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Matt, I love this blog! Thank you for all the work you do

Just noticed earlier this month, Royal Caribbean Blog had its 5 year anniversary!
 
Thanks to everyone for helping make this site so much fun for me to work on for 5 years.  It never feels like work because of all of your support.  Thank you!

Steph, I am in complete agreement with you. Glad to know I'm not the only MTD abuser !
 
I HATE to be in the middle of something (usually gambling !!) and have to stop and go to dinner. I would rather just eat early and get it over with so that I can have the rest of the evening to do what I want to do (usually gambling).
 
One of the BEST things about being a suite guest is that you get to enjoy anything on the regular dining room menu in your room, if you care to do that. On our last cruise we were in the Royal Family Suite on the fantail and I have to tell you....we got pretty spoiled pretty fast for getting our dinner delivered to us on our balcony. I think we ended up doing that the last 4 nights in a row ! In that room we had a regular, full-sized table and it was very convenient to have our dinner delivered on the balcony. I'm not sure it's going to be QUITE as cozy in the aft Grand Suites on the Allure. From what I can see there are only small, low tables on the balconies in those rooms....but I'm certainly willing to give it a try !

Raye, That is so funny because I am like you. I enjoy eating at 6:00 PM and if I am really daring I eat at 6:30 but mostly 6:00 PM. The reason I  choose MTD is because I prefer a table for 2 and I found with traditional dining downstairs I could never get a table for 2. So I stick with MTD as well. I think for our group cruise however, one night I will choose to dine al fresco on my balcony since its such a cool room.

Actually, you CAN replicate the traditional dining experience with My Time Dining (MTD), but as I am often reminded, why would you ?
 
The purpose of MTD is to allow you to eat at [almost] any time you wish vs having to eat at 1 of 2 assigned times.
 
Having said all of that, I will say (as I have many times) I do MTD at the same time every night SO THAT I get the same waiters and have the same table. How is this different from traditional dining ? It is not. I am a MTD abuser. The reason I do MTD instead of traditional is b/c I like getting a private table and I have always believed that it was easier to get a private table (MTD upstairs) than it was downstairs at traditional. Since joining this blog I have been assured that I am completely wrong and that it would be JUST as easy to get a private table downstairs as it is to get one upstairs so I truly have no real excuse to continue using MTD like traditional dining except....it's habit by now.
 
Truly, I do believe that the line is shorter waiting for a MTD table since you don't have a horde of people all trying to be seated at the same time but that's just my opinion. I'm probably wrong.
 
So I will continue to abuse the MTD system and eat at 5:30 every night instead of going downstairs with the rest of the early diners...because I can.

My answer to this depends on what I've done most recently.  The truth is both are pretty comparable and there isn't much difference overall.  I can think of pros and cons for both but I think it's nice to mix it up as much as possible because either can "get old" if it's done too much.

There are a number of videos on YouTube of these new suites. They look really nice but they are NOT as nice as the A1 or A2 on 8, 9 and 10....especially outside. They do not have the really nice lounge furniture nor big tables and chairs. They have a couple of lounge chairs and a small round table like any balcony has but not the nice stuff like the bigger aqua suites.
 
Obviously, they are 1 BR, 1 BA unlike the A1 and A2 suites that have 2 BR, 2 BA. They're basically large Grand Suites....but as one of the videos noted, the bathrooms in these new A3 and A4 suites aren't even as big as the standard GS bathrooms. The bathrooms look nice though...all tile with a nice "sitting area" in the tub.
 
I think RCI has overpriced them once they convert from GS to AS (May and June of '16). They are reasonably priced as GS but way OVERpriced (my opinion) once they rename them Aqua Suites next year.
 
According to the deck plans, the suites located in this same area on the Harmony have a different size config. According to the deck plans for Harmony the largest of these Aqua Suites are going to be on Deck 14 whereas on the Oasis and the Allure, the suites on 14 are the smallest....so I don't know if the deck plans have bogus information or they have just built them differently from what they did as add-ons on the Allure and Oasis. I have booked 14730 for the Harmony TA from Barcelona to Florida. I guess we will have to wait and see if the suites on 14 are really bigger than the ones on 11 or 12. I have my doubts.

I'm with you, Matt ! There is never a shortage of things to snap up my OBC !
 
One of the discussions on this topic (if it is not this particular one) mentioned that you cannot use your OBC in the casino. That is only partially true. While you cannot take your OBC directly and use it in the casino, you CAN cover casino expenditures with OBC by taking a "cash advance" at the casino. The only problem is, it will cost you a 5% "convenience fee" unless you are a member of Club Royale. So you CAN spend OBC in the casino...with just a little bit of overhead.
 
If you have $100 of OBC and you take a $100 cash advance at the blackjack table, your sea pass card will be charged $105. It will be offset by the $100 OBC and the net charge to your sea pass account is $5....but you have successfully used you OBC and, in fact, now have $100 in your hand (unless you foolishly gambled it away !!!).

If you have OBC to spend and there is no risk of what you're booking selling out, feel free to wait for the ship.  The beverage packages are a great example of something that you can wait to book onboard.
 
Things like shore excursions or specialty dining (at a specific day and time) are something I think you should consider pre-booking.  
 
In my experience, I never have a problem spending my OBC money!  It seems to disappear quite quickly

There's only 1 exception that I have seen. When you are a suite guest and you book a cabana at Labadee or CocoCay before the cruise through the concierge they will charge it to your room; you do not pay for the cabana when the concierge books it for you. That's the only prebooking I have EVER done that I didn't have to pay for at the time that I booked it.

First of all, there is NO bad time for a cruise. I believe I have cruised nearly every month of the year except for maybe July and September. One of these days I will do an Alaska cruise in July...but still haven't done it.
 
We go every Christmas and love cruising during the holidays. We love cruising in Jan and Feb b/c getting out of the cold is such a wonderful relief. If you have to fly (like we do) then you have to plan carefully so that you build in additional days for travel in case of weather delays in the winter but as a rule, winter cruising to the Caribbean is the best....my opinion...BUT if you are cruising in the winter to enjoy water activities (beach, etc.) you have to go to southern Caribbean to get water warm enough for ME. I find the Bahamas and Virgin Islands areas to be too cool to truly enjoy the beach in the dead of winter....again...IMO. Is it better than the cold Northeast ? You betcha but I don't think it's warm enough to spend the day at a swim-up bar in St. Thomas. I tried that. I froze.
 
IF you have to fly anyway, just keep on going and fly to San Juan and go to the southern island. Nuttin' better !

I think this really depends on if you have kids that can't miss school... For me I am the luckiest person there is when it comes to cruises. I run a business with my father and he lets me take my time off whenever is best for me. I also have no kids so I don't have to worry about that. My fiancé also usually can always get time off when needed... So we try to cruise in either Jan/Feb and then in April/May  then Aug/Sept  just depends when I can get the best deals...

Thanks to my new friend Raye AKA WAAATOO I snagged the awesome AFT Grande Suite 12330 For the Group Cruise! I cant wait! This room looks amazing!

There will be a post on the royalcaribbeanblog.com homepage when the show is airing

For those of you who are fans of the podcast like I am, I wanted to remind you that the 100th episode will be a live show at 8 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, July 1st.  I hope to hear all of you during the show.
 
I also wanted to thank those who contribute to the podcast, and of course Matt himself, as I used my favorite episodes to keep me going during a recent half marathon.  It was great to hear Matt's voice and your voices through the last live show and through your emails as it kept me going.  However, I will admit that re-listening to the Giovanni's Table episode (#83) probably wasn't the best decision that I've ever made as it made me really hungry and got me thinking of my cruise next month rather than my run.
 
Kris

I have a specialty drink that I concocted. It is a pina colada made with amaretto instead of rum. It is SOOOO good.

Absolutely.  We will do a cabin crawl event more than likely so yours will be a must-see.
 
No promises that I leave.

Matt, You gotta come check out my room on the group cruise. I cant wait to show you the balcony it is very cool!.. Also now I guess I will have no problem getting a Cabana in Labadee so that is also a plus.. But seriously I want you to come check out my room I just think its so cool that you can see the Aqua Theater from there!

Head's up everyone who is on the blog group cruise...and everyone else too, I guess!
 
RCI began a 72 hour cybersale this morning. I'm not sure if it is going to benefit everyone but it looks as if it is going to benefit those of us on the blog cruise.
 
For those who have booked in my group they are showing a $25 per person reduction ($50 per cabin). It does not appear that the base price of the cruise has changed so it looks like a legitimate $50 reduction in the price of the cruise...for everyone but me and Stephanie...and anyone else who may have booked using a significantly discounted fare :(
 
Anyway...call and see if your already-booked cruise will benefit or if you have been waiting to book, now may be the time !
 
Good luck everyone !

My wife loves the spa and we usually book her one spa service per cruise because like you said, it's a luxury we never opt for at home.  
 
It's pricey but to us, it's a reward for the cruise.  For the massages, I think it's a good service and a fair price.  

I'm officially jealous

Thanks to my new friend Raye AKA WAAATOO I snagged the awesome AFT Grande Suite 12330 For the Group Cruise! I cant wait! This room looks amazing!

I will say that I have booked Carnival cruises a number of times through VacationsToGo and they have always been great deals.
 
At the very least I can say that they are reputable and they deliver what they advertise.
 
I have never used any other website or discount service. I have certainly used TAs before and as jti says, the biggest drawback there is that you lose control of your reservation...any changes that you make and any payments that you make have to be handled by the TA. If you don't mind that, they will almost always give you some kind of perk/rebate even if it is just OBC.
 
As for why others seem to get the good deals, it is just like everything else. Seniority. If you have seniority in a loyalty program eventually you will start reaping the benefits. It takes a LONG time and LOTS of money to get there with RCI (some other other lines' programs seem to move a little more quickly but at heart, they are all the same). Also, I personally benefit GREATLY from my membership in Club Royale. Currently, Club Royale is rebating me 50% (which ends up being 46% for some reason...I'm sure it's how they calculate the reduction) off of the base, published cruise fare. That is a HUGE benefit. As with all things, the benefit you enjoy with such programs is based upon how much you benefit THEM...in other words, how much money do you risk and how much time do you spend, in the casino. Notice, I said how much you RISK, not how much you lose. Believe it or not, casinos (both land-based and sea-based) do not care whether you win or lose ! They know that over time, you will LOSE more often than you will win...so they only track what you risking, not whether or not you are winning or losing. Having said all of that about Club Royale, RCI is in the process of completely redoing their VIP program. I was told this morning that when they fully implement their new "tiered" program some of the lower level tiers will no longer qualify for ANY cruise fare discounts. Obviously I am not happy to hear that...but I figured it was coming. As with other things recently, Club Royale seems to be pushing this VIP program roll-out WAY to the right...just like Dynamic Dining, there seems to be some "issues" with implementing their plans. That's good news for me. I have received cruise fare discounts on cruises all the way through November 2016 and I will continue to book them when I can...they won't take them away from me once I'm booked but there may come a time when I no longer qualify for the BIG discounts I am now getting.
 
There is also an element of obsession that is required. If you do not check prices and availability EVERY day then you WILL miss the mistakes, glitches, sometimes planned reductions that pop up from time-to-time. You have to catch them when they appear or you will lose out. Some people aren't that obsessed (I clearly AM) and don't want to have to check all the time.

Huntley, if I am not mistaken the cabanas are first made available to Grand Suite and above; if there are any left (which is extremely rare...I have never actually seen there be any unrented by the Suites guests) then they are made available to everyone else. I do not believe that Junior Suites qualify for the "first option" on the cabanas.
 
You asked about any of the sweet suite perks. I do not believe that Jr. Suites qualify for any of the suite perks...HOWEVER I have heard conflicting information (from RCI CS reps not just hear-say) that Jr. Suites are eligible to go to the Coastal Kitchen and suites lounge on the Oasis and Q Class. Whether this is actually the case or not I don't know. I have been in a Jr. Suite MANY times and have never been able to utilize any of the "Suite Perks".
 
That is why I now get at least a Grand Suite. I love Jr. Suites...they are much roomier and the ones on the aft are AWESOME but the Suite Perks are really nice and I have become accustomed to them so I am now completely and utterly spoiled and ruined for any other room ! How pathetic is that ?!

Wow, I need to start hanging out with Stephanie more