Mike.s

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/02/carnival-cruise-line-brings-back-the-paper-daily-program/
Are you listening Royal, many people prefer the paper version.

Just thought I would pop in and relate our experience this morning, boarding Explorer.  Absolutely no problem entering the terminal (G) via the Suite/Pinnacle line, with our SSP that was not marked with “Suite”.  Either they didn’t look, didn’t care, or were already familiar with the issue of the missing Suite marking.  Very smooth arrival and boarding.
In other news, I received all of my Loyalty Cokes and water.  Hallefreakinlujah !  I wasn’t sure I would score the Cokes given recent announced changes. I know this only b/c I crashed through the closed hallway door (yes, I was THAT guy today) and went to my room in search of Sea Passes as we could not get into the D Lounge at first.  RATS !  I was outsmarted (not that hard to do, BTW) as the Sea Passes weren’t yet on our room door so I returned to the D Lounge empty-handed only to find that, had I possessed even an ounce of patience, someone would have let us in from inside.  Dan was already inside, waiting for me with a self righteous look on his face.  He didn’t dare say a word but I knew what he was thinking.  The sign on the closed hallway  door (cough, cough) said that the rooms would be ready at 2:00.  That’s about 50 minutes from now.
Soon I will find out if JS fall into the Suites exclusion of once-a-day room servicing.
In other, other news, Explorer D Lounge got a new, kick-ass coffee machine while in dry dock.  Woohoo !  The D Concierge and attendant are currently receiving a tutorial on its operations/maintenance from a 12 year old vendor tech.  He might be 16.  Everyone looks young when you get to be my age.

Should be a lifetime ban for any family that gets "asked" to vacate the ship mid cruise.

Maybe they were just slobs with no sense of decorum.  IMO that kind of clothing isn’t appropriate in the MDR on ANY night.

The UK prices include the 18% gratuity upfront, does the US price include them or add them when you checkout?
Might be a reason for the difference, or that Royal can get away with charging higher prices in the UK market.

Common courtesy, like common sense, hasn't been so common for about 20 years.

Only restriction is glass by the pool, they will transfer your drink to a plastic glass should you head poolside.

We booked a GTY junior suite on Anthem as we figured they're all in reasonable locations we'd be happy with. It saved us nearly £200 each.

Thought I would give my thoughts on our first cruise experience.  
As we have never cruised before, the ship really didn't matter to me, but the ports did.  We choose this itinerary out of San Juan due to the ports.  We flew in a day before the cruise.  
Day 1 - Embarkation Day.  We arrived around 10:30 to meet up with family.  Our time was scheduled for 12noon.  Everything went smoothly.  We decided to use the porters for our luggage.  We quickly headed to Windjammer to grab something to eat.  It wasn't very crowded when we were there.  After lunch we toured the ship to get our bearings and to figure out where everything is.  We were able to get into our rooms around 3pm and our luggage came shortly after.  At first we didn't purchase the drink package because we thought that since we were going to be at ports everyday, we would drink more off the ship, but while on the ship, we were having a few beavies and then decided to buy the drink package.  lol. It was buy 1 at $72.00 per day and the second one half price.  In my opinion based on how much we drink, we appreciated the drink package.  This sale price was only for 1 day.  Looking back at my account, we drank a lot!  LOL and no, buying the drink package did not prompt us to drink more! . We also got 2 suvenlour cups to use as well.  As it was casual night, we ate in the Main Dining Room.  Our dinner time was set for 7:15 each night.
Muster Drill - easy peasy.  Watched the video on the app and went down to our station and had the attendant scan our phone.  That was GREAT...I hope they don't do away with it.  
We decided on a balcony room, which I'm sure glad we did.  For myself, I need to see some daylight!  We were on the 6th floor, right above the Promenade, in the middle close by the elevator and stairs.  This was an AWESOME location being so close to the stairs and elevator.  I thought noise would be a factor, but it wasn't.  The only complaint that I had was that the bed was very hard; too hard for me so sleeping was an issue.  Couple of days we slept with the balcony door open and some days I actually slept on the balcony on the chairs.  I don't sleep at the best of times, so having a balcony was great.
Day 2 - St. Thomas.  It was cloudy and raining.  I was planning on doing Skyride to Paradise Point and then do the walking trail at Magens Bay and walk down to the beach,  but best laid plans didn't work out.  The ship docked at Crown Bay so we were not walking distance to Skyride.  Because of the rain, we quickly decided to jump on a tour bus.  This bus took us around the island and then we stopped at Mountain Top and had their famous banana daiquiris and did some shopping there.    The view is awesome from Mountain Top where you can see Magens Bay.
Day 3 - St. Croix.  We took a taxi over to Rainbow Beach.  The taxi was $15.00 per person!  When we got to Rainbow Beach the cost of 1 umbrella and 2 beach chairs were $70.00 and then $15.00 each for extra chairs.  After laying on the beach and drinking, we decided to walk back to the pier and do a little more shopping.
Day 4 - St. Maarten.  Since we have been there before, we didn't do any tours.  We walked the board walk, and did some shopping.  Ate lunch at the Blue Bitch Bar, listened to some live music and just enjoyed the day.  We came back to the ship and took advantage of the empty ship and had a nice nap on the deck!
Day 4 - St. Lucia.  We decided to do a private tour with Real St. Lucia Tours.  It was called an Island Expo Tour.  Not really what I was expecting based on the itinerary.  The driver we had was good, but was really promoting his own tours....he was called in as the original driver had to have laser eye surgery.  We drove through Castries, Anes La Raye, saw the Government House, stopped in Soufriere, went to a waterfall and then did the Volcano, Sulphur Springs, and Black Water Pool....that was awesome!  On our way back we had a great lunch at a beautiful spot overlooking the Piton Mountains. 
Day 5 - Barbados.  We headed over to Carlisle Beach and stayed there for the day.  Ordered buckets of beer and rum punch and had the Flying Fish Sandwich which was awesome!
Day 6 - St. Kitts.  This was my favourite island.  We took a cab to South Friars Bay and hung out at a place called Shipwreck Beach Bar and Grill.  It was awesome!  You didn't have pay for any chairs!  A bucket of 6 beers, plus 1 extra beer and rum punch was only $20.00 and the food was amazing.  There are monkey's on the property which you can feed.  It was quite, lots of room on the reach.  This was mentioned to us by a few people on the ship, and we were glad that we went there.
Day 7 - on our last day, we decided not to do luggage assist as we grabbed a taxi and headed to our hotel in Old San Juan as we stayed for 2 more nights.  Everything went smoothly.  However, waiting for the elevator did take forever!  LOL
Each morning at 6:30 we would head down to the Promenade and get coffee.  My favourite was the white chocolate latte.  We would grab our coffees and head up to the walking track and just walked around enjoying the sites and watching the sun rise.  
Overall, we had a GREAT time being our first cruise.
Now let's talk about the Ship.  The ship is older.  I understand that it was refurbished, but I don't recall when.  I liked the smaller, intimate feeling of the ship and it never seemed crowded.   We ate at the MDR for breakfast and dinner and only had lunch at the windjammer on our first day and then on another day.  We preferred the MDR.  Loved how at the Windjammer they make you wash your hands.  At least for the most part I saw people complying!
Royal Carribean App - was good.  However when texting, I would prefer that it buzzes or something as you always need to go into the app to see if someone texted you.  
Cruise Compass -I hear they are moving away from paper copies and you just have to scan the bar code, but we did get paper copies, which I will be scanning and submitting on the Cruise Compass Board.  
I did buy the internet package while on the ship. Not that I was on social media, I just prefer to always have contact with family back home in case of emergencies.  I never had an issue with the internet package on the ship.
Day 1 was Welcome Aboard.  Day 2 was French Night and it was the first formal night.  Day 3 was Italian Night.  Day 4 was Caribbean Night.  Day 5 was Mexican Night.  Day 6 was Royal Night and this was the second formal night and the complimentary lobster if you wanted.  Day 7 was Welcome to Bon Voyage.  
Breakfast in the MDR was good.  They always had a good selection.  My favourite was the fresh squeezed OJ and Power Wrap.  Dinner in the MDR was good too.  I always found that there was something to choose from.  Favourites were shrimp cocktail, escargot, Carne Asada, French onion soup, and of course, lobster!  Desserts - always something good!
Location of our room.  We were in 6320; balcony and it was great.  Basically steps away from the elevator and stairs.  Noise was never a factor which I was concerned with being just above the Promenade.  I'm a light sleeper so anything can wake me up.  
After dinner we always did a show; ice skating show, comedians, singing, etc.  All were good.  
After our excursions, we always hung out at the Sky Beach Bar.  Our Bartenders Ashish and Ashquan were amazing!  Try the chocolate martini!  Had one everyday!  This is why we returned; because of Ashish and Ashquan.  Best bartenders ever!
Couple of things I was happy I brought:  Chair clips for our towels on beach days.  Metal hooks for the room.  We used these a lot to hang stuff off of.  I felt that we had lots of space in our room.  I also took a sponge and soaked it in soap; let it dry and cut it up.  I used that a few times to clean clothes and such.  I know that there are lots of videos wth recommendations on what to bring and what you need....however, these were my 2 essentials and I didn't feel like I needed anything else.  No shoe racks, no clothing baskets, etc.  
Did I pack too much....of course.  Here are my thoughts.  Formal night.  Since there are 2 and they are not back to back....I would have been ok wearing the same outfit.  Bathing suit, I only needed 2.  I brought 2 pairs of jean shorts, but ended up wearing skorts.  Of course t-shirts and tank tops. 1 pair of beach sandals, 1 pair of sandals for dinner and Sketchers for walking around.   My husband could have gotten away with 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shorts, 2 swin trunks and just a couple of resort shirts.  He brought golf shirts for the MDR but ended up wearing resort shirts and pants.  We did use laundry service 1/2 way thorough the cruise just for underwear and t-shirts.  Service was awesome.  Kevin our stewardship made sure we had everything we needed.  
MDR - our hosts Rogelio and Krismart were great.  I wish they would enforce the dress code a little more; some came in wearing beach shorts (men), flip flops, etc.  My hubby wore a nice pair of golf pants and resort shirts each night.  The only time he wore a nice pair of shorts was on the first day and the last day.  And men, please remove your baseball cap/hat or cowboy hat when eating in the MDR.  Just be a little more formal than usual!  
The only specialty restaurant we did was Izumi and it was awesome!  I had the Poke Bowl and my hubby had Sashimi.  It was awesome and I would highly recommend it!
We did not feel the need to try out any other specialty restaurants we we were quite content in the MDR.  As for other bars, we only hung out at the Sky Pool Bar.  After dinner did a show and then went to bed!  Never experienced the night life after the shows.  We were exhausted from being in the sun all day; plus I was always up around 3am, so for me it was long days!
All in all it was a great vacation and we will definitely be cruising again!
 
 

Yes you should be able to, most ships have both 110V and 220V outlets.

One mistake would be understandable but it has been a culmination of errors for our July Oasis sailing:
1. Premier Package Glitch
2. Aquaventure Glitch
3. Add-ons for CoCo Cay (jet ski, up, up, away, zipline) not loaded to the Oasis CP. they were loaded for Independence visiting the same day. Sold out to Independence passengers without ever offering to Oasis passengers. 
 
It is easy to overlook any one of these mistakes but all 3 on the same sailing? I am actually impressed; this level of incompetence takes some work. 

We loved it. While on the ship we agreed that the smaller ships are the way to go for us. Service was excellent everywhere, no queues for MTD, could always get a lounger around the pool and very few children. It didn't feel crowded despite being virtually full. We compared it to our previous sailings on Anthem and agreed the Schooner bar and Windjammer on Anthem just aren't big enough for the number of passengers. As it's just the 2 of us now no need for bumper cars or flowriders, just looking for friendly good service. Ship was in good condition considering her age, carpets and furnishings all looked good, bit of rust here and there but nothing that spoilt the cruise. Cruise director (Mey) and her team worked hard and kept us entertained.
My only one niggle was the DJ was too loud during sailaway, but that's probably because I'm getting old 😀
 
 

Depends where you're sailing from. This is from the FAQ on their website.
The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings originating from North America or the Caribbean is twenty-one (21). The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings originating in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is twenty-one (21). The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean International ships on sailings from South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand is eighteen (18).  The minimum age to consume alcohol at all private destinations remains twenty-one (21) without regard to where the sailing originated. 

While I agree that the offers are generous; overbooking a cruise ship is just really unacceptable.  Any junior high computer geek could write a program that would disallow multiple parties booked in the same cabin, or booking numbers to exceed a pre set number.  Just really an embarrassing situation for the Royal IT department (again)

Wanted to share an interesting tidbit from our Harmony cruise last week - it was our first cruise as D+ so we went and made a night 2 reservation for Chops as soon as we got onboard. We discovered later that night that they had accidentally made the reservation for night 3, instead of night 2. When we tried to get it switched back to night 2 (since the D+ BOGO is only good on the first 2 days), there were no available reservations. However, the solution to this was that our account was charged for the meal on day 2, and we kept the reservation for day 3. Very interesting as they explained the computer will only let them give the BOGO discount on the first 2 days, so as long as the card is charged in that timeframe, in theory we could have the reservation on a later day. 
So, not sure if this is a standard workaround for the D+ BOGO or if they were just being accommodating to us because they messed up our initial reservation, but I'd be interested to see if anyone else has done something similar (paid for the BOGO meal on day 1 or 2, but had the reservation for a later day).

We loved it. While on the ship we agreed that the smaller ships are the way to go for us. Service was excellent everywhere, no queues for MTD, could always get a lounger around the pool and very few children. It didn't feel crowded despite being virtually full. We compared it to our previous sailings on Anthem and agreed the Schooner bar and Windjammer on Anthem just aren't big enough for the number of passengers. As it's just the 2 of us now no need for bumper cars or flowriders, just looking for friendly good service. Ship was in good condition considering her age, carpets and furnishings all looked good, bit of rust here and there but nothing that spoilt the cruise. Cruise director (Mey) and her team worked hard and kept us entertained.
My only one niggle was the DJ was too loud during sailaway, but that's probably because I'm getting old 😀
 
 

According to Cruise Mapper she left Cadiz this morning, just in time for the arrival of Mariner of the Seas

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/02/carnival-cruise-line-brings-back-the-paper-daily-program/
Are you listening Royal, many people prefer the paper version.

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/02/carnival-cruise-line-brings-back-the-paper-daily-program/
Are you listening Royal, many people prefer the paper version.

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/02/carnival-cruise-line-brings-back-the-paper-daily-program/
Are you listening Royal, many people prefer the paper version.

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/02/carnival-cruise-line-brings-back-the-paper-daily-program/
Are you listening Royal, many people prefer the paper version.

Deck 13 shows the perfect storm, flowrider and explorer dunes for my September sailing

Deck 13 shows the perfect storm, flowrider and explorer dunes for my September sailing

The cruise season is already year around in certain parts of the European market. I 100% agree its is  pure speculation and it's anyone's guess where Anthem will end up at with Odyssey taking over at Cape Liberty.  But with both NCL and now Celebrity jumping onto the year around cruising out of Europe the market must be growing.  It isn't infinite but something is happening the reason why US cruise lines are now doing year around cruising out of Europe.  
Time will tell if the rumors/speculation about Anthem are true or not but if the market continues to grow I don't see how Royal remains on the sidelines. 

Most people don't know that for frequent cruisers who are Diamond Plus and above, you get an amenity of a bottle of wine and beer in your stateroom on every cruise! This does not come automatically so you have to call the C&A Society 800 number to set it up. I did and selected a bottle of Kendal Jackson Chardonnay and a bottle of Corona beer. It is in my stateroom when I arrive on the ship on every sailing. A nice little perk for being a Diamond Plus member.