Snotarni

Only once...  I moved up from an Interior to a Virtual Balcony on Navigator

When I sail on a ship with a CK it does become my go to dinner venue for most nights.  Some nights the CK menu doesn't excite me but that's personal right?  Another person may declare that same menu their favorite.  
The filet is must try if you are a steak person.  Usually as good and most of the time better than Chops.
In general I find CK in between the MDR and specialty dining.  Some nights the menu and food is on par with specialty dining and some nights the menu and food is closer to the MDR but again that's personal.  Service and ambiance is always better than the MDR.
I do enjoy the CK breakfast even though the menu is the same everyday.  I have my favorites I cycle through.  
Lunch is more hit & miss in the CK but again that's personal.  I've grown to enjoy some of the flatbreads offered at lunch more than I did a few years ago.  
CK menus will be available in the app before sailing so look them over and use that to guide what nights you feel like being in the CK vs. other options.  Sometimes daily menus change at the last minute so don't take what you see in the app as written in stone.

It really depends on what you like.  Some eat there every night, some never do, some vary it between CK, MDR, and specialty, depending on what the menu is.  For our family, there are some definite menu favourites in CK that I would never pass up for specialty.  I never venture into the MDR if I have access to CK.  The venue is more intimate, service is similar to the old days of cruising before the MDR became almost like a production line.  CK meals are made when you order them, not pre-cooked hours ahead of time and kept warm.  Also, the food is much more flavourful and quality is better.
Most definitely!  They have full breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus.  Breakfast is the same each day, similar to eating in the MDR for breakfast, but way better quality.  I love their French Toast!  Lunch menu is my least favourite in CK out of all the menus.  It is still good, but it is not changed daily like dinner.  It switches about half way through the sailing.
CK has a lot of specialty restaurant menu items on their menu throughout the week.  In most cases, comparing apples to apples, they do it better than specialty.
You can most definitely order as much or as little as you want lol.
You will love the CK staff.  As I mentioned before, it is a more intimate venue than the MDR.  They actually have more time to spend with you in CK.
Reservations are required for dinner.  I actually don't know if they take reservations for lunch or breakfast (unless you are star).  It does get busy on sea days, but not to the point where you are waiting super long for a table.  You might have to wait 10-15 mins at the most, at least that has been my experience with breakfast.  When that does happen, go to the suite lounge and enjoy a morning coffee and snacks while you wait.  There's nothing more pleasant to start the day!

Whew! Good point to not automatically freak out! Just read this in a Facebook group: 
 
Thought of the day, DO NOT PANIC!  We are beginning to wind down our amazing cruise on Adventure of the Seas with Royal Caribbean.  We departed from Nassau Bahamas on Saturday and have enjoyed a very relaxing time.  One requirement of re-entry to the United States is a negative Covid test.  Royal Caribbean International is currently offering this service to all passengers departing from the Bahamas.
We took our tests this morning and went on about our day at sea heading to Freeport as our last port of call.  The testing process was very simple by signing up via an email.  We were in and out in under 8 minutes.  Woohoo. Cocktail time with our favorite bartender in Schooner Lounge with some 90’s Trivia. 
A few minutes into trivia, some ship’s officers showed up and spoke to Tim for a moment and he said he was going to the cabin.  I was a bit puzzled until another officer approached me.  He said Tim’s Covid test was positive and he needed to go back to our quarters.  I was simply blown the $&@) away!  I dashed right up to the cabin.  Tim confirmed what they said and we both were in shock.  Here we are on a full day at sea, hundreds of miles from home, and totally freaking.  15 minutes later a guy from medical shows up to perform a PCR test, the one that takes a sample of your brain according to Tim. 
The phone rang while we were waiting.  I answered and the voice on the other end said he was chief of security.  I put Tim on and he walked him through some things on his phone to set up contract tracing.  I’m still freaking that we are going to be confined to our cabin, or confined to medical.  F$&@!!! OMG we are going to be on the news! 
I finally checked my email and my results were negative.  Woohoo!  I can make a mad dash to the bar for a cocktail before they can catch me.  I wasn’t even told to stay in the room.  I get to the bar and order drinks.  A few minutes later Tim shows up.  Omg, he broke out of jail.  I just knew they would find him and make him walk the plank.  Luckily the results of his PCR test came back NEGATIVE!  What a sigh of relief. 
Moral of the story, stay calm and DO NOT PANIC!  We can’t thank Royal Caribbean International for taking amazing care of us during an extremely emotional time.  Loyal to Royal!

But you can drop it off the day of the cruise.

9 now...  ?....   lots of unmitigated hope going on.

How is it possible to type " a 3 hr tour" and not type it twice? 
 

Until they got the emergency bells tonight and they all had to report to their muster stations! Luckily it was a false alarm, but it sounded scary, from what people described! (Happened while they were in the pub (singing "Alice", of course).

Just saw this...
CNBC: Two guests aboard Royal Caribbean cruise test positive for Covid.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/24/two-guests-aboard-royal-caribbean-cruise-test-positive-for-covid.html
I wonder if Matt has some first hand insights to report from the passenger perspective. 

The only downside is that you can’t speak directly to Royal. However if you have a great TA (like @Sharla) that’s not an issue. She’s lightening fast! 
 
I used to book through RC. I went the TA route when we were looking at booking odyssey for Italy/Greece. With hotels, flights etc., I didn’t want to mess with it plus I wanted someone in my corner if something happened pre-cruise, cruise, post-cruise etc. 
We booked a 3 night on Mariner to test her out (?) and haven’t looked back. 
 
The major upside to having a good TA-all this cancellation/FCC/OBC Covid garbage was handled so professionally. 
 
Last, you’re supporting a business, someone’s livelihood. It doesn’t cost you anything for their service and the benefits are numerous. 

Only once...  I moved up from an Interior to a Virtual Balcony on Navigator

Only once...  I moved up from an Interior to a Virtual Balcony on Navigator

Awesome!  Thanks!!

Obviously a gag order is in place. Good reason to choose employees as test cruisers. Hopefully all is going well and CDC representative(s) is blown away at the execution of the protocols. ?

at this point sail for the ship not the ports

Joey Tribbiani: If he doesn't like you, then this is all just a moo point.
Rachel Greene: Huh? A moo point?
Joey Tribbiani: Yeah, it's like a cow's opinion, you know, it just doesn't matter. It's "moo".

Fort Lauderdale + Caribbean = Endless Summer. Bring warm weather clothing in December.

Change:

Sept 3 - 8 2021 Explorer of the Seas TO Sept 3 - 6 Mariner of the Seas
October 8 - 11 2021 Navigator of the Seas TO October 8 - 11 Freedom of the Seas
 
Add:
October 1 - 9 2022  Explorer of the Seas
 
Thanks!
 
 

9 now...  ?....   lots of unmitigated hope going on.

I believe Royal is attempting to mitigate their legal risks by "encouraging" vaccine eligible guests to get their shots prior to sailing.  Being a profit-seeking business in an industry with a target on their backs if a COVID case outbreak were to occur on any sailings in the near term, I can't blame them for making things more challenging for unvaxxed guests. They've suffered through almost 18 months of financial hell at this point and really have to do everything in their power to keep their ships sailing safely just to survive.

Eloquently put. Race, creed, sex, color, orientation or religion are not things most people want separate treatment for but this is different because it is based on risk as you pointed out. You spoke of your personal risk but I contend its also a risk to the industry. In California you can choose to build a home where it regularly experiences wildfires but you can't get fire insurance and if you can you will pay much more due to risk. When my kids were teens, their car insurance cost more, due to documented risk. If cruises end up with just a few cases onboard the news will spread like wildfire and cancellation of whole cruises will cost them millions. Especially in the first few months, they need it to go perfectly, everyone is watching. In time capacity will increase and rules relaxed but these first few months are critical to their future, they are essentially test cruises with paying customers. They don't want to tell the unvaxed they can't go, but they really don't want them to go in the beginning or at least they want very few to go all in the name of risk management. I support individual rights but I also understand that those do not override a private company's need to minimize risk at such a pivotal juncture.

I blame this on a failure of our federal government to act appropriately on the recommendations of the CDC.
We should have had a Federal mandate to mask, not let each state develop a hodge podge of regulations.
We should have made testing mandatory to fly domestically early on, we should now have a negative test result or proof of vaccination required to fly domestically today.
The federal government should have followed the science, much like your right to smoke does not eclipse my right to clean air, that is why all federal buildings have a ban on smoking and it is restricted to not within 50 ft of any and all entrances on federal property.
JMHO and you have a right to disagree

Unfortunately that all means we just keep on sitting in limbo because our government has reached the point where it so monumentally huge and bureaucratic that absolutely nothing really happens except wasting a massive amount of time and energy ?
I'm not even sure I know whether my cruise in about 30 days is actually supposed to be happening or not because no one really understands who's in charge and what they have agreed to.
Oh well, fingers crossed.
 
 
 

Thanks... and yeah... I tried to convince them... but they just kept asking me what dinner seating I wanted...  ?