JLMoran

Red wine selection does look pretty decent. Malbec, Shiraz, and Zinfandel are all varieties I've learned I like. I assume Toscana is not the same as Chianti, even if both are from Tuscany, but I'll definitely try that out in the hope it's similar. Definitely looking forward to trying these out and seeing which one(s) becomes my dinner standard.

Tried to like that last one / give it a Thanks. “Sorry, you cannot add any more reactions today.” ??

And it's got a kick like a mule!

Thanks for this photo! I've had the Paulaner Salvator Double Bock. Really good beer, glad to see they have that in the pub. Assuming it's still on offer when my cruise comes around at the end of March, I think that will be my signature brew onboard; with Guinness, Bass, and Blue Moon as alternates depending on what I'm eating or how buzzed I've gotten off the Double Bock. Is the Guinness and Bass Ale offered on tap in the pub? Would love to have a proper Black & Tan again, haven't been able to enjoy one of those in at least a decade.

Umm you have seen the typical beer selection on board of late, right? I think doing that to a Bud or Coors is an improvement! (or an insult to the 151, depending on your POV)

So does a shot glass filled with Bacardi 151 and DiSaronno that's lit on fire and dropped into a mug of beer.

Can't offer a personal opinion as I haven't been to either, but I would recommend that you go to tripadvisor.com and do a search for both, then check the reviews. This should give you an idea of whether the owners visibly care about the dolphins in their care, how crowded it gets, etc. Then book with whichever has the better average rating or, if the same rating, whichever one Royal offers for less.

Man, these photos are making me so eager to go on my own cruise on Freedom in just over 5 months (140 days)! And nice to see the pub has Blue Moon and Guinness, even if only in bottles/cans. I'll be able to "get by" with those, plus whatever Vintages has in reds. Thanks so much for this live blog! Can't wait to see the rest of the trip!

Interestingly, I checked cruisedeckplans.com and they make no mention in the "Cabin Guru" section about the WJ being above that area. No mention there of reported sound issues with any of the aft-most cabins, either. The only thing it notes is that there is a metal structure around the balconies of these rooms that can interfere with the views for the cabins facing straight back, while the corner ones have a better view that's less obstructed.

If you're prone to motion sickness, being in the aft corner might make you a little more likely to feel it than being in the hump room mid-ship, where the overall motion of the ship is less. These ships are so huge now, and they use so much technology to keep the ship stable, that motion isn't really a problem any more. But it should be kept in mind. The other thing I've heard about, but it seems to be pretty rare, is soot from the stacks making its way down onto the aft cabins. I had asked about aft cabins and the desire to view the wake from them here in an earlier thread, and the issue of soot was noted by a few people who had stayed aft.

Yeah, that definitely makes sense. Thanks!

No problem! Do note that the link I have is specifically for itineraries after April 18 of 2018, when the new category names / codes go into effect. If you happen to go to the site on your own and look up other ships, you'll need to click a link at the top of the deck plan page for that ship to switch over to the same view -- default is to show the plans with names/codes before that date. Apart from getting access to all photos and videos people have uploaded for specific staterooms, I'm not sure you really get anything for being a paid member. On the free site, most photos are blocked and only some videos are available.

Here you go: https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/decks-V2.php?ship=Ovation-of-the-Seas

Sorry to hijack this thread a bit, but can someone clarify the "non-refundable deposit for that guest" I keep seeing referenced here? I thought all deposits, refundable or not, were a flat value for the stateroom regardless of the number of passengers ($500 for regular rooms, $1000 for suites, IIRC?). So when you say "for that guest", do you mean the percentage of the deposit based on how many are actually booked in the room? Or is the baseline rate I noted above just the default for double occupancy, and third / fourth / etc guests have an additional $250 or such tacked on? Having only ever booked two in a room so far, I'm guessing I'm simply ignorant on this part. But I'd swear when I was looking at our Freedom booking and debating one room with all four of us or two rooms with two each, the deposit was showing as the same per-room for both options.

Thanks, Sabrina!

Also remember that a Quantum class ship is so huge that it can't navigate the narrow channels the small ships routinely go through. That means you won't get to see as much of the wilderness, get as close to the glaciers, and so on. Between that fact and the massively larger number of passengers, you'll definitely find me booking Radiance or Jewel; even Explorer is a bit too big in my book, and I recall one podcast discussing the arrival of Explorer to Alaska, and that even that ship can't go to all the places the Radiance class goes on an Alaskan itinerary.

I was trying to find @Matt's blog post from earlier this year that was detailing some changes to the Next Cruise program, but I'm coming up empty. Here is an older link giving details from the program before this year's changes: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/08/11/royal-caribbean-next-cruise-program-details-info-and-tips What I do recall of the changes is that the amount of On Board Credit that you get has been reduced and is no longer based off the amount of money you put down as the deposit. And I believe that you do still get a reduced deposit amount compared to booking online. But the actual final fare amount isn't discounted compared to what you see with an online booking; that was true even before this year's changes. The "discount" was basically the OBC you would get for that future cruise. I'd personally argue that between the changes made this year and the new Price Integrity Policy, going through Next Cruise is now more about convenience than anything else. If your cruise happens to line up with the week new itineraries become available, then it might actually "save" you a little bit thanks to the extra OBC vs. regular booking. But for anything after that week / month the itineraries become available, the booking prices are likely to be higher and the OBC won't offset that increase.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look that way for either Spa Jr Suites or regular ones. If you look at the deck plans page for Anthem, scroll down to the section for J4 cabins, and expand the Category and Deck Details section, you'll see seven YouTube video links. Very first one is for Spa Jr. Suite 7636 and the closet is shown about halfway through. Not a walk-in, just a regular or maybe double-wide closet cabinet with automatic lighting when you open the doors. The other videos don't show anything different, which you'd expect given the modular cookie-cutter nature of these rooms. The rooms do still seem to have a very nice amount of storage space, though, so take the good with the bad I guess.

@monctonguy, I'm telling you man, book that Bermuda trip for 5 nights instead and get those perks!

@twangster put an update recently on the "Royal Caribbean Update" thread in the general discussion forum. Sounds like they're making good progress rebuilding and restoring things.

Jeff Dunham: "You remember the taxi ride?" Peanut: "Scary as hell." Jeff Dunham: "And the stay at the hotel?" Peanut: "Expensive as hell!" Jeff Dunham: "And the stop at the beach?" Peanut: "Crowded as hell!!" Jeff Dunham: "So?" Peanut: "We're in hell!"

@monctonguy, I noticed that on the infographic / map that was in Matt's post, it said that this was only the Summer itineraries, and the rest of the announcement also seems to be centered on summer destinations. So maybe Empress and Majesty will be in Tampa for the Winter season? Whenever that's announced? I tried looking on the RCI site for that infographic, just to see if there was a second one for Winter, but the map isn't on the page announcing those 2019-20 plans.

My reservations are showing again for me now, too. So I guess the hamsters didn't spin those wheels off their axles this time!

Same here. None of my cruises are showing up. Color me worried, after @Matt told how his cruise was inexplicably canceled one time! Their web site / IT dept doesn't exactly inspire confidence around possible updates!

Could one? Yes, they're build for the cold weather and go up to Canada in the late fall for foliage peeping. But should one? That's a big question mark. I think they're far too big to see the most impressive sights that the smaller Voyager and Brilliance class ships can go to, such as those runs into the narrow channels (fjords?) around the glaciers, and in my mind that would mean far more limited itineraries with much less of the natural beauty on display that folks specifically take those cruises to see.