joberry57

I had planned on doing my first live blog on my first Star Class cruise next September but this cruise fell in my lap at the last minute.  A lot of firsts for me on the trip.  I'm going solo.  Being from Texas I've only gone out of Galveston and New Orleans so I'm flying to Florida. I chose this cruise for 2 reasons, I wanted to do a Quantum class ship and I wanted to go to Aruba and Curacao.
It is my second Royal cruise and I have two more scheduled next year.  First cruise was in the Villa suite on the Liberty and the next 2 are Star class on the Harmony and Allure.  I expected to be in an interior but I was assigned a balcony room.  I am on lucky deck 13 on a Halloween cruise.  It was too much to ask for room 666 but I did get 676, so close.
My first Royal cruise was a minor disaster.  Everything that went wrong had nothing to do with Royal except for one thing.  The food was not very good. So needless to say I bought the UDP for this trip.  I'm not a heavy enough drinker so I can't justify the drink package.  I have a feeling Playmakers will be my second home as it looks like a great place to relax and has a pretty good food menu, I'm a huge fan of Impossible burger so I was excited to see that on the menu  I was disappointed to not see a Broadway play on the ship.  I would have even gone to see Cats but hopefully the other entertainment makes up for it.
Coco Cay is perplexing to me for this trip. On my trip next year I plan on getting a floating cabana for our group but I know that isn't an option.  One thing to know about me is a have a small disability that affects my walking a little bit but makes me tire out very quickly and if I overexert I am pretty much useless the next day.  My first thought was I would just tour the island try out a little bit of everything except for the water park since I can't really do anything there.  However the more I think about it the more I think maybe a day pass at the beach club would be more relaxing.  Gonna have to make a decision soon.
The other two ports don't seem to have any excursion I like so I will probably find something to do on my own.  Need to start researching that.
I'm hoping to update this blog regularly on the trip.  I'm not good about taking pictures but I am going to try and do that on this trip.  Any advice for me will be appreciated and I will answer any questions.
Thanks for reading.
John

I had planned on doing my first live blog on my first Star Class cruise next September but this cruise fell in my lap at the last minute.  A lot of firsts for me on the trip.  I'm going solo.  Being from Texas I've only gone out of Galveston and New Orleans so I'm flying to Florida. I chose this cruise for 2 reasons, I wanted to do a Quantum class ship and I wanted to go to Aruba and Curacao.
It is my second Royal cruise and I have two more scheduled next year.  First cruise was in the Villa suite on the Liberty and the next 2 are Star class on the Harmony and Allure.  I expected to be in an interior but I was assigned a balcony room.  I am on lucky deck 13 on a Halloween cruise.  It was too much to ask for room 666 but I did get 676, so close.
My first Royal cruise was a minor disaster.  Everything that went wrong had nothing to do with Royal except for one thing.  The food was not very good. So needless to say I bought the UDP for this trip.  I'm not a heavy enough drinker so I can't justify the drink package.  I have a feeling Playmakers will be my second home as it looks like a great place to relax and has a pretty good food menu, I'm a huge fan of Impossible burger so I was excited to see that on the menu  I was disappointed to not see a Broadway play on the ship.  I would have even gone to see Cats but hopefully the other entertainment makes up for it.
Coco Cay is perplexing to me for this trip. On my trip next year I plan on getting a floating cabana for our group but I know that isn't an option.  One thing to know about me is a have a small disability that affects my walking a little bit but makes me tire out very quickly and if I overexert I am pretty much useless the next day.  My first thought was I would just tour the island try out a little bit of everything except for the water park since I can't really do anything there.  However the more I think about it the more I think maybe a day pass at the beach club would be more relaxing.  Gonna have to make a decision soon.
The other two ports don't seem to have any excursion I like so I will probably find something to do on my own.  Need to start researching that.
I'm hoping to update this blog regularly on the trip.  I'm not good about taking pictures but I am going to try and do that on this trip.  Any advice for me will be appreciated and I will answer any questions.
Thanks for reading.
John

I had planned on doing my first live blog on my first Star Class cruise next September but this cruise fell in my lap at the last minute.  A lot of firsts for me on the trip.  I'm going solo.  Being from Texas I've only gone out of Galveston and New Orleans so I'm flying to Florida. I chose this cruise for 2 reasons, I wanted to do a Quantum class ship and I wanted to go to Aruba and Curacao.
It is my second Royal cruise and I have two more scheduled next year.  First cruise was in the Villa suite on the Liberty and the next 2 are Star class on the Harmony and Allure.  I expected to be in an interior but I was assigned a balcony room.  I am on lucky deck 13 on a Halloween cruise.  It was too much to ask for room 666 but I did get 676, so close.
My first Royal cruise was a minor disaster.  Everything that went wrong had nothing to do with Royal except for one thing.  The food was not very good. So needless to say I bought the UDP for this trip.  I'm not a heavy enough drinker so I can't justify the drink package.  I have a feeling Playmakers will be my second home as it looks like a great place to relax and has a pretty good food menu, I'm a huge fan of Impossible burger so I was excited to see that on the menu  I was disappointed to not see a Broadway play on the ship.  I would have even gone to see Cats but hopefully the other entertainment makes up for it.
Coco Cay is perplexing to me for this trip. On my trip next year I plan on getting a floating cabana for our group but I know that isn't an option.  One thing to know about me is a have a small disability that affects my walking a little bit but makes me tire out very quickly and if I overexert I am pretty much useless the next day.  My first thought was I would just tour the island try out a little bit of everything except for the water park since I can't really do anything there.  However the more I think about it the more I think maybe a day pass at the beach club would be more relaxing.  Gonna have to make a decision soon.
The other two ports don't seem to have any excursion I like so I will probably find something to do on my own.  Need to start researching that.
I'm hoping to update this blog regularly on the trip.  I'm not good about taking pictures but I am going to try and do that on this trip.  Any advice for me will be appreciated and I will answer any questions.
Thanks for reading.
John

I had planned on doing my first live blog on my first Star Class cruise next September but this cruise fell in my lap at the last minute.  A lot of firsts for me on the trip.  I'm going solo.  Being from Texas I've only gone out of Galveston and New Orleans so I'm flying to Florida. I chose this cruise for 2 reasons, I wanted to do a Quantum class ship and I wanted to go to Aruba and Curacao.
It is my second Royal cruise and I have two more scheduled next year.  First cruise was in the Villa suite on the Liberty and the next 2 are Star class on the Harmony and Allure.  I expected to be in an interior but I was assigned a balcony room.  I am on lucky deck 13 on a Halloween cruise.  It was too much to ask for room 666 but I did get 676, so close.
My first Royal cruise was a minor disaster.  Everything that went wrong had nothing to do with Royal except for one thing.  The food was not very good. So needless to say I bought the UDP for this trip.  I'm not a heavy enough drinker so I can't justify the drink package.  I have a feeling Playmakers will be my second home as it looks like a great place to relax and has a pretty good food menu, I'm a huge fan of Impossible burger so I was excited to see that on the menu  I was disappointed to not see a Broadway play on the ship.  I would have even gone to see Cats but hopefully the other entertainment makes up for it.
Coco Cay is perplexing to me for this trip. On my trip next year I plan on getting a floating cabana for our group but I know that isn't an option.  One thing to know about me is a have a small disability that affects my walking a little bit but makes me tire out very quickly and if I overexert I am pretty much useless the next day.  My first thought was I would just tour the island try out a little bit of everything except for the water park since I can't really do anything there.  However the more I think about it the more I think maybe a day pass at the beach club would be more relaxing.  Gonna have to make a decision soon.
The other two ports don't seem to have any excursion I like so I will probably find something to do on my own.  Need to start researching that.
I'm hoping to update this blog regularly on the trip.  I'm not good about taking pictures but I am going to try and do that on this trip.  Any advice for me will be appreciated and I will answer any questions.
Thanks for reading.
John

I am a glutton for punishment.  I didn't enjoy Cats when I saw it at the theater but I still went to see the movie.  Granted the movie was free but I still felt ripped off.  I would still probably go see it on the Oasis.  I don't know what is wrong with me.

I am a glutton for punishment.  I didn't enjoy Cats when I saw it at the theater but I still went to see the movie.  Granted the movie was free but I still felt ripped off.  I would still probably go see it on the Oasis.  I don't know what is wrong with me.

I am a glutton for punishment.  I didn't enjoy Cats when I saw it at the theater but I still went to see the movie.  Granted the movie was free but I still felt ripped off.  I would still probably go see it on the Oasis.  I don't know what is wrong with me.

We are treating our daughter and son-in-law on our first Star Class next year.  I like it because while the ladies are in the spa the gentleman will be at the craps table.
Still 15 months away but I'm already planning everything. Driving my wife crazy.  Which is weird because she normally does the planning but I do it for our vacations.

We are treating our daughter and son-in-law on our first Star Class next year.  I like it because while the ladies are in the spa the gentleman will be at the craps table.
Still 15 months away but I'm already planning everything. Driving my wife crazy.  Which is weird because she normally does the planning but I do it for our vacations.

We are treating our daughter and son-in-law on our first Star Class next year.  I like it because while the ladies are in the spa the gentleman will be at the craps table.
Still 15 months away but I'm already planning everything. Driving my wife crazy.  Which is weird because she normally does the planning but I do it for our vacations.

I didn't enjoy most of the MDR on my first Royal cruise but the lobster and prime rib were fabulous. Really looking forward to lobster night on my next cruise. Will definitely get multiple tails. 

I have been primarily a Carnival cruiser with 1 Royal cruise.  My next 2 booked are Royal though I may sneak a Carnival in there somewhere. 
As several people have said it is very subjective. But I think my experiences on my last 2 family cruises is a perfect example. 
We did a family cruise on Carnival with my son-in-laws family and had an amazing time.  My wife and I both agreed it was a great vacation.  We then did a friends cruise on Royal and it was a horrible vacation.  But when I went back and wrote reviews for the trips I realized that on the Carnival cruise pretty much everything that was great was the family and shore excursions and the cruise itself kinda sucked.  On the Royal cruise while the vacation was bad because of circumstances that had nothing to do with Royal, the cruise part itself beat Carnival on everything but the food.  Which is why when I booked my next trip it was a Royal cruise.
The point I'm making is there are so many variables to a vacation that I believe you should try all the lines and don't limit yourself based on what other people say about the lines themselves.
That being said I believe the entertainment on Royal is far superior to Carnival and I believe the included food on Carnival is far superior to Royal.
 
 

I have been primarily a Carnival cruiser with 1 Royal cruise.  My next 2 booked are Royal though I may sneak a Carnival in there somewhere. 
As several people have said it is very subjective. But I think my experiences on my last 2 family cruises is a perfect example. 
We did a family cruise on Carnival with my son-in-laws family and had an amazing time.  My wife and I both agreed it was a great vacation.  We then did a friends cruise on Royal and it was a horrible vacation.  But when I went back and wrote reviews for the trips I realized that on the Carnival cruise pretty much everything that was great was the family and shore excursions and the cruise itself kinda sucked.  On the Royal cruise while the vacation was bad because of circumstances that had nothing to do with Royal, the cruise part itself beat Carnival on everything but the food.  Which is why when I booked my next trip it was a Royal cruise.
The point I'm making is there are so many variables to a vacation that I believe you should try all the lines and don't limit yourself based on what other people say about the lines themselves.
That being said I believe the entertainment on Royal is far superior to Carnival and I believe the included food on Carnival is far superior to Royal.
 
 

Not really relevant to the thread but a bit of trivia.  Right before he became an original member of the Broadway cast of Hamilton, Anthony Ramos performed on the Liberty of the Seas in Saturday Night Fever.

Not really relevant to the thread but a bit of trivia.  Right before he became an original member of the Broadway cast of Hamilton, Anthony Ramos performed on the Liberty of the Seas in Saturday Night Fever.

Not really relevant to the thread but a bit of trivia.  Right before he became an original member of the Broadway cast of Hamilton, Anthony Ramos performed on the Liberty of the Seas in Saturday Night Fever.

I love musicals and am a season ticket holder here in Dallas but you couldn't pay me to sit thru Cats.  It is not enough to make me not book Oasis but it did make a difference when I decided on the Harmony for my first post covid cruise.