ColdRingo

Just got off the Harmony in April of this year - they had a ton of Blanton's for sale at the Port Merchant's shop. We picked up 2 bottles, $110 each, which is about halfway between retail and what you can find on the secondary market.  No complaints from us!  🙂

Same thing happened to us yesterday for our sailing out if Miami on the Harmony. Took about 14 seconds to answer the questions during boarding though. 

Nice! We're doing this exact same cruise in....3 days. April 15th sailing.  I'll be interested in reading your notes about it and comparing it our own experience.

Just boarded Harmony in Miami with Sea Class designation. Waved us right into the Suite line and we were on the ship in 10 minutes. It was the smoothest boarding process we've had yet.

Just boarded Harmony in Miami with Sea Class designation. Waved us right into the Suite line and we were on the ship in 10 minutes. It was the smoothest boarding process we've had yet.

Let you know in 2 days how our Junior Suite with Sea Class and Diamond tags goes in Miami.... 🙂

That's one thing we always ask for from the stateroom attendant - 2 extra pilows!

Let you know in 2 days how our Junior Suite with Sea Class and Diamond tags goes in Miami.... 🙂

Mixed bag for us - have had a couple of cruises where the beds weren't all that comfortable, but generally they're fine. One nice thing about the JS cabins and up is the pillowtop mattress, which we generally find more comfortable. YMMV, of course.

Nice! We're doing this exact same cruise in....3 days. April 15th sailing.  I'll be interested in reading your notes about it and comparing it our own experience.

Nice! We're doing this exact same cruise in....3 days. April 15th sailing.  I'll be interested in reading your notes about it and comparing it our own experience.

I haven't been on a cruise in almost 40 years (I would have been 7 or so my only other cruise I've taken). So this may as well be my first time. My wife and kids had never been on a cruise previously. 
 
We sailed on Indy over the weekend and some things stood out in relation to a lot of what I've read here and other places, both things that I felt lined up with what everyone said, and things that I thoroughly disagree with a lot of posters I've read. 
First - what an INCREDIBLE ship! I know it isn't the biggest anymore, but WOW what a lovely vessel to sail on! My family all agree, we loved her! The crew, the captain, the ship overall, just an absolutely fantastic way to travel. Really hard to believe there are much larger ships in regular use!! Lol she absolutely did not feel small. LOVE the promenade deck, LOVE being able to go to the bow. 
 
The third night we sailed through fairly rough seas and she rocked and rolled. My youngest (13) got seasick. But none of them were afraid. Some of us actually enjoyed watching the waves hit our porthole as the ship got tossed around a bit. 
 
Food - I read a lot about the desserts not being anything to write home about. I gotta agree on that one. Even the cheesecake, which is one of my favorite things usually, was just "meh". But aside from that I really do not understand the people that complain about it. We didnt go to any specialty dining and we NEVER went hungry and were never in a situation where we couldn't all find something we really liked. My prime rib in the MDR was tender and delicious and probably one of my favorite things I ate. (I've seen multiple posts staging the prime rib was bad). 
 
Windjammer was hit or miss. There was always at least a portion of what was being served that was really good. The roast turkey was delicious (I always go dark meat though so maybe the white meat wasnt). Even the steaks on the WJ were perfectly edible and tasty. I saw a lot of comments before I sailed that the Indian food on board was good and it REALLY was. But plenty of other offerings in the WJ were quite tasty as well. It IS too busy which can be frustrating but I expected that. 
 
Cafe promenade was impressive. Always open and always quality, tasty snacks. Sorrento's was perfectly tasty as well and my wife, who is gluten free, also liked their GF pizza. Fish and Ships was GOOD!! The only extra we spent on food was Ben and Jerry's and we all enjoyed all of our dining the whole time. 
 
The food on Coco Cay was, we all agree, really really good! The shaved ribeye sandwich was probably my favorite. The Cuban was also good. Of course the taco bar was great and most of my crew said that was their favorite on the island. 
 
Coco Cay itself is, in a word, fantastic.  Just beautiful beyond description.  
 
The crew was, without exception,  top notch. All of them. 
 
My nitpicks:
I really wish they had more freestyle machines. Having to wait in line everytime and hope it has ice was a little frustrating especially when you're REALLY thirsty. (Matters more to me than most probably because I dont drink alcohol and Im a bit of a soda fiend) 
 
The elevators being so full so often got annoying when we were trying to get somewhere. Minor and expected. 
 
The wifi signal in our stateroom wasn't very good. Nothing I couldn't live with, and on higher decks it worked really well. 
 
Overall, I, and the rest of my family, absolutely loved our experience.  My wife wanted to start with a short one to see how she and our kids would like it. I think the best way to summarize how we all felt about it is the fact that we went to NextCruise on our final night and booked a 9 night to Canada for 2024. (On Indy's sister ship, no less).  Cannot wait to sail again!
 
 

Agreed on the Freestyle machines - we've been on cruises w/no issues and on cruises with specific options (we're big on Coke Zero) already out on Day 1. Some cruises Coke Zero is so rare it could be used as currency.... 😆
For the Coke Zero issue specifically, we've often had good luck finding one or more bars that have them in stock in the coolers, and periodically picking up a can or 2 and storing them in our cabin fridge. It's always good to make friends with the bartenders, even if you're just getting soda refills or bottled water.

Boohoo.  Maybe Atlantis could offer something more compelling that would get people off the boat (honestly I rarely get off in Nassau these days).
Besides, Royal is just one cruise line that stops there...plenty of additional $$'s to be had if you can provide people with an incentive to spend them (read: something fun and worth doing on your vacation).

Boohoo.  Maybe Atlantis could offer something more compelling that would get people off the boat (honestly I rarely get off in Nassau these days).
Besides, Royal is just one cruise line that stops there...plenty of additional $$'s to be had if you can provide people with an incentive to spend them (read: something fun and worth doing on your vacation).

Hah - me too. 0 for 4 so far, and in about 8 more days likely 0-5!  🙂

10 days out from our cruise on the Harmony from Miami and...our digital Set Sail Passes now say "Sea Class" on them.  TBD on whether or not that gets us into the priority boarding area (though we have the Key, so it's not like we'll be waiting too long either way).  

I've never sailed on the Mariner, so your mileage may vary, but...we do the Key on most of our sailings. The menu is the Chops lunch menu (most of it), and generally it's good food.  We like it because it's a quieter place to have lunch shortly after you board (usually just enough time to take care of the safety briefing video and check in at our muster station before the lunch). On some of the ships there's a reservations desk right there when you check in for the lunch too, which is handy for getting all your dinner reservations set if you need to.  Plus, you can check your carry-on luggage right there and they'll get it up to your room for you, if you're so inclined (we're about 50/50 on needing the carry-on stuff handled).
Enjoy the lunch AND your cruise!

I've never sailed on the Mariner, so your mileage may vary, but...we do the Key on most of our sailings. The menu is the Chops lunch menu (most of it), and generally it's good food.  We like it because it's a quieter place to have lunch shortly after you board (usually just enough time to take care of the safety briefing video and check in at our muster station before the lunch). On some of the ships there's a reservations desk right there when you check in for the lunch too, which is handy for getting all your dinner reservations set if you need to.  Plus, you can check your carry-on luggage right there and they'll get it up to your room for you, if you're so inclined (we're about 50/50 on needing the carry-on stuff handled).
Enjoy the lunch AND your cruise!

I've never sailed on the Mariner, so your mileage may vary, but...we do the Key on most of our sailings. The menu is the Chops lunch menu (most of it), and generally it's good food.  We like it because it's a quieter place to have lunch shortly after you board (usually just enough time to take care of the safety briefing video and check in at our muster station before the lunch). On some of the ships there's a reservations desk right there when you check in for the lunch too, which is handy for getting all your dinner reservations set if you need to.  Plus, you can check your carry-on luggage right there and they'll get it up to your room for you, if you're so inclined (we're about 50/50 on needing the carry-on stuff handled).
Enjoy the lunch AND your cruise!

When you cruise with @Big Dawg Ron you had the "benefit" of being left in the hallway. Ron was just providing you with better connectivity

I'm in the "get rid of the bionic bar" train myself. We used it once, it was novel, but we had to pay extra for the drink even with the Deluxe Beverage Package. It's certainly not cool enough for that. Besides, I like to get know the bartenders when I can.

That's what we thought too, but they showed up on my bill at the end.

Just curious to get some insight from the group here....
The setup: we're headed on a cruise in September (7 nights out of Fort Lauderdale), and it's a big group: my wife and I, my brother and his son, my sister and mom, and my daughter and her friend.  We have 4 separate reservations that we'll link together at some point.
The thing that happened: my brother and his son (who are on one of those 4 previously mentioned reservations) received a notification via the Royal App that they could buy the Deluxe Beverage package for 40% off.  And, 40% off is a pretty nice deal for those!  However, none of the rest of us received that offer, and the packages are currently 20% off on the website and the Royal app for the rest of us.
The question: what gives? Is it random?  It's not the end of the world, but 40% off would be really nice for the rest of us (esp. me since I'm buying 4 of those packages).... 🙂
Anyway, just curious if anyone has experienced something like this or if we know the mechanics behind those offers.
Thanks all!

I've yet to sail on the Symphony, so take this with a grain of salt, but....on every ship I've been on with a spin studio, the spin bikes are equipped with dual sided pedals that allow tennis/workout shoes on side, and standard SPD cleats on the other.  None of the stationary bikes out on the fitness center floor were fitted with SPD pedals for cycling cleats, however.  Again, can't confirm on the Symphony, but it was this way on the Oasis, Allure, Liberty, Anthem, Quantum, and Odyssey, at the least (I don't think I checked on either the Explorer or Brilliance).
And I'm the same way...always waffling between packing them or not.  🙂