RazorbackIslandGirl

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 YEA!!!! I'm here for it! I LOVE your blogs! We're 4 weeks out today for our RLS on Symphony. This will help ease the crazy longing for the suite life! Thank you for taking the time to include us in your adventure!! Safe travels! Hoping your flight is uneventful!🙏🏼

For me, I don't know if it it's so much concern I feel...it's more just sad because there are some really good ones that have left for other things.

There is no list.  We've tried elsewhere and it is way to hard to maintain because they move too much.
The last Genies on Oasis right before shut down was Israel, Smitha and Allan F., and Hugo.  This won't help you though, because they have all gone home and some of them have moved on.  I think that when sailings pick up again, there will be many new faces in the Genie program.

It also always seems the drawings are at terrible times when you would have to skip something else or you're getting ready for dinner. But since it's your first cruise, go for it! Someone has to win. Why not you?? Happy cruising!

My first cruise was Monarch of the Seas in 1993. I remember thinking she was HUGE!? Some of my fondest memories were in the dining room. Our server was Bulent. During dinner they would dance around the tables with Baked Alaska on their heads on fire! They would also have sparklers. Cherries Jubilee was served table side & they would light it on fire to burn off the alcohol! I can't imagine that much fire on a ship anymore. Looking back I wonder how many close calls they had from it?

My first cruise was Monarch of the Seas in 1993. I remember thinking she was HUGE!? Some of my fondest memories were in the dining room. Our server was Bulent. During dinner they would dance around the tables with Baked Alaska on their heads on fire! They would also have sparklers. Cherries Jubilee was served table side & they would light it on fire to burn off the alcohol! I can't imagine that much fire on a ship anymore. Looking back I wonder how many close calls they had from it?

Bon Voyage!!! Have a wonderful week! I'm looking forward to it. I'm living vicariously.?

My first cruise was Monarch of the Seas in 1993. I remember thinking she was HUGE!? Some of my fondest memories were in the dining room. Our server was Bulent. During dinner they would dance around the tables with Baked Alaska on their heads on fire! They would also have sparklers. Cherries Jubilee was served table side & they would light it on fire to burn off the alcohol! I can't imagine that much fire on a ship anymore. Looking back I wonder how many close calls they had from it?

My first cruise was Monarch of the Seas in 1993. I remember thinking she was HUGE!? Some of my fondest memories were in the dining room. Our server was Bulent. During dinner they would dance around the tables with Baked Alaska on their heads on fire! They would also have sparklers. Cherries Jubilee was served table side & they would light it on fire to burn off the alcohol! I can't imagine that much fire on a ship anymore. Looking back I wonder how many close calls they had from it?

My first Royal Cruise was 11 years ago.
Three weeks before my x decided to become my x.
The cruise was awful. Why? Because all I remember from that cruise was him being drunk, a jerk, and not wanting to do anything at all. His drink of choice was "Grey Goose Martini with Six *&^%$ olives". Six. Never understood why SIX? To this day.... if I hear anyone say "Grey Goose Martini..." I cringe and hear in my head "with six olives".
This December marks 10 years free of my x. I wanted to celebrate with a "do over" and in 217 days, I board the Grandeur of the Seas (same ship) and I will indulge in all the cruise ship vacation fun and experiences that I wanted to do all those years ago but instead listened to a drunk jerk complain for seven days.
I am going to go do all the things and take excursions and dance and see the shows EVERY night! I am going to have so much fun and I am going to do it right this time!
?

We will be on symphony in November, so it’s got me pumped too. I told I’d be more interested in hallmark movies if they were all filmed on royal ships 

I am embarrassed to admit, so are we. 

Concur

Didn't smell anything out of the ordinary

Me too. I don’t know what I am more excited for, the vacation itself, or the look on the kids faces when they find out what’s going on each time!

Cabin
Another story here….
After our Anthem of the Seas cruise in 2018, my wife, now unashamedly, is a suite snob. Frankly, I whole heartedly support this as well. So, when we booked this cruise, we booked a grand suite. The price was decent, done. The Owners suites were more than what we wanted to spend, and the 1 Royal Suite was WAY more. After the cruise was booked, I kept an eye on prices, made some adjustments here or there and the waiting game began. We thought, who knows, maybe we can try to see what could happen with a Royal Up bid
A few months ago, while doing a routine price check, I see a 2br grand suite is now available. A quick phone call to Royal, and we are now sailing in a 2br grand suite for about the same price as what we booked the cruise for originally.
A few weeks ago, we did get the Royal Up email. We had the option for an Owners Suite or the Royal Suite. We bid on the Royal Suite, but I’m not going to hold my breath since looking now, all the suites are sold out.
Pre-Cruise
Like I said, we are flying in a few days early. Friday 9/20 we are flying into FLL. Southwest flights were much cheaper and had more convenient times than flying to MIA. So, the plan is we will rent a car to use for the couple days prior to be able to explore around etc without a ton of Uber/Lyft charges. Embarkation day I will drop the family off at the port around 10, bring the car back to MIA and take the enterprise shuttle back to the port. I looked at dropping off at other locations near the port, but this was the most cost effective.
We are staying at the Gates Hotel South Beach. We picked this hotel due to its proximity to south beach and Heather wanted direct beach access without having to pay a super-premium price. She is a Hilton member through her job, so that also narrows the choices. This hotel also includes its own area for chairs and other activities too on the beach.
Post Cruise
This is where it also gets fun. After disembarkation, we will be taking the shuttle to MIA for another rental car which we will drive to Orlando with. Friday evening, we have tickets to Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s No So Spooky Halloween Party. Heather is a huge Disney fan and is really looking forward to this. Much to my dismay, she has us all wearing Hocus Pocus themed shirts for that night….yay…
Saturday, we have tickets to Universal Studios. Gotta check out the new Hagrid Ride…. And again, we have matching themed shirts. At least this time, they are Hogwarts/Harry Potter ones.
Sunday, we head home.
The Surprise
Like I said earlier, this whole trip will be a surprise for the kids. The plan to make this work is that we will be packing in secret. We will drop the kids off at school on Friday, then load up the car. We will pick the kids up at dismissal at school and go straight to the airport. At this point, We will let them in on a little bit of the surprise, which will be we are just going to Florida and will be on the beach. On cruise day, we will pack up the car and say we are headed to another hotel, but not tell them that the hotel is the cruise ship.
This is going to be so much fun. I plan on writing about our experiences at Disney and Universal as well so grab the popcorn and wine, its going to be a wild ride and thanks for following along!

We Made It!!

With That Said Let The Cruise Begin! 

Following! We board 9/29 so I'm excited to see your adventure!

He’ll be fine. He’s a great guy.

I agree! First generation phones always have issues. I let them work out all the bugs & get the 2nd model. Good luck with your shopping! Hope you find exactly what you need!

I felt the same way! Te only reason I gave him a little extra time is because of the extended hurricane cruise. But 2 1/2 weeks out is NOT a good way to start with me. I will give him the benefit of the doubt & start fresh with him. If I don't think he's doing a good job I will speak with his boss quickly.?

Don’t consider the 11 to be first-gen. It’s the third iteration of the iPhone X design, so kinks and hardware bugs are long-since worked out. Only new piece is the camera module, and they have a solid rep on that front.
EDIT -- Will note that the upcoming iOS 13 has been getting kind of blasted by developers in various podcasts and blogs I follow. Separate from the hardware, granted, but also kind of important when it's what drives the hardware. But that OS update is going to be a potential headache for all iPhone users and not just the iPhone 11 / 11 Pro; at least for the 13.0 and maybe even 13.1 release set to follow in just a few weeks.
Since @TJ! noted his cruise isn't until January, I'd either advise a Xr that's on iOS 12, and just not update to 13 until after the trip; or at least wait until November or December to get an 11 so that the major kinks in the new OS can be worked out.

You were extremely helpful that is exactly what I was looking for.
Just wanted something with an updated camera to take decent pictures and recordings on my cruise.
I'll shop around and see what catches by eye then!
I'm always weary of buying newly release iphone because i've noticed a pattern of them doing major updates or rollbacks because customers all over the world are basically testers and find flaws.
I always like to wait out the new electronics to make sure it is properly updated and released with no hassle.

Remember to protect our reefs and choose a sunscreen without oxybenzone or octinoxate if you plan on going into the water. Google: Reef-protecting sunscreen. I am also an Irish ginger by heritage and have just begun to research this topic since we go to Hawaii every year and beginning in 2020, proper sunscreen must be used. Sure is expensive, though. If you find a less expensive solution, please let me know. 

I think I paid $799. I bought a few other things so Im not exactly sure. They also gave me $165 for my old one! The Xr+  is just the bigger version of the Xr. For me it's all I need at the time. Really all I wanted was the camera update. I am like you & never use my big camera anymore. For travel a phone is so much more convenient! I'm not sure I'll ever go back to my big camera.