Fastfaller

Just got off Symphony with a 10, 13, and 15yr old. They all had a blast and had plenty to do 

The 15yr old was off in the teen club with many others the entire trip. We basically only saw him on port days 

The 13 yr old was in teen club or the pool and she spent probably 50% of her time with us the other half with ppl she met in the club 

My 10yr old was with us about 80-90% of the time. Mostly in pools, hot tubs, hanging out on the board walk etc. She went to adventure ocean several times and enjoyed it every time. My wife thought she wouldn't have fun in adventure ocean, but she really did. It made her feel independent being with other kids and away from Mom and dad 

Advice, get internet package to txt with your kids.

Don't try to plan too much, just go with the flow, they will find what they like. 

Don't poop in the pools... Apparently it's a thing on Icon, let's not make it a thing on Utopia.

2 hours ago, Jolly Ogre said:

Actually you can have your cake and eat it too. What you can't do is eat your cake and have it too.

I think Ted Kazinski would agree.

We have several times brought a few WJ items in Ziploc bags off ship. Doughnuts, cookies for the kids etc. don't think you're supposed to, but when traveling with you kids you do what you have to do. Now, your talking about taking off a full picnic lunch, that may get someone's attention, or not. I would stay away from fruits and veggies as they are most likely to contain bugs of some sort. I would think breads, cookies and the like are ok. Don't try to bring left overs back on though.

People loved the smell of my black raspberry pipe tobacco on symphony... Just saying. 

Got plenty of comments/compliments from non smokers walking by.

Ha... I was a contestant on love and marriage back in the day. I can tell you I hate it. Being on the other side of it is not fun.

I just cruised with the wife and kids. One person 4 devices, worked flawlessly. Never any issues, never dropped. Left the ship for port days, came back on and all devices automatically reconnected... Easy peasy.

10 hours ago, PG Cruiser said:

 

 

I assure you, these are official recipes.  Unless the guests ask for some tweaks in the drink, bartenders should do their best to follow the recipe. Unfortunately, many of them feel like they're doing the guests a favor by adding their own spin to the drink.   The beverage manager on one ship knew of this project of mine and so he asked me, "Are my bartenders doing it right?  You're the right person to ask."

 

The official recipe calls for Bacardi Superior, not Bacardi 8.

 

Royal uses the Sunsational Tropical Mix for the Labadoozie (aka Coco Loco).  Not sure if this has changed, now that they use Finest Call for many of their cocktails.

 

I tried making the Desert Pear Margarita with homemade desert pear syrup.  I wasn't happy with it.

Then I tried it with the REAL puree... still not happy.

So I had to order the MONIN syrup that Royal uses

Well how did it come out with Monin?

I am a bit suspect of some of these.... I made a "Papa Jac" with Bacardi 8, passion fruit and lime and it wasn't close to the same thing I was served onboard. 

I really want to recreate the Labadoozy, but finding papaya puree is a chore. Also, what brand mixers is RC using, because it will make a huge difference.

My next experiment will be the desert pear margarita... It was a favorite of my wife.

I just cruised with 3 kids and ended up buying the internet package (1 person 4 devices). The app chat wasn't good IMO. Missed messages no notifications etc... it just wasn't reliable. Though I didn't want to pay almost $600 for internet, I am glad I did. It was very helpful keeping tabs on the kids.

That's awesome @Jill1228, congrats and good luck!

On 4/29/2024 at 3:53 PM, Jill said:

Some guy bought it back about 3 weeks ago. I just got off Icon and the cup wasn’t in the bling shop

Yes it was posted in another thread.... The guy brought it to Coco Cay and was drinking out of it.

1 hour ago, Southern Dan said:

I cannot wait to go on her in November, I feel like my mind is going to be blown since my last Royal cruise was on Splendour 23 years ago.

It will be... My previous Royal cruise was 19 yrs ago on Voyager.  This ship was awesome!

I was there with you Leroy... Great cruise, great weather, seas were dead flat for 5 of the 8 days it seemed. I would agree, hairspray is long but wonderfully produced.

Wait staff were amazing and all my special requests for my 2 rooms were taken care of with haste.

I will say on this trip I felt a bit more disconnected from the goings on. I barley heard from the cruise director about what was happening, when and where. Maybe it is just the advent of the app that makes it different then it was in the old days. Back then they used to announce everything that was happening. I am certainly not complaining though... Less announcements are better. It just felt different this time.

I will definitely be back on an oasis ship, they are wonderful.

Me and the 6 families that went with us all had an excellent time. Labadee would have made it more special, but Falmouth was not as disappointing as I expected it to be. The kids had fun there drinking fresh coconuts, eating raw sugar cane and some of the best mangos you could ever taste.

Well I have to say I found it odd the smoking section was where it was, on 15 port near the pool. Then again, it seemed to be one of the windiest places on the ship so maybe that's why it is there ... All the smoke seems to blow aft.

2 hours ago, rjac said:

Just wish Royal would do the same thing, or worse, to the lounge chair hogs by the pools! 

I can tell you here on symphony they have removed people's belongings from some chairs that were being hogged. That being said it is few and far between. Still plenty of hogging going on. 

14 minutes ago, Mrs. Thomas said:

We have inside cabins for our upcoming cruise. My Dad needs a fridge for his insulin. I saw something that said that the small fridges in the room are more like coolers. Is this true? Will it be ok for his medicine? Or do I need to contact RC about making sure we have what he needs? TIA

Contact RC, they will hook you up.

So I was at my door when security showed up at the room across the hall from me. I heard security say someone reported them for smoking on the balcony so they monitored them with video and caught them doing it and have video evidence. They then asked if they could come in. I obviously wasn't privy to the rest of the conversation but I haven't seen them since.

So what is the penalty for something like this? Just curious.

Ok, day 5 and probably 35-40 cocktails in and I would NOT say the drinks are undrinkable. I have no issues with the quality or flavor of any of these drinks I have had other than 1. And that one was just that I tried a drink I have never had before at my bartenders recommendation.... A BMW. Not knowing what was in it, I said sure why not. Well after already having had 6 rum drinks I did not need this concoction. A lot of Bailey's, some Malibu and Jameson's whiskey..... Ugh, that Bailey's just sat in my stomach and curdled.

But anyway, so far strawberry, Mango, pineapple have all tasted really good. Of course taste is subjective and people who like sunsational might disagree with me. 

8 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

I've seen that happen when you're trying to book more seats than are actually available, e.g. if you're trying to book 2 and there's only 1 left. Not saying that's definitely why it's happening to you now but it's one possible reason (apart from Royal's IT having another tantrum, of course).

Like what Fiona said I have seen it when trying to book an item for 2 when it only Requires 1.

Example I was trying book 2 ppl for "Beach chairs for two". But, the booking is only one reservation even though it is for 2 ppl.

I am on SY right now, had an 1130 checkin time this past Saturday. Was at the terminal at 1015, went straight in and sat in a holding pen for about 30 mins. Was on ship by 1100-1115.

Beautiful weather and calm seas so far!

Ft Lauderdale to MIA isn't too far, in a perfect world 30 mins. The problem is MIA traffic, and it is notorious. What time are you coming in? What day of the week? Anything around rush hour and it could be 90 minutes to make that journey. 

Urber, Lyft, Taxi. I think your issue will be you are 4 ppl with a lot of luggage. You might need a large Uber. 

I am actually headed to FLL in about 10 hours.... We are a party of 5 so we plan to take 2 separate taxis to our hotel. Now way for us to fit in one with all our stuff.

I will be on Symphony this Saturday with my drink package. Plenty of fruity drinks in my future, I will keep you posted on my experience.

Speaking of that, what are the best frozen drinks to try? Any fan favorites?

@tonyfsu21 that poster created another ridiculous thread bragging about her experiences that is why I am saying what I am saying. The post she made in this thread was a precursor to the other.