MikeK

Living in Houston is not much different than Florida when it comes to climate and hurricanes. Our Generac is a life saver. Funny enough, the first time it was really tested was the snowpocalypse last February when the Texas electrical grid collapsed. I'm a Gulf Coast girl, so I'll take 90+ degrees and 100+ mph winds over snow and ice any day. 😆  

Good!!..Stay out of my swamp!
I like the heat and the humidity and all the creepy crawly things.

Lived in Fl all my life so I guess I'm used to it.  There is a new invention call air conditioning.  Every car, business, and home have it.  We live inland some so the hurricanes (when and if they hit} are usually not as strong as on the coast.  If you invest in a whole house generator you have beat the hurricane thingie by about 90%.  It's all about how you are prepared.

Lived in Fl all my life so I guess I'm used to it.  There is a new invention call air conditioning.  Every car, business, and home have it.  We live inland some so the hurricanes (when and if they hit} are usually not as strong as on the coast.  If you invest in a whole house generator you have beat the hurricane thingie by about 90%.  It's all about how you are prepared.

Lived in Fl all my life so I guess I'm used to it.  There is a new invention call air conditioning.  Every car, business, and home have it.  We live inland some so the hurricanes (when and if they hit} are usually not as strong as on the coast.  If you invest in a whole house generator you have beat the hurricane thingie by about 90%.  It's all about how you are prepared.

Lived in Fl all my life so I guess I'm used to it.  There is a new invention call air conditioning.  Every car, business, and home have it.  We live inland some so the hurricanes (when and if they hit} are usually not as strong as on the coast.  If you invest in a whole house generator you have beat the hurricane thingie by about 90%.  It's all about how you are prepared.

Lived in Fl all my life so I guess I'm used to it.  There is a new invention call air conditioning.  Every car, business, and home have it.  We live inland some so the hurricanes (when and if they hit} are usually not as strong as on the coast.  If you invest in a whole house generator you have beat the hurricane thingie by about 90%.  It's all about how you are prepared.

We fell into a black hole yesterday that we knew to avoid…. 
It’s our first time on an Oasis class ship and when we boarded yesterday we started to plan our whole week and lock down everything onboard that isn’t offered on smaller class ships.  
 
We forgot an important rule:  Don’t try to do it all in one week. 

After dinner last night we gave ourselves a reality check and feel much better  
 
 

Another first is to make sure you have the correct paperwork with you for check in.  A passport is ideal,  if no passport then you will need a CERTIFIED copy of your birth certificate (no copies from your computer printer).  If you have a name change, like marriage,  then you will also need a certified copy of the marriage license to show your legal name change.  The combo of birth certificate and marriage license must match the name you gave when signing up for the cruise (the name Royal Caribbean has on their manifest)   Not trying to scare you but this is important for getting on the ship.  Then of course you will need to have your vaccine cards with your covid test results
 

Number one on the list is to get to the port at least a day early.   If there is a flight delay or your driving and car breaks down etc the ship will not wait for you.  So start looking into a hotel reservation now.  What kind of cabin your in will help with advice from this board.  I'm sure you will get some excellent advice from this blog.
 

Gotcha! Yeah those facing the sports deck are about as far from the elevators as you can get on 17. If you hate that walk, don't ever get an aquatheater suite! 😆

I was speaking the back of the ship relative to deck 17.   We try to get cabins close to the elevators.  The last time we were in a CLS was near the elevator so looking at the walk from the elevators to the back of deck  17 seemed like it went forever.

On our Oasis sailing a few weeks ago, the tables were all open, everyone was wearing a mask and it was busy.  Craps was a go as well and the poker table got busy every night around 11pm.  You could drink while playing but basically had to take your mask off, drink, mask on, repeat.  It was so much more enjoyable with the no smoking rule.

If you have ANY concerns about where you may end up, I say skip the Royal Up program.  

My wife and I enjoy the anticipation of both GTY cabins and Royal Ups, but that is because we're cheap thrifty, and on most cruises we genuinely do not care where our cabins are.  However, we booked our first aft balcony for our 2023 Europe sailing, and there is no way we will risk that by bidding on a Royal Up.
I say if you are happy with your current cabin and are concerned about getting a bad location, don't buy into the Royal Up hype.

Jacki York  @  MEI has been great for us. She helped w/ save $1000 on our Christmas 2021 cruise on Allure and helped w/ using  a number of FCC's we had.

I just, as in the last 20 minutes, booked a JS on Liberty for Thanksgiving week. It was the same price as a They-Pick Balcony so I jumped on it! This will be our first time in a JS, so I'm excited to see the differences. 

We always carry at least $100 per day in cash.  Out of that, $100 is in small denomination bills, $5 and $1, specifically for tipping.

Having done nothing but GS since our first cruise, I think they are worth it for the free room service (even from the MDR!), concierge desk, happy hour drinks, reserved seating section in the theater and ice rink, and the expedited boarding and debarkation.  Add to that the extra room in the cabin and the MASSIVE bathroom I think they are absolutely worth a splurge.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/06/19/suite-royal-caribbean-worth-it
 
As long as your budget is good with it, the only "con" is you may never want to go back to any other class of cabin again

I sailed last month and used a CVS rapid test.   Had no problems!

Ok @najnad…let me be the one to address the elephant in the room. Apparently this is going to be your ‘first time suite cruise’. The most important question you need to ask is, “Will I get hooked on the suites and find it difficult to go back?” 
It’s a question with a simple answer…yes. Welcome to the forums. Enjoy your cruise…enjoy the suite life!😂

After spending 1000s on a cruise, how much can you save bringing your own water?   Spending a little extra for water isnt going to break ya.  Now I can see maybe bringing your own bottle of wine.
 
 

If you're going to pay the money to get a full sized BC I would just go ahead and get a passport. It's much more useful! 

Like ChrisK said,  you are the one that's paying for the vacation, not the ones that turn their nose up because you are not dressed to their standard.  Most nights I dress in long pants (jeans) and a button up shirt (mostly to keep the wife happy)  You will see everything from shorts, flip flops and tee shirts to Tuxedos.  Your on vacation,  dress like you want!