Lovetocruise2002

5 Days till Cruise Day With work and Christmas family festivities wrapped up, I feel like I can finally focus on this trip now. Sadly, Santa did not bring me a Royal Up, starting to lose hope on that front. In other news, our concierge email did come in last night. So that makes it 6 days out. It doesn't look like any changes have been made to the Sky Class benefits, not that I can see anyway. The only discrepancy I noticed is that it does say in the email that show reservations will be available once onboard, but we were able to book our show times a while back on the cruise planner. Here is the basics from the email last night: Dear Suite Guests , Our names are _________________we are your Sky Suite Concierges. We can’t wait to welcome you onboard Symphony of the Seas on December 31, 2022. We hope you’re ready for a wonderful cruise vacation with us. If you’ve not already done so, please check in online and select your preferred arrival time using the Royal Caribbean App. Suite guests can enjoy Flexible Arrival which allows you the freedom to check-in up to one hour before or after your scheduled check-in time while the terminal is open. We also recommend that you plan ahead and make reservations for your dining, onboard activities, shore excursions and Vitality Spa services. You may do so using your Cruise Planner or Royal App. Show reservations will be available to book once you’re onboard. If you require any assistance, we are happy to help you. My desk is in the Suite Lounge, located on Deck 17 aft. Our hours are 8:00 am to 11:30 am and 4:30 pm until 8:00 pm. We are also reachable via email, or by dialing my phone ______________ from your Suite or any house phone. While onboard, you’ll have access to the following exclusive amenities and services: · The Suite Lounge is exclusively for Suite guests and accessible with your SeaPass card. o The dress code in the Suite Lounge is smart casual, so please make sure you pack accordingly. o Coffee and tea are available in the Lounge throughout the day. Hors d'oeuvres, petit fours and complimentary wine, spirits, beer, and soft drinks are available for our Suite guests every evening from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. o Guests under 21 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. · As a Sky Suite guest, you’ll have exclusive access to the suites-only restaurant, Coastal Kitchen. Please refer to the Cruise Compass for the hours of operation or reach out to me for assistance. Reservations are required for dinner. · Your suite is stocked with Malin & Goetz bath amenities, a Lavazza espresso coffee machine, bathrobes for your use onboard, and is furnished with a luxurious pillow-top mattress. · Sky guests have will receive complementary VOOM Surf and Stream services for one device per person for the entire sailing. Attached in this email are detailed instructions on how to connect your device. These instructions will also be in your suite upon arrival. · Enjoy the exclusive Suite Sun Deck on Deck 17 fwd. Lounge chairs are available to suite guests on a first come, first serve basis. · Sky guests are entitled to a reserved seating section in the Main Theater. Reservations are available once you arrive onboard, which I will be happy to assist you with. · We are happy to offer our Suite guests Priority Departure. I’ll explain the details to you when you arrive onboard. . Please note that we will have our VIPs Venus for reservation for the New Year's Eve celebration onboard , we did placed the price list below for the Rising Tide Bar & Schooner Bar ,Please if you would like us to provide with more details don't hesitate to let us know.

And I was so close to booking Harmony! But those darn piano stairs won the kids over. That, and Hiro. It's Hubby's favourite. He would see if every night if he could.

You can turn it off. There is a little switch on it to disable it. If you cannot find it, ask your suite attendant.

They only released part of the schedule two weeks ago. I was quite disappointed too. So far Wonder from Port Canaveral, HM from Galveston. No word on Allure, Oasis, or Symphony. I doubt Symphony will stay on in New Jersey through the winter.

Anything special/different on the CK menu since it was Christmas Eve?

The survey always comes out a month or so before the actual email from your genie. Whoever your Genie is, they will get the responses from that survey and that is supposed to help them with getting to know your sailing party better.

We sailed SY right before the pandemic. But the girls were not with us. The piano stairs is one of the main reasons why they want to sail SY. My daughter is just one year behind your son. With this round of new releases, I'll be booking March Break 2025 without her. It's a booking for 3. That makes me really sad. And the girls told me that by the time the younger one (she's in Gr. 9 right now) starts university, that should be the end of our xmas/NY sailings too. I told them that will save me some money lol, but it makes me sad. So yes, we are cruising all we can with them up until then. Well good thing Hubby never reads my blogs because he might actually think that is a perfectly good idea! lol

@Jax It’s cruise day!!! Happy sailing!

A few nights ago, Hubby and the girls were discussing where we should eat on boarding day. Hubby: “We’ll just get on board, drop off our bags, and head to El Loco.” Me: “Umm..where are you planning to drop those bags off to? You know staterooms don’t open until after 1pm right?” Hubby: “But aren’t we staying on Deck 17?” Me: “Yes, but we are not in star this time. Usually the Genie opens the fire doors for us” Hubby: “I am sure we can just swing by and check. Maybe our room will be ready early.” SMH…

Find your inner Canadian lol

Once again, I am not even sure he knows which ship we are on.

When we sailed Oasis back in March, the Aqua show kept getting cancelled too. At first it was due to weather (wind), and then they had technical difficulties (whatever that means), we also heard rumours of no divers . Anyhow, I don’t think we actually got around to seeing it until Day 4 or so. Allan switched up a whole bunch of things for us with no issues. Let Berty take care of it. It will work out just fine.

No, we did not because by the time we realized we had to switch sailings, I already had Odyssey booked for next NYE 12/31/2023.

Royal Up offers came in on 10/17/2022: About a month later, minimum bids went up slightly. So that does happen for anyone who is wondering.

It's -22 here (that's in Fahrenheit) with 50mph winds. Schools closed today and I am so ready to get out of here too!

Who’s Going? Hubby, D16, D14, and I on this one. Flight Delta from DTW-MIA. Ever since the March Break 2022 fiasco, I book through Air2Sea. Hubby works on the 29th so we are not able to leave until the 30th. That does leave me slightly nervous, you never know about the weather in the winter months, but fingers crossed for a smooth flight and no cancellations. Pre-Cruise Stay A bit more sad news here, my usual go-to hotel, Intercontinental Miami has blocked out 1-night stays close to December 31st. I even tried calling their loyalty number to take advantage of the “guaranteed room” benefit from our Platinum Elite status, but it was a no go. Because Hubby works until the 29th, we could not book this either. Venturing out of our comfort zone here and trying out a new hotel in Brickell Miami. Itinerary 31 DEC MIAMI, FLORIDA 01 JAN CRUISING 02 JAN ROATAN, HONDURAS 03 JAN COZUMEL, MEXICO 04 JAN CRUISING 05 JAN NASSAU, BAHAMAS 06 JAN PERFECT DAY COCOCAY, BAHAMAS 07 JAN MIAMI, FLORIDA Cabin #teamDeck17 of course! This is the way. Unless, as @Jax says, we get a “Festivus Miracle” and win one of our Royal Up bids. Pre-Cruise thoughts This is our second NYE sailing. I loved our first one, four years ago on Indy. I cannot wait to see some of the little NYE touches that SY will have. This is our first sailing back since the restart where we will not have to test! Yay! Such a relief. As if the “cruise gods” are laughing at me, or Royal IT is just terrible (likely this lol), we never got our Star Class pre-cruise questionnaire for March 2022 or July 2022. However, this sailing we are not star, and in October, they sent me my pre-cruise questionnaire! I cannot make this stuff up! Once again, in the spirit of a live blog, please do not hesitate to ask any questions. I will do my best to find out whatever I can for you. When responding to a post with a series of pictures, please do not include the pictures in your reply. It just makes for easier scrolling. Lastly, I will try to post videos and stories on Instagram. You can follow me @lovetocruise2002

Shining, Shimmering, Splendid! NYE SY 12/31/22 – 01/07/23 : Hubby July 2019 Here we go again with another one! As I type this and think back over the last year, grateful and gratitude are the two words that come to mind. As I reflect on the last few years, to be able to say, “Here we go with another one!” is not something that I will ever take for granted again. The journey to this sailing as been an interesting, and slightly disappointing one. Way back in March 2021, I got a message from @twangster telling me there was a star class deal that was too good to pass up on Oasis 12/18/2022. I got a hold of @WAAAYTOOO and together we all booked that sailing. Sadly, they went, I did not. About 9 months ago (April 2022), our school board decided to apply for permission to move our Winter break leaving me teaching up until December 23rd. Permission was granted, I tried to ask for an unpaid leave of absence, it was denied, and I had no other option but to cancel my sailing with my Bot Mentor and the OG Suite Snob. That left us with one major problem (other than having to cancel). I still had just under $4000 of FCCs leftover from the pandemic cancellations that I needed to use up before 12/31/2022. Already late to the party with booking a NYE sailing at this point, we did not have many options that interested us. We knew we would need to book an Oasis class ship because moving the sailing meant bringing our two girls (bad parenting to leave them for New Year’s). I wanted to move to HM (it was the best pricing for star), but because our SY March 2023 sailing got moved to HM (due to early SY dry dock), there was no way Hubby and girls wanted to sail HM now, and then again in March. Oasis was another option, but we had just sailed that in March 2022, and Hubby and the girls were not too keen about that either. Allure is in Texas and sailing from Galveston is not something I want to take a chance with during the winter months. See what I mean? I am grateful that I can even say all of that and those options are there. The obvious choice here was Symphony, mainly because the girls have never sailed Symphony, and they have been wanting to for a while. The only problem with this was that pricing at this point in the game (this was April 2022) was crazy, especially for star. But, knowing that our cruising days with the girls is passing quickly, we said, “YOLO! Move It!” and here we go again, ready to sail Symphony of the Seas for NYE!

Still better than here in Canada!

Same. I really want to see where SY/OA/OY land.

I am torn. I might have to step out of my comfort zone and actually be patient to see what else (other than overpriced Wonder and Icon) is sailing out Florida from December 2024-Spring 2025.

I can pick seats with Air2Sea, both economy and premium. But I fly Delta so not sure if it has anything to do with airlines.

Some can hold even longer, but generally yes, a week. My holds from last night go to December 21st at the moment.

@Matt or anyone else, what is the general consensus here? Do we think this is it for now until spring? For December 2024-April 2025, will they keep us in limbo for ships like Oasis, Allure, Symphony, and Odyssey until then?

That was the room I had my eye on too. Held it last night shortly after it came out. I have it for the end of July though. I may/may not keep it depending on what else comes out but at least I have it for now.