-day cruises bottoming out at $48-49 at the lowest...and that November cruise is a 4-nighter inaugural cruise so there are plenty of factors that come into play with the pricing.  Again, the rule of thumb is that if you are ok with the price you see then jump on it and reprice if it goes lower because you will miss out if it goes higher and never bottoms out again.  You can also cancel once you get on the ship if the package price is lower than online (very rarely does this happen).  You will get it refunded as OBC and then you can buy the package onboard.

It appears that the tensions are subsiding. Peace through strength prevailing.  Not all the way out of the woods but significantly better.   Last nights deliberate "missing" signifies that Tehran is not really interested in getting into a fight they can't win.  I'm hoping those that will be going  through the affected areas have  wonderful relaxing cruises... 
 

Sooooo updating, again....
Oasis 12/13/2020
Anthem 4/18/2021
Harmony 11/21/21 The RC Blog Group Cruise!
After booking Allure for 12/12/21 and reading all about the various NYE sailings my wife and I canceled Allure to find a NYE sailing that would work for our typical Christmas plans.  The sailings we wanted to book were either right before or right after Christmas and we decided not to book one since our daughter is still young.  We host Christmas every year and she loves having all the family over.  That is when I remembered the Group Cruise and thanks to Heather over at MEI we are now booked to join the Harmony sailing.  A HUGE shout out to Heather for helping us with our sailing and dealing with my all of my, what Im sure felt like, billions of questions.  Super excited to join the Group Cruise I have really enjoyed following along on the blog during the past few Group Cruises.

Yes, we replaced that with Anthem

So take out Liberty 04/25/2021?

Sooooo updating, again....
Oasis 12/13/2020
Anthem 4/18/2021
Harmony 11/21/21 The RC Blog Group Cruise!
After booking Allure for 12/12/21 and reading all about the various NYE sailings my wife and I canceled Allure to find a NYE sailing that would work for our typical Christmas plans.  The sailings we wanted to book were either right before or right after Christmas and we decided not to book one since our daughter is still young.  We host Christmas every year and she loves having all the family over.  That is when I remembered the Group Cruise and thanks to Heather over at MEI we are now booked to join the Harmony sailing.  A HUGE shout out to Heather for helping us with our sailing and dealing with my all of my, what Im sure felt like, billions of questions.  Super excited to join the Group Cruise I have really enjoyed following along on the blog during the past few Group Cruises.

I just read/skimmed the article.  I am of two minds.  I am also very new to cruising still.  I have not gone to a traditional formal night dinner on either of my sailings.  I am looking forward to experiencing it later this year during our sailing.  We are planning to dress the part during one of the formal nights in the MDR.  I do not think everyone needs to be dressed this way though.  Wearing a nice pair of dress shorts and shirt can look very nice and I feel would be right at home in the MDR.  Gym shorts and t-shirts are better suited for the buffet.  

From my understanding with the Royal Up its a gamble and you dont know if you are awarded the room you bid on until very close to your sailing.  If you want the guaranteed perks from purchasing the Key then I would go with that.  Just my thoughts on it.  I hope you end up with what you are looking for.

I just read/skimmed the article.  I am of two minds.  I am also very new to cruising still.  I have not gone to a traditional formal night dinner on either of my sailings.  I am looking forward to experiencing it later this year during our sailing.  We are planning to dress the part during one of the formal nights in the MDR.  I do not think everyone needs to be dressed this way though.  Wearing a nice pair of dress shorts and shirt can look very nice and I feel would be right at home in the MDR.  Gym shorts and t-shirts are better suited for the buffet.  

Sooooo updating, again....
Oasis 12/13/2020
Anthem 4/18/2021
Harmony 11/21/21 The RC Blog Group Cruise!
After booking Allure for 12/12/21 and reading all about the various NYE sailings my wife and I canceled Allure to find a NYE sailing that would work for our typical Christmas plans.  The sailings we wanted to book were either right before or right after Christmas and we decided not to book one since our daughter is still young.  We host Christmas every year and she loves having all the family over.  That is when I remembered the Group Cruise and thanks to Heather over at MEI we are now booked to join the Harmony sailing.  A HUGE shout out to Heather for helping us with our sailing and dealing with my all of my, what Im sure felt like, billions of questions.  Super excited to join the Group Cruise I have really enjoyed following along on the blog during the past few Group Cruises.

Hey everyone! I've loved reading the blog over the last year since I took my first cruise with my younger brother at his request. Now, I'm hooked and excited to share with you our next (now annual) cruise coming up on January 13th on the Navigator of the Seas. Our last trip was on the Mariner of the Seas and we're both very excited about going on its sister ship.
Who
The party will be the two of us (older brother and younger brother). My brother is turning 30 on this cruise and on embarkation day! When our Dad heard about our cruise plans, he decided he had to attend as well. We haven't done a vacation together as a group since we were 12 years old. ? 
Where
We're headed to Miami to board Navigator of the Seas! After Navigator, we're taking a quite jaunt up to Orlando to spend a few days at Universal Studios (another of my brother's favorite places). My wife and boys are more of the Disney type so it's a fun change of pace to head over to Universal for a few days.
How
Well, I love to vacation. After reading all the live blogs, I'm realizing I need to book Star Class at some point to REALLY get the "extra" experience. Instead, I decided to bring a little bit of star power to the rest of our vacation by (secretly) getting us a limo to bring us to the airport, upgrading our tickets to first class, and then upgrading what my Dad thinks is an inside stateroom to a suite (we have two rooms, two grand suites). Yes, I'm being "extra" as the kids say (do they still say that?) but I don't care! I'm on vacation! I'm excited to capture their reactions.
We're staying at the Hyatt Regency in Miami, flying down with Delta, and using my bevy of points, miles, and rewards to get us there. One small benefit of traveling a ton for work is making a major part of your vacation cash free. (Don't worry, this boys trip was already offset by a couples trip to keep the Mrs. happy. ?)
Then, We are starting with 3 days at Royal Pacific and then 1 day at Aventura (which none of us have stayed at yet). We wanted to add an extra day because I unfortunately need to fly from vacation to a work trip directly and instead of coming home for a day I’m going to stay an extra day. But it turns out Universal was almost all sold out... so doing a little split stay out of necessity (but still using our extra day or Express Pass). ?
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We're a mere 6 days away from starting the journey down! I'm hoping Voom holds up and I can share photos and such from the travels as we go! If it ends up being of interest, I'm also happy to share about our time at Universal Studios though I know that's a bit of an extra excursion. ?
This is only my third cruise though by brother and Dad have done a bunch more than I have. Either way, I'm excited to dive in, get to Coco Cay, and get into the "warm" water since we'll be flying down from New England. Almost there!

This is what I did on my last cruise.  I find that pouring or opening a beer is not that labor intensive so I did not worry about the extra tip.  But, when I was getting some wonderful cocktails from the bartenders (especially when I said to surprise me) I left extra tips for them.  At the end of the day I am not going to miss an extra $20-$30 over a week long voyage. 

Sooooo updating, again....
Oasis 12/13/2020
Anthem 4/18/2021
Harmony 11/21/21 The RC Blog Group Cruise!
After booking Allure for 12/12/21 and reading all about the various NYE sailings my wife and I canceled Allure to find a NYE sailing that would work for our typical Christmas plans.  The sailings we wanted to book were either right before or right after Christmas and we decided not to book one since our daughter is still young.  We host Christmas every year and she loves having all the family over.  That is when I remembered the Group Cruise and thanks to Heather over at MEI we are now booked to join the Harmony sailing.  A HUGE shout out to Heather for helping us with our sailing and dealing with my all of my, what Im sure felt like, billions of questions.  Super excited to join the Group Cruise I have really enjoyed following along on the blog during the past few Group Cruises.

Just checked our harmony July cruise. It’s $131.99!  At that price we will only get it for our high schooler. We were planning on all four of us but not at that price. I imagine it will be long lines and hot weather.  This is making an Atlantis $$ excursion look almost reasonable. 

I miss the time in 2018 when my chill island cabana was a budget busting $200. 

Not really.  Following seas.  Quite pleasant.  
Yesterday was windy so some sea spray on the balcony glass on deck 6 but the ship handled it quite well.  Shows went on normally, no motion.
No tsunami warning issued.  Even it one was they have minimal impact on the open sea with depth.  They impact shallow water and coastal areas but are often a nearly imperceptible wave on the open ocean. 

Never fear, there's a regular menu that night too ? 

Not having been to either one just yet I have to agree that I think having 2 Perfect Days might be a bit much.  Let people choose which private island experience they want.  Perfect Day has options for just chilling out or trill experience so there is argument that you can have your pick still.  See-see what happens.