dr martini

He doesn’t use a camera. He’s a bot.  He just scans the scene with his laser eyes.

Never too many photos!!!! 

I'm sure you are all getting tired of so many photos so I'll stop soon but here are a few more...























 

I never get tired of your photos.....Great Job!!! ?

The new Suite Lounge is occupying the former space of the Diamond Lounge on deck 14 within the Viking Crown Lounge.


I'm slumming it in an interior cabin no pictures from inside the Suite Lounge.
I think it was smart to move the Diamond Club down to deck 5. 
The Viking Crown Lounge is free for public use nightly now since the Diamond happy hour overflow is now into the Star Lounge.  The port side aft elevators that service deck 14 and the Viking Crown Lounge are not packed with Diamond members trying to reach deck 14 during happy hour. 
The Star Lounge and Diamond Club has more comfortable seating.  The only thing absent of course are the views.  However with sun setting early evening that is really not a huge issue and with happy hour drink coupons loaded on Diamond SeaPass cards it's easy enough to enjoy a few drinks in the Viking Crown Lounge (which now has seats available) then move down the Diamond Club after dinner.  
It's a better overall use of both spaces.

Have you watched many of this guy's videos?  I did and I find myself incompatible with a lot of of his "information".  
It has given me a great deal of respect for @Matt who doesn't produce drivel just for the sake of getting "clicks" and "watches".  

In my experience the pours are generally very generous 

Get the red velvet cupcakes. Thank me later.

The move away from fully refundable deposits was in response to many people who did game the old system.   I'm not saying anyone here did, but it was commonplace.
 Back then people would book cruises they had no intention to taking just to secure OBC or other perks and benefits.  Then just before 90 days they would call in and move the booking to another ship.  Some people did this for years with one booking.  The problem the company faced was a surplus of cabins all coming available just before the 90 day mark.  At that point many people have already made plans so they had a difficult time selling the ship.  
The current approach is designed to motivate people to only book cruises they intent to actually take much like non-refundable airfare when flying.  Accepting non-refundable comes with terms and conditions.  Accepting guarantee cabins to save money comes with sacrifices.
The other issue for us cruisers right now is that cruising is extremely popular.  More people are taking more cruises.  Based on supply and demand that is driving up prices.  When demand is high pricing will increase.  All cruise lines follow this pricing principle.  
Inexpensive cruises are available but sometimes that means taking an older ship or less desirable itinerary.  If it's popular it's in demand and pricing will not be the lowest available.  That's why I often sail off peak and I don't mind older and smaller ships.  They are great value.

If anyone is hesitant to let RC pick your room by booking a “Guaranteed” room (GTY) read this! We saved over $1000 (3 people) by booking a guaranteed ocean-view balcony room. Then when RC was assigning rooms last week all the standard ocean-view balcony rooms were booked.....so they UPGRADED US TO A 1-BEDROOM GRAND SUITE AT NO CHARGE!! I had actually made a minimum Royal Up bid for this room ($1,500) which was cancelled when they gave me the upgrade. We will be in a Room 9660 sailing on January 4th, 2020.

Hello Everyone Here Is My First Navigator Of The Seas Cruise Vlog. It Is Of Me Boarding The Navigator Of The Seas. Hope You Enjoy This Series!!!
 
There Are Many More To Come So Stay Tuned!! 
 

Symphony also has a uniquely larger solarium than the rest of the oasis class and is the newer ship overall (I realize oasis was just reamped but still nearly 10 years older and they can't do everything in the dry dock) so full rooms, artwork, public spaces, tech, everything will be just a bit fresher and cleaner, plus symphony leaves from terminal A in miami (where I would rather stay, more to see and do that FLL).
I'm just another guy offering his two cents, but all things truly being equal I would go with symphony out of miami, in fact I would pay 10% more to go that route.

That is a good consideration.  When it comes to shows I give the slight edge to Symphony.  Theater shows (Hairspray and Flight) were better than the ones on Oasis.  The ice show on Symphony it a little better because DRONES!  But the Aqua80 aquatheater show on Oasis is much better than Hiro was IMO.

*Up to $600 in instant or on-board credits
*A bunch of fine print that translates into you are unlikely to get $600 unless you book star class suites during a super moon that falls between harvest moons.
In reality you usually get some sort of OBC but it varies by sailing and may be nothing which was the case with my last Next booking on Anthem for a super cheap last minute deal.  It all depends what promos are running at the time.  A 12 night balcony booking netted me $200 OBC from Next but at the expense of $100 OBC being offered to anyone on the internet.  So in the end I got an extra $100 OBC because of Next compared to just booking on the internet.
With the $55M dollar loss from hurricanes this year I suspect Next is being restricted on what they can offer at the moment.
Next is run by the Crown and Anchor Society team.

Keep checking my flight info for no reason Keep checking my hotel info for no reason (Always fly in the day before!) Keep looking at transportation options for Airport>Hotel and Hotel>Port Check out all my destinations on Google maps and Street View Sign into the RC website to look at the countdown and check for any new discounts on beverages, dining, excursions, and spa treatments Sign in to the app to see if any more of the schedules have populated (A little tired of seeing "We're getting in ship shape") Check the www.royalcaribbeanblog.com website several times a day Comment on posts on the www.royalcaribbeanblog.com website!

Most cruises have a two year sales cycle.  Plenty of time for people to plan vacations, book cruises, get cheap airfare, etc. 
When Cuba was trumped it put the cruise lines in a very bad spot.  When they had to cancel Cuba overnight with no notice it left them with two empty ships.  Expenses for those ships don't stop and they can't just park them somewhere and fire the crew.
What's better?  An empty ship with no guests but still requiring a crew onboard or minimizing losses by filling the ship with guests who will buy drinks, dinners at Chops, photos, gamble in the casino, contribute to crew compensation VIA daily gratuities, etc.
Some folks may spend more than normal on board since they got a good deal on the cruise fare.  They might not normally do Chops or Chef's Table but heck, "We paid so little for the cruise, let's splurge!" 
I'm going back to Empress and I'll be buying a Chops dinner again and drinks, again.  I'll buy Voom too.  I'll also be paying the daily service charges aka gratuity so crew still make money.  
Cuba was highly profitable so yeah, some of those profits are being offset in the short term but the alternative is worse.  They never planned to do this, they are dealing with the circumstances they find themselves in.  Perhaps in the near future a more business friendly administration will take office.
 

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!
 

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!
 

Not 100% accurate, but pretty close...
 

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!
 

Short of a highly pitched amplification there hasn't been a lot released by Royal with specifics.
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/10/11/quantum-of-the-seas-will-add-laser-tag-and-escape-room-during-upcoming-renovation
Understand that the five year dry dock is a maritime requirement for technical maintenance.  All ships, cargo, container, tanker and cruise ship have to perform a 5 year dry dock.  The ship is removed from the water, the hull is cleaned of any marine growth, new anti-fouling paint is applied, seals replaced, bearings maintained, thrusters rebuilt, bilges cleaned, etc.  If they fail to do this every five years the ship would lose its rating to operate.  You can set a reminder in your calendar because there will be another dry dock by 2024, there has to be. 
Consequently the real reason for this dry dock is not to do anything in guest areas.  They only touch guest areas because the ship is there without any passengers so it's a convenient time to refresh guest areas.
Quantum is relatively new so she doesn't need massive amplification.  The work in guest areas won't be significant because she is still a relatively new ship.  They may replace carpet in areas, paint pools and fix broken floor tiles, update signage, upgrade computer systems, etc.  Mostly stuff no one would notice. 
Anthem is doing the same next year and like Quantum it isn't being amped.
Might they rebrand the concierge lounge as a suite lounge?  Possibly.  For the most part guests aren't going to see a lot of changes.
I'd be careful assuming she is getting a broadway show.  The latest trend is a Showgirl themed show but no one knows for sure.  If they do technical updates in Two70° maybe Quantum will get some of the new stuff Spectrum has in Two70°.  

Royal has learned a lot over the years and you can see that evolution in the ships over the years.  However Radiance class is an exception to that.  Radiance was introduced after Voyager  class was close to having grown to 3 ships (Radiance and Adventure both started revenue sailings in 2001). 
At one point in time Voyager class was never to leave the Caribbean as they were too big for the rest of the world.   Radiance class was built to not exceed then Panamax standards and designed to be cleaner or greener for eco sensitive environments such as Alaska.  They were built with different missions in mind, never to co-exist in the same market.  Fast forward to modern times and Voyager class are all over the globe.  
Radiance class has the lowest suite count of any class and we all know Royal has grown to become focused on the suites.  
Earlier ships suffer in that they were built in an era prior to azipods and used conventional propulsion with rudders.  While you can add guest conveniences like slides and restaurants it's virtually impossible to replace entire propulsion systems and engines to newer technology.  Ships are built around the engines.  They are the very first components that ships are built upon.  Once installed they are there for life.  Sure they are rebuilt from time to time but changing out an entire engine or replacing the drive system is never economical.  It's generally cheaper to sell it off and build a new ship.   
The same can be said for cabins.  Moving walls and infrastructure like plumbing and electrical is rarely cost effective.  It's one thing to add new cabins in open space but moving existing or converting regular cabins in to suites is very expensive and counterproductive if it costs two cabins to create a single suite.  The resulting difference in revenue never pays for the work required plus you have reduced the number of guests on board that reduces on board revenue (four guests in two balcony cabins will spend more on board compared to two guests in a one suite). 
Smaller ships also suffer from a lack of real estate.  There can be literally no room to place slides or a restaurant, or the weight allocation can't be accommodated without making the ship unstable.  Water slides require pumps and water storage tanks that if located up high can make a small ship tend to roll over in the right conditions.  The engineering often doesn't allow it to happen despite what guests or Royal may desire.   
At the end of the day it's much like owning an old car.  An old car is old, requires more maintenance, burns more fuel and doesn't have the latest features.  However it's paid for.  A brand new car is more fuel efficient, runs with little maintenance, has better safety, performance and comfort but it involves a monthly payment.   Keeping an older car can save money in the long term if you can deal with more frequent breakdowns and not having the latest features.  

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!