gina_e123

I like the thought of that

I hope this is not the case as I haven't had a chance to sail on her yet.....but I suppose that just gives more of an excuse to hurry up and book something.
 
That being said, I agree that it seems a little strange they are in such a rush to get rid of so many of the smaller ships. Whether its the  itinerary or the port or the atmosphere of the ship, there are many reasons to keep these smaller ones I would think. They can' have all big and new boats.
 
If they keep going this way I would think at some time space is going to outstrip demand, but maybe I am wrong to think that.

IMO, it's not really a feasible option to go with an entire fleet of mega-ships.  Many ports simply can't accommodate ships of that size.  And can you imagine trying to tender 6400 passengers off to stand in line at the chair lift at Santorini, or any port that requires tendering?  I hope not...
 
Like many old buildings, at some point it becomes more cost efficient to tear them down and build anew, rather than renovate.  Maybe the next RCI order for new ships will not be for another Quantum or Oasis, but a state-of-the-art smaller ship. 

I wouldn't disturb lounges with towels accompanied by personal belongings, but
half hour should be plenty of time for a stand alone towel I think...
where would you then place said extracted towel....do ya have ta take it back to the turn-in station fer the hog?

The Labadoozie is indeed the signature drink in Labadee (known as the Coco Loco on Coco Cay).  More information can be found at the link below.  It's not a bad tropical drink, though I'll have to admit, that for my money, the Conch Cooler, the signature drink on Disney's Castawy Cay, is actually better.  I'll concuct both this weekend, side by side...for resarch...again.  
 
http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2013/07/15/royal-caribbean-classic-labadoozie

I am booking a b2b2b on the Vision out of Galveston for November of next year when I go on the Liberty in 3 weeks.  It will be a 5 day, 5 day and 4 day.  If true, better get on while I can.  Have not done Vision before.

ah vision....my 1irst true love...there are more ships in the sea I suppose...onward and upward, but such fond memories :rolleyes:

I never know whether to believe their stories about "worldwide shortages" or not.
 
Dan and I have an ongoing joke relating to this.  A number of years ago (maybe 5 or 6 ?) escargot suddenly disappeared from the RCI menus.  Dan LOOOOVES escargot and was heartbroken when he saw that it was not being offered on this cruise.
 
Our waiter told us that the reason for this was that there was a "worldwide shortage" of escargot.  We snickered about that and we now joke that when we cannot find something that we want, we assume that there is a worldwide shortage of whatever it is we are looking for.
 
Was there a worldwide shortage of escargot a few years back ?  Who knows...maybe.  I guess it could have happened.  We assumed that the cruiseline was trying to save money and had cut them from the menu but when escargot suddenly reappeared on the menu a couple of years later, we had to acknowledge that there may have truly been a short term availability shortage of some kind.
 
The funny part of this story is....on the cruise following the one where we were first informed of the worldwide shortage....escargot was still missing from the menu.  Dan mentioned how disappointed he was that they still had not solved the worldwide-escargot-shortage problem and our [then] waiter announced excitedly that they DID have escargot on board but that they just weren't offering it openly on the menu !  He was SOOO happy that he was able to "make a customer happy" that Dan had escargot waiting for him EVERY SINGLE night for the rest of the cruise.  The waiter was so excited to do it that Dan didn't have the heart to tell him that ENOUGH WITH THE ESCARGOT ALREADY !  Dan just smiled and ate it EVERY night.  It was such a sweet gesture. The moral of this story is (as it is with SO many stories) BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR !  You just may get it...over and over and over and over again. 

AndreH, welcome to the club !
 
There are several Club Royale phone numbers but I usually use 1-888-561-2234.  Alternate numbers are 866-578-3667 and 866-519-7225 but I rarely have to use anything but the first number.  I think they all go to the same call center anyway.
 
You will find that the CR rates run about 42 - 46% off full retail price (and, to be fair,  nobody pays full retail)....so you will be getting ~15% more off above whatever prevailing promo rates RCCL is usually running.  It varies depending upon what promo they are running but you will generally make out best with the CR rates.  In all my years of being a CR member, I have only had 1 occasion when the CR rate was NOT the lowest rate and that was last year when they first started running EXTREMELY good C&A rates on Empress.  Of course, in the end, the Empress mess was a complete fiasco so I cannot say that I have ever had a better rate than the CR rate on a cruise that I actually ended up taking !
 
Did you receive any Future Cruise Credit (FCC) certificates ?  If so, then there is even better news !  The FCC and CR rates are combinable, which means that you will get the ~45% discount on the cost of the cruise PLUS the value of whatever FCC you got.  That will bring your discount up to 55 - 60% off full retail, depending upon the cabin type you book.
 
We NEVER book the "free" cruises that they push with the FCC's.  Frankly, they are a bunch of crap itineraries that they cannot otherwise fill and they are generally only 60 - 90 days from the date of the cruise where we got the coupons, so  it's usually far too soon to cruise again (for us, anyway).  We find the cash value of the FCC to be far more valuable to apply to a cruise that we have already booked.  On the other hand, they ARE "free" (you will still pay taxes and port fees and the upcharge for any upgrade that you may want).  In the end, we find it more useful to use the FCC's on something we have already booked.  The value of the FCC comes right off the cost of the cruise, so it's a giant discount AND the FCCs are stackable....which means that if you BOTH get an FCC, you can use them together on one cruise.  On the Freedom that we just completed in early July, both Dan and I got FCC's so we took them both and put them towards a cruise that we are taking in Feb on Harmony.  Along with the 44% CR discount that we had already gotten when we booked this cruise, we took another 10%+ off with the 2 FCCs and ended up with a slightly more than 60% discount in the end.  We are very happy !!
 
Being a CR VIP is fairly difficult to do these days, so congratulations.  They are giving out the FCC's like candy but just b/c you get an FCC does not mean that they will give you the CR rate on a cruise.  You HAVE to be a VIP member to get that big discount.  So while anyone can join CR, to be an invited VIP member is very exclusive.
 
To answer your question, janza, you just have to throw big money around !  I don't mean to be flippant about it, but you really do have to make yourself known to the casino host and casino manager.  They are the ones that make a decision about who is invited to join and who isn't....and the ship you are on and the casino management DOES make a difference.  On some ships, the management just doesn't come around much and you have a hard time getting their attention.  The Freedom happens to have an excellent (and attentive) casino Manager (Carlos Sanchez).  He really keeps an eye open for the "big spenders" and knows who his big cash players are.
 
I will admit that Dan and I got into the Club waaaay back when it was somewhat easier.  We simply went up to the Casino Host(ess) and told her that we wanted to be "rated" and asked how many points we needed to make it. At the time, it was 2100 so we played the old video blackjack machines (they don't even have those anymore) until we got to 2100 and then we went to see her again.  She signed us both up and that was that.  Nowadays you really have to wager a lot more money than you did back then.  It has to do with your theoretical throughput which I fully admit I do not understand.  I think it's easier for slots players than it is for table players b/c with slots players, the tracking is much more quantified.  With table play you have to be making between $50 - $100/hand for an extended period of time (and on multiple days/nights) to be noticed.
 
There are 2 other bennies of being CR VIP.  One is that you basically drink for free while you are in the casino but I will warn you - whatever you drink is subtracted from the value of your FCC (if you get one).  That's why my FCC is always bigger than Dan's even though he wagers WAAAAY more money than I do.  He drinks his profits away and I do not !  I drink cokes and water and I don't think they subtract anything for those.  Dan's scotches are much more expensive.  So...just be aware of that.  The other perk is that when you are CR VIP, you do not pay the 5% (was 3% when I first got in the program !) convenience fee for taking cash against your seapass card.  This is the most important perk, for us.  We no longer have to carry a big wad of money onto the ship.  Now we just play with THEIR money and it costs us nothing.  Of course, if you lose, then you have to make it back up but we try not to do that !
 
So I personally think the RCCL Club Royale Program is awesome.  To be completely honest, it's the main reason that we continue to cruise with RCCL.  We just can't afford to go anywhere else !  I guess we could if we were willing to go back to regular balcony rooms, but we now cruise in full suites for what we used to pay for balconies and well....we just don't want to do that anymore !
 
Good luck !  Hopefully we will see you in the casino some time !

Yesterday was our 28th anniversary.  The family surprised us with a cake made in the shape of our home away from home.  Guess where we are headed in September:
 
  

I am not one to produce lengthy cruise reviews but there are a couple of things from my cruise last week on Freedom that are worth passing on.
 
My streak is in tact !  I still have never had a bad cruise !  WHEW !
 
1.  Diamond Plus members are no longer invited to the reserved section of seats at the ice shows.  We had no problem at all finding a good seat but I was surprised that the reserved seating no longer includes D+ - Gold card holders only.
 
2.  D+ were welcome in both the D Lounge and the Concierge Lounge although all of our voice messages came from the Diamond Lounge Concierge.  We did not receive any voice or written correspondence whatsoever from the Concierge Club Concierge.
 
3.  D+ are still included in the reserved seating area of the main theater.
 
4.  Even though we were only in a Junior Suite, we were allowed to go to the express disembark line for Suites.  I was very surprised at this.  It has been my experience in the past that the express line for Suites only included Gold card suites but it was a very welcome and unexpected benefit as the disembark line was endless by the time we got downstairs.  This was our own fault.  We had a disembark number of 3....but chose to wait until later to disembark since we had a later flight.  What a mistake that turned out to be - until they moved us from that endless line into the express line where NOBODY was.  We were very fortunate.
 
5.  The seas were some of the calmest we have ever experienced.  We almost NEVER cruise in the summer but since we were repeat victims of Empress Gate this was what we got.  Cruising during the summer can be very risky but we got lucky.  The seas were like glass.
 
6.  While on Grand Cayman, we heard from some locals that they are going to be building a pier next year !  Finally !  I know that they had resisted building any kind of dock or pier b/c of the unavoidable damage to the reef.  I guess finances finally overcame the environmental concerns.  While I heard that this construction had been approved, there is still significant resistance to the plan - primarily from environmentalists and those financially impacted (primarily those that operate the tenders, I am guessing).
 
7.   While snorkeling on GC, Dan saw an (approx.) 8' Nurse Shark.  He was so tickled.  Of course, rather than being afraid, he followed the thing as far as he could.  When he returned to shore, the locals (same ones who told us about the pier) said that it was a very, very rare occurrence.  This young man had lived in GC all of his life and said that he could count the number of times he had seen a Nurse shark on 1 hand.
 
8.  The casino gods were not favorable to me. 

I've enjoyed my visits to Seattle with no safety concerns...Space Needle has a nice view and revolving restaurant was nice...hit up "Pike Place Market" for a cool Seattleite experience.

I used to bring a power strip, but now I bring a small multi port USB charger since just about everything I need to charge uses USB.  I also bring along the adapter to plug it into the 220V socket, to keep the US style sockets available.
 
I almost never get seasick, but I always bring some Bonine.  Murphy's Law/Insurance.
 
I also bring along a small travel size bottle of citrus magic room spray.  Once again, it's just for "insurance" to make sure that I don't get any odd smells coming from the pipes in the bathroom, especially on older ships.

By the way, the three other families that went with us were in SKY Class, so learned about that as well.  Cool thing was, our Genie was able to make dinner reservations for all 14 of us for several of the Signiture Dining venues.  May have been because they were in suites as well, but either way it was pretty nice.  We noticed that the concierges in the suite lounge were not as busy all the time like before RSC and having the STAR class being handled by Genies it really worked to free up the concierge for SKY class guests.
 
 
Here is a pic of me and Francesco the Great.  Of course I had to sport a RCBLOG T-Shirt.
 

 
 

Well I am back from my cruise and it is taking me longer to adjust than normal.....mainly because STAR CLASS was pretty much everything I could have asked for. Now before, anyone that reads this thinks I am trying to brag....know this, I am one of the people that chooses to cruise about once every 2 to 3 years. I use that time to find creative ways to fund the vacation and to justify the splurge as well. That being said....I did take advantage of the NEXT CRUISE program to book several potential sailings in 2018, just to make sure I could get Star Class again. I appreciated those that gave early feedback in the few weeks prior to my cruise, so I am paying it forward.
 
So here we go....
 
ROYAL GENIE: As mentioned in a few other posts...They are NOT Butlers, they work as a very dedicated personal assistant. Francesco was given a tremendous amount of flexability to make things happen. I found the best way to communicate with him was either email or calling from a shipboard phone. LOOP is still a work in progress and the problem we found was, it doesn't notify him when we reach out and doesn't notify us when he reaches out. Email and phone calls worked well. He also had a funny way of finding us around the ship even without email. We finally figured out his magic trick and realized he had a way of tracking the last place we used our Seapass. Bottom line: Insanely cool and never did we feel it was too much. He was always available when we needed something but never all in our business.
 
FOOD: Pretty much everything is included! Only upcharges we found were the Lobster Tails at Chops, Ice Cream at Scoops and Candy at the candy store. You could however...eat all the candy in your mini bar at no charge and my kids did. All Signature Dining, including Chef's Table was included, with no limitations. We ate only Signature with the exception of one night in Coastal Kitchen. The Dark Blue Card...was a free pass to gain way to much weight! Star Class allows you to order all Signature Menus to your suite as well, just let your Genie know and WHAM...LASAGNA! FISH TACOS from Sabor...POW!
TIP: If you want the LASAGNA at Giovanni's Table for dinner....order it off the kids menu (it's on it for dinner)and magically a family size plate of it appears.
 
DRINKS: ULTIMATE PLAN, with no exclusions. If you ordered something that was more than $12, they only applied the difference. We found it hard to acually pay more because their offerings were so broad. Wine by the bottle and Sake...standard Ultimate Program, 20% off < $99 and 40% off > $100.
 
RESERVATIONS: GENIE, GENIE, GENIE! Let me state...I am a Uber Planner. I am a DVC Member and frequent DIsney goer, so I am programmed to plan it out to the minute. To say I was freaked out not having everything all mapped out would be a huge understatement. This is where the Genie really shines. He made things happen...period! The only compromise, he even ask us to make was what day we did the Chef's Table. (Since it only holds 16 people and there are 5500 passengers, Day 4, instead of Day 6, do to it being booked up). Bottom line, I found our vacation became extremely fluid in a stress free kind of way. Shows...he reserved seats in the venues, only one that he even cringed at was same day Comedy Club reservations, but he still pulled it off.
TIP: If you are concerned about a specific night for Chefs Table, go ahead and book it before if you can, They will adjust your folio once onboard.
 
EMBARKATION & DISEMBARKATION: Could be the single best perk to Star Class! The day of Embarkation for us was right after the terrorist shooting in Orlando, so the police at the terminal where extra vigilant. I find the luggage drop off part to always be stressful, so this day was that times 10...if it wasn't for this new perk. Our Uber driver saw the Star Class banner and we were in our suite within 20 minutes....WITH OUR LUGGAGE! So here is how it went down: Special Porter takes your luggage with NO TAGS NEEDED and walks with you to the suite entrance. The Genie meets you there and walks you to the scanner and your luggage is following you. The Porter and the Genie walk with you to your Suite. Our Cabin Attendant told me that they have to immediately turn the suites once empty on Disembarkation day, so they are ready by 11 in most cases.
Disembarkation is where it was just silly. We check most our luggage through to the airlines by midnight the evening before, but kept a couple of small suitcases with us to check once we got to the airport. Franceso only ask that we be out of our suite by 9am and said they had Vintages set up with a lite breakfast. We told him we would want to leave around 9:30 and the rest made my head spin. He came and took us straight to a customs agent and we were in a car in 10 minutes. I am not exagerating. I have stood in that line many times and will gladly do it again if it means I get to cruise...BUT...SPOILED!
 
One thing I feel they did very well....They didn't make a production of the Star Class geusts, when it came to other passengers, which in my opinion is a real good thing. Did pretty much every forward facing crew member know what the STAR CARD allows? Yes.. but I never felt uncomfortable. They did have a sign at the flow rider for Star Class guests but it wasn't like they shut down the line for the "Privledged". They basically would let the guest wait and go about every fourth person, sort of like a fast pass at WDW. That coupled with the fact there are only 11 suites that qualify, it wasn't really noticeable. Honestly...maybe the only time I even felt a little silly was on Disembarkation when walking past that line and by not having to stand there listening to my three kids unravel my vacation...I got over it fast.
 
If I wasn't typing on my IPAD I would continue to ramble and there are a lot of things I didn't touch on, I am going to stop for now. If you have any pending questions, I will certainly try and answer. My take: The program is evolving and will probably change over time as they fine tune. Bottom line: It's a WIN. PITCHERS OF SABOR SANGRIA IN YOUR ROOM...need I say more?
 
BTW, please excuse typos and auto corrects, I am no blogger.
 
B-

All errands and shopping now finished...at least until I remember some other "must have" item. I absolutely can't wait until tomorrow morning to pick up my nephews from the airport! I only see them once a year at best so I'm really looking forward to seeing them and then experiencing the cruise through their eyes. Tonight is probably not a good night to count on much sleep.

 

For our 4pm sail away on Saturday we have requested that PTZtv zoom in on the starboard side near the North Star bar so we can wave to family and friends as we sail out of New York Harbor. The boys and I along with some of our roll call members will be waving and will be holding this poster board sign I made yesterday. The letters are metallic so it was hard to get a good picture. The blue letters are all actually the same color and the letters for Bermuda are dark red, not orange. I haven't done anything like this since elementary school and I enjoyed cutting some of the pieces out and putting it all together. Usually when I put together a poster or sign it is on the computer for work, this was much more fun! 

 

If someone could get a screenshot or two of the sail away for us that would be awesome! 

 

Remember to keep the magnets away from your sea pass card!

I tend to travel even for a few hours with a well thought out and honed down collection of all my belongings (chargers, meds, etc).  That in mind, I'll mention 3 big ones outside of that.
 
1 - A good piece of luggage (especially true if travelling to the port).  I'm partial to the Timbuk2 Co-Pilots http://amzn.to/1tjdnyA
2 - A day bag for hats, glasses, camera, phone, battery, meds, etc while in port.  Again, my pref is Timbuk2 http://amzn.to/1YaPTGV
3 - My preferred toiletries.  We have some degree of medical need here, but it's also preference.  You like the shampoos, bar soaps, toothpaste, etc that you're used to

1) clutch that holds my phone and sea pass in separate compartments so it doesn't deactivate, and still holds everything I need in a lightweight way
 
2) lightweight backpack for excursions (I have an under armour one that folds down and fits in my suitcase really well and holds a couple towels, water, and any other essentials) ... Beach bags are cute, but too bulky
 
3) Dry shampoo... For those times where you just want to get ready for the night quick and not have to worry about blow drying your hair!!

1) Bluetooth Speaker for the balcony
 
2) Binoculars for the balcony
 
3) Magnetic Signs for our door that way I only have to remember what floor I live on. ( I can usually get the right floor consistently about Wednesday)

We returned home from our cruise afterglow at Universal and Cabana Bay Beach Resort this morning.Universal was great fun, but didn't compare to our week on Freedom of the Seas. Below is a link to my last post regarding our cruise. Thanks for reading, and a big thanks to Matt for providing this forum.
 
Cruisin' Bloggin' Vloggin'
https://cruisinblogginvloggin.wordpress.com/

My top three would be
1. Outlet expander...the 6 one was perfect
2. 3m hooks were awesome for hanging things up!
3. My boca clips for my towel on the deck chair i never leave!

I have a busy day planned today as this is the last day I have to run errands, tidy up the house, pick up any last minute items for our trip, and most importantly pick out which cameras to take, make sure batteries are charged, and that I have the charger and lots of SD cards packed.

 

Later this afternoon I will meet with the vet intern who will be coming to my house twice a day to give one of my cats his insulin shot. I was really fortunate to find her so I don’t need to have the cat stay at the veterinary hospital while we are gone. Even though Frank is now staying home for work he just can’t bring himself to give the injections so I didn’t cancel her.

 

TIP: Have a pad of paper and a pen, or cell phone with notes app, on your nightstand table when you go to sleep the nights before the cruise. It is amazing what you remember that you forgot to pack (like underwear ) or put on your list of things that you have to do before leaving (like heading to the bank for $1 bills for tips) when you can’t sleep due to excitement! 

Periscopes & Pictures: Anthem of the Seas June 11-16, 2016
AKA Our “Bermuda Before Boot Camp†Cruise
 
Welcome to my live Periscope and picture journal for our cruise to Bermuda on the Anthem of the Seas, June 11 – 16, 2016. I hope you will enjoy sailing along with me as I head back to one of my favorite places :)  
 
Along with me on this cruise are my twin 18-year-old nephews Steven & Sean. This cruise is a combination high school graduation present for both boys as well as a going away to boot camp present for Steven, who leaves for Parris Island, SC to enter the Marines in a couple weeks, and Sean, who will enter boot camp later this year. This will be their first cruise or big vacation trip. 
 
A sad side note to our trip…My husband was originally supposed to be cruising with us, in fact this cruise was his idea. He has to stay home for work at the last minute so we have cancelled his cruise and were able to change things around :( . This may make for an even more interesting report as I cruise alone with two 18yr olds for the first time :o . As my brother said, “Good thing you bought a drink package!†Actually they are great guys who have great manners and I'm really looking forward to it now that the disappointment of my DH not being able to come has worn off a bit.
 
We live in southeastern Massachusetts. I will pick Steven & Sean up at T.F. Greene airport in Providence, RI on Thursday, two days before the cruise. The boys live in Merritt Island, Florida, just a couple miles from Port Canaveral. When we booked this cruise it didn’t work out for my DH & I to go to Florida for a cruise right now so they are coming north to us…just a bit more travel to get on their first cruise ship then they had thought when watching the cruise ships go in and out at Jetty Park near their home  :P 
 
Friday morning we will drive down to Bayonne, NJ from our home in Massachusetts at about 11am, a 3.5-hour drive, and stay at the Courtyard Newark Liberty International Airport hotel near the airport in Newark. In the past my husband and I have driven down the morning of the cruise but I didn’t want to push my luck with traffic. It will be nice not to have to get up so early the morning of the cruise, although I never sleep much the night before anyway for some reason...
 
I thought I’d start this review a few days early in case there is anything that anyone would like me to find out or photograph for them on the cruise. I also plan, Voom willing, to do a lot of scopes from the ship. My username is SeaSetter. Just be warned that some scopes may be late at night or very early morning sunrises (I don’t sleep much on cruises, LOL) so adjust your notifications or sound accordingly.
 

Zip lock bags of various sizes
Power strip
Flip flops