tdcackler

When I sailed Symphony from Barcelona and Adventure from Quebec City I made the decision to print a copy and have it in my pocket while I tried the phone pass.  
I didn't need the paper for Adventure.  I did for Symphony when my phone latched onto the ship's wifi signal in the terminal.  In the heat of the moment it was easier to grab the paper copy from my pocket.  
I printed using a laptop on the website.
When I fly I often get a paper boarding pass.  A dropped phone or dead battery at the perfect time can make for a stressful day.  

Burgers are nearly one constant that is always available in the WJ, except at breakfast.  Hot dogs typically as well, and fries.
Generally available lunch and dinner in the WJ.  Add you own toppings and/or cheese at your discretion.  
Sometimes the dinner hamburger patties and buns are a step up from lunch.  

https://www.porthole.com/top-cruise-influencers-for-2019/

They’re not cooked to order of course, but he told me they were very good.

I didn't do this in San Juan, but when my family and I sailed out of New Orleans this past February on a different line, we spent the morning wandering around the French Quarter before heading over to the port. We are early risers so we were up and at it early and had two or three hours before we headed to the port. Totally doable.

Nice! I don't want to go to Johnny Rockets due to the cost. This should satisfy my burger boy!

I’m not sure about Liberty, but my friend was on Harmony this past APR and mentioned that they too had a build your own burger station in the WJ. He told me they had no desire to go to Johnny Rockets for burgers since they enjoyed the burgers in the WJ.

We attempted maya Chan last month but the seaweed was so bad we couldn’t stay.  It was mounded up a couple feet high all along the shore which made it impossible to swim.  We hated leaving because they were working their tails off but it was just too much for them to handle.  Our noses never acclimated to the smell after 30 minutes.  Had kids with us so without the ocean and only a small pool,  it was going to be a challenge keeping them happy.  I hear the seaweed situation changes by the day so maybe we caught a bad day.  And with you going in February it could be completely different.  Would definitely visit again it conditions improved.  Also, they refunded our money immediately, as promised and with no hassle, so no harm checking them out. 

I enjoyed the aviary in the port area. It's raised above so there's a lovely breeze and connected by suspended bridges. I want to say it was $15-$20/adult and I spent almost an hour in there. Part of the time was spent watching the dolphin pool that's available in port.

We were gonna check out the ruins, but the port itself looked pretty nice, so as of now we’re just going to the Port! ( Aug. ) Check it out on YouTube .

That is good to know. I love me some pizza!

I loved the ruins tour from Costa Maya.

HI tdcackler, we had an excellent adult day in Costa Maya at the ocean bar called Tropicante. We emailed ahead of time and reserved the type of chairs & arranged shuttle to($8 each way) and fro. Chaise loungers under a tarp like structure or  sit down table for four... or both, front ocean view or back a row under palm trees. Keep in mind, that the whole island has a brown seaweed, this area did a really good job of raking and keeping the smell away. There was a net set up in the water about 100 yards out that kept most the icky seaweed out from the "swimming " area(about maybe 4 feet deep). The restaurant ?bar had EXCELLENT service (Ivan Mr Clean pic below with pail of beer), brought a table to you for your food and placed it in the water or wherever you wanted, dug in an umbrella for you. Continuously brought iced pail's of bottled water or beer & freeze drinks. Tropicante staff arranged for guides if we wanted to snorkel, or do a banana boat. There was an okay for Mexico bathroom, toilet flushed and had running water soap and towels.  We ate and none of us got sick!!!. The port was super huge and cool and I felt secure, lots of shops, clean bathroom and food area, live flamingos and parrots. The port was gated and even coming back into the port, security stopped our taxi and required a seapass to enter. 

I think the actual loss isn't that substantial.
Consider that on most cruises around half or more are first timers.  Based on C&A numbers I've always captured at top tier events the ship is rarely full of return of guests or even 1/2 full of return guests.  Time and again, most of the newbies don't find sites like this or other social media cruising sites until after they got the cruising bug.  Most guests didn't know about this event. DX sales have been estimated to be less that 15-20% of guests on average.  The truth is most people don't buy a package. Many people don't know about cruise planner sales or know to check for price drops.   For every DX sale, many people never think to come back and check for price drops so many pay a higher rate to begin with.   For me it only glitched for half of my 2020 cruises.  Not all 2020 DX packages were subject to the glitch.   It was a relatively short window of opportunity.  Many people missed it. There is also the potential for positive side effects.  Once a guest experiences the DX, many will be more inclined to bite the bullet next time.  I know I enjoy it more when I cruise with the DX.  There may be some positive future revenue from this. Alcohol sales are high margin.  It's a huge profit center.  There may be lost potential revenue but not an operational loss that appears as a red line item on a balance sheet.   Some people had no intention of buying the DX in 2020.  I didn't since I use Diamond happy hour drinks.  Now I've bought it 4 times.  Many people like me who had no intention of buying the DX did buy it because of the glitch.  Sure we bought it cheap, but that is revenue that Royal never would have captured otherwise.  That's a positive. Royal gets to keep and use this money for the next 8 to 16 months until guests sail.  That's some money in the coffers that otherwise would not have been there.  That will help make the next installment payment on the Odyssey build. Traditional DX promos have been used to stimulate sales and maximize potential revenue.  Stopping those could negatively impact potential revenue long term.  If people would eventually cave and buy DX at higher prices Royal would never offer DX promos.  Why would they? Combine all the factors and it's a drop in the bucket.  It's not going to impact stock prices or financial results.  

In the end of the day they had to balance financial issues with Public Relations issues. Public Relations usually wins out, I'm one who got he drink package at the $18 price -- I'll be a very loyal Royal Caribbean cruiser in the future and will only book RC going forward. Furthermore, look who wrote the email, it came from the Guest Services Director, AKA Public Relations. They probably agonized over that email and decided to make it very cute and tongue-in-cheek. They played it very well in the end - kudos to the RCI team

I agree. They managed to have FUN with it. That email made me care less about what they decided (although I am very happy they honored it) and more that they owned the issue and wanted to make the guests happy. Honestly, one email has turned my perception of RC around after having fairly neutral feelings for them because they seem to want to refuse to take my money (I've had the bad luck of having my first two attempts to sail with RC cancelled and I can say I wasn't exactly pleased with how they handled it). This time, regardless of the decision, they did what they could. Kudos to their marketing and PR team for turning a giant bowl of lemons into some tasty lemoncello. 

Some people just take the tram to the village, look at the shops, have a nice lunch, and then cab back to the port (where there is additional shopping).  We are going to try the Ochben Kah raft trip, which is at the top of Lake Bacalar.  The eco-park is supposed to be relaxing, and there are private excursions throughout the Lake Bacalar region.

I agree. They managed to have FUN with it. That email made me care less about what they decided (although I am very happy they honored it) and more that they owned the issue and wanted to make the guests happy. Honestly, one email has turned my perception of RC around after having fairly neutral feelings for them because they seem to want to refuse to take my money (I've had the bad luck of having my first two attempts to sail with RC cancelled and I can say I wasn't exactly pleased with how they handled it). This time, regardless of the decision, they did what they could. Kudos to their marketing and PR team for turning a giant bowl of lemons into some tasty lemoncello. 

Drinks? Drinks, you say? You REALLY want to know about drinks? Check out the list of drinks on the PDF listed in this post! (Starting at page 5) HAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Also contains a good list of what brands are generally available on Royal ships! My wife whittled down the list to what she wanted to try in a word document to take with her on our last cruise.
 

No email received here either. I did message them on Twitter and Facebook Messenger and they confirmed that it will be honored.

I'll even have a drink on RC, er, um, I mean to them... 🍹
 

If you typically shoot manual, aperture priority and/or raw, bring your good camera. If you would only use the automatic feature on a good camera, a good iphone camera works well and you're not lugging extra stuff.

I'll be bringing extra dollars for bartender trips on our two 2020 sailings! 

I'm gonna come right out and say it: I like it!
I pick up a slice nearly every time I go past 😅🐷

Yes, my wife is a sinner... loves her ketchup on her dogs!
I like the spicy brown "deli" mustard on mine usually! I also like to shake it up sometimes with sauerkraut or chili, maybe cheese and bacon... yum!