Sigyn

I like any deck with a snack bar.

exactly how I make it.

So it would work to go to say, Jamie's for lunch, Chops for dinner, Jamie's for a second dinner and then Playmakers for a late night snack? (I have a hungry teenager!)

I'm about to do my second cruise in a span of three months. Each time I've bought medical insurance for travel through GeoBlue, but not travel insurance. The medical insurance makes sense to me since there's all sorts of super expensive things that can go wrong that my regular medical insurance doesn't cover, such as medical evacuation, etc. I haven't bought travel insurance because the loss of $5,000 or so for the cruise is an expense I can handle. I believe in insurance for costs that are detrimental to my finances. Do you get medical and/or travel insurance?

Less of a delight than a necessity.

Did it look like a Christmas tree?

my old purchase still shows up under my orders, so we'll see what happens!

Just don't hang out on South Beach during spring break and you'll be fine. I purposely booked our room for our April 1 cruise right by the port to avoid the crowds on the beach. It's wild down there and I don't want to be part of that scene. As long as you're away from that, you won't have any problems.

Who else got the survey asking about how they rate their Wonderverse experience and if they'd recommend it to a friend? 🤣

I actually bought medical insurance. I always do for a cruise. This was a good reminder. The idea of a public rec course is a nice one. Unfortunately, I never have time at home. I'm crazy busy with my job. But I love that they do that.

I think since you already booked it and have the ticket you're fine. No one will check again. I booked a scuba excursion for my son, who is 15, and it says age 15 is the minimum on one part, but age 16 on another. We sail in 11 days. I'll let you know if they say anything.

This way you can keep the bottles cold, and have them to carry off the ship at ports.

I bought the old package, for the sale price of $14.14 with tax for 12 bottles (12 oz size) and my cruise is on April 1. They're not offering that price any longer and now it says it's 1 liter bottles. Does anyone know what you actually end up with in your room?

The Wonderverse isn't particularly wonderful. I gave up trying to log in.

I saw some of it sailing in the Caribbean in December over the holidays. Didn't think anything about it. It was just seaweed.

No idea, but it's the same price difference on my upcoming April 1 cruise. Both are sold out.

I want to get scuba certified on my next Royal cruise, so I'll be busy at a couple of ports doing that. Good point on the boardwalk balcony. We are in a Central Park balcony on the upcoming Harmony cruise so I'll see how we like that. Definitely seems worth saving $1,000 over an ocean balcony or $2,000 over an ocean large balcony if we go with the Symphony. As for driving, we're too far to drive to any of the ports. They're all an overnight stay away, so we'd fly to them. That's a very good point. This is why I ask such questions. You all think of things that I wouldn't. 🙂

I'll be on my first-ever Royal Caribbean cruise on the Harmony on April 1 and plan to book a holiday 2023 cruise while on board. It will be for myself, my husband and our son, who will be 16 at the time of the holiday sailing. The ships and itineraries I'm considering are as follows. I am showing all of the room types that are available in the balcony categories. Which ship and room would you book, and why? I'm leaning toward Symphony as my favorite. Symphony of the Seas - Dec. 30 - Jan. 7 - 8 nights Sat., Dec. 30 - Ft. Lauderdale - 4:30 pm Sunday, Dec. 31 - Sea Day Monday, Jan. 1 - Sea Day Tues., Jan. 2 - St. Johns, Antigua - 8 am - 6 pm Wed., Jan. 3 - St. Maarten - 8 am - 6 pm Thurs., Jan. 4 - San Juan, Puerto Rico - 7 am - 2:30 pm Fri., Jan. 5 - Labadee, Haiti - 9:30 am - 5 pm Saturday, Jan. 6 - Sea Day Sunday, Jan. 7 - Fort Lauderdale Boardwalk View Balcony Guarantee - $4,986 Ocean View Balcony Guarantee - $5,990 Ocean View with Large Balcony - $6,876 Allure of the Seas - Dec. 26 - Jan. 2 - 7 nights Tuesday, Dec. 26 - Port Canaveral - 4 pm Wed., Dec. 27 - CocoCay - 7 am - 4 pm Thursday, Dec. 28 - Sea Day Fri., Dec. 29 - St. Thomas - 11 am - 6 pm Sat., Dec. 30 - St. Maarten - 7 am - 5 pm Sunday, Dec. 31 - Sea Day Monday, Jan. 1 - Sea Day Tues., Jan. 2 - Port Canaveral Balcony Guarantee - $5,243 Ocean View Balcony - $7,921 Odyssey of the Seas - Dec. 31 - Jan. 6 - 6 nights Sunday, Dec. 31 - Ft. Lauderdale, depart 5 pm Monday, Jan. 1 - CocoCay 7 am - 5 pm Tues., Jan. 2 - Sea Day Wed., Jan. 3 - Labadee, Haiti 7 am - 5 pm Thurs., Jan. 4 - Puerto Plata, DR 8 am - 5 pm Fri., Jan. 5 - Sea Day Saturday, Jan. 6 - Ft. Lauderdale Ocean View Balcony mid-ship, $4,971 Ocean View with Large Balcony mid-ship, $5,629 Wonder of the Seas - Dec. 30 - Jan. 7 - 8 nights Sat., Dec. 30 - Port Canaveral - 4:30 pm Sunday, Dec. 31 - CocoCay - 7 am - 4 pm Monday, Jan. 1 - Sea Day Tues., Jan. 2 - St. Thomas - 1 pm - 8 pm Wed., Jan. 3 - St. Kitts - 8 am - 6 pm Thurs., Jan. 4 - St. Maarten - 8 am - 6 pm Fri., Jan. 5 - Sea Day Saturday, Jan. 6 - Sea Day Sunday, Jan. 7 - Port Canaveral Boardwalk balcony - $7,183 Central Park Balcony - $7,315 Oceanview Balcony - $8,283 Harmony of the Seas - Dec. 31 - Jan. 7 - 7 nights Sunday, Dec. 31 - Galveston, Texas - 4 pm Monday, Jan. 1 - Sea Day Tues., Jan. 2 - Sea Day Wed., Jan. 3 - Costa Maya - 8 am - 5 pm Thurs., Jan. 4 - Roatan, Honduras - 7 am - 4 pm Fri., Jan. 5 - Cozumel - 8 am - 5 pm. Saturday, Jan. 6 - Sea Day Sunday, Jan. 7 - Galveston Balcony Guarantee - they pick the room - $4,950 (could be neighborhood, doesn't say, but seems expensive for neighborhood guarantee) Ocean View Balcony category 3D - #6316 - $6,844 Ocean View Large Balcony category 1C - #9204 - $7,304 Ultra Spacious Ocean View with Large Balcony - category 1A - #7730 - $8,926 Oasis of the Seas - Dec. 29 - Jan. 7 - 9 nights Fri., Dec. 29 - Miami - 4:30 pm Sat., Dec. 30 - CocoCay - 7 am - 4 pm Sunday, Dec. 31 - Sea Day Monday, Jan. 1 - Sea Day Tues., Jan. 2 - Willemstad, Curaco - 9 am - 8 pm Wed., Jan. 3 - Oranjestad, Aruba - 8 am - 11 pm Thurs., Jan. 4 - Sea Day Fri., Jan. 5 - Falmouth, Jamaica Saturday, Jan. 6 - Sea Day Sunday, Jan. 7 - Miami Ocean View Balcony - $8,148 Boardwalk Balcony - $7,508

I better get the medical insurance, then.

I'm not very athletic. A bit of a clumsy dolt, actually. I am more comfortable being spoonfed how to do something new in a sport. 🙂

I asked a customer service rep via Twitter with Royal Caribbean a few weeks ago and she said no, there is no wait list for the Beach Club or other excursions. That was when I was still considering it, despite the price. Afterward, with careful watching of the available excursions, a few spots did come open, and I booked it. But after about 24 hours I changed my mind. It was over $500 for two people and it just didn't seem worth it to me, personally, since I will be with my teenager. I might have felt differently if I was with my husband and we wanted a more serene and upscale place on CocoCay for the day. I just saw two spots for the Beach Club come open again yesterday for my April 1 cruise, so just keep watching, several times a day. They do open up. I've seen it happen for my cruise about 5 times now since I started looking four weeks ago.

We went after our cruise in December and it wasn't worth the $75 or so a person we paid to get in. It was so crowded and everything worth seeing was sold out for the day by the time we got there. We saw a little bit, but there were tickets for some special exhibits within the space center and apparently those are gone almost as soon as the park opens. We didn't get there until about 11 am after disembarking from the ship, etc. We walked around for a couple of hours and finally gave up. We said, well, let's just say we donated $200+ to the Kennedy space center organization or whomever runs this place. I'd definitely say go on a non-crowded day.

I don't look at things with such a negative viewpoint. I spend $80 an hour twice a week at home for sessions with my personal trainer. This is no different to me, but even a bit more fun since it's something new and on vacation.

I think it's an hour long. I'll let you know what it was like after we do it. Our cruise is on April 1. It was listed under "Onboard Activities" with cooking classes and other such events for the cruise. They offered it on each of the three sea days for our cruise at 8 am, and each class is limited to 10 people, so only 30 people out of a ship of about 6,000 people will get to do it. It just appeared one day about 25 days before our cruise and it filled up very fast that same morning. This is on Harmony of the Seas. Good point about the cost. I pay $80 an hour for a personal trainer twice a week at home for my regular workouts, so this is no different, except Royal limits this to 10 people in the class and my personal workouts are 1:1.

I'm interested in doing a December 2023 cruise but I'd like to be able to do one with a scuba course available, where you do the poolwork in the ship's pool and the required open water dives at the ports. I know Royal Caribbean offers this on many of their cruises and they're the only cruise line that does. It's a fantastic way to get scuba certified for those of us who live inland. Is there a way to see in advance if this excursion will be offered, before I book a cruise?