packercruising

How long were you away from the chair?

Key or no key, that should not be a problem. We have disembarked at FT Lauderdale and been at the airport by 9:30. Do curbside check in and save tons of time.

We have sailed twice starting with a land tour in Fairbanks and cruising to Vancouver, and once rt from Seattle. We liked Seattle much better, but if you have never done the land portion, it is awesome, but you will want to do it first.
 

Bummer. We have a no fee card, which is a good thing because we do not have a bank in our town anymore. We rely heavily on ATMs. It's not our fault most of them are in bars. ?

Bummer. We have a no fee card, which is a good thing because we do not have a bank in our town anymore. We rely heavily on ATMs. It's not our fault most of them are in bars. ?

Essentially, it is a special line to expedite the actual check-in process. The idea is these people have completed all the steps online, so you can meet with an agent, they can review your things and be on your way. 
Priority check-in has no impact on boarding, just checking in.
I've used it a few times now in Port Canaveral and PortMiami and it saves a few minutes compared to the regular check-in line. Think of it like having an EZ Pass on the highway versus stopping to pay cash at the toll.

For a 7 day or longer cruise, we take $200 each, because we spend a couple days in the port city before sailing. Once you are on the ship, everything but gambling and extra tips go on the sea pass and we don't gamble. We might spend some in ports. We have gotten past the Everybody back home gets a gift, stage. 

For a 7 day or longer cruise, we take $200 each, because we spend a couple days in the port city before sailing. Once you are on the ship, everything but gambling and extra tips go on the sea pass and we don't gamble. We might spend some in ports. We have gotten past the Everybody back home gets a gift, stage. 

Just so you know @twangster live blogged that cruise last year if you are looking for some additional insight. 

Thanks Ashley!
teddy- My brothers are very familiar with Boston, so no problem there. We want to see the USS Constitution. My brother has it planned out for the 6 hours we will be there.

Hi @Matt!  I have a request and/or suggestion for future blogs. I think we need dedicated vlogs with information on the various ports that Royal Caribbean uses, one vlog per port if possible.  I think it's undeniable that every cruise starts with the port experience. It would be very helpful, especially for first time cruisers, to find information on nearest airports, train stations, rideshare app availability, taxis, airport transfers, baggage handling, tipping, hotels with shuttles, etc.  When I made a search in the blog, I found one for the Port Tampa quickly. Then after some more searching, I found one for Fort Lauderdale.  While "shopping" for cruises, I've found myself having to look in many places for this kind of information.

This is how they did the calculations when they switched from credits to points. Credit: a host on CC.
"Prior to January 2011, there were no cruise points.  Each cruise was one credit, with an extra credit for a JS (or better) stateroom and an extra credit for cruises of 12 nights or longer.  So you could earn 3 credits per cruise. 
Credits were converted into cruise points in Jan 2011 using this formula:
If credits were 1-4, points = credits * 7 + 1
If credits were 5-7, points = credits * 7 + 3
If credits were > 7, points = credits * 7 + 13"
I checked against my own cruise history and the numbers match up.

With mine, they automatically recalculated. When I added up all the points using 7 points instead of 1, it comes out the the number of points we have been credited for.

We are 4 points away from Diamond and have a 13 day cruise coming up. I was looking at past cruises on the RCI site. Our first RCI cruise was March, 2008 Any thoughts on why we only got 1 point for it? There must be a logical reason for this, but it looks like we should already be Diamond.
 
7 Night Southern Caribbean Cruise Adventure of the Seas Mar 2 — Mar 9, 2008 Points earned: 1
7 Night Eastern Caribbean Cruise Freedom of the Seas Feb 27 — Mar 6, 2011 Points earned: 7
After 7 years, past folios
become unavailable.
 

I reached out to MEI having never sailed Royal before. Sharla was assigned to me & she has put me at total ease as well as saved me money after I booked as a promotion was introduced.  Can't say enough about the TA-MEI experience. Once you do it I'm sure you will love it. My experience was an A+

I will not pay extra for dinning. I have had it as a bonus for booking the cruise and we went to Chops, but pay extra? No way!
We have done all the other dining for breakfast and lunch, but stay with the MDR for dinner.
I like the MDR.

We used to do Specialty Dining a lot, but not much anymore. The MDR depends on several factors. One is the menu. I am not a gourmet food type person. Sometimes time is a factor and Windjammer always has something good and pretty quick. Otherwise, we like MTD.

I always figured the Schooner Bar was an escape room. ? 

I always figured the Schooner Bar was an escape room. ? 

I always figured the Schooner Bar was an escape room. ? 

I always figured the Schooner Bar was an escape room. ? 

They don't already have yours on file? ? 

They don't already have yours on file? ? 

During check in, there's an option in the app to do so via your phone's camera.
Not a pain, but 50% of the time they make me re-take the photo at the terminal anyway.

I think to a lot of people the convenience is as much a factor in purchasing a drink package as the unlimited drinks.