KLA

Well, I have a new 'dream' port stop. That looks like it would be incredible.

Keep on checking - when we did our RoyalUp to a JS from a Balcony it processed two days before. I'm surprised ours came through this early!

Symphony of the Seas, St. Maarten/St. Thomas/PDCC

Royal Up offer just processed for our 4/30 cruise - OV to OV Balcony! YAY! 16 days!

Without looking up anything about this at all - could this have been one of the routes that had St. Petersburg removed from the itinerary which caused some port shuffling?

In both cases of my brother and I (divorced parent) and my niece (loss of parent), we just brought all of the documents mentioned - just in case. When I was about 12 and I travelled out of the country for the first time with my mom, we had a bit of panic at the airport in maybe missing our flight when my mom didn't realized we needed that notarized letter saying it was okay to take us with her. Fortunately, my dad was able to fax the document directly to the airport and we made or flight but now we just err on the side of bringing all of the documentation with us. When we brought our niece and her mother with us on a cruise, we had her father's death certificate with us just in case that came up as well. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

It was one of our favorite parts of the space. We ate a bit later than most other diners appeared to in CK so there was tons of room (and also, low capacity anyway), so they set us up with a space so we sat next to each other and could both look out the window as the sun was setting. Amazing.

Also adding on to my previous comment, the Coastal Kitchen experience I had on Odyssey was by far my favorite dining experience I've ever had on board. Marlon (our waiter) was our favorite and we loved chatting with him each night. Really hope to meet him again on another ship.

This was my experience on Odyssey - they encouraged us to come back every night and let us make reservations through the week ahead of time. I don't expect the same experience on Allure later this year, but will definitely be trying to go every night!

Definitely agreed - the placement seems to be in a good spot! We picked it because of my birthday but we also usually cruise in October for similar reasons (kids in school, ships are a bit calmer) so this seems to work out well.

It honestly looks like a lot of everything is available. I'm wondering if since we're just outside of the spring break window we'll have a bit lower capacity as well.

Thank you for the reminder to stash a ziploc bag for some coconut cookies...

Also on your sailing - wondering the same. Lots of different categories still available.

Awesome! Will definitely let you know. 3 weeks until we leave!

I was kind of hoping that we'd have better luck with Royal Up going from an Ocean View cabin to a balcony of some type, but starting to lose hope that could be the case. Either way, very happy with our cabin location on deck 8 nearby Central Park. That said - considering printing my luggage tags just so that my cabin might change shortly after

I adore Radiance class, and absolutely loved my experience on Empress. I went out of my way to book a second sailing on Empress right after my first one (before the pandemic cancelled those plans). I typically lean towards the smaller ships as opposed to Oasis class, but I also agree with @twangster's comment that I don't see it happening with Royal. Actually, I think I liked Odyssey a bit more over the Oasis class (though having the opportunity to sail her while capacity was so low might have contributed to that point of view) - but obviously I'm going to be perfectly happy on any cruise ship I'm on. My next two cruises are on Symphony and Allure.

From my understanding, CBD (generally) is fine within the US however varying countries have differing laws around CBD. Taking that along with you could be a bit of a gamble.

SO happy to read this - I'll be sailing on her at the end of this month. Any other big recommends or can't-misses that come to mind?! The only other Oasis class that we've sailed is Allure.

I'm on the sailing after yours (4/30) - following!

Definitely glad to see this - especially from the standpoint of them being in a position to be able to invest in that technology.

While I don't have Clear, I do have precheck and global entry and I would stand by my previous recommendation that you're running a risk on an early flight.

It looks like Thermal Spa passes are still available on my sailing - I know that these are pretty popular, but I've never been to one or seen one. What's typical use for these and does anyone have positive/negative experiences on board (Symphony)?

Was the room assignment a guarantee booking? You may get your guarantee assignment before a Royal Up offer is accepted. If they're all still showing as pending, you're still in the running for a Royal Up!

If the biggest issue is bar service - I'm suddenly seeing giving up drinking as a big perk Thanks for the tips! We also tend to avoid the Windjammer (other than for dinner on occasion when we don't feel like getting cleaned up for the MDR) so it sounds like this will work out well for us even if capacity is high.

I guess on that note - any thoughts or reviews on Hooked? In theory it sounds great but I'm concerned about seafood quality and if it's worth the visit.