WAAAYTOOO

Stateside, I cringe at the thought of sailing from  Seattle or Bayonne, or New Orleans.  Seattle has become a cesspool, and Bayonne is, well, just, New York City!🙄  And New Orleans, lives on a no longer deserved legacy.    I can't wait to get out of these ports and sailing, leaving the ports behind me.  They all need to take lessons from any of the Florida Ports.😍
During our cruises, our expectations are pretty mild.  Usually we get on a bus or taxi, or trolley, or tram, and see the sights.  An unfriendly or rude driver or server goes a long way in giving a poor experience to the tourists in his care.  The three unfriendliest stops for us have been Puerto Rico, US Virgin Isles, and Nassau.  I felt these places just didn't want me there.🙄

The ice cream is only included for Star Class....but the candy is not included....even for SC

The ice cream is only included for Star Class....but the candy is not included....even for SC

I would choose Roatan b/c it is easy to do Coz and CM on your own.  Roatan, never, ever.

San Juan does nothing for me.  

One that confused me on several posts just on this board is when people would refer to OP I think it is meaning the original poster? I dont go to a lot of different message boards so this was definitely new to me.

Great point.  I guess you have to watch out for the context!   I've never been on a TA cruise but my TA has been very helpful!  😉  

I would choose Roatan b/c it is easy to do Coz and CM on your own.  Roatan, never, ever.

Beware.  TA can also mean TransAtlantic

I would choose Roatan b/c it is easy to do Coz and CM on your own.  Roatan, never, ever.

I would choose Roatan b/c it is easy to do Coz and CM on your own.  Roatan, never, ever.

It really is a great state.
I have a bunch of uncles/aunts/cousins who live in Texas.  They’ve been trying to get me to move there since I got out of the service.  It’s a bit too hot for me though. 
 
My oldest uncle always says, “I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could.”  

I qualify as an old fart, but most of my alcohol consumption on cruises happens after dinner.

Resourceful. Nice idea.

Beware.  TA can also mean TransAtlantic

Beware.  TA can also mean TransAtlantic

This does not apply to Casino Royale cruisers. 

Best chance for this is to keep expectations low!  Some of our worst trips have been the ones I try too hard to make perfect.  

I can speak with some expertise in this area.
 
The retention period for CCTV footage is a balancing act.
Law enforcement agencies want it kept for as long as possible.
Privacy advocates want it kept for as little as possible.
Law enforcement IT folks squawk when we ask for more storage...
 
Generally, video is saved for a period between 1 week to 1 month. If an incident is reported during the retention period, footage can be saved for perpetuity.
Also, most entities will not release CCTV to a private persons.
Best practice is that footage is only released by way of a court order.

I was curious myself and now I'll have to put my foot in my mouth because you CAN see current prices for cruise planner items without having to book that cruise or ask someone else.  The downside is that the cruise planner packages need to be available to purchase in order to see the pricing.
It just involves a little URL parameter adjusting.
Here's the base URL for the beverage package page (you can navigate to any page from there as you normally would):
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/account/cruise-planner/category/beverage?bookingId=0000000&shipCode={ShipCode}&sailDate={YYYYMMDD}
Simply replace the {ShipCode} portion of the URL with the ship code you're looking for.  You can find the ship code by doing a search with on the main "Find A Cruise" page and filter down to the ship you're looking for.  The ship code will then be shown in the URL for that filtered page.
Also replace the {YYYYMMDD} with the sail date of the cruise you want to look at.
So, if you wanted to see the price for the beverage packages for Wonder of the Seas Aug 27, 2022 sailing, the URL is:
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/account/cruise-planner/category/beverage?bookingId=0000000&shipCode=WN&sailDate=20230827
You can see the price of deluxe beverage package is $77.99 per person per day, less gratuities.

As a bonus.  You can also see how much that over-the-water cabana at the beach club is running prior to you booking the cruise. The price is staggering for this date.

Note: I am NOT booked on these sailings but can see the prices no problem.

I think there are basically 2 "pools" of people who are regular cruisers:
1.  Those that want to get in for the lowest possible cost
2.  Those that want the convenience of having everything taken care of for them 
Of course, there are subgroups that are combinations of these 2 but for all practical purposes, these are the 2 prevailing high level concepts.
Personally, I think Royal has done a very good job of catering to both groups. 
I happen to be in Group #2 so I thoroughly enjoy Star Class and all of its inclusions even if I know, going in, that this is not going to be the most cost-effective option.  It's not about "getting my money's worth" to me.  For me, it's about paying for an experience where I am not worrying about what I need to "add on".  It's all there already.
For those who want the lowest cost, there are options there for them.  They can get a reasonable rate and then add whatever "extras" they want.
Where I think Royal has missed the boat (pun intended) is that they have failed to expand their "all inclusive" option to all of the other ships.  I fully realize that the other ship classes can never accommodate a suites restaurant and that this is one major hurdle but they could certainly adjust their AI product to compensate for that.  Everything else is already in place !

I've never been much of a shopper but now I am a shopping recluse.  I haven't been inside a department store in....well, a very, very long time.  I too am technology-spoiled.  I don't even go to the grocery store anymore.  Between Amazon Prime, Instacart and teleworking, I am a total hermit...and I LIKE it !

I think there are basically 2 "pools" of people who are regular cruisers:
1.  Those that want to get in for the lowest possible cost
2.  Those that want the convenience of having everything taken care of for them 
Of course, there are subgroups that are combinations of these 2 but for all practical purposes, these are the 2 prevailing high level concepts.
Personally, I think Royal has done a very good job of catering to both groups. 
I happen to be in Group #2 so I thoroughly enjoy Star Class and all of its inclusions even if I know, going in, that this is not going to be the most cost-effective option.  It's not about "getting my money's worth" to me.  For me, it's about paying for an experience where I am not worrying about what I need to "add on".  It's all there already.
For those who want the lowest cost, there are options there for them.  They can get a reasonable rate and then add whatever "extras" they want.
Where I think Royal has missed the boat (pun intended) is that they have failed to expand their "all inclusive" option to all of the other ships.  I fully realize that the other ship classes can never accommodate a suites restaurant and that this is one major hurdle but they could certainly adjust their AI product to compensate for that.  Everything else is already in place !

Woohoo finally able to check in for our October cruise. It's been a long two years waiting to be able to cruise again.
Also as a bonus New Zealand has dropped all Covid restrictions completely. (apart from aged and healthcare facilities).
I'm finally getting excited.
 

While the 350Mbps speeds from Starlink maritime service sounds impressive it's important to remember that O3b/SES that is currently found on Oasis and Quantum class ships has a proven track record of far exceeding the projected Starlink speeds as far back as April 2018.  
https://en.calameo.com/read/003132028fd96d2228608
Digital Ship magazine wrote about a Princess ship that reportedly set a record for ship connectivity at 1.5 Gbps 4 years ago in April 2018.  Prior to that MSC is thought to have held the record at 580 Mbps at the end of 2017.  In other words Royal has had the slowest internet at sea for almost 5 years.  
Since that time Royal has promised it's guests "The Fastest Internet at Sea" which obviously was just not true.  The problem is that Royal chose not to implement higher speeds from O3b instead keeping Voom capped at 4 Mbps per user making them the slowest internet at sea.
It's amazing to me how much hype Royal has generated by forcing crappy internet on guests for over 5 years and then making a huge splash announcing they will still have the slowest internet at sea using Starlink instead of O3b/SES!
O3b/SES is launching more satellites to make their LEO constellation even faster.  Ironically they are launching their satellites on SpaceX rockets.  As Starlink adds more satellites to their constellation they hope to achieve 350 Mbps maritime service sometime in 2023.  If they do, they will still be four times slower than the 2018 speed of O3b/SES.  
So far the only thing that is increasing on Royal is the price of Voom internet.  It's clever what they have done.  By making their internet so dreadful over the past five years they only have one way to go.  Any marginal increase during the migration to Starlink is going to seem transformational not because it is, but because anything is better than what they provide today.  
At it's best Starlink will still be slower than O3b/SES in 2023.  Yet everyone here has had the proverbial wool pulled over their eyes and is eagerly anticipating the next generation of... the slowest internet at sea.