_Quinn_

I have to give a shout out to Solarium Bistro. We're just back from 5 nights on Harmony of the Seas and we had dinner at Solarium Bistro twice. Appetizers and desserts are buffet style, and you order your entree with your waiter. Honestly some of my favorite food on any ship. It may not be the same experience as a specialty restaurant, but it's complimentary, has excellent food, and without the crowds of the Windjammer or the time commitment of the MDR.

I know this is well after the original post, but I just got off Harmony of the Seas in Fort Lauderdale yesterday. I booked the airport transfer to FLL and was given a 7:30 departure time from the ship. We had The Key so our bags were separated but I don't think that really made a difference. We were at the airport with bags checked in by 8:30 so I wish we'd had a 9:30 flight (but I would be too anxious to ever actually book that early).

Currently sitting on Enchantment of the Seas out of Baltimore. No plastic bottles.

Currently on Enchantment of the Seas. On Tuesday we did six Binax tests: me, my wife, our three kids (25, 19, and 12), and my mother-in-law (78). My wife was the only one I didn't assist. As long as the person being tested verifies it's their account and the proctor can see everything I don't think it's an issue. Mostly by the end of all those tests I was just tired of hearing the same script every time. No issues with any of the tests. @DunwoodyDad, our 12 year old was on a managed account.

Yep, seems about right for that particular trip. Beautiful clear weather as we sailed away.

Hmm, couldn't say exactly. I looked at the Cruise Compass and our scheduled departure was 5:00 pm. I think we probably left before that though (by 10 minutes or so). I have a vague memory of being in the stateroom and my wife surprisedly saying, "Oh, we're moving!"

I sailed out of Tampa on October 25, and the metadata tells me this photo was taken at 7:25 pm. There are a ton of variables, obviously, but here's one data point. And for what it's worth, dinner in the MDR never took more than about an hour for us (two of us). Oh! I almost forgot. We had selected late dining, but when we got our SeaPass cards, they had My Time Dining on them. We went to the MDR to clear it up, but they told us that everybody was on My Time Dining, they weren't using traditional seatings. We were able to make reservations at the same time every night and had the same waiter and table, but I missed the traditional experience. Our waiter just seemed much more harried than usual because all his tables were in different stages of dining. I understand this is just normal for most restaurants, but I'm hoping our cruise on Enchantment (in 12 days!) is back to traditional dining. But aside from that we had a fabulous time on Serenade--enjoy!

Well, @FionaMG, I'm a Virginian transplanted from Texas so I'm not technically allowed an opinion. But I'd say big lumps of fresh crab, as little binder as possible, and Old Bay (but not too much). Look up Faidley's in Baltimore, but I'm sure @MattG won't be afraid to set me straight.

I noticed that we also have "Maryland-style" crab cakes on the MDR menu the first night--and we're sailing out of Baltimore. I thought that took some real chutzpah!

Hmm, @melmar02, my invoice looks different and doesn't mention formal nights. We're on an 8 night sailing on Enchantment of the Seas out of Baltimore on December 23. It's her return to sailing so there are no comparable cruise compasses, but I'm willing to take it as it comes. Just as a side note, my wife and I were on Serenade of the Seas in October, and they were rebranding formal night as "dress to impress." Personally that's too much pressure--I can fit in with any dress code, but I'm never going to impress anyone!

Thanks, @SpeedNoodles. We're sailing out of Baltimore this month, and this is only the second time I've bought the drink package. I was just counting on blind faith that it would show up on our SeaPasses, plus receipts if I needed to argue my case. Here's one more thing I don't have to worry about!

I'm not trying to hijack this thread, but I have a very similar question and didn't want to start a duplicate thread. In October, my wife and I cruised on Serenade of the Seas out of Tampa. I ordered the three pack of the Abbot Binax tests for $99.99 from the Royal Caribbean page at the Optum store here:https://store.optum.com/royal-caribbean/. It was incredibly convenient and easy, and we still have one test left. Our next cruise is on Enchantment of the Seas out of Baltimore in December, and there will be six of us, including a minor child. I see that eMed has a six pack of tests for $150.00 here:https://www.emed.com/products/covid-at-home-testkit-six-pack I feel like these must be the exact same tests and that there's absolutely no issue ordering from eMed rather than from Optum. But I would feel a lot better if someone could confirm this from personal experience. And it would be $50 to put towards a drink package! @Kaci The Optum store also has a two pack for $69.99. Thanks all!

I'm a long-time drink package skeptic, but took the plunge when my wife and I sailed out of Tampa in October (to be fair, only our fifth cruise). I'm sure I didn't break even, because my wife doesn't drink very much and I couldn't drink enough to make up for her. But--I'd encourage you to think of it in terms other than just "am I saving money." It was really nice to try different things, not worry about if we were wasting money if we didn't finish something, and not have to constantly check my cruise account against my budget. And besides booze, we hit Cafe Lattetudes several times, which I probably wouldn't have done at all without the drink package. We're on another cruise out of Baltimore in December which is slightly longer and will include adult children, but I'm seriously thinking about biting the bullet and buying the drink package again.

Amen to this, and the reason I would take a <6 month valid passport even if I were using driver's license and birth certificate. If you miss the ship or have an emergency and don't have a passport at all, you'll have to go the the US embassy and get an emergency passport. Very low risk, but very high impact. When we got off the ship in Nassau in October, there was activity around the forward gangplank--ambulance, lots of HAZMAT suits, so I assume somebody tested positive for Covid. Royal Caribbean promises to pay to get you home if this happens, but you would still need a passport to fly home (after your quarantine).

I feel your pain. I'm the planner in the family, so I'm the one who has to identify and mitigate all our travel risks. I was anxious about everything leading up to getting on board, including the possibility of a false positive. Luckily my wife knows me well, so first thing she said when we woke up Saturday morning (for a Monday afternoon departure) was, "Let's take a Covid test!" The process was very easy and done start to finish in about 20 minutes. As somebody else said the time on the printout is UTC so it's a few hours later than local, but the date is all they care about. It never helps when anybody says it to me, but relax--you're going to have a great vacation! Quinn