ZBrady

The Live Blog was *slightly* delayed due to a small child that had no interest in falling asleep Love and Marriage was pretty good. As always, you need both good contestants and a good cruise director. I thought we had a phenomenal host, but just decent contestants. Plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, but not an all-timer. It ran a little long, so we didn’t have much time for activities before we needed to get ready for Formal night. In recent years my wife has let me dress down on Formal night, but it was time to get the suit back out now that our daughter is aboard. Dinner was a “special” 4th of July menu, which turned out just to be the Taste of USA menu, but with less offerings. My meal (Shrimp cocktail, salmon, ice cream) was actually pretty good. Everyone else’s was disappointing (some much more than others). I posted pictures in the Royal Caribbean Dining Facebook page that Matt runs, which you can view here - https://m.facebook.com/groups/royalcaribbeandining/permalink/3451117285151807/ Lots of commentary about people’s opinions, which you may or may not find interesting. FWIW, we provided feedback on the negative aspects of the meal to the Head Waiter when he visited our table and also to the Windjammer manager this morning when he stopped by our table and asked if we would like to take a survey. Also, my brother and his fiancée began getting sea sick yesterday afternoon, so that added to the experience. So after dinner we took some time taking pictures. Lines were long, as it was Formal Night. As an aside - long story short, my father never formally proposed to my mother, so he was hoping to take this cruise as an opportunity to do so. He asked me how he should do so, I suggest formal night pictures would be a good opportunity. So we waited in line for photos on the stairs, everyone around us cheered, good times were had. As ANOTHER aside, we woke up this morning to $50 off coupons to the Spa to “celebrate our special day”. They were addressed to us, I presume, because we gave them our stateroom cabin number for the photos. We quickly changed into casual clothing and made it just a bit late to Voices. This actually worked out perfectly, as we were able to stumble upon a fairly private seating area on the very far edge of the upper level. A private box, of sorts, with 4 seats that let our daughter sit right up against the glass. Turned out to be perfect, as she could freely move around and make a little bit of noise without disturbing anyone else. We didn’t get to stay for the whole show once she become too rambunctious; so to get out some energy we decided to stop by the indoor play place in AO. She really enjoyed that, especially since there was only one other family there with another girl around her same age. We ended the night walking around Central Park - our daughter especially liked looking down into the Promenade - and we took some great selfies at the Trellis Bar. Her putting her arms around both my wife and me will be something I hope I ever forget As I alluded to earlier, my daughter had no interest in going to bed, so when she was still awake when it was time for the 4th of July Balloon drop, we figured what the heck. The director said it was the most people they have ever had on the promenade, not sure that’s the truth or not but it sure felt like it. We had already signed her up for a 9am session in AO Babies, so that was a quick turnaround. We enjoyed the Windjammer for breakfast (not crowded yet at 8am) - I had firsts and secones of avacado toast with salmon, eggs Benedict, and pancakes. After dropping off at AO we went to the Schooner Bar for more trivia, but the host was MIA and never arrived. So instead we went shopping and bought 5 (!!!) shirts from the logo store (they were having a sale, and we are suckers). We’re relaxing in the shade on the pool deck and plan to pick our daughter up a little early so that we can take her to the Anchors Away Parade, which I think she will enjoy. Wonderland (our first time) and the 365 Ice Show tonight. Very excited! Photo Dump:

4th of July on WOS is no joke! Lots going on, and lots of people celebrating, with it being a Sea Day. The way the schedule worked it also is Formal Night, so I am interested to see what people choose to wear this evening. Started our morning at 8:00am - met the rest of our crew at Cafe Promenade for speciality coffee and then headed to breakfast in the MDR. Two of the ladies in my party were wearing tank tops, so I wasn’t 100% sure what the policy was for breakfast and was a little nervous that we may be turned away (others on this board had mentioned that previously). It was no problem, and several other groups were dressed similarly. I ordered Eggs Benedict and Bagels & Lox. Next time I would ask for more cream cheese but besides that everything was great. They took our food order before our drink order - not sure if that is the normal. Everything was good, and we were out of there in time to take my daughter to AO for her 9:00-noon session. After dropping her off (she did great, this time!) we got drinks from the Pub and headed to the Schooner Bar for Crossword and then Trivia. The crossword was particularly challenging (ie obscure) but the trivia was good as always. While we played we figured out of excursion situation - there was nothing left in St Thomas, so we decided that the portion of group that really wanted snorkel would book an excursion in St. Martin while the rest of use kept our plans for the beach day. So now St. Thomas has turned into a day on the ship, which I’m honestly not mad about. While we played trivia my brother and his fiancée enjoyed the pool. So now to the 4th of July festivities. We walked around the ship (mind you, this was peak time in the late afternoon, so we mostly observed various activities while drinking, because lines were obviously long) until it was time to pick my daughter up at noon. Around this time the 4th of July Celebration was starting on the Boardwalk. Generally, I don’t spend much time on the Boardwalk, but I thought this was a pretty good use. There were lots of decorations and several booths set up with food stations representing different parts of the country. There were also ballon animals, face painting, various games and photo opportunities. Later on there was a celebration and live music at the AquaTheater, but we had left to get my daughter down for a nap by then. To say it was crowded would be an understatement! Especially after an announcement was made over the speakers that the event was starting, it was shoulder to shoulder across the entire boardwalk. I think that would be expected for the type of event, but still was a holy cow type moment. We are back at the room now and will head out to Love and Marriage at 2:00, drinks after and then Formal Night at 5:00. Nothing reserved for the evening, but I think we are going to go to Voices since we missed it yesterday. Random aside - the entire port aft hallway on Deck 7 smelled like weed when we walked back, so that’s an oof for me. Photo Dump of mostly decorations and the celebration on the boardwalk:

@BoxerMomNC Thank you! We looked into this after your recommendation, but they are already booked up for the day. @OCSC Mike Too big of a breakfast today for a mid-day meal, but I know I will hit it up eventually! Have an excursion update but it is somewhat lengthy. @BobbieS Thank you! I’m really glad I ended up doing this.

There is nothing better than cruising. Going to try to respond to everything without actually quoting them. Live blogging is a full-time job In the time it took to write my last post, maintenance fixed the drain situation, so that was great. I could hear them tinkering with the pipes from the outside; then they knocked and asked to test the shower to make sure. Turns out there was just a lot of hair in there. Another thing I forgot to mention was we got a voicemail on our phone and a card at our door that our excursion for St. Thomas was cancelled. Supposedly mechanical issues with the boat. They offered us 15% off a different excursion in the same port, but at this point all that’s left is beach days. My dad is pretty disappointed - he used to scuba dive so he was looking forward to doing some serious snorkeling. I’m going to search online to see if there are any 3rd party excursions that would work for us. So dinner in the MDR - obviously the talk of the town has been the change in policies and new menus and perceived diminished quality. So I was definitely both excited and anxious to try the new dining room for myself and hear what new cruisers had to think. As I mentioned, I had already scouted out our location. Turned out the location was great - in the auxiliary side room next to a window. I was particular I impressed they already had a high chair in place for my daughter. Was not impressed, however, that there were only 5 other chairs at the table. So we were one short for a few minutes until they could find another. Once they added the additional chair things were fairly cramped. Considered requesting a different table but I think things will be fine. Our server, Tomy, alluded early that we had no-showed yesterday (oops), but I explained that we enjoyed sail away and ate at specialty dining. Awkward moment when we said we ate at Giovanni’s and he immediately explained that tonight was Taste of Italy, but we all had a laugh about it. Per the standard for the staff, they were great with my daughter and gave her bread and a fruit plate. She didn’t particularly like the fruit they happened to offer, but they had no problem when we asked for a plate of just strawberries. Overall, I think the quality of the food was on par with what we have experienced on our previous sailings over the years. I was several libations deep at this point of the evening, but I remember mentioning to Tomy that Taste of Italy was just as good as Giovanni’s - he particularly appreciated this. The only negative was it took about 40 minutes to get our appetizers. Everything else was speedy, including drink service. The next adventure (pun intended) was taking my daughter to AO Babies. So far this trip she has been fairly clingy and hesitant around strangers, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. When we entered (right at 7:00), there was only one other child in there with the 2 teachers, and (thank god!) Cocomelon on the TV. After the typical check-in procedures, it was time to pass our daughter off to the incredible staff member Star. It took some extra convening, but eventually our daughter was all the way in to the play area and we were out the door. Long story short - she did absolutely great and was fast asleep when it was time to pick her up at 10:00. So now for probably the most enjoyable part of the cruise so far. We had some time to kill before Voices, so we made it up to the Mason Jar for drinks and to hopefully snag a table for the Country Crew Trio. I don’t exactly enjoy country, but I enjoy music enough to appreciate it and can sing along. Plus I really wanted to try some of their signature drinks. Fast forward - by the time it was time to go to the theater for Voices, no one wanted to leave and had already made plans to come back again. We were very much vibing, dancing, and had successfully got several of our requests played. Heres a funny aside - I am a “very online” person, and was aware of a Facebook post a few weeks ago about this particular user was disappointed in the Mason Jar band because they didn’t actually play country music. Tonight, before playing one of our requests, they preluded the song with something along the lines of, “Now obviously we primarily play country music, but when the money is right we sometimes play other styles, like just last week there was one big spender that only wanted to hear Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys.” Knew exactly what they were referring to and had to chuckle a bit; goes back to the old saying that things are never as bad as they seem and that you can never truly trust what you read online. Tomorrow is a sea day and is our first time on a cruise for a holiday. Since we missed Voices tonight I think we will try to see it tomorrow as stand by; can’t imagine the Theater will totally fill up. Also we’re planning on MDR breakfast, another thing I’ve somehow never done. This is already a novel, but time for some replies: @asquared17 All things considered, things could not be going any better! @OCSC Mike To celebrate the holiday I will be having a pre-made burrito in your honor. You can’t stop me! @Sweety You are too kind! I am *very* glad my wife splurged on the photo package. They have already captured some great ones. @Neesa Thanks for the advice! Effectors is a must-not miss for us; and I do want to report back about Voices tomorrow. @Ampurp85 Crowds haven’t been bad! I think I went into this with a game plan to actively avoid crowds, so I think that is part of it, but never have I felt overwhelmed or anything like that. In terms of speciality dining, we also missed out on Hooked (), which I was also really hoping for. My *guess* is this being a holiday sailing had something to do with it. And yes on the curtains! I will work on getting the link from my wife on those and share those with you. They have completely changed the dynamic of our room and let’s us have some freedom while she is napping. One final thing - @Matt’s live blog started in the middle of typing this, so took advantage of my very first SuperChat on the YT channel. Thought the occasion was appropriate. Happy 4th, everyone. Stay safe, and I’ll try to cover all of the unique festivities on the ship. Photo Dump (which includes a random photo of the late night lost and found at the towel station, just found that humorous. Also a ride on the carousel before dinner):

Quite literally a PERFECT Day at CocoCay. Everyone ordered room service breakfast this morning - actually something we managed to never do on any of our previous so I wasn’t totally sure what to expect. We placed our order for the 7:00-7:30 window, received a courtesy call right at 7:00 and the food arrived a few minutes later. We had a fairly large order that was mostly correct - it was missing doughnuts and included a pot of coffee that we didn’t order. We had enough that it wasn’t a big deal. As others have mentioned, the tables on the Oceanview balconies on Wonder are hilariously small - just large enough for one plate. So we left the trays on the end of the bed and kind of just took food a little a time. Our goal was to be ready when the gangway opened at 8:00. After eating breakfast, picking up specialty coffee, getting towels and getting ready it was 8:15 when we exited our cabin. We lucked out big time, as Wonder was the only ship in port today. That was our first experience being the only ship, and we felt like it made a BIG difference. We skipped the tram because we wanted to take advantage of some of the photo spots along the way. We set up camp near the zero-entry portion of the pool, and it ended up being perfect. Along the way we snagged a beach stroller, which was VERY clutch because my daughter is hit or miss if she is willing to walk - and when she does it obviously isn’t the fastest. The vast majority of our time was spent in the pool. We mainly stayed in the shallow water but would make frequent trips to the swim up bar. It was early enough in the day that the bar wasn’t crazy crowded and the music wasn’t too loud, so our daughter took some trips with us there as well. We knew there would life jackets provided on the island, but we weren’t sure if they would be small enough for our two-year-old. Luckily, there were a few puddle jumpers available at each station and those worked PERFECTLY for her. She is just now to the point where is comfortable floating on her own and is even learning how to kick her legs to propel herself forward. So definitely exciting times! We did make a trip to the beach just to the left of the Coco Beach Club. The water was virtually still, so we didn’t stay very long at all. As we left the Snack Shack was opening, and a worker brought my daughter French fries without us having to ask (top notch!). Spent more time in the pool before heading to Skipper’s Grill for lunch. I’m not sure if the buffet menu has changed over the years but I particularly enjoyed our meal there today. Anyone that frequents Chipotle knows that the Smoked Tabasco is the ultimate sauce, so I was VERY excited to see that as an offering for my chicken taco. All of the sides were fresh - my only suggestion would be to include tortilla chips alongside the salsa and guacamole. Random aside - there was hardly any wind today so the balloon was fully operational. Know that’s not always the case - we enjoyed seeing it come up and down throughout the day. Came back to the ship for nap time before dinner. Received a towel animal from our stateroom attendant Reynaldo - so far he has been tremendous. Additionally, he took some out extra magnetic hooks and hung up my daughters backpack and headphones - love those little details. Tomorrow we will be leaving him a note and a tip. One other cabin back I forgot to mention was the blackout curtains. My wife put them up to essentially separate the room between the bed and the pullout couch. Last night we had the curtains all the way across - today we have left them halfway. They really do work well and it seems to help my daughter sleep. We’ve also discovered one major-ish issue - the shower isn’t draining properly, which led to the bathroom flooding. Luckily we noticed before it spilled into the room. We contacted Reynaldo, and he said he would call maintenance for us. Fortunately we can use our families bathrooms for now, but obviously not the most ideal situation. Dinner in the MDR tonight. Italian night, which means our reservation last night in Giovanni’s somewhat became an oops, but I think there is enough in the menu that we should be okay. After that we have Voices reserved - not *particularly* fired up for it, but I still want to go just to experience it. Also, we signed up my daughter for a session at AO Babies tonight, so we’ll see how well she handles that. I have a feeling if there is a TV on she’ll be very content Photo dump (which will largely feature my daughter - it’s very obvious she has become the star of this show!):

She really is a pro! She catches onto things really quickly and loves imitating us. Which of course sometimes backfires Yes! We were super nervous about our daughter sleeping on the pull out because she has only ever slept in a crib. But she did great! Affirms that we are going to be able to transition her to a big-girl bed when we get back home. Believe it or not I actually teach math! But I do love writing, so it was touching for you to mention that. Drives my students crazy because they don’t think they should have to write properly outside of the English class room . Also funny you mention *this* because both my brother and I are adopted from different parents. But people ALWAYS say we look like we are related, which we’ve always thought was pretty neat. I think we’re probably somewhat biased/jaded - our last cruise CocoCay was the last day and we both caught the front end of Covid that exact same time. So we were miserable the whole day. Luckily the experience today was the exact opposite

Sail away was a decently good time - PC isn’t the most exciting port but I’m glad my family got to experience it. We snagged some comfy seats near Vue Bar. We also stopped by Bionic Bar before taking some pictures and then headed to dinner at Giovanni’s. My only other Giovanni’s experience was on Odyssey and I made the mistake of not going with an empty stomach. This time I was much better prepared and it was incredible, start to finish. We all drank moscato, shared apps and each had a salad. Entrees included Chicken Parm, Fettuccine, Lasagna, Filet Mignon and pizza. We ordered three desserts to share and ordered seconds of everything. All around great times were had, the service was especially good - our waitress was especially attentive to my daughter, which has been great. Made it to the Aquashow and found pretty good seats. The all-female cast is super talented and a lot of the water and lighting effects were impressive. We knew going in that it would be loud so we brought my daughter headphones. She wasn’t particularly interested in wearing them so Adult comedy show now. My wife went back to the room with our daughter - I figure we’ll trade out who stays back throughout the week. One comedian I’ve seen at least once before (but was still mostly good) and the other is just okay. Also they could have designed the supporting columns for this venue slightly better. I’ll include a photo Tomorrow we’re at CocoCay! Glad it is at the beginning of the week. Going to share some cabin hacks my wife came up with - a roll up makeup bag she converted into a medicine bag and a shoe organizer she is using for all of our toddler gear. I wasn’t so sure we actually needed them, but turns out they have been really useful already. Photo dump:

Right? I don’t want to make assumptions but everything about the encounter just seemed off. You are too kind! She’s received a lot of compliments on the cruise, too. The staff are soooo good with kids.

It feels good to be home! Our day started early in Orlando. Had breakfast at the hotel restaurant - pancakes, turkey sausage, scrambled eggs and fruit. When headed back up to our room to finish packing, I noticed Aziz from Ace Luxury Transportation was already out front waiting for us. I introduced myself and told him we’d be back down shortly. We loaded up the van and made the short drive to PC. There was absolutely no traffic - combined with leaving a bit early, we were standing in front of the terminal at 9:20 for our 10:30 check-in. Were definitely some of the first but didn’t feel totally out of place as there were other groups already there. They had us congregate on the side of the terminal to wait. Eventually, someone came over to first escort Pinnacle, then suite guests, then I think Masters, and then finally 10:30 check-ins. We were probably the 5th group or so in the 10:30 line. By the time we got inside we didn’t stop walking, which seems like par for the course at PC. Everyone was super helpful - the people operating the X-ray machines even gave our daughter a duck. By the time we made it though, we were the second group seated in the 10:30 group of chairs in the terminal. Boarding started right around 10:15. The first hiccup was taking our picture with the WOS back group outside the terminal. When we gave our stateroom numbers, names other than ours were showing up. My guess it was still showing the previous passengers as it wasn’t 10:30 yet. So we’ll see if those show up. Upon boarding, I went straight to Izumi to hopefully make reservations for Hibachi. I was the first person there which I figured was great. The lady working the desk first told me that Hibachi wasn’t included - which I guess is technically correct, but I told her I was happy to pay the up charge. She then told me they were already completely booked for the sailing. That was fine, I had already mentally prepared for that. I wasn’t getting a great vibe from her, so I decided to cut my losses and make reservations elsewhere. Found a kiosk on the promenade with a short line. While in line, I *somewhat* panicked and booked everything in the app before getting to the front of the line. Once there, I explained that I made reservations in the app but was charged was wondering if she could just switch them to my package. She explained that they would be able to see my package and they could take off it once I was actually there at dinner. I’m in YOLO cruise mode so I went with it and we’ll see what happens. Meanwhile, my wife made reservations in AO Babies. I also stopped by the MDR to ensure that everyone in our party was seated together. We are, but in one of the auxiliary rooms. Not thrilled about it but oh well. This all took maybe 45 minutes. The rest of the day so far has included several bars, pizza, hot dogs, the Windjammer and a tour of the main areas of the ship. One moment to share from the Windjammer - my daughter had an accident and slipped and hit her head on the edge of the table. She screamed and cried but settled fairly quickly. One worker named Jam came to our assistance immediately to help comfort her, and offered to get her ice cream. Jam mentioned to us that she has a two-year-old. We are looking forward to recognizing her extraordinary service later this week. We all unpacked and took a nap once the rooms were open. Changed clothes and are heading to the pool deck for sailaway before Giovanni’s at 6:15, followed by inTENse and the comedy show. Will be a fun filled evening! Photo dump:

Not sure, but I think there is Blake Shelton song about it. Thank you! We have created a little monster and she loves movies. Luckily she *mostly* will cooperate when it’s time to take away the screen. She is great.

Great flight, and made it safely to the hotel! The boarding bridges at MCI are all-glass, which certainly makes for an enjoyable experience. We flew Southwest, which has an open seating policy. We boarded between A and B group with Family Boarding and found 3 seats together near the back quarter of the plane. My parents boarded around B30, and managed to snag two seats in the row directly in front of us. The flight was largely uneventful - enjoyed some podcasts and a magazine while my daughter enjoyed her favorite movies on her tablet. The best part of the flight was certainly the drink service. We both enjoyed Dogfish Head Strawberry Vodka Lemonade tonight. Would definitely recommend! The best part was that we weren’t charged for them. In my experience they are less likely to charge you if you experienced any sort of delay. Our baggage arrived at the carrousel really quickly. We called our airport hotel for the shuttle service - turns out there is Ground Transportation at both terminals at MCO, and we managed to be at the wrong one. By the time we walked to the other terminal, we didn’t have to wait for than 5 minutes for our shuttle to arrive. It brought us to Hilton Garden Inn Orlando Airport. It is currently under construction for a remodel, so that made me a little nervous initially. But after navigating through the construction structure we made it to the lobby where they were expecting us and already had our keys made out. The rooms are clean and absolutely serviceable for an overnight stay. Didn’t manage to take a photo before we unpacked for the evening, so I may take one before we leave in the morning. Hoping to fall asleep before midnight - big plans to board the world’s largest cruise ship (for now) tomorrow morning!

Travel Day! Probably the most we have ever packed for a week-long vacation, but not totally sure what to expect on board with our little one. We have a stroller that is fairly compact and folds up well. One suitcase and one carry on each, which is pretty good I'd say. The large black duffle is for our youngest daughter that is staying with grandparents for the week. For the uninitiated - the Kansas City International Airport opened in 1972 and featured a unique design; the "Airport of the Future" has separate terminals but did not feature people movers, instead opting for a drive-to-your-gate model, with flight gates as close as 75 feet from the road. The major flaw of this design was a lack of centralized security, as each gate area had to have its own security check with limited services inside of the security gate. In 2019 construction began on a single-terminal airport, which opening in February of this year. Our 5:30pm Eastern flight has been delayed until 6:45pm Eastern - our plane coming from NY experienced weather which delayed its departure. So we have even more time than we anticipated to explore the new terminal. The new terminal is particularly spacious and definitely feels like a modern airport. One centralized security check for both "nodes" of the airport. With lots of time to kill we found a place to eat a late lunch and opted for Smoke 'n Magic BBQ - despite KC being known for its BBQ, this restaurant isn't one of the popular ones and its original location is in a distance suburb of the city proper. The food was only mediocre - the best part of the meal was the fries, which you always hate to see. We drank a few Captains and Dr. Pepper (yum) - really looking forward to utilizing the drink package. We spent quite a bit of time at the Inclusive Play Area. The airport also features a Sensory Room and a Flight Experience. One of the coolest features of the airport is the addition of Gender Neutral Restrooms. Airplane just arrived - we'll be in Orlando in no time

The time has finally come! Tomorrow we begin our journey towards Port Canaveral, traveling into Orlando one day early and staying overnight. We don’t fly out until 5:30pm Eastern, which in retrospect is fairly late in the day. I’m wondering if that was either by far the cheapest option or the only direct flight that would somewhat cooperate with our youngest’s nap time. Speaking of our youngest, having her tag along has drastically altered our packing experience. As Matt often recommends, we have 50% more supplies than we would think is necessary packed into every crevice of our luggage. My wife - who I am eternally grateful for and would have totally and completed failed without - has done a great job packing an organizational kit with first aid supplies, various medicines, and various other items that I have a feeling may come in handy when traveling with a young one. This will be the first “big” vacation with my parents and brother as a whole group since probably the mid 2000s. As a result, we’re taking advantage with some themed outfits that I am looking forward to. I believe I mentioned that we elected for Early Dining. My family - being first time cruises - conveyed that they would really like to enjoy Sail Away, so that’s an obvious conflict. I am going to do my best to book a specialty restaurant later on Day 1. I suggested the Windjammer for dinner as an alternative, but based on my wife’s response we will be hoping to avoid that situation Super fired up for this one. Excited to experience Royal’s newest ship, but more so excited to share the experience alongside so many first-time cruises. I have server as a guide of sorts for them throughout this process, so I think the payoff will be particularly rewarding when this ultimately becomes such a rewarding experience for them. I have a bet made with my wife about whether or not my parents will say they will want to cruise solo in the future - my bet is YES! Plan to share some pictures tomorrow alongside updates of our journey from MCI to MCU. First time visiting the new terminal in Kansas City!

This actually really interests me looking forward to seeing what it’s all about soon!

Mike - life has been crazy so haven’t had a chance to be on the forums lately. Loved catching up on this blog and experiencing it from your perspective! Thanks for writing that up - it’s so interesting to see how other people cruise.

I had quite the sophisticated planning document

We have a small update! We are 31 days out, and I was expecting Entertainment to become available soon - either today (first day of the prior month) or tomorrow (30 days out). Noticed this morning around 9:00am EDT that Entertainment and some additional Activities became available to reserve. The past several months I had been tracking the show schedule on Wonder and figured our sailing would be largely the same - with that knowledge I was hoping to have a game plan going in on the day reservations were available. Turns out the schedules I had seen previously were nearly spot on, which was nice, so I was able to make those reservations quickly. Generally, we booked shows for their first showings in case of cancelations. Here is what we ended up with - Day 1 - inTENse Aqua Show (8:30p), Adult Comedy (10:00p) Day 2 - Voices (9:30p) Day 3 - Day 4 - 365 Seasons on Ice (8:30p) Day 5 - Tap Factory (7:45p) Day 6 - The Effectors II: Crash & Burn (8:00p) Day 7 - Royal Society of Puzzles (1:00p) Hoping () we will be able to work Specialty Dining around those times once we are on board, but I figure some things may change since we'll prioritize getting the Dining reservation we prefer over a particular show time. A month from today we'll be flying out - exciting times!

HOLY the production value of this video is unreal. Only 6 minutes in and I’m blown away.

The contention is that, largely, that is not a rule. We could ultimately boil this down to semantics - but generally, for venues only serving alcohol, those under 21 are typically not permitted. However, for venues that also serve food, there is no legal requirement that a person be 21 years of age to sit at a bar. As stated previously, some states require that a parent or guardian be present, while some restaurants may have their own policies. As this pertains to Royal Caribbean - it seems they are free to set their own policy, and if they wanted to enforce that they certainly could.

I think that's fair - a full/crowded bar, especially in the evening, is definitely a different beast.

Not attempting to be combative, but genuinely curious - would this also apply to someone 18+ but not yet 21, or to an adult not drinking alcohol?

I'm not familiar with many/any laws that explicitly prohibit minors from sitting at bars - it looks like some states may require they be accompanied by an adult. My experience is that venues may establish their own rules, most commonly not allowing minors to enter after a certain time at night or at all. But yea, I think its super cool when a kid is independent/comfortable enough to order their own drink. My kids aren't to that age yet but I'm looking forward to teaching them about etiquette, patience, etc.

As the article alluded to, it almost certainly has to do with dissuading people from booking without true/complete intentions of keeping the reservation. Unfortunately, many people will view it as *another* money gouging scheme, whether justified or not.

I cannot imagine a scenario in which your mother's DOB being incorrect would be a cause to deny you boarding. I can see why it caused issues with your passport, however. With that being said, if bringing both would lessen anxiety I don't see a downside besides losing them.

Matt has a right up with the details - https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2023/05/22/royal-caribbean-increases-suite-deposit-policy