Figured I would start things off with a recap of last year’s (2016) adventures. Best to call it a year of firsts when it comes to cruising.
In 2016 I was very fortunate to enjoy six wonderful cruises. These six cruises allowed me to enjoy 35 days sailing with Royal Caribbean earning 70 cruise points due to either sailing solo in a cabin that is normally double occupancy or in a suite. In all, this amount of cruising is way beyond my usual two separate cruises with each one normally just a week long, so usually 14 days total.
Part of the reasoning behind so many days/cruises was a personal quest to reach Diamond Plus by the end of 2016. For many, they feel it is silly to put so much value on to a loyalty program. For me, it has to do with the fun of trying to reach a goal. Do I see my self ever reaching the elusive Pinnacle Club in the future, maybe? Right now, I would like to test the waters again with previous lines (Carnival, Princess, and NCL) and try out Celebrity.
Now that doesn’t mean I’m no longer going to be “Loyal to Royal”. For 2017 I have three cruises planned for a total of 23 days. Plus I would love to reach the halfway point towards Pinnacle Club and the benefits that go along with it.
But getting back to original topic. This year brought forward many firsts for me and a few firsts with Royal.
Starting the off with the first cruise of the year on board Freedom for a week. For the most part this cruise was uneventful. Just your run of the mill Western Caribbean run with stops at Labadee, Falmouth, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. This cruise gave me three firsts.
- First time with Royal booked solo in a cabin. But I was sailing with someone else.
- Earned my first crystal block. (For those that don’t know. The first crystal block is earned on the sailing you reach or exceed 140 cruise points. For each addition 70 points earned, another block is awarded. Quick break down of block milestones: 140, 210, 280, 350, etc…)
- Missing Labadee
Next up came what was originally supposed to be Empress for three days. Well she apparently was in less than stellar conditions when Royal brought her back to the fleet. So, I was able to rebook for the same departure date and got one more day on Majesty. This sailing stopped at Nassau, CocoCay, and Key West. This cruise was interesting, met so many people that were Empress refugees. Also have a few fun bits of information that I don’t wish to mention. One fun bit of information, everything I needed was packed inside of a backpack. Either way this cruise brought up few firsts for me.
- Sailing truly solo, knowing no one on board when embarking.
- On Empress err.. Majesty
- Inside room with Royal
- Transferred my booking to a travel agent. (Will say she saved my butt, worked hard getting me moved over to Majesty. I didn’t find out about this mess until I was either one or two weeks away from sailing. She told me that the inside rooms on Majesty kept on flipping with availability. Now the con of this, she was never notified about the cancellations. I was the one that told her.)
- Having a cruise “cancelled” me.
- Flying by myself.
- Being the first one to board, except for the consecutive cruisers.
- Getting a beverage package that covered alcoholic drinks in nature.
- Miss CocoCay [Ironically we anchored later in the day outside of Freeport. That just happened to be the place where, you guessed it, Empress was being worked on.]
- Self assist departure [Think I might have also been the first person thru Customs.]
- Returning to work the same day I got off the ship.
Wow, lot of firsts for just one cruise.
Next in the line was a week on Allure. For this voyage we stopped at Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Martin. We sailed with some family friends. Overall this cruise was uneventful, got to enjoy the splendors of Coastal Kitchen. Not once did we go to dinner in the Main Dining Room, every night was CK except for one where it was Windjammer. While on Allure, booked Harmony for May 2017 was originally going to be Oasis on the same run but the date was better for Harmony. Now on this cruise didn’t many first but did have a few.
- Royal Suite class. [Had done a suite with Royal before. But this was the first time with the new program.]
- Have internet access the entire cruise. [Royal Suite class perk].
- Got the Ultimate Drink Package
- Took picture requests and posted them while on board.
October brought me back to Freedom for Halloween. After being on Enchantment last year (2015) for Halloween, I had to book another cruise for Halloween and there was a second reason. This cruise would be her final sailing from Port Canaveral. This was somewhat of a bittersweet moment. With Freedom being in such close proximity to home, she was the go to ship, racking up seven cruises on her. That alone Freedom got a handful of firsts, biggest being my first sailing with Royal. Part of the reason I’m glad my first crystal block was Freedom. This five day cruise had just two ports, Grand Cayman (Was originally CocoCay. Found out when boarding it was canceled due to weather.) and Cozumel.
- Been part of a Facebook group for a sailing
- Get the Casino rate
- Organize a cabin crawl
- Host a “gathering” in my cabin/suite. Used the suite as the gathering point for the cabin crawl.
- Being on the last sailing from a home port for a ship
Finally the year of cruising ends in December on board Oasis, twice. This was a fun filled 12 days on board Port Canaveral’s newest year round guest. These sailing were and Eastern run to Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Martin. Next cruise was to Labadee and Nassau. Once again it was uneventful and will say took full advantage of having a drink package. This cruise also, of course, brought in a few firsts as well.
- First cruise as Diamond Plus
- Doing a LIVEish review
- Back to back with Royal
- Not being in the same room for both segments
- Staying in a Crown Loft Suite
With that, this ends 2016 as a very large year of cruising firsts. What firsts does 2017 hold? Well you’ll have to come back to find out.