SweetHomeLady

Here is Symphony's Thermal Suite:
Doors on left are the sauna and steam room.  Cool down shower through the black opening further down.  No pools or hot tubs.  

Could someone explain to me a little bit further, what this is exactly?   All that I can find on the website is that it sensory experience where hot and cold fuse to de-stress.   I wish that they would expand on this just a little bit, lol.    I assume that it includes  a sauna/ steam room... maybe hot tub... but where is the cold... Is there a cold pool .  When you buy a pass for this, is it access to a 'use on your own' basis, anytime during the day?   Thanks for the info and sorry for all of the newbie questions! ?  -Julie 

I always take an analogue watch and ensure this is set to ship's time so I can still use my and phone and not worry about automatic time changes. 

I see many people and I am one of them just put what they want on their plate and then cover their meal with another clean plate while they bring it back to their room.  Works out fine, no dirty looks and you can enjoy your full breakfast on the balcony without the commotion of finding a seat I'm the windjammer

We are on Ovation in August.  I'm realizing we will not need as much cold weather gear as originally planned.  I already have our trip on my weather app.   It is supposed to be 78 degrees in Juneau today!  When I booked this trip some 500+ days out I pictured us bundled up in snow gear.   I'm leaving the snow gear at home and packing lots of light layers.  

Everyone says "layers", but here's my recommendation for what that actually means:
Outer waterproof layer. This should be lightweight waterproof jacket that adds no protection from cold, just keeps you dry. Fleece jacket/sweater. This layer is to keep you warm. Hoodie can be used too T-shirt layer This way, you can take off or add back layers as the weather dictates. 
In terms of how much to pack, you should plan on a t-shirt every day, but 1-2 fleece/sweater and 1 waterproof layer.

I initially booked a spacious balcony that departs in August. I received my Royal up bid request  for a Grand Suite on June 18th.  I submitted it the same day and received an acceptance of my bid the following day ?.  It's a surprise for my son's 16th birthday and my nephew is coming along too, so the extra room will be welcome.   

We sail on Majesty 7/3. Got acceptance email on 6/19... so 14 days out? Coincidentally, it was also the last day Cuba cruisers could cancel for full refund so I suspect we benefited from that. 

I just found out my bid was accepted yesterday 10 days before my cruise!

1) Ask ahead of time for a pack n' play for the baby to sleep in.
2) Go to the nursery first thing on the ship and get registered and make reservations. When we went on Liberty, we were able to make 3 reservations to begin with, and then on day 3 could make more. Don't count on drop-in - it was rarely available to us.
3) Check and see if your ship has restrictions on the pool (likely) - but for us, Liberty allowed our 15 month old on the splash pad. I "think* (but double check me!!) - they had swim diapers available at the pool station. I brought some, but it was nice to know if I needed another one, I didn't have to run back to the room.
4) They also had an area during the day (usually the teen area) - where they put out toddler toys for the babies to play with. It was noted in the Cruise Compass - so look for that.
5) We arranged with our dining servers to  have fruit and crackers on the table when we arrived so baby didn't have to wait to eat something. That was really, really nice.
6) Our daughter didn't respect "ship time" and we spent a LOT of very early mornings wandering the ship. We knew ALL the cleaning staff on the 4am shift! LOL. She also enjoyed entertaining all the early risers in the coffee shop - where we'd go to get snacks that early in the morning.
7) If you are traveling with family, see about recruiting for the nap times. I spent A LOT of isolated time in the cabin with my daughter who was still napping twice a day. While it was quiet, and nice, it was very isolating when everyone else was off having fun. See if you can trade off with the others. 
8 ) pack twice as many diapers and wipes as you think you'll need. Trust me on this. (Also - take the stinky diapers to the hallway trash - which gets emptied more frequently than your stateroom trash. It also doesn't hurt to pack a little air freshener!)
9) You can take cartons of milk from the Windjammer to keep in the room. Also, utilize the complimentary continental breakfast room service for milk delivery in the morning if your baby is a big milk drinker. We also had them bring bananas and pastries. 
10) I didn't use a stroller much on the ship - just used the baby carrier. This made it very flexible for us to take the stairs - AND - I may be the first person to ever lose weight on cruise carrying a 22lb toddler around and up and down stairs! If you do take a stroller - get a cheap umbrella or one of the ones that folds up the size of a carry-on suitcase. The big strollers take up too much space and are hard to maneuver. 
Good luck, and have fun!

First  "cruise" was on one of the smallest Navy ships...a destroyer escort. That sucker rocked so hard, there were times the mast almost touched the ocean.
First pleasure cruise was a 2 night cruise to nowhere on a Carnival ship. Second cruise was a Canada cruise also on Carnival. That was SO bad and corporate was SO uncaring and unhelpful that we vowed to never put another penny into their coffers. So we switched to Royal in 2010. We have never been disappointed with RCL and never looked back. 
But still haven't done Hawaii or the Med. At least having the bucket list gives us something to look forward to.

My first cruise was a shakedown cruise on a brand new warship, USS Biddle (DLG/CG 34)

I work in London. If you want my advice stay in a new ish hotel. Some of the older ones are horrific. Dorsett have a good one right by Aldgate tube station that is new and pretty reasonable. We use booking.com normally. Avoid any included breakfast anywhere that are all crap. Find a decent place out and about, I’d recommend ‘the breakfast club’ but tables can only be booked during the week, weekends is a 40 min wait. Being near a tube station is key. 10 min walk is the furthest you can get from a tube so this is not near! Feel free to ask any other question for honest response ❤️

Hush Silent Party is the best! My husband and I did this with our adult sons (20 & 19). It is so much fun, even if you just want to people watch and listen to some music. Your headsets are color coded to the music you are listening to - either blue or green. You can switch at any time to listen what the other DJ is playing. It seems as if the DJs try to out do it each other for more listeners, so they are constantly changing up the play selection. Hard to say exactly how many songs they play - it's more like how many songs can they get in during the specified time. That said it is even fun to just take off your headset and listen to some very bad vocals from everyone singing along! ?  There is dancing on the dance floor and dancing on the sidelines. Everyone just kind of does their own thing. Put on your dancing shoes, encourage your husband to go and have fun! You won't regret it! 
 

I like to wear a sundress to dinner one night, maybe with a shawl or shrug, then wear it again the next day on the ship or in port.  Cuts down on my packing.  However, unless you are worried about airline baggage fees I say take as much as you want.  Enjoy your cruise!

On my last cruise I had the Key Program out of Lauderdale. I too had a 1200 show, which I treated more like a suggestion than a rule, so I ended up at the port at 1030 and looked for the sign that showed the Key entrance...we were probably the first 10 in the line, (not really a line) and checked in within 2 minutes, my wife needed a new picture, and went up to the Key area within 5 minutes - easy-peasy. Was on the ship by 1115 and embarked just behind Pinnacles and Suites. Was at Chops by 1200 and had a very nice lunch.

Yes.  Just show up whenever you want.  Those check-in times are fake news.  They do it to try and control the check-in crowds but they do not enforce those times.  I’d recommend arriving at the port around 10:30.  That will give you plenty of time to enjoy your Chops (or Jamie’s) embarkation lunch.  Happy sailing !

I like to wear a sundress to dinner one night, maybe with a shawl or shrug, then wear it again the next day on the ship or in port.  Cuts down on my packing.  However, unless you are worried about airline baggage fees I say take as much as you want.  Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks, Matt. This being our first cruise, I think we'll pass on The Key and see whether we wish we had it. I doubt we will. Under 300 days to go! 'Waiting for our renewed passports to arrive in the mail. I'm really happy to have this to look forward to! This is the magnet photo that will be on our cabin door, taken on our wedding day, 16 years ago this month. That's my U.S. Navy veteran who believes he never wants to set foot on a ship again. . . .  but he doesn't want me to go alone (Yeah, sure!). ? 

Ditto!

Cruising Sensei

Yes, you get double points going through the TA if you use the RCL card.  That's how I spread out my payments for our cruises.  I'll email my TA and have them toss another payment on that card, then I bill pay it monthly.  

Exactly how we do it !

My wife and I each got 15,000 point bonuses last year so ended up with $300 on board credit. 
Interesting question that I cannot answer re paying the travel agent. If the charge is to the agent rather than to Royal directly, could be a gray area.

The actual charge comes from  Royal Caribbean, not the travel agent. We do this 100% of the time.  Always double points.