Quips, quirks, and biases

One of the great things about cruise vacations is that, in many cases, they are what you make of them. On a mega-liner like Explorer of the Seas, there seem to be options for everyone, ranging from sporting events (like an adult dodgeball tournament) to family events (family ice skating) to quiet moments (drinks at the Champagne Bar before dinner). In this small section, I just want to give a little background for you to understand what makes me tick on my cruise vacation.

For this sailing, I was a graduate student on summer break (kind of) traveling/sharing a room with my parents who are both school teachers (one retired, one also on summer break). This was my 17th cruise vacation, and 8th on Royal Caribbean. My parents have been on a similar number of cruises and this was their 11th Royal Caribbean sailing. For this cruise, all three of us were Diamond cruisers, and this was the first time we've been Diamond and sailed on a ship with a Concierge Lounge (more on that later). We've mostly stayed loyal to Royal because of NextCruise, Crown and Anchor, and stock owner benefits. This was my 2nd time on a Voyager-class ship, my mom's 3rd time, and my dad's first. Read more