cruiseguy1016

Try going into the app and see what themes are taking place on the current sailing. My guess is that those same themes will be occurring on yours. FWIW, we were on Voyager 2 weeks ago and I remember a 70's disco night and a Caribbean night. There may have been others. E.T.A. Also from Upstate NY

My favorite right now is Freedom.

But what if I'm special? Shouldn't RCI make an exception for ME?

I know Friday is only 5 days away but I would call again. My OBC usually shows up in a few days, it's never been more than 2 weeks.

Yes, the time was pushed back after Covid so they could do extensive cleaning/sanitizing. It was enforced tightly early on but it has become more relaxed in some occasions. There are reports on some ships of the rooms being open at 1:00 - 1:30.

The biggest change in the last 6 years is the rolling out of the app. Royal Caribbean is pushing the app like it's the second coming. They actually say that you are required to download the app in order to cruise. While the app certainly makes some things easier and more efficient, it is not required. The best thing about the app (to me, at least) is the ability to do the safety drill before boarding the ship. Once on the ship, you walk to your muster station, they check you off and you're done. No more standing in the heat listening to "the talk". Oher changes in the last 6 years include: A paper copy of the Compass is no longer delivered to your cabin each night. Most of the information contained in the Compass is available on the app. Your stateroom attendant will deliver a paper copy to your room each night if you ask for it. The menus have changed. A little research here will reveal the changes. Stateroom attendants are now cleaning cabins only once a day. There are more changes post-Covid, I just can't think of them all right now, I'm still on my first cup of coffee 😁.

That'll pay for about half of your gratuities.

I guess I'm old. I don't understand any of this.

Here's a piece of advice from someone who has "been there, done that". Don't try to seat everyone at a large table. Conversations will be very difficult to the point where it might be disruptive to neighboring tables. Our large group used to all sit at one table and found it to be bad. We now sit at 2 tables of 6 next to each other. It is much easier to have conversations with your tablemates. We switch up seats every night so we can sit and talk with different people each night.

It bugs me that people can't take 30 seconds of their life to pay attention to safety briefings. You're putting yourself and everyone else at risk because you think you are too special to pay attention. When the time comes that you need that information, you're going to wish you had been paying attention.

Ice skating and Quest were the only activities I heard about going on in Studio B. It's possible I may have missed something else.

I don't remember seeing laser tag on the ship and I could not find it in the app.

We did the muster drill from our hotel before going to the pier. Once on the ship, we walked to our muster station and they checked us in. Quick and easy. Our rooms weren't available until 1:30.

The ship will not be too busy to enjoy the pool/slides. The majority of passengers get off the ship in port. You will have a huge selection of chairs poolside. If you are using The Key for only early embarkation and late debarkation, don't bother getting it. Arrival/boarding times are not being enforced at most locations. Get as early a time as you can. If it's later than you want, just show up when you want, you'll most likely be able to board when you get there, provided the terminal is open and they are boarding already. As for debarkation, tell them you have a late flight and they'll give you a late debarkation time. If the time is later than you want, stay on the ship for a while longer. They don't force you off the ship until the last group has been called.

I meant to look but forgot once I got inside. There was signage on the outside of the building that led me to believe it was still there but I forgot to look once inside.

Also know that once you are assigned a cabin, if you don't like its location, you can ask to be moved to any other available cabin within that same category.

I don't know who required it. Just the fact that he mentioned "the speech" and then cut it short (knowing we didn't want to hear it) leads me to believe they are told to mention it.

You can order more than one but you need to be a good boy and finish your first one before they will bring you a second one.

We just got off Voayger 2 weeks ago. On "speech night" our server said 'I know you are Diamond members, I know you've heard the speech many times and you don't want to hear it again but I'm required to say it." He said "I know you don't want to hear it so I won't go into the whole speech but I just wat to remind you that a good rating means a lot to us". With that he was done and we never heard another word about it. That alone deserved a 10.

I was happy with the food selection and quality on Voyager 2 weeks ago. But again, food quality is a very subjective topic. I don't eat in 5 star restaurants every night at home so I don't know what it's like to have 5 star choices and 5 star quality every night. The selections and quality were as good or better than what we have on a nightly basis at home, and I can say that because I'm the cook in our house.

Yes, the fine print says something the the effect of "arrive with your entire party". At most embarkation points they aren't checking boarding times anyway so you shouldn't have a problem.

The original incident was in Ft. Lauderdale. We had a minor issue with it last year in Galveston. Two weeks ago in San Juan, no problem at all.

Several years ago, when the app first came out and they wanted you to use it for check-in, I was skeptical (and not very tech smart), so I printed my Set Sail Pass just in case I had a problem using the app at check-in. When we got inside the terminal, cell service ceased and no one could not load the app to show their digital Set Sail Pass. Fortunately, I had my printed copy and we breezed right through. Those that relied soley on the app were delayed a bit while their credentials were verified. Bottom line - If you belong on the ship, you'll get through check-in eventually. Having everything completed and in hand, whether printed or on the app, will just make things go faster.

Go to the Ports of Call boards and look for the port you are searching. You'll find lots of preferred vendors to provide you a tour.

We started cruising out of San Juan in 2009. Our RT flight this year were cheaper than any year prior. I can't explain why but I'll take it.