WAAAYTOOO

Paul, you are moving to Florida from Texas ?

Isn't the drink of the day advertised in the Compass ?  I think I remember seeing the drink of the day mentioned in there somewhere.  Usually the bars around the pools push the drink of the day.

I have heard some stories of very expensive upcharges at some locations on the ship for NYE.  I don't like that much...so we'll have to see what the situation is on NAV.

SO HAPPY TO HEAR THIS !  Glad you were able to get someone that could help.  YIPEE !

The Blue Planet is still showing.  The Ice show was some Monopoly theme thing.  Both were very good.  I wasn't as happy with Mama Mia ! as I thought I would be.  We did not return for the second half.

I've done many Christmases at sea but this year will be my first Christmas + New Years. I cant wait !

Brian, you leave next weekend, right ?

Oh...Todd is absolutely right !  ALWAYS make them think you are calling to book a new reservation.  They ALWAYS answer for that call !

Since I believe it sounds as if you booked these cruises yourself, through RCI, then you will need to call them directly to have these changes made.

Do NOT cancel the cruises....let them handle this.  If you cancel then you relinquish all benefits associated with your original booking.  If you let THEM handle it, they can oftentimes move things sideways without cancelling anything....or move benefits from one booking to another.

I know a lot of people disagree with me on this, but I have found that the customer service agents really do try and help you, if they can.  Sure, there are bad ones that don't go out of their way to help but for the most part, they do.  They will USUALLY tell you which is the better deal - the one you already have or the one you are looking to change to.  I have had customer service agents get it wrong before...but that is infrequent, in my experience.  You can ALWAYS call back and get another agent and trust me, I have done that MANY times.  There are also often different rules for rebooking reservations in different parts of the world so just b/c I am able to rebook doesn't mean that you can do it exactly the same way in Aust/NZ.

Dan (DH) tells me that I trade cruises like they trade "futures" in the stock market.  Actually, he's right !  I book a bunch of them and then move the money around, consolidate, rebook, upgrade, reprice - even (God forbid) CANCEL a cruise every now and then.  It's part of the fun !

I booked a couple of days ago but this means that I will now have to choose between this cruise and my already-booked Christmas 2017 cruise on Adventure out of SJ.  Decisions, decisions.

I got a VERY good rate on the Adventure due to a computer glitch on "opening day".  I snagged an Owner's Suite at an already good price but when you add the Club Royale discount to it, it was really GREAT.  I would have to cancel that if I stay with the Harmony in Sept.

Originally I booked a Crown Loft Suite on Harmony but really wanted a suite that qualifies for the Star level service.  Yesterday, I got it !  One of the 2 BR Aqua Theater Suites opened up and I snatched it.  This pretty much seals the deal on which cruise we will choose ! I hate to give up a good price deal on Adventure but I don't think I can turn away another 2 BR ATS !  I have one for our Feb. 2017 cruise (also on Harmony) and I think I will want that Star service again ! 

Looks like we will probably be going with the group again !  We had such a blast last time !

Thanks, Kat.  I am so glad that you're doing this "old school" blog.  I do not "scope" so this is my only way to follow along with you.  I am sorry about your sail-away.  I know how hard you worked on your beautiful sign and how much you were looking forward to being on deck.  As the others have said...just put it out of your mind.  It was still a beautiful day and you are on a cruise !!

I read on CC that the decks were completely empty when the ship sailed away. Some were even speculating that the ship was empty !  ...so you were part of an exciting conspiracy theory.  Glad it wasn't true (not that it could have been !).

BTW, when did they do the lifeboat drill ??

The first post is the hardest !  Welcome SSJ444

Unfortunately, the first photo posted is just about what MIA looked like this morning at 8 AM. Got there 3.5 hours early and it took about 2.5 hours to get to the gate. That being said, flying to MIA early morning last week before the cruise was no problem. We flew out of 2 different airports on the first flights and it was a breeze.

Glad you made it through ok !

I know a few years ago we made reservations for Giovanni's on Allure for lunch but I think we did that on the ship. I don't think you can make lunch reservations before you board.

This one is a dry slide

Can anyone say EMPRESS OF THE SEAS ???

Gross ! Never seen anything like this on any ship. Absolutely unsat.

Oh, it's definitely a hands-on thing.  Your daughter will love it...and so will you.  It's a hoot !

If they have already been notified then my guess is that there is already a note in your reservation about the birthday...but it doesn't hurt to mention it to the wait staff supervisors some time during the day that you want it presented.

As a rule, the formal nights are on sea days/nights.  BUT that does not have to be the case. 

With your itinerary, I would expect the formal nights to be night 2 and night 6.  Night 2 is a sea day...almost a guarantee that it will be a formal night.  Your last sea day is night 7 but formal night is rarely the last night of the cruise so I would expect your second formal night to be the day you visit Labadee, which is night 6. 

Kris, I think that Lost Mayan Kingdom thing must be pretty new.  I have never heard of it until just a week or so ago.  It looks pretty cool !

I think you probably are right to make the change.  While I LOVE Maya Chan, it's just another all-inclusive beach day and would not have the array of interactive stuff that the Lost Mayan Kingdom thing looks to have.

...and you're right about Cozumel.  There are dozens of options for an all-inclusive beach day there !

I LOVE Costa Maya.  It is one of my very favorite ports.  I will be going there on the Freedom next month but unfortunately, Maya Chan was booked for the day that we will be there.  Will just have to settle for Mahahual (sp ???) with the $20 beach massages, the bucket of $1 Coronas and the freshly caught and grilled lobsters.  Tough life.

Interesting.  I don't think I have heard of Royal using American shipyards to do major drydocks.  Of course, I don't know much about these things...but I just seem to remember that they are usually overseas drydocks.

Glad to see it !

I find it weird that they would even have the Dynamic Dining language in there since Harmony NEVER had any potential to have Dynamic Dining.

I see why you find it confusing. 

I would call Royal just to be sure.  They should have removed any reference to Dynamic Dining from anything having to do with Harmony.

This is a perk that gets me confused b/c there are some tours that are C&A level tours and some are suites perks.

As I recall, there were 3 tours we could choose to take - all or none, if you wanted.  Bridge, Galley and entertainment.  Now, whether we were invited to those b/c we were in a suite or b/c we are D+, I'm not sure.

We ALWAYS take the bridge tour.  I LOVE doing that one on every ship - even if I've been on that ship before.  We have done a number of galley tours now so we don't normally do that one anymore.  The entertainment tour was a *yawn* for us so we never take that one.  It was fun once...but don't need to see the dressing rooms and lighting and audio pit more than once.

...and as I've said many times before, I always recommend the All Access Tour.  It's a bit pricey but worth it, IMO.

Yikes !  This isn't good.  All of the other reports I've heard of the Genies have been excellent.  Sorry to hear this !