AGSLC5

I also plan on attending the scheduled meets that Matt has planned especially looking forward to Sabor after hearing Matt talk about it for over a year I must try some Guac with him

We pre-booked a bunch of the shows when entertainment first came out.
 
The only excursions I have booked right now is our cabana on Labadee.  Otherwise, have not tackled excursions yet.  
 
I hope everyone is aware of the schedule of events we have planned for the cruise that everyone is invited to! http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/royal-caribbean-blog-allure-of-the-seas-group-cruise-events

Dan and I will be there with 20 friends ! We have booked MTD reservations, reservations for Aqua theater, Mamma Mia !, Blue Planet, ice show and comedy club. Some have booked a couple of specialty restaurants. It is our first time to experience Coastal Kitchen and I noticed that you cannot reserve any CK meals online so we'll have to wait until we get onboard, I guess.
 
At Labadee we hope to get everyone into Barefoot Beach and cabanas with those of us in suites and most of us are going to Nachi Cocom on Cozumel. We have nothing booked yet for Falmouth.
 
I check the website daily and there sure seems to be a lot of good rooms still unsold. I think, when I looked yesterday, there were 13 D1 cabins available and many Grand Suites. You'd think they would be trying to discount these rooms and get them sold, but it doesn't look like they are. Of course, unsold rooms means less crowding for us and hopefully a motivation to sell things like drink cards...
 
Speaking of drinking, many of our team will be purchasing drink packages. I haven't broken the news yet the prices are up...
 
We are very excited too !

...When you sit on Periscope for over a hour watching some strange guy film ships leave Port Everglades, daily!

There are coverage DCs! YOLO BOOK IT!!!! :P

I'll be on Allure March 2016.  We've rebooked all shows except for Comedian, which we are still not sure which night to do that...  
 
Looking into excursions for St. Thomas and St. Maarten and would be interested in any recommendations you may have.   
 
How does the dining work?  We just came off a RC Alaskan cruise where we had assigned seating (for 10 of us) and that worked out great.  Yet, this time around we are only 5 and it sounds like it's open seating.  I'm not interested in the specialty restaurants, but curious if we still need to make a reservation somewhere or just show up to the dining room (or buffet) whenever we want.  
 
What is your recommendation for parking at the port?   We'll have car so am trying to decide Port Everglades vs. remote private lot or at a hotel.  Thinking Port is way to go.  Do you know which terminal Allure typically leaves from (which garage to park at)?

Scooter will be working the entire time. That's the nature of my job - I work when everyone else plays, and I play when everyone else works.
 
But I do hope everyone enjoys the holidays!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good....cruise.

Thanks, I got a hell raising kitten that likes it too.

Yes During the day its Solarium Bistro and at night it transforms very nice into Samba Grill... Samba Grill starts off with a very tasty salad buffet as the appetizer. If you are a meat lover this restaurant is for you. If you don't like meat I can't see why you would want to spend $30 on just the salad bar.

Jerel, I love your tree. Really beautiful!

Merry Christmas everyone. We're having family over for dinner tomorrow (TURKEY!), then off to visit extended families over the next few days, love it.
 
I hope everyone has a great season.
 

 
Here's my tree this year.

I was able to get an even BETTER price on my April 11 sailing on Empress.  For reasons which elude me, the base price of the cruise went up slightly but the C&A discounts went up an additional $66 so now instead of a 58% savings, it's up to 62%.  It just keeps gettin' better and better !
empress discount 2.pdf

I thought during lunch there is no Samba Grill, and it returns to being the Solarium Bistro

Thanks Matt. I hope you get some time off too.. Your job seems to not like to give many days off...

CMcLarty- you should try to book a cruise after May in the new Star Suite class when they have a butler, included alcohol, included specialty restaurants and more then I think the suite life will be awesome... I was able to get the 2 bedroom aqua theater suite on Harmony and it is part of the Star class. The new perks look amazing you should take a look..

To all celebrating, have a great holiday season and enjoy some time off (hopefully)!

Wow !  I just called and booked a 5 day to Cozumel and Costa Maya in an aft Owner's Suite on the Empress for April 2016.
 
They had special Crown & Anchor pricing which came out to 58% off.  This beats the heck out of the Club Royale discount (usually 43%) that I usually get.
 
The good news is that the C&A discounts are available to everyone [who is a C&A member] so everyone should be able to take advantage of a nice price.  I'm D+ so not sure every C&A level will be the same % off but I suspect that the pricing is pretty nice for all C&A levels.
 
When you can book an OS for less than $2000 (including taxes, port fees and gratuities !) you're doing pretty good !  ...even if it is only 5 nights !
 
I can't remember whether the VOOM is going to be complimentary on this ship or not.  Too many new, old ships to keep up !
empress discount.pdf

Yep, it's pretty hard to go back once you've started the Suite life !

You must be joining Matt's scopes. Yolo! :)

I know that for many of you, this is preaching to the choir. Many of us on here are already pretty saavy. Mr. Hochberg attracts only the top talent! ;) However, maybe there's something in my ramblings that will help the newbies. When I have these epiphanies, I just have to get them out of my head. What better place than here, with other Royal fanatics!?

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It's amazing how much prices fluctuate from one day to the next! You can spend A LOT more for the same cruise simply by booking/re-booking today versus waiting for tomorrow, or next week. Just remember, before the penalty dates arrive, you can change your bookings as often as you please. Do it! You'll save big!

I've been a big proponent of the Ship Mate app's price alerts ever since I learned about it on here. (Was it DocLC who told me about it?) I then took it one step further and went to the website that supports the Ship Mate app - cruiseline.com. They are not a travel booking site/travel agent. You can, and should, still use your own TA, as you see fit, but please sign up for the alerts on cruiseline.com. There's no cost. It's a completely free service, you're not obligated in any way, and I am in no way affiliated with them. You'll get emails, like the one I've attached, based on your selections. Gmail - Cruise Price Alert_ $419, Enchantment of the Seas, February 08, 2016 (up 17%).pdf You can choose your ship, your itinerary, your dates, and even your cabin type, and it will alert you whether the price goes up or down from the date you first began watching. We saved $94 on our Enchantment cruise in February 2016 (I know others on these boards have saved even more!). We're also monitoring our Navigator cruise in April 2017 - nothing has beaten the price we got so far, but if it does, we'll know instantly! We'll have enough time to take advantage of the price drop. We can use that money for excursions, booze, specialty dining, or other fun stuff!

I don't mean to make this a big plug for the website or the app. I just want to stress the importance of due diligence. Staying on top of things can save you quite a bit of money. Understanding the strategies employed by the cruiselines will make you saavy enough to not overpay. They know when the average person is shopping for their vacation, and they raise the prices during those times. For instance, you'll almost always pay less on a Tuesday during the day than you will on a Friday night or weekend day. They know that's when you have the time set aside to shop, so they jack up the price. By having a price alert system in place, like cruiseline.com's, it won't matter what the cruiseline does - you'll be alerted and you'll be able to take advantage of the drop.

Also remember what Matt has talked about as regards the so-called "sales" that Royal has. They're not usually sales at all! They're promotions. Price alerts allow you to no longer pay any attention to the advertsing. If it's a good deal, the alert will tell you.

If you have a few minutes, read and listen to Jackie Laulainen's advice on getting the best airfare. You'll be able to apply the strategies to booking cruises as well as other travel plans.

Article: http://thebudgetmindedtraveler.com/strategies-for-finding-cheap-flights/
Podcast: http://thebudgetmindedtraveler.com/best-deals-on-flights/

There's just so much information out there and so many tools that if you're paying top dollar for cruising, you're just really not paying attention and you're doing yourself a disservice. That's one big reason why everything Matt does is so important. He really is helping to make cruising better for his "friends." Cruiseline.com is just another tool in the box.

Hope my ramblings help someone, if even just one person.

For those of you who may still be interested in coming along on the Royal Caribbean Blog cruise (Feb 21, 2016) on the Allure of the Seas, I noticed yesterday that they have 13 Junior Suites still unsold on this cruise !  Because of that, I assume, they have offered the Junior Suite Guarantee category for this cruise.  It is rather rare for RCI to offer the Junior Suite Guarantee category.
 
The Guarantee rooms are offered at a total discount of $300 off the normal price for Junior Suites.
 
The Guarantee category allows RCI to assign you a room anywhere on the ship within the room category so you could end up in any of the Junior Suites...but you'd still be in a Junior Suite and you would save $300 !  Double points !!!

I will be peri scoping from harmony in May 22nd I will have VOOM internet so will periscope 3/4 times a day
 
Edit my username is j_keeble

I personally LOVE viewing the periscopes of everyone who is cruising!! I'd love if people could list when their cruise is on here IF they plan to periscope any on their cruise.....Please list your PERISCOPE NAME So we can view your scopes please!!!
 
Brian

One thing that has changed recently is we created a Royal Caribbean Dining Facebook group that is great for discussing our favorite topic: FOOD!
 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1633271950269692/