suesnake2002

3 hours ago, scottraveller said:

Thanks Sue. Would love to know how many rows of day beds are at both locations as I don’t fancy being stuck away at the back. 

That i couldn't answer. I know with the cabanas it was first come first served. So if you booked early you were in the first row 

5 hours ago, scottraveller said:

Hi Radio

Really enjoying your reviews. 

We’re on a b2b on Oasis which stops at cococay week 1 and week 2. I’ve booked a south beach cabana for the second week and was going to book a day bed at either chill island or south beach for the first visit. I’ve researched but can’t see clearly the locations (photos) of both so I can choose. Any advice or detail would be appreciated if you have it please

Hi Scott ,

 I personally like the chill beach area. If you like to swim it is the best beach for that. I also feel it is centrally located. Food,bars,shops,pool. 

Also the best snorkling spot. 

2 hours ago, meadowlander said:

Once on the ship, I was able to use the app for the muster video. I was not able to reserve entertainment via the app. I found a house phone and dialed 2323 (box office reservations). Within 3-5 minutes I had booked shows for the week. I found it a simple process, especially as there was no line of people as I suspect would be at a kiosk dedicated to booking entertainment.

I did not feel comfortable using a public phone. And i may have been tipsy immediatley after boarding. 

I had "heard" that people were turned away at aqua show. I don't know the details. I too sneaked into beatlemaniacs after show started. We were in our 70's outfit, no one scanned us. 

I noticed towards the end of the week there wasn't scanning at the jammer. I don't know if they were relaxing things, or i was there at an off peak time. 

Our stateroom attendant said they were relaxing things as time went on. And something about in 7 weeks. 

13 hours ago, PTAngel said:

"We actually sailed at over 50%, the windjammer was open for dinner." 

 

Was Windjammer open every night for dinner?  We were on Oct 17 & they were closed every day for dinner.  We got onboard at Port Canaveral after our dining time & we had to eat at Portside BBQ.  We enjoyed it so much, we went back for lunch another day.  

Yes the the jammer was open every nite

Our last stop on this trip was Nassau. Like others said it has alot of construction going on. I've been there many times and was thjnking I'd stay on the ship. Hubby had other plans. He wanted another beach day. Ok. So i booked the pearl island beach. I picked this one because it had an hour more beach time. Wow. I had so much fun here. Maybe even more fun than coco cay, cause i spent so much time in the water. I paddle boarded. I kayaked. I doggy swam with my tube to the trampoline, way out in the water. We have our own snorkel gear, and we did that too. 

For purchase were alcoholic drinks (9$-11$) and a snorkel trip. On the back side of the island is a reef. They feed the fish, so there is alot to see. I think it was $32 for 30 min. Lunch is included. With ice water or ice tea. Also on the usland is a small lighthouse you can climb to the top. This is a thumbs up, and would do it again. 

Now every cruise has there 70's night. Being a child of that era i embrace it whole heartily. I met and danced with alot of fabulous people. We weren't the only ones dressing up. And we possed for alot of pics

We stopped at pt Canaveral. We stayed on the ship. Our stop at coco cay was a perfect day. The weather was perfect. We went to the illustrious beach club. I have had a chill island cabana in the past. Before crazy pricing. I love chill island. Now for the honest review of beach club. Yeah it was nice, and includes plush towels. Even day trippers. The loungers have flags you raise if you want a drink. Cute touch. For day people you must make lunch reservations. Lunch is what your paying for. The food is outstanding. The 4 of us all had lobster, cooked to perfection. We were swarmed by small flies when the food came out. 

Now if you like to swim in the water, and not a good swimmer this is not the place for you. The current is ripping here. I do a mean dog paddle. I literally swam as fast as i can to stay in one place. I love the water, but am not a strong swimmer. Anyone who had a mat would be swept along quickly. So if you want a great beach for swimming, stick with chill island. There are jettys there slowing the current. It is also centrally located to many things. 

Before lunch we took a walk around the island. Hung at the pool a little for that party vibe. 

Main dining room. What excellent service. Food was pretty darn good too. Always hot. I kinda felt 50% capacity was so less stressful on the staff too. Everyone was happy happy to have us on. Our waiter Elon, asst waitress Avigale, and even the head waiter Rakesh went above and beyond. I only have a few pics. 

1 hour ago, ginnynj said:

Sue: so great to have met you guys. We can keep in touch by FB too. Hope your 'back to normal' week goes well! Thanks for posting this honest review and pix! 😍

Thanx Ginny

El loco fresh is a free, included meal choice. We had lunch here twice. Get the nachos!! Load em up. They will put your meat , cheese, beans on where you pick up nachos. Turn around and there they have all the other fixings. Pico de gallo, sour cream, cilantro. Guacamole. Hot sauces. They will spoon everything on for you. Don't be afraid to say more please. Make them the way you like em. I always asked for more cheese!!

We did have a lunch at the portside BBQ. was pretty good. We had ribs and pulled pork for our meats. I smoke, my ribs are better. Thats ok thier ribs were still good. Thier pulled pork was excellent. 

We spent most evenings closing out the schooner bar with Giles. He was a blast. Very funny signer. Made alot if fruends here at the bar

While waiting in line, we started our safety briefing film. An alert came up on our phones. We already had the royal app on our phone. So that when we boarded we went straight to our muster station. We checked in. Thumbs up on this. Love it. Better than 3 thousand plus people heading to a muster. Hope royal keeps this. Then off to the schooner bar for our celebration drinks. 

Prior to sailing you couldn't make reservations for any shows. You had to wait til onboard. But there were no kiosks to do this. You had to find a "house" phone or wait til you get to your room. Being a bit tipsy we opted for our room phone. Getting ourselves to our room latter than opening time may have caused us to miss out on getting comedy show seats. The Blaze where it is held is really small. Other than that we were able to schedule all the other shows. Maybe not at our first preference. But we got them all in. I would like you to know that there is no standbye line. Even if there are no-shows,   there is no way to get in. 

We were actually no shows to the ice show. Action packed days and early risings cause us to miss it. We were just too exhausted. 

We did make it to Cats, which was phenomenal. It has been cut back to an hour and a half, i think. No intermission. Excellent top notch performance.

Now in these type of venues you have to remain seated, and you will be released by section. This is an attempt at social distancing. With the boat at 50% capacity it was a logger jam at elevators. Hey they try. 

Elevators was suggested at 6 people. You could have more, if all from the same party. Some people freaked at the thought of seven people. Some people wouldn't bat an eye at eight. Everyone wears masks. It went smoothly and if by chance you did have a wait it was minimal. 

52 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Was this the October 24th sailing?

 

I was on the October 17th sailing and had a great time, with smooth embarkation and debarkation.

Yes this was the oct 24th sailing. 

Here's a quick review of our first cruise, post pandemic shut down. Departure at Bayonne. It seems from talking to alot of people that experiences varied greatly. We had a 12 o'clock boarding time. The earliest time. At about 2-3 weeks before they opened up an 11:30 time slot, as capacity increased. We actually sailed at over 50%, the windjammer was open for dinner. 

They adhere to your boarding time. We got there at 11:15 am. Dropped luggage, parked in garage. There were alot of people sitting around outside. And a line that went back towards the outside bathroom. So since we had an early time we got in line. They would let a few people in at a time. As we got to the front. They were checking our boarding passes for times. And if you didn't have 11:30 or 12 you were kicked off line. Quick and easy boarding. From actually being let in building to ship mere minutes. 

Now as time got later and more people showed up out if thier time slot it hot messy. We heard lots if complaints. We met a wonderful couple, he was in a wheelchair. Be advised while this is going on no accommodations are made for those needing assistance. There's the suite entrance, then everyone else. I learned there are only 16 handicapped rooms onboard. I would think if you have one of those rooms (and yes there are requirements to booking it) that special help boarding could be made. Or a seperate line. 

I also heard of someone showing up late, and being kicked off line!!

So in order for all of this to go smoothly ,show up at appropiate time. 

Our friends had a 12:30 time. And after we got on board they got on line. And everything went smoothly. 

  So at this time i will address disembarktion. Things are very different. We always do self, and carry our luggage off. They will give you a card to scan for disembarktion in your room. I am not the most tech savy. So after 2 days i went to guest services to set this up. Waiting made me get the second wave of carry your luggage off. Our tag # was 23, with a disembark of 8:30 (they were running about 10 minutes late) First time off was 7:30. You wait in your room. Turn on channel 2 and wait for your number to be called. Once again varying experiences. When our number was called, we had empty elevators and no lines. I loved this system. As time got later people started coming down when they wanted and jammed up the system. So it's really not royal or the the port messing things up, it's the passengers. 

Your luggage will not be there if you try to leave early. They space things out more for social distance. They also spread out the self disembarktion to give them windows to catch up with the luggage. 

I loved this disembarktion and hope they keep it. This also means rooms will be open later. We went to our room at 2:30 and it was ready. I believe it was open at 2pm. Our luggage was all there. Outside our own door. 

Our vaccinated bracelets were silk ribbons. Thumbs down. You couldn't remove them. So they went in the shower with you. Were wet on your wrist. The long tab dips into your food on plate.

Having trouble uploading pics. Will take a break here. 

Can a 2 test kit be used on 2 different people?? They only ask for one name??

Still waiting for money owed!!!

It was lifted and shifted from this oct

Yes. My ta called. That is how i know they are aware that they owe money from april. Which while a small amount on the one cruise is completely ridiculous. 

This cruise us a year away???  

I think the title sums it up perfect. I am still waiting for the balance of one of my april cruises. We are nearing 6 months. Oh royal realizes i have a balance due and i should get it in a few weeks. SMH

God only knows when I am gonna get my refund for my second cruise in April. I originally opted for a fcc. But after waiting months for that to be applied to a march 2021 cruise. I gave up. And asked my ta to change it to a refund. I was afraid the fcc wasnt gonna get applied til after final payment date. 

So with that happening with a sad heart i cancelled my march 2021 cruise. Now this cruise was booked onboard. So i had a reduced deposit $200. But when i cancelled they wouldn't give me a $200 fcc. They kept $900, and gave me a $900 fcc. Because that's what the deposit would have been. Royals creative math. But i only paid $200 !!

Well haha on royal. Cause i have a paid off oct 2021 cruise. So i have TA apply the $900 fcc to this cruise, and royal now has to refund me cash now. 

Why does it have to be a game, and 100 different small refunds. To try and confuse??

I'm not booking anything til we all start sailing. And I get all my money back. I don't mind paying more if it will avoid this fiasco. 

We did a lift and switch for our oct 25, 2020 cruise a while back. We had the extra big balcony in central park. When we got our room assignment on for the 2021 cruise it was a regular room. Checked web site. And extra big balconies still available. Quick call to our TA and we were switched to a big one.