JennaRCB

BOOKED MY FIRST AUSTRALIA CRUISE AND SOUTH PACIFIC CRUISE!!!! Royal Caribbean Blog will finally have a live blog and content from Australia! 😎
One year away. The excitement is high. Any tips or advice?!
On a side note, this will be my 6th continent. I think it's time to start planning a cruise to Antarctica. 😄
Going to Adelaide, Melbourne, Eden, Kangaroo Island, Noumea, Lifou, Mare, Isle of Pines, and Mystery Island

BOOKED MY FIRST AUSTRALIA CRUISE AND SOUTH PACIFIC CRUISE!!!! Royal Caribbean Blog will finally have a live blog and content from Australia! 😎
One year away. The excitement is high. Any tips or advice?!
On a side note, this will be my 6th continent. I think it's time to start planning a cruise to Antarctica. 😄
Going to Adelaide, Melbourne, Eden, Kangaroo Island, Noumea, Lifou, Mare, Isle of Pines, and Mystery Island

BOOKED MY FIRST AUSTRALIA CRUISE AND SOUTH PACIFIC CRUISE!!!! Royal Caribbean Blog will finally have a live blog and content from Australia! 😎
One year away. The excitement is high. Any tips or advice?!
On a side note, this will be my 6th continent. I think it's time to start planning a cruise to Antarctica. 😄
Going to Adelaide, Melbourne, Eden, Kangaroo Island, Noumea, Lifou, Mare, Isle of Pines, and Mystery Island

BOOKED MY FIRST AUSTRALIA CRUISE AND SOUTH PACIFIC CRUISE!!!! Royal Caribbean Blog will finally have a live blog and content from Australia! 😎
One year away. The excitement is high. Any tips or advice?!
On a side note, this will be my 6th continent. I think it's time to start planning a cruise to Antarctica. 😄
Going to Adelaide, Melbourne, Eden, Kangaroo Island, Noumea, Lifou, Mare, Isle of Pines, and Mystery Island

BOOKED MY FIRST AUSTRALIA CRUISE AND SOUTH PACIFIC CRUISE!!!! Royal Caribbean Blog will finally have a live blog and content from Australia! 😎
One year away. The excitement is high. Any tips or advice?!
On a side note, this will be my 6th continent. I think it's time to start planning a cruise to Antarctica. 😄
Going to Adelaide, Melbourne, Eden, Kangaroo Island, Noumea, Lifou, Mare, Isle of Pines, and Mystery Island

@JennaRCB had this great write up here https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/09/29/excursion-review-jaimes-the-blue-reef-all-inclusive-day-pass-costa-maya
This would be where I would head if Maya Chan wasn't an option.
 

Here is a list of shore excursions on Royal's website, although I can't guarantee these will all be on your same cruise! It's just their overall list: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/destinations/shoreExcursions/subGateWayByPort/search.do?LocationCode=JTR

I really enjoyed Nachi Cocom! We have a full review of it on the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube channel: 
 
I would AVOID excursions that visit mainland Mexico (Puerto de Vallarta, Tulum, etc.) The ferry ride from Cozumel to the mainland was terrible when I went and multiple people were puking! Therefore I'd stick to the island of Cozumel only.

Jamie's: eggplant parmesan, truffle arancini, garlic bread
Izumi: I don't eat sushi but they have a lot of non-seafood options! The udon noodles with choice of beef, chicken, or tofu are super good. And the fried rice is amazing too
Chops: goat cheese salad and key lime pie

I think the design is great at keeping most kids activities to 2 areas of the ship: the Surfside neighborhood and the waterpark. I expect most kids onboard to congregate in these areas during the day which should make the pool deck area outside of the waterpark more adult-focused.

I wouldn't say the specialty coffee at Cafe Promenade is as fancy as you'll find at some independently owned coffee shops, but the quality has definitely gone up since they started using Starbucks coffee!
I bought the Cafe Select Coffee Card twice before to use on my cruises and I thought it was worth it. I think it was around $30 for 15 espresso-based drinks so it worked out to $2 or so a drink. That was cheaper than paying $5+ each time.
However there didn't seem to be any real rules when it came to how many punches came out of the card per drink. Sometimes I would order a larger drink and they would count it as 2 espresso drinks and sometimes only 1.

I would do the 8AM so you can relax after the excursion, walk around town, get lunch, etc. If you do the 12PM one but want to walk around town in the morning, you'll spend the whole morning checking your watch to make sure you don't miss the train.

I would do the 8AM so you can relax after the excursion, walk around town, get lunch, etc. If you do the 12PM one but want to walk around town in the morning, you'll spend the whole morning checking your watch to make sure you don't miss the train.

I would do the 8AM so you can relax after the excursion, walk around town, get lunch, etc. If you do the 12PM one but want to walk around town in the morning, you'll spend the whole morning checking your watch to make sure you don't miss the train.

Nice! I wonder if this means they will end up dropping the vaccine requirement for cruises visiting Canada.

Nice! I wonder if this means they will end up dropping the vaccine requirement for cruises visiting Canada.

Labadee's natural scenery with the surrounding mountains and small beaches in coves throughout the island is unbelievable! My jaw dropped when we were pulling into port.
CocoCay is beautiful, too, but I think Labadee wins when it comes to natural beauty.
CocoCay wins with food and things to do. While Labadee has several activities like the zip line and roller coaster thing, it's nothing compared to CocoCay!
Labadee makes an awesome beach day, though, and I think I'd choose Labadee over CocoCay just because I find the natural environment so beautiful.

Labadee's natural scenery with the surrounding mountains and small beaches in coves throughout the island is unbelievable! My jaw dropped when we were pulling into port.
CocoCay is beautiful, too, but I think Labadee wins when it comes to natural beauty.
CocoCay wins with food and things to do. While Labadee has several activities like the zip line and roller coaster thing, it's nothing compared to CocoCay!
Labadee makes an awesome beach day, though, and I think I'd choose Labadee over CocoCay just because I find the natural environment so beautiful.

Labadee's natural scenery with the surrounding mountains and small beaches in coves throughout the island is unbelievable! My jaw dropped when we were pulling into port.
CocoCay is beautiful, too, but I think Labadee wins when it comes to natural beauty.
CocoCay wins with food and things to do. While Labadee has several activities like the zip line and roller coaster thing, it's nothing compared to CocoCay!
Labadee makes an awesome beach day, though, and I think I'd choose Labadee over CocoCay just because I find the natural environment so beautiful.

I would definitely visit Florence over Pisa! Florence is one of Italy's best, most historic cities and the Duomo is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. The river running through Florence is gorgeous as well with all of the bridges, AND the food is to die for. 😀
Pisa, on the other hand, has nothing to do except look at the Leaning Tower and it is a total tourist trap! Not saying the tower isn't cool, but like ChessE4 said above, a lot of people who visit are underwhelmed by the town. Definitely pick Florence instead!!

I would definitely visit Florence over Pisa! Florence is one of Italy's best, most historic cities and the Duomo is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. The river running through Florence is gorgeous as well with all of the bridges, AND the food is to die for. 😀
Pisa, on the other hand, has nothing to do except look at the Leaning Tower and it is a total tourist trap! Not saying the tower isn't cool, but like ChessE4 said above, a lot of people who visit are underwhelmed by the town. Definitely pick Florence instead!!

I just sailed on Radiance one-way to Seward (Anchorage) from Vancouver and had a wonderful time! Matt shared my live blog above if you want to read about the day to day life onboard.
The 8 day roundtrip on May 11, 2023 looks nice if that's the one you are thinking of. I would probably do that one instead of the one-way unless you plan to spend time in Alaska on land either before or after a one-way cruise. It was kind of a pain (and more expensive) having to fly back from Anchorage as opposed to Vancouver after my cruise!
Plus, it visits 4 Alaska ports in addition to Hubbard Glacier. That's the same you'll see on a 7-night one-way cruise.
The roundtrip sailings from Seattle typically visit only 3 Alaska ports and then Victoria, Canada. So this itinerary looks better in my opinion! Plus it goes to Ketchikan, which has been my favorite Alaska port so far. Price looks nice too.
I'd say go for it!

Great!! Have fun! 🙂

STOP i was wondering this 😍🤩
WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE 🥳

I just visited Kotor and Mykonos on a cruise and I self-explored! They are both super walkable and nice to walk around and I didn't see the need for an excursion. Most people seemed to self-explore. I would probably do an excursion to the Acropolis and Plaka neighborhoods in Athens, though, because the city is huge.
I wrote blog posts of my days in both Kotor and Mykonos here if you want to know more ideas of what to do:
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/06/29/rhapsody-of-the-seas-live-blog-day-2-mykonos-greece
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/07/03/rhapsody-of-the-seas-live-blog-day-6-kotor-montenegro