WAAAYTOOO

I agree, Traveler. The site looks lame and empty. There needs to be more information available. What about Crown & Anchor ? What about pictures of the rooms ? What about that "Messages" tab that never EVER had anything there - EVER. Oh wait....

What a cute idea !

The points system is very esoteric. As Stephanie discussed on another thread, the points awarded for table games is different from what you are awarded if you are a slots player. With slots, it is very easy to tack your play. They know exactly what you're putting through the machines and precisely how much you are winning or losing. With table games it's really a semi-quantitative system, most primarily it's qualitative. For slots, points are (generalization here) awarded at the rate of 1 point = $5 wagered. It is less for video poker 1 point = $10 I think. Sitting at a table for a couple of hours a couple of times during the cruise is not going to get you a free cruise. It would take approximately 4 hours EVERY day of the cruise to amount to anything so anyone wishing to be a casual player probably shouldn't expect much in the way of awards. According to all that I've heard, the new program will be a points accumulation system. So, if they start their program in April 2018 (which, by all accounts, they will) and you accumulate 2500 points on each of 4 cruises a year (which is about what we do), you would have 10,000 points at the end of the evaluation period, which would put you in the "Prime" tier. It takes 25K points to make it to the next tier and I don't see that happening for me. I'm not that big a player. At any rate, it seems that the points accumulation system will definitely favor those who cruise frequently and make it harder for those who cruise less frequently.

Frankly, I am not a particular fan of the O class Sabor. I absolutely LOVE the full service Sabor restaurant but I think the O class was mediocre. I do hate to see it gone though. Others seemed to enjoy it. I am not a fan of the sports bar concept so I will undoubtedly be steering clear of that area on Symphony. El Loco sounds like it will have much the same offerings as the O class Sabor so maybe the food will be equivalent, at any rate.

Welcome to the blog, cruisinwithnonna !

Welcome to the Blog, chrisb732

Well done !!!

Does this (plus the addition of Playmakers) mean that Sabor is gone completely from Symphony ?

Marc, you raise a very important point....and that is that it is very important to have the casino host/hostess verify your points, your play and your rewards. I have seen and read about waaaytooo many people who have not had their points properly calculated or registered. I have learned after years of experience that they cut off the points calculation at LEAST 1 day before the end of the cruise so that they can prepare the certificates...but these certificates are based on the accumulated points up to that point so anything you play after they cut off is not calculated UNLESS you intercede and force them to add the play for your last day or so. On my last 2 cruises I have had my certificate upgraded b/c they had closed out the points count and I then subsequently reached a higher level with play the last day. DO NOT take their word for it ! BTW, I am writing all of this for the benefit of others, Marc. I know that you know all of this already ! Hope we can sail together again. We enjoyed meeting you and Brian on Liberty. Those were the good ol' days when you got to stack certificates + casino rates !

No, there is no such thing as a cruise to nowhere anymore. A foreign-flagged ship (which Royal Caribbean ships are) must make at least 1 foreign port before returning back to the US port of original (or any US port, actually) (Jones Act).

YIPPEE !!!!

YIPPEE !!!!

Rarely does it take the whole time allocation to eat. It depends a lot on the time that you are eating and obviously, how taxed the servers are. We always eat early - as soon as they open the MDR, usually 5:30. There is a very light crowd at that time and our results have been very good with getting prompt service and finishing up in a reasonable amount of time. We often skip dessert too so that makes it even quicker. If you are eating between 6 - 7:30 it will be much more crowded and that slows things down a lot. There is always a vegetarian option but I think they will work with you to offer other options if they know ahead of time that there are vegetarians coming. So I recommend that you alert the dining room of when you are dining so that they can be prepared. It's a fairly common request these days so I don't think it 's a big deal to have some additional food options on hand.

When do you hit the road, Joe ?

That's got to be the weirdest workaround I have ever heard ! Why would you even think to try that ! Pure genius.

I like to be able to book a cruise but then have the ability to cancel if I need to ! I only book non-refundable when I KNOW for sure that I am going on the cruise. But with suites, if you don't get them early, they will all be gone so it's truly a conundrum. Insurance, if it will apply to NRD, seems like the way to go OR just be prepared to lose $200 and be ok with it !

I think it depends on where you are doing this. I do believe that most places make spectators pay a small fee but that isn't always true. I don't think they charge anything in Bermuda.

Yikes ! The cure is definitely not worth it in that case ! Glad she has recovered.

Sorry to hear that. I actually stopped smoking with it TWICE. It was so easy the first time that I thought I could just be a "only smoke when I drink" smoker. That was folly, of course. So I did it again and the second time was permanent.

If you're looking for an all-inclusive within walking distance of the ship, try Park Royal. I honestly cannot recall how much it cost, but we got a day pass and it included all food and drinks. The property is very nice. As for the beach, I'm not much of a beach swimmer so I can't recall. I think it was fine. I still prefer either Mr. Sanchos or Nachi Cocom but Park Royal is not a bad option if you want to stay close.

I have heard both stories. I have heard the package does NOT work at Vintages vending taps and I have heard that it does. I think it really depends on the ship. I know that you CAN get wine from the vending taps if you are Star Class but I don't know if there is a special rule in place for SC or if it is just ship-specific. All of my SC cruises have been on Harmony.

I'm beginning to wonder if that is actually true, Matt. The truth is, the most it's going to cost me is $200 and then I have a limited time to rebook using the rest of the deposit but for those of us who cruise often, rebooking another cruise doesn't really seem to be a problem ! B/c I am so loathe to book a non-refundable deposit cruise, I booked a refundable JS on the March 2019 Panama Canal crossing on Jewel. What I really want is a GS. Now, all GS are gone and I am left holding a reservation for a JS that I don't really want with no immediate path forward to getting the GS that I want. If and when a GS opens up down the road, it is undoubtedly going to be more than $200 more expensive than what it was when I first booked the refundable JS. I'm kind of kicking myself for booking the refundable JS now. I really really REALLY HATE this NRD on suites but I'm beginning to think I would be better of just sucking up the $200 deposit ransom and getting what I want in the fist place.

As a matter of fact, I will not let them off the phone with me until I have received the emailed confirmation and verified that whatever they were supposed to do, had been done. Learning experience. ALWAYS get a confirmation.

Joe, I feel like you are a chick that we all raised and now we're watching you learn to fly on your own ! So excited for you. I know we are all just recalling the awe that we felt when we drove up to our first cruise ship. Even the little ones are SOOOO impressive and when you first step foot through the Centrum and see all the shiny glass and metal. It takes your breath away. Freedom is a beautiful ship. You are definitely not starting small like we did. I know you're going to have a great time. You have chosen VERY well with all of your options. I think the adjoining balcony rooms are going to be WAY nicer than a suite. There will be much more room and 2 bathrooms. I think you've thought of everything ! ...but of course, you haven't. There will be something that you will learn on this cruise that you will use on your next...and so on and so on. It never ends. I still learn something new every single time I cruise. Wishing you fair winds and following seas. Look everyone - our little Joey is going off on his own !

A word of caution about tables for 2. The vast majority of tables for 2 are in areas where they have shoved a bunch of 2 top tables so close together that you might as well be sitting with the 4 people that are on either side of you. If you REALLY want a private table (which is pretty hard to come by, really), be sure that you tell them that you do NOT want to be sitting with tables all around you. Tell them that you want a PRIVATE table. There are a few. They are usually along the back wall. You will still have tables behind and in front of you but at least they won't be sitting 4 inches on either side of you where it's impossible to have a private conversation.