J_Keeble

I believe they are getting  released 2nd march. see the below blog post .
 
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/01/11/royal-caribbean-releases-spring-2021-2022-opening-schedule

Day 7 - St. Lucia
I was concerned with the winds still up a bit that our stop in St. Lucia would be in jeopardy but the Captain turned the ship and backed us in like a boss.  The direction of the wind and channel into the harbor worked in our favor today.  

Today's excursion would be a Coastal Cruise to the Pitons booked through Royal on sale.  When booking excursions through Royal check prices often because excursions routinely change in price irrespective of an any announced cruise planner sales.


It was a pleasant sail down the coast.  This catamaran type sailboat featured a covered section and open seating on top with mesh netting at the bow. 

After an hour or so our destination started to appear over the coastal hills.

Along the way our guide pointed out various communities and spoke about their history.


Then as we approached our destination and namesake for the tour the rains came.  Short lived but enough to send everyone under cover.



Cruise to the Pitons - ✅
To be honest it was rather anticlimactic but it was nice to get out on the water and see the coast.

Day 6 Dinner
You guessed it, Coastal Kitchen.
I met up with a CC user at the Diamond happy hour and since we were both eligible for CK we shared a table tonight.  It was kind of entertaining.  Our table wasn't my usual table so not my regular waiter.  My waiter still came over even though it wasn't his table, greeted me and brought me my regular glass of wine that he knew I liked.  Excellent service!

Another Caesar Salad but I've shown that a few times so no picture.
Braised Lamb Shank


For dessert I kept it simple with some no sugar added ice cream.  It's ice cream, served in a martini glass.  No picture needed

It's a shame you will miss Bahrain.  There are lots of interesting things to do there.  Last time I was there I went and visited the Crown Prince's camel farm !!  Very interesting.

I'm watching the video now! it will certainly be easy to send them the link and to watch the video.
 
thanks Matt

Ten commonly asked first time Royal Caribbean cruise questions

its swings and roundabouts for different people. its a shame I wont get to visit Bahrain but 2 days in Abu Dhabi sounds good to me

Having done Abu Dhabi a few times previously it looks like I'll be taking great advantage of the Deluxe Drinks package on this trip ! 
 
I presume the Feb sailings will have Bahrain cancelled also ? 

speak for yourself. I See no problem going on this cruise.
 
Saying that, if I become inactive after march you know I made the wrong decision :L

Good to hear, ive been keeping an eye on one of the facebook groups for a recent sailing and all sounds good. 
I'll happily report after my Feb one how things are.

I'm going on one of the last ones in march but as I've said, the facebook group is reporting things are back to normal.
 

Bingo. 
Bottom line, there is no all inclusive option. You can build your own "all inclusive" cruise offer with various pre-cruise purchases: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/01/25/how-get-closer-all-inclusive-royal-caribbean-cruise

This is great news! When we book suites we like the benefit of the Concierge Lounge. There is nothing worse then having it over run by Diamond + members who go in early and save seats. We pay a lot of money for this perk!  
 
On cruises we book in a non suite cabin we are happy to huddle with the unwashed masses in the Diamond lounge! 

30th of April 2020:
Navigator  3926
Mariner      4001
Brilliance   2580
Together 10507 passengers (full occupancy)
TOO MUCH!

A major appeal of the smaller ships for me is less crowds. I typically tend to eat as many meals as possible in the MDR, and run to the promenade or buffet if I need some sort of snack, so a huge selection isn’t that important. As long as the food is good I’m happy! Itinerary is my #1 though for sure. 

I've been on explorer and the smaller ships which you talk of.
 
vison, rhapsody, grandeur and enchantment are all of the same class. Enchantment is a little longer and has a few extra bars etc.
i'm on vision in Novemeber doing a great itinery and its more for that and not the ship. saying that I like big and small ships alike.
you just have to know what to expect. for me all I need is a pool-bar and some music.
All ships have that … ooo and some good food. yes smaller ships have less options but how many options do you really need?
 

I wouldn't worry. The odds of something happening are so insanely small. Even compared to the plane getting shot down, that's a very different scenario and set of variables than a cruise ship getting attacked. Obviously, everyone has to do what's comfortable for them, but for me, changing plans because of a 0.0001% chance that something may happen is no way to live. 

I've been on explorer and the smaller ships which you talk of.
 
vison, rhapsody, grandeur and enchantment are all of the same class. Enchantment is a little longer and has a few extra bars etc.
i'm on vision in Novemeber doing a great itinery and its more for that and not the ship. saying that I like big and small ships alike.
you just have to know what to expect. for me all I need is a pool-bar and some music.
All ships have that … ooo and some good food. yes smaller ships have less options but how many options do you really need?
 

If I go to book a new reservation and select MTD the only option given to move forward with the booking is to prepay gratuities (at least on the UK version of the website).  Maybe that is what the friend's TA is referring to?  I don't know if the gratuities could still be removed later.

Some good responses here guys. It seems like there may be an error and he has been misinformed.

We booked a 2021 sailing with MTD and we didn’t prepay our gratuities. Our TA asked if we wanted to prepay and we said no. No issues at all. Of course, we booked a couple of months ago. 

The requirement to prepay grats if you are doing MTD went away a number of years ago.
What J_Keeble was suggesting, I think, is that his friend is considering removing ALL gratuities associated with dining. ...and was, apparently told that if you are doing MTD you are not permitted to avoid paying dining gratuities. 

We are sailing in a week without prepaying gratuities.   I am staying onboard for the next sailing the following week...I have My Time Dining and have not pre-paid gratuities.

 

I have a cruise booked for April 2021 with MTD and was given the choice for prepaid grats, which I took.  There wasn't any mention that I know of warning me that I can't refuse the grats later.  Not that I read all the fine print mind you....