PRebecca

I have also found after all these cruises we've been on so far that often times, you find yourself wearing an item for a very short period of time. If you shower, wear a dress shirt to dinner, then take it off after dinner, hang it back up, I don't see any reason why that shirt can't be worn again later in the week. Yes, I admit, I'm a re-wearer. ?

@dahdoul44 thank you!!! I ordered a beach bed for our upcoming cruise but couldn't find much about their current conditions! so glad to see it looks like each bed also gets some chairs to lay out in the sun! 10 days until we are relaxing at Cococay 

@Matt maybe you might know, bringing in the big guns for these questions haha
 
Thanks ahead of time!

… and so have I.  ?  Your typing look fine, at least those parts which are in focus.  Please concentrate more on typing in focus so that the west of us,... I mean rest of us, can enjoy your post...  And you should see a doctor about that cough before you depart.  

Oh.... this may have to happen!!! As I am going with a group of guys who may or may not like to get into mischief.... typically good-natured mischief though. But yes.... If we come across any bridezillas... I will make sure to capture the meltdowns!!!! :-) 

That is truth there. Almost every cruise I have been on there is a bride in full bride garb waiting to get on the ship to get married. They normally look flustered and end up yelling at their bides maids. It's must see TV. So, if you see one of these situation please capture the tension as the group tries to get on the ship as well as all the Pinnacles and Suites members who are pushing forward to get on the ship too.  

I think you are correct, we will have a blast (we are not doing anytime dining)!  Never been on a cruise with a group before so really looking forward to it.  Depart two weeks from today!  Can’t wait!

Thanks everyone! I booked yesterday with Sharla at MEI for end of October. After the 24 hour cabin hold, the price on the cabin dropped $200! I went with a guaranteed balcony which also was $200 less than picking the cabin. So that $400 in savings about paid for our drink package + VOOM. Added an ultimate dining and we came out at about $1800 for the 3 nights. We plan to “gift” our 6 Diamond drinks each day. That’ll be fun!  
Living 2 hours from Port Canaveral, we need to do this at least once a year. It’s a nice “tweener” cruise until Symphony in May plus we get to scope out CocoCay! 

My first Royal Cruise was 11 years ago.
Three weeks before my x decided to become my x.
The cruise was awful. Why? Because all I remember from that cruise was him being drunk, a jerk, and not wanting to do anything at all. His drink of choice was "Grey Goose Martini with Six *&^%$ olives". Six. Never understood why SIX? To this day.... if I hear anyone say "Grey Goose Martini..." I cringe and hear in my head "with six olives".
This December marks 10 years free of my x. I wanted to celebrate with a "do over" and in 217 days, I board the Grandeur of the Seas (same ship) and I will indulge in all the cruise ship vacation fun and experiences that I wanted to do all those years ago but instead listened to a drunk jerk complain for seven days.
I am going to go do all the things and take excursions and dance and see the shows EVERY night! I am going to have so much fun and I am going to do it right this time!
?

Our first cruise was on Enchantment back in 2014. While there were many great memories made on that cruise, I think my favorite memory was having drinks with my buddy in the schooner bar, which on that ship, has a great view of the sea. We just sat there drinking scotch, and as firefighters do, discussing how we were going to solve all of the world’s problems while watching the sea go by. 
 
What also sits in my memory is that this was before dinner. After eating dinner, my buddy and I went back to the schooner bar. The same bar tender was there. She saw us walk in and immediately poured what we were drinking.
it was a great day.

My first cruise was to Alaska (Vancouver, closed loop) on Vision of the Seas in 1999.  Our most memorable thing from that sailing came on the last sea day.  We're basically out at open sea (no longer in the Inside Passage) and we're enjoying lunch in the MDR.  Someone on the starboard side yelled "Dolphins!"  The entire MDR started moving towards the windows.  Everything in the dining room STOPPED.  EVERY waiter, headwaiter, assistant waiter, and a few people from the kitchen came out to look.  Because it wasn't a few dolphins.  It was hundreds and hundreds of dolphins, moving in the same direction of the ship, nearly at ship speed, for as far as the eye could see.  Staff were commenting on how they'd NEVER seen such a sight while working in Alaska (including the captain).  I have a crappy memory for things, but I"ll NEVER forget that day.

Over a decade ago my wife and I decided to cruise.  Liberty of the Seas best fit our schedule.  We were entirely ignorant.  We picked one excursion.   
Jamaica excursion:  Blue Mtn Coffee-Dunn River Falls-Snorkling with all the rum "kool-aid" U could drink.  We decided that we would not snorkle and enjoy the boat.  Again, first cruise...  we did not remember the excursion details, and dressed for hiking along the "banks of Dunn River."  Well.. My wife was dressed very fashionably with pants and shirt.  
Loved the Blue Mtn Coffee.  Then, we were organized into groups to go hand in hand, not on the banks but IN THE RIVER.  My wife was a trooper and stuck with it - still not realizing the depth (she is less 5 feet tall) by the time we got to the top she was soaked.  We end up buying at the top of the falls, from the vendors, short gym shorts and a tee shirt.  She changed in the restroom and walked out.  The shorts were lime green with florescent yellow piping with JAMAICA (the bright yellow) across the back of the shorts.  We laughed so hard and bought the video.  As most were snorkling, we drank koolaid.  Yes, my wife lead the Conga line dance before we ended the excursion.   
I still have photo at the start as a screen saver.  
What is your first cruise memory?

Whoo hoo! Exciting time!!

People say to roll your clothes.  I tried it once.
My suitcase has wheels on the bottom and I rolled it all the way.  Clothes were still wrinkled. Perhaps the airline didn’t roll my suitcase.  

I will gladly take two days at CocoCay.  We were just there in June. I think my wife would kill me if I booked another one, but she might forgive me if there were two days at CocoCay.

I sail just right after New years on Jan 4th. Giving us enough time to bring in the New Year and sailing off days after.
Extremely excited first time sailing on a cruise ever. Slowly becoming desensitize with the pricing but it was overwhelming at first.
We thought "if it's our first time sailing might as well make it amazing" so I booked a OVB cabin and currently hawking cruise planner for deals.
So many things we want to add like couples massage, cococay waterpark pass, deluxe drink package, the key, and some onboard activities including sushi class haha.
I totaled it out and almost died lol

Woot!!!!

For my clothes? Absolutely. Or at least, it better!

Next year we will be on our Greece cruise during our 30th. My wife will be 54 and I'll be 55 then. Who knows? Enough years, but not old enough? We'll see.

Let's try this again!
This weekend I'm taking the family on Mariner of the Seas for a 3-night cruise to the Bahamas and I'll be live blogging it! In fact, I'm starting this live blog just two days before we set sail, unlike @Lovetocruise2002 ancient Greek epic live blogs that begin in the months leading up to the dawn of time.

Actual footage of @Lovetocruise2002 retelling her cruise highlights
When last I left you all in my live blog, I was booked on Mariner of the Seas to enjoy a 3-night cruise, but then Hurricane Dorian forced my hand and I had to cancel. 

This is a 3-night sailing on the fabulous Mariner of the Seas and it will take us to Freeport Bahamas....

Just kidding. We're going to Perfect Day at CocoCay only. We were scheduled to go to Freeport, but the damage caused by Hurricane Dorian resulted in the port being skipped and instead, we will have a sea day.
I am bringing the family with me on this sailing, and we are staying in a category 1K Ultra Spacious Ocean View Stateroom.  This room is at the front of the ship and offers 328 square feet of space, complete with bunk beds, which my daughters think is the coolest darn room ever.  
The other interesting aspect to this cruise is the fact we will be attending a wedding onboard.  Friend of the blog, Michael "Babyface" Poole will be tying the knot on Perfect Day at CocoCay!
This will be my second wedding that I've attended at CocoCay, but first since the island's makeover. In addition to a lot of sweating during the ceremony, we are looking forward to seeing what an island wedding is all about.
That's it for now. I'll be working Friday morning and then promptly pick my kids up from school the moment a half day counts, and then drive over to Port Canaveral to board Mariner of the Seas. If all goes to plan, should be there right around 1pm on Friday.
 
Can't wait to get onboard....for real this time!

Also, if you go to Costa Maya on that cruise, I HIGHLY recommend the 4 hour Checchoben Mayan Ruins excursion.  We’re currently on Symphony and did it the other day ........ It was amazing and way way better than Chichen Itza and only 50 min from Port.  Way more structures than we expected and you could touch and climb partially up them.  Cruz was also a GREAT guide!

In my opinion, once the amplification is done, Allure will be way better than Harmony and will also have the new Portside BBQ restaurant.  Plus Allure has my favorite show, Mama Mia.
I vote that you stick with Allure for your November 2020 cruise.

November 15th, 2020 Allure 

We did a beach bungalow in Columbus when we were on Anthem in July - and it was the best money I've ever spent for a beach day.   We had 4 kids (ages 8, 9, 10, 11), four parents and two grandparents.  We were technically over the # of people allowed - but the kids were always out in the water or on the beach and for the most part it was the grandparents chilling in the bungalow (and the attendants didn't mind after we slid them an extra tip).   The beach is amazing.  There is a tonne of sun and shade, depending on your preference.  My son was snorkeling along the boulders at the far end of the beach and was loving watching the fish (few, but he was happy to see anything).  The bungalows are close to bathrooms and the buffet.  Attendants were awesome.   I didn't think the floating mats would really be used - but they were amazing and the kids had a blast inventing various games with them.  Many sandcastles were also built.  
It was literally the perfect beach day of doing nothing but chilling out and hanging together.  Keeping the grandparents out of the sun is a huge priority and they were thrilled with the bungalow - and the kids couldn't have been happier with the easy access to the water and the beach.
I can't speak to the cabanas - but we never once wished we had booked somewhere else at Labadee.

My wife & I really enjoyed Dunn's River Falls...love the energy from the people chaperoning the tour, which what made it so fun & enjoyable. The Grotto Caves was also part of the excursion...the tubing excursion was sold out at the time we booked the excursion. However, I must say, the guide we had was not only just informative & presented a wealth of knowledge about the history of the Grotto caves; he was tremendously hilarious & entertaining with impressions & sense of humor.