Orchids

Does this suggest that we can all watch the muster drill video in our rooms?? .... I'm all for it!

I don’t like buffets as a general rule, mostly because I don’t like the idea of those who practice substandard hand washing being able to be in contact with my food or the utensil I use to serve it. 
 
That said, I appreciate the variety WJ offers and the immediate availability. I don’t see how having the food crew served instead of self serve would impact guest satisfaction, and seems a rather easy change. 

We don't love Windjammer as I like to dine, the whole craziness of the buffet is not enjoyable for us, but that being said we don't hate it either. We usually opt for it only on "off" times and then do enjoy trying different or unusual offerings. We would visit her no more than 2X a sailing, just don't really prefer that experience. 
That being said we do prefer if we had no other option the Windjammer to the DCL buffet, Cabanas offering. Ugh, we stayed away from there at all costs. The behaviors in that place were beyond words. 

In my experience, pretty easy. The key is not to wait to the last minute.  If you make reservations on the first day, you should have little to no trouble getting what you want.

Last year when we went to Europe (Italy, France, Greece, Malta) I got a European sim card for $50 that allowed me to talk & text back to the states whenever we were in port or on land. When we landed in Barcelona I installed the European sim card in my phone & I was good to go. It included 10 GB data in 4G/LTE, 120 minutes talk time, 1,000 texts. 
https://www.amazon.com/Orange-Holiday-Europe-tethering-countries/dp/B06XBYMX58
 

In my experience, where they assign you is irrelevant.  I mean, you could go look it up at Guest Services but since you're going to make reservations anyway, just ignore it and rebook as necessary.  I've never worried about what was arranged for me.
You can make specialty restaurant reservations at any specialty restaurant or Guest Services. On some ships, they have a dining package booking station set up specifically for people who booked a dining package.

Thanks so much! This is super helpful as I was worried that I would be at a loss for how to make the changes. Also, having you reply to my question is pretty cool ( to me you're famous). I listen to your voice every week to get my cruise fix. Thanks so much for a great podcast!

Perfect ......  Thank You

Because I want to support jobs in my own country and I think its terrible a company would use their own employees to train other employees to take their jobs away is racist.....nope, not even close. Or because I have a hard time hearing/understanding people who's mother tongue is not English I am racist? Nope, wrong again!
 
But its people like you that say these things and push these ideas and agenda's that has turned the US and the world into what it is today...
 
 
I am 100% ok knowing that someone from China would NOT want me to be working their call center trying to speak their language when they are calling for advice or help or upset...
 
Come on people..don't be so sensitive!!!!
 
 

Racist?  How?  Being Guatamalin or Jamaican IS NOT A RACE!!!  It's a Nationality and, perhaps, a Culture, but it is NOT a race...... That term is thrown around Waaay too often these days.

I guess just another  reason to find a good TA to use from here on out.....as Royal's website is terrible and now their call center service will be terrible..
 
700 jobs being set to Jamaica and Guatemala...and the irony of it  all is that many Royal employees from the US went to these countries to train some of the Royal employees..only to later learn that these people are essentially taking their jobs and leaving them unemployed. And Royal had originally stated they would be adding more jobs to this center.....
 
Royal is to make an announcement about this today...I hate when companies do that and try to not support companies that have done that here in Canada.

We have done both.  In Alaska, I booked through local tour companies.  And, in the Caribbean, we've caught tours once we were on shore.  Particularly in the Caribbean, the islanders live solely on tourism.  Everyone knows all of the ship's schedules and can pretty well recite them to you by heart.  Because they rely so heavily on the cruises for their livelihood, they do everything they can to get you back to the ship on time.
That said, for our upcoming European sailing, I booked all of our tours through Royal.  Foreign countries, foreign languages and countries who are not solely reliant on tourism for their economy ... I wasn't willing to take the risk.

If you plan to return to the ship 3 or more hours before the all aboard time, that pretty much protects you against any kind of travel delay.

I've done non-Royal tours and saved a lot of cash over the years.  Missing the ship is low probability, but severe effect - especially where there will be some sea days after your excursion.
If the problem is a traffic jam , chances are that the Royal excursion contractors will be  sitting in traffic also (the odds of this decrease if your excursion isn't also offered by Royal).
But 2 years ago some friends had an experience that makes me lean toward paying the "Royal Tax" and booking through the ship.  We were on a T/A that made stops in the Caribbean before the leg to Southampton.  Our last port before a string of sea days was St. Maarten.  Friends took the double decker bus tour around the island.  They were returning to the ship and saw police and an ambulance responding in the other direction.  A couple of minutes later, more police and fire equipment.  Then the bus slowed to a stop and sat there.  Yes, it had leaked out all the oil onto the roadway and caused a string of traffic collisions before seizing up.  It took over three hours before the tour company could get buses out to return the folks on tour (partly because they were located behind the crashes and ensuing traffic jam).
The ship patiently waited.  Friends might have spent an extra $25 a person, but spending at least one night on the island, missing the rest of the cruise, and paying walk-up rates for  1 way international tickets home would run more than that. (Though travel insurance might have helped out).
If you take private tours, be sure to take your passport, credit card and local port contact # for the ship.  And if you buy travel insurance, check the policy before buying to see how it handles this situation.

On our July 2 cruise on Mariner of the Seas, the executive chef came around and asked everyone how the food was. My son Brandon who is 13 said his steak was great but wanted to know when he could have a quesadilla. The chef told him it wasn’t going to be on the cruise menu and I thought saw son get very sad. Then the chef said just tell your waiter tomorrow “Chef McDonald” said I could have a quesadilla and we will make you one.  It was awesome.
 

Matt got a little publicity in the Fox article: http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2018/08/15/emotional-support-animals-face-restrictions-in-southwest-airlines-royal-caribbean-cruises-reports-say.html
"For travel by sea, cruise ships are tightening restrictions on ESAs, with Royal Caribbean prohibiting all emotional support animals aboard its international ships effective immediately, according to Miami's WFOR-TV and the Royal Caribbean blog, an unaffiliated industry site."

Emotional support animals are not recognized by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Royal is following the law to the letter in differentiating emotional support animals from service animals that are trained and certified to perform a function for a person with a disability, such as a blind man walking with his trained eye-seeing dog. They are updating their policy as other travel outlets have done recently.

As long as you don't wear a white Wow band after labor day... oh wait, that isn't a thing anymore.  

Don't forget the fresh-squeezed orange juice! If you're an OJ drinker at breakfast time, this is far better than the regular stuff they offer. I had the Deluxe package and my wife had the Refreshment Package, and this was one of our go-tos every morning.

WOW band = additional tan line = No thanks.

Happy Birthday Twangbot.  Since we don't know your real B-day, we will all just celebrate today !

Nope, but we can still embarrass the hell out of you with a bevy of benevolent birthday benedictions! ?

Will try to get early as possible (10-10:30), will go to  a special restaurant to book restaurants if I have BOGO or other dining package. 
Go to the WJ or Park cafe to eat , drink a frozen drink  and drop the bags at the room if it is open, on the newer ships I will go to do some of the activities like  laser tag or zip line before the lines will start to form 

Get a drink. If ship has a Park cafe, get food, otherwise the WJ. If cabin is ready drop off carry ons and then explore the ship. Get a drink.

Actually... I think I just formed a new 'embarkation day' plan that I'm excited to try on our next cruise. 
Step 1: Get to port early and board as soon as possible! (Seriously, we'll probably be there by 10 AM.)
Step 2: Go straight to Cafe Promenade and grab a couple sandwiches and a beer
Step 3: Take those sandwiches with us and go find an awesome spot by the pool before it gets overrun
Step 4: Stay there all afternoon (at least until rooms are open)