JBC

I love Labadee.  A cabana or bungalow for a beach day is great, and the prices are a lot less than Coco Cay.  The lesser quality of the food doesn't bother me.  It's essentially lunch, which I really don't eat much at anyway because I don't want to spoil dinner.  Kids would enjoy Coco Cay better for the pools and water park, but my kids have told me the lines are awful in the water park when there are two ships at Coco Cay, which is pretty often.  Coco Cay is bigger, newer, more amenities, better infrastructure, etc.  Royal is also putting a lot of marketing behind it.    

I'm on Allure right now. No mask required at any point during check in or onboard.

Nice review, I am on this sailing a little over a year from now.  
For whoever left the tip about travel coffee cups, thank you!  Can't believe I didn't think of that myself.  Last cruise I was on I couldn't believe there were no paper cups with lids stacked by the coffee at cafe promenade.    
Also the comments about the book 😆.  Royal has a lot of shows like that.  We attend just to see how non-sensical they are.  At least you can get drinks during these shows!

Nice review, I am on this sailing a little over a year from now.  
For whoever left the tip about travel coffee cups, thank you!  Can't believe I didn't think of that myself.  Last cruise I was on I couldn't believe there were no paper cups with lids stacked by the coffee at cafe promenade.    
Also the comments about the book 😆.  Royal has a lot of shows like that.  We attend just to see how non-sensical they are.  At least you can get drinks during these shows!

Day 9 - Disembarkation Day 
I wake up at 6:30 and look outside...did we dock in an oil refinery?  Oh...we docked opposite of how we departed.  It was Captain Per's last sailing before time off and I wonder if he just wanted to pull in and leave it for the next guy?  😆
It was the end of the Odyssey's 100th sailing.  We were bittersweet to leave.  We wanted to be home with the pups that we left with a sitter for 10-days but the idea of vacation was still good in our heads and we weren't completely sick of it.  
We had our last Key benefit to use, departure breakfast...which is regular breakfast with no wait to be seated in a separate part of the MDR.  Take that you line-waiting people. 🤪
So after a little hemming and hawing, we finally get up and make our way to get off the ship.  We hear self-appointed line monitors tell people if they aren't number 34 or lower, they can't get their bags and people have to wait right there!  Karen wasn't pleased when I asked the attendant if Key bags are available and he soundly said "Yes, sir!  Right down here...", I think her brain may have cooked a little.
We grabbed a porter, got our checked bags and made our way out to lot 19...this is it, its over.  Time to load up the car and make our way back 200 miles or so north.  MIL wasn't pleased that the back seat now had large roller bags on it next to her but better than sitting on the roof, aunt Edna! 🤣  Seriously, I don't know why I bought a sedan...I should have just got the Highlander instead of the Avalon.  Once the wife's scooter gets broken down, its tough getting other things in the car.  
So off to Costco in Davie for gas and back on the highway to home.  Trip is over...time to do some laundry and prepare myself for the storm I'm about to walk into at work in the AM.
 
So, final thoughts.
I had a love/hate experience with this ship.  Nice and new, rooms were nice.  Public spaces were nice until they weren't.  The Promenade isn't ideal on deck 4 - I don't like how it bottlenecks outside the Starbucks and Sorrento's and forces you around the side of the pub to get to the theater and the front elevators.  On deck 5, its OK but I wouldn't be a fan if I was dining at Izumi and someone walked by me staring at my food while I'm dining.
The opening at Giovanni's was better planned than the Promenade and handled traffic flow much better.  I didn't sit in the MDR where people could see me while eating so I didn't mind it being open to deck 5.  
Seaplex / Playmakers just seemed out of the way and forgetful.  I only went the one day and it never crossed my mind to go there for drinks again, maybe because the wife needed to find the special elevator?  Don't know...
Solarium was nice - adults only the entire time (there were only 300 kids on this sailing).  The main pool was busy...plenty of seats crammed in, side-by-side but there were seats on 14 and 15 available if you looked.  Smoking area on this ship on 14 was right outside the Solarium...going to the men's room was like walking into an ashtray.
Windjammer was only experienced during breakfast...why is their hash different than the hash in the Solarium? 
Giovanni's - probably the best meal of the cruise - we did a lunch seating on day 4.  Wow!  So good and too much food!
The shows...oh boy, I was not a fan of "The Book"... "hahhahahahhaha"  "oooohhhhh" "ackkkk" for 10 minutes and then who knows what the next two scenes were.  Its like they developed a show with no language for international cruising but at the same time made it very weird and to fit into a specific theater.  We got up and walked out...
The Effectors - this one was OK - very cool display tech incorporated into the show.  But it didn't have a story, just each of the "heroes" showing up, chasing around some flying monkey type characters while singing cover songs...OK I guess.  
Showgirls - this one was the best of the three.  Used much of the visual display tech that the Effectors show used but at least you could understand that it was a show about Showgirls over the years with interaction between the characters.  It wasn't a Broadway type show but was good for 45 minutes of time killing.
People - listen, I know it takes all types to make the world go round but there were some people on this ship that I wondered if they were raised in a barn.  Like the lady eating french fries from the tongs on the buffet, the guy taking candy off the gingerbread display houses outside the MDR, or the lady hacking up a lung in the Windjammer with no regard to cover up or move away from food or other people.  This is just a sample...I mean 97% of the people were good but the standouts really made themselves stand out. 
I don't know that I will rush back to this class of ship.  I think the Oasis class is laid out better (and needs to be for 25% more capacity) and even the Freedom class is laid out better with a more open Promenade space.
I'm sure I missed some stuff so I'll post more comments as I think about stuff and as I gather all the pictures and videos.
 

The pool bar will open at 8 or 9 am.  No way the main pools don't open until 11 am, especially on a sea day.  The entire pool deck will be packed before 11am.  

On sea days if you want any sort of decent spot with shade, with needing 4 chairs you will need to be claiming them by 8 am at the latest.  I would honestly go earlier than that.  It absolutely sucks but that is the honest truth and there really isn't any way around it (unless you are in a suite or are reserving a casita).  And it will shock you that no matter how early you go, there will still be a lot of chairs already claimed.  People must set alarms for 3 am to go claim chairs, I swear. 
I hate participating in that, but I like hanging by the pool most of the day on a sea day. I will usually get up early like 7 am and go claim a few chairs and actually sit in them, usually bring my laptop and do some work or something.  And then my wife will come around 8 or so.  We may then quickly go to grab breakfast and get back, or depending on if our kids are up, we may split up and two of us go eat breakfast while the other two stay at the chairs and then switch.  It's annoying but I want to sit by the pool all day, I don't want to do it in the pure sun, and I don't want to do it near the kiddy pool or the smoking section, so this is what I have to do to secure my preferred spot. 
In my years of doing this I have witnessed many pool chair shenanigans and confrontations.  In rare instances I have seen Royal removing towels from unused chairs, but that is definitely not the norm.  I have seen people move people's stuff and claim chairs more often than Royal doing it.  And then when the original claimer shows up, the people sitting there just claim ignorance and say there was nothing here when we sat down.  I don't want that confrontation, so I suck it up and physically get in a chair early.  Short of Royal posting people around the pool enforcing the rule, it won't change.      

On sea days if you want any sort of decent spot with shade, with needing 4 chairs you will need to be claiming them by 8 am at the latest.  I would honestly go earlier than that.  It absolutely sucks but that is the honest truth and there really isn't any way around it (unless you are in a suite or are reserving a casita).  And it will shock you that no matter how early you go, there will still be a lot of chairs already claimed.  People must set alarms for 3 am to go claim chairs, I swear. 
I hate participating in that, but I like hanging by the pool most of the day on a sea day. I will usually get up early like 7 am and go claim a few chairs and actually sit in them, usually bring my laptop and do some work or something.  And then my wife will come around 8 or so.  We may then quickly go to grab breakfast and get back, or depending on if our kids are up, we may split up and two of us go eat breakfast while the other two stay at the chairs and then switch.  It's annoying but I want to sit by the pool all day, I don't want to do it in the pure sun, and I don't want to do it near the kiddy pool or the smoking section, so this is what I have to do to secure my preferred spot. 
In my years of doing this I have witnessed many pool chair shenanigans and confrontations.  In rare instances I have seen Royal removing towels from unused chairs, but that is definitely not the norm.  I have seen people move people's stuff and claim chairs more often than Royal doing it.  And then when the original claimer shows up, the people sitting there just claim ignorance and say there was nothing here when we sat down.  I don't want that confrontation, so I suck it up and physically get in a chair early.  Short of Royal posting people around the pool enforcing the rule, it won't change.      

I recommend bringing a folding chair from home. Set it up as close to the pool as you want. 

What an awful experience.  I feel for you.
My advice - go through the trouble of getting a passport, both for you and your kids.  It's a hassle at first but so much easier all the way around after you have them.  No more dealing with birth certificates.   

What an awful experience.  I feel for you.
My advice - go through the trouble of getting a passport, both for you and your kids.  It's a hassle at first but so much easier all the way around after you have them.  No more dealing with birth certificates.   

What an awful experience.  I feel for you.
My advice - go through the trouble of getting a passport, both for you and your kids.  It's a hassle at first but so much easier all the way around after you have them.  No more dealing with birth certificates.   

What an awful experience.  I feel for you.
My advice - go through the trouble of getting a passport, both for you and your kids.  It's a hassle at first but so much easier all the way around after you have them.  No more dealing with birth certificates.   

What an awful experience.  I feel for you.
My advice - go through the trouble of getting a passport, both for you and your kids.  It's a hassle at first but so much easier all the way around after you have them.  No more dealing with birth certificates.   

This thread brought the laughs on a Tuesday morning!  
I've been on 8 or so RC cruises now (a rookie around these parts, I know), and I have never had one incident with another cruiser and drunkenness.  And most nights I am out "enjoying the ship" until after midnight.  
Now I have definitely had a few incidents with sober people on a cruise ship (elevator etiquette, line cutting at the windjammer, pool chair hogs), but those are topics for another thread!  

Royal is a fantastic cruise line once you are able to board a ship and the cruise starts.
They are terrible at everything else.  They suck at the pre-cruise guest experience.  
I totally feel your pain.    

Agreed. lobster night is not what it used to be.

When this summer gets here, you're going to be disappointed to learn that your Icon sailing is next summer.  2024. 🙂

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/holland-america-line-removes-need-for-pre-cruise-covid-testing
Holland America have also dropped testing for all on cruises under 15 days, no need for vacination or testing, come on Royal, time to catch up with the rest of the industry. Perhaps they will announce something later this week when the release their latest business update.

I once did a 9:30 am flight departure out of FLL.  That was only because there were really no other flight options until like 2-3 pm and I didn't want to wait that long.  I was anxiety ridden the whole time and was also very surprised by how many people were doing self-disembarkation.  Anyways, we made it with time time to spare, but I vowed after that I would never do a flight before 10:30 again.  I wouldn't sweat 10:45 at all.     

Well, for me… Chuck Heston may have said it best. “They’ll get my Deluxe Drink Package when they pry it out of my cold dead hands!” Come and take it!

Every time that we cruise, I know what the daily "break even" point is for the two of us.
A few times I have "made up the difference" when my wife has a light day of drinking! 😆

Regardless of the optional drink package, people are going to continue to do what they want (as they should). If that includes excessively drinking there will always be a way. If you do away with the drink package the guests who have the financial ability will continue drinking w/o interruption and the guests that have a tighter budget will just find more inventive ways to smuggle booze on the ship. The drink package is a big win for the company. As you mentioned, there are other options but the grass may not be greener depending on what type of atmosphere you prefer. Personally I would rather watch what I have witnessed as a very small percentage of drunk fools on RC than an entire ship filled with grumpy geriatrics mowing people down in motorized scooters on other cruise lines. 

This thread brought the laughs on a Tuesday morning!  
I've been on 8 or so RC cruises now (a rookie around these parts, I know), and I have never had one incident with another cruiser and drunkenness.  And most nights I am out "enjoying the ship" until after midnight.  
Now I have definitely had a few incidents with sober people on a cruise ship (elevator etiquette, line cutting at the windjammer, pool chair hogs), but those are topics for another thread!  

This thread brought the laughs on a Tuesday morning!  
I've been on 8 or so RC cruises now (a rookie around these parts, I know), and I have never had one incident with another cruiser and drunkenness.  And most nights I am out "enjoying the ship" until after midnight.  
Now I have definitely had a few incidents with sober people on a cruise ship (elevator etiquette, line cutting at the windjammer, pool chair hogs), but those are topics for another thread!