The Fun Researcher

Switching keys will be fine. Just make sure everyone has the correct one when getting on and off the ship and if you are making purchases.

If I my wife and I could take 11-12 days off in a row I would love that option of an 11-12 night cruise from Bayonne. It's a long drive from Michigan, ~11 hours but still saves a lot of airfare considering our family of 5, plus no airport hassles. We're doing a cheap 7 night in March on the Anthem to get us to Diamond and to experience a Quantum class ship (Quantum; we're also doing out of Seattle this upcoming summer to Alaska) Dan

Any of the AMPED Freedom or Voyager class

We've sailed the sister ships and the interior cabins are just fine. We love the quiet and dark that they provide. I wouldn't worry about it at all. We don't spend much time in the cabin other than to sleep and get ready for dinner. You can get all the views from the pool deck, walking deck on 4, etc... Dan

Chops Grille or Jamie's Italian will get you out of the craziness of the Wind Jammer on embarkation day, and provide a very nice lunch. Would need to check your Cruise planner though. Sometimes it's open and sometimes not on embarkation day. Probably $21 - $25 pp. Dan

Love these stowaway piano players. We had a pleasant surprise with them on the Navigator spring 2019 just after the ship was AMPED. Was so much fun to see them in the elevator playing away while we went from floor to floor! Dan

Yeah, was kind of afraid of that. For being a top 5 most visited cruise port it sure seems like there there would be better/more options to choose from. Dan

God bless you that are able to afford, or willing to spend, the cost for a Grand Suite. Do you ever leave the room? 😍 Maybe someday when we're retired and have even more excess disposable cash, or once in a lifetime splurge. For now we need to get the kids through college, ugh. 😊 Dan

Looking for something that will interest us enough to get off the ship in Nassau. It will be my wife, son(15) and my in-laws. Some walking is o.k., but a lot of walking is not due to my FIL's bum knee. We love all inclusive days, but it's tough in Nassau with our son only being 15. RUI is out. Breezes gets lackluster reviews lately. Margaritaville is not all inclusive... Junkanoo is an option since it's public and we just need to pay for drinks, umbrellas and chairs. Any other all-inclusive options to recommend? We also like island tours that give you a more knowledgeable feel for the culture, food, and the island as a whole. Thanks in advance! -Dan

I don't begrudge anyone for their choice but for us if we had to choose one it would be Labadee. We do enjoy both but for different reasons. Labadee positives: Relaxing (love chill vibe and views at Columbus Cove with the ship as the backdrop) Feels more like we picture when we think of a tropical getaway Gorgeous views when docking and leaving Coco Cay positives: Food options and quality So many options for activities Massive freshwater pool Labadee negatives: Food quality and options Less to do Coco Cay negatives: Feels more like an amusement park than a private island. "Over commercialized" Feels significantly more crowded and can be hard to find loungers in our experience Debatable: The markets of Labadee. Lots of options and souvenirs, but on the other hand the aggressive sales/interactions can be "off putting" Maybe a one and done, but Largest zipline over water in the world at Labadee

Pick one. Which would you choose for your itinerary and why? Please only respond if you've actually visited both

About the only thing I've ever been able to make good on during Black Friday Sales are soda packages LOL Typical RCCL tactics to mark things up to then mark them down to the same price as before with a "Wow Sale" Dan

It’s practically guaranteed that there will be lunch served in the main dining room on Sea days

The Tidal Wave slide on Liberty of the Seas has a max per passenger weight of 250 pounds, and a combined raft weight of 450 pounds. Guests need to be at least 100 pounds and 52 inches tall to ride. The Perfect Storm water slides require guests to be 48 inches tall to ride. *Credit Royalcaribbeanblog

Freedom class (Liberty is Freedom Class) and Voyager class are still our favorite ship classes to date. Liberty is not officially amped, but has been updated. It doesn't have Playmakers sports bar, or all the bright new furniture and look on the pool deck, etc... Having said that, it's a large beautiful ship. The waterslides were the latest new addition and they are nice. Be aware that the Solarium is not covered. It is open air, so if the weather is cold, there is no indoor pool. We prefer Labadee to Coco Cay. Labadee is more of a classical tropical paradise, whereas Coco Cay feels like an amusement park. I do like the food choices on Coco Cay though. We love resting in the loungers at Columbus Cove on Labadee, with the ship in the background. The things that we love about the Liberty are: Large Royal Promenade. A wonderful central location on the ship that makes navigation super easy A wonderful "connection to the sea" with the deck 4 walking/lounging track, access to the front helipad(especially at night looking at the stars), and the wonderful pool deck Large beautiful main dining room Great Shows and entertainment Large ship with plenty of venues to keep you busy on even the longer voyages Pools are freshwater Beautiful indoor Viking crown lounge overlooking the pool area etc...

Yeah, I pulled the 18th date from a different website but looks like you are much closer to being accurate based on last year (and other years). So maybe the 21st-23rd we'll see some info. Hopefully I can reprice our 2023 cruises, and I typically wait for our soda packages until Black Friday as well. Dan

At least for the beverage packages it's 72 hours, per RCCL's website https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/beverage-package-cancellation-policy

Exactly. We have a forward cabin for our Alaska cruise in July and plan to use the Bistro for breakfast and coffee in the morning. Would be a shame if it were closed for some reason. Could regular guests at least get coffee in the morning at the Solarium Bistro when it's been closed for special events or groups?

Some more info re. last years timing https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/black-friday-and-cyber-monday-cruise-deals

I think the Black Friday sales are supposed to start November 18 Dan

I would love to but her schedule is not flexible and doesn’t allow her to sail when the fairs are cheaper, she is a kindergarten teacher, bless her heart. In the end we have decided to go a different route. My wife and son’s spring break do not line up with our daughters spring break in March. We have decided to do a seven day cruise on the Anthem the week after our daughters are home from college for spring break. So there will be my wife, son and I on the cruise and we will get connecting interior or balcony cabins. One of us will be in a room solo and get double points. That will get my wife or Myself 14 point and get us to 82 total, just past Diamond. Dan

Yeah, sorry about that, thanks for the clarification. You’re right. However, if the OP wants to have an interior connecting door between rooms they need to choose a connecting room. That’s what I was trying to say but didn’t do it accurately. Dan

Just be aware adjoining rooms are rooms next to each other, but not necessary connecting. If you want that door inside between rooms they need to be connecting Dan

Two full bathrooms for a family of five is awfully nice. We also have a family of five and have always had connecting rooms on our cruises. It works out great. having that open doorway between the two cabins makes the whole space seem larger Dan

Your points are valid. I also think it all depends on any given couple, or family. Drinks are expensive on RCCL's ships, and we take that cost into account when budgeting for our cruises. Once we have Diamond, a line item of our cruise budget goes way down. Knowing that, we will transition some of that spending. We will be more willing to spend some of the saved money on things we normally do not do, like specialty dining, tours, entertainment, etc... So I don't think our total spend will change drastically, but now our cruise experience is heightened because we can use the money saved on drinks for other splurges that we haven't done in the past. ...and RCCL maintains their margin on us fairly close to before. Plus, we are now even more Loyal to Royal due to the perks, so they get more of our money more often That's just us though. Everyone is different Dan