Ampurp85

No, the lunch is between 12 and 1:30pm. Most places don't start serving lunch until after 11 on embarkation day. That means if you board at 10/10:30 you will have to wait for the venues to open.

I booked a cruise on the day check-in opened and was able to get the earliest time. So, it's possible to wake up at a normal time and still be okay.........besides this is just the check-in time. There have been a lot of instances where I had a 10:30am check-in but didn't board until after 11 and people with 11am check-ins were also boarding with me.

Cool., congrats on making Prime. You can only combine like offers. That means you won't be able to apply that $250 off to the annual cruise. Next time book at NextCruise so you pay only a $100pp deposit. They offer OBC as well, but it will be removed to take advantage of the free annual cruise. Otherwise, that OBC will stay on the reservation number even if you apply $ off and change the booking.

Yeah, I had a coworker do that once. Left his charger and Kindle at home for a two-week conference and purchased both at the airport. I don't understand people who don't have a packing list.

I love cruising because it is so much entertainment. I can gamble, catch some sort of live entertainment, and people watch............people watch at buffets, people watch at games show/karaoke, and then not have to see those people ever again.

Question, did you hit prime and receive any offers? Because if you made the 2000+ on that cruise you should have received something akin to money off, a free cruise, or free cruise with Freeplay.

Yes, for a bunch of years I had Windows phones and I loved being able to read on the Kindle app for Windows. I think we also mirror in life, my first eReader was a Sony and then I got the Nook but Borders and Barnes and Noble went out of business in Chicago really early in the 2000s. I didn't know if their online presence would be prevalent, so I switched to Kindle. Plus, they are like $50 buck on black Friday and so small and lightweight.

While it is a free cruise, it is not 100% free. The deposit will go to taxes and port fees, gratuities and upgrades. The annual cruise is an interior for 2 minus taxes and port fees, which are the only things that get refunded regardless of deposit type. If you take the interior and don't upgrade, I believe you have to pay the balance in full, possibly even if you upgrade.

Welcome to the boards. The fuss is the fuss as each person unique experience is just that. The crowdedness of Freestyle machines and lack of options is prevalent across the fleet and definitely a YMMV situation. The same with Starlink......... I was on Harmony and Oasis recently enough and Starlink was hit or miss. Your cabin and cruise route can result in amazing service but another person on the same sailing could have the opposite experience. Which is to say no one can state with confidence that it will good or bad.

Those types of items should be in your carry-on and not checked baggage. As other has stated there are no Royal approved power strips, in fact power strips are banned from ships.

I was just going to say how there are too many variables, a lot are already mentioned, when trying to switch when you board. If a rep cannot help you over the phone, you really need to resign yourself to the fact you may be apart. Personally, there is no way I would swap a cabin and if you can afford to give someone cash for doing it, you should be able to afford moving rooms the proper way.

No they are not, the protein shakes are extra. In your example the fact about being included in the refreshment and DX are only under the juices and smoothies.

I got mine around the 9th last year. But it was an abbreviated prime year so they might not have had to issue as many certs as they will this year so it could even be after the 19th. I will point out that the prime cert can be applied to an already booked cruise as long as it is not past final payment. Trying to get a cruise on the 23rd will be tight and not something I recommend.

I used to have a Nook, but I found the Kindle app, was much easier to swap through on devices, i.e., phone, laptop and other people's computer.

Most specialty restaurants will not be open for lunch on a port day but if this is a very late port day or overnight, they may treat it as such. Usually, the app has a good idea of what is happening. I would check and see if there is a sailing with the same itinerary and you can check.

@asquared17 OMG funny story about Kindle reading in the MDR. Twice I had a crew member sneak up on me while something salacious was occurring in a book. A coworker's wife recommended a book series to me, The Fae Chronicles, I think I posted about it on one of my solo adventures. Anyhow I like books about mythical creatures and such, well this particular book series borders on "romantica," not my thing but if the world building and such is great, I will trek on. My font isn't big enough to read faraway.......but up close you can get a good look at the text. What that means is that if a crew member comes up behind you, they can read what you are reading. Really explicit sexy time scene that goes on for pages and the crew member turned bright red........and so did I. We had a good laugh, but I wondered what he thought of me, enjoying a classy meal but reading that. Ever since then, I bring a myriad of enjoyable options and those can go left too. I have a lot of Rock and Roll biographies on my Kindle; the wrong story can make you seem like a pervert .

14 Days to go........... I had a busy work week trying to get as much if my work done, just in case the internet is bad on Freedom. I did book an embarkation lunch at Giovanni's Italian kitchen. I don't know if it is me, but I could have sworn that it used to be 20% off specialty lunch and dinners if you prepurchase them in CP. The current deal is 15% so it was $22.40 with the gratuity. I really went back and forth because Freedom has El Loco Fresh (ELF), but I am sure since the ships are selling at capacity, ELF will be a madhouse on embarkation day. I know lots of people love Park Cafe, but ELF is my favorite complimentary option on Royal Ships. I am super nervous about traditional dining. I am used to eating my dinner at my pace while reading my Kindle. I am trying to decide if it is rude to do that at a shared table . I mean I like to chat while dining but only if I am in the mood. Plus, I don't want to be judged for my eating habits. If the table is full of couples and people making smooches, all bets are off. I would like to share that I am currently sitting at 77lbs of weight loss and managing my clinical depression without the use of meds. Now I am still fat, I prefer the term soft, but I have loss a considerable amount of weight and can fit a lot of the clothes I wore 10+ years ago. That means my favorite green flannel dress has made its way into the cruise clothes family. I am hoping these two weeks breeze by.

Do you and your family find shopping to be a chore? I hate shopping, I have a system where if I see something I just get it, as opposed to waiting until I have cruise/vacation booked. My brother used to laugh at me because I have specific cruise/vacation clothes, he now understands. Also...........congrats on your weight loss. I am down quite a bit, and it is great to pull out clothes I wore almost 10 years ago, and they fit again.

@IRMO12HD I knew how to work the remote, I could turn the VB on and off. On one or two nights I could see my brown railing but the other times it was just a dark screen. I liked Duolingo, used it for my trip to Italy in 2017 but I find the notifications annoying.

If it is an early port day the WJ will be open around 6pm, don't bank on a previous cruise compass for hours of venues as things change weekly. Keep in mind that even if you schedule breakfast at 6am, you are still at the mercy of the room service gods. Unless you are star class, and even then, you will not get your order at the exact time you want on most days.

Oh that makes sense, I know sailings from Galveston tend to be on the cheaper side. Since I am from Chicago I mostly sail from Florida and like I said the suites on Voyager and Freedom class has been close in price to Quantum and Oasis......in some cases the larger classes are cheaper.

OMG so many shenanigans during that flight.

I find often times the suites on smaller ships cost as much as the larger ones. On maybe vision class or something the suites would be cheaper but on Voyager and Freedom, I find they are close in price but not perks.

If it's not a large ship with tons of specialty restaurants I plan to do the BOGO off on all my smaller sailings.

OP keep in mind it's bogo so it's technically 2 dinners only. You can buy one and get one free and your spouse/significant other can do the same. It's not for two people each.