AnnetteJackson

Heads up to anyone that is being moved by redeployment........ Just got my first set thru and it is all messed up!  Connecting rooms on Brilliance are now on different floors - yep two kids in one room and 2 adults in the other - so not even their policy is being followed.  BUT WORST PART - they were refundable on Brilliance and now on Independence they are nonrefundab!e!!!
Check your confirmations over carefully!  This is one that is not easily fixed.

@Lovetocruise2002All you need in life is a healthy serving of Mongolian grill! If the ship has that, you're set!

we managed to L&S a 14 night relocation cruise, Sydney to Singapore 2021 to a 16 night Sydney to Hawaii 2022 with negligible price difference so just ask! never know what your going to get.

On it already, but the more I think about it, the more I don't want to sail Indy.  I already sailed her post-amp, and the new itinerary is almost identical to the 8 night SY sailing we have in August.

Make sure you call and ask about a room change.  I have seen these rooms changing a lot today inbetween the 5 calls to redeplyment - so worth a try in a couple of days.

The chatter on my FB roll call group for the Brilliance 07/03 now Indy 07/03 seems to reflect exactly what you are saying. 
For myself, I sadly did not get the cabin I wanted so I am likely "jumping ship" back to Brilliance or dare I say, maybe Alaska...?

Heads up to anyone that is being moved by redeployment........ Just got my first set thru and it is all messed up!  Connecting rooms on Brilliance are now on different floors - yep two kids in one room and 2 adults in the other - so not even their policy is being followed.  BUT WORST PART - they were refundable on Brilliance and now on Independence they are nonrefundab!e!!!
Check your confirmations over carefully!  This is one that is not easily fixed.

Heads up to anyone that is being moved by redeployment........ Just got my first set thru and it is all messed up!  Connecting rooms on Brilliance are now on different floors - yep two kids in one room and 2 adults in the other - so not even their policy is being followed.  BUT WORST PART - they were refundable on Brilliance and now on Independence they are nonrefundab!e!!!
Check your confirmations over carefully!  This is one that is not easily fixed.

It seems like everything defaults to nonrefundable.  I recently repriced a cruise and the quoted price was based on a nonrefundable fare even though the cruise was booked refundable.  It was just luck that I asked if the repriced cruise fare was still refundable.

Yes, this has been going on for awhile as Royal loves to defer to Non-Refundable - BUT so annoying!  If you do not catch it within 24 hours or so they tend to refuse to fix it.

Heads up to anyone that is being moved by redeployment........ Just got my first set thru and it is all messed up!  Connecting rooms on Brilliance are now on different floors - yep two kids in one room and 2 adults in the other - so not even their policy is being followed.  BUT WORST PART - they were refundable on Brilliance and now on Independence they are nonrefundab!e!!!
Check your confirmations over carefully!  This is one that is not easily fixed.

Surviving that seems like a good test of friendship as any ?
 
Honestly, my favorite memory from my last cruise is laying on the balcony overlooking the ocean trying to get over my food coma so I could eat again. I dream of doing that again soon.

This memory was on my last cruise... with @Matt.
It's late at a bar on the last night of the cruise.  There's a handful of Royal Caribbean Blog group cruisers present.  I have the drink package so I order one more Kraken and Diet Coke.  The bottle is nearly gone so I get a generous pour.  
Matt doesn't have the drink package but has a 10 drink card if I recall correctly.  He's been carefully allocating his drink orders to save his last punch for one more Kraken.  "Sorry" the bartender says.  "That gentleman there just finished the last bottle" (pointing at me).
The look on Matt's face is not something I'll ever forget.  It was like a kid opening a birthday present expecting that one thing they've been asking for all year only to look down and see a pair of socks.

Price of the drink package: $322
          Price of drink package gratuity: $58
                    Look on Matt's face: Priceless
 

This was the exact same dead end that my TA hit on Saturday when calling on my behalf.  Best she could do was get them to waitlist me for the cabin that I actually want and hope that prevents them from assigning someone to it.  Then when I get moved, she can move me to the one I want.  As of right now, I am still sailing Brilliance on July 3, 2021....no movement for me either yet.

To add to my memories, I had "forgotten" about this one, but it's a fun reflection now. This was two cruises ago in 2019 on Anthem, when I tried my hand at the Belly Flop Contest. Needless to say, I didn't get my legs up and my less-than-stellar form hurt my score. Turns out it didn't hurt my belly any less, but the notoriety on the ship for the rest of the week, and my kids' hilariously watching the replays on the TV all week, more than made it worth it. My score was only a 2, but Dennis said I reminded him of the light inside of his refrigerator for that nice and bright complexion of mine. I did take that moment to let him know it looked like we wearing the same shirt, though. ? All in all, I'll take it. Haven't laughed like that and enjoyed something so foolish in a long time. Can't wait to watch someone else the next time!

We were on Harmony's last sailing before the pandemic shut things down. The sailing before the one @Matt was supposed to be on (Sorry Matt!). We boarded on March 7, and things were still very calm with the virus in the USA. 
My favorite memory was sitting in the MDR the day before we were set to go to CocoCay, and Captain Johnny came on to make an announcement. We knew something was going on, but wasn't aware of how fast the virus was spreading on land.
Captain Johnny announced to the ship that Royal Caribbean would be shutting down operations. There was a moment of pause and we all were bummed, thinking that our trip was being cut short and we would be returning to Port Canaveral.
Then, a moment later, Captain Johnny said that because we were already sailing and had experienced no issues, we were clear to head to Perfect Day at CocoCay! It was a perfect day, indeed. As far as I'm aware, we were the last passengers (other than crew) to visit the island. It was quite a sight to see the island crew waving farewell as we sailed away that evening, not knowing when they'd see passengers again.
Here's hoping our double-dip trip in April is a go!

Sailing past Gallipoli upstream on the Bosphorus, and thinking about the Anzacs, British, Indian , French and Turkish troops who were engaged in the futile and pointless campaign there in 1915.  And how many were injured and died, thanks to an idiotic idea from Winston Churchill.  Then going on into the Golden Horn, and seeing the beautiful Blue Mosque and the Haga Sophia in Istanbul, and wandering through that enormous bazaar and being stunned by the goods on offer; and sampling the baklava and Turkish delight; yum!

I have been working with Royal on a couple today in hopes they would move them because of the room configurations that was needed - NOPE.  Redeployment says any changes can cause issues with their process - so its wait and see.

I will say that I finally got moved, and had something funny happen to me: I went on Liberty of the Seas in 2018, Independence's sister. Well of all the luck, I was assigned the EXACT same cabin that I had on Liberty on Independence! Now I'm wondering if it was indeed random or if someone went back to see what cabin I had on Liberty. If it was random that seems like a very low percentage chance with the hundreds of balcony cabins on the ship. Not like I had a GS or anything, haha!

So true!

Last September we did a B2B on Harmony..  We met so many cool people that have become lifelong friends and cruise friends.. That's 90% of what cruising is all about.. 
 
We cruised on Empress in 2018..  Struck up a conversation with some older folks who ended up being from STL like us.. As it turns out they knew my brothers..  One of the guys turned out to be my old high school buddy's dad.. I actually spent many nights at their house when I was a teenager...  That was pretty awesome to re-connect and become part of the "family" again lol 

Dinner in CK on Allure last December... our last cruise before multiple cancellations...  Here's hoping for more CK memories in 2021!!!

For us, me especially, the last one we did was Harmony in late January and coming down from Maine, we appreciated the warmth and humidity! That first time stepping onto the ship, hearing the loud music, feeling the warmth on your face, knowing you don't have to shovel for 7 days, and then look for a bartender...it's a wonderful feeling! ? And on that particular sailing our daughter's birthday was our day in St. Maarten, so swimming and enjoying the ocean and beach with her, in that setting, was something I'll never forget. Too many memories to pick a best! Can't wait to make many more!