GaryAA

South Beach cabanas are secluded & quiet.

I would take the late flight the day before. We had an early nonstop flight to Orlando once and the airport had a fog delay. The pilot mentioned diverting to Tampa if the fog didn’t lift in time. Luckily that flight worked out but was stressful. So weather delays aren’t just in the snow belt. Now we always arrive 2 days before the cruise and enjoy a mini vacation at the port city.

Thanks for the reply and info. I emailed Buddy Dive and they just said as of February 2022 they no longer have a contract with Royal Caribbean but they still offer diving services.

We stay in Junior Suites most of the time and do so just for the extra room moving about the cabin. We also like the larger bathroom too. Using the Suite line for embarkation is nice too. Now that we have stayed in a Grand Suite on the Symphony, that will be our new normal until we try an owners suite

Not sure who RCCL normally uses, but Divi Flamingo is still operating and they are within walking distance of the cruise pier.

While canceled excursions do not surprise me, I’m surprised RCCL canceled this excursion 11 months out. If it was a tour operator issue, I would think RCCL could sort that out within 11 months. As some of you know, Bonaire is a popular scuba diving destination.

FYI, the Odyssey has a 6-day sailing out of Ft Lauderdale on February 6th. I would keep that in mind as a backup. We go down to Key West after our Symphony cruise. If the Symphony cancels, we will spend an additional week in the keys.

We are on this cruise too. We were on the Symphony December 4th with no problems. We’ve applied our FCC’s to this cruise for a suite again so it would be a hassle to cancel at this point. Our agent had a hard time getting the credits applied for the Feb 5th cruise, don’t want a re-do of that.

Keep checking the checkin times, they opened up earlier slots close to our sailing date. I moved a 12:30 time to 11:30.

That is correct. On our Symphony cruise last month, we were told an hour before or after your checkin time. We showed up at 10:30 for our scheduled 11:30 time and were on the ship by 11:00.

I’m on the February 5th Symphony cruise also. They are still booking excursions in Labadee, not that it means anything.

A few weeks ago, I gave our attendant significantly more than $20 to prime the pump. I ended up on the sofabed on the other side of the divider wall in our GS cabin due to a snoring wife. Our attendant gave me a couple comforters to use as a mattress pad on the hard sofabed. He bent over backwards the entire week providing ice, pool towels, and timing the cleaning perfectly. CruisingOz……..take note on the comforters on the sofabed, you might end up there!

On the Symphony 12/4/21, we couldn’t book the entertainment until we boarded. We went up to the suite lounge on deck 17 and our concierge took care of the reservations. We were able to book the Coastal Kitchen prior to the cruise. Oz, are you still on the February 5th cruise on the Symphony? We will be on that cruise in a GS.

I was on the Symphony last week and the concierge contacted me on the Monday before the cruise.

We usually do junior suites on the Harmony or Symphony. This was our first sailing in a Grand Suite. We enjoyed the extra space, especially when my wife started snoring. Our room steward gave me a couple of duvets to soften up the couch bed, worked out well a few nights. We ate in the Coastal Kitchen every night which worked out well because I try to eat plant based and the waiter communicated things well to the CK chef. The chef even came out to the table a few times to see if things were alright. We tried to Royal Up to a GS on the Ovation last August but were unsuccessful so we have just converted most of our future cruises in a GS.

I was on the December 4th sailing also. Ate in the Coastal Kitchen all week. Enjoyed eating great food in a quiet environment. Other than the technical issues with “Flight”, the cruise and weather were great.

Just saw Mario today on the Symphony.

I’m currently on the Symphony for the December 4th sailing. According to the cruise director, we are around 3800 passengers and expects the December 18th sailing to be around 5,000.

Harmony has a vintage (1950’s) Jaguar

I was on the Ovation in August and the Symphony next Saturday. While I prefer the newer ships, the Explorer is a classic. I did the ABC islands in February 2020 on the Explorer before the shut down and have her booked for December 2022. I don’t think the planned amplification took place but rather a limited refurbishment.

I was on the Ovation last August and called guest services the first day and was able to get a case of Evian liter sized bottles. They were not shown online before sailing, just the canned water

I originally had the earliest checkin time 1:00 on Symphony December 4th. A few days ago, earlier checkin times opened up and I was able to get 11:30. See if you are able to modify the time.

I will be on the Symphony December 4th, the same night as the Big Ten championship game. I’m hoping OSU will be there! It will also be aired on Fox

I just got mine today, they expired 9/21/2021 (December 21, 2021 with extension). I was hoping to get a later expiration date.

I’ve used Sunshine limos before. We usually ask for the Escalade but rode by limo once. They met us in baggage claim holding a sign.