Gilley

Shut up!! Follow my lead here:
 
Dear Michael Bayley,
I have a personal favor, and I'm certain you will help. I was adopted.  Recently i found my birth mother and learned that i have a half-brother. As it happens, he will be boarding the Wonder in Port Canaveral on 6/2 when we will be docked there on Symphony. I don't feel like getting off the ship that day (you should really reconsider that port stop); however, and here's where you come in, it'd be great if you could arramge a ship tour for him on Symphony so we can reunite after many decades. If not, I'll be forced to scream like a lunatic and wave like a mad woman and say hello for the first time from a hundred yards away. Does that sound silly to you? It does to me, so make it happen!
I look forward to your prompt positive reply.  Thank you. 
 
Best, 
SweetPea (find me on the Royal Caribbean Blog).

The only pigs I want to see swim is the bacon in the pan

I was a little concerned because the ship had a power outage as I was making a purchased.  All the lights went out, ovens stopped working and machines stopped humming.  It wasn’t out very long.  First time I ever experienced this.

May 18th Icon

I’m vintage—kids are grown with their own kids.  My first cruise was about 20 years ago and I am D+.   I have not once been bothered by a kid on an RC ship.  I cannot say the same for adults.  On Oasis a couple of weeks ago, the kids impressed me!  Several helped me with my grandkids politely and happily; it was awesome!

On Icon its Giovanni’s + 1

Good morning!
Oh, and @WAAAYTOOO will love this!  😃
We will be keeping our eyes 👀 open for 3 very important "subjects"... both human and canine!
Capt. Henrik (aka "Capt. Hottie" per my wife 😳), Rover, and Chris (@CHRIS WONG)!
 

 
Capt. Henrik and Chris should be relatively easy to find during the course of the cruise, but Rover is the wildcard!  🤣
On our Facebook group established for this sailing, I suggested we create a real-time "Rover Alert" 🐕‍🦺 ... it's gaining traction with tons of likes and comments! 
I'm starting to feel the "pressure" to book Star OTS! We also have to meet Sailor! 🦮
We'll see how many of these "icons" 😆 we can see or meet on this sailing!  😎

Glad I read this, you just reminded me to download my books to my kindle for my May 18th cruise.
Haven’t used my Kindle on a ship in a while.  Do I need to do any settings like switch to airplane or ships Wi-Fi. I don’t have the internet package.

I'm thinking it is, just got a royal up offer for a family member for $70pp for an ocean view balcony.

I don’t like when smokers tend to smoke in the non-smoking section in the casino.  There is no one stopping them or redirecting them has been my experience 

We'll be in Icon next month and hope to see him too!

Thank you for this info.  I will seek out the host.  It gives me a reason to go say hi to Chris Wong.  

Thanks for the update.  I have a cruise coming in October.

I totally agree!

Maybe it's just a Baby Ruth candy bar?

Ok, Update!
It was 2 pools today.
The kids pool and the swim and tonic bar pool. 
Why they even allow kids in a pool that's a bar is beyond me. 
Royal Caribbean needs to rethink age policies on pools on this ship. It's really getting ridiculous. Lots of paying customers are MAD!

I have to send a shout out to the #1 Mei TA in my book. Ashley Bittenbender.  Sometimes I think I drive her crazy with all my changes or indecisiveness. She keeps up with all my changes and gets back to me in a timely manner. She lets me know if she is unable to work on my bookings, because she is unavailable, on vacation or have limited internet access.  Wouldn’t trade her.  She is patient and kind. 

Express Pass made boarding Amazing!
We NEVER stopped walking. No waiting at all. Passed thousands of people.
You MUST upload a photo when you do online check in. We also scanned passports. Yesterday, after answering health question, we got confetti and and our set sail passes turned purple. Congratulations you have express pass to board. The days of wait till at dock to have them take your photo are over. It puts you in an entirely different category. We literally passed 1hr 30min of people and walked right on. 

Got my nails done today, went with a nautical theme in one of my favourite shades of blue. 
Also got the last of my cruise cash - some more euros and some dollars for tipping on the ship. Picked up a couple of last minute items - some make up wipes and another bottle of sunscreen.
Unfortunately, I've just had an email from our tour provider in Naples. Due to not meeting the minimum of 5 people, our tour has been cancelled. So I've text Jamie, and am frantically searching the web for options. I wanted a small group tour as, having a disability, smaller groups are easier as they can tailor things to the group. I am so sad - the tour covered Pompeii, which I have visited before but Jamie hasn't as he's never been to Italy, Sorrento and Positano, neither of which I've been to but was so looking forward to seeing. 
Ah well, I guess it's better to know now than this time next week, but still, kinda stinks. 

I have to send a shout out to the #1 Mei TA in my book. Ashley Bittenbender.  Sometimes I think I drive her crazy with all my changes or indecisiveness. She keeps up with all my changes and gets back to me in a timely manner. She lets me know if she is unable to work on my bookings, because she is unavailable, on vacation or have limited internet access.  Wouldn’t trade her.  She is patient and kind. 

Both of those drinks are on my list for my May 14th cruise on Icon.

May 18th Icon

May 18th Icon

As far as rewards cards go, it's not the best card.  But it is a niche card and if you like it for earning cruise credits, that's great.  I'd much rather have a 2-3% cashback card for everyday purposes and specialty cards for rewards specific to travel that can give up to 5%.
As far as the bonus points up front, the offer I see is $1000 spend in the first 90-days of having the card to get those points ($300 credit).  If you are using it for the bonus only, that's fine but over the long-term, actual cash back may be more beneficial.
 

....Since I'm here, I'll add my two cents....
Since becoming Diamond, we've come to really appreciate the drink vouchers, 24 hours of internet, and complementary photo we each get.   These benefits have tipped the scales for us to book with Royal rather than one of the other companies.  The whole "Loyal to Royal" thing works in our case.
While we are not cruising specifically for status, Diamond Plus is in our sights at our current sailing rate.  We are looking forward to the additional voucher and 24 hours of internet, BOGO specialty dining, and the laundry bag that comes with D+.
 
We've never been able to find a Celebrity cruise priced the same or less than a Royal one (for itineraries/dates we are definitely booking).   Honestly, going on Celebrity cruise isn't a big thing on our wish list.