FSUFAN

I've become a proponent of insurance for trips and not just cruises. We will probably look for an annual plan. We bought insurance for a land based trip to Whistler Canada. Low and behold, an ice storm in DFW canceled the first day of our trip out of Nashville. Called the TA and got a refund for the first day from the hotel in the package. We live about an hour from the airport, so we checked into the Gaylord Opryland Resort and the insurance paid for that night, plus meals and other incidentals.

We just did the Seattle debarkation. People in our group were getting off of the ship by 7:30 am. We got off about 8:30 for an 11:55 am flight and ended up going to an Airport lounge (I have Priority Pass) and waiting around for more than an hour until about 15 minutes before boarding time which is 30 minutes before take-off. We too took a yellow cab and it was $50 or $55. We could have easily made an 10:45 or 11:00 am flight. FYI - SeaTac is a very crowded terminal. Security was fairly quick, but we are TSA-Pre. Once beyond security, the terminal gate walkways were shoulder to shoulder with people.

I think I am done with RCL for a while. We've sailed them twice in the last 9 months and I'm ready to try different ships and lines.

The Key is a YMMV type service. Both times we have used it, there were boarding (first time) issues and embarkation (second time) issues. I feel that some of the staff don't even understand The Key benefits and thus we were wrongly directed to non-Key embarkation and debarkation lines and ended up waiting like everyone else. If you are planning on getting Internet access, AND if you can get The Key where it is priced close to the internet package most will say to grab it. Otherwise, the benefits are minimal in my opinion. RCL keeps tweaking (re: taking benefits away) and The Key advantages are becoming less and less.

I have a coffee card with 8 unused punches from our Quantum sailing in June. I doubt that I will be needing it in the future. I would be glad to send it to someone that would use it. Email my RCBlog username @yahoo.com and I will snail mail it out. Don't need anything in return. I have posted this on another roll call thread for a Sept sailing. First come.... I just hate to see it go to waste. UPDATE: The Coffee Card is now spoken for. Happy Sailing to all.

I have a coffee card with 8 unused punches from our Quantum sailing in June. I doubt that I will be needing it in the future. I would be glad to send it to someone that would use it. Email my RCBlog username @yahoo.com and I will snail mail it out. Don't need anything in return. UPDATE: The Coffee Card is now spoken for. Happy Sailing to all.

No Weight Gain of the Seas - (sure to be constantly sold out) Don't Bother Me, I'm on Vacation of the Seas Crank Up the Music and Bring Me a Drink of the Seas Dive Bar of the Seas - (they only serve strong "bottom shelf" drinks, draft beers and burgers - music provided by an old juke box)

As has been stated. Check in on the App (phone or tablet) at 45 days and grab your boarding time. Then sometime later, upload all of your paperwork, pictures and other required stuff via the Website. At least for me it was easier than trying to do everything via the app. So, it was a 2-step process for me. (1) App, then (2) Website.

YMMV - I think it depends on the port. In Seattle, our two bottles of wine were wrapped in plastic bags from Target then in another bag. No way you could even see what they were and they slid them thru in the security line I was in. Mrs Fan was in another security line and she could have easily had 2 more bottles. There were 8 in our party, and we were scattered thru multiple security lines at boarding. Also, I've said in the past that I could have been carrying on Stellum Bourbon which is in a wine bottle shape as no one even paid any attention to what was in the bags. The same was true in Boston for a sailing last fall. No one seemed to care what I was carrying.

Amazon Prime Days are coming up soon (July 11-12). Last year I bought one of those very expensive (at least per the ship prices) Invicta Pro Dive watches for just $32 during Prime Days sale. Spent another $5 at the local jewelry store to get the band resized for my wrist. I find the prices for booze to be just so-so on the ship. I can most stuff for about the same price (at bad Tennessee pricing) and when we lived in Florida, way cheaper at Costco Liquor. I'm sure there are some one-offs, but just not worth the hassle of getting it home after the cruise.

On the Quantum I picked up my card at the La Patisserie. I'm normally a regular coffee drinker and I have 2 cups and I am done. I used about 8 of the 15 as I realized the daily Coffee Latte (times 2) was just too rich for me.

@Dan Curtis FIFY. We just got off of the Quantum and the MDR is just bad. We were shocked at how bad the quality of the food has become. Anything with noodles - might as well be eating paste. Steaks overcooked, gristly. Ask for rare if you want at least a medium cooked steak otherwise expect well-done. We did a few nights in the Windjammer to escape the poor quality of food from the MDR. Spring Rolls (listed plural) was just a single roll. Pad Thai was the worst thing I have ever had on any ship with any line ever and maybe the worst thing I have ever eaten anywhere.

Do you have a go-to entree? The steak is ok. Ask for rare if you want it at least medium done and not well. Is there a specific dessert that you must have? Creme Brule, the chocolate molten cake with ice cream. IMHO the very best dessert thing on the ship are the oatmeal raisin cookies (not available in the MDR). An appetizer that tickles your fancy? Daughter-in-law always asked for the cheese plate (which is in the desserts section) for appetizer. Several cheeses and some fruit.

We didn't make it to the tasting, but the Quantum OTS had one last week on our Alaska sailing.

We just sailed out of Seattle and I got 10:30 boarding for all 4 of the rooms we had. We got out of our Uber and folks leaving the ship got into the Uber.