Traveling Mike

On the old ships I could hear them dragging chairs around cleaning up. In the last 10 years I have not heard that kind of thing. I think they have improved the sound proofing.

You cannot book ahead of time on the app. You have to wait until you are on the ship or in line to get on the ship but connected to the ship wifi.

I have done UDP on 6 cruises this year and this is how they have worked. It might change. You can eat at any of the Specialty Restaurants for lunch and dinner when they are open. You can eat at Johnny Rockets one time a day. You can eat at Playmakers with the $20 limit a time. At Izumi's you get one small dish and 2 large dishes and desert. This is more than one person would want to eat. There is not a limit on eating. On Thanksgiving I had lunch at Jonny Rockets, afternoon wings at Playmakers, Dinner at Chops, Turkey and Ham at Windjammer and desert at Jamies. Notes: figure out where you want to eat dinner each night. As soon as you get on the ship book your reservations. You can book on the ship app or go to one of the open restaurants to book it for you. After the first day most of the reservations are full except for 8:00 and 8:30 reservations

It is in the written policy A Crown & Anchor Society member can be added into a relationship with other family members in the same household and receive equivalent tier status; however Cruise Points will remain according to actual cruises taken and calculated using the Program level accrual system described above. Pinnacle Club member tier status will not be awarded to dependents if earned by their parent and/or guardian. Pinnacle Club member tier status can only be earned by an individual, spouse or significant other by one of them accumulating 700 Cruise Points or more in the CAS program. For all tiers except Pinnacle Club, a relationship is defined as a spouse or significant other and children less than 18 years old. For Pinnacle Club a relationship is considered a spouse and/or significant other.

You need to read what I wrote. They will cruise at Diamond level, but their true status is not Diamond level. If they divorce, he will go back to gold level. He only has her level as long as they are married. The child will hold the Diamond Level when they turn 18 but they will not move to Diamond + until they have enough cruise days on their own to reach that level.

When I was on the Ovation in July there was a person in the CS Line punching holes for people.

Maybe this visual will help this confusing subject. Each person will earn their own status as a C&A member. In the example below you have earned Diamond Status, Your husband is only Gold Status, and your child is Emerald based on the 7 cruises. Now with that said: When you cruise as a family your husband and child will cruise as a Diamond member because you are Diamond, and your child is under 18 years old. When your child reaches 18, they will hold the status that you have BUT they will not go any higher until they have earned it from their cruising.

I am home and I was very happy with the Starlink on the Navigator of the Seas doing an Ensenada Cruise. When doing a speed test, it did not look great BUT I was able to do all my work and stream movies at night. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I was able to do Microsoft Team meetings with the camera of myself running. During one of the meetings, I was able to do the Teams Meeting and Remote into our servers at work to check data for the meeting. At night there was not much on TV, so I loaded Netflix on my laptop and watched movies without any delay. If I get this type of service on my other cruises, I will be happy and will be able to work on vacation. Note: I work on Vacation to be able to take more vacations.

Something I just learned while I was on the Navigator of the Seas. I have the Unlimited Dining Plan and as soon as I got on the ship, I got a burger. Later on, that day I went back to try their chicken and was told that I only get one meal a day on the UDP. All the other places I can have as much as I want but not at Johnny Rockets. PS: I just went to Playmakers and got some good chicken wings.

here is something for you network people. Yesterday I signed into my Microsoft account, and it would not let me until I verified it was me. The problem is I was signing in from Canada. Yes, I was between LA and Ensenada and my IP said I was in Canada. Today I am in Ensenada, and I am showing I am in LA.

These are the kind of issues where I call RCL and ask for a supervisor. Do not tell the person anything or they will try to fix it and waste your time. Just insist on a supervisor. Then explain to the supervisor you did not approve the travel agent and you expect RCL to remove them. (period). it is their mess up without your permission.

There are three different levels, and they are all different. The more you pay the less restrictions are placed on your data.

I am a computer programmer, and the network stuff is beyond me. When I run the speed test the IP address changes every time. The first 4 stay the same and the last 5 change.

This is on the Navigator of the Seas from my Cabin. I am able to play Matt's latest YouTube video without a delay while I am remoted into my server at work.

It amazes me how many people have opinions and have not done their research. Starlink is an entirely new concept of satellite internet. As far as throttling the internet they have to do it like most companies. The bandwidth is only so big and they need enough to go around.

Update: Nov 19, 2022 Freedom of the Seas Independence of the Seas Liberty of the Seas Enchantment of the Seas Oasis of the Seas Navigator of the Seas Allure of the Seas

I am cruising on the Navigator next week and wonder if it has Starlink. I have searched and the only thing I can find is Matt's article from October 14th. This was his list. Can anyone help update the list? Note: List below updated Nov 19, 2022 Allure Enchantment Freedom Harmony Independence Jewel Liberty Mariner Navigator Oasis Symphony Wonder

I am guessing you have kids because of your name and two cabins. The basic gratuity comes automatically out, and I am assuming you are talking about tipping on top of that. (Lots of assumptions). I have traveled for years with me, and my son and I have always done my tip up front. The room steward will introduce themselves the first day and that is when I give them a cash tip and apologize for what is going to happen. I tell them my son will come in a leave a mess when I am not there, and I am sorry and hope the tip helps a little. Now that he is grown up and I cruise alone I still give a tip the first day from habit. I think most of the time it gives me a little better service and I feel better for asking for extras.

Royal Caribbean has a bus that runs between FL and Miami. When I did a RCL cruise with a b2b on Celebrity, they put me on the bus for free. The bus went from Miami to the FL Airport to the FL Port. I am sure they have one that goes the other way.

Good time to Quit

I am sure it is related to the server issues Royal have been having all day. The strange thing is the origination I work for had major server issues today also. Makes you wonder what upgrades Microsoft pushed out last night.

I am almost ready to retire from IT. Maybe they need to pay me lots of money to fix their sites. It just takes a little bit of common sense.

I love Cabo on my own. I would recommend getting off the street that is next to the bay and get ready to say "No Thank you" 50 million times while you do. Food: La Taquiza Centro - Google Maps Last time we were there they had to go get someone off of break that spoke English. Food was great. Drink: Monkey Business Bar Beach: Just have one of the water taxis take you to lover's beach.

If you are looking for cost effective in Miami I always stay in an Airbnb.

I do not know what will work for you but here are a few things from me and my son cruising for the last 15 years. He had to do sit down dinners with me. If I would let him, he would spend 24x7 in the kid's area. What did help him is they would bring his meal when we got our appetizer. Then he would eat his desert when we had our main meal. Then he could excuse himself to go play while I enjoyed the remaining of my meal. Yours are a little young to make their own way to the kids' area but I think I read someplace that the ship would escort kids to the kids area. Plan everything but realize you will only do 1/2 of it. You do not have to do everything. Don't be afraid to say I don't want to do that now. Make time to rest and watch the water go by.