USCG Teacher

Yes.  You’re now a voyeur. 
??❤️❤️

So pretty much the same as what occurs here in the U.S.   Got it.  

How else is Mexico supposed to pay for the wall???
Pony up touristas

I blew out a tire on a pothole in Denver a month ago, I'm not gonna complain how Cozumel spends the taxes they collect 

Cruise Summary
This was another bucket list cruise that lives up to that reputation.
It introduced me to several new destinations that each warrant a return visit.  Puntarenas and Cartagena stand out as top ports while the transit of the Panama Canal completely lived up to all my expectations.  Simply wow.  
This is my second time on Vision of the Seas and she fulfilled everything I needed for this cruise.  An issue with my cabin temperature was fixed within two hours on day one and I had no issues for the remainder of the cruise.  The crew were fantastic in all respects.  
The only thing I can think to complain about was the lack of enough tenders in Cabo San Lucas.  Using the four dual purpose lifeboat/tenders from the ship simply wasn't enough and it impacted out useable time in port.  The ship offered a lot of excuses for this but at the end of the day if they can't figure out how to execute tendering in Cabo they should drop the port. Fortunately I've been there before and it wasn't the reason I booked this cruise.
Seeing the operation of the Panama Canal locks firsthand and up close was amazing and I'm glad I experienced the original Panama Canal.  It's not an experience I'll soon forget.
When I return I'll spend more time down low watching all the action from lock level.  
My decision to save money by booking an ocean view cabin worked out fine.  Looking back I don't think I missed out by not having a balcony or suite.  Even if I had a balcony I wouldn't stay out there for the canal transit as there is too much to see on both sides of the ship.  Balconies were more than twice the price of my cabin so not only did my savings cover my stay on the Queen Mary, excursions and airfare but also left enough to pay for my next two cruises.
I have a few other bucket list type cruises in the future but I'll be looking out for another Panama Canal cruise after those.  
I hope you enjoyed following along and I thank you for viewing.

Yeah, that extra 65 cents is going to push some over the edge.

Not even close ?
But I'm playing the long game, you see I'm luring the Casino in to a false sense of security by deliberately losing and once I have them where I want them..... I'll strike!
Thats my story and I'm sticking to it

We learned the hard way that the drink package does not include room service....paid $80 for 6 beers

Champagne is wine, so stop at a liquor store (or walgreens, depending on the state etc) bring a bottle or two onboard with you as your allowed in stateroom wine, chill them in the fridge overnight then just order orange juice on your breakfast card and, voila, start your day off with a nice little taste of vacation.  Done it several times.  Careful opening that cork!
 

In case you are wondering, he looks like this:

Forgot to mention, another advantage to linking the reservations is it makes it easier to book specialty dining together as well if you're so inclined.  Have a great cruise!

We have added people before thru the cruise planner as well, one thing to check, when you get your sea pass card, check and make sure the table numbers match as well, if not as was said go to main dining room. Enjoy the cruise, your getting very close to,departure.

@USCG Teacher
Thank you so much for the quick reply. I'll make sure to do both of your recommendations. Cheers

On cruise planner, you can link your reservations so that you can make your dining reservations together!  That's probably the easiest way, but if you stop down to Main Dining Room the first day, I'm sure they'd be able to accommodate you, especially if you happen to have My Time Dining.

On cruise planner, you can link your reservations so that you can make your dining reservations together!  That's probably the easiest way, but if you stop down to Main Dining Room the first day, I'm sure they'd be able to accommodate you, especially if you happen to have My Time Dining.

Neither can i, despite what my eyes will be telling me 

Also forgot to mention, they held a Veteran’s Day event on board in the Promenade. They sang the national anthem, and had one of the casts from Grease sing ‘Hallelujah’ with lyrics changed to honor our servicemen and women. The moment of silence was deafening. Both my husband and I are veterans, and found it to be very touching and moving. (Also on board was a 92 yo WWII vet!). Thanks to RCI for taking the time to honor our vets!

I've never posted on a message board in my life.  Only a nerd would do that.
 
Oh shoot, I guess I'm busted by my rating.
 
Just kidding.  This is a great place for information about all of cruising... not just Royal Caribbean.  I appreciate the atmosphere as well as the info.

It's a ship.  No different than sailing a modern cruise ship.  No matter what ship you board the same stories are rumored.  Same with hotels.  How old is the oldest hotel you've stayed in?  More than 20 years old year?  See any ghosts?
I tend to use one bed for stuff so that leaves one bed for snoozing.  
That was 1912.  This ship, the Queen Mary sailed for the first time 24 years later and for over 30 years since did that same route weekly, week after week.  In fact the crossing to Long Beach was sailing 1,000.  One thousand sailings across the very same stretch of water.  Her sister ship did the same.  Two thousands crossings and no Titanic moment.  
Learning from that tragedy the QM had lifeboat and liferaft capacity for 8,000 with a typical guest count of just over 2,000. 
The Queen Mary is proof that human engineering does evolve.  It learns from mistakes.  Those same lessons make cruising as safe as it is today.   
For me it's a time capsule or time machine.  A very rare opportunity to go back in history and see where this whole cruise industry evolved from.   
Fly in an airplane?  Want to list airline disasters over the past 30 years?  Didn't think so.  
Indeed.  Mankind learned a very big lesson that day that humbled a lot of learned scholars from that time.  We can all thank marine disasters such as Titanic for cruising to be as safe and casual as it is today.  
That's the takeaway - this beautiful old ship learned from previous disasters and was an incredibly safe means to travel.

If he is sworn to secrecy I think he missed the point about keeping it a secret.

The tenders don't have set times.  They do not publish a schedule that says "Tender will leave ship at 15 minutes past the hour and return at 45 minutes past the hour".
Rather they operate tenders as they fill up.  If a tender boat reaches capacity they send it.  When another tender boat reaches the ship, they send the one currently filling up to make room to receive the incoming tender boat.  At times during high demand they fill up quickly and there could 3 tenders heading towards shore at the same time.  At slower times they'll pull some boats out of the rotation and use fewer tender boats.  It's a dynamic process without set times.  
Overnight in Maui is unique for tendering.  What they did this past September was to use the ship's tender boats until 10pm.  The crew had been on duty for a long day by this point.  At that point they hired a local boat to operate the overnight tendering service so that crew could rest.  The local boat operator used one boat all night long.  It would go to shore, drop guests, pick up any incoming guests and return to the ship.  The ride and process of moving guests off and on that boat takes roughly one hour to execute one round trip.  This can vary slightly since a full boat takes longer for passengers to move off or on, an empty tender at 3am would run slightly faster times.  So the one hour loop time is not cast in stone, it could be as long as 70 minutes or it could be as short as 50 minutes.  It's dynamic.

Yes, you still have to make reservations for each show you want to see.  Where the Key helps is with the actual seating.  Rather than having to show up 30-40 minutes ahead of a popular show's start time to get decent seats, you will have seating reserved for you in a "prime" seating area up to 15 minutes before curtain.