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Wow, thanks for all this great information! So helpful. I wish all of life's questions could be answered as easily as those I post to RCB message boards! I'm even more excited than before to be giving CK a try!

We will be on Harmony next spring, the first ship we've sailed with a CK. I can't quite picture how it will work. Do most suite passengers just eat there every night and never go to MDR? Is it as varied, and indulgent enough, to make that a viable option? Or do most treat it as a specialty restaurant and only eat there when there is something appealing on the menu, doing either specialty dining or MDR most nights? I keep seeing that it offers "lighter fare." I definitely don't want to feel like I'm dieting on a cruise, though I'm all for healthy options. We often like to order an extra entree in the MDR to sample and share. Is this a done thing in CK as well? And how about the staff? We love getting to know our servers over the week and having them get to understand us. I assume this happens in the CK, but if you switch back and forth, do you lose that in the MDR? Finally, do you need reservations for breakfast? We've always loved having breakfast in Chops on smaller ships, and often felt we had it almost to ourselves. Does CK get super busy in the morning? Any insight appreciated. So happy to have silly little details like this to obsess over again!

We did a large group on Rhapsody once. Instead of jamming us all into one table (28 of us), they gave us three tables in a corner of the dining room. This allowed us to get up and move about our tables to talk without bothering anyone else. We switched up who sat where each night and the servers never missed a beat. It felt like we had our own private dining room, and we really got to enjoy each other more than if we'd been stretched down one long table. The one tip I have for this is agree within your group how long you will wait for folks to appear before you order. Staff will generally wait until everyone arrives unless told otherwise. Not a problem if your group is full of prompt people, but if you have regular stragglers you might want to say "we only wait x minutes past seating time"

Hydrow rower here. So do concept 2 rowers require some sort of interface to work? I was planning on just jumping on and rowing to a workout on my Hydrow app on my iPhone. Or is the PM just for tracking your meters, etc?

Mine changed too - for Harmony April 2022. Interesting. For Coco Cay, it now has little banners on the things that are selling out that say 4 spots left! or 8 spots left! I guess we are all dreaming ahead and buying ahead.

This is from awhile ago but I'm scrolling back looking for something else and figured I might as well add my $ .02 for future reference. We've done tours with VIP Curacao both times we've visited the island, and they are some of our favorite port memories ever. Get in touch with Edo and he will custom craft a perfect day for you. One day we hiked up the mountain and then snorkeled with turtles, got lunch at an amazing local place, and got a great island tour. The other trip, we saw whatever we had missed the first visit, including the bat caves and snorkeling the sunken tugboat. Plus a walking tour of the mural district, which was so cool. And another great lunch. You get a private guide in their personal car, giving you their full attention for the day and doing whatever interests you, with tons of interesting info about the island. Really can't say enough good things about this company. http://www.viptourscuracao.com/

Staying up late! I am an early to bed girl at home, but I always want to do "one more thing" on a cruise. Also, not worrying about if anyone else needs anything. I don't need to make sure I've got snacks, drinks, entertainment for my family on a cruise. (They do still ask if I've brought the sunscreen ? )

Thank you @twangster - this is really helpful!

As long as we've revived this thread... any snorkelers here? Wondering if a Chill Island Cabana or a Chill Island Beach Bed is the better option for hubby to snorkel right from the beach? I know there are other differences but that's the one question I can't seem to find an answer to.

I too am fortunate to have Michelle handle all my bookings. She is truly amazing! FWIW, you might reach out to her and see if she can "claim" your booking from your current TA. I don't know if she can do this with individual TAs, but I have booked direct with RCI before and then emailed her and Michelle has handled switching the booking over to her. She has also done this for me with Adventures by Disney trips. She definitely knows what she is doing and makes everything seem so easy. (I'm so sorry you're dealing with a TA that is not Michelle.)

I have a bunch of different Scout bags I use. They are all a coated cotton so fairly waterproof and very light weight. I like a very small crossbody (Sally Go Lightly or Carson) to carry on tours or on the ship, then it's easy to toss in one of their bigger tote bags (Daytripper or Weekender) for beach or pool. They also make several different small pouches that I use to organize other things like sunscreen or otc meds, and can toss in to purses or bigger bags as needed. I'm currently eyeing their foldable tote as well. Bonus that you can usually find them in nautical prints. https://www.scoutbags.com/bags

Woodwind snorkel in Bonaire is the best and books up months in advance. If you want to spoiled with a perfect drift snorkel, book them as soon as you know your port date.

Thank you! This is good news that had slipped past my radar.

Forgive my ignorance - does this double points mean "double double" for suites? So a 7 night cruise in a suite would be 28 points?

Hi, I live a few hours from Charleston and it is a great long weekend getaway. Very walkable and so much to see and do. Our favorite way to spend time there is to split a stay between country and city. Middleton Place is an old plantation a bit out of town that has a rustic but cozy hotel attached. There is a walking path between the guest area and the living history museum on the old plantation. Wonderful way to relax for a couple of nights, and the restaurant at MP is top notch. There are other old plantations nearby that you can visit and walk nature trails - the birding is awesome if you're into that. This area is also near (by car) to the outskirts of Charleston where there are fun breweries and cute little shopping areas. There is a working tea plantation a short drive away that is fascinating if you are interested in that kind of thing. After a wind down in the country, we like to move in to stay at Charleston Place, a luxury hotel right on Meeting Street. From here you can do walking tours, wander the shops, stroll the Straw Market, visit the art museum, walk the Battery, and dine in splendor without ever getting in your car. The food alone is worth a trip. Google "best places to eat in Charleston" for lists. We personally won't visit without eating at Slightly North of Broad, and everyone should at least once eat at Poogan's Porch. There are so many good oyster bars, seafood and bbq places, it's hard to go wrong. I hope this helps a little. There are lots of tours you can book, and city guides available by app or on TripAdvisor. But wandering is our favorite. Oh, forgot to add - if you like civil war history, the Hunley museum is very interesting. If you like active nature, you can book kayak tours through the cypress swamps. If you want beach, check out Folly Island.

Do you like to snorkel? We've had several excellent experiences with See and Ski in St. Thomas. For very reasonable rates, we rent a small boat with captain and he takes us to several good snorkel spots. There is always a cooler full of beverages onboard. It's no frills, but for serious snorkelers, it's awesome as you can go where the other people are not, and see exactly what you want to see. We usually bring snacks, but last year our captain took us by the Pizza Pi VI boat and that was an excellent addition to the day! For Antiqua, Gail at BeachLimerZ is so amazing. You can do a whole or half beach day at her private beach. There are lounge chairs, umbrellas, a bar, beach toys, and they put on an awesome bbq lunch which is included. She will send someone to pick you up and then give you a ride back to the ship. I hope this helps!

Can anyone tell me if there is a place on Explorer to get fancy juices or fruit smoothies? I know the bigger ships have smoothie bars in the spa area, but wondering if we'll be able to get anything like that somewhere on Explorer? Thanks!

Looking forward to your report! We are on this exact itinerary on the Feb 21 sailing. A little nervous with some of the negatives I'm hearing about this ship pre-drydock, but keeping my hopes up. We've done the ABCs before and I can't wait to get back!