JLMoran

Without going in to the painful number details (@WAAAYTOOO can give those if you really want them), suffice it to say that just betting a few hundred bucks into the slots or tables, even allowing for some wins prolonging the time there, won't come close to cutting it for making any meaningful rewards. You have to bet thousands of dollars across every cruise to maintain anything remotely resembling a good ranking and rewards profile. I've already resolved that I will just go on board with a $200-$300 budget at most to play craps and maybe a little dollar slots, solely for the reason that I really like playing craps and the slots can be entertaining for a little while; I have no hopes or expectations of making Club Royale or getting any kind of comps with that tiny play. It will be my personal "mad money", will not go larger than the budget I bring, and will only be used on tables with a $5 or $10 minimum (if I can find any).

Now we have to go for the stretch goal -- facepalm! ??

But Kathy, haven’t you heard the dire warning? That many people in your cabin on a Royal ship means YOU WON’T HAVE ANY SEX!!!! ???????

That's OK, just find the setting to enable "Love" and "WOW!" reactions, and I'll be happy. ?

But @Matt, why is it that we can be told that we've run out of reactions for the day, then be able to make new reactions a few hours later (still before midnight, same day), only to then to be told after making just one or two new ones that we're out again? I thought we got something like 8 or 10 reactions each calendar day, measured from midnight to midnight? I've also had a couple of times where just changing the device I was using (iMac vs. iPhone vs. work laptop) would let me make extra reactions after being told on a different device that I was out for the day.

Dunno if you listen to the Cruise Dudes podcast, but a few times now they've mentioned that when you're in Skagway, if you want to see more bald eagles than you can believe, you don't need to buy an excursion .Just walk off the ship and go (I think) to the right down a trail / side street to an old fish cannery. Tons of eagles hanging out there getting the scraps! Granted, you have to deal with the stink of fish scraps, but it's free.

81 more days, my dear. 81 more... LONG... days.

Yeah, but I still feel it if I'm on two at once. And I was on Levaquin for six months straight one time, so I'm definitely used to the potent stuff.

You got a ZPack and another antibiotic? I thought I had a cast iron stomach, but I must bow to you, sir!

Ummm, @Matt? You did notice what ship he's on, right?

Yeah, my wife's been telling me that for the last six months. Still haven't listened to her.

Alternate solution Look at the BOE meeting agendas posted online for the public See when they actually approved it, just a couple of weeks ago Call the BOE office number Very politely tell the person there that you noticed they had their meeting to approve the calendar, but it wasn't yet up on their web site, and was there anything they could share publicly yet about the holiday schedule Get the final draft of the calendar, marked "Approved", from the nice lady on the other end of the line, and note down the dates Spend the next hour finding all sailings that work with that date range that fit wifey's ask for a possible next cruise Plan to discuss with wifey later tonight after getting daughter home from choir practice Mentally brace yourself for the possibility she'll say she'd actually rather do a land vacation since it's her choice and her belated 50th birthday trip, and be prepared to honor that while internally wailing, gnashing teeth, and rending ones garments

Hi @Geralddhacker, welcome aboard! CK is Coastal Kitchen, a restaurant unique to the Oasis and Quantum class ships. It's only available to suite guests -- Jr Suites have access for dinner only, while all other suites have access for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The restaurant is complimentary with the room booking, no additional charge; but unlike the main dining room, you do need to make reservations for each meal you'd like to have there. So it's sort of a hybrid between a complimentary restaurant and a specialty dining venue. RC is the same as Carnival -- there is a Main Dining Room and also a buffet (called Windjammer) that are both included in the price of your cruise fare. There are also several other dining options on every ship that are complimentary, ranging from coffee shops and deli-type venues; to hot dog stands and pizza places; to Ben & Jerry's ice cream, chocolatiers, and cupcake shops. In addition to these restaurants, the ships have from a few to many different specialty dining restaurants that have an additional charge. Prices range from $20-$30 for "lower end" restaurants like Giovanni's Table or Chops Steakhouse, to $50 or more for the "high end" gourmet venues like Wonderland, 150 Central Park, or Izumi Teppanyaki.

OMG!! In December 2016, when we booked our upcoming cruise on Freedom, our district had the 2017-18 calendar out already so that we knew exactly when it was safe to book this cruise and get it done as early as possible. Now we're in the WAVE sale period for 2018-19, and our #&%^#! district still doesn't have the 2018-19 calendar out!! How the hell am I supposed to book my wife's belated 50th birthday cruise to the southern Caribbean on Freedom or Serenade when I don't know which fracking week to book!?!? I've been watching the district's school calendar practically daily for weeks and they still haven't released it. STOP DRAGGING YOUR FEET YOU LAZY BOARD OF ED MEMBERS! I'VE GOT CRUISES TO PLAN!!!

Are the Bass Ale and Guinness on tap, or just cans/bottles? I'm guessing the latter, given @twangster's posts from Anthem with its "more modern" pub. Just wondering if a Black & Tan is an option on board. Like all the pics and the summary! Definitely looking forward to reading about the rest of the cruise!

I just checked my Cruise Planner for my October Anthem sailing. All specialty dining is already available to make reservations, but there is no option (yet) to make a reservation in Coastal Kitchen, even though my reservation does show I'm booked in JS room 7238. I tried both searching for the CK option in the individual restaurant listings on the Dining page, as well as trying to book using that "Select All Dining" button that @twangster just told us about in another recent thread. Now, I'm still 9 months away from this sailing; @Sabrinaklai said she made her reservations "a few months ago", which I guess was around four or five months before sailing date. So I'll continue to keep an eye out, but this makes me nervous. I'd like to have those reservations made before we're on board, to keep the surprises coming to my wife throughout that first day.

The non-refundable part applies if you try to change your room selection. So let's say you book a Jr Suite using non-refundable deposit. If a Grand Suite suddenly dropped in price and was only a couple of hundred more per person than your Jr Suite, you'd have to forfeit your deposit on the JS to change rooms and get the larger GS. IIRC, this actually happened to @Sabrinaklai with one of her Anthem bookings. For normal cancel/rebook just to take advantage of a price drop or new sale on the same room, there's no problem even with a non-refundable deposit.

Totally agree with this statement. I chose to splurge on one for an upcoming Anthem sailing later this year as a surprise to my wife, but only because the sale at that time meant the price increase was only a few hundred more total than I was paying for a balcony at that time. I think the only other time I'll even consider splurging for a suite is the cruise I plan to book in 2020 (not necessarily on Royal, as I have a couple rather specific itineraries in mind, and Royal doesn't have as good offerings), when it's my 50th birthday and I might treat myself to a real suite, or maybe just a Jr. Suite. Will depend on final itinerary and what kind of budget I think I need to set aside for excursions, as those itineraries will be quite port intensive. If I were a bigger gambler, I'd try and go for the Casino Royale route, but there's no way I'm gambling the kind of money I've learned is required to really move up the ranks in that program and get the best discounts. Plus, there was another thread here not long ago indicating that suites were no longer going to be a well-discounted with casino rates.

To add on what @WHStoneman linked, you should only book the reservation for yourself and any other adults who will be on the reservation. Then when you board, go to the maitre'd and let him / her know that your reservations should be updated to include the children. They can update it at that point to the correct number of seats and you'll be charged only the $10 children's rate for the kids.

I've also heard very good things about Columbia, MD. Very good community, close to lots of things, very nice small town feel even though it's a planned community.

@Akizoo, what sailing are you on? I’ll be on Freedom March 31 for an 8-night Eastern Caribbean sailing, and another couple of people here will be on her the prior week for the 6-night Western Caribbean itinerary. No obligation to reply, just informal roll call.

Yeah, forgot to mention that from NJ and Cape Liberty / NYC ports, you've got a TON of cruise lines available -- RCI, X, HAL, Disney, and NCL. No Carnival as far as I'm aware, but that's a solid plus in my book.

Come to New Jersey! You have Cape Liberty within at most a 2-hour drive; 1 hour or less from most major suburbs. Also have a fairly easy drive to Galveston or Boston, along with EWR, JFK, and LGA airports in easy driving distance for domestic or overseas itineraries. And ignore the old tired jokes about us having smokestacks as our "garden state" growth. That's one section of the New Jersey Turnpike in the central part of the state. Get away from there and into the southern part of the state, it's nice open country down there with a lot of beautiful areas. Go up north and you have bustling suburbs with arts centers and restaurant rows and other offerings that give NYC a serious run for its money, for a lot less than what NYC costs! And also with lots of trees and flowers and no smokestacks.

Safe travels! Please keep us posted so we know you made it there OK!

One thought I just had on this, which isn't so much a technical matter as a political one. Countries like China and parts of the Middle East ban the use of VPNs. It's unpopular with everyone except the local governments, but those same governments have put the squeeze on companies that sell products that violate the rule (see the recent kerfuffle over Apple removing all VPN apps from its China app store). If all of Royal's VOOM service goes through the same infrastructure, then it may be that they need to block VPN access everywhere in order have their ships that sail in those regions be compliant with the local laws. No certainty around this, but it may be something that's playing a factor here. Especially given @notorious.dds's finding that searching for how to access VPN around VOOM while actually using VOOM. That kind of blocking would also be something that I'd expect those more repressive governments to demand of businesses that provide internet service while operating within their borders.