Cruzinfun

We have been notified that we can board Anthem today (Sunday) beginning at 3:00. Still sailing tomorrow at 3:00.

We booked the Grand Panoramic Suite. ?

We made it, and Mimi wasn't lit when we picked her up at the airport! Pictures of the hotel to come.

Celebrity Summit in August is still happening for us. More than far enough out that I'm assuming by that time this will have blown over, or else we're in a full pandemic and the cruise industry has shut down for the year and I get my money back.

We are just back,  at Coco on Dec. 30th on Allure. We went every where Chill, Thrill, Ocean, and the Pool and the crowd felt smallest at the water park. It was $119.oo prior to cruise to book.  No where was over crowded but we only had Allure in port. Great time, might have been my favorite port! I heard one couple say that " a water park for $120.oo per person,  ridiculous, as a family of 5 were out"!  We scored the cabana early on for $549.oo and prior to sailing it was 3 grand. Why was I in the know...... this cool site. Thanks

No more pics today but saw 1887 it was great!
The shows have all been amazing. 
Since we stuffed ourselves at Jamie's at lunch we skipped the mdr. Went to Windjammer to go with a small meal... yeah i had 2 plates of Mongolian. Good thing I haven't been queasy half the day!  
 
Tomorrow is the 10 year Anniversary!  First we have  St. Maarten, we have a tour booked just me and the wife. Daughter is going with nana (aunt) and grandma and the other 2 families.  This will be the first time we can actually spend just the 2 of us. 
 
Then the vow renewal in our suite! Followed by 11 of us at the habichi table. 
 
Going to be a great day!
 
 

Royal Caribbean Vessel Erupts From Mount Saint Helens After 8,000-Mile Cruise Through Center Of Earth
https://www.theonion.com/royal-caribbean-vessel-erupts-from-mount-saint-helens-a-1841280899
? ? ?
How many points would you get for that cruise?

But, that means you're missing out on HANDS DOWN the greatest Disney princess of all time!  Sure it's retroactive, but it still counts! ?

Great start so far! Publix sandwiches are so good, I totally agree. 

Congrats on the promotion and sounds like a great cruise coming up! 

Congrats! We will be on this cruise as well and I'm very excited. 

Wowwww, I can't even convince my husband to go on another on after this summer.  ☺️

Wowwww, I can't even convince my husband to go on another on after this summer.  ☺️

Ouchhhhhh.  

I know what you are thinking.  January 2022?  Did I read that right?
In order to secure a great price on one of only two Star Class Ultimate Panoramic Suites on Oasis I booked this a couple of months ago when the itineraries where first released.  Within minutes of them going public I secured the 2nd of these two suites in the name of research and, well it seemed like a good excuse to book a cruise.
That's nice and all but why start a blog now?
I am so tired of @Matt beating up on my fellow Canadian @Lovetocruise2002 even though we all knew he has the record for starting a cruise blog the longest before any sailing in the history of these boards that I had to step in and take action.   So back off Matt!
Seven hundred and twenty nine days.  
Itinerary as it stands today includes Puerto Plata, DR, St Thomas USVI and San Juan Puerto Rico.  
This may be my only 2020 update.  I'll do my best to update this blog at least once in 2021.  
Until then, let it be known I hold the record for the longest pre-cruise early blogging award!

I've done a few posts already, but figured I'd formally introduce myself.
I'm Kevin, and I also go by "starvenger" or "starvenger88" on other boards. I am a Hong Kong Canadian currently living in the Toronto area with my wife and 2 girls, and we love to travel! Not just cruises, but resorts and various places across North America and Europe. 
Hopefully I can provide some entertaining and informative posts for you.

Odyssey October 2021 Italy/Greece. 9 nights with overnight in Athens. Will spend a few days in Rome before cruise. So Excited! This itinerary has been on my radar for a few years. Each year we cruise to celebrate another year cancer free. This cruise will be the 5 year mark. I was given a 15% chance to make it 5 years. I have every intention of making this cruise. Stage 4B endometrial cancer. I also have Lynch Syndrome which is a hereditary cancer gene that puts me at risk for another 12 cancers. So looking forward to living life to the fullest! 

Good time for the deluxe drink package! ? ? ? Bottoms up! 

Guess we ran out of cookies

I’m on Enchantment of the Seas right now as well. I have a different perspective.
Tuesday afternoon a 600 foot tanker ran into an 80 foot fishing boat at the entrance to the Houston-Galveston Ship Channel. 1 person confirmed dead, 1 person in the hospital. The Coast Guard abandoned the search for two other missing crew members today and they are presumed dead. The crew of the Pappy’s Pride fishing boat and their families are having a horrible week, much worse than I ever hope you or I have. I’m happy to be enjoying time on a cruise ship with my family this week.
Due to this tragedy there has been NO ship traffic in or out of the ports of Houston, Galveston, or Texas City since Tuesday afternoon.  The economic impact of shutting down tanker and other ship traffic in this area is staggering. 
After Enchantment waited offshore all day, the Coast Guard was gracious enough to allow her into port Wednesday afternoon as she passed within yards of the wreckage site at a very slow speed while the responders were still securing the wrecked vessel, controlling the environmental damage, and searching for two missing human beings.
After waiting all last night and all day today, Enchantment was escorted out of port this afternoon in heavy fog with two pilot boats off our bow to ensure we safely traversed the fog. I was deeply moved as we passed the crash site at a very slow speed so as not to disturb the small fleet of boats and the crane platform that were continuing the recovery operation in the channel. 
Enchantment of the Seas was the ONLY ship allowed to come in or out of the area since Tuesday afternoon. Then Carnival Dream was finally allowed in this evening after she waited offshore all day. As of this moment the area remains closed to all other ship traffic. Only a few small service boats have been allowed in the area.
Royal Caribbean provided text and email updates about every two hours yesterday as we waited to learn when we could board. Enchantment’s captain provided several updates last night after we boarded, and several more updates throughout the day today. There was little information that they could provide because they had no control over the weather or the tragic situation in the Galveston Jetties, but they checked in with us regularly to let us know they were communicating with authorities and trying to get us underway. They also did not offer false hope or speculation  because they knew the situation was fluid and telling us one thing and then changing their story would have drawn much criticism.
We’re now underway to Cozumel and I’ve been having a great time, all things considered. I’ve used my cell phone as a tool to find out as much as I could about what was happening with our situation, much of which is spelled out above.
May God bless the crew of Pappy’s Pride and their families. May those who perished Rest In Peace. 

Just watched a scope from @Galveston Steve - Enchantment was allowed to leave (although DAMN, that fog still looked thick).  Hope your honeymoon and birthday aren't still ruined (but really, that attitude).
Side note: I deserve a cookie for not typing the exact things that I'm thinking.  Ok, so I typed them, but then I hit backspace. Ok, three times.  But still.  Cookie.

You know you can literally walk to guest services and ask them directly,  right?

Cococay was so much fun. We just got back onboard for the day. We took lexi to the waterpark and got a cabana there, she loved it we stayed a little over 3 hours. The wave pool was her favorite but I really enjoyed the dueling demons slide and the sling shot. 
 
Then when we got back Luciano had a surprise waiting on us! He is so great. Now we are going to hang out at the  pools and wait for a nice dinner at 150 Central Park.

Agree 100%.  
I love cruising and always want friends or family to cruise with us.  On a previous RCCL cruise, when I was the point man, there were only 2 aft balconies left and we needed 3.  All 3 paid the same price, but my wife and I gave up the aft balcony and took one on the same floor right beside the 2 aft balconies (without discussing it with the other two couples).  Seeing the looks on their faces and enjoying the conversation about their great balconies... especially when both parties realized what we had done for them, made any sense of missing out fade to a feeling of having really done a good thing.
That was 2016, and they still talk about it.
It was a small gesture that made an impact on the 6 people involved.

When I used to fly a lot frequent flyer programs were a thing that I paid attention to.  Top frequent fliers often get free upgrades to first class.  Two years straight I received complimentary first class upgrades 99% of the time.  The only time I didn't was when missing a connection due to flights delays.
It was interesting to hear complaints and claims of upgrade shenanigans from folks who weren't at the top level.  Claims of upgrades being given to employees or military or someone in a lesser level were commonplace.  
The wisdom I'll never forget was "Upgrades are not an entitlement.  Book a seat in the cabin your want to fly in".
If a stranger was given an upgraded cabin on a sailing 99% of guests would never know.  How Royal chooses to hand out upgrades before sailing is a mystery because it rarely happens.  
A loyalty ambassador in days of old sometimes had unused inventory at their disposal.  They might offer upgrades on board.  Loyalty ambassadors have no input to a pre-cruise upgrade.  Now with cruises selling out and with RoyalUp the loyalty ambassadors don't have upgrades to hand out very often.  
It's entirely possible someone wanted that cabin for a specific reason.  They may have asked and been denied by Royal, unless they were willing to pay to upgrade those guests to a suite.  
We'll never know the mechanics of why that cabin was chosen to be upgraded.  You were not owed an upgrade, Royal was not disloyal.  You can choose to dwell on this and let it impact your cruise or you can shrug it off and let it go.  
With thirty two cruises under my belt at the D+ level I'm not going to waste a moment to fret that at some point someone else got an upgrade.  In all those D+ cruises I was never upgraded.  I cruised in the cabin I booked and I enjoyed all thirty two cruises.