Starry Eyes

The water does not have to flow the entire time. Wet hands. (Automatic water may turn off) Apply soap. Scrub hands 20 seconds. Rinse hands.

And then carelessly let the belt of the life jacket drag behind you on the stairs when you return to your cabin

Yeah, I would not mind if they showed the spy-themed muster info to kids in adventure ocean or as an extra on the TV channel, but it definitely does not convey the correct attitude for a serious drill.

Good. That may make an enormous difference along with solid decision making from the bridge and front line teams.

I did realize many crew were involved in a variety of roles. Both pre and post shut down I have seen them drilling without passenger involvement, including the jobs you mentioned…though I wouldn’t know when they were doing the entire ship and when they were doing limited areas.

I dread having a disaster on a cruise ship regardless of the type of muster drill. Despite the efforts of crew members during the traditional muster drill some passengers were inattentive, talkative and/or drunk. They created a poor atmosphere for others, including the newbies who most need the drill. Even before the pandemic I wondered how poorly those fools would behave in an actual emergency. I hope I never find out. It may depend upon the passenger mix on a given voyage, the type of emergency and the leadership/crew management of the situation more than the type of drill. I seem to meet a lot of entertainment staff at muster stations (traditional and digital check in). Singers, dancers, skaters, etc often do well in those roles with stage presence and communication skills, plus their turn around day duties differ from crew. As a cost trade off, ships do not have to shut down all services at potentially profitable time just before sailaway.

I think Disney already returned to regular muster. They said some guests were noncompliant with digital muster. Do you know when the International Maritime Organization might make that decision?

Even though your reservations numbers are linked, I suggest you visit the MTD desk one to clarify that you’d like to combine those two reservations into one big table.

Our experience might have been dirty than usual. We were on the first half of a b2b and won the that suite via RoyalUp. The suite steward thought the suite was going to be vacant until the steward from cruise 1 delivered our luggage. He might have done a better job cleaning the balcony if he’d known we were coming….and he should’ve known if he understood RoyalUp profits the suite would not sit empty. Regardless, there was enough nasty soot on soles that first day that I‘ll warn others. I hope they won’t have the issue.

I do not know why it is on this thread as one would not expect to get those cabins as gty balcony assignment. We won 14730, a 1 BR Aquatheater suite on Harmony via RoyalUp. Among the Aquatheater suites, deck 14 is less desirable as the decks are smaller. There was soot on the balcony floor; I don’t know if deck 14 gets more soot than lower ones. We could sometimes hear some humming noise, I think from the flow rider pump …it did not bother us particularly but we are not noise sensitive. If I had my pick (I didn’t😀), I’d pick a lower AT. Still, we had a great, memorable cruise. If the price was right I’d happily sail in 14730 again. The balcony was big enough and had a great view. Plan to wear slippers or flip flops or such on the deck to keep your feet clean. Hope that helps.

As the ship is on your itinerary this week, I suggest you use the “ browse our ships” function on the app to log into this week’s sailing. You will see the menus as if you were sailing this week😀

Are you going to compare the cost of drinks on board to your local retail prices, too? I think you will find a much higher markup.

Now wait. You are making totally different arguments than the one to which I responded. The person going on their first cruise is thinking of having sides omitted simply to save room for desert. It was not because they are allergic or because the dislike the side. I’m asserting this slows down everyone’s service when all they need do is not eat what they do not want. Having an allergy is different. That person should be accommodated, probably by meeting with the Head waiter in advance. Having a sauce you dislike over your food is also different…the note on the new menu raises the question of whether such requests will be honored…I hope they will, as I’d hate to think you’d be damned or feel you must eat in WJ.

Because if the way the galley works, altering your order is extra work for the galley and your waitstaff. It also increases the chance of error (your altered plate might inadvertently be delivered to someone at another table, leaving you both unhappy). The busy waitstaff do not need more headaches. Just order the regular dish and just don’t eat those unwanted side dishes if you want to save room for desert.

Too sweet at any price, IMHO. We will leave it on the Publix shelf for Laura.

I assume the algorithm would generally compares the following options and selects the higher*: A) The sum of highest GS bid from a JS occupant plus the highest JS bid from a balcony occupant or B) The highest GS bid from a balcony occupant So, I think the person in a balcony probably has to bid substantially more to score the GS over a person starting in a JS. You have no way of know how much somebody may have bid for your JS and you have no way of knowing how badly others (in JS or balcony) might want a GS. *Note: The above is an oversimplification, of course, when there are multiple categories of balconies in the bidding chain. A computer algorithm could quickly sort out the highest revenue option from hundreds or thousands of bids. There also may be over-riding business considerations in some bid acceptances. For example, if a cabin were inadvertently double booked or taken out of inventory, it would be smoother to accept a RoyalUp bid (if submitted) than suffer the bad PR for the issue, even if the RoyalUp bid would otherwise have been too low to win.

Now that you posted that a couple times, the magic amount will likely soon rise to $20 over the minimum😀….well, assuming there are any available cabins to win.

Prices vary among ports, sometimes ways that are different to predict. So Floridians (as an example and to include myself) pricing experience at their many busy ports has little to do with pricing from the California ports. If you want to take the cruise, you’ll need to decide if you think it is worth it to you personally or not. One of the other posters mentioned guarantee rates. There are pitfalls with gty bookings; they certainly are not for everyone. That said if you are a flexible person and if you think between now and September you might invite a friend to join you, you might consider booking a double inside gty. It would probably be a bit cheaper. You can put the name of any likely friend/relative for now and change it or drop it much later.

Here you go: ”On boarding day, guests may bring onboard two (2) 750 ml bottles of personal wine or champagne per stateroom in their carry-on luggage.” Link to complete text of FAQ: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/onboard-alcohol-guest-policy

As you know if you want a 7 N Royal Caribbean cruise from California (as you reasonably might given your screen name) you simply do not have as many choices, making it tougher to bargain hunt. It might be best to shake off other people’s success stories of past bargains and concentrate on your current market. As cruise prices seem to be on an upward trajectory, I think if you want to take that cruise, go ahead and book it. You can watch for price drops until final payment. Though overall prices seem to be trending up, you may catch a price drop.

No issue from my point of view. Tone is lost on these posts; mine can be misunderstood as easily as others. As an avid cruiser knowing some of the titles and duties of officers and crew has come in handy, thus my FYI was kindly meant.

Just thought you’d like to know

FYI: The title of “MDR manager who comes around the table each night” is “Head Waiter.” You are, of course, served by a waiter and assist waiter.

If both departure ports are equally convenient and equally appealing to you, then go with Harmony. I’ve sailed both. They are similar and as first timers there is plenty to live on either. Personally I like Harmony better. When we lived flying distance from all cruise ports, we often considered the departure cities or vicinities as part to the vacation often spending days there before or after. So, if your family desires time in Texas or Florida as part of this trip, weigh that in your cruise choice, too.

I think so. Before the shutdown, we did interspersed the occasional NCL cruise with our RCI cruises. Different menu, different shows, different venues at a good price. After the shutdown, every time I looked RCI seemed a better value than NCL. Maybe I missed some deals, but that’s what I’ve seen Since Royal put more ships at our closest port (PC), it has been easy to just move among Royal ships.