Floski

What is this "suite lounge" of which you speak? Hahahaha The only way I'll ever visit there is if I take a job as a waiter!!

Just WOW. It's been a while, and I'd forgotten how detailed and awesome your blogs are!!! BRAVO to you and your family. I just spent over an hour reading this and that was from page 2 (I had started back then but was overwhelmed, and then that pesky Idalia decided to drop by). I have been watching your excursions on IG, but this is so much more fun. Matt mentioned tonight to check out your tête-à-tête with the waiter/head chef in WJ and it was worth it. I kinda wish you had been more vocal - they need to know. Thank you so much for taking such time to share with us. Safe travels home tomorrow!

My wife and I both got sick last year on Harmony (me first (thought it was food poisoning, but it wasn't), then her). Since we tried to do the responsible thing, I stayed in the room nearly all the time for the first 3 days (and a mask when out), and she did the same for the last 4. Sorrento's was our saving grace. It's just fine as a pizza offering, but so much better when it's most of what you can eat. BTW - the DBP beat my ass on that cruise, and my goal is to never let that happen again!

RCL has announced a name change - Utopia of the Seas will be re-branded Nuketopia of the Seas. First glimpse of the new Captain:

Meanwhile, 93 people are currently dead, with that toll sure to rise significantly. Y'all....

Our dining was fine; we just didn't try the MDR. Not because of the food, but the MyTime issues. I love the MDR, I just hate waiting around hoping to get a table. Besides, I'm on a cruise. If my dining gets bad enough, there are olives in martinis.

I love eating in the MDR, but RC has messed it up so much that on our 8-day on Mariner last month, we had 3 specialties and the rest in the Windjammer.

Am I the only one who feels that that the new, radical design of the hull is really cool? I have no intention of going on Icon (just booked Wonder this week) as I feel that it simply isn't aimed for us olds, but was looking forward to Utopia. The short cruises are off-putting as I'm not going to drive 7 hours for that. Now if I dig a little deeper and feel like the back-to-back cruises are financially viable, then possible. I still need to cruise on Symphony and Allure to complete the class!

I love watching Chris's vids. Seems a really cool guy.

Thank you! This honestly is nothing more than a head cold. A little tired, some sneezing, runny nose, etc....but not aching at all. I had to miss something tonight that I had been looking forward to. Pretty frustrating, knowing that this is essentially much ado about nothing. But que sera, sera.....no worries. Better now than 10 days ago!!

Well, as luck would have it, we both have tested positive for Covid. The only folks on here I spoke with should be okay; I don't think we ever got close enough.

From the drive down to the drive home, it was a fantastic voyage! I loved the crewmembers; they all were so good and friendly. I don't know how much I tipped but it was a ton - I have been so blessed to be able to go on these fun weeks, and I was feeling very thankful throughout the whole cruise; heck I even tipped the bathroom attendants, because their jobs are important and no one ever notices them. Curacao was phenomenal, but the sunset cruise in Aruba was wonderful:

Oh, absolutely! With 4 sea days we don't really have an excuse not to hook up! I can't wait to meet all of you!

For all of y'all who are booked, I truly hope you have the cruise of your life!! As for me, I'll gladly take the ship who was there before her, who just started school and is already the prom queen. Icon will be phenomenal, for sure, but I'm just a little over it and looking forward to Utopia, provided she comes to the east coast.

Still time to book Mariner for Friday!!!! COME ON!!!! I'll need a late night partner!

That's kind of hard. I love Harr (Herr?) and his youtube videos, but I'm definitely an MEI guy. Granted, It took my 3rd agent to find one that I absolutely love (Beth Dickerson) and know that she will always have my back and look out for us. If you want to find an agent who is an extremely experienced cruiser and an Insider, I would recommend reaching out to Josh Crothers. That dude is super smart, and knows his stuff. He has just re-careered and is now with MEI. If I didn't have Beth, I'd be team Josh big-time!

Definitely loyal. My first cruise was Freedom in 2015 (I was a young 53 then) and we've been on 7 since (#8 is Mariner this Friday!). Nothing brings me more joy than that first step on board. I breathe the biggest, most refreshing breath at that time. Our next cruise, which is yet to be planned/booked will make us Diamond (big whup) but it's a nice little milestone. I've heard so many things that Royal does for folks who have been displaced/inconvenienced (see OP) that I feel like I belong to a huge corporation family. Remember when the lines all started up after covid? Soooo many people who got infected were taken care of by RC - to the costly expense of providing them a free ride home. Who does that in business? Yeah, I've "considered" NCL (I met an employee here while we were having beers and she told me she would give me the friends and family discount, which I assume is nice) but that line just doesn't do it for me. I've met the most wonderful people through this blog, and going on an insiders group cruise was a freaking blast! - I don't want to switch. I'm now 61 (wayyyyy much younger than Mike^) and not sure how many cruises I have left, but you can rest assured they'll be on Royal.

I used to love Jazz On 4 - one of my favorite places to see live music in the evening. Siiiiiigh

I have no idea where the old one went. Let's go, folks - don't let all these other sailings show more interest than us!!! 31 days!!! Aruba Curacao Coco Cay WOOT WOOT!!!

I think another consideration is that many cruisers opt out of heading into Nassau, especially lately (you just don't hear many good things about the city, even with the $millions being poured into the cruiseport area). So if there are 5 ships with, say, 20,000 passengers, there will likely be just over 50% capacity.

Well, that was enjoyable! I was really nervous for you and the weather in CA; glad y'all got on board with no problems. The photos and write-ups were fantastic! You have a beautiful family, and I think it's awesome that you guys are so close. Thank you for taking so much time and effort to put this together.

I'm looking at my cruise planner for Mariner 5/26/23 and the Premier Pass is still there, and showing as reserved. This feels very much like the $18/day DBP scenario, where everyone jumped on it, then a lot of people said it wasn't going to happen because Royal would lose too much $$. I'm ready to just wait and see. They realize that this could be huge in terms of customer satisfaction; they can come out smelling like roses, or be the south end of a north-bound mountain goat.

Heyyyyyy!!! We're on the 5/26 Mariner sailing!! I hope we get to meet y'all!

I always book a forward cabin. The Solarium and other cool spots are there, and the elevators aren't nearly as crowded as they are at the aft due to the dining rooms and Windjammer being back there. We never feel any crazy rocking like one might expect, especially on Oasis class.

You should try some human stew one day. Yummmmm A little chunkier than your average soup. And biscuits!