Ditchdoc

Back home and almost unpacked from this cruise.
Overall it was a good trip.
For Christmas, the Centrum was very nicely decorated. Most all the crew members wore Santa hats. Many of the guests wore Christmas themed clothing. A lot of cabin doors were decorated.
The weather was great. We got out before the dramatic Arctic chill hit most of the US and we got back just in time for warmer temperatures at home. Most every day during the cruise the temps were in the 70s and 80s.
We attempted to get photos taken but the waits were long and the end results were not good enough to take advantage of even though we had some free ones we could get.
Overall, the food was very good. There were a few duds but considering how much food and the variety available, I would not complain.
As usual, there are always a few guests that could stand to have more patience and consideration.
Jewel was near capacity and probably the most balanced group I have seen with young children, teens, family's and older adults.
Entertainment was somewhat lacking I thought. There was a 4 member band, Kronos, that were excellent but there play list was almost the same every time they played. There was a 3 piece Latin group and a classic violin and guitar duo. That was it. The rest of the entertainment was crew members trying to engage people in trivia and karaoke.
The RC app was helpful at times. Other time it was not up to date with schedules/events and times were wrong. It has a lot of potential but I miss the Cruise Compass.
I missed some of the attentiveness of past cruises. Nothing major but things like Windjammer staff offer to get you get you water, coffee or refills. This just does not happen much anymore.
Dinning room staff seem to be short handed. You don't see them as often, they seem to be always rushed. Service was generally timely and if something did not meet your approval, staff was eager and willing to make it right.
Jewel was tidy, clean and a good looking ship but again, lack of attention to some details was present. In the past, it seemed every opportunity in port, crew members could be seen touching up paint, cleaning windows etc. Jewel had a few rusty spots and some windows need attention. Minor stuff but things did you would not have seen ten years ago.
Yes, I am being picky and nothing was noted that would keep me from cruising RC again. It just seems RC has lost a little of its edge. Maybe its due to COVID, maybe inflation.
Cruising is still the best bang for the buck but I see and read a lot of things where cruise lines are raising prices and catering more to the wealthy.
At the end of this cruise I found myself owing about $300 just for tips. I don't begrudge the staff tips and I should have expected it but it is disheartening to think you have paid everything in advance to be hit with a sizable bill when you get off.
So that's it. My totally biased opinion. I have some other RC cruises I am looking at that are interesting to me but the general trend of decreased service and increasing prices are starting to make me look toward other types of vacations other than cruising.
 

$1000 charged = $10 credit. $10,000 = $100 credit. You have to charge in the neighborhood of $60,000 to get a buy one cruise get one free. If you have that much cash flow to make it worthwhile, good for you.

I'm sure the water will be fine. A wet suit would be over kill. Perhaps a skin (1 or 1.5mm) would be good for sun protection.
Every cenote is different. I have SCUBA dove in some of the caves. These 'sink holes' are pools of water in the jungle and the surface area varies. The edges are rough, porous rock cliffs that are surrounded by jungle. There are some that are developed with zip lines overhead, floating swim docks, picknik areas and so on. I highly suspect this is what RC will take you to.
As far as 9 hours, you will probably spend an hour or more getting there and another coming back. Most of these excursions come with lunch. Its not uncommon that along the way you get dropped off for a bit of shopping along the way.
So it will be an adventurous day with a lot of activities to keep you busy.

Good question. Obviously paid performers bring various instruments on board. If you are a beginner trumpet player and decide to practice during the cruise,  I doubt your practice sessions would be appreciated and probably terminated. On the other hand, if you are a classical violinist that plays with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and decide to entertain the masses or you are Jimmy Buffett, I suspect you would be well received.

I'm sure the water will be fine. A wet suit would be over kill. Perhaps a skin (1 or 1.5mm) would be good for sun protection.
Every cenote is different. I have SCUBA dove in some of the caves. These 'sink holes' are pools of water in the jungle and the surface area varies. The edges are rough, porous rock cliffs that are surrounded by jungle. There are some that are developed with zip lines overhead, floating swim docks, picknik areas and so on. I highly suspect this is what RC will take you to.
As far as 9 hours, you will probably spend an hour or more getting there and another coming back. Most of these excursions come with lunch. Its not uncommon that along the way you get dropped off for a bit of shopping along the way.
So it will be an adventurous day with a lot of activities to keep you busy.

Good question. Obviously paid performers bring various instruments on board. If you are a beginner trumpet player and decide to practice during the cruise,  I doubt your practice sessions would be appreciated and probably terminated. On the other hand, if you are a classical violinist that plays with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and decide to entertain the masses or you are Jimmy Buffett, I suspect you would be well received.

Good question. Obviously paid performers bring various instruments on board. If you are a beginner trumpet player and decide to practice during the cruise,  I doubt your practice sessions would be appreciated and probably terminated. On the other hand, if you are a classical violinist that plays with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and decide to entertain the masses or you are Jimmy Buffett, I suspect you would be well received.

I'm sure the water will be fine. A wet suit would be over kill. Perhaps a skin (1 or 1.5mm) would be good for sun protection.
Every cenote is different. I have SCUBA dove in some of the caves. These 'sink holes' are pools of water in the jungle and the surface area varies. The edges are rough, porous rock cliffs that are surrounded by jungle. There are some that are developed with zip lines overhead, floating swim docks, picknik areas and so on. I highly suspect this is what RC will take you to.
As far as 9 hours, you will probably spend an hour or more getting there and another coming back. Most of these excursions come with lunch. Its not uncommon that along the way you get dropped off for a bit of shopping along the way.
So it will be an adventurous day with a lot of activities to keep you busy.

Add Odyssey and Wonder for twenty six active ships.   
Of the 26 ships that are carrying passengers today I am missing 3 ships.
So 23 ships of the current active fleet of ships in production (not including Icon or Utopia obviously, or ships that are no longer in the fleet).  If you include former ships add a couple to that.  
I had bookings on them all but the pandemic messed me up. 

I am sure I do not hold the highest but this is the list that I have had the pleasure to cruise on in my 39 years:
Adventure of the Seas (1)
Allure of the Seas (1)
Brilliance of the Seas (2)
Empress of the Seas (1)
Freedom of the Seas (1)
Harmony of the Seas (1)
Independence of the Seas (1)
Jewel of the Seas (2)
Liberty of the Seas (1)
Mariner of the Seas (3) All West Coast
Navigator of the Seas (4) All to Mexico
Oasis of the Seas (1)
Ovation of the Seas (1)
Radiance of the Seas (2)
Song of Norway (1) 1983
Serenade of the Seas (1)
Symphony of the Seas (1)
Vision of the Seas (2)
Voyager of the Seas (1)
 

I think Royal Caribbean currently has 24 ships in service.
I got to looking at my history and determined I have been on 11 different RC ships.
Then I determined 3 of the ships have been sold to other cruise lines including Empress, Legend and Majesty.
So I have only been on 8 of the current ships.
I thought it would be (for us anyway) a somewhat lofty goal to sail at least once on every current ship so only 16 more (17 with Icon coming on line) to go :).
I searched around the web for a bit to see if anyone was claiming to have sailed the entire fleet but did not find anything. I am sure there are a few out there somewhere. Maybe even here.
 
The current fleet includes:
Adventure of the Seas
Allure of the Seas
Anthem of the Seas
Brilliance of the Seas
Enchantment of the Seas
Explorer of the Seas
Freedom of the Seas
Grandeur of the Seas
Harmony of the Seas
Independence of the Seas
Jewel of the Seas
Liberty of the Seas
Mariner of the Seas
Navigator of the Seas
Oasis of the Seas
Ovation of the Seas
Quantum of the Seas
Radiance of the Seas
Rhapsody of the Seas
Serenade of the Seas
Spectrum of the Seas
Symphony of the Seas
Vision of the Seas
Voyager of the Seas

We did New Years on Harmony for 2020. We enjoyed it. New Years was celebrated ship wide. I can not say  what crowds were like at the other venues. Other than the promenade, I think the next biggest party was up on the pool deck, near the big screen TV. Next were some of the larger lounges and on down to most anywhere people could gather.
We went to the promenade, maybe 2 hours early, and found seats at one of the shops right in front of the band. Our backs were pretty well covered and as midnight approached, the crowd grew and got crazy in front of us. We were pretty well protected and were able to get an occasional drink. I felt bad for the wait staff trying to navigate the press of people and deliver midnight favors and champagne. None of this was much of a surprise and we were fortunate to secure a relatively secure spot in the middle of the madness. Crowds broke up pretty quickly after midnight and we were able to bar hop and dance a little before calling it a night.
As we all know, it was late January, early February 2020 when  we first started hearing about COVID. When we got home, both of us suffered somewhat unusual respiratory issues. Not hospital serious and we got over it in a couple of weeks. We still wonder if we were on the leading edge of COVID cases due to that trip, packed with a thousand others on the promenade from who knows where.
Anyway, we had a great time and this Christmas sailing is our first time cruising since then.
My best advise, find you spot somewhere you think you will like, get there early and enjoy.

We will be on Jewel of the Seas Dec 22 — Dec 31.
We have sailed during the holidays before but never on Christmas day.
We are taking Santa hats, red/green apparel, door decoration, battery powered lights etc. We hope for it to be a festive occasion.
If anyone has any input/feedback on things to take or do for the occasion, I'm all antlers ..... err..... ears.
Afterwards, I'll try to come back here and relay some our thoughts and experiences and perhaps a photo or two.
Thanks in advance ... 17 days and counting down ...
 

We will be on Jewel of the Seas Dec 22 — Dec 31.
We have sailed during the holidays before but never on Christmas day.
We are taking Santa hats, red/green apparel, door decoration, battery powered lights etc. We hope for it to be a festive occasion.
If anyone has any input/feedback on things to take or do for the occasion, I'm all antlers ..... err..... ears.
Afterwards, I'll try to come back here and relay some our thoughts and experiences and perhaps a photo or two.
Thanks in advance ... 17 days and counting down ...
 

We will be on Jewel of the Seas Dec 22 — Dec 31.
We have sailed during the holidays before but never on Christmas day.
We are taking Santa hats, red/green apparel, door decoration, battery powered lights etc. We hope for it to be a festive occasion.
If anyone has any input/feedback on things to take or do for the occasion, I'm all antlers ..... err..... ears.
Afterwards, I'll try to come back here and relay some our thoughts and experiences and perhaps a photo or two.
Thanks in advance ... 17 days and counting down ...
 

1) Sunny days
2) Calm seas
3) Spouse
4) Friendly people
5) Wine

Only hurricanes last all day/week.
 
There .... feel better 😝

1) Sunny days
2) Calm seas
3) Spouse
4) Friendly people
5) Wine

1) Sunny days
2) Calm seas
3) Spouse
4) Friendly people
5) Wine

1) Sunny days
2) Calm seas
3) Spouse
4) Friendly people
5) Wine

On the subject of magnet hooks.
Many of these magnets are STRONG. They will snap together at light speed and it will take a large pair of pliers and a vise to separate them. If you are unfortunate enough to get a bit of skin between them when they mate, they will pinch it off leaving you bloody and cussing.
Moral of the story, keep them separated. This is best done by buying suitable screw top plastic containers just big enough to hold one magnetic hook. These containers can be found in hobby stores etc.
Moral of the story, again, keep them away from each other at all times.
On a side note.
In our home, our full, unfinished basement serves in part as a home gym and there are metal columns as well as air conditioning ducts that make great places to hang exercise equipment using the magnetic hooks. There are no doubt many uses for these under the right circumstances.

1) Sunny days
2) Calm seas
3) Spouse
4) Friendly people
5) Wine

1) Sunny days
2) Calm seas
3) Spouse
4) Friendly people
5) Wine

1) Sunny days
2) Calm seas
3) Spouse
4) Friendly people
5) Wine