Ritchie

On 6/7/2025 at 4:32 PM, FOB said:

Our first B2B was Europe in 2023 and w3 kept the same room

last year in October we did B2B2B Alaska then down to Hawaii and the TP to Sydney. 3 different rooms and just over a month on Ovation which was great

this October it is B2B2B2B all on Indy and all in the same room - TA from Southampton then 3 nights PDCC,western Caribbean and eastern Caribbean which is 32 nights

next October we were due to do B2B2B on Brilliance (TA, Miami to San Juan then southern Caribbean - all same cabin) but we have changed the start and now have side to side (Legend’s first TA to adventure and then a day to get from fort lauderdale to Miami to pick up brilliance ). Think I will need to charm a loyalty advisor for that one to see can we get the Miami part of brilliance as a B2B since it is hubbys birthday and it would be great to get the B2B cruisers lunch for him )

The transatlantic cruises really lend themselves to B2B for us as it means we can do a lot more places without having to do loads of trans Atlantic flights

We've done several  cruises all with the same cabin. Our next b2b will be on Liberity in July 2026 BUT we will not have same cabin. We'll be interested in how that works.

21 minutes ago, Matt said:

Here's how Express Boarding works: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2024/05/20/royal-caribbean-express-boarding-review

I doubt it. Nothing about the LA boarding experience is express, efficient, or smart

We got to use express boarding in LA on our September 2024 Navigator cruise!

22 hours ago, RCDM-123 said:

The room steward thought it was "fleet wide", but I haven't been able to find much discussion about it (other than some mention of seeing it on Celebrity ships).  Maybe it was only the Ovation.

The chairs had a sign saying "do not lay flat", so they were clearly concerned about going back all the way, but why lock them in the partially down (reclined) position?

Saw this on our last cruise aboard the Navigator! I'm sure it's done to protect the glass door.

Will be back on Allure in 2026. Love that ship class. Anyone else?

We sailed on Jewel this summer and had a great time. The ship was well maintained and easy to move around in. We love this ship class.

It was available on Navigator last week.

Welcome! We will be on thjs cruise as well. It's nice sailing from a west coast port, even if the stops are limited.

19 hours ago, Momof4crazytocruise said:

We finally made Diamond (along with everyone else - LOL) - and our upcoming Alaska cruise will be our first as Diamond. We typically always cruise with the deluxe beverage package, but we're thinking we'll forgo it this time around since it's A) not the Caribbean, B) it's port intensive and we plan to locate the craft breweries in port, and C) we have the 4 drinks. If by some reason we go over 4, we'll just pay by drink.

My question is - everyone keeps talking about the coffee machine in the Crown/Diamond Lounge - is it as good as getting a latte from the coffee shop? Do I need a phD to operate the darn thing? Do they have any of the flavor syrups (not for me, but Mr. Mom enjoys a shot of sugar free vanilla in his latte) I am debating if I should get a Coffee card for my daily americano - or if I can skip that and hit the lounge for a decent coffee instead? 

 

Buy the coffee card. It's worth it!

Just booked this cruise. This will our first cruise out of New Orleans but we have been on the Brillance before. Looking forward to getting back on board and sailing of this port. Anyone else?

Our upcoming cruise at the end of February will be our first out of Galveston. Looking forward to experiencing this new terminal. 

We will be there. This will be our first cruise out of Galveston and our second on an Oasis class ship. Looking forward to being there.

People should make a little effort to dress for the MDR, especially by not wearing a hat. 

We always put a luggage tag on our carry luggage just in case!

23 hours ago, ZBrady said:

Found this online and thought it could be helpful in the future - 

This issue came up on our recent cruise when one crew member said my new coffee card was valid only for the current sailing. I insisted that it was not (we had used my old card, from a different sailing, on the current ship the previous week). After returning home I contacted RC about that issue. According to a representative from customer support, those remaining drinks can be used on any future ship or sailings.

We are on this cruise and are looking forward to those Scottish ports of call. We've been to England and Ireland several time but never Scotland.

We will be driving to San Pedro for our upcoming NOTS cruise to Mexico. This will be the first time that we will have to park a vehicle at a port. My question is how crowded will the parking be? Will I need to get there early to find a spot? Thanks for any advice.

We always stay at the Marriott Waterfront. It's about a 15 minute ride via a shuttle to the port. The hotel arranges for the shuttle. There are plenty of food choices across the street as well. There are also lots of things to see within walking distance. Enjoy!

Will check it out for sure!

Thanks for all this information. We're doing a B2B on NOTS starting April 22nd (4-7). Will check out Playmakers for sure!

That's one advantage of having a port-side balcony; you can clap at all the pier runners as they sprint back to the gangway! LOL

We're doing a b2b on Navigator (4 day then 7 day) starting April 24th. Anyone else?

Our next cruise is in April on the Navigator. We'll be down from Northern California two days prior to departure just to be safe.

Anything by Jimmy Buffet! That's what cruising is all about. 

We have a small speaker that we use in our cabin in the afternoon before leaving for dinner. It's never loud enough to cause an issue.

My wife got the same message and it freaked her out. I never received it. Our next cruise in in April 2023.