JLMoran

Did my daily price check in the Cruise Planner, had a nice surprise. After buying 2-device VOOM for $18.99/night on the Black Friday sale, today the same package is listed for $17.99/night. Canceled and re-bought, easy peasy. All of $5 saved, but that's almost half a sail-away margarita (or 1/3 a glass of my preferred red wines) right there!
Here's the weird part -- banner on Black Friday said the $18.99/night price was 50% off on-board pricing, and today's $17.99/night rate is listed as 40% off. ?
So check your Cruise Planners, folks! Maybe you'll also find a random drop on something. I certainly doubt I'll find 2-device VOOM for a better rate than this, but then again I thought the same thing about $18.99 just a couple of weeks ago!

Saga continues....
Just went to print a new set of passes and tags, and our cabin was moved again.  This time to 10th deck, but opposite corner from our friends on 9.  Wish they would have just left us in previous cabin, it was a deck below the pool.  What is more frustrating is this newest cabin if classified for 3+ people, which is the whole reason they moved us from our original cabin!
In the grand scheme of life, this doesn't matter one bit, but it has been a frustrating situation. 
Scott

Did my daily price check in the Cruise Planner, had a nice surprise. After buying 2-device VOOM for $18.99/night on the Black Friday sale, today the same package is listed for $17.99/night. Canceled and re-bought, easy peasy. All of $5 saved, but that's almost half a sail-away margarita (or 1/3 a glass of my preferred red wines) right there!
Here's the weird part -- banner on Black Friday said the $18.99/night price was 50% off on-board pricing, and today's $17.99/night rate is listed as 40% off. ?
So check your Cruise Planners, folks! Maybe you'll also find a random drop on something. I certainly doubt I'll find 2-device VOOM for a better rate than this, but then again I thought the same thing about $18.99 just a couple of weeks ago!

After lunch Addie wanted to head to the face painting  and Ultimate Abyss slide.  Quick tip, before you head up there be sure to have shorts and a T-shirt on. Addie had on a tank top on so I went back down to grab her a T-shirt while they played some miniature golf. 
The slide was busier than yesterday but still on a five minute wait. The platform before the slide might have the best view on the whole boat with the unencumbered glass and the clear platform beneath your feet. This time even Nikki came along rather than meeting us down on six. 
The pool was the next thing on the agenda, but it was a bit windy so we spent most of the time in the hot-tub. We did make time for The Perfect Storm water slide which was really fun. I was worried about not making it around but went all the way around the funnel twice at what seemed like high speeds. 
 


 
Adventure ocean was having a family activity in the Science area which fit in perfectly before we left for dinner. Today’s active was a Volcano experiment. It was anticlimactic at best as rather than the kids creating a volcano an instructor did just one in the center of the room.

And Sky suites are much smaller or Grand Suites on RC ships.  Again, @JLMoran it really is budget as well.  We don't have two beautiful girls like you do and to consider college etc. We have two beautiful golden retrievers that still cost a pretty penny when we travel! LOL.  If you are considering Aqua, I can tell you on the Celebrity FB pages etc EVERYONE raves about BLU. I am anxious to see what the Revamp is on Summit as she desperately needed it when we sailed on her last September. Consider the Sept 1 sailing i Aqua class, you are getting 2 additional nights and it's SO relaxing compared to the 5 night cruise (we did that last May on Grandeur). 
 

Anthem has a high balcony cabin ratio being a newer ship.  Summit or any M class ship are from a generation where interior an OV was more common.  Balconies on Quantum class tend to run more affordable for that reason.  Try pricing a balcony on Grandeur vs. Anthem.  Consequently you can't draw the conclusion that balconies are cheaper on Royal because it varies by ship.
When comparing cabin classes between Royal and Celebrity you can't beyond the basic interior, ocean view and plain balcony on the same vintage of ship.  Aqua and Concierge class are basically balconies on steroids and don't map directly to Royal.  Same with suites.  On Celebrity you get much more for the 'entry level' Sky Suite compared to a Junior on Royal.  It quickly becomes impossible to map them because it all depends on what's important to you.  Aqua class has a dedicated restaurant for all meals which not even the very best suites do on Royal, unless you are looking at QU and OA class.  Owners Suite on Navigator?  No suite restaurant.  All Celebrity ships have Aqua class with a dedicated restaurant. 
Beyond any basic non-suite cabin you just can't do apples to apples between Royal and Celebrity unless you are careful to select ships from the same era, then it's somewhat more a fair comparison.

If anyone has the opportunity to sail with @RatedPG, please do so.  He's a great person, with a perpetual smile on his face.  I had the opportunity to shake his hand, and frankly that may have been the highlight of my cruise.  He's a great human being, and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to have met him. Blessings to you, RatedPG.  I hope we cross paths again someday.

After dinner at Jamie’s we rushed over to the Royal Theater for the production of Grease. I’ve never even seen the movie so I’m probably not a good judge of execution and storytelling for this one. It did seem to drag on pretty long for a cruise ship theatre show. 
There were also some very dicey humor in the show, so be aware if taking young children. Wasn’t expecting a “motor boating” reference to jump out. 
For being on a ship, the set production looked and sounded great. 
 

 
After heading off to bed in the cabin, Addie decided she was hungry so we agreed to head down to Sorrento’s for a quick slice. Apparently everyone else had that some thought as there was quite a line. 
While it won’t win any awards and won’t see pop up shops in NYC, it’s perfectly serviceable pizza for a cruise ship. It’s better than what you’d find in the Garden Cafe on Norwegian at Midnight. They move the line very quickly so don’t be afraid if it looks like the line stretches to the aft of the ship.

Dinner night 1
Jamie’s Italian
We scheduled dinner at Jamie’s Italian for 6pm. The restaurant was nearly empty as I guess the thought that most people don’t pick specialty dining on the first night was certainly true tonight. Jamie’s was mostly empty, it was just us and four or five families. 
Our server Emron was the same server I had passed up dessert from earlier in the day at mini-bites. Oddly enough even though I didn’t remember him, he remember me and the whole exchange. That attention to detail would shine throughout the overall fantastic meal. 
The food was paced well and come out great from the bread basket to the Calamari to the crispy salmon. Emron even added an order of Truffle Tagliatelle as it’s one of his favorites.  
Overall between the three of us we tried the following 
Crispy Squid
Prosciutto with Melon
Kids spaghetti Bologese
Prawn Linguini with Salmon
Dry aged tenderloin with tagliatelle Bolognese
Truffle tagliatelle-compliments of the chef 
Epic Brownie 
Raspberry sorbet 
 
 



 

the rooms were nearly ready and we were nearby we decided to just hang out in Dazzles for 15 minutes. Sure enough right at 1pm the stateroom hallways doors were open and we could get to our room. 
 
While comparable in category there are several places where the Royal Caribbean Junior Suite and Norwegian’s Mini Suite with large balcony diverge. 
Bathroom- even though the RC room has a tub/shower combo I have to give the category to Norwegian. The bathroom on Harmony felt kind of squished together (I know the interior room people are giving me dirty looks right now) and missing the second sink is a big thing when everyone is trying to get ready for dinner. 
 

Storage space- this one isn’t even close, the junior suite closet is as big as some New York City hotels I’ve been in. It did seem larger on YouTube videos though, so I guess instead of ten pounds, the camera adds 10 square feet. 

Room Layout- the extra walking space between the bed and the desk and on the side of the bed makes the room feel very spacious and you don’t feel like you’re constantly bumping your knee on the bed. 



Balcony- our Norwegian suites had not only the two chairs but also two loungers in case you wanted to sun on your balcony. On Harmony in a similar location the balcony was a little less deep, but still very serviceable
 

Oh wow , if IT were managing the ships -  here are some of the things that might happened :
You will wake up at the morning and see that half of the ship is missing , they might return after few days Every day you will arrive to a random port. Your room will move every hour to another deck. The ship will look as if someone forgot to send the plan to a designer and it went directly to the shipyard for construct  Every now and then you will not be able to get into your cabin and the cabin attended will advise you to go around the running track 4 times, try another shirt and clean you pockets before trying again , it might work , if not try tomorrow. Many venues that everyone liked will not be there anymore and the crew will try to convince you its better .  I

I sure am glad they do not have the same people running the actual ships as they do their IT / Marketing.  

Adding a couple more photos from the loft suite we toured on the cabin crawl

Yes, the way this reciprocity works is that you get "bumped up" to whatever corresponding level each agrees to cross-honor. So if you're Diamond on Royal, and never sailed Celebrity before, you'll start off with "Elite" status in Celebrity's program... and zero points. Until you've sailed with Celebrity long enough to have earned the points for "Elite" rank, you have no way to move past "Elite".
And likewise, nights you sail on Celebrity don't get applied to your Royal C&A points total. You have to sail on ships belonging to the cruise company's loyalty program to continue earning points in that program.
That said, there's a big difference in how points are earned between the two lines. With Royal, it's purely based on number of nights, doubled for a sailing if you sail in any kind of suite or if you sail solo (and tripled if you sail solo and in a suite of any level). But on Celebrity, the points earned vary with each room category. If you go to this page on Celebrity's site and scroll past the table, you'll see how many points each room category earns.
I'd argue that if you want to sail Celebrity, and have already built up some loyalty with Royal, keep doing that until you at least hit Platinum in Royal and auto-match to Select with Celebrity; at least then you can start getting some discounts and such. Celebrity already carries a premium price vs. Royal, so if your per-cruise budget can't increase then you'll most likely be sailing in a lower category room than you did on Royal, and that means slower point buildup with Celebrity. Maybe @twangster has a different feeling on this, as I know he's cruised both. Speaking personally, I can't afford Celebrity right now unless I just sail an Inside cabin, so I might as well stick with Royal for now and build up loyalty that will eventually translate to some breaks on Celebrity that should make Verandah rooms more in my reach. Either that, or by that time I'll also be an empty nester and then I'll have all the budget in the world! ?

Our Sea day was spent relaxing by the pool, enjoying the nice weather and taking in the poolside activities while sipping some cocktails.
Unfortunately for me due to the rays from the sun and the lack of sun cream i now look like the Lava Flow cocktail i had been consuming at the time.
Having never cruised before i cant comment on or compare atmospheres between cruises out of different ports, but there is no doubt peurto ricans know how to have fun and enjoy themselves. The poolside was turned into one big party atmosphere with their own band playing while sitting in hottub. 
Formal night corresponded with St Andrews day so the kilt was worn, must admit most made the effort, however one woman turned up in the sportswear she had worn 7hrs earlier while doing poolside zumba in 28c sunshine. Noticed her again next day still wearing same outfit, must be the only woman who packs only a toiletry bag for a vacation. 
Next stop  St Maartan by far the best island on this cruise, we booked bernards tours after reading reports about them on here, and they Didnt dissapoint!
Our driver The Mailman delivered a great tour full on facts regarding the places we visited and also kept us laughing with his stories. 
Forget about the damaged buildings, this island is rebuilding and deserves eveyones support
For those that know the docks at st maartan the mailman made An interesting point, that being that RC are building a new pier on the land where bernards tours currently occupy for a ship to be homed there. 
back to San Juan and we disembark this wonderful ship very soon, Without doubt this is the first of many cruises 
Next stop new york 

The key word between loyalty programs is 'recognition'.    Starting at Platinum they will recognize that when sailing Celebrity and vice versa. You only earn points for the cruise line you sail.   After sailing Celebrity your C&A points balance won't change while your Celebrity points will increase and vice versa.  
What draws me to Royal are all the things to do. Royal has a history of providing things for babies through great grand parents.   It's in their roots and a core philosophy of Royal.  
Celebrity is a wonderful cruise line but geared for a more refined experience.   There are things to do but for a more select target audience.   No baby splash zones, bumper cars, zip lines, etc.  
While I may not participate in all the things Royal offers, I enjoy being around all those things and all the happy people doing them.  It keeps me young.  
When I want modern luxury without breaking the bank, I can sail Celebrity.   Basically Celebrity is there waiting for me to grow up.  

Pre-Cruise Hotel
While normally Marriott loyalists (yeah I know, probably time to change that card number after yesterday’s leak) as I stay in Hotels about 120 nights a year. But as I’ve already requalified for Marriott Platinum Premiere I’ve focused the back half of the year on Hyatt properties where available. 
We decided on the Hyatt Place 17th, but after some bad experiences with Similar properties, we moved fairly last minute to a fairly new looking Hyatt House. The Hyatt House is located only about two miles from the airport and as you have to navigate around the airport, it’s about 6 miles to port Everglades. 
Paid rates for the stay were in the 160 per night range, so redeeming points was the better option. Point rates are pretty low in this area as all the FLL properties cost the same 8,000 points per night. We booked our two night stay in a king suite. 
 
 
Check in was quick and friendly and we were on to our room in about two minutes. Breakfast is complementary at the property and even includes a fresh made omelette station for registered guests. 



The room was quite comfortable and the entertainment center made for a nice division between the living room and bedroom. My only complaint during our stay was the spotty housekeeping services. It took an hour the first night to get linens for the sofa bed and on our second day, we never got housekeeping at all. We were gone from 11-4 so there was plenty of time for service the room. A call downstairs for towels was made and they were delivered within 15 minutes.
 
To keep Addie busy the day before leaving we decided to go bowling. She had a great time bowling and playing games and best of yet it ate up a couple of hours. The highlight was definitely what looked like a hilarious mashup of a Duck, a Dalmatian, and a turkey. 
In what has become a precruise tradition we decided on hibachi for dinner. Normally as we’re on Norwegian we depart out of Port Miami. There’s a Benihana in Coral Gables where we meet up with friends who live in Miami. This time however they were out of town so we found a different Benihana closer to the hotel. The service and entertainment was good and the food was above average. The location over the water would definitely be a highlight if it wasn’t December and dark by 5pm
 

I think Freedom is an awesome ship for a first-time cruiser to experience. She was mine and my family's first ship, and my wife and I thought she was great!

I think Freedom is an awesome ship for a first-time cruiser to experience. She was mine and my family's first ship, and my wife and I thought she was great!

Did it with hand held and it worked great as no straps obstructed the view as they would have done with head mount and when in laid back position head angle would have been wrong. 
Thanks for all your advice and info. 

Day 1 Flight
Flight
11/30/18
Southwest 594
BWI-FLL 06:30-9:10
One of the fortunate benefits of frequent work travel and being based out of a Southwest Hub is that I maintain A-List Preferred and Companion Pass status with Southwest. As such, even if it’s not glorious we always fly southwest on vacation. With the companion pass, my wife flies for just the taxes and fees wherever I go. We used points for the remainder of the flights and free airfare is always a great start to a vacation. 
Unlike most Friday evenings in the DC area, traffic was a breeze and we were in the terminal with more than an hour to spare. Security was quite busy, but as a frequent traveler we have subscriptions to the Clear Service. We breezed through security in about two minutes to grab some dinner before boarding. 
Boarding began right on time on what was a completely full flight on a older Southwest 737-700. A first for me also, there were zero preboard wheel chairs on a flight to Florida. Normally they’re lined up like the starting line for a NASCAR Race waiting to board the plane. It made for a nice quick boarding process and the door was closed with plenty of time to spare. We took off right on time and we’re officially on our winter vacation. 
After a simple flight we landed on Fort Lauderdale almost half an hour early.

Just back a few hours ago from our 5-night trip to Bermuda that @ellcee and @Broons77 were also on. I have a ton of photos to go through and edit, and I'm taking my older daughter to SUNY New Paltz tomorrow for a campus tour and maybe interview before she applies to transfer, so I probably won't be posting anything detailed before early next week or even next weekend. But here's a quick preamble of what, where, and why:
This was a double surprise cruise for my wife and me. First surprise was that I even booked the thing, as we had only booked our cruise on Freedom in December 2016, still had nearly a year to go to sail that cruise, and here I was going and booking another one! Why? My wife had mentioned a while back that she's never been to Bermuda, so when I saw this itinerary I figured I'd jump on it. While we were "officially" declaring the cruise on Freedom as our 20th anniversary celebration, I wanted something for just the two of us where we could have a chance to reconnect over a few days.
The second surprise, as most here have known for quite a long while now, is that when a BOGO 60 sale came along I upgraded us from a D2 Balcony cabin to a J4 Spa Junior Suite on deck 7. I managed to keep that secret until embarkation day, and I'll give the details about the reveal and reaction when I start making the real posts.
You all already know from @ellcee's great live blog that this was a single-stop cruise to just Bermuda, nowhere else, with an overnight stay that gave us basically two full days on the island. Since we had free rein of the island for that whole time, we'd worked out a plan for what mattered most to us and when we'd try and see it:
First port day – St. George, Crystal Cave and the nearby Swizzle Inn, and if time permitted, Hamilton Second port day – Horseshoe Bay Beach and the shops / sights around Royal Naval Dockyard In addition to our time in Bermuda, we made plans to check out the North Star and try out Ripcord by iFly, see all the on-board shows, and have dinner at Wonderland. We also wanted to buy the Thermal Spa package and have a chance to enjoy that throughout the trip. It was a pretty packed itinerary for a 5-night sailing; stay tuned to see how it all turned out!

Welcome to the boards, @Katy!

I beg to differ, and not just because I'm the Oasis Denier. If the OP's sisters have never cruised before, Oasis class could be overwhelming. I'm going to second the vote for Mariner, since that is already doing 4-night sailings, or one of the Freedom-class ships that have been AMPED. Freedom is plenty big for a first-timer (I should know! And seems @Ray's wife feels that way, too ?), with more than enough to do and enjoy.

To clarify -- the prices listed for dining packages before adding them to your cart already have gratuity included. Drink packages, on the other hand, only show the base per-day rate without any gratuity until after you add them to your cart; when you go to check out, the gratuity is then calculated and the final total for those package purchases is shown before you give your credit card info.
I don't really get why Royal doesn't just show the drink package price with the gratuity tacked on up front like they do for the dining packages. Yes, the price you see before throwing it in your cart will be higher, but at least when you go to check out you won't have that head-scratching moment wondering why the price suddenly jacked up by maybe a hundred dollars, depending on how many packages you bought.