Leroyr55

Just off Harmony.  Frankly the lobster was awful.  Wasn’t even fully cooked.

The woman sunbathing topless on Great Bay Beach in St Maarten in Wednesday.  Right next to my husband!!!

Yes. Floats are available on a first come, first serve basis at the beach club…I haven’t seen them run out of them yet.

You can ask Guest Services to split it between both sea pass cards…

Does Royal have any of those swimsuit water extractor/spinny things/Suitmates on the ships?

Ok, so the Wonder of the Seas has finished its inaugural voyage. All the media, youtube bloggers, vloggers, and wannabees were there.  I could have been on that cruise. I declined my offer, as I KNEW the inherent risks of these first time cruises.  Much like the start up of a new restaurant or the launch of a newly designed car,  one needs to be aware of  deficiencies that will happen or "bugs" that need to be fixed.   I've watched numerous clips on posts from other bloggers, which I won't mention, but its honestly laughable they did not expect some hiccups on this type of cruise.  Good grief, we are still at the tail  end of a pandemic , with supply chain issues, people issues, (lack of ) etc.   I am not in the least surprised at all the deficiencies/problems that occurred that these bloggers were crying about...  internet, things not working in staterooms, shows not at full performance, sprinklers, shortages of this and that...etc   I have my differences with Matt H.  I dont always agree with him, and I already have one warning of abusive behaviour for jesting with another poster which I thought was unfair.  Regardless of that, I can see that this is Matt's baby, its his show, and he takes it very seriously probably as a sole source of income.  His report on Wonder of the Seas is second to none. Most of the videos produced are high quality calibre, and on point and come across in a very professional journalistic presentation.  I simply shake my head at the competition.  I don"t watch Monday's live youtube anymore as they are simply too repetitive on questions, and I can't wrap my head around super chats.  Regardless....well done Matt and congratulations on your success and thank you for what you do. Cheers!

On my cruise in February I did both.  Cashed out at the casino and had a $8 balance of OBC left.  It was refundable OBC so they credited my credit card 2 days later.

Many folks suggest to go to the casino and "convert" the remaining OBC to chips and then later go back and cash out. 

Unless you have unvaxxed people in your travel party, you are not required to book a ship sponsored excursion on St Maarten.

I just read through all this waiting to get to the part about about the rocket launches from Cape Canaveral. 

I think it would be wise for Royal to have a booster shot mandate. When a booster shot is scheduled, all guest sailing from Cape Canaveral should be notified of rocket launch date and be able to take a future cruise credit if they are not willing to comply with risks of being on a ship near the launch zone.

She just pulled away from the dock. Watching on camera. Can’t wait for May7th to get here for our cruise.  

She just pulled away from the dock. Watching on camera. Can’t wait for May7th to get here for our cruise.  

An expensive option is to book a room on each side of the ship and then spend time in each port in the room facing land.
Just a thought. 

Holy Carp, indeed. 🤪 Congrats!

Hi Everyone! I just got off a 7 night cruise on Harmony of the Seas. Being an avid cruiser and watching extensive Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube videos, I thought I was a professional but there were a few interesting things I learned on my cruise this past week. First thing, since we weren't able to book entertainment prior to the cruise I was nervous that shows would be sold out before I even had the chance to get on board. I learned that as long as you are connected to the cruise WIFI you can book the entertainment. With that being said, while we waited for our group to be called to board, we booked all of our entertainment BEFORE we even got on the ship. Second thing, if you are planning to drink beer but not purchase the alcohol package, I recommend purchasing the bucket of beer, compared to the price of regular beers, you are getting 1 beer for free! A crew member told us you could use your Crown and Anchor 50% off a beer coupon for the buckets and he let us redeem it but when we tried again later, with a different crew member, they said that was not a valid option. I forget the gentleman's' name but hey, it doesn't hurt to try. Third thing, if you are planning to do the stand up flowrider, don't wait until the end of your cruise. On my sailing, they gave newbies 2 tries per day to try and stand up longer than 1 minute. They made this rule so people #1 wouldn't be getting hurt and #2 not be wasting everyone else's time by constantly getting back in line to be struggling all day. They also told me that they do flowrider lessons to learn how to stand up. Once you achieve the longer than 1 minute ride, they give you a bracelet that lets you ride the rest of the cruise with no problem or quotas to hit. 
Not a tip, but a cool thing we were able to witness, in order to reduce the COVID positive percentage on the ship, they would transport our COVID positive crew off of the ships when we got to port. For example, we were initially told we wouldn't be going to St. Thomas because of our COVID numbers, then a bunch of crew were taken in tenders to Rhapsody when we were docked in St. Marteen and new crew came on, leaving us under the 1%, allowing us to go to St. Thomas, woohoo!
I hope this helps anyone going on a cruise in the coming days/months/years. I would be happy to answer any questions y'all may have in regards to cruising last week.

All souls on board consume a spot in a lifeboat regardless of size so unless there is a kids sail free promotion underway an infant is charged like an adult.  
There are restrictions on certain sailings for kids under 1 year old.  Sailing with more than three consecutive sea days are off limits until 1 year old.  

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/07/08/what-you-need-know-about-taking-infant-royal-caribbean-cruise
 

First, let me say I understand a lot of frustration in and with the cruise industry due to COVID. Its supposed to be a great vacation and customers pay a good price for the experience.  The media likes to dwell on cancelled ports and sick passengers and empty ships sitting at anchor. All the misery and misfortune in the headlines sells. No one wants to go on vacation and be limited to mask wearing, subjected to nasal swabs, flight disruption, port dismissal etc.
On the other hand, trying to take a purely scientific view point ...
Though ships have been called a Petri dish (generally with negative connotations), at the same time they are a somewhat unique controlled population sampling. Here you have literally thousands of people that are vaccinated and following masking protocols etc. Its not perfect but when you look at infection rates, those aboard ship are less than one percent compared to over 30% on land.
To me this is a perfect example of how an experiment works. You have two populations, one with generally well kept protocols and controls, and the other, not so much. The difference in infection rates is dramatic. It just shows vaccines, masking and isolation of known cases works.
Ships have other issues such as limited space for isolation and medical facilities. Their systems are not perfect but the numbers show they do work.
 
 

How about a place to post observations and comments about things that have absolutely nothing to do with that medical related issue currently dominating the conversation? You know, pre-shutdown... 
I'll start...
Lifeguard intensity. I'm very impressed with the lifeguards on the Oasis and Anthem (and I suspect throughout the Royal fleet) as they perform their duties. Even when a pool is empty, they seem to never stop staring and scanning the water. Always standing mid-poolside, holding their rescue float, ready to jump into action. And when their relief comes...first he/she checks in with the on duty guard, then performs a visual check of virtually every square inch of the pool and when satisfied, gives a thumbs up. Then the relieved guard (even after staring at the water the whole time) still performs another visual check of virtually every square inch of the pool. When satisfied, gives a thumbs up to the new guard, and getting an acknowledgement, before walking away. To me, they seem like automatons. Programmed to do nothing else but be prepared to jump in and help. I love that! Safety first!
 

The three sisters in St Marteen this morning. 

If you're caught with an empty glass, you're ordered to go to the closest bar and refill it.

The three sisters in St Marteen this morning. 

The three sisters in St Marteen this morning. 

The three sisters in St Marteen this morning. 

She'll have to go faster than that to get to Port Clinton in Lake Erie!