Moby Dick

My one big mistake when I posted my first post in this thread is that it was my opinion. But, I did say in my first two words, "I believe".

I believe I read on RCCL's site that if you have the "KEY" you have priority boarding WITHIN your boarding time schedule. Also, the key, for boarding and carry-on luggage purposes is only good up to 1:30 PM of embarkation day. You might want to go into royalcaribbean.com and read the fine print. Matt, of royalcaribbeanblogg.com doesn't recommend the "KEY" for what I believe is for good reasons. It's just not a good program, too many IFs, ANDs, BUTs, restrictions, time constraints, additional cover charges, effort that the guest must accomplish, et al. I just copied and pasted what RCCL posts about the "KEY": What's Included Priority access into the terminal (within booked arrival time) on Day 1. Carry-on bag drop off and delivery to stateroom. Drop-off your carry-on bags in the Main Dining Room until 1:30pm. Exclusive welcome lunch in the Main Dining Room featuring the Chops Grille Lunch menu. Private time at onboard activities including Rock Climbing, FlowRider and more. Priority departure at tender ports of call from ship-to-shore. Seats in the exclusive VIP seating section at shows in the Main Theatre, Aqua Theater, Studio B and Two70 (reservation is needed). VOOM ® Surf & Stream 1 Device high speed internet. On debarkation day, enjoy an exclusive à la carte breakfast and choice departure.

Oh, I forgot about that one, "Someone not waiting for people to get off an elevator before getting on". That really frosts my a$$. I usually say loudly when this happens, "It is always better for idiots (if children are present, I say "people" instead of idiots) to wait for people to get off of an elevator before trying to get in, especially when it is full". I haven't had one person challenge me, yet! That's as I stand in the middle of the door/opening.

Non-parenting parents. I never blame kids or dogs for the lack of parenting. Many parents I just want to ......., well, I won't get violent here. To all non-parenting parents, take control of you yelling, screaming, running, running around the dinning room yelling and screaming, tasting stuff on the buffet and then putting it back, licking the windows, throwing food all over the eating facility, babies with non-stop crying/screaming in dinning rooms/restaurants/snack bars without any reaction by parents, et al. I don't take a cruise to parent YOUR kids, the cruise lines is not your babysitter except for the appropriate facilities. If you can't parent you kids, don't take them out in public, especially in a closed environment like a cruise ship. My opinion is: Businesses, especially cruise lines tend to say when you complain about bad behaving kids, "Well, this is a family friendly cruise line". Fine, I don't have a problem with that. However, they have to remember that there are other categories of cruisers on the ship, too. Besides this topic, I'm not a complainer. But, when I do complain and it takes a lot for me to complain, I expect something to be done. JMHO

"Up Coming Alaska Cruise" We are on the Ovation on May 13th. Which one are you on?

Meeeeeee tooooo! Can't wait for our Star Loft Suite in May on Ovation. While all that I've had and observed are great, I hope we have an exceptional Genie like Marla is but she is on the Wonder, I hear.

Yep, lots of lanyards available, for sure. One last thing I'd like to recommend to most cruisers, most people don't realize that the cabin walls on a cruise ship are metal. So, if you take a lot of "stuff" along with you when you cruise, these magnetic hooks come in really handy. We cruised once with 14 of my closest family members in the Family Villa on the Symphony and my son-in-law used our hooks to string Christmas lights throughout the cabin. It was great. We also use the hooks to hang wet (but not dripping) swim suites, towels, shirts, belts, etc. https://www.amazon.com/Powerful-Refrigerator-Magnetic-Neodymium-Upgraded/dp/B07QSJ6Q72/ref=sr_1_9?crid=2F3BQ3WVYSF43&keywords=magnetic+hooks+for+cruise+cabins&qid=1647705448&sprefix=magnetic+%2Caps%2C100&sr=8-9

The "Seapass Card" doesn't come on a lanyard. We just purchased and received the following: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09F2HZT52?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details They are retractable and of a hard plastic design. We also purchased: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099W49R45?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details No, I am not affiliated with Amazon in any way, shape, or form other than being a Prime member.

Thank you. It figures, they put the best on the newest and biggest ship. I'm very happy for her. A month or so was the norm even before COVID. I was just thinking/hoping that as we are on the second, I believe, cruise of the Alaska season, we'd hear a little sooner than the Month out. But, I/we will survive, I hope. .

It would be great to end the testing requirement, for sure. But, it is kinda too late for us. We cruise on May 13, Ovation, Alaska and we received our test kits today that we purchased from Royal Caribbean's website. So, if it is changed, we just wasted over 70 dollars. Not complaining, I'm happy to waste that 70 bucks to get rid of ALL the COVID mandates/rules/edicts/whatevers from businesses and governments.

Well, it's about time for the Genie that is going to be on the Ovation to start contacting their Star Class cruisers for the first cruise to Alaska, this May. Has anybody got the communication from the Genie, yet? We cruise on May the 13th and have received the questionnaire from Corp., but not from the Genie yet. I'm very curious as to who the Genie will be and am hoping that it is Marla. Marla was our first Genie on our first Star Class cruise and we haven't found a Genie that comes close to her exceptional service, personality, knowledge. Don't get me wrong, they are all great, we just really liked Marla.

I've stayed in the 4 bedroom Family Suite on the Symphony, not long ago, the Aqua Theatre Suite 2 bedroom suite on the Allure, a Grand Suite (Sky Class) on the Oasis, and we have a Royal Star Loft Suite booked in May, Alaska on the Ovation. They were fantastic. Very large balconies. I just can't see myself booking a suite for that kind of money and not have a large spacious balcony. I love the smell and sounds of the ocean and ship in the mornings and not have to leave my suite to do so. But, that's just me. You may be very happy with the suite and no balcony. We are all different and we have different likes and dislikes. If you decide to book this suite, I hope you enjoy it as much as we LOVED the 4 bedroom Family Suite and others. Happy sailing to you!

My wife and I have never been on a "Group Cruise", not sure what else to call it. Apparently, Matt has one every now and then. So, what I'm asking, does anybody know of a "Group Cruise" being planned in the distant future (mid 2023 or later)? We are thinking to join in on one.

Easy answer to the Extension of the law or not, COVID test required or not, if a test is required and no extension to the law is made, let the ship dock in the foreign country (Canada) but don't get off. I don't need to get off the ship to have a great time and I'm not going to get another test, again, anyway. In fact, for many reasons I won't get into here, I won't get off in Canada anyway and I'm originally Canadian.

I believe their could be any/all of what has been brought up here. In any case, I'd avoid them just in case they are mechanical or elevators for the crew. The crew works all hours of the day/night. JMHO P.S. I wouldn't chose a cabin below a deck that has any type of chairs above it, a dance floor above it, or a galley/kitchen/snack bar above it.

I hope it comes back just like it was, no altercations!!!!!!!!

https://www.arubanetworks.com/products/wireless/access-points/remote-hospitality-access-points/303h-series/

I second that but 100 times worse. I can't think of a business that I have dealt with that hasn't disappointed me in the past couple of year and maybe longer. I'm not going to rant here but I hate what is going on! BTW, I come from the service/hospitality industry.

I grew up in Dania, now Dania Beach (it became "Dania Beach well after I moved from there). If you go to Dania, you have to go to Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor, it's on US 1 just about in the middle of Dania. Also, Grandpa's Bakery which is located next to the strip mall that Jaxson's is in. Matt, you have mentioned Los Olas (pronounced Ohlass) Blvd. a few times, that is also a great place to walk and shop and eat! I love cruising out of Ft. Lauderdale but I really like the new terminal 1 in The Port of Miami but I don't like Miami (beach), so when we cruise out of Port Everglades or Port of Miami, we stay in Ft. Lauderdale/Dania.

Ahhhhh, I understand. Good luck. I'm from the Ft. Lauderdale area originally, grew up in a little suburb called Dania, right next (south) to the airport. I really like the Harbor Beach Marriott. But, it is very expensive but right on the Ocean and next to the inlet to Port Everglades.

Thank you. I know how to see my points in the BOA website. I'm just not sure about how to redeem them. This helps.

I have a May 2022 Alaska cruise booked. I may be wrong but I'd bet that the cruise industry, especially the larger ones like RCCL play the FUTURES game. I'd bet that the fuel that will be used on this May cruise has already been bought and paid for months ago. If there is a "Fuel Surcharge/Supplement", it is for the purpose of making more money than they already make. I'm all for capitalism but I'm all for fair capitalism. Now, my November 2022 Caribbean cruise my be effected by this. We'll see.

As I said above, I was very loyal to Carnival. But, on 3 of my last cruises with Carnival we had major issues. For example: We went on the Sunshine just after it went through its upgrades, circa 2016. They added a deck or two to the front portion. We stayed on Deck 11 which was one of the new decks. The major problem, they did not have enough elevators to the deck, only 2 elevators, one deck below there was, I think it was 10 elevators. If you got on the wrong elevator, you had to get off at deck 10 and move over to one of the two elevators that went all the way up to deck 11. One evening, I have to mention here, I am disabled and can't stand for long, we waited over 45 minutes for an elevator to show up. Guess what - the elevator was being used by an employee to transport a large rack of towels and sheets and actually went up to get down. We waited for about 30 more minutes for an available elevator to show up, not empty, just enough room for our party of 4 to enter. During this entire time, we were calling the Customer Service desk sever al times and they said each time that they were sending someone up to assist. No one ever showed up. We went to the customer service desk and asked to speak to a ships officer. The ships officer showed up after about 15 minutes of waiting and I might as well have been talking to the elevator door that didn't open enough. It also seemed that they added many new cabins to the ship which added dozens of more cruises but it didn't seem that they were able to add additional crew, things were too busy (full ship), lines were too long, everywhere, maintenance wasn't being accomplished (automatic doors not opening or closing, one door by the Ice Cream machine was open the entire cruise), the ship was dirty and the exterior of the ship was a rusty mess. Enough of my rant.

Good Question!

I just reserved my parking at Park N Go for my November cruise on the Harmony. It is going to cost me $76.XX for our 8 day cruise. I think that is a heck of a deal. It is completely refundable if you need to cancel for any reason, I know because I have had to cancel in the past and it wasn't a problem at all. The price includes the shuttle to and from the ship and they have a large number of shuttles that run continuously.