DunkelBierJay

OMG! @HLWIser you can finally confirm for us if @twangster is real! ?

I cruise solo often as my family and friends don't have my flexibility to travel like I do.
I really enjoy solo cruising and it makes cruises with family or friends even more special and different.  I used to travel for business a lot and became used to dining alone on business trips.  Due to that it doesn't concern me to eat in the MDR alone.   If you have a flexible calendar there are deal opportunities.  I can't count the number of times I've asked someone to cruise but they can only go a certain week and rate are double that week.  Being by myself I can sail in an interior cabin and have lots of room.  That alone saves a lot of money, like getting free excursions, internet and drinks.
Studio cabins tend to run ~75% of the cost of paying for double occupancy.  Sometimes they restrict promos and inventory to solo cruisers despite requiring you to pay for two.  In some cases I add someone I've cruised with before to a booking to get a cabin type or promo rate.  Truth is if that person could go at the last minute they would be welcome to join me but more often than not they are a no show at check in.  In those cases the taxes and port fees end up refunded automatically shortly into or after a cruise.   I don't pre-pay gratuity in the cases where a 2nd person is added who might not sail.
Studio cabins do not get double C&A points.  Booking a non-studio cabin including 'Guarantee' cabins do get double C&A points.  Not many ships have studio cabins and they go quickly.  Sometimes they are only slightly cheaper than a regular cabin.  Studio cabins are sometimes pretty small and if the price difference is small I'll go into a regular cabin and take advantage of the double C&A points.  I love suites but just can't justify them when solo.   
There is something really nice about solo cruising.  Do what you want, when you want.  There are often single seats in the theater available as people space themselves out when they sit leaving one seat between them and the next couple.  Sometimes there are single loungers by the pool available for the same reason.  MDR service tends to be very fast when solo.  
If you are the type of person who is comfortable being by yourself solo cruising is great.  Tons of happy people around and lots of public places but easy to slip away and have some alone time when you feel like it. 

We are all set in our room..few pic’s
 

One thing my wife an I do is get one plan and share it. Then we have fun kicking each other off the network!

Agree, save space in our landfills, when it is done holding your towel, use it to hold all of the obsessive, compulsive cruise paper work in your suite case on the flight home (Cruise Compasses anyone?)

Yeah based on ping times it it doesn't look like they touched the satellite platform.  Bummer. 
Consider a portable travel router.  I use one to share a Voom plan with multiple devices.  I use it primarily in my cabin so my laptop and phone can both be connected at the same time.  While its a $45 investment that is one time and can be used on future cruises.  That's two days of Voom.  It doesn't do as much outside of the cabin though, unless you want to carry it around with a battery pack.  I plan to do a write up on Liberty next week explaining how to use one.

All being Gold does is get you some discounts listed on a sheet of paper in your stateroom on embarkation day. I never experienced it getting me on board any quicker than my first cruise. In fact, on a couple of sailings the Gold check-in line was longer than the non-C&A line. I would call the C&A line (866) 562-7625 for assistance in enrolling your husband if it didn't work online the first time.

If you saw the Royal Caribbean C&A Newsletter, there was a link to sign up for a Website Usability Test coming up in March in South Florida. Now, as a QA software professional, I 100% wish I could do this and give all kinds of commentary on the site!!! But alas, I am in Ohio and cannot. 
Double check your inbox for your C&A Newsletter! It looks like a really cool opportunity if you are local! It also looks like lunch on a ship is included as a perk.  The link is towards the bottom of the email under 'Millie's Corner'

The thing is I enjoy the onboard experience with Royal.  Food, entertainment, activities, ship design, crew, etc.  That is why many of us are loyal.
The misleading marketing flies in the face of the onboard experience.  At least for me I stick with Royal because of the onboard experience.  It certainly isn't the website or marketing.

KInda defeats the purpose of being loyal eh?......
 
It shouldn't be that complicated nor such a game to play. they should just say its a 5% or 10% discount on top of whatever the best deal is at the time.
 
It's amazing what BS we put up with when it comes to this...I know for sure I wouldn't put up with this with any other company and would call them on their BS "sales" and "promos" and '"loyalty" club etc or just I would stop using them.
 
But hey....we are all Loyal to Royal I guess..lol
 
 
 
 

All being Gold does is get you some discounts listed on a sheet of paper in your stateroom on embarkation day. I never experienced it getting me on board any quicker than my first cruise. In fact, on a couple of sailings the Gold check-in line was longer than the non-C&A line. I would call the C&A line (866) 562-7625 for assistance in enrolling your husband if it didn't work online the first time.

On the other side of that, I'm actually quite happy to be going in a couple weeks. A big part of San Juan's economy is tourism, and I'm happy to go there and spend money. Old San Juan and major tourist areas have largely bounced back, it's the areas outside the cities and in the suburbs and towns that still appear to be lacking the power and need the most assistance in rebuilding.

Nice one.  Still plenty of suites available.  I may try and snag this when I get back from my Allure cruise in April if I get a certificate from the casino.  Nice itin.  Thanks for the head's up.

I couldn't agree more ..... this site, and the people within it (along with Matt's blog), made our first cruise back in '16 so much easier and less stressful.  By the time we boarded, I felt like a seasoned cruiser.  I "Tip My Hat" to all of you.  As for there being a "First Time Cruiser Seminar" --- Love it ..... It doesn't need to be that long or that complicated ..... just the basics --- perhaps with testimonials and ideas from other cruisers....... Heck, they could even invite seasoned cruisers on each cruise to participate and share their stories (and reward them with a little OBC for their time).

@DunkelBierJay, the trip insurance for the cruise was RC's, automatically added by my TA after I said I wanted to have the insurance when we booked. I was kind of surprised, honestly; I would have thought as a travel agency they would have done research on other options and either purchased something from Allianz, or at the least asked me about what kind of needs or concerns I had around getting the insurance so that I had some choices presented. That said, I read the terms of the insurance offered by Royal and also saw the cost and it was comparable to what I was seeing on tripinsurance.com.
For the flight, I purchased the separate travel insurance option offered by United (and provided by Travel Guard Group) since I booked the flight directly with United and not through Royal's Air2Sea program. If I was flying in the day before or day of the trip, I might have done Air2Sea, but I'm actually flying in three days early to take advantage of the lower rate around that Easter weekend / spring break week price hike.

OK, today marks 60 days until our flight down. So here's the latest pricing update:
JetBlue
currently $3,010.40, using the exact same departure times for both legs of the trip; that's over $1,100 more than the best price I found slightly before the 90-day mark! Even if I use a time slot with a lower price that is still a reasonable (non-redeye) hour to fly, it's still $2,338.40, about $350 more than that earlier best price United
The exact flight times I've booked with United are no longer available, so I have to go with the best / closest options Using those times, I'm seeing a price of $2,642.40, almost $1,000 more than my original booking price 90 days out It's possible that these prices will drop tomorrow or Tuesday morning. I'll see what it's like tomorrow; but if my originally scheduled knee surgery holds and I don't have to push it out for this second surgery that's become necessary, then I'll be in the hospital Tuesday morning and then out of it the rest of the day.

It's crazier - you're actually 35x more likely to get Norovirus on land.  Check my link in the 4th post in this thread (don't wanna spam everyone with the link).  I was shocked while doing the research - I figured it was overblown, but I'd never have guessed that you're so much less likely to get Noro on a cruise ship than elsewhere.  All of that in mind, I do realize it's cold-comfort to someone who falls ill on vacation.

When we were on Grandeur going around Hurricane Jose..... my wife bought everything out there "just in case" ---- She ended up really loving the patch..... the only down side was that it made her drowsy...... but like a champ, she muscled through so she could have fun in the VCL at night.

Here is the video for the final sea day. Thanks so much for watching!
 

End of the Last a Sea Day and Reflections on the cruise:
After killing a couple hours on deck 12 after the Sexiest Man competition, which had some alcohol induced cringe moments between one of the judges and Flavio, the Activities Manager, we did some much needed napping there and a little later in the Solarium. I was sad that I was still too full after Chops to have another Kummelwick. 


More napping was to be had, so that continued to happen into the evening.

We had intentions of going to the farewell show before dinner. That did not happen, so we opted for the drawing to guess the carat weight of a piece of tanzanite jewelry in order to win it. I missed it by a half carat, and someone else nailed it. Congrats to him!
We listened to some music by the Kronos Band, and I shared a couple of scopes. They moved from country to Jimmy Buffet, and are my favorite musical ensemble I have heard at sea. Their range goes from Sinatra to Otis Redding, and country to metal. They were extraordinary. 
Screenshot from the Periscope
When 8:30 pm came around, we headed to the MDR for dinner. 

When we arrived, we made sure that we expressed our gratitude to two amazing waiters, Arturo and Lyudmylla. One of my favorite parts of cruising is this connection that develops which I believe is sincere on their part. I have yet to experience a cruise where a short, temporary friendship develops at a minimum and some are Facebook friends to this day. 
So, we love giving some extra to these fantastic people! We also had a chance on disembarkation day to express the same gratitude to Bernardo, our stateroom attendant. I hope that everyone appreciates how hard they work to make guests’ experience wonderful. I will make sure they get our highest evaluation on the email request to do a survey.
Final Thoughts
Embarkation — A+
There’s something about Terminal 6 in Tampa that has it over on Terminal 3. I certainly don’t know all of the behind the scenes contributions to the experience for guests, but it was superior than my previous experience embarking on the Empress.
Stateroom 4014 — A+
access eas early layout was perfect size was perfect everything worked it was close to the forward elevators the Centrum was easily accessible This is by far my favorite stateroom in any of my cruises. I have stayed in a jr suite, Superior OV with balcony, Inside Promenade, Inside. I think it is easily the best value I have experienced, and while balconies are nice, I have rarely used them when I had them. Stateroom Attendant, Bernardo — A Main Dining Room — B
while beautiful, it is over-crowded and there were some organizational and procedural issues that affected others as well as us. I think it had to do with communication between the Head waiters at the two seatings   Waiter and Assistant Waiter, Arturo and Lyudmylla — A ++ I cant speak highly enough of them. They made what could have been a difficult circumstance into not a big deal. In my view, they should run the dining room. They were that good. If you are sailing on Brilliance within the next two months, ask for them.  Food — B++ I could be wrong, but I sensed that some of the organizational issues affected the food quality at times. It was never bad, it just wasn’t as good as I have experienced on other ships.  Windjammer — A
The Windjammer on Brilliance was my favorite I have experienced. It may be because the honey stung chicken was as good as billed, and I finally knocked it off my bucket list. They executed breakfast really well. The made to order omelets were the best I have had at sea. I love the open area at the back. Love. It. I consider Rita’s part of the Windjammer and would like to see Royal Caribbean commit to it or change it into something more appealing. It seems like they are just letting it sit there without any availability of their old menu except on certain days in the Windjammer. Specialty Dining (Chops) — A
i would rate it higher if the Chops on Empress didn’t edge it out by a smidgen. Solarium — B++
I would rate it higher if it was a little larger. I think the Solarium in Enchantment is larger, and remains my favorite. It is a very beautiful spot on the ship.  I really like the Park Cafe and the offerings there. They do Kummelwick roast beef sandwiches during lunch, which was a very nice surprise.  Gym — A
good staff, layout and assortment of exercise options Shopping — B-
they didn’t have a good selection of logo gear, and a limited size availability. I didn’t really look at anything else. Bars
Pub — A+ — favorite pub I have experienced in a ship R-Bar — A
Vintages — B+ — the liquor package seems to be a necessity because the a la carte pricing is quite high. The ambience and location on the ship is great.  Schooner — A — great spot for a cocktail. I really like the location on this ship Solarium Bar — A- — its a little small. The service is really good.  Entertainment — B+  
what we saw was nice, but not set apart from other experiences.  Music — A
The Kronos Band was just great. The options at Schooner are mixed. The Pub singer was pretty good, but we didn’t listen that much.  Movie Theater — A
we saw two movies here, and this is such a great amenity. When you want to chill out. I’d like to see more of these in the fleet. Special Events - A+
The effort and fun out into the College Football National Championship game experience on board was far over and above expectations. It was great, and I would have rated it the same had my team not won.  Dis-embarkation — A +
We self assisted with our luggage. Actually, we have never used the ship’s service. That’s what wheels are for. We were able to walk off with no lines at about 8:45. There was a five minute line at customs. This is the first cruise where we did not have to fill out a customs form. We were in our Lyft 10 minutes later, and having breakfast #2 by 10:30 am. Other — This is just an observation
I’ve never seen so many Pinnacles in one place as on this sailing. Everywhere I turned, I saw a name badge with Pinnacle Club on it. Overall — A-
Some aspects of this cruise could have been better. The ship has an overcrowded feel, especially in the MDR. The beauty of the ship, the well known connection to the sea, the many amenities and especially the crew make for an amazing experience. 

I'm convinced that the same percentage of people sick on ships is the same as the percentage of people sick on land. I haven't seen studies, but I have seen a sensationalist press.

Have fun and make sure you dress the part...  They will give you a sugary drink coming in but look around, there was an open bar at ours.

I gave my waiter Joseph/Jose $20. We have had him both times we have been and he took great care of us.