JLMoran

Considering how far off your cruise is, I'm wondering if fully paying it off in the next few months makes sense. If a promo comes along that reduces the cost of your cruise, and you've fully paid it off, there's no way to reduce your final bill since it's already paid off. I think I read elsewhere that if that happens, Royal just gives you the difference as onboard credit, and this may be acceptable in your case since you want OBC pre-applied for your trip.
 
I kind of look at that the same way I look at overpaying my taxes and getting a refund -- that's an interest-free loan you can't redeem until your trip, and in the meantime you might want / need that money. Might be better to hold off fully paying off the trip and putting that OBC money on your account until just a few months out, rather than over a year out.

Considering how far off your cruise is, I'm wondering if fully paying it off in the next few months makes sense. If a promo comes along that reduces the cost of your cruise, and you've fully paid it off, there's no way to reduce your final bill since it's already paid off. I think I read elsewhere that if that happens, Royal just gives you the difference as onboard credit, and this may be acceptable in your case since you want OBC pre-applied for your trip.
 
I kind of look at that the same way I look at overpaying my taxes and getting a refund -- that's an interest-free loan you can't redeem until your trip, and in the meantime you might want / need that money. Might be better to hold off fully paying off the trip and putting that OBC money on your account until just a few months out, rather than over a year out.

If you're mainly thinking the Grand Suite is mandatory to keep everyone in one space, and you aren't so keen on the suite benefits that Matt mentioned, may I offer an alternative that can save a sizeable chunk of money: Look at booking two connecting balcony rooms instead.
 
When we were looking to book our first cruise last fall (family of four, two older teen girls), we also were first thinking we'd have to book a grand suite to have enough space for all of us. But my jaw dropped at how much more a grand suite is compared to a standard balcony. Yes, it's twice the square footage of a regular balcony room. Yes, it has the suite benefits that Matt mentioned. But on Freedom of the Seas (sister ship to Liberty), a Grand Suite room would have cost us four times the price of a superior balcony room, even though it's "only" double the square footage. And the suite still gives just one bed plus a sofa bed (our teens did not want to sleep in a sofa bed together). Once we realized the ship offers connecting balcony rooms, and saw how much money that would save us (heck, it's the same price as a Junior Suite for more square footage!), we knew that was our best option. That saved money was now available for excursions, spa treatments, internet packages, and drink packages.
 
What you get with connecting rooms:
two bathrooms two beds (three if you split the bed in the second room into the two double beds) about the same square footage as the grand suite IIRC you can remove the divider between the balconies and get a combined balcony that's comparable to the grand suite your teenager will have his / her own space Just a suggestion. If you really like the idea of the suite and are OK with the added cost, by all means go for it!

I always shake my head at the idea of a selfie stick. As posted earlier, it means you're using the lower-quality front camera on your smartphone to start with. Odds are you won't be holding it very steady if its extended all the way out.
 
"Back in the day", if you wanted to be in the picture, you'd politely ask a passerby if they'd mind taking a photo for you, hand them your point-and-shoot, and presto! Now, because it's a smartphone, I guess people are less willing to do that for fear the stranger will run off with their expensive device or something. Or they're just becoming more and more antisocial.
 
I thoroughly plan to do that old-school way of it when I'm on the ship, for sure. And when we're on an excursion I'll most likely ask our tour guides to do it, too.

That's awesome! 🙌🻠Let's try to meet up one night (if we don't also end up table mates 😉ðŸ˜), will be good to meet someone from the boards face-to-face.

I always shake my head at the idea of a selfie stick. As posted earlier, it means you're using the lower-quality front camera on your smartphone to start with. Odds are you won't be holding it very steady if its extended all the way out.
 
"Back in the day", if you wanted to be in the picture, you'd politely ask a passerby if they'd mind taking a photo for you, hand them your point-and-shoot, and presto! Now, because it's a smartphone, I guess people are less willing to do that for fear the stranger will run off with their expensive device or something. Or they're just becoming more and more antisocial.
 
I thoroughly plan to do that old-school way of it when I'm on the ship, for sure. And when we're on an excursion I'll most likely ask our tour guides to do it, too.

That's awesome! 🙌🻠Let's try to meet up one night (if we don't also end up table mates 😉ðŸ˜), will be good to meet someone from the boards face-to-face.

Looks like we will be neighbors! Booked #9644. 😜ðŸ‘

The Northeast itineraries are out. And I'm booked on Anthem for Bermuda!!!  :D  :D  :D
 
October 13 to 18, 2018, Deck 9, room #9244 (hump balcony!)
 
So now I have two cruises to wait for. One in 367 days, and now this one in 563 days.
 
An-ti-ci-PA-tion! An-ti-ci-PAYYY-AAYYYY-TION!  ;) 

The Northeast itineraries are out. And I'm booked on Anthem for Bermuda!!!  :D  :D  :D
 
October 13 to 18, 2018, Deck 9, room #9244 (hump balcony!)
 
So now I have two cruises to wait for. One in 367 days, and now this one in 563 days.
 
An-ti-ci-PA-tion! An-ti-ci-PAYYY-AAYYYY-TION!  ;) 

Or how about "Titanic" on the trans-Atlantic voyages?  ^_^ 

The Northeast itineraries are out. And I'm booked on Anthem for Bermuda!!!  :D  :D  :D
 
October 13 to 18, 2018, Deck 9, room #9244 (hump balcony!)
 
So now I have two cruises to wait for. One in 367 days, and now this one in 563 days.
 
An-ti-ci-PA-tion! An-ti-ci-PAYYY-AAYYYY-TION!  ;) 

Or how about "Titanic" on the trans-Atlantic voyages?  ^_^ 

I saw the same 7-night itinerary for Anthem out of Cape Liberty, also just one sailing (in November!! :o ) I guess they're trying out some new options?
 
Odd itinerary, too -- 1 sea day out from Cape Liberty, 3 nights in Bermuda, then two sea days to return. So the ship will just be making a lazy, meandering trip back to port, I guess.

OK, I'm guessing no one here has actually gone on one of these. But after reading the descriptions and seeing how these cruises typically last anywhere between 66 and 110 days, I can't help but wonder... How the heck does the cruise line keep both the passengers and crew from going stir crazy and feeling total cabin fever on such a long trip?
 
Do they change out the show staff every couple of weeks so that they can present different shows in the theater over all that time? Change up the menus while they're at it? Swap out live performers for the pubs and other watering holes? I mean, these cruises tend to be on smaller ships like Voyager class, correct? So you're already talking about comparatively less to do on board during sea days than you get with a Freedom or Quantum class. I know I could only watch the same 2 or 3 theater shows a couple of times before I was wanting something different, and while having whatever specialty restaurant options helps diversify the menu, even that can get old after a while. The ship's library will help, certainly, and the big variety of ports to see. But there are still a good number of sea days while crossing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and that's where I'd imagine the risk of people getting bored out of their gourds is highest after an already long time on the ship.
 
I guess this is a big reason why they offer the flexibility to do different "legs" of the trip and embark / disembark when and where you want. But for those who really do want to do a true 'round-the-world cruise -- and I'll admit I've been contemplating something like that as a FANTASTIC bucket list item after I'm retired, assuming I can convince the wife to join me -- how do they manage things so everyone finally disembarks with a feeling of "My God, what an amazing trip!!", and the crew is also feeling good at the end of it all?
 
 
And of course, I can't end this without mentioning the retiree noted in one of my recent RCI emails who has decided to live out her remaining days on a cruise ship. ;)

Just did a quick look on cruisedeckplans.com. Looks like a junior suite on Freedom of the Seas or one of its siblings. Check https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/Freedom-of-the-Seas and view the available videos (have to click the link for cached copies).

We'll also be looking forward to having the same table mates and a chance to make some new friends. I seem to recall reading that tables go up to 12 people, and my family of four all agree we'll ask for one of those to have a shot at a nice variety of table mates.

We used to always take the early seating in the MDR. Then one day we found ourselves rushing back from and excursion and decided that we didn't like rushing around to get to the early seating so we tried the late seating and haven't looked back. We prefer to take our time and not be rushed to get to anything...we have enough of that during a week at home. 
 
This is what we found just suits us.
 
There is no right answer, but that's one of the things we love about cruising...we have a choice of early dinner, late dinner, MTD, Windjammer, specialty dinning, room service, etc.
 
The dinning packages are worth it depending on which restaurants you choose combined with deals that might be available for you online in your booking. If you want to try three different ones, add up the individual pricing that you see and compare it to the package. We had a discount on one restaurant but not on another and it made more sense to book individually than get a package. Your mileage may vary so check your prices.

The families tend to like to dine in the evening in the Windjammer, I have been on 25 cruises on different ships and always try to get the first sitting so I can ether take a show or find a nice place to spend the evening. Happy cruising

I'll see your headache and raise you a "borderline asthmatic". I can't be around cigarette smoke for any length of time without breaking out into a major coughing attack. So I'm sorry, but if you're on the balcony next to mine and I get a whiff of cigarettes, I'll have the cabin attendant on you faster than you can blink as soon as I've verified it's definitely you and not someone more upwind.

Great question.
 
So for most of us in the US, we think of cruising as rotating 3, 4, or 7 night itineraries.  Where entertainment, dining, etc are pretty static.  This is however only one "type" of cruising.  While entertainment is often not as robust in the way we think of it on short Caribbean sailings, it is frequently changed out.  Different lecturers, performers, etc.  These acts and experts can be changed out anytime the ship is in port - there is no reason to wait until the end of a world cruise.  Further, generally speaking, guests on these sailings are looking for lower activities levels while on board in favor of port-intesive itineraries, visting a wide variety of new places.
 
These sailings are often on faaaar smaller than Voyager class btw.  Voyager class ships are 138k gross tons, carrying 3,100+ passengers.  Oceania's Insignia, for example, tends to do world cruises for that line, and she is 30k gross tons, carrying 684 passengers (upper berths on these ships are rarely used).  
 
In short, it's a very different kind of cruising, appealing to a very different audience.  We love longer sailings on smaller ships - but we like 7 night Caribbean sailings on larger ships too - they're just different.  So throw away the ways you think about repeating menus, entertainment, itineraries, etc when it comes to not just world cruises, but most cruises that are not home-ported (or temporarily home-ported) on roating through the same itinerary or two.

Crew ----> Crew bar
Passengers ----> R Bar
All ----> Bars at ports of call

I'll see your headache and raise you a "borderline asthmatic". I can't be around cigarette smoke for any length of time without breaking out into a major coughing attack. So I'm sorry, but if you're on the balcony next to mine and I get a whiff of cigarettes, I'll have the cabin attendant on you faster than you can blink as soon as I've verified it's definitely you and not someone more upwind.

I think I've seen a couple of itineraries like those before when I was just scanning for possible itineraries of interest for the future; as Jerel and you guessed, it's to allow people to embark / disembark at a port of their choice along an itinerary that loops through the same set of ports. I want to say it's limited to two ports on the itineraries I saw, not necessarily at the "ends" of the itinerary. I guess it's a variant on that "open jaw" cruise format I had asked about on another thread.
 
Wish I could remember which cruise line it was where I had seen that. Maybe an RCI Scandinavian tour, or another Mediterranean trip.

I'll see your headache and raise you a "borderline asthmatic". I can't be around cigarette smoke for any length of time without breaking out into a major coughing attack. So I'm sorry, but if you're on the balcony next to mine and I get a whiff of cigarettes, I'll have the cabin attendant on you faster than you can blink as soon as I've verified it's definitely you and not someone more upwind.