DLXLDY

I signed up here just to comment on this story as the more I read it, the more my blood boils. I have been on three Royal cruises and have my fourth booked for next year. Also, when I was recently on Anthem, I’m guessing no one had a problem seeing the open pool deck window because no adult or child fell off the ship. 
Honestly at this point I question the fanily’s motives and what type of people and parents they really are. Why do they seem to have no problem with the fact that the baby was put on a railing so high up when there were many safer ways to play with her or look out the window? Were the parents already off drinking and too preoccupied to care? Why, instead of grieving privately and getting counseling and trying to keep their family together, do they keep appearing on TV news and at press conferences? Why is their hand out for money from Royal Caribbean when Grandpa is the one who held the baby up and lost his grip? 
Do I believe Grandpa intended to harm the baby? Of course not. But everyone in this family has very questionable judgment. The mom is a lawyer and can’t see a this is a fruitless lawsuit? 
I think this family needs to step off and drop their lawsuit and get out of the spotlight. They’re not helping themselves. And don’t get me started on the “But it’s so HEARTLESS and MEAN to not understand the family’s SUFFERING!” opinion of so much of the public. Think critically and don’t just believe everything the media, the family, and their lawyer tell you. 
I also majored in journalism and used to work at a law firm. So I know all about the Today show wanting ratings and finding the best stories possible. And while my former firm was much smaller time and didn’t really take cases of this magnitude, there was definitely talk about clients who needed to take responsibility for themselves at some point.
 

"Chloe was playing with her grandfather in a dining hall that had large windows, and one pane was open.
Last month, Anello told "CBS This Morning" he picked Chloe up and put her on a railing to look out a bank of windows before the girl fell to her death.
He held her in a hug, he said, as she was on the railing. But he then let one arm go as he and his granddaughter both reached out to knock on the glass, as they had done at hockey games."
The above quote is from the article in the South Bend Tribune. At least we're getting closer to the truth!

@FionaMG yes, I did! Thank you. We are at 184 days, but who is counting? LOL...ice storm here today...come on June!!!

Post-cruise Miscellaneous Musings #2 - Our experience as newbie Diamonds 
We definitely enjoyed the benefits of our newly acquired Diamond status. 
We thought the concierge was courteous and attentive and the lounge itself was lovely. We had breakfast there on the first morning due to the early timing of the M&M and it was adequate for our needs, although unfortunately the coffee machine ran out of milk so we only managed to get tiny coffees and the people after us had to wait for it to be replenished. The coffee machine had been one of the perks we were most looking forward to and, unfortunately, it was a little disappointing. Whatever coffee beans they were using were fine for drinks with milk in them but very harsh and bitter if you just wanted espresso. As espresso drinkers at home, we do feel qualified to comment.
We also used the lounge on several occasions to get drinks in the evening just before our late seating dinner at 8 pm. When I say "drinks" I actually mean a can of soda and a bottle of water each, since we don't drink alcohol. Perhaps we did not get as much "benefit" out of this perk as others who do drink alcohol, but it saved us the cost of the sodas throughout the cruise. On other occasions, we simply stopped at one of the bars to get the sodas. Interestingly, at two of them - the pub and the Champagne bar - they insisted they had to open the cans before giving them to us, whereas this did not happen at the café promenade. Also interestingly, none of the bars we visited had the happy hour menu on display.
We also took advantage of the free photo perk. Usually we would buy one photo each, so this again saved us some money, since we were able to choose one each at no cost.
And we also made use of the Diamond section in the MDR at breakfast on two occasions. We did not use it more often partly because the MDR finishes serving breakfast quite early and partly because we found the service to be excruciatingly slow.
All in all though we were happy with our new status. 

And that brings me on to Post-cruise Miscellaneous Musings #3 - Dining
Dining is obviously highly subjective so our opinions may well be different from yours, but here goes.
Over the course of our cruise we had breakfast once in the DL, twice in the MDR and the rest in the WJ. I think I have already mentioned my dislike of the layout of the WJ on this class of ship but one thing that I did like was the toast station right at the entrance. This was the area where we usually sat and it meant we were able to have hot toast when we wanted it, rather than the cold version we received on both occasions in the MDR.
All of our lunches were in the WJ and again that area at the entrance was our go-to spot. They had the makings for some tasty salads there, with several types of salad leaves, beans, corn, chickpeas, tuna and more. All in all the quality and variety were very acceptable.
We did not eat dinner in the WJ so I can't comment on that aspect.
On this cruise we had the three-night dining package and there was a specific reason for this, harking back to our cruise last year on Navigator. That was our first encounter with the new menus, which we found to be very limited in terms of choices. On that 9-night cruise there were three or four nights when we struggled to find something to our liking. Also on that cruise, by mere coincidence, we tried our first ever specialty dining because I got a cracking deal on the now demised BOGO.
With this in mind, when I saw in the app that the menus for our Adventure cruise were the same as those last year on Navigator, I thought we would be best with a three-night dining package. That way, we would only have to eat the NY strip steak once!
That said, on the nights we ate there we found the quality of the food in the MDR to be very good and, in fact, I think our most disappointing meal was probably the one in Chops. However, what we did notice in the MDR was the distinct downturn in the level of service and this was certainly not due to the staff themselves but to the fact that they (serving and kitchen staff) were clearly insufficient in number. I remember in our early years of cruising that dinner in the MDR used to be a fancy affair and one of the highlights of our cruise experience. That unfortunately can no longer be said to be the case but times change and since we're not really paying a great deal more for our cruises than when we first started back in 2001, I think we can probably bear to put up with it. 

To the extent that we're already planning our next one. Unfortunately it's not going to be until spring 2021 because we want to spend a few days doing touristy stuff in the Big Apple and then cruise from there, which means some serious saving up will have to be done beforehand.
In the meantime, and since that really does wrap up my rather long "not-very-live-at-all-and-actually-mostly-recap" review, a huge thank-you to all of you who have indulged me by following along. 
Until our next Adventure, from us to you - Happy Cruising!

First off, apologies for the out-of-sequence photo in my previous post. By the time I realised it wasn't where it was supposed to be it was too late to edit it. 
On now to Miscellaneous Musings #1 - the Gym
Many years ago I did athletics at international level and I still compete in the veterans' age groups, so keeping fit while cruising is very important to me.
One of the things I particularly like about cruise ships is they tend to have fantastic keep fit facilities and Adventure did not disappoint in this respect. However, having sailed on her before, some years ago now, I immediately noticed a difference. Because of the addition of extra cabins during her last makeover, the aerobics room at the gym was swallowed up. To replace it, they did away with the big hot tub that used to be at the entrance of the gym.
This is the current aerobics area:

The gym per se remains intact with a decent weight-training area and lots of cardio equipment, although now that I think about it, I don't remember seeing a rowing machine.



I particularly liked the Life Fitness cardio equipment (I used a cross trainer and a treadmill), which were extremely simple and intuitive to use (just as well, given the lack of instructors to assist - soap box moment coming up). For me, it was a great plus that if you entered your weight in kilogrammes the machines automatically switched distance and speed to kilometres.

For the time being, Adventure's gym also still has locker rooms with showers. Unfortunately, as I understand it, there is a good chance that this nice gym is due for the chop when the ship is amped in 2021. I have heard that it could be downsized and shifted to the same place where the gym is now on Navigator.
Various organised activities were on offer, some of them at a cost, but I can't say whether or not they actually happened. One evening when I was training in the aerobics area another guest came in looking for the evening stretch class which was due to take place, but there was nobody else about and it still had not started when I left. In any case here is the list of activities:

As for my soap box moment (I'll keep it short) this is to do with the dire lack of assistance in the gym. For some years now, staff cuts and/or sales drives have resulted in the gym instructors being largely unavailable simply to supervise the gym, assist people with the machines and look out for safety issues. Nowadays, they are mostly invisible because they have to do paid activities such as foot analyses and weight-loss consultations. This is an accident waiting to happen. One day, a cruiser in flip-flops or a long floaty dress is going to get seriously hurt as they try using equipment they would never dream of even approaching at home (and, yes, I have witnessed both of these situations, although admittedly not on this sailing). I did mention it on my questionnaire but I have mentioned it on my questionnaire for the last three cruises and the situation remains unchanged. I find it hard to understand how a cruise line which puts so much emphasis on safety in practically every other area seems completely blinkered as regards the hazards of inappropriate gym use...

My pleasure. Thanks for following. ?
The next one is going to to be from your end of the world, but not till spring 2021. We have to save up first because we want to spend a few days doing touristy stuff in New York before cruising.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This reminds me of the ol’ sayin’....”I have goods news and I have bad news...”
 

Just off Adventure and we had the three night package. It was ideal. We were able to book for the three nights when the MDR menu least appealed and it was the perfect balance for our eight night cruise. We did Giovanni's twice (loved it) and Chops once (not very impressed and didn't care for the waiter who seemed to us to be doing some serious tip-fishing). We did not do Izumi because we don't like sushi and on Adventure they do not have the hot rocks option.
Watch out for the Mystery Dinner in Giovanni's because on that night it's closed to all other guests.
Also, the app was very accurate as regards the daily MDR menu, so if you check on boarding morning you should get a pretty good idea of what nights would suit you best.

I think that is a good indication! 

Three nights is just right for Adventure.  Gives you a chance to try them all once.

We will be sailing out of Cape Liberty on Sunday and will be staying at the Hilton Garden Inn Staten Island. Cruise package includes parking and shuttle to and from port. Our cruise is 12 nights and the package is substantially less than parking at the port.

Not sure what the hotel package offers or how convenient it is but just parking at the port for our cruise for thanksgiving week (Sat-Sun) was $176USD or $22 per day

The sample set is still too small to draw any conclusions.  However, I have taken up the challenge to assemble the data on GTY Assignment.  Send me any and all experiences and I will prepare the data set this weekend.
 
Never ask an Engineer what the data might tell us.
?
Curt from Canada

The barcode on mine shows a non existent room but is an awesome trick when its accurate! We're 40 days out and no assignment, deck or docs yet. Many rooms open still for booking so patiently (maybe not) waiting to see where we end up ? 
Kinda like Christmas 
Happy sailing!

We are 135, 146, and 163 days out on three B2Bs, and have had our GTY balconies assigned on all three for well over a month.  It varies pretty much how soon you will know.  Note: three different cabins.

You can review a cruise compass from past guests here:
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass
In general terms the Windjammer, Cafe Promenade, Sorrentos, MiniBites and the Dog House are typically open around noon on boarding day.  The Solarium Bistro may also be open.

Once you board the ship, if the selected restaurant is not the one you want, go to one of the specialty restaurants or to the specialty restaurant kiosk and you can change time and restaurant if it is available.
also while you are there make your other reservations as well.

This will be our first time on RCCL, but as experienced NCL cruisers with the Freestyle dining, we found as mentioned above, if they seat you in a crowded section, the waiters are definitely more taxed and the meal took twice as long. If we see the center of the dining room is mobbed, we ask to sit in a less crowded section (towards the back or in a corner), and found we can be in and out in 60-90 minutes, depending on our desired pace, and it was less noisy and easier to have and hear dinner conversation.

As a tip, I've often found that on embarkation day, the app gets bogged down with lots of users, so I head to a sparsely populated restaurant in a quiet area of the ship (usually Izumi).  the hostesses are usually looking for something to do, and can make all your reservations right there.  Wonderland is also another good area to head to in order to book.

If they are seasoned bartenders they will know a lot of drinks.  You can tell them the brand you want and ask them to make it a certain way if it is not what you are used to.  I had a drink at one bar and asked for it at another and it was made completely different.  I find that when I find a bartender that I like I stick with them and they usually will have your drink started before you get to the bar.

Your mileage will vary from ship to ship and bartender to bartender.  Have the recipe handy and if they don’t know it but you provide that most will at least give it a shot.  I’ve had bartenders tell me they enjoy challenging/new drinks because it helps them get better.

When I booked my cruise they said there would be no math.

@Frogfanatic
 

Finally heard from Royal, 22 hours before Dec 1 departure. Our bid to upgrade to the new Ultimate Panoramic Suite was not accepted. ? The minimum bid was 800, max was 2800. We bid 2240. Oh well, still have our Crown Loft L2 and $2240. ?