Gears

Just realized one...you know you're a cruise nerd when...you open the cupboard door where the drink glasses are...and half the glasses are various styles of martini glasses, shot glasses and other assorted drinking vessels...you brought back from the various cruises you've been on...many complete with RC branding!

NERD!! :) :)

You're D+...and still have your first sea pass card stashed in your night table drawer.

You check your next reservation every other day for the number of days until embarkation and announce loudly...THE NUMBER OF SLEEPS UNTIL DEPARTURE!

I'm not Catholic, but I just did five Hail Marys for you...

We use picnic table cloth clips...$1.99 and takes very little space in the luggage. Watching everyone else struggle with their blowing towel...priceless.

Short answer, no. It's a small private island, no airport, accessible only by boat.

This is like conversations I have with people about all inclusive resorts who think their drinks are free. With RC, if you want it, there's a usually service for that. As opposed to paying for it and get it whether like it or not...'included soda' you're paying for it, it's just not a specific line item on your bill. Six or one half dozen, call it whatever. I hate paying for over inflated fares including things I don't use. Internet and such...there were days not that long ago where there was no such thing on a cruise ship...any cruise ship. They only way to keep in touch...ship-to-shore phone at about $8+/minute. New technology and services come out all the time...it's not possible to replace or swap out to the newest and latest thing every six months. On an all metal ship it's a massive and expensive undertaking to design and implement a wireless service. I've been on RC ships that have 'okay' internet service that didn't have any internet service previously...or the internet was accessed via PCs in a specific lounge that always seemed to be full. An interesting concept, however, that texting has become a top line critical item on a vacation...worthy of a Sociology Graduate Thesis. RC's soda package is a joke. We order 18 cans of soda at the beginning of a cruise for my wife, it costs far less than a "fountain soda" package and is of far better quality. We know several people who cruise Disney...we don't see the attraction to pay that much...for a bunch of things we won't use. To each their own, and it's good to see what else is out there.

One of the other reasons appropriate gratuities are important is the attraction of quality staff. Gratuities are the bread and butter for people working in the service positions on ships. Non-tippers need to cruise somewhere else.

You will need to provide them with a reason. Specifically, you will need to outline what about the service was unsatisfactory to justify them removing the gratuities from your bill. Just telling them to take it off won't get much mileage.

Interesting...we were shopping for cruises on the Allure about six weeks ago and that week was marked N/A for all staterooms according to my notes. Clearly the charter was sold a while ago...how long have they known? The fact they're just getting to telling you now...

Chrome in incognito mode works. No cookies that way. The royal site doesn't seem to handle search requests well when running in normal mode.

I'm not sure I am clear either. Is the change a result of an actual price change or change in currency exchange rate? If you book the cruise and the currency on the booking document is British pound sterling, the price will not change. However, if your cruise booking is in USD and the exchange rate changes, the price (in USD) of the cruise does not change, but the end cost to you in £ will. For the better or worse depending on which way the dollar flies. We've been caught in this before and we now book in $CDN so we don't get taken out back to the wood shed because of currency swings.

VOOM packages are based on how many devices are connected at one time. You can share the code they give you on the ship, but if one person is on they can either share that device or logoff and someone can login from another device. TIP: Put the login code in a notepad or something else on the device(s), then copy and paste when you need it.

We just got off the NOS on Sunday too. It was an excellent cruise, smooth sailing and excellent weather.

We did the private snorkel trip in Bonaire with Renee. We've been on many snorkel trips and this by far was the best. You may think that the excursion is only 2 hours...how good could it be? Well...you spend about an hour and a half in the water...with an expert! Most snorkel trips...wait to get on a catamaran or some other boat with 50-75 other people...spend 30 minutes getting to a destination...some more time waiting to get into the water...snorkel around looking for stuff...after 20 minutes you're called back to the boat...etc., you get the picture. With Renee...there were four of us, me, my wife and another couple. Short walk to Renee's van, 5 minute drive to first stop and you get in the water right there from shore. Trust me, in Bonaire you don't need to go far at all and you don't need to get on a boat. Wow...the sea life, most varieties I have seen in one place. Renee spends most of the time pointing out the wildlife, explaining the reef and the ecosystem. About 45 minutes in the water, get out and hop in the van for a short drive to stop number 2 for another 45 minutes or more. After stop number Renee drops you back at the ship. $40/pp One important thing, this is a snorkel trip, not a learn to snorkel trip. Some snorkeling experience is required. http://www.reneesnorkeltrips.com/

We just got off the NOS on Sunday and our pre-purchase discount was 30% for Surf + Stream. Surf only was available for purchase on ship only. For what it's worth, on the NOS at least, the VOOM service sign on is easy...but the service as a whole...is an embarrassment to RCL.

We just got off the NOS. Cruise Compass had 'no short pants' in the MDR for dinner regardless of casual or formal night.

Just got off the NOS on the ABC island tour. You won't regret it!

My wife was complaining that she can never prove she was on vacation since she wasn't in any of the pictures. :) a selfie stick fixed that. We use one occasionally for stills, but the ones walking around taking videos and getting in people's faces is just bad behavior.

We used to always take the early seating in the MDR. Then one day we found ourselves rushing back from and excursion and decided that we didn't like rushing around to get to the early seating so we tried the late seating and haven't looked back. We prefer to take our time and not be rushed to get to anything...we have enough of that during a week at home. This is what we found just suits us. There is no right answer, but that's one of the things we love about cruising...we have a choice of early dinner, late dinner, MTD, Windjammer, specialty dinning, room service, etc. The dinning packages are worth it depending on which restaurants you choose combined with deals that might be available for you online in your booking. If you want to try three different ones, add up the individual pricing that you see and compare it to the package. We had a discount on one restaurant but not on another and it made more sense to book individually than get a package. Your mileage may vary so check your prices.

Day one once onboard. :)

We've never used anything other than USD. Just take enough on an excursion that you think you need and leave the rest in the safe. I wouldn't be too keen on using a credit card unless I reallllly had to. From a point of view of 'issue avoidance' leave it in the safe...helps prevent a $10,000 cash advance transaction that's not yours from giving you a migraine. Also, many credit cards also have a service fee tacked onto a foreign exchange transaction. Just have an awareness of what the general exchange rate is so that you know you're not getting ripped off. Going beyond that and it turns into more worry than a vacation.

People smoking on their balconies is the reason why you shouldn't leave towels, clothes or anything else that might burn out on a balcony. An errant cigarette butt flicked from a balcony landed on another balcony causing a fire on a Princess ship a number of years ago. One thing to make sure you have a great cruise...just follow the rules.

If there's one thing we've learned about cruising...try everything. That said, we haven't been on an Oasis class ship (yet). Only because, as someone else mentioned, 7 night itineraries with limited ports and tend to be more expensive on a per night basis for similar class staterooms.