Neesa

@tonyfsu21 I don't think the 1 bedroom aqua suites are Star, I think they are Sky class unless something has changed.  I know the last time I was looking to book one that was their designation. Begs further investigation now on my part. 

@Michael L I just wanted to express my disappointment for you and with you. We bid with this third party company in good faith of a true upgrade. This stinks, it hits home as we also tend to book 2 bathrooms.

That stings, I'm so sorry this happened to you.

@happy cruisers 2NOTE: check your account on the TV before bed, most times the places you utilized the vouchers will have the 0.00 charge. 

We did have an issue where for a few days someone used our vouchers & it wasn't us. We believe day 1 we said please use our voucher and responded with our cabin number when asked. The next few days we were " out of vouchers" when we never used them. 

We had to go to the concierge and leader of the dining services to get it taken care of. We were accused "softly" of trying to get more, but it was easy to prove as there are cameras everywhere, it was finally taken care of and our " charges" were removed. It was so frustrating, they must have caught the person because after happening 4 days in a row it finally stopped. 

No, you get 4 vouchers per day. If you don't use them you lose them. They are assigned to your sea pass card, so easy to use! Enjoy and congratulations on becoming Diamond!

The flu is the worst! Speedy recovery to you. At least you have it now & can put it behind you instead of closer to your trip. May I ask what were the minimum bids on the Allure cabins you showed? 

If you are celebrating today, Have a Very Merry Christmas with those you love! Thanks for the update, it was wonderful to read this morning. "Tiny humans" that gave me a chuckle 

9 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I love that you have pictures of your cat(s) hanging in the room. 

This!!! I love how festive you made your cabin! I'm really enjoying getting this peek at Celebrity Beyond, thanks for bringing us along. 

Same four figure prices for Utopia in August as well. But thanks for the heads up, I did go ahead and check.

When I think about how many times I harassed poor @Sharla every time I saw a "sale" of this type....to her credit she didnt fire me! Raise the price get some OBC! We are on to you Royal! 

Bottom line get the cabin you are comfortable with at the price you feel is fair because more often than not there are very few price drops now a days. My Utopia inaugural sailing in @OCSC Mike GS has gone up exponentially and the cabins are being booked. For the 3 of us it was just under 9,  now for the 3 of us there is a 13 handle! Yikes! It's 4 nights!! But the cabins are disappearing. As a company they are winning!!

Cruise planner may have some price drops but even then, BF is as good as it will ever get. 

Royal is able to sell cabins at DCL pricing especially on the newest ships...why wouldn't they? I keep thinking our pause timing couldn't be better. 

Thanks everyone for your live blogs, I'll live vicariously through you.

Sending positive cash saving OR OBC vibes!!! I hope this is a thing, a real thing. Fingers crossed for you!

I thought the same thing. I HOPE some stay on her for the Waterpark onboard, but I agree 100% I look forward to seeing her up close, not looking forward to sharing the Island with so many people. I assumed early on since she was there that was why the prices of everything Coco Cay was high. I'm guessing for those who are on that ship they probably paid a lot more then I did for my sailing, I picture the Icon ship with very deep pockets. Direct hit to DCL, hopefully Royal does well with these floating resorts! 

Great advice @WAAAYTOOO and @smokeybandit. Funny I did think of getting our sea pass cards in the forbidden hallway. (Closed) Our cabin is literally around the corner from the midship elevators. It would be a quick in and out.

I love to relax in the very quiet Viking lounge as well.

My room/cabin service experience has also been abysmal unless it consists of the card the night before or ordering on the TV. Ordering with the concierge is a great idea! 

We won't be back until very late in Aruba and I'm not cutting back my island time to eat. Run for reservation time is not how I like to end a port day. 

I like the idea of ordering early for the evening dinner service with the concierge, this will be a first, but I'm in! 

We can use our vouchers for a beverage pick up on the way to the cabin, I purchased my Evian and Chops embarkation lunch on BF prices. I'm not going to cancel lunch, as the quiet venue is what I crave. I'll just do the soup and salad...I like that idea! Then Viking lounge until cabin is ready. 

Thank you so much!

Looks like you were bumped up to 2. MSC is in and you are right behind, this is good!

I am right there with you, I was hunting the Allure as I love Mama Mia but day one there was no Allure released. We booked our cabin day 1 as well as I loved the itinerary (& wasn't waiting for Allure since I had no idea of her sailing schedule)  at I believed was a phenomenal price point.  We sailed Adventure after the shut down out of Nassau but there were very few shows and the experience was limited. Happy to celebrate and be sad at the same time kiddos 18th birthday on the 13th and her High school graduation. You know I did the ducks, right? She is exuberant, she will be in the fitness center and loving life....I'll be in the corner....crying

@smokeybandit great, thanks so much! I really craved this itinerary but want to make the most of our ship time as well. I'm just not a fan of the "manic" nature of the WJ on embarkation day, I like to start my sailing like a proper Sloth!

Are you still on this one?

Looks like there are zero ships docked in Miami right now. Everyone is making there way there at the same time. The storm must have caused this. Here is the current state of entering the port. At the top of the shot you can see port everglades seemed to have fared better.

173 days to go! Trying to understand clearly moving forward. As there is really not a true suites amenity package tied to a suite cabin on this class, my questions are the following;

Embarkation lunch/snacks choices. We all agree we are not feeling a big Chops meal to start, besides WJ is there any other venue we can just get something small to take the edge off until dinner? Does the Crown or Suites lounge put out small bites? Is the Solarium offering counter open?

There is a tiny table in the cabin, in the evening can you order cabin service from the MDR menu? If so, do you do this through calling the cabin service phone number? 

Finally, if I understand correctly no reservations needed for shows? 

I purchased the internet this past Black Friday sale, but is there anything I may have forgotten?

I do enjoy the "suite life" amenities on the Quantum and Oasis class, but gravitated to the smaller ship due to the itinerary. 

Appreciate any thoughts here,

It looks like the Captain did a great job, you are alongside Miami now. Disembarkation earlier then expected....Let's Go!

You are very near Miami, I wouldn't be surprised if you arrive earlier then advised! Yes that's Grandeur! 

Is there a lot of motion? The winds here north of Tampa are quite brisk! 

Sending all positive energy to you today, may your plans work out seamlessly. Wishing you only good things, come on universe....let's have a successful rest of  the day!

Okay maybe not popular but see if you can take out the very first flight Monday morning. Take your time disembarking. Maybe wait for the initial rush and stay overnight at the airport for as stress-free as you can be.

Yes, they take care of you. For us they fed us all day and extended wifi and drink packages. If I recall we disembarked around 5 pm. Oh and we had our luggage as we packed light. It took a hot minute for all the luggage to get taken off the ship. Maybe just browse the airline and see if there is an alternative flight, early bird and all.

Oh no! Yes in the Crown lounge as well. I am sad to say flying looks to be a mess tomorrow. From my personal experience coming in late on the Serenade due to the fog, it maybe ugly tomorrow disembarking. See if the concierge is making arrangements to get suites off. If you could push your flight I just might. Everyone and I mean everyone disregarded directions and practically stampede to the exit on our late arrival. Anger, frustration, yelling, fighting, please take care of yourself and pack your patience. I hope for you as smooth as can be off the ship tomorrow. And the Serenade was small, gosh I feel for you.

The Suite Lounge concierge can pull up the numbers on their computer for the sailing. That is where I located mine on the Wonder this past summer! She turned he screen and the breakdown was there to jot down. 

@Ampurp85 thanks for the 411 on NC & Celebrity. Good to know! Also i agree 100% book a cabin you will be happy in, RUB is a nice treat if you score, but if not booking that initial cabin you are comfortable with makes for an amazing sailing!

Wow, another medical situation? Would you say the demographic includes many first time cruisers? Did I miss the C & A numbers? AND, did I understand you correctly, you are doing the same itinerary on the same ship in a few weeks? I am embarrassed to say I get bored easily, if I sailed a ship 2X I'm good unless it's an amazing itinerary that I haven't experienced before. 

No Next Cruise? Do they do placeholders still? Grab yourself one, actually do they sell them for Celebrity? 

Make the most of today, this has been an entertaining experience from here! 

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

It was an extremely tame summer here in central FL... and now we have a storm coming this weekend that is being described as the winter version of a tropical storm. Nothing to worry about at home (1-3" of rain and maybe 30-40mph wind gusts) but it could certainly affect some sailings and sea conditions. Weather just gets crazier and crazier.

AND my Christmas decorations outdoors. After the exhaustive but fun planning and execution my outdoor winter wonderland in Florida is coming inside, the inflatables the first to go. I did think wowza, I'm happy I'm not on a ship as I am super sensitive to motion. It was such a mild storm season, hoping the weather people are being overly dramatic which is usually always the case. They audition on a daily basis for who can be the most animated, voted most likely to be hired by a more mainstream program for a bumped up salary!