NerdDad

Cannot wait to follow along on this one @Rags1! 
And what is this nonsense about eating in the WJ or MDR???  A wise Genie once told me that they would feel like they failed at their job if their guests ended up there! lol

Two days to go! Sitting in a coffee shop while one of my little dudes attends a birthday party. Catching up on last minute concerns/flights as weather looks to be sweeping across the United States but so far things look OK for us.
We got a little bit of luck from Universal Orlando! Rooms seem to be opening up so we’re going to be staying at Royal Pacific the entire stay instead of doing the final night at Aventura. While we were a little bit excited to try the new hotel, we loathed the idea of packing our bags on the 12th night of our trip if we could avoid it. We’ll give Aventura a try another time and keep our bags in our rooms. ?
For my job, I travel a ton and have earned miles and points for days in the last year (flew 125,000 miles last year). I don’t regularly travel for work so when I do I tend to send kind, get-what-you-get emails to the brands I’m loyal to and see if they can do anything special for my family as we travel. I’ve had a TON of success with this and I probably do it once every two years. (I stayed about 65 nights in Hyatt last year after switching loyalties from Marriott brands at the suggestion of my boss.)
I’m not going to share too much in case it falls through but it looks like the Hyatt Regency Miami is going to be coming through a big surprise for my family. ? Will be very excited to share with you all assuming all works out!
My father, who isn’t the most computer literate gentleman, texted me last night because “something is wrong with my room number”. Turns out, he’s figured out (albeit indirectly) that we upgraded him to a suite. To avoid him giving our travel agent or Royal a hard time, we let him in on the surprise a little early. ? He is very excited albeit it I think slightly in shock and unsure how to respond. Just a lot of “oh wow, thank you’s”. Going to be a big week for him!
Tomorrow, we’ll be driving up to Boston to fly direct to Miami arriving later tomorrow evening. Very excited we’re so close and only a tiny bit of packing to go...

Thanks @Matt! I guess I’ll just cross my fingers that it aggressively gets less windy by January 15th. Rather be safe though, obviously, than sorry!

Seems like rough seas to me but I’m also a newbie!  It’s my first cruise on Symphony tomorrow.  Hope you aren’t too ??.   Hopefully I am completely wrong about the waves!  Was just wondering if I should pre-medicate tomorrow or not (I don’t usually get motion sickness but everyone has a threshold).

Agreed.  The Concierge email has been coming 5 days before sailing for us.  It’s time to give ‘em a little kick in the backside and get ‘em movin’.  

We got ours about a week out. I think you are well within the window of where you should be reaching out and not worrying if you are coming across as annoying.

I decided to get some t-shirts made a few weeks ago and they just arrived today! I'm not sure we'll end up doing the group t-shirt thing but they'll be funny to wear on certain days. (And, in order to understand the joke on one of them, it's important to know our last name is Daigle.) ? Please excuse all the drink package humor... it's more that we can no longer party like we used to but like to pretend we can when we cruise. ?
 

I did too.

Ha! I went to Boston University! My first time at Hooked but excited for some seafood. 

I decided to get some t-shirts made a few weeks ago and they just arrived today! I'm not sure we'll end up doing the group t-shirt thing but they'll be funny to wear on certain days. (And, in order to understand the joke on one of them, it's important to know our last name is Daigle.) ? Please excuse all the drink package humor... it's more that we can no longer party like we used to but like to pretend we can when we cruise. ?
 

Hey everyone! I've loved reading the blog over the last year since I took my first cruise with my younger brother at his request. Now, I'm hooked and excited to share with you our next (now annual) cruise coming up on January 13th on the Navigator of the Seas. Our last trip was on the Mariner of the Seas and we're both very excited about going on its sister ship.
Who
The party will be the two of us (older brother and younger brother). My brother is turning 30 on this cruise and on embarkation day! When our Dad heard about our cruise plans, he decided he had to attend as well. We haven't done a vacation together as a group since we were 12 years old. ? 
Where
We're headed to Miami to board Navigator of the Seas! After Navigator, we're taking a quite jaunt up to Orlando to spend a few days at Universal Studios (another of my brother's favorite places). My wife and boys are more of the Disney type so it's a fun change of pace to head over to Universal for a few days.
How
Well, I love to vacation. After reading all the live blogs, I'm realizing I need to book Star Class at some point to REALLY get the "extra" experience. Instead, I decided to bring a little bit of star power to the rest of our vacation by (secretly) getting us a limo to bring us to the airport, upgrading our tickets to first class, and then upgrading what my Dad thinks is an inside stateroom to a suite (we have two rooms, two grand suites). Yes, I'm being "extra" as the kids say (do they still say that?) but I don't care! I'm on vacation! I'm excited to capture their reactions.
We're staying at the Hyatt Regency in Miami, flying down with Delta, and using my bevy of points, miles, and rewards to get us there. One small benefit of traveling a ton for work is making a major part of your vacation cash free. (Don't worry, this boys trip was already offset by a couples trip to keep the Mrs. happy. ?)
Then, We are starting with 3 days at Royal Pacific and then 1 day at Aventura (which none of us have stayed at yet). We wanted to add an extra day because I unfortunately need to fly from vacation to a work trip directly and instead of coming home for a day I’m going to stay an extra day. But it turns out Universal was almost all sold out... so doing a little split stay out of necessity (but still using our extra day or Express Pass). ?
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We're a mere 6 days away from starting the journey down! I'm hoping Voom holds up and I can share photos and such from the travels as we go! If it ends up being of interest, I'm also happy to share about our time at Universal Studios though I know that's a bit of an extra excursion. ?
This is only my third cruise though by brother and Dad have done a bunch more than I have. Either way, I'm excited to dive in, get to Coco Cay, and get into the "warm" water since we'll be flying down from New England. Almost there!

I decided to get some t-shirts made a few weeks ago and they just arrived today! I'm not sure we'll end up doing the group t-shirt thing but they'll be funny to wear on certain days. (And, in order to understand the joke on one of them, it's important to know our last name is Daigle.) ? Please excuse all the drink package humor... it's more that we can no longer party like we used to but like to pretend we can when we cruise. ?
 

One step ahead of you! ? We got it during the last sale for a pretty good deal too. I'm not sure we'll ever be in the main dining room this trip.
 
My brother is in on most things as he super enjoys planning things too so I don't want to rob him of that. If anyone has any tips on fun surprises, let me know. I'm going to let the concierge in on it when they email in hopes they have some fun ideas too. ?

Have a great cruise! Glad it all worked out after all the charterizing. ? Excited to read along!

Ok, then you'll want to request Tower 1. You'll have a shot at a park view, but if you don't, the views will still be better than Towers 2 or 3.  Plus if you plan to walk to the parks, you can use the stairs at the end of the hallway and take the door there. You'll be half way down the walking path then, avoiding the Rickshaws and walking through the pool area. And if you use the elevators instead of the stairs, you're closer to the restaurants, pool, and boat launch.
 
Now if you really want to push it (& i have), you can request a specific room. I'd try for 1541, which has both a park view and is a connecting room (don't remember which side connects), but sounds like you have 2 rooms or no? Anyway, those are my thoughts. Avoid Tower 2 as that is the pet tower, and Tower 3 standard view will give you a crummy highway view. 

I decided to get some t-shirts made a few weeks ago and they just arrived today! I'm not sure we'll end up doing the group t-shirt thing but they'll be funny to wear on certain days. (And, in order to understand the joke on one of them, it's important to know our last name is Daigle.) ? Please excuse all the drink package humor... it's more that we can no longer party like we used to but like to pretend we can when we cruise. ?
 

I know of some adults only cruises that are charters..but they're probably not exactly what you are looking for ??

I'm the Queen of requests at all 3 resorts that offer unlimited express! First tell me what type of room you booked, standard/garden, pool view, club, king suite? 

What a special trip with the guys.  And how fun to combine a cruise with Universal.  Navigator is a great ship.  
Looking forward to hearing about it.  Have fun!

Just my $.02, but if you take advantage of Early Entry staying onsite and don't try to do Hagrid's over a weekend, you should be fine. Just make sure you know which park they're offering EE to. If it's the Studios, not IOA, you still should be fine if you go right at park opening. 
Also it sounds like you've stayed at RPR before so I'm guessing you're set with what room requests to make? 

I decided to get some t-shirts made a few weeks ago and they just arrived today! I'm not sure we'll end up doing the group t-shirt thing but they'll be funny to wear on certain days. (And, in order to understand the joke on one of them, it's important to know our last name is Daigle.) ? Please excuse all the drink package humor... it's more that we can no longer party like we used to but like to pretend we can when we cruise. ?
 

I decided to get some t-shirts made a few weeks ago and they just arrived today! I'm not sure we'll end up doing the group t-shirt thing but they'll be funny to wear on certain days. (And, in order to understand the joke on one of them, it's important to know our last name is Daigle.) ? Please excuse all the drink package humor... it's more that we can no longer party like we used to but like to pretend we can when we cruise. ?
 

I decided to get some t-shirts made a few weeks ago and they just arrived today! I'm not sure we'll end up doing the group t-shirt thing but they'll be funny to wear on certain days. (And, in order to understand the joke on one of them, it's important to know our last name is Daigle.) ? Please excuse all the drink package humor... it's more that we can no longer party like we used to but like to pretend we can when we cruise. ?
 

One step ahead of you! ? We got it during the last sale for a pretty good deal too. I'm not sure we'll ever be in the main dining room this trip.
 
My brother is in on most things as he super enjoys planning things too so I don't want to rob him of that. If anyone has any tips on fun surprises, let me know. I'm going to let the concierge in on it when they email in hopes they have some fun ideas too. ?