GKMCruising

We just got back from Wonder with our 2.5 year old, and they didn't give us any issues with whatever we ordered her off the menu. I can't imagine it'd be any different for 12 year olds.

19) Am I the only one who was a little sad to see the end of staggered release after shows? It made it so much easier to catch an elevator afterwards when we were on Ovation back in September.

Same, crew is almost entirely masked with N95/KN95 masks. I think they were allowing the lifeguards on Wonder to forgo them at least. Seems silly to me, likely a CDC thing rather than a Royal thing if I had to guess.

As everyone else has said, sales vary wildly and aren't always consistent between sailings. For instance, I booked the inaugural on Wonder, as well as a 7-night on Harmony in September, both less than a week apart. The price for the inaugural stayed fairly consistent across sales, while I've had multiple price drops on the Harmony sailing.

Definitely noticed this too. 18) The mini-golf course is awesome, but one of the holes has a habit of stealing balls. I think there's a blockage or a bad connection on one of the big features.

It was brought up at Captain's Corner on Wonder this week. The general answer from the CD was "We know you want it back and we're trying to get it back as soon as possible."

Quick (probably stupid) question - are C&A points earned for MyVegas comp sailings? Trying to plan out our next couple sailings so we can potentially earn our first crystal block on Icon when it debuts late next year.

Did anyone on board (or can someone who is going to be on in the next few weeks) get the names of the vocalists for me? I know one of the vocalists who did the background video and he was hoping to get in touch with the live performers, offer his congrats on a successful open, etc. @twangster @PG Cruiser@Matt - any of y'all, by chance? I know the vocal captain was at the C&A event, if anyone has video from that.

Amen to that. Just like any grand openings, there were bound to be hiccups, but it was super smooth in my opinion.

17) I'm convinced the thermostat in the room did nothing. Was perpetually cold unless we turned the A/C completely OFF.

Someone brought up fuel at the Captain's Corner on Wonder this week. I don't remember exactly what the response was, as the Captain got off on a bit of a tangent, but I do remember him commenting about the fact that obviously RC isn't paying market price for oil and so will be fine at least in the short term.

I haven't been on Harmony (yet, sailing her in September), and it's been several years since I've been on Oasis or Allure, but I feel like the doorway setup leading out to the Boardwalk was different on them.

I didn't pay for VOOM, so I'll post my random observations now. 1) Ditto what everyone else said about the creaky ceilings and the sticky doors. 2) Definitely loved the new closet bars, as previously mentioned as well - not hearing the hangers clacking together all night was a nice change. 3) Be on the lookout for a 7-legged (7-tentacled?) octopus (septapus?) near the golf course. 4) The new elevator screens are great, but sometimes one side freezes, so always double-check to make sure the floor you wanted actually got selected. 5) They really should have went with a different floor / finish for the platform with the giant hat, the number of times we saw staff scrubbing and cleaning scuffs off that floor was insane. 6) I'm sure someone on the next sailing will find at least one or two stowaway ducks with as many people that hid them this week - even as late as 9 or 10 last night we still found one. 7) The smoke smell coming from the casino is terrible, but the Golden Room is completely smoke-free and the perfect place to use up your free $2/$8 credit. One of the doors leading onto the boardwalk has a bit of a lag, so watch out that you don't run into it (or get hit by it). 9) The new glass-sided hot tubs work like magnifying glasses... but we also realized it gives the lifeguards better visibility from the lower pool deck in the event that someone needed assistance. 10) Someone needs to tell people who design the toddler splash pads that most little kids (0-3) *hate* things that dump water on their heads. Great for the older kids playground, not so much for theirs. 11) Shows were fantastic, even if they weren't 100% complete. As Mike the CD told @PG Cruiserduring the entertainment Q&A, supply chain issues are holding up a lot of the props and things, plus rough seas on the TA meant that the aqua cast lost a lot of practice time. 12) Everyone should go check out the country band and bar up at Mason Jar, even if you don't make it up there for a full meal. 14) The showers (in the regular interior cabins at least) vent way better than before, so if you're planning on using the steam from the shower to get wrinkles out of your clothes you're gonna have to figure out a way to rig the shower door open or some way to hang your clothes inside the shower while it's running without getting them wet. 15) The Mario Kart game in Playmakers was randomly on Free Play at one point, along with all the vintage arcade games in there. When we went back later, it had been turned back to paid mode - don't know if the early setting was an accident or something they do randomly throughout the cruise. 16) The wind blockers on the pool deck are great, until you accidentally walk into them because they're so clean. Felt like a bird in a Windex commercial a couple times.

No, didn't make any other bids, just the one. I suppose we'll see! The anticipation is half the fun, heh.

So my bid still shows Pending, sail date is Friday. I tried to modify it to adjust the bid up slightly to give us a better shot, but it keeps saying "Not successful" when I try. Think it's a glitch in the system, or a sign that it's been accepted but just not finalized?

Other option for when I've had slightly wrinkled items - hang them in the bathroom, run the shower as hot as possible, and close the door. Give it about 10/15 minutes and the steam will release most, if not all, of the wrinkles. Obviously depends on the item though.

That's what I was hoping to hear. Thanks!

Curious, does anyone know if Izumi Hibachi will now be open to families with unvaxxed kiddos or still a vax-only venue?

Interesting, as it looks like we're already going to have one on Wonder next week even though it's ahead of the 3/15 date.

I had also noticed this. I *also* notice that the wording would imply all kids are to wear a mask in AO, regardless of vax status. Frankly, I wouldn't expect them to enforce masks firmly on the smaller ones - my daughter had literally just turned 2 the first day of our sailing on Ovation in September and was never asked to put a mask on if she wasn't wearing one, despite crew asking/knowing her age. You can put a mask on a toddler, but if they don't keep it on or wear it correctly, it's useless, and just causes unnecessary headaches for everyone.

A couple from my MIL aboard Odyssey right now.

I can't imagine much, as she's recently amplified. Likely just routine maintenance and upgrades.

Just in time for our party on the inaugural for Wonder!

This is the wording in my RoyalUp email for Wonder in a few weeks. So yeah, sounds like up to day of departure is definitely a possibility.

Hijacking the thread for a moment - has anyone heard if unvaccinated children will need to book some sort of excursion to get off on Labadee?