FoxboroCruiser

I hope no one moves your abandoned towel off your pool chair.

Wow, given that review we might have to cancel our cruise next June! 😝🤔😂

My wife and I boarded Mariner Friday for our very first cruise and it has been wonderful so far. I followed all of Matt and fellow bloggers advice so far. Got the earliest checkin time. We flew in two days early. We took a Lyft to the port and arrived 40 mins prior to our embarkation time. There was a short line but not bad. Sailed through security to some chairs we sat in until time to board
 
We entered the ship right at our muster station so that was super quick!  Went to the stand by the orange dune buggy and made all of our dinner reservations. Got 6p for dinner at specialty restaurants every night!!  
 
only negative is our shore excursion tomorrow got canceled. Not a huge deal though. 
 
This is awesome!!  My wife and I are thinking this is the life. 
 
Thank you all for your advice!!!  Thanks Matt especially for all of your time and efforts. It really helped us out!

Hey all,
Long time reader and cruiser with Royal Caribbean and reader of this blog and love every minute onboard their ships.
I was getting tired of trying to compare different options available on each ship and between suites and The Key. I've been working on this for a couple of weeks which started out for just myself, but turned into something more when some friends and fellow cruisers started to want more info and it's just grown and grown. 🙂
I hope the website https://rc.cruises will be helpful for everyone who cruises with Royal and needs to compare different ships, suites, The Key, etc.
You can change the different suites when you want to compare The Key vs Grand Suite, or The Key vs SEA Royal Suites without seeing unnecessary information to get a true comparison (I use this more than once a week myself! 🙂). There is also direct links to blog posts on Royal Caribbean Blog for drink packages, CocoCay, The Key, etc. (Matt said yes to using the logo which I'm very grateful to identify links to here).
Love to know what everyone thinks and any feedback, and I hope you find it as helpful for your cruise planning 😁

I am confused, the weather in the ship is always the same.  I did the Copenhagen to Iceland to Boston cruise in September.  There were not many people on desk of the ship except for looking for the northern lights.  During those times you were in close toes shoes in warm jackets with gloves to keep warm.  When we got to Iceland it was layers and rain protection (not umbrella).  Part of the excursions you were bundled up and part in a shirt and jeans.  The one thing you want to do is the Blue Lagoon.  The worse the weather the better the experience.   Welcome To Blue Lagoon Iceland Resort & Spa | Blue Lagoon Iceland

Agreed! Fun to do and very helpful late night…

Agreed! Fun to do and very helpful late night…

Agreed! Fun to do and very helpful late night…

We like to walk the various cabin decks looking at the art displays, and I’ll erase any vulgar graffiti I see on peoples boards. 

This!  All of the doors look the same.

Agreed! Fun to do and very helpful late night…

Agreed! Fun to do and very helpful late night…

Resurrecting this!
For those who have been around this community for a while, you will remember I use to post this once a month. Then it went by the wayside with Covid, and then the last two years have been so busy at work that I only managed to keep the "When is your next cruise?" thread afloat. Anyway, happy to bring back the "Happy Sailing" thread as well.
July 2023
8 - Melkaps (Liberty)
14 - Snotarni (Independence)
23 - lovetocruise2002 (Wonder)
23 - CowboyMedic (Allure)
29 - Hutcherl (Harmony)
30 - ckruetze (Symphony)
30 - Fuzzywuzzy (Brilliance)

I'm also not a gambler, but certainly understand that it is entertainment for some.  I took my family of 4 to the movies the other week, $70 for tickets and then another $60 for drinks, popcorn candy etc.  it was over in 2 hours and I retained nothing but the experience of seeing the movie that will stream in 90 days.  It was something to do that made us smile.  So it is for the casino except at the movies I don't even have the slimmest chance of leaving with more than I came with.
All entertainment generally has a cost of admission.  I think the vast majority of casino goers understand that and choose the entertainment that makes them happy.

Well then if you have any OBC left, on the last night go to the casino and charge whatever is left to your casino account, then you can cash it out as cash.

Weather forecast looks great for our day in Halifax.
Can't wait to walk around that wonderful city again.

Liberty's first trip to Halifax today.
 

I know a bit early here but when do you think 2025 Bermuda sailings from NJ will be released? Looking to book super early as lately we have gotten some really good deals booking super early. 

This is refreshing.  A first time poster seeking good information instead of just a complaint.  Welcome and enjoy your cruise to Barcelona.

11 days to go.  Yippee!

We just got off Mariner.  The attendant was very attentive.  On day one he asked if we preferred morning or evening and we told him we really did not care - whatever was easiest for him.  I guess evenings must have proven to be the easiest b/c that is what we ended up with.  Truly, it is entirely immaterial to us when they clean the room.  We tidied up the bed in the AM so it wasn't a mess and other than that, there was really no impact to us whatsoever.

Some advice working with a travel agent.  Do not trust them 100%.  Do your research and have an idea of what you want and prices going in.  Just look and figure out what you want on the RCL site and what it will cost. Then work with the travel agent(s) to do the booking.  Do the same for hotels and flights.  I book a lot of flights with RCL and Celebrity, but I am always checking prices with Google Flights and the on the airline website.  The best person to protect you is you.

The most I ever talked to a captain on a cruise was Serenade a year ago. He came with his wife to the suite lounge twice.

People like their captains, but I've never felt a cruise was better or worse because of the captain.

I pretty much book cruises as soon as they come available.  Those seem to be the best prices.   If the prices drop at a later date, you can readjust your price.  As long as it is before final pymt.   The more cabins that get booked the more the prices increase.  Book early. 

I think good deals can still be had even on shorter notice.  Everyone is wanting the newest and biggest ships and I'm over here booking older ships with no care as to the time of year.  If its a good deal and it gets us on the water I'm booking it.  We did just book a Grand Suite Large Balcony on Anthem for next year and while it might have been more expensive, it was the last suite for the sailing and that is one of my bucket list cruises.  
It just boils down to how flexible you are and what exactly you want.  People are spending money like their pants are on fire right now, even buying cars at 15 percent interest not to mention the mortgage rates.  When people are out of money or tired of giving it all away, prices will eventually come back down.