JLMoran

What an awesome shot of your kids on the water trampoline! Your one girl is catching some major air! Also really like the shots of Columbus Cove, that was an area we didn’t visit on our day there. I definitely have to make a point of exploring more the next time we’re there; you’re showing just how much there is to see if you’re willing to take the time and look around.

I feel like I've started the Ministry of Silly User Ranks.

@twangster Bot That Rules 'em All Resident Bot Photographer Bot Extraordinaire ?

Looks like your wish has been granted, oh Grandeur Poo-Bah. ?

Now you've reminded me of a George Carlin bit: "You'll receive an all-expense paid trip to... Dover, Delaware! Yes, Dover, Delaware, the city that means well!"

Somehow this got unpinned. Popping it back up to the top...

@Matt heard my pleas, and now it's official... ?

Awww, shucks! ?

If you haven't been to Cabo San Lucas, give that a look. Beautiful area (I had to put together a "brochureware" site for them in one of my earliest web development gigs), and by all accounts it's really welcoming and friendly to Americans, with no crime or other troubles to worry about.

Do you normally buy "higher bracket" tickets that allow for re-pricing of airfare without a penalty applied? Is this a loyalty level perk with your frequent flyer program? Credit card perk? I don't have any frequent flier level to speak of yet, or a credit card with major travel benefits, so I'm limited to what I can get with my ticket purchase. And at least on United, I'd have to pay the highest economy rate to be able to change without penalty, which would tack several hundred onto the per-ticket price (and the penalty itself is something like a few hundred per ticket, IIRC). JetBlue is worse, where I'd have to buy the highest-priced fare to be able to re-price at all; the premium isn't as much as on United, but at least when I was looking at ticket prices back in December of 2017, I was still looking at >$500 more for my family of four.

I haven't done this excursion, but I would imagine that as long as she paid to be on the trip, the operator will be fine with her staying on the boat while the rest of the passengers go and snorkel. I'm mobility limited and snorkeling isn't an option for me, but I went with the rest of my family on an all-day beach and snorkeling trip in St. Maarten where I just stayed on the boat the whole time. The captain and first mate were totally fine with it and made a point of talking with me and otherwise making sure that I wasn't feeling totally left out while the other passengers were ogling the fish. If they have an email address listed, I'd suggest contacting them that way just to be 100% certain, but I'd be stunned if they weren't OK with a paying passenger choosing to stay on the boat for whatever reasons.

God almighty, those are some seriously cut / ripped individuals! Please tell me they were performers and not just a random sampling of guests doing a Zumba class! If the latter, I'm going to be even more reluctant to board an Oasis-class ship; my self-esteem couldn't handle being surrounded by so much physical fit-ness! ??

Thanks for posting this! I was just asking about whether this even existed at Cape Liberty, and while I already got confirmation that it does, it's nice to see another real-time confirmation. Also glad to hear the seats are cushy, my tailbone says to say "thank you" to your tail bone for the vote of confidence! ? +1 on the desire to move but for circumstances. And big congrats to your daughter!

Depends. What are you washing it all down with? ?

@ADK, that’s correct about the complimentary venues. Many who don’t want to dress up on their cruise just plan on going to the Windjammer those nights. Specialty dining venues, however, follow the main dining room’s stated dress level for each evening. So if you have a reservation at Giovanni’s Table and it’s formal night, you’ll still be dressing up.

Thanks for the info! I kind of remember reading about the iPad-based checkin and how fast it was. I’m just figuring we’ll get there as early as possible, so after the fast checkin we’ll most likely have to wait a little before boarding.

Awesome! Thanks, @Bobbieajd!

I feel like I’ve read a couple of times here now that Cape Liberty bucks the pattern of most ports Royal sails from, and has no dedicated line or maybe just waiting area for suite guests. Is that correct? Mainly a question for @Lovetocruise2002, @twangster, @iamjohnbamber, @Matt, and @J_Keeble, who all sailed out of there fairly recently on Anthem. I hope I’m remembering wrongly; I kind of want to experience that suite-level embarkation treatment with my wife on embarkation, even though we’re only in a JS, since that’s one of the few actual perks of that room class. Granted, dinner in CK each night will be a far nicer perk, but I kind of want to get all the parts of the experience that I’ve paid for.

I’m so sorry this happened, but relieved that everyone is safe and that the person was caught before yet another tragedy could unfold.

Thanks for a great "non-blog" blog, @Skid! Totally enjoyable, still got to feel like we tagged along. ?

Which shots were you thinking of? Kraken? Grey Goose? 1800 Reposado? ??

Similar question was recently discussed on the below thread. Consensus seemed to be that with groups of 8 or more, it's really better to go with traditional dining rather than MTD. Partly for table availability, partly because you can just tell everyone in your group "this is dinner time every day, so plan to meet then" rather than having the daily discussion (or argument) about what time to meet up.

Seems more to me like a move to truth in advertising. Who isn't in a fog when they leave that place??

Two bottles per stateroom. If you have two rooms booked (say, for yourself and kids), you can get away with bringing four bottles even if no one over 21 is in the other room.

One exception to this might be Cape Liberty, which has a small memorial park you can visit while waiting for the boarding lines to open up. I remember @iamjohnbamber writing about this and posting a few photos of the park area in one of his live blogs. Long as the weather isn't unbearable (dead of winter, dog days of summer), can be a pleasant way to kill a half hour if you're slightly too early. To show you're a winner! ?