JLMoran

I hear you! I think the issue is that our drivers' licenses may still be somewhat easily counterfeited / faked. Since the TSA isn't making public what constitutes a "REAL ID"-compliant license, we can only guess. But I'd imagine it might involve certifying that things like the watermarking and other state-specific marks are sufficiently difficult to copy; the colorful background we have, plus the tiny state seal in the upper corner of the photograph and the holographic "great seal of the state of New Jersey" image that's plastered in a half-dozen spots on the laminate overlay, maybe aren't sufficient to satisfy this. Or maybe we need to add a chip like current credit cards use, or we need to demonstrate the photographs printed on the license are sufficiently high-resolution or printed with inks a counterfeiter can't easily get (kind of like with our currency). I don't know if the fact that NJ / NY / CA / IL are massive international air transportation hubs adds any extra wrinkles, or if their higher population density compared to the other states has an impact; it could be that things the TSA is saying are mandatory aren't as easily managed in states with many hundreds of millions more licenses to print and track. FL and GA are also quite heavy international hubs, and their populations are also pretty dense, so maybe not; but it's the only other reason I can think of why NY and NJ are taking so darned long to get this certification.

No, that shouldn't be an issue since the key matter is wether the ID you show is issued by a state with ID practices / standards that have been rated compliant, not whether the state you are flying out of is itself rated compliant yet. So having an Ohio driver's license, where Ohio's ID standards have been certified compliant, means @KLAconQueso can safely fly from any US airport using just that ID as proof of citizenship; she could fly out of New Jersey (my home state, still on extension / not yet certified) and have no issues. The airport will run her ID through the system; it will check with whatever centralized database or other information bank, see it's compliant and not coming back as a forgery or stolen, and give the green light; and the security staff will let her be on her merry way. Of course, we do need to get NJ, MA, LA, and WA certified along with FL and MD; that way, all of the Royal Caribbean home ports are covered!

@Matt, c'mon, where's that LOVE reaction option? "Like" just isn't enough!

Given all the trouble Uber has been getting into lately with issues like tracking riders after the ride was done, their Greyball software, being hacked and paying off the hackers to keep it quiet for over a year, etc. (not to mention their treatment of employees and drivers), I'd suggest only trying out Lyft. Particularly with that hacking revelation, not sure I'd want to give my personal info to them. Granted, so many US companies have been hacked now and so much personal / credit card info has been stolen that it might almost make no difference at this point; but seeing as you're Canadian and maybe have avoided some of this mess, why open yourself up to it now?

That sounds like a great approach, @twangster! I'll definitely be looking forward to it! EDIT -- Since you have plenty of sea days for this second leg, you can even document the changes over the day in areas like the SeaPlex, where it's bumper cars at one time, trapeze class at another, and full-court roller rink on yet another (if they still do the roller skating thing...) Deleted as I realize I'm hijacking your vacation time form you and turning you into our personal photojournalist on assignment.

Wow, what an awesome photo!

For those not yet aware, the TSA has a program called "REAL ID" that is going into effect on Jan 22, 2018. You can find information about it here. The upshot is that if you live in a state where the drivers licenses are not certified by TSA as REAL ID compliant, and your state hasn't been granted an extension, the only way you'll be allowed to board a domestic flight is with a passport. I got an alert email about this at work today. NJ happens to have been granted an extension, but NY has not (yet) and also isn't yet certified. TSA is working with them to get an extension in place or (if possible) get them certified, but nothing is locked down yet. You may want to check if your own state has been certified or granted an extension, and if not see about getting your passport ASAP.

This is definitely one of my favorite shots, along with your night photos of Anthem all lit up and pretty with nowhere to go. And you're really making me think I should spend the money on Moment's Super Fisheye 170º lens for my phone, along with the tele and wide angle lenses. I'm going to need a really good bonus this year to cover all these unexpected extra expenses...

Since I'm a Mac / iPhone guy, I use the included Notes app for a lot of my cruise notes. The integrated cloud sync is great, keeps everything the same on all devices with no hassle. But I may take a look again at OneNote and see how it compares features-wise. Apple's Notes app has come a long way from its super-basic beginnings.

While there are no official perks you can count on a first-time cruiser, sometimes the crew or your travel agent will do something unofficial to make the trip a little bit nicer if they know it's for a special event. On one of his podcasts, @Matt recounted how he and his wife were unofficially "bumped up" to the priority boarding line by an attendant when she saw them wearing T-shirts saying they were on their honeymoon (full disclosure -- after hearing this, my wife bought us "20th anniversary" T-shirts for our upcoming first-ever cruise in March, as that along with our older girl graduating high school was the impetus for the booking; we can dream, right? ) TAs will sometimes, if they know the booking is for a graduation or anniversary or such, order a set of themed room decorations without telling you; these will be set up by the time you go to your room after it becomes available Your dining room staff will sometimes make a special event out of dinner if it's someone's birthday or anniversary You can also, much of the time, count on your dining staff to remember preferences you make known on night one of your trip; several here love Indian curry, and ask to have some as part of each appetizer course at dinner; others have told of waiters who quickly learn their preferred with-dinner or after-dinner drink and make sure it's ready and waiting for them each night when they come in to dinner They're nothing major, but they are definitely nice little touches that can make the cruise more memorable and enjoyable. Don't expect them, don't go looking for them, but definitely do take a moment to appreciate them if they happen.

Sorry, Chris. Haven't sailed any ships yet, believe it or not. My first sailing will be on Freedom in March of next year. After that I'm sailing Anthem to Bermuda in October, so at least by that point I'll have done one half of the comparison. I've also been looking at the Fall Foliage / New England & Canada itineraries on both Anthem and Adventure. I personally think I'd rather do Adventure for the larger set of ports and that smaller ship's ability to go further inland / do an open jaw trip. Going from Cape Liberty, NJ (half-hour drive from my home by Lyft, or limo if I want to spoil the family) to Quebec could be great, with some extra time spent in Quebec before flying home.

Dang, @SouthernYankee, so you have a B2B on Oasis, followed by a semi-B2B (just a change of ship) only two months later? Color me jealous!

Yes, the name "Spacious Ocean View Balcony" is very misleading. There was actually a whole thread about it posted by @mworkman not too long ago. The "spaciousness" is supposed to be in the main cabin, at the expense of balcony space. If you're having more than two people in the cabin, you want the "spacious" one, otherwise just get the "non-spacious" one and save some money / get a bigger balcony. 28 sq ft of extra interior space is hardly anything; the maps on cruisedeckplans.com indicate the extra space comes from an extra couple of feet in length in the cabin, no extra width.

@tonyfsu21, I have to give a thanks for these suggestions as well! We're sailing on Freedom out of Fort Lauderdale on March 31, same day @mom2mybugs is disembarking. And like her, we're planning to fly in two nights before so we have a full day in Fort Lauderdale and leaving the day after we get back (April 8). We heard Matt talk about the Japanese museum and gardens in the area in his podcast about the FLL area. Have you been there? Is there one hotel in the area that's better for getting to that easily than others? I'm kind of figuring we want to get a rental car for that Friday (and Thursday evening, if we get an earlier flight / pull the kids out of school that day), but if everything like that museum (and the port) is a cheap Lyft away or in easy walking distance, and there are decent beaches from whatever hotel we stay at, then a rental might not make as much sense.

I agree with you here, but I already know myself well enough that even before I booked my first cruise, I knew I was never going to be a "the ship is the destination" kind of person. Cruising is a means to see places I can't normally go to, and I want to see as many as I can in the days I'm on that cruise. I do absolutely see the need for sea days, especially when I'm mobility limited and having a day off between ports is likely to be best for me so my feet can recuperate (although I do have to say that I "bounce back" a heck of a lot faster than I used to since I had the heel / ankle / shin fusions done several years ago). I also know that I get bored really easily, which is where having three consecutive sea days could be a bit of a problem for me. The ship definitely has plenty to do onboard, but that final day will likely have to be spent entirely indoors since these trips only sail in late fall / winter, and I don't know how well the wife will like me sitting in the pub drinking the day away. ?

Looking forward to this, @twangster! Hoping you have a great trip and a really fun B2B experience! I'll be especially interested to hear your views of the second itinerary, and how it was having the 6 consecutive port days followed by 3 consecutive sea days in the second leg of this trip. @Matt read a letter on his podcast an episode or two back from a listener who did this exact Anthem itinerary and found himself exhausted after so many port days in a row, and then bored out of his gourd doing 3 consecutive sea days. As this is an itinerary I'm strongly considering for the more southern island destinations, I'm going to be very interested to see how you find the experience in comparison.

Price is the same $39.17 per day today for the 4-device package that it was yesterday. So much for being a Black Friday only rate. Well, I'll check again on Cyber Monday, and again later in the week to see just how badly I was played. And I will take consolation in the knowledge that I genuinely had intended to buy that this month anyway along with my monthly payment, as the last item I needed to get apart from my reservation for Chef's Table and maybe the photo package.

It seems the rates for the VOOM multi-device offerings may be actual sales, even if not flagged as such in Cruise Planner. I got an email from Royal stating those multi-device plans were on sale, and a rep I spoke with while re-purchasing my Dragon's Breath zip line tickets also said that the 4-device package I decided to buy today ($39.17/day) was a 30% discount off of onboard rate. If not too late and you are looking for a multi-device package, may want to snap it up. Email said it was for Black Friday only, not a weekend long offering.

I got an email from Royal saying there is a Black Friday discount in effect for these multi-device plans. My cruise panner doesn't show a banner, but I had to call Royal anyway because once again, I couldn't rebook my Dragon's Breath zip line for the lower rate online due to a "calendar conflict". Confirmed with the rep that the 4-device plan's current price (same $39.17 per day on my Freedom cruise that you were seeing for Allure, @spiegeje -- DunkelBier_Jay) is a 30% discount off the regular onboard rate. So went ahead and bought that to lock in the price; it's definitely a good per-device rate and comparable to the best discount I remember seeing reported here for a single device.

You’ll get 4 codes with the plan that are used for logging into the WiFi. They don’t track which devices belong to what stateroom, so just give 3 of the codes to your kids and let them log on. Then just you and your wife have to share one code; when one of you logs in, the other will be logged out and have to reconnect next time that device is used.

@Jason.H., you you can rebook with the non-refundable deposit, as long as you are not changing the room, ship, or sailing date.

No change in either drink package prices or VOOM prices. Refreshment package is the same $18/night plus gratuity that it has been since the last cruise planner sale, and Deluxe beverage package is still $43/night + gratuity. The 4-device VOOM package is still holding at $39.17/day, 1-device package $14.39/day. I know others here have said that the VOOM has gone as low as $11/night or slightly better for the 1-device package, so I'm holding out hope for that somewhere along the line. But if it hasn't gone down by my next billing cycle, I'll buy it then and lock in the rate.

I just checked my Cruise Planner for my March 31, 2018 sailing on Freedom. No new discounts for any of my activities apart from the Dragon's Breath zip line, which is down to $79 ($4/ticket less than the best I'd found to date); in fact, the Dolphin Push, Pull, & Swim excursion on St. Kitts has gone up $15 from the best price I found. Everything else is the same as the last sale where I had rebooked all of my excursions and drink packages. I'm assuming the zip line price will stay as-is through the weekend; going to hold off rebooking it (and saving another $12) until it's business hours for the call center; that activity, for whatever reason, has always given me trouble when I try and buy it online, so I want to know I can fall back on a customer service rep if need be.

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

IfI understood the earlier replies, @Sabrinaklai, you will (a) get the credit for the nights you sailed on X, but you are starting at 0 with them; and (b) if you hit Diamond in the interim then you’ll get treated as Elite level with X when you book that sailing. To actually reach official Elite status with X will take ~80 nights with them since you start from zero with their loyalty program. Just to bake your noodle a little more, let’s say you loved X so much you only sailed with them going forward, never reached Diamond with Royal. If you hit Elite status with X after ~80 nights and THEN decide to go back on Royal (trip with the grandkids by that point?), NOW you’ll have Diamond status on Royal, ev n though you haven’t sailed with them in years.