EmptyNestTravels

Tried checking my Royal-up bids status several times this morning and the website locks up on "Please wait, we are checking for availability". Would like to think this is a "good" sign rather than the site is down, but my Stateroom number in the Royal app is unchanged. 24 Days to go, so lots of time yet... Still hoping...

Sadly seems to be true. I've been shopping for good deal for DX package or DX with Voom; and Coco Beach Club for some upcoming cruises. Fortunately, I did catch some good deals earlier in the year - but not these days. Prices have gone up significantly. Result for me is I'm not paying $199.00+ for a few hours at Coco Beach club; and will have to decide my pain point on the Dx package options (~$87.00/day Dx/Voom package when I checked today).

Oh! Have not tried the breakfast at Johnny Rockets - keep forgetting about it. How is it?

Royal amplified Independence, which is the ship Allure would likely be taking over the short runs from at Port Canaveral. So, who knows?

It does seem that all the good press and kudos go to PDCC (where I've been twice and absolutely loved it). When I did find reviews about Labadee posted on other sites, and from other content creators, it just seemed lackluster in comparison to PDCC; including "at Labadee, you'd better eat before 12:30 or they will run out of food and there will be no more!", plus a focus on all the things the island doesn't have, sell, or serve. One vlogger seemed to like the idea of 'the longest zip line over water' at Labadee, but said it was way over-priced. Based on those online reviews, it seemed Labadee is a cheap knock-off of PDCC and almost not worth the trouble to go ashore.

On Independence in January, my booking listed a traditional dining time assigned; but once I was onboard, I noticed my SeaPass card said MTD dining. Like those above, the only MTD options available (in the Royal app) were after 8:00 PM. I went to the MDR and spoke to the maître d' at the podium, and they said it was no problem at all. They changed my dining time, assigned me to a nice table, and that was it. My SeaPass didn't get updated, but it wasn't a problem for the rest of the cruise. Hopefully you can find the same/similar workaround from the MDR staff once you get onboard.

Hopefully you have a good TA who can run the numbers and tell you cost & any potential options - especially if a group cruise w/ group rates.

Will be going to Labadee for the first time in a few weeks on Mariner. Have been looking for a good review of the island and experience, and didn't find anything on Labadee in @MattYouTube vlogs (maybe I am just missing it). From what I did locate from other content creators, I believe Labadee is going to be a big disappointment in comparison to Perfect Day. Maybe I will start calling it Blah-badee afterwards? Does anyone have thoughts/reviews/suggestions to share about the Labadee experience? @Matt please consider doing a full-island tour and review video on Labadee in the future if you haven't already done one (sorry if I missed it). Thanks everyone!

A gentleman at our table on my recent cruise asked for Indian food in place of the menu options. The waiter reappeared several minutes later with a plate full for him. So, seems Indian food isn't an issue. Don't know about other treats.

That's awesome! Thank you @KLA!!

Was told onboard Harmony two weeks ago that the ship would be moving to Fort Lauderdale in November 2022. According to CruiseMapper, it seems that's not the end of her future port changes: Present - October 2022 - Port Canaveral November 2022 - March 2023 - Fort Lauderdale March 2023 - October 2023 - Miami November 2023 - April 2024 - Galveston https://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Harmony-Of-The-Seas-1067

January cruise on Indy was at about 50% capacity and it was amazing. Sounds like my next cruise on Indy in April is going to be a lot different.

How do you check daily other than checking email to see if you won your Royal-up offer?

In St. Maarten, I recently took the "Ultimate Island Tour: Explorer Cruise and Island Tour" excursion purchased via the Cruise Planner. Cost was $69.00 per adult. It was a guided bus tour around the Dutch and French sides of the island with our friendly and knowledgeable local tour guide narrating along the way. After the "circle the island" type tour, we got on the "Explorer" powered catamaran for a narrated tour around the bay. It was a nice and informative tour with friendly and knowledgeable tour guides. However, there were no opportunities at all for shopping or anything; the entire tour was spent on the bus, and on the catamaran. So if you want to see the island and learn the history and see some sights, it's a good tour. But don't expect to go walking around or shopping; it's just bus & boat riding.

Recently, I took the "5 Star Island Tour, Magen's Bay Beach & Shopping" excursion (from the Cruise Planner) which cost $79.00 per person and ran from about 7:30 AM - 3:30 PM. We took a tour of the island in a small open jitney-style bus - driving tour around the island, up the hill to the famous Banana Daiquiri & souvenir shop on the mountain top (daiquiris at 10:00 AM?!), and then spent two hours at the beautiful Magens Bay beach (private beach with paid entrance - included with excursion, changing/rest-room facilities, restaurant, bar & snorkeling). (Snorkel rentals at the beach shop seemed to be a pain and expensive, so recommend bringing your own gear if you have it). It was very nice except that we got hit with intermittent strong downpours on the day we were there. The "shopping" portion at the end was a bit disappointing. Perhaps because of the rain - on the way back to the ship, they stopped downtown to let people off the bus who wanted to go shopping (about 1.5 hours before we had to be back onboard), and said they would come back and pick them up in a hour. With the weather issues, and concern from some of us pax about maybe not getting back in time, only two people from our bus group opted to check out the shopping. It was a very good tour overall. There were several shops to buy souvenirs at the pier, so not sure we missed too much. Next time I will check out the local shops, etc. St. Thomas required masks to be work on the pier and bus. But once we got away from the pier, almost nobody wore their mask - and of course not at the beach, bar, or restaurant.

Here is a pic of Harmony's "Service Dog Litter Box" on the starboard aft section of the deck 5 running track under the exterior stairwell near the fantail. It's very small with "litter bags" for the owner/handler to clean up after their pet. Don't know how often this space is cleaned and maintained by the crew. There were several service dogs present on my Harmony cruise recently, and all the ones I saw were larger dogs and wearing the "service dog" vest. I was surprised at how many were onboard.

Thanks @smokeybandit Note to self: Bring a small foldable step stool when cruising with the grandkids!

That's a great question for those cruising with kids & grandkids! Looking forward to the answer!

Just received an email from Royal with updated Pre-Cruise Testing Options. See below.

@Amanda92 This was a fabulous, comprehensive, (and illustrated!!) review of Gluten Free options onboard Royal. Might be a topic (including dining with dietary restrictions aboard RC ships) for @Matt to cover in a vlog one of these days? The more you know! Thanks for the excellent review.

Guess I'm going to have to try this!!!

Maybe it's just a bug in the Royal app (which has issues and is quirky sometimes). Mu upcoming April 9th sailing on Mariner is still only showing Windjammer open for breakfast and lunch. I know the ships had closed Windjammer for dinner when pax numbers were low during COVID, so maybe they just haven't updated the app yet for some cruises/ships. WJ was open for all three meals on Harmony recently, and I'm willing to bet it will be open for all three meals on Mariner also.

On a recent cruise, my awesome Stateroom Attendant (SRA) pulled a blank card out of his pocket and stuck it in the power slot for me, so I'd have power all the time. That also decreased the odds of me accidentally leaving my SeaPass card in the room when the door closed behind me. Never thought about getting a blank card or discount card, etc. on my own to bring with me in the future. Great idea from @PG Cruiser and @GKMCruising. Thanks!!

I had issues on my cruise recently with specialty dining & entertainment reservations not showing up in the app. Once was because I accidentally left the VPN connected. But the other times, they just didn't show up. In one instance, Guest Services did something that fixed an entertainment reservation not showing. For specialty restaurant, Guest Services and the restaurant verified my reservation was good, but it never did show in my app. Seems Royal has some room for improvement with their app, and a better user interface in the future.

Oh, yes, DSB Journey Tribute band on Harmony was amazing.