Sail2k

They do plan on doing that type of thing...they plan on starting soon a different dining experience without the wild west theme. They describe it as a more romantic / date night event. Also they are going to be doing train rides for wine tastings that go thru Napa Valley and also a burbon tasting is also in the works.

The only real way to tell if it is available for booking is to do the URL change trick. Goto your cruise planner on the website. Click chops like you were going to book it...then in the URL look for the word CHOP and change it to RAIL and press enter. This is how we were able to book it before even the 1st Utopia sailing. Most of the time, things are on the website...but they don't make them available till later..but you can still book it.

Also for those people who say it is not available for their cruise later in the year or next year...are you able to book say Chops yet? Because if you can book Chops...you can book Railway now. I know they haven't been putting the link on the actual dining page...but it is on the web servers.

If you have UDP the upcharge is currently $15.00. A few people on our group said they booked it even tho they had the UDP and were told that Royal will refund the difference. Now I always take that with a grain of salt as sometimes...well just sometimes...people just post to post. LOL

So yesterday I booked Royal Railway from the website because I knew the URL for our sailing that Royal was going to use when they made it live on the app and on the dining page on the app....so I posted to facebook that it was going to be up soon. Yikes...it got crazy. So I will tell you this...if you still can't see it in the app or on the website...you can call and reserve with customer service on the phone....if the person on the phone says no or that you have to do it on the ship...hang up and call again. Some people it took 3 or 4 calls till someone helped book it.

We were there on March 8th with Icon, the other ship with us in port that day was Mariner. We arrived at Hideaway at 9am and there were still a lot of chairs available everywhere. We picked a nice shaded set of chairs under an umbrella right by the pool. We loved are time there and highly recommend it. The music is not as loud as it was when they opened it, Royal has said they listened and turned it down a little bit. To me sound is all very subjective...some people will claim it is super loud and other will not. We didn't find it too loud. But on that note, there is space to get away from the DJ music all together. Goto the On the Rocks bar and listen to the house band....or go all the way to the end of the area to enjoy a quiet area. You have options. As far as the pool goes....to us it was just a tad too warm. We had to leave to goto the Oasis pool at around 1:30 or so. It was a warm day...lots of sun, just too hot for that. The oasis pool was cooler and felt more refreshing. It will be interesting to see if they keep it that warm in the middle of summer!! The pool never really felt crowded like it used to get at the Oasis pool...just seemed like more room and overall less people in the pool to us. Food was Coco Cay food...it will do. I def think it was a step up from what is offered on the island currently, but nothing that you will go "OMG that was good!" It is just functional. So at $60.00 a person...Depends on my cruise I guess. It is a break from everyone else...especially if your on a cruise with a ton of kids and you just need a break lol. I would say the sweet spot is around $30.00 per person. We enjoyed it, we will do it again and we recommend it. Side note...they pulled the DJ booth totally out of the Oasis pool area.

We def get that...our last few cruises have been sky class. What we found out on our last cruise is that yes you need reservations for dinner at costal kitchen if you are in a junior suite..you are also allowed in the lounge and at the bar. The drinks are not free, but you can go in there. I always thought different, but on Wonder the bar tenders told us otherwise. We will test the water in March, as we booked a great last minute deal for a jr suite...but the one we are really excited to see is the sunset corner suite we have booked for Sept 24. We love the sun decks and the suite sun deck looks great on Icon!!

We looked at the Family Suite for my wife and I. We decided to go a different route after reading some thoughts from people who stayed in one and watching videos. Some things that swayed us were size of the room...lack of storage...no counter space in bathrooms. Size is the biggest one...at only 265 sq feet..that is barely larger than the infinite balcony. It is the cheapest suite option for sure, but not sure I would spend that money just to get the cheapest suite when the cheapest suite is not cheap. Just my opinion tho...

I have heard that they have toned the music down a notch at the hideaway on this weeks sailing...I have no idea if that is true or not, but have heard and read that it appears quieter. We will find out in 3 weeks....

We have purchased it multiple times and like everyone else if it is near the internet price, which I must have to stay in contact with work, then we get the Key. For us it is worth the easy of everything, but the best perks for us is the reserved seating for the shows on the Oasis class ships and the ease of checkin and boarding (drop off bags). We have it for our upcoming Icon sailing which will be great for getting good seats and supposedly they will have a fast lane for various things. We shall see

I want to add to the conversation about the suite space on Icon. It looks fantastic to me and I can't wait to see it this March. I will say this...the suite areas are the most bare and least used places on the cruise ship IMO. We did Wonder in a Crown Loft and loved going to the suite deck which was right down the hall from our suite...but 90% of the time we were lucky if there was 5 other people there. Same for Costal Kitchen...very quite each night and also during happy hour at the bar. We had the same experience on Symphony and Harmony with their respective suite area. I really don't think that Royal is all that concerned with going crazy developing the suite deck or Costal Kitchen when it is really not that utilized by suite guests in general. And I would say that some nights, you see more Pinnacle Club members than suite guests at the Costal Kitchen and Bar. At the end of the day, as a Suite Guest, we have never been like "man I wish there was more to the suite areas!" Most of the time we are like "the people in the suite area are the bomb!! They take care of everything!" Just my opinion..

We have a booking for September and decided to jump on early also...so we got a great deal on Christmas day for March 2nd and pulled the trigger. Just couldn't wait!!! Now after seeing these videos on here....we are super excited. On a side note...I cannot believe how much the suite prices have gone up since we booked last year. We booked a corner sunset suite...the largest size one they have...that room is now $15,000 per person. That is just stupid...stupid...stupid. Over 2x the price we paid!!