AandD

I don't know how many people have been to Maya Chan Beach, but we went our 4th time last fall. We did notice the beach wasnt as big as it used to be. But the food and service were still great. Here is a post from the owners. 
Start Again – Maya Chan Life (temp.domains)
 

One point to consider is that Royal doesn't charge a lot for comp food and beverages when you take the imputed tips and work backward--about $35 to 40 per person. We certainly receive more than that as we count meals, snacks and drinks consumed throughout the day. Places that serve hot dogs or tacos are fast food, so that is my frame of reference when I judge my experience. I think quality meals require a fancier restaurant. When specialty restaurants serve mediocre food, it must be improved as you are paying a pretty penny. Honest evaluations on cruise surveys are still needed to give feedback. And we vote with our feet. Our next cruise isn't Royal. The bottom line is that Royal isn't a luxury line but it should offer a decent experience for a fair price. We've gotten that up to now.

I don't know how many people have been to Maya Chan Beach, but we went our 4th time last fall. We did notice the beach wasnt as big as it used to be. But the food and service were still great. Here is a post from the owners. 
Start Again – Maya Chan Life (temp.domains)
 

I see you are from KC. We are out of St. Joe. Seems like there are a lot of people on the facebook group from the area. Maybe we will run into you.

If it was me, I would pay. You are on vacation. We carry very little on the plane as we don't want to deal with the overhead storage. With that said, we usually fly southwest. But the next 2 cruises we will be using Delta and American. So, we are just going to pay and not worry about it. As to the porters at the port. We usually give $5 for 3 bags. 

Got a nephew who just got his gold wings with the aforementioned airline after  almost 17 years. Graduated from Univ. of North Dakota, went to work out of school with one of the late Northwest's commuter lines puddle jumping all over the Midwest. Delta acquired NWA, he made it to the big leagues in the right seat, survived the pandemic layoffs. Right seat time in the intervening years until last September when he got the left seat. "Drives" 757's, 767's, A320-321 and when he's not doing his day job he's flying C-130's in his Air National Guard unit. I'm glad he persevered.

"Best" is subjective.
Some people try to find the TA that offers the most OBC or other perks.
Some people value service and being able to interact with a TA on an on going basis over time.
In my experience booking nearly 100 cruises with one TA or another is that chasing the best perks works okay until there is an issue and you need a TA to invest time to address the issue.  It seems the TAs that give the most perks don't have a lot of money for them in these bookings. They often don't have time to invest in servicing bookings, their focus is achieving mass numbers of bookings.  As a result you suffer when things don't go perfectly.
Finding the best TA for me took some time.  I've had some less knowledgeable TAs to work through before finding one that worked well for my needs.  The best one for me resulted in a long term relationship where that TA came to know me and the types of cruising I was interested in.  With several cruises behind us she learned me and started to offer cruises she thought I might be interested in.  
 

Think of it as a permanent Stanely cup winner. Good press for royal, taking pictures of people posing with and drinking out of a $100K cup.

Think of it as a permanent Stanely cup winner. Good press for royal, taking pictures of people posing with and drinking out of a $100K cup.

Same here. We stayed at the Days Inn by Houston Hobby last year. Cheap but recently renovated. I would stay there again. 

That was us. We didn't try to leave. We left.  We are gone at the hint of loud music or dancing. 

That was us. We didn't try to leave. We left.  We are gone at the hint of loud music or dancing. 

That was us. We didn't try to leave. We left.  We are gone at the hint of loud music or dancing. 

That was us. We didn't try to leave. We left.  We are gone at the hint of loud music or dancing. 

I am guessing you'll have an annual travel insurance policy.

I've never considered making a playlist, but that's also "not my thing".  I do have songs that remind me of cruises though and if I hear them on the radio-YEAH!

To me the best playlist is one you play for yourself and not for anyone sitting around you or for your neighbor through the walls.  It's tiring to be sitting at CoCoCay and having to listen to music from 4 rows behind you.  One time a  family left their speaker playing while they went in the water or elsewhere......about 30 minutes in I realized they were nowhere to be found and got up and turned it off.
I've seen people with their speakers playing music on the ship too.  Imagine if we all did this?!  UGH

Even worse, go thru a door or come to some stairways and stop. 
 

Even worse, go thru a door or come to some stairways and stop. 
 

Even worse, go thru a door or come to some stairways and stop. 
 

Even worse, go thru a door or come to some stairways and stop. 
 

For a Canadian, your command of the English language is amazing. I’m sure an MEI agent will be able to understand you.
Enchange rates will be the biggest challenge. 

As we’ve aged our C&A status is one the main reasons we sail on Royal as much as we do.  RCL has the best loyalty program at sea.  Back in the day RCL used to give you 1 cruise point per sailing.  They shifted to 1 (or 2) per day at sea to differentiate types of cruises.  Tweaks might happen but there should never be any thought of following mis-managed Disney into any area of change.
 
I wonder in RCL ever thinks about mirroring the matching benefits on Celebrity (yes, I’m aware of the current match program - not good enough).  I’m a D+ who will never make Pinnacle.  If I got my 5 drink coupons per day I might make a permanant shift to Celebrity freeing up cabins on RCL for families with kids.   

Step 1: book double occupancy rooms as BigKarl/BigKarli
Step 2: go through security, do a u-turn and go through security again with a wig as Karli
Step 3: rinse/repeat for 80 cruise points
Step 4: collect your drink vouchers

I would say in most ways. And I'm saying that as a big proponent of traditional education/schooling (hell, I have a PhD, I drank the school kool-aid). If you have the right caregivers, they can open your eyes to so much along the way. Cultures, languages, history. Even math - "how many drinks do we need a day to break even on the drink package?". Got it all. 

I’m with @steverk…highly recommend retirement and cruising!  I retired in 2019 so I could spend my time caring for my Mom (with dementia) and also helping out with my 5 grandkids.  Oh…and planning cruise vacations somewhere in between!  It’s been a crazy 4 years…much more busy than it was while working!  
But now it’s slowing down…very sadly my Mom passed away in late September and my 5 grandkids are all almost old enough to not need me 😔!  
Which means now I have time for myself and my husband!   We have many vacations planned for the next 2 years…both land and sea!  
Love 💕 Retirement……..