cruisellama

I suggest focusing on itinerary, not a cruise line.
Try other cruise lines. 
You are not me, I am not you.  I have sailed other lines.  My likes and dislikes are unique to me.  My opinions are biased by my likes and dislikes. 
Had I never tried another cruise line I wouldn't have found Royal.  
Carnival, Norwegian, Royal and MSC are all similar lines competing in the mass cruise market.  Try them all and then think about what works best for you.

I believe you're correct, but the savings have withered in recent times.   As you paid gratuities, it still simplifies when your "checkout" when dinner ends.  All paid and you don't necessarily get the puppy eyes for additional (and a little quicker).

Yes, I made sure to include gratuities. 

Are the prices including gratuity or being added in check out

Checked in..
 

Checked in.

The wife's monthly cruise in March. Think I will tag along just to make sure she has fun and doesn't get into trouble. 😁

Congratulations on making it to the top! I hope you have another cruise booked right after so you can fully enjoy being a Pinnacle member!

You guys look so cute and happy😍

🥰🥰

@WAAAYTOOO and @RCL_Cruiser_Dan Christmas cruise on Adventure

We had dinner in Chops last night - Christmas Eve.  TBH I had completely forgotten that Chops has the special holiday meal on Christmas Eve and Christmas day (night) so I at first I couldn't figure out why some of the people had strange, rolled-up paper menus.  It finally dawned on me that these were the Holiday meal menus !  So the fact that we did NOT have the [needlessly expensive] special holiday menu didn't matter one single bit. We were seated as normal and given the normal Chops menu and had the normal wonderful meal that we always have.  This meal was the first for us of our 3 night dining plan meals, so we didn't even pay full price for this meal !  IMO this was the perfect way to handle this situation.  Let those that want to pay more do so but don't penalize those that don't want to get the special upcharged menu.  Well done, Adventure !
Called at Puerto Plata, DR today.  First time here.  We decided to just get off the ship and walk about the port area.  I couldn't believe how big and nice it is !  Better than Costa Maya, and I think CM is pretty big and nice !  They have a really nice complimentary pool with swim-up bar and a complimentary (I think....the sign was a big confusing to me) lazy river which looked like fun....but I know my fat a$$ will not fit into one of those floating tubes.  I know b/c I embarrassed myself to an astronomical degree trying to do one at a resort in COZ once.  Nope.  Never again.  The Valiant Lady is also here today.  We got off and back on again before the VL really began to disembark, thereby beating the bulk of the horde.  We met a wonderful guy, who owned one of the eat/drink concession who is a former Royal Caribbean employee - 18 years.  He managed to work, save his money, put his children through college and then retire (from Royal), start his own business and be wonderfully successful.  What a great story and I couldn't be more proud to have helped him (and those like him) achieve their life's dreams. They help us achieve our vacation dreams and it's nice to know that the favor can and IS returned !  He thanked US for being loyal to Royal and it almost made me cry.
It's Christmas Day !  YIPPEE !!  I hear that Santa found the children on the ship, which is a huge relief.  I don't know how he manages to find ALL the kids, no matter where they are, but once again - complete success !!  Merry, Merry Christmas to everyone !

Thank you Royal Caribbean and Merry Christmas to all!

I have mixed feelings about this suite.  I have not had any noise issues per se.  I have heard others say that if you happen to be unlucky enough to hit foggy weather while in this suite, it’s a nightmare, as the fog horn is RIGHT outside your window and it’s horrifically loud.  No fog for us, so far.
I have 2 objections to this room and they both have to do with its location.  While neither Dan nor I get seasick, we have noticed that there is significantly more movement due to being on the bow of the ship and high up.  You feel every little bump and swirl.  The second objection is simple - this room is on the other end of the ship from where we spend most of our time. Luckily the VY class is pretty “short” so even if you have to walk from bow to stern, it’s really not that big a deal….but it’s still a bit inconvenient and you know how much I LOVE to walk - NOT !  My objection to this suite is the same one I hold against the new Panoramic Suites on Oasis and Allure.  I just don’t want to be THAT far from the Suites Lounge and CK.  In summary, I don’t think I will book this suite again….but frankly, the price was right for it on this cruise.
I will do my best to get that for you !
 
Right back atcha !

TL;DR - All is well.  Christmas is coming.  The BOGO process is a Charlie Foxtrot.
 
I promised a live blog for this sailing but in keeping with my utter unreliability for doing live blogs, I have failed again....this being day 3 already.
I will skip all of the pre-boarding and boarding details as these are not of particular interest to anyone and it was entirely uneventful.  All went well. We are here.
The ship is in great shape for her age.  We sailed on Adventure relatively recently so there haven't been any changes since that time.  Sure, she needs paint in some areas and there are patches of carpeting that are in need of replacing but these are purely superficial issues and have not impacted our enjoyment at all.
We are in a Panoramic Ocean View Suite (VP), a room which was converted at the time that part of the spa was removed.  The room has an ENORMOUS panoramic view with ceiling-to-floor window panes.  It makes for a really lovely view....particularly at sunrise and sunset.  LOTS of space.  There is a large-ish closet area that they advertise as a second bedroom but that's not fair.  It's just a couple of bunk beds in a closet with a curtain.  Yes, it provides additional beds. No, it is not a second bedroom.  There is a bath-and-a-half (full bath and second toilet and sink) but the full bath is somewhat disappointing as it is the same size and layout of a typical stateroom bathroom with a space tube shower (ugh).  Nothing special there.  It is considered a full suite so we have access to the Suites Lounge and all of the suites' amenities.  Breakfast is in Giovanni's on this ship (it's typically in Chops) b/c Chops is on Deck 4, forward and Gios is the only specialty restaurant on deck 11....and it is in an unusual place (instead of being located inside the Windjammer entrance as it is on most VY and FR class ships, the entrance is outside of the WJ).  The food and service have been very good.
It's a good thing that the VP is considered a full suite b/c we would otherwise be denied access to the Suites' Lounge on this sailing.  There are 65 Pinns onboard this sailing (and I'm sure we are #'s 64 and 65 in seniority !).  Only the top 30 are permitted in the Suites' Lounge and we certainly are not among those 30...but since we are in a full suite, we are allowed in.  As may be expected, the SL is an empty wilderness and the Crown Lounge (CL) (or Clown Lounge as some are calling it) is a whirlwind of chaos.  Since the only [public] computers that I am aware of are located in the back of the CL (there are 2), that is where you will find me in the AM.  At least there is SOMEwhere to get on a keyboard !
As one would predict, there are many families and children on this sailing but I have not found it to be a concern.  Everyone is having a wonderful time and the children are all looking forward to Santa's arrival.  
There was a show in the theater last night called "Can't Stop the Rock" which we fully intended to attend but failed (we decided that the hot tub would be a better thing to do)....but I heard it was tolerable.  We went to the ice show on our last AD sailing so we will probably skip it this time but as I recall, it was very typical of all the ice shows and definitely worth going to if you haven't been before.
We have not stepped foot inside the WJ and intend to keep it that way.  Our one night of dining in the MDR (so far) was fine.  Welcome Aboard is one of my least favorite MDR menus and that happened to be the night that we decided to eat there (having eaten lunch in Chops on boarding day....didn't think 2 big meals in one day would be a good idea).  We will also eat in the MDR on Christmas evening and one more time during the last part of the sailing...which night, escapes me at the moment.  We have a 3 night dining package plus 2, BOGO which works soooo well for us.  Speaking of BOGO I thought I would relay the mechanics of using the BOGO on AD...or at least, on THIS sailing on AD as it never seems to be the same process, even on the same ship !  We ate at Giovanni's last night (night #2) and told the server that this represented the use of the first of our BOGO dinners and that we would be eating in Chops later in the week.  Knowing that it is MANDATORY that you pay for your BOGO meals on nights #1 or #2, we requested that the server go ahead and charge us both, full price for our Gio's meal.  That utterly confused her....so she called the manager over.  The manager finally decided that the thing to do was to call Chops, have them charge us for our [yet-to-be-consumed] Chops BOGO and then when we get to Chops later this week, we will already have pre-paid.  PERFECT !  Exactly what we wanted.  We paid for our Gio's BOGO and went home full and happy.  Later that evening we checked our onboard account.  Gio's was charged...but no Chops.  UGH.  So this morning when enjoying our breakfast in Gio's we queried the manager...what happened to our charge for Chops ?  Blank stare.  So she got on the phone with someone...the final determination is that they will charge us for the second BOGO when we get to Chops in a few days.  WHAAAAT ?  I thought the charge had to be completed NLT day 1 or 2 ?  It's an utter mystery and it's yet-to-be-seen whether or not this process will actually work but if I get to Chops and have some bill-issue, I will turn full Karen and somebody's going to be sorry.  LOL  I will report back.
This is already waaaytooo long.  That's what I get for waiting 3 days.  I will catch up later.
Merry Christmas to all !  Santa comes tonite !!!!

I’ve never known Chops to limit apps but they definitely limit your entrees to one.

According to the article, the theming and benefits went away a little bit ago. Guess it was in preparation for the end of the partnership

Reflection  ABC - Nov 24

FB roll call group for the inaugural sailing said this morning that it's already sold out (for that sailing).
Personally, at $200pp, I didn't even look. Easy pass for us. You will find me in CK. 

Reflection  ABC - Nov 24

I think that's fairly regional....are you from the PA or Midatlantic area in General? 
It was basically gone already... all of the cow motif inside has been gone for a while, apparently and I think they removed most of the perks over the past few months. I guess they knew this was coming and started clearing it out ahead of time. 

So the Ben and Jerry suite goes away also? Would have to replace the cow with something,  maybe a polar bear?
 

Yeah this has this new CEO written all over it. Hey we can replace Ben and Jerry's ice cream with super duper cheap ice cream and have the price go up. I can literally hear him saying that. 

Sorry it took so long to respond.  On our cruise, the stateroom attendant was referred to as the Retreat Host, but he was just an excellent stateroom attendant.  There are also Retreat attendants (concierge and others) that are always in the lounge (not sure what they are called these days) on duty (24 hours) in the Retreat, who are there to resolve any issues, if you are in the lounge and need them.  In addition, the Retreat head concierge should have a card in your cabin to call if you need anything.  That person does not fulfil the requests, but makes sure those are taken care of, if they pertain to something besides the cabin itself, which the stateroom attendant takes care of.  Hope that makes sense.  No butler, but excellent service for us.