toddpop

It was an amazing cruise, we had a little rain in Port Canaveral where we visited Disney World. Then we skipped Miami because the port was closed and I didn't want to visit that place anyways so we sailed off to Nassau early. Beautiful weather there, and also the following day at Freeport. I had a great time!

Interested to hear about your experience... would like to try NO since we are NOT interested in travel to FL or TX.
 

Looks Beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

I’ve read all the nasty sniping since I posted our dining experiences. Let me put a bit to rest. 
1. We are normal people that have enjoyed cruising since around 2005. 
2. We are not food snobs 
3. We consumed what we were served without complaint. Unlike several tables around us that were loudly complaining/unloading on the poor server. 2 even had the head waiter come to their table to air their complaints. 
4. Our windjammer experience was similar to numerous folks around us. 

We took this experience as an exception rather than the rule. We are already booked on our next cruise in March. We are NOT one and done and all this sniping is a waste of brain power

Saying the food was horrible vs I didn't like it = a word game to me, so I guess I just can't see it.
But what I'm saying is if you (or many on here) can say "take a bad food review with a grain of salt" then you open yourself up for people to say "take a good food review with a grain of salt". 
I personally (to myself) question folks who say they never had had a bad meal on board. By my standards and life experience that's not even mathematically possible. However, I don't question the way they feel. I don't question their taste buds. Etc. 
There choice of words aside. I just wish we could be more open to excepting negative food reviews here at face value. Without questioning their choice of words, motive, taste buds, etc.
Just to respect someone feels how they feel. No two cent dissection of their personal feelings needed. 
Everyone seems to be having a hard time with this concept today. It's not a good color on anyone.
Respect the negative opinions and the positive. And since we don't know each other personally, I suggest doing it at face value. No more, but no less. 

I loved Bar Harbor for its unique scenery and small town vibe. Loved going on the excursions up the mountain, or just hiking and taking in the natural beauty.
But…I hated the tender experience. Sometimes it would go smooth and the wait wasn’t too bad. But, most of the time there were delays and the lines would grow. Or after finally boarding an available tender…just sitting there waiting until they filled it before casting off. Which, on such large boats could take quite a bit of time. They usually hire whale watching boats to act as tenders and they can hold quite a few passengers on two decks.
I’ve been following the news regarding the opposition to cruisers despoiling their pretty little town with our presence. In my opinion…it has less to do with a cruise ship’s emissions while sitting in the harbor (a convenient bugaboo) and more about the strange outworlders walking around the area turning their seemingly bucolic village into a bustling tourism economic driver.
They apparently do not need the dollars that come in from cruise ships. They are not as reliant on this income as are so many other cruise ports. I believe there are many residents who want to cut the cruise cord before their economy does become trapped by being inexorably tethered to this revenue stream. That’s their choice. Oh, well.
By the way…I love Saint John NB!….and St. John’s Newfoundland! Both beautiful ports with wonderful people!

Thank you. I think this is a great idea. We are there from 8:30 to 8:30 so plenty of time. 

We ate at the seafood restaurant just across the street from the cruise port... Steamers Seafood is the name. My wife had a lobster roll, and I had fried clams- both were very good. There are more restaurants just the next block up the hill, that look like they would be worth checking out. There are a number of places within easy walking distance.
Enjoy!

Oh my God yes! We absolutely love, LOVE Saint John New Brunswick! I would be happy with this move as well. We are looking forward to Sydney. I bet other ports will step up and Bar Harbor unfortunately will lose. 

Our our cruise in Aug. RC dropped Bar Harbor, and we added an overnight in St. John, NB... so glad that they did this- we loved the place, loved having dinner out instead of lunch (as we do in most ports). The people were so kind, there was a surprising amount to do (loved our whale watch excursion and the BEST OF ST. JOHN tour).
All in all, a win in our book!

Our our cruise in Aug. RC dropped Bar Harbor, and we added an overnight in St. John, NB... so glad that they did this- we loved the place, loved having dinner out instead of lunch (as we do in most ports). The people were so kind, there was a surprising amount to do (loved our whale watch excursion and the BEST OF ST. JOHN tour).
All in all, a win in our book!

Our our cruise in Aug. RC dropped Bar Harbor, and we added an overnight in St. John, NB... so glad that they did this- we loved the place, loved having dinner out instead of lunch (as we do in most ports). The people were so kind, there was a surprising amount to do (loved our whale watch excursion and the BEST OF ST. JOHN tour).
All in all, a win in our book!

Our our cruise in Aug. RC dropped Bar Harbor, and we added an overnight in St. John, NB... so glad that they did this- we loved the place, loved having dinner out instead of lunch (as we do in most ports). The people were so kind, there was a surprising amount to do (loved our whale watch excursion and the BEST OF ST. JOHN tour).
All in all, a win in our book!

So yesterday was I think our 3rd time to Bar Harbor Maine on different cruises but basically the same itinerary and it sounds like the last from what we were hearing. I guess there is a 1,000 passenger plus crew limit per day. That pretty much eliminates 99% of cruise ships. I don't full understand it as man cruise passengers were spending money. We spent probably 200 bucks. 100 just on lunch at a local restaurant. 125 with tip of you want to count that. 
And it's funny but oh over a year ago we saw this itinerary but instead of Bar Harbor it does Sydney Nova Scotia which we booked right away because it's different. That is not why Royal Caribbean changed it out though. It's this cruise limit. 
I mean in the end I really don't want to sail somewhere we are not welcome so whatever. I feel bad for the businesses there though, they are going to lose revenue for sure. From the shops to the restaurants to the tender boats it's a loss. Looking forward to Sydney Nova Scotia though. We already have an excursion booked and we gonna have lunch in town so it's there gain. 

Unfortunately, all Cruise Planner purchases end 48 hours prior. 
 
When you want to fill your water bottle, use one of the new cups that’s there to fill your bottles. 

I'm just going to say I am the biggest fan of the MDR experience.  I love it soup to nuts!  
I organized a group of 18 with mostly adults but a 4 or so under 16.  They put us all together at a very long table off to the side.  They even had the table marked with a big reserved sign on it with my name which was a nice touch.  However it wasn't as great as it could have been, but it was all our fault.  Sometimes we were not all there right on time, people would move around based on whatever conversation was going on - it was a tiny bit chaotic.  Taking the order of 18 people took quite a long time and inevitably someone would want to change their order by the end of the process.  Dinner was slow and clunky - again all our fault.
We did it again the following year and did multiple tables of either 6 or 8 and had a much better experience.  So my two cents is get a couple of tables instead of trying to act as one big party.

That is welcome news! Over the years we've always had the odd dish we wouldn't order again but liked the food enough to dress up for it. MTD has been the real disappointment, so we stick to traditional dining when we can.

Saying things are terrible makes certain people feel big sometimes. It's just how they are. Some people also like to disagree for the sake of it. Unfortunately if 90% of people like something people will still take as much or notice of the other 10%.

@WAYNO - The lamb is one of the better MDR dishes and the Mediterranean steak is pretty solid with that chimichurri.

I have never had an issue with MTD. I make my reservations as soon as they open in the cruise planner.
When we get to the 1st night we ask the hostess to make sure we get the same table and wait staff every night. 
Only on our last cruise was the wait staff slow and that was the 1 and only night we asked them to be speedy as we had a show to get to. They were not and I mentioned it to the head waiter and the rest of the cruise they were spot on.
If you don't speak up and say something right when things happen, then it wont get any better and they wont know they are doing anything you don't want.

A warning for those that use ANY 3rd Party to book a hotel.

I'm abstaining as I don't have many positives to add and don't want to be overly negative, lol.

I'm thinking they would be grateful you didn't give up on them and gave them another chance.

Take this with a grain of salt, but my waitress on Indy told me that the filet from the 'France' menu is the same piece of beef as the filet from Chops (and I would imagine Giovanni's too).  It makes some sense at least because the smart thing to do would be to buy the whole piece of the filet - but the tapered would be unservable at the speciality restaurant.
I had that in my latest cruise and my son and I each got the tapered part of the filet. It's not a complaint, but it would give some credit to the idea that they use the same beef in the MDR and Chops; and not something of lower grade.

Phew...that was a lot of writing to say "I don't like cheap whipped cream or Indian food"