Al Miller

5:30 seems too early and 8 too late. We did My Time in April and 6:30-7pm seemed perfect to us.

I think Matt discussed this once on a live stream. If you want to chance it, you can cancel your booking right before final payment is due and then as soon as it becomes available again re-book it with a non-refundable fare. There is a chance someone could snipe your room between the time you cancel and rebook. So, it's probably not worth it to chance it. But it could be done.
The safer way to do it only works if there is another set of rooms still available that is satisfactory to you. Book the two new rooms at the non-refundable rate and then cancel the refundable rooms. Thats a lot of work though.

We had No Quarter (Led Zeppelin cover band) and Beatles Celebration on our Anthem cruise that ended today. Both were really good!  Never thought I’d like a tribute band but I have to admit I enjoyed both.

A casino dealer on my last trip told me that in Coco Cay they have special permission to keep the casino open. (Though table games may be limited) So if that is your thing, you can do that as well.

A casino dealer on my last trip told me that in Coco Cay they have special permission to keep the casino open. (Though table games may be limited) So if that is your thing, you can do that as well.

FWIW - At Bayonne NJ for our 4/3 sailing, we arrived 25 minutes before our time, and we were prepared to wait outside. But the lady greeting/directing people at the entrance seemed annoyed that we were hanging around outside and told us we HAD to go inside and start the embarkation process. She never even asked what our time was. And we were eating a roast beef sandwich in 270 by the time our actual embarkation time rolled around. That may just be a New York/New Jersey attitude thing. I have also heard most other ports are enforcing the time pretty strictly.

We had an Areosmith cover band on Anthem for 4/3 sailing. And I think they had a Led Zeppelin cover band in before that.

We had an Areosmith cover band on Anthem for 4/3 sailing. And I think they had a Led Zeppelin cover band in before that.

Well, it was lightly raining and none of the Xray Machines had much of a line, so maybe they got ahead of the game and were trying to get folks out of the rain. I Dunno.

You just contact the TA and have them make the booking.  Royal doesn’t care who makes the booking and won’t be able to do anything before it’s booked.

It's great for socially awkward people.. I'll walk half the ship to start up a conversation with Bionic Barman! 
 
Also he doesn't give you dirty looks for ordering 2 drinks in 5 mins.
 

The one redeeming quality of BBar is I do not feel any pressure to leave any extra gratuity other than the included. 

Here is the collection so far. Isn't the best picture.

So I was wrong. The older ships had a unique design. Newer ones, outside the inaugural chips, are just "ship name".

Well it's not a lot of data, but they now also have a couple of months of data showing them how "no smoking" actually affects the gambling income. I've always wondered if the increased amount of people who would be willing to come to a non-smoking Cruise ship Casino might offset the loss of the smokers. Especially in the old days when lots of smokers would come to the casino just to light up and not actually gamble. Personally, I can put up with the smoke for short spurts, but I'd probably stay longer (ie - spend more) if the air was clear.

Well it's not a lot of data, but they now also have a couple of months of data showing them how "no smoking" actually affects the gambling income. I've always wondered if the increased amount of people who would be willing to come to a non-smoking Cruise ship Casino might offset the loss of the smokers. Especially in the old days when lots of smokers would come to the casino just to light up and not actually gamble. Personally, I can put up with the smoke for short spurts, but I'd probably stay longer (ie - spend more) if the air was clear.

I applied on 12/28 and received the passport on 1/24. Got my Birth Certificate back on 2/9.

I applied on 12/28 and received the passport on 1/24. Got my Birth Certificate back on 2/9.

Why would you be tested? Ive been on 2 cruises no random testing that I was aware of.