GetToLivin

I've only booked GTY's when they are a suite GTY because I know I'll be happy with the lowest category (Jr Suite) and ecstatic if it's anything better (and once, yes, I had a suite GTY which landed me a Grand Suite). Personally, I've never done a GTY below that category because I do care about location on the ship and since there are soooooo many cabins in the lower categories it really is a crap-shoot regarding where you'll end up.

Outstanding post, thank you! I did read through but maybe I missed it, are there bar facilities anywhere near South Beach? DH and I prefer a quiet day, too, so this area looks ideal.

....ya'll, really? 🤣

This actually just happened to me, family emergency occurred over the week it was due, and checking emails was the last thing on my mind, just totally blanked out. According to emails, it looks like they gave me 5 days past the due date to make the payment, still missed it but was only a $200/deposit lost since it was made on the ship. Ended up rebooking a different cruise in Oct that is better suited for us anyway, and we were able to change Southwest tickets to the new date as well without loss. Glad things worked out for you and that you were able to score a better room, too, enjoy your cruise!

#1, 3 and 5 are exactly it. I'm glad you shared your thoughts. We went through so many towels when we brought DS with us, it is a different game with kids in tow. DH and I work out every day as well, so there's shower 1, and if it's a port day there's shower 2 before dinner - so easy to go through items. Additionally, we're people who DO spend ample time in the cabin, we don't always want to be around the masses. I definitely see the draw of 2x service considering cabin space can shrink up quickly, let alone with a family in tow.

FYI: Rocket Lawyer has a free travel consent form you can fill and print, then you just have the parents sign and notarize 🙂

If you cancel you'll lose it, however, I had to rebook a cruise where I paid a reduced deposit and got "lucky" when they just let me roll the deposit over into a new booking even though I was outside the window to do that. It was not expected, but a "one-time exception" I lucked out on, you might, too, if you can swing an earlier cruise date (baby-moon?) 🙂 Congrats!

I agree with so much of what others have said. When you sail enough you start comparing experiences. For example, last year we took 2 cruises: on one, the food wasn't great, the next one, no complaints at all. Did the cruise with lackluster food ruin our trip? Nope. But to be honest, it would take A LOT of things going wrong in order for us to be anything but grateful for the luxury of a vacation. That's just us, that's certainly not everyone else's viewpoint, so you have to read reviews from that vantage. Be excited about your trip and ENJOY!

I do this all the time, in fact, just a few minutes ago. Water was $20/cheaper than it was yesterday, better believe I canceled and reordered in the span of a minute. They get enough (maybe even TOO MUCH) of my money as it is.

Has anyone been to Nassau lately? Supposedly construction in the port area was going to be finished late-May, just wondering if it is.

We only bid on suite upgrades so we know we'll be happy wherever we're placed. I keep track of pricing from time to time so I know what I would have paid had I booked outright, then I come up with the number that won't make DH have a heart attack once it's charged to the card should we win 😉 I did successfully win an Aqua Suite upgrade over a NYE cruise last year and even though it didn't show you could book it on the site, someone obviously canceled so we won that two weeks out from the trip. Good luck!

I was looking at Breezes for day-passes, when you were there did they have umbrellas available on the beach? The photos I've been finding show a few palapas but I'm not seeing much in the way of umbrellas

Can anyone speak to dinner wait times from experience (thinking 6pm - 8pm)? I think DH would love this spot and it seems like a fun way to spend one evening off the ship 🙂

If you're not really beach people I'd probably pass on this one. DH and I went because we are beach people, and I wasn't really overly impressed with it. I agree about the cove being nice, but when we were there they didn't have any chairs set up so unless you want to lay on a beach towel, I really didn't see the point of being over there other than to snap a few pics. The main beach was pretty busy with families so, not relaxing for us (it's not a huge beach) but great if you have kids. We mainly spent time at the bar and were absolutely grateful to be there v. in the office, so we still had a nice time, but I'd never go back 😬

Appreciate the input from everyone! We've been sailing mainly Oasis class so this will be a change for us, but I love that we'll be able to go to Bermuda as we've never been. Excited for Playmakers and the Bamboo Room as well just to experience some new venues. Maybe we'll even do the escape room 🙃 I went ahead and booked the 8-night, falls over our anniversary so that should be nice. Got a Suite GTY so rolling that dice to see what we end up with 😬

Crimeny sakes. Took 6'1" DS (15) on his first cruise last December and you better believe the FIRST thing I told him was not to be an idiot and try anything that included leaning far over, sitting on top of, or in general, screwing with any railings. Told him flat out that he'd most likely die if he fell and if he didn't he could get sucked in under the boat (like a good mother, I have to include details and put the fear of meeting his Creator "earlier than planned" in him) 😂 So how GROWN ADULTS manage to do this is beyond me. They definitely need to change the caption to "fell overboard because they were doing A, B, C stupid idiot things," instead of making it sound like you can trip and fall over the railing into the sea.

Ya'll are terrible 😂 The Thermal Suites are definitely more social, I avoid the chatty ones when possible but not everyone gets the clue that some people really do just want to exhale and relax in peace. I also miss the "free" saunas, almost always empty when in the ladies' locker room.

These photos are absolutely breathtaking! DH and I have a cruise like this on our bucket list and with temps in the 100s in TX this week, that cooler weather looks so refreshing!

Everything about Royal seems to be dynamic and I've seen prices change for both cruises and cruise planner items in a 24-hour period. One thing is for sure: it seems like Tuesdays are the worst days to book a cruise, price always goes up and/or their "promo" ends. I haven't been as religious checking the cruise planner but it'd be interesting if that was on a cadence, too.

I've brought a computer on basically every trip because we have a small business, I always place on a desk and have never had an issue.

Hello all, looking at a couple of itineraries for places we haven't been to yet. I've sailed Adventure, Liberty, and Navigator before and I like them. Adventure I've heard is looking kind of run-down, not so sure about Mariner - interested in any opinions for those who have more recently sailed either, though. Both itineraries list Suite GTY for decent prices so there's that. Mainly interested in the itineraries for those who have been: for Bermuda it's a 2-day stay (8-night) and for BVI/USVI we'd get a couple islands (7-night). We're beach bums more than activity driven, if that helps. Thanks for your thoughts/opinions!

I don't use any of the mainstream brands due to the chemicals they use in their formulas. If you haven't, check out Sun Bum (Vegan, Hawaii Act 104 Reef Compliant, Cruelty Free, Gluten Free, Paraben Free, Oxybenzone & Octinoxate Free, Broad Spectrum Protection, Oil Free, PABA Free, Water Resistant (80 Minutes)) I've used this for years (50SPF and I am fair in skin tone) and don't burn at all with proper application.

LOL - would be nice if they had a timeline for that! What's annoying is that even before it got to this point I never felt like MDR food/experience was that great so we either bought a dining package or booked a cabin with the perk of CK. The difficult thing now is that everything costs more and on top of it, still feel like I need to pay extra to mitigate a potentially disappointing dining experience which is a big part of the cruise for us. The nickels and dimes are adding up 🫠

Watching that, I can't even imagine who made that call, why in the world would they sail through that...

Great review, well written. We haven't eaten in the MDR since I think 2016, even specialty is hit and miss these days but at least it's a quieter experience. I'd have a real problem if I had your same experience in the MDR.