GatorCruiser

It’s actually a great itinerary change. Grand Turk beaches are amazing. My wife & I were there a couple days ago and it’s perfection! There are public beaches adjacent to the ship and a stretch of white sand beaches (pictured) that rivals some of the nicest I’ve ever seen. This was our 4th or 5th time here and it never gets old. 

Thanks, Greg. We really are having a blast.
Unfortunately we will just be on that 1, 4 nighter (8-15).  We usually try and snag a couple of add-ons (just like we’re doing now on EX) but so far it hasn’t happened with these IN cruises (June and Aug) but there’s still time !
 
It would be great to finally meet you guys.

Recently we were on Allure of the Seas, first time back on an Oasis class since the pandemic and absolutely loved it. I think the bigger ships do a much better job of dispersing the crowds. Service was excellent. I have not yet been on Icon but was told by an experienced cruiser they are not sure they can go back to Oasis class after being on because of the incredible experience. Everyone needs to cruise on the ships that they love the most. For us Freedom class would be the smallest we would do for a weekend cruise. For a week it would have to be Oasis or above. 

Maybe if you think service was the issue because the number of passengers, give a Voyager Class ship a try or really go try a smaller Celebrity Cruise Line, still owned by RCCL. Reviews I read on Celebrity is that they say their service is always great and never lacks.  On RCCL sometimes you could get that service lacking because that crew is at the end of their contract and it isn't an excuse for them but it's sometimes hard to keep it going after 7 plus months on the ship.  Don't know if you have ever seen some behind the scene shows but man the crew on the ship work HARD! If you can find it watch Mighty Cruise Ships on the Smithsonian channel.

Agreed @tonyfsu21 we already know a week won’t be enough to see all the ship. We Will prob short coco cay and roatan to counter some of that but it likely won’t be enough. We’ve already booked star in March 2026. That will likely be our next icon class cruise, maybe that’ll be enough. 

Whoa! See you aboard. Spring break ‘26!

You Sir are correct. While this was just our third cruise I normally travel with all the requisite traveler pharmaceuticals. Having not suffered from a stomach acid problem for years I thought I would be fine. What I failed to realize is that I don't live next to a Lemon Post bar, and after a few days of sweet and sour drinks my stomach was wrecked.
Another epic fail was Royals failure to charge me $40 for a $6 dollar roll of Tums. There simple wasn't any antacids in their singular essential store. It wasn't like they were out of stock of it there just wasn't any place for it. They had Pepto tablets (not the bottles) and Akaseltzers but zero antacids. Very strange.

@OCSC Mikehas it right.  Retirement is the key.  Of course, our cruising style has taken a bit of a downgrade since retirement, but where the quality went down, the quantity went up !  Nothing truer than the old adage, “When you’re working you have the money but no time and when you’re retired you have the time but no money”.

80+ cruises ! Mercy, how does one go about such numbers ? Please mentor me!

80+ cruises ! Mercy, how does one go about such numbers ? Please mentor me!

No packed antacids ? That’s an epic pack fail. We bring a pharmacy with us when we sail. You just never know when you’ll need various items. 

No packed antacids ? That’s an epic pack fail. We bring a pharmacy with us when we sail. You just never know when you’ll need various items. 

I think retirement helps. Been trying to speed it up but Powerball doesn't want to cooperate.

Enjoy !

80+ cruises ! Mercy, how does one go about such numbers ? Please mentor me!

Packed a little but will pack the majority in the morning.  Shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes.  Pretty uneventful night.  Dinner was in the MDR; Italian night.  Dan got some kind of lamb curry dish and I got the chicken parm (who’s surprised ?).  Actually, it was the best chicken parm I have ever eaten on Royal !  Maybe I was just super hungry but I thought it was really excellent.  Having -0- Italian genes, maybe I’m just easy to please.  Purists probably laugh at me. 🤭
So leg #3 starts tomorrow.  Day 15 of 24.
We barely darkened the door of the casino.  We both played some Ultimate for maybe 30 minutes and then both cashed out slightly ahead.  I’m still down about $400 for this leg but I’m pretty sure Dan is either up or even.  The slots were not particularly friendly on this leg.  We played some pigs yesterday and we thought for sure we would get our pig to “pop” but he never did.  He was quite the porker though…so fat his feet wouldn’t even touch the ground.   IYKYK.

Exciting! I did this itinerary on Allure in July 2023 and loved it. You are a SAINT with the homeschooling - I had to do 1+ years with my kiddos during Covid and it almost broke me. They were doing 3rd/4th and 5th/6th at that time. No more math...please...white flag... 🤣
Curious to see what you think of Paradise Beach. Would love to do it next time I'm in Cozumel!

God bless you @WAAAYTOOO , it’s incomprehensible to me how much y’all cruise. Obviously I’m envious as hell. You all may be sneaking up on super Mario. I’ll be following this live blog 

I like big ships and I cannot lie. 

I like big ships and I cannot lie. 

I like big ships and I cannot lie. 

I like big ships and I cannot lie. 

Great pics !

I like big ships and I cannot lie. 

No zoomed in picture of the aft of Wonder or Symphony? 36-24-36... ( Of course you have to throw in Oasis class dimensions)