JLMoran

The MDR food was pretty good on Symphony last week. I had some issues the year before, just when they started the new menus, on Allure. I felt like the quality increased on almost everything I had both times. I'll clarify - for dinner. I had two lunches in the MDR and did not care for either. We are pescatarian so I can't comment on bad cuts of meat, but due to the limited options, we did end up having a lot of the same fish & vegetarian items both cruises. 

Was on Vision mid March - some portions were tiny ( 2 small pieces fried chicken, maybe 1/4 - 1/3 cup mashed potatoes, small vegetable servings, shrimp cocktail - 4 watery shrimp), and others quite large - Caribbean chicken was 1/2 a chicken, plus large side dishes. but unfortunately I didn't care for the spices, so didn't eat much. I actually can't eat large quantities anymore, & I never felt I needed more food than I got, although I know I could have. 
Weirdly, 1 thing I noticed was that certain things needed salt - anything without a specific spice profile (ie, the above mentioned Caribbean chicken)- & I rarely salt anything except potatoes and macaroni.  Lobster night, I tasted the rice & veg sides - ending up spooning a little of the melted butter on it and salting it as well. 

So I managed to meet up with Jamie last night before our friends arrived and we talked all things cruising. 
Trying to explain daily gratuities to a new cruiser was interesting, but he understands that it's the done thing and is fine with this. We are going to take some cash to tip as well, particularly bartenders as we have the drink package. We are slightly confused as to whether dollars or euros would be best though!
We're not going to bid on an upgrade - as it's our first cruise together and the GTY deities have seemingly smiled on us with our cabin, we're going to see how we handle a standard balcony. If after the week we realise we want more space, well, that's something for the next cruise!
He was looking at The Key. He needs to do some weighing up as with my vision issues I can get things like reserved seating at shows, and potentially assistance through the port on embarkation, so the cost may not be worth it. Having looked at what you get, I don't think it's worth it personally. 
He's really excited, and so am I - we've even said if by day 4 or 5, we've enjoyed it, we're going to NextCruise to see what we can book for 2025. 
Competition packing has completely failed to launch and will be happening Sunday morning before I head to my friend's place. Cruise packing will be attempted after next week, so I have time for Mr Bezos to send me anything I've overlooked! 37 days til cruise day!

Agreed. Exactly what I did for my long-winded live blogs.

As someone who also blogs from their phone, let me suggest you write entries in a Notes app and then copy and paste them into the browser when you’re ready to post. I have lost sooo many entries that I then had to hastily rewrite due to the browser failing/reloading itself with shipboard wifi. These posts have an autosave feature but I swear it only saves stuff I’ve already posted and never when I needed it to! 

Quantum ships were designed from the start to be cold-weather cruising ships. So features like an aqua theater, water slides, etc. would be unusable while in the colder regions at start or end of a cruise (or throughout on something like an Alaska sailing or late-fall Canada/New England cruise). I imagine features like those also pose some safety risks in rougher winter waters or in high winds common to the winter season.
I imagine that's also why the ice skating rink was skipped. I saw at least one skater fall in every performance, even in calm seas. Can't image people being able to use the space when the seas are really rockin' and a rollin'.
Like @need2cruz, my wife and I love the Quantum class ships. The Two70 Lounge became our favorite spot to have breakfast every morning. It's always wonderfully quiet there in the mornings, with the wake view adding to the calm. We also really like the shows they have in that space.
The Q class solarium is easily our favorite of the ships we've been on (admittedly, not many). We like the SeaPlex for the non-sports options it offers since neither of us is into sports, along with features like iFly that are unique to the line and still work even when the weather is colder. Our only real complaint is how much the ships "look inward", even with all the balcony rooms they have. But that's another trade-off of being designed for colder climates, where people will want to limit their exposure to the elements when just getting from Point A to Point B.
Q class is the only one besides Freedom or Radiance class that I want to book these days. I'm glad that Royal continues to offer those, and I hope they evolve the Q line in ways that pull from Celebrity's Edge class ships (which clearly drew inspiration from Q class).

It might not be so much about "serious gamblers" as crowd control. There's usually just one craps table on the ships I've been on, two if I'm lucky, and with only 8 (10?) spots available at a table they might want to keep from having a big crowd gathered around waiting their turns. On the other hand, there is absolutely nothing like the excitement that happens when a big crowd is gathered and cheering on a shooter who's having a hot streak.

Well, my wife will happy to hear that, I guess. I'm like @WAAAYTOOO and don't play craps unless it's a $5 table.

Thanks for this blog, @LandstromCruise! I'm sailing on Odyssey from NJ in January of next year, was good to see some of the venues and food from a live passenger experience. The carefully crafted / timed pictures and video done for ship tours are helpful, for sure, but it's always good seeing what it's like when people are there.

Quantum ships were designed from the start to be cold-weather cruising ships. So features like an aqua theater, water slides, etc. would be unusable while in the colder regions at start or end of a cruise (or throughout on something like an Alaska sailing or late-fall Canada/New England cruise). I imagine features like those also pose some safety risks in rougher winter waters or in high winds common to the winter season.
I imagine that's also why the ice skating rink was skipped. I saw at least one skater fall in every performance, even in calm seas. Can't image people being able to use the space when the seas are really rockin' and a rollin'.
Like @need2cruz, my wife and I love the Quantum class ships. The Two70 Lounge became our favorite spot to have breakfast every morning. It's always wonderfully quiet there in the mornings, with the wake view adding to the calm. We also really like the shows they have in that space.
The Q class solarium is easily our favorite of the ships we've been on (admittedly, not many). We like the SeaPlex for the non-sports options it offers since neither of us is into sports, along with features like iFly that are unique to the line and still work even when the weather is colder. Our only real complaint is how much the ships "look inward", even with all the balcony rooms they have. But that's another trade-off of being designed for colder climates, where people will want to limit their exposure to the elements when just getting from Point A to Point B.
Q class is the only one besides Freedom or Radiance class that I want to book these days. I'm glad that Royal continues to offer those, and I hope they evolve the Q line in ways that pull from Celebrity's Edge class ships (which clearly drew inspiration from Q class).

I thought the exact same thing! lol
Ah...that is good parenting lol, not like us when we ditched our freeloaders to sail Icon inaugural and they were in exam week lol

I’ll trade you the Allure (Galveston ‘26) for the Odyssey and a ship to be named later.

Starting this one EARLY but there is a reason, and the title hints at that. Before my cruise I have a week long figure skating competition coming up and thought it'd be fun to share here - something a little different.
I'm 42 days out from my first Royal Caribbean cruise, and my 3rd ever cruise. Previously I've cruised solo on NCL (very similar itinerary to this one) in 2018, and with P&O Cruises in 2017 around France and Spain. This time though, I'm bringing a friend! He's never cruised before so it's all brand new to him. 
About Us
We're both 34, I've known Jamie since we were 10 and this will be our third holiday together, one of which was a big trip to Orlando for Disney and Universal in 2022. We were tempted by a Bahamas cruise then, but it proved too costly to change hotel reservations, and with the testing requirements still in place we didn't want to risk it. 
We enjoy eating, drinking and exploring new places. 
One other thing to note is I am visually impaired - I have no peripheral vision past my shoulders and very poor depth perception, spatial awareness and pretty non-existent night vision. So this blog will touch on that side of my experiences a lot. 
Our itinerary
May 10th - Fly from MAN to BCN on Jet2, check into the NH Collection Gran Calderon hotel and explore Barcelona
May 11th - A full day in Barcelona. We have tickets for La Sagrada Familia but no other solid plans
May 12th - CRUISE DAY! We've got an 11am boarding time so will be able to check out of the hotel and head straight to the port.
May 13th - Palma: No solid plan here, we've both visited previously so we'll see what we feel like doing on the day.
May 14th - At Sea 
May 15th - La Spezia: Current plan is to rent a car and drive to Pisa, possibly visiting Lucca as well. 
May 16th - Rome: We've booked a tour with Driver In Rome to see the sights. Really looking forward to this, it'll be my 3rd time in Rome but I love the city so was happy to go back.
May 17th - Naples: Another tour booked here with Driver in Rome to Pompeii, Sorrento and Positano 
May 18th - At Sea 
May 19th - I'll have a full on case of Post-Cruise Blues as we disembark back in Barcelona and fly home. 
 
Our Cabin
We're currently booked into a GTY Oceanview Balcony. The barcode trick says we're in 10174. As I'm a complete newbie to Royal I have no idea whether this is a good cabin, but with cabins above and below on the deck plan, I'm happy. However...
I've sent my friend the info about RoyalUp for an Ultra Spacious Ocean View with Large Balcony and a Junior Suite... much as I'd love a Grand Suite for the perks, the budget doesn't stretch that far for this UK cruiser. I'll see what he says and we may put the minimum bid on one or both of those rooms, purely for the space. We're both overpackers and I love dressing up on cruises as my first was with a very traditional line where dressing for dinner was the norm. I enjoy that aspect so will be bringing lots of dresses and shoes. Jamie also dresses smartly even for a casual dinner and has alluded to bringing a tuxedo or 2 for formal nights...
I'll write in more detail about our plans on and off the ship tomorrow, as well as where I'm at with packing, and skating competition stuff. Here's a photo of us in Orlando 🙂
Vicki

No worries. That's how my trip reports and live blogs have always been. You do you!
Being long-winded while doing a live blog was bothering me though (started to feel more like work and less like fun) so I forced myself to make a bunch of shorter posts with a few pics instead of long daily recaps for my recent one. The change was for me though, not anyone else.

Quantum ships were designed from the start to be cold-weather cruising ships. So features like an aqua theater, water slides, etc. would be unusable while in the colder regions at start or end of a cruise (or throughout on something like an Alaska sailing or late-fall Canada/New England cruise). I imagine features like those also pose some safety risks in rougher winter waters or in high winds common to the winter season.
I imagine that's also why the ice skating rink was skipped. I saw at least one skater fall in every performance, even in calm seas. Can't image people being able to use the space when the seas are really rockin' and a rollin'.
Like @need2cruz, my wife and I love the Quantum class ships. The Two70 Lounge became our favorite spot to have breakfast every morning. It's always wonderfully quiet there in the mornings, with the wake view adding to the calm. We also really like the shows they have in that space.
The Q class solarium is easily our favorite of the ships we've been on (admittedly, not many). We like the SeaPlex for the non-sports options it offers since neither of us is into sports, along with features like iFly that are unique to the line and still work even when the weather is colder. Our only real complaint is how much the ships "look inward", even with all the balcony rooms they have. But that's another trade-off of being designed for colder climates, where people will want to limit their exposure to the elements when just getting from Point A to Point B.
Q class is the only one besides Freedom or Radiance class that I want to book these days. I'm glad that Royal continues to offer those, and I hope they evolve the Q line in ways that pull from Celebrity's Edge class ships (which clearly drew inspiration from Q class).

@Lovetocruise2002, I think my surrogate has arrived. 😂😉 
Don't be embarrassed about being lengthy, @Cruising_Figure_Skater! Embrace it! Look at the blog links in my signature and be inspired! We need more novelists in these live blogs! Dozens of photos with no descriptions? To paraphrase Edna Mode, they're just pictures, darling! snap-a-snap-a-snap-a-snap! We need words to truly convey the emotions of the moment.
I will be following along and enjoying every bit of it. Especially since I completely missed out on my Barcelona stop (and three others) when Covid sidelined me for almost the entire second half of my Med cruise in 2022.

@Lovetocruise2002, I think my surrogate has arrived. 😂😉 
Don't be embarrassed about being lengthy, @Cruising_Figure_Skater! Embrace it! Look at the blog links in my signature and be inspired! We need more novelists in these live blogs! Dozens of photos with no descriptions? To paraphrase Edna Mode, they're just pictures, darling! snap-a-snap-a-snap-a-snap! We need words to truly convey the emotions of the moment.
I will be following along and enjoying every bit of it. Especially since I completely missed out on my Barcelona stop (and three others) when Covid sidelined me for almost the entire second half of my Med cruise in 2022.

Quantum ships were designed from the start to be cold-weather cruising ships. So features like an aqua theater, water slides, etc. would be unusable while in the colder regions at start or end of a cruise (or throughout on something like an Alaska sailing or late-fall Canada/New England cruise). I imagine features like those also pose some safety risks in rougher winter waters or in high winds common to the winter season.
I imagine that's also why the ice skating rink was skipped. I saw at least one skater fall in every performance, even in calm seas. Can't image people being able to use the space when the seas are really rockin' and a rollin'.
Like @need2cruz, my wife and I love the Quantum class ships. The Two70 Lounge became our favorite spot to have breakfast every morning. It's always wonderfully quiet there in the mornings, with the wake view adding to the calm. We also really like the shows they have in that space.
The Q class solarium is easily our favorite of the ships we've been on (admittedly, not many). We like the SeaPlex for the non-sports options it offers since neither of us is into sports, along with features like iFly that are unique to the line and still work even when the weather is colder. Our only real complaint is how much the ships "look inward", even with all the balcony rooms they have. But that's another trade-off of being designed for colder climates, where people will want to limit their exposure to the elements when just getting from Point A to Point B.
Q class is the only one besides Freedom or Radiance class that I want to book these days. I'm glad that Royal continues to offer those, and I hope they evolve the Q line in ways that pull from Celebrity's Edge class ships (which clearly drew inspiration from Q class).

Quantum ships were designed from the start to be cold-weather cruising ships. So features like an aqua theater, water slides, etc. would be unusable while in the colder regions at start or end of a cruise (or throughout on something like an Alaska sailing or late-fall Canada/New England cruise). I imagine features like those also pose some safety risks in rougher winter waters or in high winds common to the winter season.
I imagine that's also why the ice skating rink was skipped. I saw at least one skater fall in every performance, even in calm seas. Can't image people being able to use the space when the seas are really rockin' and a rollin'.
Like @need2cruz, my wife and I love the Quantum class ships. The Two70 Lounge became our favorite spot to have breakfast every morning. It's always wonderfully quiet there in the mornings, with the wake view adding to the calm. We also really like the shows they have in that space.
The Q class solarium is easily our favorite of the ships we've been on (admittedly, not many). We like the SeaPlex for the non-sports options it offers since neither of us is into sports, along with features like iFly that are unique to the line and still work even when the weather is colder. Our only real complaint is how much the ships "look inward", even with all the balcony rooms they have. But that's another trade-off of being designed for colder climates, where people will want to limit their exposure to the elements when just getting from Point A to Point B.
Q class is the only one besides Freedom or Radiance class that I want to book these days. I'm glad that Royal continues to offer those, and I hope they evolve the Q line in ways that pull from Celebrity's Edge class ships (which clearly drew inspiration from Q class).

@Lovetocruise2002, I think my surrogate has arrived. 😂😉 
Don't be embarrassed about being lengthy, @Cruising_Figure_Skater! Embrace it! Look at the blog links in my signature and be inspired! We need more novelists in these live blogs! Dozens of photos with no descriptions? To paraphrase Edna Mode, they're just pictures, darling! snap-a-snap-a-snap-a-snap! We need words to truly convey the emotions of the moment.
I will be following along and enjoying every bit of it. Especially since I completely missed out on my Barcelona stop (and three others) when Covid sidelined me for almost the entire second half of my Med cruise in 2022.

@Lovetocruise2002, I think my surrogate has arrived. 😂😉 
Don't be embarrassed about being lengthy, @Cruising_Figure_Skater! Embrace it! Look at the blog links in my signature and be inspired! We need more novelists in these live blogs! Dozens of photos with no descriptions? To paraphrase Edna Mode, they're just pictures, darling! snap-a-snap-a-snap-a-snap! We need words to truly convey the emotions of the moment.
I will be following along and enjoying every bit of it. Especially since I completely missed out on my Barcelona stop (and three others) when Covid sidelined me for almost the entire second half of my Med cruise in 2022.

@Lovetocruise2002, I think my surrogate has arrived. 😂😉 
Don't be embarrassed about being lengthy, @Cruising_Figure_Skater! Embrace it! Look at the blog links in my signature and be inspired! We need more novelists in these live blogs! Dozens of photos with no descriptions? To paraphrase Edna Mode, they're just pictures, darling! snap-a-snap-a-snap-a-snap! We need words to truly convey the emotions of the moment.
I will be following along and enjoying every bit of it. Especially since I completely missed out on my Barcelona stop (and three others) when Covid sidelined me for almost the entire second half of my Med cruise in 2022.

Driver in Rome looks awesome! Italy is on my cruise list (after the Rhine this summer and Japan next summer!) but I am writing it down for future use. 
I’m also so happy to hear RC will arrange for up close seating at shows for you! Cats only gets bad reviews because Andrew Lloyd Webber was on a straight acid trip when he compiled that heap of trash! The actors are always great and the dancing/set/costumes are amazing too, but that show is absolutely ridiculous. The only song anyone knows is Memory and to me it’s the most boring part of the whole thing (but then again, I hate ballads). 😆

I did Odyssey for my 1st quantum class ship just a couple of months ago.  Both my husband and myself liked this ship better than any other ship we have been on.  We loved the 270 theater, the music hall and the solarium with those 4 big hot tubs that were never crowded.  We too thought it was the best MDR food we've ever had.  We ate in the MDR 7 of our 8 nights on board.  We always sat in those back sections of the Windjammer that were never crowded.  The one thing we missed in the quantum design, was the outdoor area to walk around the boat on the 5th deck (I believe).  It didn't go around the whole ship.  We like to walk laps to burn calories.  We had to turn around at the end and walk back and forth.  But, that wouldn't keep me from coming back.   I hope to do another quantum class again, someday.

Count me on this sailing. Gonna be my first time on Royal in a good six years! Haven't sailed with them since before the pandemic hit. And this sailing will mark a few moments for me:
I turn 55 four days before sail-away I finally hit Platinum status (for all that means these days 😏) First sailing on Odyssey First time in Antigua and Barbados (too bad no Curacao, but 2 outta 3 ain't bad) And yeah, it's been a minute since I posted to these boards. 😉