FloatyBoaty

I did the Nova Scotia & New Brunswick cruise in June. We did not change to local time and were reminded over and over before getting off the ship to stay on ship time. Several people reminded our tour guides of ship time too. A great suggestion we got was to go into our devices (iPhone would be Settings-General-Date & Time) and turn off Set Automatically and then manually change the time zone to New York so that your device stays on ship time

Wow - just repriced The Key! Now 17.99/day or $72 savings vs my previous purchase and $3/day less than Surf & Stream. Dining has not changed vs my last purchases some excursions that I got on sale are not on sale now.

Agreed - and wasn't there just a thread yesterday about the Cruise Compass going digital too? Additionally, allthough the restaurants onboard still do offer paper menus, they also offer QR code - some restaurants here at home only have online menus unless you specifically ask. So sorry if it upsets you but I always have my phone with me. I use it for the app, I use it for photos, I use it to check on my elderly parents back home. I will not use it to discuss "my upcoming colonoscopy" in public however.

Bryan is super talented and just a great guy overall. BryanJames.music

I also was on Wonder In the Mediterranean this month and did tip as much - if not more than usual. I fold my bills twice and hand to them directly, but I guess discretely, as I'm not just waving bills around.

Looking forward to checking that out soon! Thanks for the recommendation

In addition to the formal/dress your best nights, our last cruise had the tropical night @wordell1 mentions as well as a dress in all white night. Lots of people participate, lots don't. It's your vacation - do what works for you and have a blast!

I was on Oasis in June. I visited Windjammer several times and there were long lines at times as they made sure everyone was stopping to wash their hands. If the lines were too long I just went and had a drink somewhere else and came back a bit later. I was cruising solo and never had a problem finding a table to myself, but of course might be different at prime time for a family. I think that there is some good food and some not-so-good food. Whether alone or with family, I generally take a swing through to see what is being offered and then grab plate, silverware (it's rolled in a napkin, but spoons are separate) and start choosing. There's always a nice salad with a couple different lettuce mixes to choose from and then a dozen or so toppings that you can add. There's always hot dogs, hamburgers, and a meat carving station. There's pasta, international offerings, etc, really quite a lot to choose from, but it's not fine dining - it's a buffet.

I ~almost~ feel like that question is test question because I/we have been reminded each time, only in the MDR, that their service ratings are very important to them and that a 10 is their goal, etc. The script was almost exactly the same each time, so it seems like they must know the high rating is being suggested/requested? Anyway, the first 2 times I said no, thinking that it might go against them, but this past cruise answered that yes, they had. It did then ask who/where. I start a note in my phone at the beginning of each cruise to jot down those I want to remember to bring up in my survey. It's a really big deal for them - I have heard that they print out many of these and post them in the crew areas.

Agree about the beds - super comfortable - and staffing. The announcements could go on quite a while - always in 2 and sometimes in 3 languages, but hey, there were people from 80 countries on board, so could have gone on lots lots longer!

We love the enclosed Solarium on Wonder. Have been on her twice so far. We end up spending at least part of the day there, and with the Solarium Bistro and (mostly) no children under 16, there's great food nearby and it can be the most peaceful part of the ship. It was quite hot there one day in the Mediterranean, but otherwise, usually comfortably warm+.

Used a shoe organizer with metal hooks over the closet door on Wonder last week. Nobody said a word.

Really not trying to "pile on" here, but in looking at your profile, you mention that your Allure OTS cruise in January 2023 will be your first cruise, so I think it's partially a factor of not having seen what these crew members do for you and who they are perhaps? @Ampurp85 was not exaggerating when she said they maybe have one day off per week and work 12-16 hours a day. This is not like a hotel stay where a different maid will service your room each day. The same stateroom attendant will clean and make up your room morning and evening every single day with rare exception (I have seen my assigned stateroom attendant every single day on all 3 of my cruises this year.) They will call you by name: "Mr. Joe" every time they see you from the first day and ask how "Mrs Sue" is if she is not with you. The same MDR staff will wait on you every night and remember your drink order if you have traditional dining. They will ask you if you got off the ship and how your excursion was - many of them have not been off the ship in AGES. They have not seen their families since their contract began and many send all of their paychecks directly home. If the 32000/year figure is accurate, it most certainly is not $16/hour. Additionally, (and someone more experienced feel free to correct me if I am wrong) they do not work the whole year - when they finish a contract and go home, they have no pay until their next contract begins. I hope you and your wife have a wonderful cruise. I am going on Allure in a few weeks myself and am really looking forward to not having to think about a thing except which drink I want and which restaurant to go to once I get on board.

Here as well. My husband has a medical condition and does not/should not drink much. Royal has it noted in his profile. When I go in to purchase my drink package, it does not require it for him - even if it's a "buy one/get one discounted" package it just reprices for one person when I select myself only. Nothing has popped up requiring him to purchase any other drink package, such as the Refreshment Package, but I have done so.

I believe the lowest price I ever saw for our Wonder sailing last week was 230. I didn't follow this blog as closely then and did not purchase. After that it never got below 265 (so we did 3 package instead)

I have heard that the next cast, currently rehearsing in Florida, will be adding the Sonic Odyssey production back in as well.

Last week in MDR, we saw a family ream a lead waiter over one brunch item coming out wrong. We were seated next to the waiter's station. After the waiter politely took the offending plate away, he returned to the waiter's station and said to his assistant "I don't know if I can take this anymore". It was so sad to see, because they do work so hard and are so nice. Seriously, your meal came out wrong, they get you another one so quickly, why do you feel the need to be rude and demeaning to another human. He continued to serve them very politely and respectfully as they continued to ask for more and more food (that they hadn't previously ordered) throughout the service.

I have zero problems with gratuities going up. As @alibobali said, they all work so hard! Staff across the board are incredibly nice and so polite. They work constantly, and at a level of detail I find amazing. I add 1's and 5's to my tote every morning to tip additionally along the way each day in addition to larger tips to staff I have frequent contact with. I don't have pre-covid cruise experience to compare the current service level with, but I find the consistently wonderful service onboard to be well beyond anything I encounter on a regular basis at home.

I received an email August 2 for our August 14 sailing subject: Reminder of The Key program benefits! It stated this within the body of the letter (this was for Wonder, so your time may be different?) : *Please arrive at the terminal at 11:30 AM. If you are not able to make the early access window, you should arrive within your appointment time and will receive priority access into the terminal. Lastly, when you arrive to the port for your sailing, please locate The Key signage for priority access into the terminal and make your way onto the ship. Our preselected time was 11:00 so we just went then. The signage was very good and definitely was priority access/very smooth. We got onto the ship, made our dining reservations, sat down to the Chops lunch in the MDR and started planning our entertainment reservations! Loved it and have already purchased for my next cruise.

I was on the Wonder OTS August 14 sailing. August 18th they began the company's second pilot for crew masks optional (somewhat dependent on position?) I understand that the first pilot they did - not sure which ship - may have resulted in higher crew positivity, so hopefully this will be successful. What I can say is that it was so nice to finally see staff with their masks off, which seemed to increase over the following days. They seemed pretty happy too! So many smiles and still wearing their "smile behind the mask" photo pins too

Just back from Wonder OTS out of Barcelona. The water onboard is San Benedetto mineral water (cans) . A quick search says: "comes from glaciers in the Dolomites, part of the Italian Alps in North Eastern Italy". Staff onboard says the cans are more recyclable than bottles... Smaller than the bottles, but staff gave me multiple. Most bars had it sitting on top of the bar (not cold) as I think they're just going through so much of it? - but they pulled it out of a refrigerated drawer at the Trellis Bar. I thought it tasted absolutely fine and not tinny at all; only issue is not reclosable.

We are sailing this Sunday All of our vaccine card information was there in the app and approved. I just reviewed it 2 days ago. It is now gone; our check in page looks just like yours @Ndfan89

I received an email from Royal (partial screenshot follows) 5 days before my sailing. It's really not a huge project - just download the app. You can start filling it out, but can't finalize until I believe 3 days or 72 hours before your sailing. Just completed almost the exact same thing for entry into Spain for our trip to Barcelona & Wonder later this week.

Ok this thread made me go straight to the Royal site and see where I could cruise from New Orleans. It's been way too long since I've been there and it's now added to the "cruises to plan" list... as always, thanks Royal Caribbean blog community!

Hi @teddyI believe yes still for you. (I did Oasis to Nova Scotia & New Brunswick & was required to) "Anyone arriving to Canada by road, air, rail or marine vessel is required to provide travel information to the government through ArriveCAN".