CntPAcruiser

There are a few ways to do them on the day. The hardest part might be selecting a time and getting people there. We've announced them on a CC roll call, but I know others arrange them on a different social media site. On our last cruise, we arranged to meet up at the aft casino entrance and selected a machine based on our smallish group agreement. We did not involve the casino staff or ask for prizes, but for some larger slot pulls we've been involved in arranged by others, they did, and the casino "suggested" a machine to use and provided keychains and t-shirts as prizes for the luckiest spins. We collected an agreed-upon amount of cash, writing down each name in order, put the money into the machine, and everyone took their turns. We recorded the wins, and once everyone had gone, we got the payout and redivided the money that was left. The residual we put back into the machine and had the luckiest ones do a last couple of pulls until the money was gone.

Though I do not have any personal experience with this, I have read/heard good things about St. Maarten, so you might explore the board there with a search for spa information.

Selections were very spotty on our most recent cruise on Adventure out of NJ. This was back in October, and I haven't seen postings lately about supply chain issues. There was very little available on the first day or so, and then the bars seemed to get restocked, though they didn't all remain that way for long. You sometimes had to take a stroll to get the particular tipple you were looking for.

I don't recall specifically how the stairs were to get back on board, but the last time we sailed with Woodwind, I was not feeling particularly well, and they were extremely helpful, far beyond what you might expect of a tour operator, with getting me in and out of the water and actually towing me to some extent so I could still enjoy the snorkeling. I expect they would just as helpful with your issue, and you could likely use your good leg to "hop" up the stairs, holding on to the railing and getting some assistance.

They can do a little bit of customization upon request. My DH doesn't eat raw fish, so they provided a few substitutions when we did the class and he was happy. We had to eat what we made there and were not allowed to pack it up to go. One family had the right idea--two of them did the class, and the other two joined them afterwards and sat at a table in the restaurant to polish off all the sushi. It was quite a lot!

You could probably ask for a side of ham and they would bring it down for you. I've made "special requests" for things at breakfast in the MDR in the past. It might take a while to get it, though. Easier would be to stop off at the buffet on your way to breakfast for a to-go serving of ham, but it would of course cool off by the time you got to eat it in the MDR. I've very much enjoyed a MDR breakfast in the past, but my DH is not a fan, so we didn't do that on our most recent cruise. My go-to is smoked salmon, but I like mine on dark bread rather than a bagel, so I have gotten my own bread from the Windjammer before heading to the MDR for breakfast.

Bear in mind that the thermal suite isn't always exactly quiet. It depends on the number of people in there at any one time. It's mixed-sex, so there can be couples in there talking to each other, or friends who think it's a good place to hang out and gab. I haven't been on Ovation, just Oasis and Allure, and unfortunately Royal isn't known for having the greatest design for thermal suites. The ones on Oasis and Allure have no natural light and cramped sauna/steam room facilities, and tended to be very echo-ey because of all the tile and glass.

You are correct. Valencia oranges are more commonly used for juice, and navel oranges are "eating" oranges. Much the same way that some varieties of apples are better for cooking, while others are better for eating out of hand.

Of the ones I know, St. Maarten, Barbados, and St. Thomas would likely have better snorkeling. St. Lucia and St. Kitts are islands with incredible natural beauty, in part created by volcanoes, so a land-based tour is a great option. St. Kitts also has a world heritage site, Brimstone Fortress.

If you are docked at the pier for larger ships, you'll walk through a sort of shopping mall in the fort and continue out along the canal toward town. On the way, you'll immediately see the straw market vendors before you get to the floating bridge. Another possibility in town for good quality t-shirts, as well as hats and other items, is a shop called Best of Curacao. After you cross the floating bridge, continue on that street for one block and turn left. I'm pretty sure that is the street Best of Curacao is on, on the right-hand side in the first block off the street the bridge comes in on. If not, then it might be one more block in from there. We bought t-shirts there on our first visit to Curacao many years ago that we are still using!

Southern Caribbean is a favorite of ours. The ABC islands are beautiful and different (Aruba/Bonaire/Curacao). If you can find a cruise that has St. Kitts on the itinerary, it is a lovely island with a world heritage fortress, gorgeous natural features, and donkeys. I would warn against anyone trying to take your picture with a monkey, however, on any island. You would likely find excellent choices for excursions on either of these itineraries, though. It would be helpful to know which port stops you are talking about to provide a more specific answer.

Ours was so noisy and wasn't really cooling much at all (October 2022 on Adventure, promenade cabin), so we unplugged it and got a bucket of ice each day to put inside with our drinks.

One thing we noticed was that the use of a drink voucher in the MDR did not show up as quickly, whereas the ones from bars showed up on the app right away. Not sure if they don't actually ring them up right away in the MDR. It caused some confusion one night because I thought I had a voucher yet based on usage in the app and got charged for a drink in one of the bars later that night (the charge didn't show up until the next morning). They were supposed to use one of DH's vouchers for my glass of wine in the MDR and used my card instead, but it didn't show up by the time I ordered the drink in the bar. We learned to be more specific about whose vouchers we were using in the MDR.

There were definitely supply issues when we were on Adventure last October. The first day they barely had anything except for odd bottles of this and that. As the cruise went on and they had restocked to some extent, not every bar had the same bottles, so you had to shop around. And then they started to run out of them again.

We were on in early October, and though there were almost no books on the shelves, it was a hopping place! Quiet, but hopping, with almost every chair filled.

We were on in early October, and the one morning I went to get egg breakfast sandwiches. They were kind enough to make a special one without cheese for my lactose-intolerant DH. It took a little while, but it was worth it. They usually have two different kinds of cookies each day, fruit, either whole or cut-up fruit cups, an assortment of sandwiches, and an assortment of cold items along the vein of antipasti, like grilled veggies, olives, etc. And of course the infamous pizza.

The one Thanksgiving cruise we did, the turkey dinner was not bad, but the pumpkin pie was not good at all. They made individual tarts and overbaked them, so the custard had separated from the pie shell, which somehow was then soggy, and they didn't use real whipped cream on top. I hope that you will get something better on your cruise.

You can find the bar menus with pricing in the app. At the beginning of this month on Adventure, wines by the glass were $9 and up, and most of the mixed drinks were $13. I have seen on a different thread that prices for these notched up to $14, but it may vary by ship.

I was able to use two vouchers to get a double cognac, and saw others using two vouchers at a time as well, but usually for spirits. Can't hurt to ask if they'd do it for wine.

We were just on Adventure of the Seas, and they were doing pickleball, as well as volleyball, on the sports court.

Explorer still has a lovely setup, with a large men's locker room, six showers, and a large steam room and sauna. Large towels are provided, and while a few guys will wear shorts or a bathing suit, most put on a towel that is loosened or for some removed entirely once inside the sauna or steam room. The more guys who go nude inside the sauna or steam room, the more guys there are who will go nude. If everyone stays wrapped up, then often no one will unwrap. But the staff do not generally check, and there's usually no issue with going nude. On rare occasions when there has been unwelcome attention or behavior, I have heard of scoldings or staff intervention after complaints were made, but that is not the norm. Hopefully you will have an enjoyable trip and make good use of the facilities.

Adventure of the Seas this past week was also Niagara purified water (not spring water) in bottles, in the room and at the bars.

I can't help with the name, unfortunately, but wanted to note that my DH is a ranch dressing fiend, and I make my own at home from scratch for him. At one point some years ago, Royal had changed to an awful brand of ranch that was like Elmer's glue with green flecks in it, and he stopped using it on board and switched to the honey mustard since there was no better option. The new brand they are using now and for the last couple of years (perhaps?) is much better and he was satisfied with it. I was pleased to see on our most recent cruise that all the teabags were Bigelow, and they had quite a wide selection in comparison to the last couple of cruises we went on pre-Covid. Nearly all they had back then was some awful organic brand that you had to use two bags of per cup to get any flavor at all. So some of the recent changes, possibly due to supply chain or just changes in suppliers, have been for the better!

These ships have complimentary facilities in the fitness center locker rooms and also have thermal spas, from what I could find on Royal's blog. The thermal spas incur a fee, of course.

When Oasis and Allure first came out, we had to try them, and we were disappointed in the thermal suite overall. It's a completely interior area, no windows, tiled, which means it can have a bit of an echo, and it's small, especially if more than a few people are in there at one time. Worse yet if they decide to talk nonstop. It's mixed men and women, so bathing suits are required, which is just plain gross when you're sitting in a sauna or steam room. They are small rooms with odd angles, so it gets crowded quickly, and you have to watch for the steam jets in the steam room or your legs can get sizzled. The "specialty" showers in the thermal suite are nice, with rainstorm effects, waterfall, etc. The men's locker room is down the hall from the thermal suite and has a single toilet, urinals, and several showers. It's a bit cramped, but serviceable. It's a little annoying having to walk down to the thermal suite from there. All that having been said, if we were to cruise on these ships again (and we typically avoid them in favor of the sadly dwindling number of Royal's ships with complimentary facilities), we would get the thermal suite pass anyway, because it is a big part of the cruise experience for us. It's like having a spa vacation, and we would typically visit these facilities several times a day if possible. It will all depend on your sailing and who else is interested, as well as what time you go down to use it, how crowded and noisy it may be. But to get the most out of it, you'd want to go at least daily, if not morning and afternoon, or something like that.