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Yes, I love the diversity of birds you see in other countries. If you want to see some really beautiful birds, check out my live thread for the Xpedition Galapagos (in my signature). Besides the bird photos from the Galapagos, we did a full day birding tour in mainland Ecuador after that cruise. I wish we lived closer to Merritt Island as we would visit a lot more often.

Last time I booked an inside cabin, I was only offered move up offers up to a certain level (I think balcony). I couldn't bid on suites. So I don't think someone in a Celebrity Suiting is competing with inside cabin passengers for the Iconic. But to answer your question, no one actually knows the algorithm. I suspect a major part of it relates to how easily your original cabin is to resell or move someone else into and make the most money both with your bid and with what they can get for your original cabin.

On the Adventure last week, I found it really finicky to switch devices and even logon.com didn’t usually work. It was definitely not as easy as it has been for me on previous cruises. Onboardicafe.com is what I had the best luck with for switching devices. I can’t recall if there was a log off option on that screen but maybe try that if you haven’t already.

We always watch the safety video in the app from our hotel or the ride over to the port. It becomes live to start tracking whether you watched it mid-morning embarkation morning. Then once we board, we head straight to our muster station to check in so that we can get that part completely done with and start enjoying our cruise. Celebrity lets you drop your carry on things in your cabin upon boarding (even though cabins aren't always quite ready) so that is usually our next stop. There isn't really much, if anything to rush to book once you board, if you took care of all your bookings ahead of time. I personally wouldn't pay what they charge for Cabanas at Coco Cay but that is a call you have to make. There are lots of free loungers and umbrellas or for a more reasonable price you can book a beach bed. We usually don't spend money at Coco Cay. It is very cool to be able to so easily identify stars and constellations (and even planets). I use SkyView Lite but I'm sure it isn't the only app out there like it.

It’s a continental breakfast so nothing hot. They had pastries, donuts, yogurt and granola, muesli, fruit, smoked salmon, cold cuts, and cheeses. You can get tea, espresso based coffee, and juice. I included a couple photos in post 22 that might be helpful.

We are on our drive home so I'll take advantage of this time to talk about our last day and disembarkation and share some overall thoughts. Earlier in the cruise, there was a spot in the app to provide your departure plans so they knew which luggage tags to give you the final day. We had chosen to self-assist so we could get on the road quickly on disembarkation morning. In our cabin that last morning with our daily service, there was a letter explaining departure procedures. I uploaded a copy of that letter to the same Google drive folder with all the Cruise Compasses which you can access here. Our cabin steward also left us one tip envelope with the letter which rubbed me a bit wrong. He had been mediocre at best. Our cabin seemed to be low on his priority. And to leave only one envelope vs enough to tip more of the regular staff we interacted with seemed very self-serving. This is one cabin steward who didn't get an additional tip from us. The day before we had obtained the form from the loyalty concierge (same form is available at Guest Services) to add additional tips to our onboard account for our wait staff (Mel and Erina) who truly had gone above and beyond. They were among some of the best servers we have had. I'm not even sure how we spent the rest of that last day as it was so low key. I know we spent a little more time listening to our favorite guitarist, Jorge Garcia (I mistyped his first name in another post - his first name is Jorge). Sunset was later and so there was still a bit of the blue hour light as we sat down for dinner that night so we got to enjoy having a window table. The pecan-crusted salmon was really good. Of the food this year, their pastry chef and the chef that handles fish are really talented. Overall food was quite good in the main dining room but it is the fish dishes and desserts that really stand out. They had one more party in the promenade that night. As early birds and light sleepers, we won't book a promenade interior again. If I recall correctly, there were four nights this cruise with parties after we wanted to go to sleep. If you are a night owl or a heavy sleeper, I doubt the noise would be an issue for these cabins and they generally are pretty quiet the rest of the day/night. The next morning we were up early so we could get an early start. Cafe Promenade opened at 6:00 a.m. (although I think you could get coffee starting at 5:30 a.m.). Diamond drinks are loaded on your card this final morning so I enjoyed one more coffee (which I ultimately didn't even have time to enjoy). We ate a light breakfast from Cafe Promenade and then walked out on to the helipad to watch the last ship come in. When I had woken up at 5:15 a.m., we had already docked along with the NCL Jade. By the time we made it to the helipad sometime after 6:30 a.m., the Disney Fantasy and the Carnival Mardi Gras had both docked. The Carnival Liberty was pulling into their berth next to us. The sun was just starting to rise. A couple minutes before 7:00 a.m. (about 45 minutes ahead of schedule), we were on the promenade looking down at the dock when they started opening up the line to disembark as we had just gotten clearance. We rushed up to our cabin to grab all our luggage. Self-assist disembarkation at that early hour was a breeze. We barely had to pause for the facial recognition. We were leaving the parking lot by about 7:20 a.m. Overall, this was an amazing cruise. The ship had lots of quiet places for us introverts to find peace and I love the classes of ships that have the wrap around promenade deck with access to the helipad. Our only excursion was in Puerto Plata and my husband felt it was one of his favorite excursions we have ever taken. We had opportunities to walk the beach in both Grand Turk and St. Croix. MDR food was quite good and service was exception. Buffet food was good if you knew what to look for and what to avoid (which is pretty typical of a buffet). We cruise a lot of different cruise lines so as we stood on the helipad that last morning looking out at the NCL, Disney, and Carnival ships as well as the RCCL one we were on, we reflected on what we enjoy. Our perfect cruise line would take little pieces from each line and maybe that is why we mix it up often. After disembarking, we spent the morning on Merritt Island before driving half-way home and staying in Tifton, GA. If you ever have time before or after a Port Canaveral cruise and have an interest in wildlife, I highly recommend Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. It is about 25 miles north of the port. There is a 7 mile auto loop where you can see so much just from your car with some spots to pull off for short and longer hikes. They also have bus tours from the National Wildlife Refuge Visitor's Center. As a birder, this is my happy place. I'll share just a few photos. Common Gallinule Tricolored Heron Greater Yellowlegs Blue-winged Teal

Yes, there were two production shows. We didn't attend either so I can't speak to how good they are although we did see a preview of the first and the ballroom dancers and orchestra seem quite talented. The first one was "Invitation to Dance." Here is the description: Invitation to Dance is a fusion of latin and Ballroom dance, beautiful costumes and the excitement and energy of live theater. A sensual and passionate world-class production where Ballroom and Latin dance are reinvented for a diverse global audience. The second one was "Can't Stop the Rock". Here is the description: Can't Stop the Rock takes the audience on a musical journey through Rock and Roll from movie soundtracks. Covering everything from Chubby Checker and Connie Francis to Whitney Houston and Prince. Over 40 years of some of the greatest movie music.

It was a little after 2:00 p.m. on the Adventure this past cruise. And yes, an announcement is made.

Thank you! We have really enjoyed this cruise and are sad to see it coming to an end. I'm sure you and your sister will have a great time!

They don't ask for money and giving them money won't make them go away in this case. They have their routine that they follow. At least Royal is better than Carnival. We only had the song and dance twice (so far - we have one night left) on our 8 night cruise on the Adventure. On Carnival, it is a nightly event. With MTD, you can sometimes time it right to avoid it. There is no way to avoid it if you have fixed dining, unless you want to skip dessert or skip eating the MDR altogether.

I have my doubts that many find it a morale booster, especially the routine earlier in the cruise that is just song and dance without specific recognition. I often notice how many servers find ways to busy themselves so that they never have to participate. I don't doubt that some have personalities that enjoy a limelight like this but I don't think it is the majority.

As we sat on the promenade watching the sea, a Brown Booby (common sea bird we see on cruises) flew right by and spent some time fishing right next to the ship. These birds amaze me as they spend so much of their life at sea, rarely seeing land and they are quite beautiful. This time I had my camera on me so captured some great photos. But enough of birds which I recognize doesn't interest most cruisers. We attended the Captain's Corner with Captain Jaret and Cruise Director Dan. I was a bit surprised it wasn't more highly attended. On other cruise lines talks like this by the Captain fill the theater. It was a fun hour that went by fast with some great questions and humor. Let me share some of what I learned. Captain Jaret is from Newfoundland, Canada. He has been with Royal Caribbean 25 years and has commanded all five voyager class ships which are his favorite. His reason is that the Voyager class ships have more horse power per ton and for the passenger's benefit they have more elbow room. I would definitely sail this class again for that reason. He talked briefly about the Discovery class coming out in 2029 which will be similar to the Voyager and Freedom classes. He put his plug in for convincing Royal to let him Captain this new ship. Clearly, he is excited about this upcoming class. A question was asked about dry dock happening in the fall. A number of participants are on the transatlantic cruise either to or from dry dock (or both). Wouldn't that be fun? The ship is in Europe for 19 days which would be an ideal amount of time to explore some of Europe. If only we had the time off.... He talked a little bit about dry dock. They have these large blocks that are no more than about 2 meters high that the ship sits on. They design exactly where to put the blocks based on the specific ship going into dry dock. Divers are in the water as they slowly enter dry dock to help guide the ship which then ties up and then the divers stay in the water once the dock is closed and the water slowly drained to make sure it sits right. It sounds like quite the process! The Adventure's top speed is 22.5 knots. They need to use 5 of the 6 engines to achieve that speed (one engine is reserved as a backup). A headwind has the most affect on their ability to achieve that speed. They can drop down to 4 engines at about 21 knots, 3 engines at about 18 knots, and 2 engines at about 14 knots. The ship takes on about 1,000 tons of fuel at Port Canaveral each cruise - 300 tons of HFO and 700 tons of MDO (I hope I got those acronyms right). Starting with the Harmony and all ships built since, they have an ALS system (Air Lubrication System) which creates bubbles at the hull to cut down on friction and help the ship go faster. The top three senior officers are the ship's Captain, the Staff Captain (2nd in command), and the Chief Captain (3rd in command). Those three senior officers are on the Bridge for every arrival and departure. Otherwise, the ship is generally run by the other officers. A senior officer would get called up when there is high traffic or low visibility. 1st and 2nd Officers work 8 hour shifts. Captains and other senior officers usually work 10 weeks on and 10 weeks off. Some of the other officers on the Bridge work 14 weeks on and 14 weeks off. At each port, a local pilot boards. They are the expert on the local tides, dock, which ballards can take how many lines, etc. In the US it is required they take command, although the Captain is still responsible for the ship and the Captain's staff still do the docking. Local pilots also work as a translator with lineman in foreign ports. When deciding whether to back into the dock or pull in forward, a lot of factors come into play. Sometimes they are doing drills on certain lifeboats. Other times the current or swells play a role and with some docks, the location of the gangway matters. Cozumel is one of the hardest ports to dock at because of the combination of currents (which are ever changing) and wind speeds.

Today is our second sea day in a row. As much fun as it is to see new countries, it’s the sea days I look forward to most. I’m sitting on the promenade with a light breeze listening to the waves push off the side of the ship. It’s really quite lovely. IMG_3440.mov Last night’s show was the impressionist, Paul Boland. He was alright but we got stuck sitting behind a couple that wouldn’t stop loudly talking, so we left early. We sat outside the Duck & Dog Pub in the Royal Promenade to listen to our favorite guitarist, Jose Garcia, and enjoy a few drinks. Tonight’s dinner was Royal Night with Main Lobster Tail on the menu. Food was really good. We’ve had our photos taken a number of times around the ship. A number of them have really turned out quite nice. We will have to decide today which to get. Later this morning, we plan to go to the Captain’s talk.

No, they don’t but they might give a newcomer enough information to make their own informed decision.

As long as the passport is in the cruise line's possession, they have a lot of incentive to make sure I get it should I get left behind as they are taking responsibility for it. Yes, in other cases when passengers maintain control of their passports and many leave them in their safe, standard protocol is to empty the safe should someone not return to the ship but I have heard enough stories of where that protocol was not followed to know it is not a perfect system. I completely agree with you that we all need to make our own risk assessments and I don't take mine with me to port every single time. I make the call based on the country and what we are doing in port. My comment was more just focused on the passport card not necessarily being the great solution some may think it is due to its limits.