USCG Teacher

@WAAAYTOOO does have time now, but I doubt they will give her a suite.😂

So I was frustrated that you could not read the sign so I snuck back over there to take a couple more pix.
 

As you all know, Dan and I are in FL doing some house biz.  We have finished all of that for now and are flying home tomorrow morning.  We are staying at the Miami Airport Marriott tonite for a very early morning flight.
While walking over to the bar at the Courtyard (so weird that everything at the Marriott is closed but the restaurant and bar at the adjacent Courtyard are open !) we happened upon a “registration” table for Royal Caribbean. Being the naturally curious (not to mention, nosy) person that I am, I stopped and chatted with the guy manning the table.  He said that he was registering new staff that were signing on with NAV.  He said they are just part of rotating maintenance crew and said he has no insight regarding cruise re-start, but it was still exciting to learn that new staff is allowed to come in and most notably, they are flying in.  I tried not to stare at the paperwork but I could see that the list of names looked to be fairly lengthy.  Can’t say that there is any smoking gun or intel that provides any real information but at least I did find out that they were headed to NAV.

On the way back, the table was unmanned so I snapped a quick pic of the table and sign.
Maybe ?  Maybe ?

I dunno, maybe Australia deserves to be first. They are down to zero, after all.

I guess you're right.  Warm fuzzy feelings being the only benefit most of the time.

Maybe not entirely without benefit. I usually get a nice warm fuzzy feeling whenever I'm able to provide someone with a helpful answer to their question. I'd say that's a pretty decent benefit. 😊

Thanks everyone. I read all the cruise with confidence options but wanted clarity and you are all the best of the best 🙂   I think it may be in our best interest to wait a bit to see if we get cancelled by royal and just make that separate May booking. 
We were hesitant to do the lift and shift as it’s a few families that booked separately, with the lift and shift it appears you pick preference sailings, and I was worried we would all put the same preferences but get different sailings. Not sure if that could occur. Didn’t want to chance it. We also didn’t want to wait that long to see one another.  The May cruise is the same pricing as our original December cruise. 
 
Thank you for the advice. Avid lurker on the boards and always hop on those live streams on Facebook/Twitter when Matt does them.  I feel some of you all are famous! 🙂 

As you mention, the group here is awesome.  There is an incredible amount of experience and knowledge that is shared freely but at the same time graciously and without benefit to the person sharing.  It is remarkable.

So pricing is back to normal?  

Just my two cents, but I am going to have to agree with the popular vote here.....I would not and can not fly in the same day.  There are FAR too many things that are out of your control that can go wrong.  I know how crazy things are and I can tell you that I am a planner and even getting there a day early I still carry some stress until we are curbside.   Flying in the day of the cruise would drive me absolutely insane!  I know for a fact that I would need to be heavily medicated in order to make the trip to the port that same day.I live about three to three and a half hours away from Baltimore and plan on cruising from there here soon, and I still would not leave it to chance....I know I am paranoid but I have been stuck on 95 for HOURS due to bad accidents or chemical spills.  To me being there a day early allows all of us to destress and relax prior to getting onboard, I consider it money and time well spent!  

Another option that doesn't rely on any airlines - drive it. Austin to New Orleans is only about 8 driving hours each way. By the time you drive to the airport, go through security, wait for your flight, sit in those tiny seats for a while, wait at baggage claim, and travel to your hotel the time saving is probably only an hour or two.

I have done it both on arrival and departure..but hate it and stressed out and wont ever do it again. I would always err on the side of caution. Much more relaxing and fun that way too....I always can find something to do the night before in a different city before the cruise.
 
And with less flights and options in alot of cases, I could see the potential for further issues if something goes wrong with a flight or a delay could turn into a longer delay now.

Agree here.  To me, St. Martin is a little tired.  I wouldn't avoid it, but again choosing between it and Grenada is easy for me.

My thought is yes.  I routinely fly a lot on business and know only too well how often flights are cancelled, delayed or diverted. Personally if I were flying for a cruise with a departure deadline, I would rather hibernate in a hotel overnight than risk not making it onboard
 

I tried to get those stupid heart-eyes-creepers off my last post but they won’t delete.  Makes them even creepier.

I was recently watching a Celebrity webinar on the Galapagos which opened my eyes to this exciting destination and other options within the Royal Caribbean Group family.  I quickly discovered a brand new ship that SilverSea built specifically for the Galapagos, the Silver Origin.  
The Silver Origin is a clever name since the Galapagos are known for Charles Darwin's famous book, The Origins of Species.  
The Galapagos is a unique bucket list destination.  Access to the Galapagos archipelago is strictly controlled and the few lines that operate there must confirm to controlled and approved itineraries.  These ships are unique in that they never dock, not even to embark or debark passengers, the Galapagos are that strictly controlled.  
SilverSea is known for luxury and you don't have to spend much time looking at the marketing material to see that Silver Origin fits the SilverSea brand very well.  It's an all suite ship with capacity for 100 passengers and a crew of 90.   The ship is so new that she hasn't carried passengers yet.  The pandemic spoiled the Silver Origin inaugural sailings but there is hope they can start soon.  Until then these marketing video from near the end of her construction are all we have:
https://discover.silversea.com/on-board/silversea-welcomes-silver-origin-to-the-fleet/
Deck 3: The Marina and Basecamp
Deck 4: The Restaurant and Explorer’s Lounge
Decks 5 and 6: Spa, Fitness Center and Suites   
Deck 7: Upper Deck, The Grill and Observation Lounge
Silver Origin provides a truly all-inclusive experience.  Short of spa services there is little on board that isn't included.  
It's amazing to me that the Royal Caribbean Group has such a broad spectrum of cruise products in the portfolio.  The Galapagos is not an inexpensive destination but there are a lot of reasons behind the scenes why it isn't mainstream mass market cruising.  As I began thinking about this incredible destination I was pleased to discover that SilverSea was within my budget for this extraordinary bucket list experience.  
In the coming months I hope to experience the Silver Origin myself and to bring this beautiful baby ship to you right here on RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com.