Marc

No, not quadruple... triple. You get N base points for the cruise, plus N extra points for the suite, plus N extra points for being solo (where N is the number of nights for the cruise).

If you do want to check wine in your suitcase, I'd suggest looking into "wine diapers". I've not used them myself, but I've heard really good things about them. I see that Amazon sells them if you want to find some online.

They don't put alcohol in them on Royal Caribbean. They're stocked with sodas, water, and a few snacks.

You didn't specify it, so just to be clear, the time delay between refills only applies to fills at the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines. You can still get a refill from a bar as frequently as you want.

I'll be thinking that when I get out the snow blower tomorrow for the 4-6" we're supposed to get tonight through tomorrow morning. Fortunately, that's a whole bunch less than what Boston is getting from this storm. "47 more days... just 47 more days!" :D

The mention I saw on Facebook said that it was for "new bookings only". In the past, even canceling and trying to book it again would be seen as a rebooking and disqualify you for the promotion. Some people have sort of rebooked by changing their ship or sail date in order to take advantage of "new bookings only" promotions.

I saw a rumor mentioned on Facebook that for February, Royal Caribbean will be offering beverage packages as a perk for new bookings. Although that wouldn't help me for my existing bookings, it'll be nice to see them do something that, at this point, is bound to be more popular than another month of BOGOHO.

We did a Mayan ruins excursion back on Oasis of the Seas in 2010 when she went to Costa Maya (since Falmouth wasn't yet ready for her). The excursion was quite nice, but the bugs were horrible, and I forgot my bug spray (I grabbed two sunscreen sprays instead). Fortunately, my friend brought extra. I don't have any experience with excursions in Tulum, though.

It depends on the ship, and on each ship, it depends on the particular muster station. Oasis and Allure generally have their muster stations not out on the deck, and some in areas where you can sit during the drill (like a dining room or the Aquatheater). Most of the ships, however, do generally have their muster stations on the outside Promenade deck.

I guess then, by extension, the last couple of days are cool to cold, too. I had considered a Thanksgiving cruise out of New York for last year, but decided against it for a number of reasons, one of which was that a significant part of the cruise's sea days would be chilly outside, and this was on a (non-RCI) ship with lots of outdoor activities.

I have seen a "Glow Party" on several previous cruises, but I forget which ships. That's kind of equivalent to the "White Party" in that white clothing tends to "glow" better under the blacklights. On Allure of the Seas, they also sold various blinking-LED-enhanced trinkets (glasses, necklaces, rings, etc.) for the party.

That's because Oasis (and Allure, Quantum, and maybe a couple others) have reservations for the entertainment, so it's integrated in the Cruise Planner. Most ships don't have reservable entertainment, so their schedules aren't published in advance.

Polo shirts are fine.

The BOGOHO (buy one, get second passenger half-off) promotion has been going on for many months. Perhaps it's time to consider something new. I recently discovered that NCL has a very interesting promotion going on for bookings made between mid-December and the end of January. It's called "Freestyle Choice" and, in general, lets you choose what benefit you get from a list of three: Free "Ultimate Dining Package" (unlimited flat-rate specialty restaurants) Free "Ultimate Beverage Package" $200 in onboard credit If you book a full suite, you get all three of those (and the onboard credit is increased to $300). The free beverage package is really valuable. I'm probably going to book an NCL cruise to take advantage of that. Although I'm not a heavy drinker, considering the soda and wine packages I would typically purchase, getting them and mixed drinks for free, too, makes it worthwhile. I'd love to see Royal Caribbean do something like this. I think they could get a lot of buzz for a promotion this aggressive.

Avis also has a location near the port that offers shuttle service to/from the port. It's location code is QF1 ("Port Everglades Shuttle for Cruise Ships"). I've used Avis a lot for one-way rentals in the Florida area, mostly between Fort Lauderdale and Miami or between a downtown location and the airport. I'll probably use them again in 2016 to get from Port of Miami to the Port Canaveral area.

I've done a true winter cruise once. It was in January 2011 and we sailed on a quick 3-night cruise on Majesty of the Seas out of Miami. Although it was definitely a nice treat to escape the winter weather, we did this to bump ourselves to Platinum right before they changed from cruise credits to cruise points. This year, for the fourth year in a row, we have our technically-it's-still-winter spring break cruise in mid-March. Last year, we arrived back home to Pittsburgh after the cruise to find ourselves in the middle of a snowstorm. That was a very unpleasant shock to the system, and not a fun drive home from the airport.

CruiseFish will automatically assume double occupancy and account for the BOGOHO sale pricing and it appears to match reality for me. Looking at my upcoming cruise on Independence of the Seas on March 14, 2015, in a Promenade cabin, CruiseFish reports that the price is $899/person. Royal Caribbean's site also reports $899/person (actually as $1199/person - $600). Taxes and fees aren't counted here and are added to Royal Caribbean's "Summary of Charges" info. I assume that you're looking at CAD. I was comparing USD here. CAD may be somehow presented differently.

I've had great luck with CruiseFish.net. It's not perfect, as I've read about some deals at Cruise Critic before I received e-mail from CruiseFish, but I have managed to lower the price on some bookings or get free or very cheap upgrades in the days leading up to sailing. For me, it's well worth the ~$1/sailing price they charge. Plus, I like that I can look up price histories for older sailings to get an idea of how pricing might change in the future for similar sailings. That was useful for planning some last-minute bookings where we bought the airfare in advance, but waited until about three weeks ahead of sailing to book the cruise in order to catch some last-minute price drops. That's rather effective for short 3- and 4-night cruises.

You're right. I found an image from a year and a half ago of the rules for the Current Pool in the H2O Zone.

My second Royal Caribbean cruise as well, on Liberty of the Seas. I fell in love with the Royal Promenade and the general layout of and the various venues on the ship. My first Royal Caribbean cruise was on the Viking Serenade. That did not leave me with a positive impression at all.

True, and I'd consider that, but Royal Caribbean has since removed all wine packages for my upcoming cruise, so I can't choose that 10-bottle package now. Oh, well... I snoozed and missed out, I guess. :)

Where did you see that? Is it perhaps a European difference? This page (from Royal Caribbean US) says:

I only get to choose from those two, huh? Hmmm... The Promenade cabin would likely be cheaper in general, but I get a Diamond balcony discount, so the Central Park balcony might win out in terms of cost. (I just checked and for a particular cruise I selected, the Central Park balcony with the balcony discount was about $100/person cheaper than the Promenade cabin.) So, that swings the pendulum to the Central Park balcony. In addition, I get a balcony to enjoy some relaxing time while listening to the sounds and music from Central Park. I also get natural light during the day. So, Central Park balcony wins.

Royal Caribbean is quietly discontinuing their wine packages. It had been that you could purchase 5, 7, 10, or 12 bottles of selected wines at a discounted price, either in advance or during the cruise. The general understanding is that these packages are no longer available as of 2015 (pretty much now). I had really enjoyed getting a 7 bottle package for my week-long cruises. One of the selections in the wine package list happens to be one of my favorites, so I was extra pleased with the package. Royal Caribbean is guiding people to the unlimited alcoholic packages, but they're really no real substitute for the wine packages. Costwise, they're more expensive, and you can't share them with your friends. I'm sorry to see the wine packages go. I'm not sure what I'll do now. At least I'll still be able to bring a couple of bottles onboard.

On Allure? I thought they didn't have omelette stations in Windjammer on Oasis or Allure due to the proportionally smaller size of that venue on those ships. I know that I've had made-to-order omelettes in the Wipeout Café on Allure. It's often less busy up there and has a decent enough selection of hot and cold breakfast items to satisfy me.