Ret MP

Until you have an emergency and waiting for a period of time on the U.S. Embassy to get you a Temp. passport to fly home may make the difference of extreme seriousness or life or death. AND the Embassy can only slowly or quickly act after it has been notified by the port representative or some other local entity of an emergency of a person(s) needing emergency evacuation back to the U.S. proper via air travel.

I personally don't fault those that don't feel it necessary to get a passport. I'm one that got a passport early in life, while in the Army I got official passports (the red ones), and didn't need one for a couple decades. But, as soon as we decided to cruise, we immediately went out and got passports, the blue ones for personal use. Having said that, my only concern is for those that don't realize the ramifications of WHAT COULD HAPPEN if you don't have a passport. Not everyone that cruises has the knowledge and experience as many of us world wide travelers do and traveling can be quite a technical and overwhelming experience. I'm not saying that I'm an expert cruiser/traveler, not one bit. But, I do know of the ramification of not having one even IF NOT REQUIRED! Not required doesn't mean it's the best decision. Not required doesn't mean that you shouldn't.

That's why I believe it is up to us, the cruising public to support the powerless in the industry as well as protection the traditional services we have become accustomed to. We need to make statements that can be heard by the mother ship, as stated above, make an impact that is verifiable by statistics. Reduce prepaid tips (which is verifiable and and tracked statistically) and hand tip/cash tip stewards often and generously.

I've been thinking of that a little and I've come up with what I MAY do if they do reduce cabin service to once a day. If the steward does a good job, I'll probably give him/her the hand to hand tip, afterall, it's probably tax free and not try to hurt the steward by not tipping generously, if providing good to great service, even if reduced by the "mothership", it's not the stewards fault for company policy. I'd probably reduce the pre-paid gratuity as there is a record of it, they can gather statistics from that. Something they can't do with cash tips. If they notice that tipping is going down, statistically, and it gets harder and harder to find employees, they have a verifiable way to place the blame, themselves. Not that they would ever admit to it, publicly. But, it could lead to a reversal of policy, quietly of course. And yes, I know that there are more people than just the steward(s) that get the prepaid gratuities. But, I feel it's better to spread the hurt over a greater number of people than just one or two. "Embrace the suck" as we would say in the Army.

Also, the stewards generally aren't stupid. They fully understand that the hand to hand/cash gratuities (tax free) will fall dramatically with just once a day cabin cleaning/refreshment. And I don't believe they believe having 7 more cabins will make up for that difference. As much as I preach to tip often, tip generously, I still believe in getting good value for my money. Reducing the service by ~50%, I don't believe is getting a good value for my money, my gratuity money. I'm afraid that the cabin steward employees are being used as pawns in the profit margin game. As a very loyal fan of the crews on RCCL ships, I feel sorry for what they are going through and will go through in the future as the industry is going to use personnel, food quality & quantity, and services in the never-ending quest to make up for their losses during the COVID debacle. I don't completely blame the industry for that either. Yes, they were hurt and hurt bad for the ~2 years of COVID. Now they are being squeezed with inflation as well. It's been and is now a tough industry, for sure. I don't see things getting any better for a couple of years, at least.

I grew up in Dania Beach, Fl and as a kid I worked at a Seminole Indian Alligator wrestling tourist trap (the beginnings of the Seminole dynasty in S. FL) on the Dania Beach Cut Off Canal, the original stop for the Jungle Queen and other tourist boats. I used to clean out the alligator pits, feed them, and move them around. Even though I have that experience with the gators, I still like going on the airboats and watching the alligator wrestling, it never gets old. GH010977.MP4

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/travelers-with-special-considerations/cruise-ship-passengers.html

I'd save a few bucks and just take an Uber or other to Holiday Park and just take the Airboat ride/tour from there. Come and go as you please, don't have to put up with a crowded shuttle bus or whatever. https://www.evergladesholidaypark.com/ OR https://www.evergladesholidaypark.com/airboat-tours/shore-excursions/

Well, we do agree with this. I guess some don't believe that there is a possibility that an emergency can arise and having a passport would/could make a bad situation a little less bad. And no, you didn't yell or scream. Amazing!

Need? No. Highly recommended? Yes. Post #5 is good info for ya, too.

Needed or not, we get the extension cord. It can come in handy. My daughter and son-in-law brough Christmas lights on one of our cruises and the extension cord came in handy for that. Our cabin was nicely decorated. BTW, we did ask if there was a shortage of extension cords or if anyone with a medical issue needed it.

Oh, be still my fluttering heart (in a good way). Dripping with grease is where the flavor is. That's why I go to the WJ for breakfast, for the bacon, the grease dripping bacon. I go early before all the others start moving in the cabin(s), eat my mound of bacon, go back to the cabin and just fit in with the rest of the activity and plans for breakfast where I get my eggs and more bacon, usually 2 or 3 or 4 slices is what they bring in the full service venues. Here at home, we save the grease from cooking bacon (we cook our bacon in the oven, bake it) and pan fry our egg in it. I also add bacon bits to our cheese, onion, omelets here. We usually have bacon and eggs for diner, not breakfast and not too often, to be honest. I also love Jimmy Dean and/or Tennessee Pride Hot breakfast sausage, again, oven baked, last night, in fact. Tooooooooo bad, Sam' doesn't carry, Jimmy Dean Hot anymore, at least not here in Oxford, AL. Wish we had a Costco. Too far to go to Birmingham to shop for just two.

There are some interesting stats, if you are interested, here: https://cruisespotlight.com/compare/royal-caribbean-harmony-of-the-seas-vs-royal-caribbean-wonder-of-the-seas/ But, as usual, statistics are made for those who make them or want/pay for them. Several sites show Harmony's Beam being smaller than Wander's. But, you can't argue with Royal's own information, I guess.

Yep, I'm fairly sure that each Oasis Class ship that came out exceeded the size of the previous one, BY A LITTLE.

I totally agree, I love it, no matter what it's called, what it's shape. Heck, they both are from the belly of pork or better said, "Bacon is technically pork belly, but pork belly isn’t necessarily bacon". And not to argue. I'm sure or I wouldn't debate what you are saying is/was your experience. But, on my cruise in 2019 on the Symphony, it was "Pork Belly" in Chops, at least that's how the head server introduced it. I didn't look for it on the menu, as I said, it just showed up, along with the bread basket and filling the water glasses.

My wife and I are CPAP users, we had 110 outlets on both sides of our bed. They put a construction type 25 foot extension cord in the room for us anyway, we used it for Christmas lights in the living area . On symphony, I don't think electrical outlets and USB outlets are much of an issue for most folks. However, I would always recommend bring the extension bars/blocks, w/o surge protectors (although, I haven't found anything written about that but some folks say that they have been confiscated on embarkation day), whatever you call them, as long as they don't have a cord attached to them. I bring a ton of electronics so the existing USB and 110's are not enough, for me.

Hummmmmm, that was a shock. I just went into Royals site and looked at the menu for Chops and I'll be damned it is Bacon, "Grilled Black Pepper Bacon". I think it has changed since I was in a Chops last. I'm sure/positive it was Pork Belly when we were on the Symphony in ~2019. I remember, no one else in our party of 13 wanted anything to do with "pork belly" and the server(s) automatically brought it to everyone. Well, in no time at all, I had 12 additional servings of the stuff on my plate. Loved it. No, I didn't eat all of them.

Ya, I believe that is what it is at Chops, crispy pork belly with some BBQ sauce or some sweet sauce drizzled on it.

I can't wait to get on the Harmony of the Seas and sit down, at Sabar, to a gallon or two of Guac and another gallon or two of Margarita's. Don't worry, I'll leave a little for everyone else, a very little.

Nope, but it does have a lot of fat on it though. Just like me! But, my wife finds me at least a little desirable.

Oh, nothing can replace bacon. I love baaaaaaaaacoooon.

My favorite at Chops, other than the Ribeye, is the BBQ or whatever it is, pork belly.

Well, there were really only two things that I enjoyed in the MDR anyway. One - the French Onion Soup. Two - the Shrimp Cocktail (if the shrimp is fresh, there is no guarantee that it is).

Beautiful looking family, great photos. Looks like you all had a great time. Thank you so much for the stroll through your vacation adventure.

I damn near did once. I actually want for almost a whole hour without eating something while awake. It was the worse hour of my life, my cruise vacation life, that is.