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I believe that's the same musician that was there the first week of March. He was great, I especially enjoyed his performance at On the Rocks in Hideaway Beach.

I was just on her in March and I loved it. The audience seemed to really like it as well. Not sure why Cats gets so much panning here on CC. Maybe the cruisers on here have just seen it a lot? I have seen a bunch of Broadway shows, both on Broadway and regional tours but only one time each. It was the first time I had ever seen Cats but I would definitely go again.

Looking forward to the review, I am on Radiance in November! I've been wanting to take a cruise from my hometown for a while 🙂

I’m definitely interested in the Izumi location. I just booked a cruise on Radiance for November and selected my room to be below Izumi (deck 10 portside aft) vs. under Windjammer. If they move Izumi to deck 12 where Samba is, really curious what gets put in its place!

I did My Time Dining on Oasis a few weeks ago. It’s not too bad of a wait if you make reservations but that just doesn’t make sense to me. My Time Dining, to me, seems like the whole point is you don’t have to make reservations ahead of time (and you really need to make them far out from the cruise for anything before 8:30). You don’t even have the show schedule at that time. We ended up just making reservations for 8:30 (earliest available) after the first night in the MDR for the rest of the cruise. We may as well have just gotten our standard late dining and just strolled to our seat without any waiting. We will do that from now on. The other lines I have tried definitely do that better; no reservations, check-in via the app or get a buzzer, and hang out at a bar until a table is ready. Many times, no wait at all. It’s not the end of the world since I don’t mind set time dining but I don’t understand why it’s so different on Royal.

That looks exactly like what our class made on Oasis a few weeks ago! We didn't get that knife placement tip though. I guess that helps to close it? It was still delicious!

My husband is a T1 diabetic and we have enjoyed many cruises. We never make any special needs requests. There are a lot of options for going low carb on a cruise. In fact, my husband’s pump broke on our cruise in October and since he is not as used to using the syringe to give himself insulin, he was remarkably strict, and thoroughly enjoyed his meals. We do not request a sharps container since my husband does not discard any in the trash. Of course with the insulin pump and sensor, he does not use many (even with the syringe he used, it was the same one used throughout the remainder of the cruise so was not discarded). I always see it as an option to request one if you need it so that shouldn't be a problem. Yes, the liquor drinks, without any sugary mixers, are your best bet for low carb alcoholic drinks. A strong wine is pretty good as well (general rule of thumb, the stronger the wine, the less sugar). Also recommend always taking the stairs if you don't have any limitations. Activity really helps my husband control his blood sugar. Enjoy your cruise!

Doing this cruise next month! Looking forward to hearing about it. The Hideaway Beach day passes just went on sale so I got those for our groups. Will be interested to read how that is. Only videos/pictures I've seen are of people dancing in the pool. We might be interested in the chef's table as well. We did that on Allure. The food was not as good as I hoped but I loved the location and presentation. We also had great table mates! Can't wait to hear about your experience.

On some of the more scenic passes, do they ever turn the ship for a bit so the port side balconies can see as well? I'll definitely want to do my research on which side to book if I make it to a SA cruise. Sounds like starboard definitely has the better views on your route. Thanks for all the posts!

I was thinking they would be very similar. What made them better/worse? Just the chef/host or was it what you were making? We're doing this on Oasis in March, hope it's a good one!

That's exactly what I thought of!

Probably too late now for Aruba, but this boat excursion, https://www.tranquiloaruba.com/, is one of my all time favorites. Actually did it while on a land tour to Aruba but pickup is right by the cruise port and across from Lucy’s that was previously mentioned. I had a great time there after my excursion as well!

For me, I would not have chosen Teppanyaki or Moderno because they are more about the show / quantity rather than quality of food. You may have been happier with different choices. In addition to Cagney's we ate at Le Bistro and Ocean Blue. But, it’s hard to know what you will like to do until you’ve done it….I love a balcony, so will probably always have one. I don’t like overcrowded pool decks so Vibe would be worth it to me as well, depending on the itinerary/# sea days. I’ve never been to a spa on a ship so that would be a waste on me. FAS is a good deal if you will use everything (wifi time limit is perfect for me and we do take an excursion in most ports…) I think upgrading the drink package may often not be necessary but I did really like getting the bottles of wine at the restaurants included. I think if you upgrade with a package it could be worth it, especially with FAS+.

Is the band Latin Grooves still performing in the Havana Bar? They were fantastic on my cruise.

That's so funny, I was just about to write how awesome the tiny slice of cake was! I always think the desserts are too big.

I was on Allure 11/6 sailing. None of the indoor spaces were cold to me (generally wore no sleeves). It was a bit chilly at the Aqua show though.

Was this the 11/6 cruise, afternoon showing of Mama Mia? We had that happen. They were sitting very close to us (balcony). I couldn't believe how long it took to take the baby out of there. I felt really bad for the actors.

I may try to join the FB group but hope to have some activity here. Another reason I like CC is that I also enjoy the narratives/pictures vs. video only. Looking forward to hearing about the experience!

I was on this cruise in October! We were in a Havana aft balcony. We loved hanging out by the Havana pool. I also went diving in Grand Cayman, great experience. If you haven’t been to Dunn’s River in Jamaica (and are in decent shape), there is one excursion that takes you there via catamaran instead of a bus on narrow roads. You get on the catamaran right outside the port. It’s billed as a party cruise but it’s not really that crazy. As per normal, no booze is brought out until the ride home and despite what I read in some of the reviews, there was no pressure to partake in the alcohol (too early for me!) I’m headed to Falmouth in March and wish they had a similar excursion with the catamaran as the transportation. Will probably just stay in the port area.

They also required my husband wear closed toe shoes. Has wearing nice Birkenstocks and had to go back to the room, and put on sneakers! The Birks looked nicer, oh well.

I’m going to pile on the Rumors bandwagon! The best show on a cruise for both my husband and me. The line didn’t seem that bad for us but maybe it was new at the time (Breakaway May 2022) and didn’t have the notoriety yet? On another site’s roll call, someone from an earlier cruise chimed in to say what great show it was so I had a heads up. I don’t think we waited in line outside for more than 30 minutes (and we were first in line). The time went quickly once inside because you are basically hanging out at a cool bar. We were front row, on the floor in front of the stage where the performers often sang from. It was fantastic!

I wish you could at least (easily) look at what excursions they offer even if you haven't booked a cruise with that port. I sometimes use that as a deciding factor for deciding on a cruise if ports are the focus (looking at you Falmouth!) Carnival does have reviews on their shore excursions and often have the same tours (or at least same beach/activity location). Plus, you can look them up from their website without having a cruise booked. Sometimes it's nice to read reviews from a cruiser's perspective as other reviews may be from those on a land tour. Just go to the "Explore" tab and look all the way to the right. Hopefully it will give you an idea of what you are looking for. If you see a tour you like but Royal doesn't offer it, you can probably find it to do on your own outside of the ship's excursions.

Ah good, that's easier than duct tape!

Eeek! I can't imagine why they would do that. I'd be tempted to put some duct tape over it.

That Chef's Table looked awesome. I did it on Carnival Horizon and Allure of the Seas recently. I thought Carnival's food/presentation was really good, better than Allure's. Yours definitely looked on par or better (depending on actual taste!) than Carnival's.