LifesEz

@Ky Leigh & @iluvwineandtravel

we are currently in 12646 GS, unless we Royal Up. See you onboard.

@SpeedNoodles   
Good to be on here and get some of your always excellent insights. Thanks.

3 hours ago, dswallow said:

 I just wanted to give you some general price history on those sailings... maybe it'll make you feel less upset over it if this shows you got a decent price overall anyway. Of course, it could show you booked at a peak price.

How can we get this data or can we?

16 hours ago, AlohaLivin said:

I have had so many answers to this question that I’m not sure what the truth is – what about those of us who have booked ahead quite a distance and then become diamond (and Diamond plus) Will Royal add that discount or are we just SOL?

Being as we knew we would become Diamond during our B4B (Aug~Sept, 2021), on our first cruise we went to 'Next Cruise' and booked a 'Balcony' for Explorer, October 2022. Two weeks later we went back and changed it to an Allure 'Central Park Balcony' November 2022.

After 3 week of cruises, we were Diamond. We returned to 'Next Cruise' to get it repriced. Because it was not yet in the system, we did not get our Diamond Discount. But they gave us options. They told us how to call from the ship phone to do it, wait till we got home to call and do it, or to come back in a few days and see if the system had caught up to our Diamond level.

We waited till the late afternoon of the busy last day of the cruise to return to 'Next Cruise.' Our Diamond Status was in the system. Fortunately, the price had changed in our favor with the $450 off/60% second discount.

They repriced the cruise, we kept our onboard credit, and received the higher 'Diamond Balcony Discount' right there on the cruise.

That is not an opined answer. That is an actual recent experience.

17 hours ago, HeWhoWaits said:

One thing to check - when we crossed over to Diamond between two cruises, a sticker was affixed to our second SeaPass indicating we were Diamond but the SeaPass was not activated to allow 24 hour access to the Diamond Lounge.

Definitely check it. Ask. Since it is a gift earned by Royal's Loyalty program, be polite, understanding, with just a touch of persistence.

August 29th, 2021, the Loyalty Ambassador put a silver 'Platinum Sticker' on our seapass card over the word 'Gold,' because that was all she had available.
A few days later, when we were used to having the card to verify discounts, we went to Guest Services, and they reprinted a new card for us.

However, when we made Diamond on our mid-September 2021 Symphony B2B, we talked to the Loyalty Ambassador the day before our B2B, reminding her we were changing to Diamond at the end of that cruise and would be Diamond for the next cruise on our B2B.

Knowing the change to Diamond in advance, she was prepared. The Loyalty Ambassador told us to come back to her desk next to the Schooner Bar on the B2B between noon and 4. Being prepared, she printed us a new seapass card at her desk showing our correct level as Diamond. It felt so great to achieve our goal of Diamond. That seapass card worked at the Diamond Lounge because we went there a couple of times, including to get our airline boarding passes printed the night before our flight.

Now we can hardly wait till we have completed our March 25, Navigator Royal Suite, Mexican Riviera out of the new cruise Port of Los Angeles, and our May 5, Ovation Grand Suite, Alaska out of Vancouver to reach Diamond Plus (You never know in this crazy cruise time, which is why we pushed so hard to make Diamond in August & September).

The recent move in our Royal Stock and Options has been nice as well. With a little more move it will pay for our first cruise as Diamond Plus, Allure Repositioning Fort Lauderdale to Galveston in 2022. A stock and options profit paid cruise with more discounts, drinks, etcetera would be extra exciting!


 

9 minutes ago, Jolly Ogre said:

What happens if you skip a tier altogether? We will go from Platinum to Diamond. What happens to the Emerald benefits? Will they just catch up on the next cruise when we are Diamond?

Just Skip, not a problem. I just got off a B4B on Symphony a few weeks back. I changed between several cruises.
After we were allowed back on, I went to the Loyalty Ambassador, Mary, at the beginning of the next cruise around noon,
handed her our seapass cards, and
she either put a little sticker on it saying our correct level, or when she had blank cards, reprint new cards the card with the correct level.

Additionally, she handed us all our pins for our new levels. 

It generally took about 7 days for the system to catch up with us, and being in suites, by that time, we were changing again.

However, the system may not be ready to give you 'Next Cruise' correct level discounts, unless you are longer than 6 days.
That was the only place where we had an issue , but it recorded, and we corrected it on the last night of the 7-day cruise.

On 9/22/2021 at 9:25 AM, smokeybandit said:

What is turnover like among the crew?

 

I would guess people are either one contract and done, or have long careers.

Our housekeeper mentioned longer one- 16 months.

@Tiffeven anyone on our Roatan, Sept 4th cruise know who is this girl on the flow rider? I took it Sept 7th.

She was doing so well that while just passing, I stopped and took this picture. I couldn't see it in the sun, but later thought it turned out one of my better shots. I would like to pass it on to them.

30 minutes ago, ChessE4 said:

I agree.  On our next cruise I plan on using my camera phone to document the superior service we receive.

Yes, I often took pictures of them with us, making sure their name tag showed. It helps when the memory fades a few days after the cruise.

Just downloaded my iPhone pictures from my phone. Including Daily Cruise Planners and documents--over 680. Now to search those for the pictures of the crew.

Just a passing thought, if you are like me on pictures and videos. Created a special album and loaded the crew pictures into their own file. It will save a search when the cruise is over.

Please fill out those Post Cruise Surveys with names and what made them special.

Apparently, with the restart, there are a ton of move up opportunities. Every survey is read and scored, giving the crew mentioned a point every time they are given a positive review.
So help out those crew members that made your cruise special.

I carried around an index card and pen, making sure to write down names, department, and action during my 4 weeks. The list is very long, but I will be giving many crew members 4 points, 1 across each survey, with details.

They added to making our cruise so special, the least I can do is repay them by taking a few minutes to help them.

12 hours ago, Chadster said:

Thank you so much for your review; I'm not going to be on Symphony, but I'm considering 28 days aboard Anthem, and it's good to get a peek at what things are like over that time! Getting to know the crew sounds wonderful, too. 

Getting to know the crew is fascinating. If the 28-days on Anthem includes B2Bs, be sure to mention to the crew the first week you will be on for 4 weeks. That makes you stand out a little extra to them, and they remember to welcome you back each time. It seemed to speed up the process.

19 hours ago, Tiffeven said:

Oh yes!  I totally forgot to say hi.  We were on deck 9, and @Travelergot Royaled Up to the deck 8 below us.  I guess we had the whole side.  I wish I would have thought about that while we were onboard.  This cruise just felt so busy that I feel like I hardly had time to stop and think.  I think it is because we were trying to make up for all the missed cruises.  When we go on our Oasis B2B in November, we plan on being a lot lazier.  I love the matching outfits.  I'm pretty certain we saw you onboard in passing several times.  I just didn't know who it was at the time.  I hope you enjoyed your B4B.  That sounds so incredible.  On debarkation day, it always feels like we didn't have enough time to do half the stuff we wanted.  I'm just thankful we have another cruise to look forward to.  In fact, it was perfect.  The day we got home from this cruise, we got the Star Class questionnaire for the next.  Also, you did not disturb us at all.  Sorry, if our circus disturbed you at any point haha.

Wow, yes we could have had a great time. Robert Roth from our FB Group was on Deck 8 Port Side Aqua A1 the week before and did the B2B, so we could have really loaded up just with us Star Class.

Well, next time I will keep a better eye on whose on and in the RB, FB, and Cruise Critic boards with us. Though after 4 weeks, we were never without friends because the so many of the staff were first name basis friends.

Like the time I was waiting for the wife, sitting next to the Voom Station, and saw someone who looked familiar at a distance. It was when you know them, but they are not at their station, and you can't place the face to a location. So I just smiled and looked away. But Priya of Guest Services passed on her way back to her station and said, "Hello, Mr. Powers." They had the advantage. Where ever I was on the ship, I was in the place they expected to see me.

Your family did not bother us. But that corner was great. We were sitting in the Solarium Hot Tub on the rain day and the other 2 couples happen to be neighbors just above us and a room forward, 11 730 & 11 732, with us 10 734. None of us knew the other couple or their room, so it became a very small world.

The 11 732 passengers said they were dancing all night to the songs from Jeff Tracta and hoped they didn't keep us awake. They didn't, and the head of our bed was the adjoining wall, a deck below. It seemed to be extra quiet in those Star Class, even with HIRO. We would hear the show in our room, but not to the level of disturbing.

3 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

Curious, what ointment was it?

They didn't say, they just laughed when I told them what I was experiencing and said that was why they brought whatever it was to rub on it. It seemed personal in nature, so i didn't pursue it. I just used the term ointment.

On 9/17/2021 at 3:27 PM, Chadster said:

So, I was idly sitting here on this Friday afternoon after finishing my work, and as is often the case, I started poking around Royal Caribbean's website, just to look at prices and ponder. I saw that the same cabin that I have for a B2B later this year is available on the cruise before the first leg. If I were to book it, I'd be aboard the same RCCL cruise ship and in the same cabin for a total of 28 days.

No, I haven't YOLO booked it...as of when I type this, anyway. 

It got me thinking, though. For you -- especially those of you who have cruised a lot -- how long would be too long aboard a ship before you needed to take a break? Yes, I know, responsibilities throw a curveball in that decision, but just from a standpoint of having the time and being able to do it...what would be the limit before you decided it was enough for a while? 

28 days is not long enough. I got on Symphony Aug 21st (Cruise week 2 of the restart) and got off Sept 18th (End of week 5), a total of 28 days.
Prior to that cruise, I had never cruised for longer than 7-days in a row.
If not for my Mother-in-Law's 90th Birthday party this week, I would have at minimum booked a 5th week interior.

Sometime in week 3 (Sept 4th cruise) I discovered what they mean by "Sea Legs." You start to ache in places you didn't know you had muscles.
The crew I asked laughed at me. Apparently, they knew about that and many brought their own ointments, we recalled.

To the question is 28-Days too long? 

No- Book It!

@Tiffeven, Dang it! I forgot to get together with you two on the Sept 11th cruise. It was my B4B week 4, 2nd in Star Class, also with Sunil. You were in our FB group as well, right?

From your balcony picture, you were on Deck 8. I know, because I had the same Starboard wake view from Deck 10. I mentioned on FB about climbing down the rock wall, or lower a bedsheet to visit (pic below). It was the same Star Class stateroom we had with Sunil for Aug 29th. Thank you, @WAAAYTOOO for educating me on how valuable Star Class benefits. I had a winning Royal Up bid from Grand Suite for Sept 11th.

I held a balcony watch party of HIRO the night it was moved back because of the weather. I hope we didn't bother you.

Your cute kids, I remember seeing them onboard. Adults all blended together, but so few kids stood out. I even remember seeing them on Boardwalk. If I had been watching on this blog spot, I would have recognized you and Steve, then said hello. In fact, your musical stair picture looks so much like the kids I saw on one occasion making the notes ring. And maybe we were in the elevator a couple of times.

You likely saw my wife and I several times on the days we wore our matching shirts.

And tell Steve I know what he meant about the restroom murals. I laughed every time. In fact, a few times I dropped inunoccupied just to take pictures of the wall murals. Below is another.

@AHollyS if Labadee is open by then. We had 2 itinerary to Labadee cancel that port and changed the itinerary in August and September.
Hopefully, things straighten out by your cruise.

As to Black Friday/Cyber Monday, they are often great sales. I buy now and then if the prices drop, make the changes.
Right now, my Alaska, May 2022 does not have my Grand Suite available, and when there was one when onboard, my price was better months ago when I purchased.

So to guard your best price, if you really want it, buy it now and keep an eye out for price drops. Some TA help you do that.

1 hour ago, Matt said:

4 cruises in a row? I'm impressed.

@Matt, thank you.

Because we were in a row on the restart cruises weeks 2, 3, 4, & 5 our ability to get to know the crew was awesome.
Our Genie said more than 80% of the crew recognized us and most of the rest knew about us.

We would be walking places and hear a new voice call out, "Mr Jack, Mrs Sue," or "Austin Powers" or "Jack and Rose."
They knew my wife's name is Sue, but they fondly called her Rose.
When we heard our names and turn around, there was always a new face smiling, and/or waving, dancing, or a combination.

By the middle of week 3 I understood the term "Sea Legs."
The crew laughed when I asked them if it was normal to discover you had muscles in new places, and they ache.
Several told me they brought their ointments and such when they were called back.

However, your ship, after ship, after ship with reviews, blog reports, and videos in a short time after the restart is more impressive.
I was watching and reading them, and waiting for new ones multiple times a day before the cruise.
A couple of times during the cruise I dropped in on for a short watch of your live reports while you were cruising.
First thing I did when I got home was to go over your reviews.

Thank you so much for this site, your work, and 'Everyone' on this Blog that helped me be well-prepared for the B4B cruise.
Yes, @WAAAYTOOO, @twangster, @AshleyDillo, @cruisellama, @LovetoCruise87, and so many others it would make this a long post.
All of you prepared the wife and I very well for the B4B.

16 hours ago, Jill said:

Awesome review! I board her in 34 days! 

@Jill You are going to love it. The crew is so excited to be back serving on the biggest, and they feel best of the line.
Everything is running smooth right now.

35 minutes ago, GatorCruiser said:

is this the mad hatter you are referring to that retired ? He was great if so 

Inshan Mohammed, absolutely. The mannerisms, the conversation, he was a fantastic as the Mad Hatter.
I even tried pouting on the steps of Wonderland in an attempt to get him to stay.

On 8/18/2021 at 6:50 PM, twangster said:

There is a way to know. 

The old cruise planner had gratuity included. 

Regardless how you booked it you know the final price you paid.  

If your cruise now uses the new "My Royal Cruises" interface gratuity is not included.  Add 18% to the price you see.  Is that cheaper than what you paid?  

Noted that it may have been in the old planner. Fair observation.
My cost increased only costed less than $2 more.
But the warning here was Royal changed the system seamlessly.
The statement in the cruise planner didn't say whether or not gratuity was included.
The topic of gratuity was omitted.  

I guess you could say, Buyer Beware.
Only after you cancelled, and paid for the new price, did it show up as not included.

We just got off 4 weeks on Symphony, weeks 2~5 of Symphony's restart (More on that later).

First, I wanted to talk about passenger count and the odds of a Royal Up bid.

Our cruise passenger count would drop daily as better counts were out.

Aug 21st the first count was around 1,500 and eventually whittled down to 1,127. Rumor was 125 were turned away for insufficient or improper documentation as adjustments were made.

Aug 29th we heard about 1,700 and eventually Coco Cay was told to prepare for only 1,414.

Sept 4th, the holiday week, they still had 2,100 reservations on the books. Ended up with a number around 1,725 +/-50

Sept 11th we had the largest number of B2B at 93. It was moved from Boleros to the Schooner Bar. Last number I heard, but seemed high compared to Sept 4th, was 1,750 +/- 100.

Things are very fluid right now. It is hard to plan for an exact number, as some people are waiting till the last minute to cancel, likely in hopes of better protocols. 
But to cruise with those numbers is perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Royal Up was crazy. People would Royal Up from Interior to Balcony, Balcony to Grand Suite, Grand Suite to Royal Loft (Aug 29th).
People we interacted with won Royal Up to the Ultimate Family Suite (About 8 passengers with only paying the Bid for the first 2 passengers), Deck 8 Aqua 2-Bd with the largest balcony (1 occupant), Crown Lofts were going like penny candy in a candy store, Owner's Suite were available, and naturally those Royal Ups created a backfill for Grand Suite, Junior Suite, Balcony and Ocean View. Right now, if you are cruising on the Symphony, have an interior stateroom, and give a reasonable Royal Up bid there is a lot of backfill above you sitting empty.
We received Royal Up all 3 weeks we bid up from Grand Suite (Aug 29th we did not bid, rather stayed with Star Class Aqua 2-Bd).

Below is meant as nothing more than reading the past x numbers on the roulette wheel sign to increase your odds of winning.

Therefore, I am not giving the exact $$ number, which likely would not work right now anyway, but my Aug 21st and Sept 4th bids were notably less than $500. (Remember, the bid $$ is per person for up to the first 2 passengers).

Aug 21 Grand Suite to Crown Loft.

Aug 29th - We did not bid up from Star Class Aqua 2-Bd, but I know the winning Grand Suite to Royal Loft Royal Up bid was notably less than $3,000 per/person.

Sep 4th Grand Suite to Owner's Suite Deck 12 240 (Which has a mildly annoying post in the several yards into the middle of the entrance to the room).

Sep 11th Grand Suite to Star Class Aqua 2-Bd Deck 10 734 for notably less than $1,700 per/person.

Again, the passenger counts were very low, and those numbers may not be more than a guideline right now, especially since they are now more public.
You may get it for a lesser bid, or you may bid a little more and still not get it.

The objective is to encourage you to sign up for Royal Up if you have not done so, and to BID FOLKS!

Closing thoughts:

Professional Photographer, Ajuraj (pronounced Achoo, like a sneeze is acceptable) and Aakash are fantastic! Though his studio shots are excellent, Ajuraj is willing to break away from the normal studio style photos. I saw him shoot one couple at CBC getting low for a continuation of the pool into the ocean at the infinity pool. It is worth a sitting. Some examples below.

Sunil is a great Royal Genie. At various times we had interaction with the entire Royal Genie staff. Even the newest Genie was great and willing to serve from my interaction with him and one passenger where that is who was his Royal Genie.

Hairspray, Mark Preston, and Jeff Tracta were great entertainment. When comedian Landry said he would bring on the headliner for the Family Comedy Show, the lady behind us appropriately said, "Headliner, I thought he was the headliner," because he was that good.

The entire staff is so eager to serve. We made many friends over 4 weeks. Priya in Guest Services, Flavia in Next Cruise, if we could have packed waitress May at Hooked Restaurant in our luggage we would have, Victor, Praveen and many of the photo staff for special night and port pictures produced great shots in our photo package, Made and Alina on the Rising Tide Bar, Sachin and Mark in Chops, Radu and Boodhoo in Jamie's, Justin and Decan have the Coastal Kitchen and seating running like a well oiled machine, same with the Johnny Rockets crew who occasionally come out and put on a performance on Boardwalk, Rebeka at Sugar Beach is sweeter than the sugar behind the door, even Maria in housekeeping whose task was to keep the fwd Promenade stairs by the big lollipop cleaned down to the entertainment on Deck 4 was super friendly and excited to see passengers she recognized.

If possible, I would list so many great crew members, but let me list those who were not great--ready--NOBODY!

On a sad note, the Mad Hatter of so many years retired (24 years) at the end of the Aug 21st cruise. There is a replacement, but it will take some time to get the character down, according to those that went starting Aug 29th.

Safety precautions were great. In San Juan, Channel 13 interviewed myself and several passengers about safety concerns.
Safety Concerns? I told them I was more concerned during my air transportation than on the ship, and my daughter is a flight attendant.

Here are some examples:
The day before the cruise, even though I answered several emails, I received a call from Royal to verify I was vax'ed and would be providing proof.
Don't have the negative test paperwork, you don't get on. Ever see that at a hotel? At the airport?
Vax'ed have a colored wristband, Unvax'ed do not, so anyone can instantly tell if the person next to you has been vax'ed or not. Ever see that at the grocery store? Shopping Mall? (Let's hope that never comes to land. No Scarlet Letters or wristbands, but because of the media, I can understand it on the ship).
Even though Vax'ed and UnVax'ed are separated by Decks in the MDR, there is still table spacing distancing. Maybe some land restaurants have that, but do they include the proper docs to verify?
At the Casino, when anyone gets up, they wipe the area down fast.
The crew is tested once or twice a week, perhaps depending on the amount of interaction with passengers. We had Zero Positives during our cruises.
6 or your group in an elevator.
Okay, a comment here about elevator limits, folks. Use common sense. If 6 unvax'ed strangers can get in the larger capacity elevators, is it really unsafe if a group of 6 and 2 vax'ed get in the elevator? Many times, as long as no one objected, 6 or more of us invited vax'ed (we would see their wristbands) in the elevator if they wished.
In 4 weeks, I only had one group of six friends, panicky adamant about the sign saying only 6. I mean over the top panicky. If a 7th got on, especially not one of their 6 group, they would all surely die before the end of the cruise. That was okay. I understand how the media has overplayed the safety concerns aboard ships. In that scenario I wasn't concerned about CoVid-19 variants. I was concerned about forgetting all my years successfully writing procedures and protocols to meet general Federal Aviation Build Guidelines.

Anyway, on and on the precautions are in play.

In 4 weeks B2B you see so much that many shorter time passenger miss. In this case, I was impressed.

Be careful about cheaper prices. Everything is not always as it appears.

I had UDP on Navigator in March 2022 for $182 per/person.
I saw the current sale of $154.99.

Hey, cancel the $182, buy the $154.99 and save, right?

Wrong!

After I cancelled and tried to get the $154.99, it now adds 'Gratuities of $55+.'
Gratuities for the $182 were included.

No mention of that in the deal. No way to know until after canceling and trying to reorder.
Only a net $1.76 lesson, but a lesson I learned nonetheless.

Next time I will call Royal or my TA to verify before canceling.

I am wondering if the husband, in the case mentioned in the first post, may have lost his first shot card, and got the second done, but they didn't fill in all the data for the first shot?

After reading this, I looked at my card. It had the batch number for the second shot.

However, I could not find my first dose card when I returned for the second dose.

Instead of waiting, the person just filled out the date on the card and stamped. No Batch Number of the first dose.

Fortunately, my thanks for posting this, I caught that and found my original first card that recorded the batch number.

So will be taking both cards. Then both batch number will be available.

Whew, I may have dodged a VAX bullet on that one.

Oh, and do not laminate. They may do booster shots. The plastic pockets work best.

A little overly picky.

On 7/15/2021 at 12:42 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

Very interesting coincidence.  A little while ago, I received an email from Nataliya Bugaevskaya who presumably is with Royal's Private Journey Team.  This is for our 9 Jan 2022 Oasis sailing...the first of 3 SC cruises booked for early Jan 2022.

I have never gotten anything like this before.  I am always a bit leery of unsolicited emails of this type, but it seems as if she is legit.  I don't think there is any price difference between these prices and the price on the Cruise Planner (my CP has been unavailable since early this morning....not sure what's going on there....) so not sure why I would do this, but I did find it interesting that I was contacted in this way.  What is REALLY perplexing is I have 3 SC cruises coming up BEFORE this one.  Why this one ?  ...and what would Private Journeys have to do with cabana rentals ?

Anyway, I thought it was interesting since we had just been discussing this.  From the email it seems like she is available to help with any Royal excursions...so go figure...

@WAAAYTOOO, I received one as well from a Zsofia with an @RCCL address. I wrote with questions and received some answers.
 

Dear Guest,
I hope my e-mail finds you well!

My name is Zsofia and I am a Destination Insider, part of the Private Journeys team at Royal Caribbean International. 

Since you are one of our Star Suite Guests, we’d like to take this opportunity to advise you that the availability of the various types of cabanas at Perfect Day CocoCay is limited on your particular sailing. Since the demand is really high and there are only a few cabanas available, I would like to assist you booking one as soon as possible. There are various types of cabanas and should you be interested to reserve one, I will gladly share pricing, availability and further details with you. Please find attached a map of CocoCay for your reference.  

Please note that at this moment I do not hold any reservation for you. Cabanas are sold on a first come first serve basis. 

Should you not be interested in a cabana, but wish to reserve a shore excursion or private tour for any of your cruise ports, please feel free to reach out to me directly on this email address: 

In your reply, please kindly include your cruise booking ID. 

I am looking forward to hearing from you. 

Kind regards,

Zsofia Sarkadi

Destination Insider & Private Journey Specialist | Global Tour Operations

18 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

...and I think this is only going to get worse.

And the rules crazier, making less logic, and being more conflicting.
You would think Royal would take a breath and consider the down line results of a decision before announcing a knee-jerk reaction.
Instead, if the above is correct, Nassau then St Maarten on the same cruise when St Maarten will not allow any visitors from the Bahamas within a 14-day window,
Emailing people their B2B is cancelled, having them make adjustments, then realizing such a conflicting determination is impossible via the cruise itself?

Slow down. Take a breath. Count to 10. Now reread the email. Make sure there are no downline conflicts. Email or adjust.

@Tiffevenwe will be on the Sept 11th cruise with you. The last of a B4B.
Our Symphony A2 Aqua Theater Cabin is the Aug 29th cruise. The other 3 are currently Grand Suites.

Tiffeven & @Jkaczano. If I cruised back then, a cruise trip would have been on the list. But raising 9 made such luxuries a little out of my league at that time.

However, the wife and I booked the Royal Suite on Navigator, March 25, 2022. Then, convinced my daughter and 3 grandchildren that live with us to take time off school and come on the cruise with us. They reserved the Ultra Spacious Ocean view, since there will be 5 in the cabin. But they will spend a lot of time in the Royal Suite with us.
I view it as a life-skills learning experience for the grandkids. Plus, the Royal Suite as a reward later in life from efforts obtaining a good education earlier in life.

I Home School my 9 natural children in the late 1980s, until my divorce. The transition back to public schools was easy.
Most were way ahead of their High School classes.

I started my oldest in college when he was 16. Being a student system analyst and developing a computer system for another college's Voca Dept, I knew how to back-doored the system. 

The college had an ROTC Program which young teens could join at age 16. Once my son had a college Student ID #, the door was wide open.
We just started signing him up for college classes when he was an HS Sophomore. At 16, he could drive himself to college.
He loved college over HS so much, we used the same system for his 1 year younger sister the next year.