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So I am considering taking a transatlantic Cruise next year. I have narrowed it down to two ships (i have not decided which direction i will be going yet, but that does not matter for this question as both ships i have picked are going and coming). The two ships are Harmony and the Odyssey. So my question is, given that cost is almost identical, and that i like both destination options, which should i choose? Which would you go on? I want to consider the fact that over half of the trip will be sea days, so which ship has more activities and entertainment, or are both equal? Thank you for any advise.

Hello! Karen and I are RCI Emerald. We retired last year and are pondering cruising The Brilliance of the Sea from Tampa to Amsterdam May 2020. We have a gahzillion questions. We've been on plenty of 3, 4, 5 and 7 day cruises and have mixed experience getting an upgrade. We are two cruises away from Diamond and so my question is - would that make a difference? When I was gainfully employed we'd spring for a balcony, but now we have to cut back where we can and are thinking about taking our chances on the cheapest room RCI offers and hope for an upgrade. Aside from that - with SO many sea days how do you avoid "groundhog day" ? Thanks in advance - Richard & Karen

After more than a year of lurking in the forum, vacation time has finally arrived! With all the help I got from this board and all the live blogs I read to live vicariously through, I decided to return the favor. This will not rival Twangster’s quality live blog, but we’ll try our best and offer a new-to-Royal perspective. I’ll do the typing and hubby will provide the pictures. If you’ve got any questions, I’ll do my best to find the answer. So without further ado... Who are we and why this cruise? Kerstin and Michael, in our mid-thirties, from Germany (Bavaria to be exact) and on our first TA, first Royal cruise – and first time out of Europe. We’ve cruised before – 3 times with TUI Cruises (German cruise line, joint venture with RCI), once with AIDA. We usually cruise for the itinerary, but made an exception for this cruise. After a brilliant video of Harmony from our favourite German Youtuber – the Schiffstester – we knew we wanted to try Oasis class – and that really experiencing it would take more than 7 days. We’d originally planned to book a Med B2B and not leave the ship, but the price on the TA was just too good – YOLO! I hate flying so to make it worthwhile, we added a 14 night Caribbean cruise on Caribbean Princess (RCI itineraries just weren’t to our liking). Cruise preview – Barcelona to Miami Ports of call: Malaga (Day 2) – not sure if we’ll get off the ship, maybe just for a stroll; Port Canaveral (Day 12) – Kennedy Space Center Guided Tour with Royal to avoid the long lines for immigration Food & Beverage: we both got the deluxe drinking package and 5 night dining package. Additionally reserved Izumi Hibachi and Jamie’s as we plan to check out all the options. Entertainment: all shows reserved, we’ll participate in a few CC events (Meet & Mingle, mini golf tournament, pub crawl, scavenger hunt). We’re also planning to book the all access tour. Cabin: 8411 - inside stateroom at the fore Pre-cruise & post-cruise We’ve already prepared everything we want to pack and will pack tomorrow. Friday morning, we’ll drop off the boys (our five coonies) at the cat hotel, rush home, throw the luggage in the car and drive to my parents. They’ll drop us off at the airport Duesseldorf for our evening check-in, we’ll stay at the airport hotel as our flight is at 6.45am on Saturday. We’ll stay at Hotel Catedral in Barcelona and have booked a walking tour of Barri Gótic for the afternoon. Post-cruise we’ll stay at Sense Beach House in South Beach until we board Caribbean Princess on 11th. It’s our first time in Miami, so we rented a car to get a good overview and do the essential shopping – I might pillage the Disney store as my sister is expecting her first child on November 23rd.

Hi Everyone! This October my best friend and I will be taking the Anthem on her first TA! A few questions: - This is our first TA, we usually love sea days, but it is a little daunting to be on the boat for 8 straight days, any suggestions? Things to pack or do? Are there usually different activities on A TA than a traditional cruise? - I'm very excited to try out ifly and see the anthem's shows. At this point we are less than six months away of departure (not that I'm counting or anything). When can you usually make reservations for these actives? I was hoping to plan these for tackling dynamic dining. Thanks for the advice! Will anyone be joining us?

I see on Royal Caribbeans UK website that Quantum is going westbound from Southampton to New Jersey in 2014. It looks like a one time cruise so I'm hoping that me and the misses can get on her. Anyone booked for that crossing yet. I am also hoping that she may do an eastbound crossing as well because ideally we would love to fly to New York spend some time there and then cruise home to Southampton.