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2018 - A Cruise Year in Review


twangster

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Fourteen cruises marks the most I've cruised in any single year so I thought I take a second to put it down in a post.

I started 2018 as a relatively new Diamond member in the Crown and Anchor Society and finished just over the halfway mark to Pinnacle.

Anthem -> Liberty -> Serenade -> Adventure -> Explorer -> Empress -> Radiance -> Mariner -> Enchantment -> Adventure -> Symphony -> Serenade -> Oasis -> Navigator

The scary part is I missed a cruise when my daughter graduated from the Air Force or it would have been fifteen.  Oh well, well worth it.

Of all these cruises I think Navigator to the ABC islands was my best cruise, in no small part due to the ABC islands and my cruise mate (step daughter and scuba diving buddy).

Other notable 2018 cruise events for me

  • First Transatlantic (Symphony)
  • First Canada/New England (Adventure)
  • First ABC island cruise
  • First visit/cruise to Cuba
  • First Diamond Plus cruise (Adventure repositioning San Juan to Bayonne)
  • First Radiance class experience
  • First Voyager class experience
  • Completed the Oasis class challenge (sailing all Oasis Class)
  • Completed the Freedom class challenge (sailing all Freedom class)
  • Completed the Empress class challenge (easy one here)
  • My longest single cruise (Adventure 13 night Snowbird Migration)
  • Paid for a cruise in full and didn't show up (cruise #15 above)
  • Sailed six different classes of ship in a single year (would have been seven classes if not for the missed cruise)
  • First time on a FlowRider
  • Five Crystal Blocks
  • First year not sailing in a full suite
  • Sailed on a ship every month of the year
  • First RoyalCaribbeanBlog Group Cruise!!!!

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What was your most notable cruise moment of 2018?

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My Top Moment's Of The Year Is

. Three Ships, Freedom OTS, Mariner OTS, Oasis OTS.

. 2 New Flowriders

. I Sailed Out Of All Of The Major Florida Cruise Ports, Port Miami, Port Canaveral, Port Everglade's

. Went To The Most Ports Of Call (8)   

. Longest Sailing (8 Nights)

. My Frist Freedom Class Sailing And Voyager Class

. First Time To Labbadee And Coco Cay

 

     

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For me, it was:

  • First cruise ever in my life
  • First cruise on Freedom
  • First cruise on Anthem
  • After over a decade of trying, finally convincing my wife (with lots of help from the kids) to give cruising a shot
  • Seeing her discover it’s as awesome as I’d always imagined it
  • Getting to know the amazing, helpful, supportive people here!
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Booking a cruise on Anthem of the Seas for January 6, 2019. We sailed on Royal twice previously, the last time in 2009. After cruising 12x on other lines (which we did enjoy), we're coming back to Royal, my hubby's fave. This blog has been helpful and fun. You're amazing people. So excited to sail on Sunday ... 5 days !!!

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Just now, Firemanswife2 said:

@twangster I want to be you when I grow up ?  Do you fly often or drive? Looking forward to the day we can just cruise whenever we want. Or I need a job where I can work remotely from a ship. Happy New Year everyone!

Some people have to pay for parking at the cruise port, I have to pay for parking at the air port.  I fly and put my dog in boarding when I travel.  That is simply the cost of cruising for me.  

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This was a quiet year of cruising for me - but our sailing out of San Juan was incredible and I loved getting to see Mariner and have our first Junior Suite! 

2019 is looking to be a bit more exciting - the first cruise of the year is coming up in three days (my mom, niece and step sister will also be along for their first cruise, and second cruise for my stepfather and sister in law), first trip to Yucatan on Enchantment (second junior suite!) and our first time sailing from Galveston, and my first trip as Diamond on my first trip to Cuba on Empress. It's going to be a good year! 

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3 minutes ago, twangster said:

Some people have to pay for parking at the cruise port, I have to pay for parking at the air port.  I fly and put my dog in boarding when I travel.  That is simply the cost of cruising for me.  

No idea if you do this or if this is even available at your local airport, but I have a parking facility at mine that lets you accrue rewards points that you can turn in for free days of parking. Something to consider as a frequent traveler if you haven't already (though I'm sure you have). 

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1 hour ago, twangster said:

Some people have to pay for parking at the cruise port, I have to pay for parking at the air port.  I fly and put my dog in boarding when I travel.  That is simply the cost of cruising for me.  

^^ This is one of the reasons I haven't been on a vacation in 8 years ... 4 giant dogs that I can't board. I finally found someone who's willing to stay at the house for 10 days with them.

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1 hour ago, twangster said:

Some people have to pay for parking at the cruise port, I have to pay for parking at the air port.  I fly and put my dog in boarding when I travel.  That is simply the cost of cruising for me.  

Tell me something I don't know...if boarding fees and parking fees were out of the equation, we could book double what we have for cruises.  

We steeped up our game this year since the wife retired at the end of last year, 6 cruises and two weeks in Playa Del Carmen, St. Lucia and Myrtle Beach at resorts.  It was our first Oasis & Voyager class ship sailing. 

This has been a great year for traveling and best of all chatting with this group.  Loads of tips, tricks and experiences learned from all here!

Hang on 2019! It's gonna be a bumpy ride ?????

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Most notable was the group cruise to Alaska, while it was the only cruse due to the wife and  my school  obligations it was by far the best one I have ever been on.  The scenery like this was absolutely amazing! Well worth every cent and I want to go again as soon as possible!!!  

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Now that I have given it some more thought, 2018 has been a great year cruising year for us. We started 2018 as once a year cruisers and took 4 cruises in 2018 and have 5 on the horizon for 2019! What more can a girl who loves to cruise ask for! 

In 2018 we tried 2 classes of ships for the first time, Quantum and Freedom Class, and revisited Voyager class for the first time since 2002. 

We finally made it to Diamond!

2019 is off to a wonderful start. We rang in the new year on a cruise for the first time ever and we have our first star class sailing coming up in 68 days. In July, we are going our first RCBlog GC. And if we don’t cancel anything, we’ll end our year on another cruise. 

My heart is so full! We are so blessed ?

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That's awesome!  So many amazing cruises in just one year..and many firsts.

Our first family cruise was Allure in 2016.  This past summer we did 4 day Mariner and this hooked DH as well. (The the two of us also went on Independence in Dec).   Something clicked and we are now cruise addicts with 5 currently booked up to 2021 ( 2 a year ).

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10 hours ago, JLMoran said:

For me, it was:

  • First cruise ever in my life
  • First cruise on Freedom
  • First cruise on Anthem
  • After over a decade of trying, finally convincing my wife (with lots of help from the kids) to give cruising a shot
  • Seeing her discover it’s as awesome as I’d always imagined it
  • Getting to know the amazing, helpful, supportive people here!

Agree with this!  My first cruise as well aboard Harmony of the Seas!  Loved finding royalcaribbeanblog.com and learning so much. Now off to Symphony Saturday! 

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Just now, WannaCruise said:

That's awesome!  So many amazing cruises in just one year..and many firsts.

Our first family cruise was Allure in 2016.  This past summer we did 4 day Mariner and this hooked DH as well. (The the two of us also went on Independence).   Something clicked and we are like cruise addicts with 5 currently booked up to 2021 ( 2 a year ).

All I am going to say is that it is good to be the king or the queen!  Unfortunately due to me still being in school and wifey looking for her next job our cruising future is uncertain until she finds a new job.  But please rest assured once she finds something and we know her schedule and are able to plan it out we will be right back on schedule!!  ? If you ever see some fool doing cartwheels as he is getting onboard it will be this guy right here!?‍♂️?‍♀️?

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3 hours ago, bhageerah said:

We were there towards the end of June, if you have not been yet please do yourself a favor a go!  ?

Maybe in 2020 for Alaska. We booked 3 cruises for 2019 so not sure we can squeeze one more in. One of the cruises I booked was Mediterennean (one of my bucket lists). 

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First one comes when you reach 140 cruise points, then you get another block every 70 points after that.

I'm diamond and just got my first block on Freedom in October, so if you are Diamond+ you should have at least 175 points, so you should have been given at least one block.

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First cruise ever, Oasis of the Seas in April, we booked the second on Grandeur of the Seas this past December even before leaving on the first cruise.  We have become severely addicted to cruising, future booked cruises include Majesty April 2019 and Harmony Feb 2020.  Future cruises will be Alaska and Baltic.   

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We had a rocky year for vacations but I went on my 4th cruise, and learned you can repeat a ship and find whole new things to do!  Bring on 2019 though....first yolo booked oasis class in March (allure) and another attempt at Europe with our first 12 day cruise in the med/Greek isles (vision and first bigger family stateroom).  Happy new year everyone!!! Jane

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4 hours ago, Mljstr said:

I have 170 and will hit 175 in March and I never received as much as a plastic tiddly wink- Should I contact C&A and request it? I do have a Diamond pin which I requested.@tiny260

Email C&A.  They have a stock reply that will ask you name, address, etc.  They will ship you any crystal block that you failed to receive on board.

crownandanchor@rccl.com

 

 

 

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Most notable for me was trying the Oasis class for the first time.  I think my sweet spot is going to end up something smaller, but it was a great experience.

 

2019 will be a year of firsts for us:

- trying a Grand Suite

- taking the kids for spring break

- flying to a port to sail on Anthem

- Panoramic room on Mariner in the fall

 

Really excited for this year... but my spouse was certainly taken aback when filling out the calendar and seeing 4 reserved time slots  As Matt said in the podcast, she thinks I am crazy.

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11 hours ago, jagnew said:

Most notable for me was trying the Oasis class for the first time.  I think my sweet spot is going to end up something smaller, but it was a great experience

I have a feeling this will be our opinion too...I think freedom class will be the one but I can't wait to walk through Central Park!  Jane

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