monorailmedic

The main reason I look forward to sailing Radiance class is for the views. Fewer and fewer cruise ships these days actually let you see the ocean.

CruiseCritic is *why* was scared to click. I kid, I kid...sorta :-)

What's it worth to ya? Direct message me. Kidding. Matt has mentioned that a June Alaska sailing (2018) is expected, though ultimately we'll have to wait one more week until Royal Caribbean announces the itineraries, as planning group cruises that don't yet exists as cruises is tricky :-) I'm stoked as we're very ready to go back to Alaska.

To expand on DocLC's comments, if you're using a travel agent just let them know so they can help ensure the proper arrangements are made. In short however, guest assistance (contact via your TA or on your own) will provide a long enough cord as well as distilled water.

In terms of local vehicle traffic it's pretty standard in Ft Lauderdale - weekdays 0730-0930 and 1700-1900. Now, if you're asking when the worst time is to arrive for your cruise, then I'd say, for a standard departure time (late afternoon) somewhere around the 1pm marker seems to be the busiest time. That in mind, if you're on a smaller ship it's not as big of a concern, and largely, cruise lines have tuned these processes in a way that long lines are a thing of the past.

To Matt's point, it's a diving destination. The town is lovely, but there isn't much going on (I liked Bonaire Blond Brewery though). I'd look into a water taxi ride to Klein Bonaire. It's a snorkel destination, but the sand and water is so incredibly beautiful that if you're okay w/ a two hour beach stop that doesn't have restrooms, beach loungers, ubrellas, etc it's worth it even as a non-diver. It's a cheap and beautiful option. https://goo.gl/photos/URq6UcGrScjV5yRi6

Interesting - I noticed that for the Navigator group cruise it showed the menu yet listed the restaurant as Sabor Taqueria and has the a la carte pricing with the $15 option. I'm not sure if they're making all of the Sabor offerings the same or not -but if this is the case, I can't even tell the direction in which they're going with it. It's also of course possible that this is all a mistake on the part of the web team.

Having lived here all my life I'll say that it is true, i's unlikely going to be cool in April. You can likely expect temperatures in the upper 70s to lower 80s. That in mind, know that South Florida weather can change and do crazy things. In the past week we saw temperatures ranging from the low 50s to the low 80s. So plan for warm, but do double check a few days before your trip.

Welcome! It's a great question, and one that I sincerely hope RCI has a better answer to in the very near future. For now, if you want to avoid data packages, you can look into using text messaging (with data roaming turned *off*). Depending on your carrier, texts are usually free or just a few cents to receive, and $.20-.50 to send. Below is some information about staying in touch on your cruise - both mention this option and more. http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/07/27/how-stay-touch-someone-your-royal-caribbean-cruise http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/08/25/using-your-cell-phone-royal-caribbean-cruise

Can you load up a module that implements a "dislike" button?

Thanks for sharing, I'm looking forward to following along. Please send Stefan and the Champagne Bar staff our best (Billy and Larissa). Enjoyed Indy quite a bit not long ago.

Hi Jen, First off, welcome to the site! Generally speaking, I've found Royal Caribbean to be very accommodating. Of course, like anything in life, there is always a little bit of luck involved. I'll give you a few quick tips based on what I've found as a vegetarian (lacto/ovo) and cruiser. -Have your travel agent note on your reservation that someone in your party has special dietary requirements -Even if you're skipping the MDR the first night, speak with your head waiter and let him/her know your (well, your daughter's) needs (they can annotate your reservation so that it's seen in specialty restaurants too) -Be clear, not only in what is acceptable, but what she *wants* -Relating to above, don't just say vegan if she wants to eat fish - as you know, vegan = no animal products at all -Be sure to mention that while part of this is preference, she does have a dairy intolerance. This will lead them to be all the more cautious in terms of cross-contamination and such Last note - If you don't feel someone is being helpful enough or understanding the nature of your request, ask someone else. For example, most any of the dining staff will be understanding and helpful, but vegetarianism and veganism is much more prevalent in some cultures, so if I have the option, I'll always look for an Indian crew member in the dining area that might be able to help me out, as India has a very large vegan and vegetarian population (also jain, another set of criteria). We've dined in Izumi, Johnny Rockets, Giovanni's Table, and Sabor and have always had plenty of options - more than what is just indicated as vegan/vegetarian on the menus). Ohh, and we've found that for the largest variety of options the Windjammer at dinner is a winner - far more options than during the day, but again, the specialty venues and MDR can work with you. In fact, we usually request a vegetarian Indian dish (or two) every night in the MDR in addition to whatever else might be on the menu (there are other options of course, we just love Indian cuisine).

Welcome! I have personally used MEI Travel for the better part of a decade. They've assisted me with hotels, cruises, theme park trips, etc. In full disclosure, they're a sponsor of RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com, but I've been using them since before this site existed. I personally work with Brock at MEI, but know a number of their agents quite well and have had nothing but positive experiences. Brock got to know me and quickly came to understand my preferences (in terms of accommodations, communications, etc), and they're great about keeping on top of policy changes, pricing updates, etc. You can get a free quote from MEI by going to the homepage (www.RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com) and completing the form on the right. Alternatively, you can go to www.RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com/mei. As far as the internet package, I think you can purchase the package at the daily rate if you want, but note that you'll pay much more per day onboard than you will if you prepay for the entire cruise via the cruise planner online (or call if they've already locked you out b/c your cruise is coming up soon). I've never used the internet cafe area, but beleive you'd need access independent of that - you'd just be using their computer/space.

I keep saying I'm going to bring my skates, but they take up so much space that I haven't done it yet.

If there is a particular stateroom you want, and you're willing to adjust your sail dates to get it, I'd ask your travel agent to check into this for you. They may have a better interface for this, or they can work with the cruise line to figure it out.

I'd consider using your OBC for other things (gratuities, specialty dining, etc) if you'll be spending at least $200 on board anyway. Reason being the beverage package is roughly $10 more per day when you purchase onboard. This means if that OBC would be used anyway, you'd spend more money (usually, prices vary by sailing) by buying the beverage package onboard. The same goes for Voom. http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/01/17/how-get-get-discount-royal-caribbean-drink-package

I was thinking this. Slack user.

Someone put up the bat-signal? Yes, I do request certain types of scotch ahead of time. That in mind, I'm not as confident that this would work as well for beer. For one, the scotches I request are sometimes (just not usually) found on RCI ships already, and are standard options on Celebrity. This means there is already a sku somewhere, a known supplier, an ability to simply transfer inventory off another RCI or X ship, etc. This might be the case with some beers, but certainly not all, in the same way it wouldn't be the same with all whisky. Next, a bottle or two of whisky is plenty of stock for a week long cruise if just one or two parties is requesting. In terms of volume, to accomodate a beer request they'd probably need to move much more volume, which could mean greater expense or just additional effort. That in mind - you may totally get what you want, I just don't want to give the impression that anything you can find at Total Wine is just an email away from being on your cruise, as this is probably quite far from the truth. BH

I had minibar charges on my room last Feb on Allure OTS. I called when I got home (as I didn't notice these charges on my initial review) and in a 2 min call they credited me. It was easy to fix, but anecdotaly, happens too frequently.

This is great news. I'm a big fan of GE and PreCheck. It is interesting that they require the cards (I guess b/c we're not dealing with the kiosks like at GE in airports), as when I registered for GE they told both my wife and I that you really don't need the card. Luckily I threw them in my bag as we've needed to show them at PEFL and next month, at PortMiami. BTW, if you're following along in the credit card thread and you're interested in signing up for Global Entry (which includes PreCheck), remember that there are several cards out there (Chase Sapphire Reserve, AmEx Platinum, and others) that will reimburse you the cost of registration. Not enough alone to justify those cards, but a nice perk.

In reviews for anything (travel, clothing, etc), I look for the actual data points - not the opinion. Someone may have their trip ruined because there was only one night that the MDR served lobster - and that's their perogative. If I don't care about lobster, their very real experience doesn't matter much to me. If someone said they lloved the cruise b/c they didn't have live music in any of the venues and they prefer pop tunes, that's also their perogative - though this time, I actually feel it's a good thing for me.

I'll bow to those who have sailed on Ovation, but wanted to duck in and say that while CruiseCritic can be a great resource for certain things, I've found that using their forums for reviews is risky. For one, people tend to go there to complain, thinking they'll be heard by the cruise lines (and I hope they are if the gripes are legit, I also hope they fill out their surveys...), but beyond that there just seems to be a cloud of negativity on CC. I also understand that we all feel more compelled to take the time to type out negative experiences compared to positive ones - same goes for product reviews. Not every poster is like this, and not every topic, but I find it amazing how people will go on 15 sailings for a ultra-premium or luxury line each year, stay in a penthouse suite, and complain about each one - why keep cruising if you hate it so much? Again, hopefully someone with Ovation experience can chime in, but felt compelled to explain that I take CC forums' reviews with a grain of salt...or twenty.

I can spend a lot of time talking about this, but I'm about to head to the airport, so to Matt's delight everyone get's the short version: The RC branded Visa isn't an inherently bad card, but if you like to travel, and you spend money on travel, there are *far* better cards to get. Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) or Preferred, AmEx Platinum or Gold, CapOne Venture, etc. I use largely Chase products for this (though I have others). For travel and dining I get 3 points to the dollar on CSR, for rotating bonus categories I get 5 points to the dollar om Freedom, for all else I can get 1.5 points to the dollar on Freedom Unlimited. But, in addition to lounge access, many trip and purchase protection items, primary rental coverage, hotel perks, etc - I also use the CSR to make all the mentioned points worth 1.5x as much (if spent on travel). In that way I get 4.5% on travel and dining, 7.5% on various bonus categories, and a minimum of 2.25% on everything else. Yes, the CSR has a hefty fee, but they do many things to quickly offset it ($300 auomatic travel credit, GE/PreCheck reimbursement, the other mentioned benefits, and more). That in mind, everyone finds their own stride in the points game. Do a search on "churning" and you'll see the possibilities here (many people take it to an extreme, I tend to keep it simple).

/*begin speculation*/ I'm guessing here to be honest, but I'm not sure it matters. Someone can correct me if I am wrong but I don't think any sailings offer anything but one type of connection now (no more surf vs surf and stream). That in mind, I suspect that even if you opted for the surf package, it'll probably be surf and stream. /*end speculation*/

Bingo. I can think of a way to make this work, but trust me, you don't wanna bring a carry on with networking equipment and set yourself up with a 1 hour project :-) That in mind, there are many portable speakers that you could use either using Bluetooth or an analog audio cable as an input, and then play the music from your phone, mp3 player, etc.