luv2sail

It was pretty green last week! Needs a few finishing touches, but it's most of the way there.

Just got off Allure yesterday and it was relayed by a cast member who was at chef's table that this was completely replacing ice games.

I'll bet those Cannuks moved that damn border and didn't tell anyone !

Never gave eating in port a 2nd thought. It's usually part of an excursion or at an all-inclusive resort though. I don't randomly walk into the nearest hole in the wall but I'd have no problem eating anywhere that had some sort of reliable recommendation behind it.

Just got back Sunday. I reserved the north lot (not premium). I thought I would be able to enter the north lot through the left entrance (red X), but that was blocked. They routed me all around as I've indicated with the red line. There were uncovered spots open below the covered spots, but they routed me to the left after scanning my code, so I'm not sure if those were all premium parking spots. We were able to still get a great spot and it was a very short walk. Note, you can't walk straight through the covered parking spots to the ship, as there is a fence blocking you.
There are two crosswalks to get from the parking to the building, which I've indicated in blue. There were porters available near the crosswalk, so I didn't have to drag the heavy luggage very far. 

We booked early for the covered parking.  To me well worth it for the short walk and cooler car when we returned.
 

Disney has done this for ages and it's NBD. However, as with @Lovetocruise2002 it WOULD become a big deal for us if Royal ended the flexibility to move cruise dates. While we never book with the intention of canceling, stuff happens. 

I tried "Show me cruises where I don't need a second mortgage to book one" and no results came up

I saw it last summer and am looking forward to seeing it again in July.  It is a great show.

When we sailed on Quantum recently in a suite they had about 6 blue towels rolled up in our cabin for us to use.

Another reason to book a suite; plus when you get towels on the pool deck or upon disembarkation at a port stop, you cards are not scanned for towels.

Now that makes more sense. People treating them as disposable, and not actually stealing them for their own home decor

You mean Allure, right? Oasis is not sailing out of Galveston. 

For an infrequent or first time cruiser this may very well have been a trip of a lifetime.  In this case the Odyssey itinerary the week that was chartered was more rare and not offered on a regular basis.  That's extra salt rubbed in the wound.
I argue it's quite sad that the practice of dumping guests has become so common place that regular cruisers have become normalized to it.  "Oh well, dumped by Royal again".
The OP's rant is well deserved by Royal and other cruise lines that do the same.  They wouldn't have an agenda were it not for being poorly treated in the first place. 

The only MDR room service you can get in a Sky class suite is dinner. Breakfast and lunch are limited to the door card and standard room service menus, respectfully.
Also, yes, all room service fees are waived in Sky class and above.

Yes.  In-suite dining from the MDR (but not specialty restaurants) is a Sky Class amenity.  You must plan on eating only during normal MDR operating hours.  I recommend asking your Suites Concierge for help with ordering.  They seem to be able to get through while I always had trouble getting anyone to answer the phone.

I haven't been on a cruise in almost 40 years (I would have been 7 or so my only other cruise I've taken). So this may as well be my first time. My wife and kids had never been on a cruise previously. 
 
We sailed on Indy over the weekend and some things stood out in relation to a lot of what I've read here and other places, both things that I felt lined up with what everyone said, and things that I thoroughly disagree with a lot of posters I've read. 
First - what an INCREDIBLE ship! I know it isn't the biggest anymore, but WOW what a lovely vessel to sail on! My family all agree, we loved her! The crew, the captain, the ship overall, just an absolutely fantastic way to travel. Really hard to believe there are much larger ships in regular use!! Lol she absolutely did not feel small. LOVE the promenade deck, LOVE being able to go to the bow. 
 
The third night we sailed through fairly rough seas and she rocked and rolled. My youngest (13) got seasick. But none of them were afraid. Some of us actually enjoyed watching the waves hit our porthole as the ship got tossed around a bit. 
 
Food - I read a lot about the desserts not being anything to write home about. I gotta agree on that one. Even the cheesecake, which is one of my favorite things usually, was just "meh". But aside from that I really do not understand the people that complain about it. We didnt go to any specialty dining and we NEVER went hungry and were never in a situation where we couldn't all find something we really liked. My prime rib in the MDR was tender and delicious and probably one of my favorite things I ate. (I've seen multiple posts staging the prime rib was bad). 
 
Windjammer was hit or miss. There was always at least a portion of what was being served that was really good. The roast turkey was delicious (I always go dark meat though so maybe the white meat wasnt). Even the steaks on the WJ were perfectly edible and tasty. I saw a lot of comments before I sailed that the Indian food on board was good and it REALLY was. But plenty of other offerings in the WJ were quite tasty as well. It IS too busy which can be frustrating but I expected that. 
 
Cafe promenade was impressive. Always open and always quality, tasty snacks. Sorrento's was perfectly tasty as well and my wife, who is gluten free, also liked their GF pizza. Fish and Ships was GOOD!! The only extra we spent on food was Ben and Jerry's and we all enjoyed all of our dining the whole time. 
 
The food on Coco Cay was, we all agree, really really good! The shaved ribeye sandwich was probably my favorite. The Cuban was also good. Of course the taco bar was great and most of my crew said that was their favorite on the island. 
 
Coco Cay itself is, in a word, fantastic.  Just beautiful beyond description.  
 
The crew was, without exception,  top notch. All of them. 
 
My nitpicks:
I really wish they had more freestyle machines. Having to wait in line everytime and hope it has ice was a little frustrating especially when you're REALLY thirsty. (Matters more to me than most probably because I dont drink alcohol and Im a bit of a soda fiend) 
 
The elevators being so full so often got annoying when we were trying to get somewhere. Minor and expected. 
 
The wifi signal in our stateroom wasn't very good. Nothing I couldn't live with, and on higher decks it worked really well. 
 
Overall, I, and the rest of my family, absolutely loved our experience.  My wife wanted to start with a short one to see how she and our kids would like it. I think the best way to summarize how we all felt about it is the fact that we went to NextCruise on our final night and booked a 9 night to Canada for 2024. (On Indy's sister ship, no less).  Cannot wait to sail again!
 
 

We've gotten Mixbook coupons from Celebrity via email a few times now...
"Free 20 page hardcover Mixbook"...We've done a few now and they have all come out beautifully...
In fact, we just did two more and submitted them in the last couple of days...My wife put together one for our LONG August vacation--8 night Med cruise on Vision of the Seas and 12 night Transatlantic Iceland/Greenland/Canada on Celebrity Summit...plus several days on land in Barcelona, Reykjavik and Boston...Problem is she went WAY over the 20 pages...ended up around 60+...But we also got another coupon from Mixbook directly for 50% off--so that one worked better than the free 20 page book coupon...ended up costing about $60 with shipping/handling after the 50% off.  Of course, that is what they want you to do.
So, I took the Free book coupon and did another book for a cruise we took just before the pandemic...and ended up at 21 pages...So, with shipping/handling, sales tax and the price for the one extra page, it came out to about $13.  Not bad for what you get.
You download your photos on to the site (or you can use directly from your computer file).  Then you can pick an arrangement for each page--one photo, two, three, four, five...different sizes and orientations...then drag and drop the photos...Then you can adjust the frames/sizes, zoom in/out, make light and color adjustments, etc.  You can add text and stock pictures--also frames, background colors, etc.  Save and move on to the end.  If you go over the page limits, you can add pages--for a cost...Or, if you want a book larger than the 8.5"x8.5", you can...you just pay the higher price and they deduct the value of the coupon.  Hit "order", input credit card...and you get delivery in about 2-3 weeks...
Have fun.

Have been on Allure twice since her arrival to Galveston; there are no mechanical issues.  You may be thinking of Anthem.

Common courtesy, like common sense, hasn't been so common for about 20 years.

Not vastly.  The CK menu is a bit more limited, IMO, but at least the CK menu still has a "favorites" menu that is always available.  One difference that I noticed is that the food is much hotter from the CK than from the MDR.  I often got tepid to cold food from the MDR.  ...and of course, the atmosphere and pace of the service is far more appealing than the madness of the MDR.
Frankly, breakfast is where I truly appreciate the CK the most.  It is sooo nice to have a place to go where you don't have to fight or hunt for a seat.  Yes, the breakfast menu is static but I never leave hungry and I am grateful to have a reasonably quiet and sedate place to start the day. The evening menu changes but the "favorites" are always available.

I blame everyone here for my new suite life obesseion. Last June, we enjoyed a grand suite on our Alaskan Ovation cruise. Like GatorCruiser, we really enjoyed the suite lounge. In July, we were in a balcony on a cruise to the ABC islands. It was fun, but I sure missed the suite life.  So, this June we are trying out a crown loft suite.
OP I hope you enjoy your junior suite! After the Costal Kitchen, you may be ready for the next step.🙂

I blame everyone here for my new suite life obesseion. Last June, we enjoyed a grand suite on our Alaskan Ovation cruise. Like GatorCruiser, we really enjoyed the suite lounge. In July, we were in a balcony on a cruise to the ABC islands. It was fun, but I sure missed the suite life.  So, this June we are trying out a crown loft suite.
OP I hope you enjoy your junior suite! After the Costal Kitchen, you may be ready for the next step.🙂

The dang suite lounge is so intoxicating. It’s hard to imagine now not having it.