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I'm glad that you posted this question. Thinking about booking two more cruises right now during "wave season" but didn't want to miss out on the NextCruise offers either. Sounds like I can book now with the TA and doublecheck with NextCruise on my Feb. cruise to see if they can do better.

Not much to add here: stay in right lane, get there by 10:30 am, tip the porters/longshoreman, park and walk back to terminal. We had a starboard side balcony and watched the huge traffic jam at 1:30 pm on embarkation day. I will ADD that post cruise, as we paid for our parking and were leaving the garage, a big, burly longshoreman said to us "yous guyz have a safe and pleasant journey home." Very nice touch.

Our first GTY Stateroom cabin will be Feb 2021 but I checked anyway to see if we got an assignment. No luck yet. Too soon? 😃

Has anyone been to the Nacional Beach club and done the VIP beach break? Looks nice, somewhat pricey, and not sure if they have the seaweed issue.

@ashonthesea, definitely enjoying following along but just realized that you were at CocoCay the same time we arrived there on Anthem. We got the same pic of the 2 ships side by side and were at the Snack Shack at noon and in the pool right after that (the water was cold). Small world! Can't wait to sail on Empress next month.

We were happy to enjoy the sunshine and the waves. Relaxing was our only goal that day. the lawn bowling and beach bean bag chairs were fun! The loungers IN the pool=also fun. The floating bar is still there.

Great pics with the new camera. 15 times on the Flowrider in one session?!!! You must be an expert at it. What tips/techniques do you suggest for those of us who have only done it once and were happy just to hang on?

Thanks @Twangster for posting trip details and great pics. Your pictures are outstanding and capture a lot of the great features the Quantum class ships offer. That junior suite looks impressive. Our first trip on Anthem was just a couple of weeks ago and she really is a great ship. I asked my wife if she would be willing to go on Anthem again and it was an enthusiastic "yes." Now let's see what she thinks about Empress when we sail her next month.

Hopefully this experience was a "one off" given that it was a Holiday/NYE cruise and not going to give it additional thought. Grateful to be able to take time off and have a fun vacation on a cruise ship and will continue to stay loyal to Royal!

We did a similar cruise from Barcelona a couple of summers ago. Couple of days in Barcelona, very port intensive with sea day on the last day as well. After the long flight from East Coast, and two very busy days in Barcelona (Sagrada Familia, bike tour, there is so much to see and do) and knowing our busy cruise itinerary would not allow much down time, we opted to get on the ship as early as possible, It was our kids first cruise and everyone was excited to explore the ship. We have not been on Allure but know she is a great ship with a lot of great food and entertainment/activity options. You can't go wrong either way. Guess it really depends on how much you are trying to see in Barcelona and if you need the extra time before boarding. Do you have time at the end of the cruise to explore Barcelona?

Have a great time on Empress and please share as much as you can via blog or posts. We are sailing Empress for the first time in 5 weeks and looking forward to any tips and pics you want to share.

We were on Anthem the week after Christmas and did the Royal excursion to KSC. I had a hard time with the price and looked for options to do on our own. We typically book our own tours because of the sticker shock of the ship excursions. Unfortunately I couldn't come up with a better solution. Rental car, other tour operators, etc., just didn't work out. The ship excursion allowed us to see SO MUCH of KSC without waiting in lines, provided efficient transportation (and a tour guide from port to KSC and back) and an organized way to see it all. Yes it was costly but worth it IMHO. Confirming that 2 bottles of wine should be brought aboard in your carry on.

Heard they are both nice. Haven't been to either because both clubs are sold out by the time I get around to booking. My suggestion is to book one or both of them soon before they run out of availability.

Just found out Maya Chen is sold out for the day of our visit. Other suggestions?

Thanks @KJones for seconding the Maya Chen suggestion. Are the water sports a viable option with the sea grass issue. We would love to kayak and snorkel.