Hokie79

We wanted to book Oasis for our anniversary the end of May....but the JS was more than a grand more expensive

 

than what we booked the same JS for December cruise. It's the time of the year that dictates a lot of price changes.

Keep looking, we got a cheap upgrade to a JS after final payment.

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Did you eat in the Windjammer, if so how was it, we will be sailing on HOS next month.

I ate dinner in Windjammer a few nights back in July. Was good for a buffet. Did a number of breakfasts and lunches there as well. Just don't go during peak times as it can get busy. Park cafe was good as well. Didn't feel too busy for an early morning breakfast and loved sitting outside in Central Park. Sorrentos made to order pizza was surprisingly good. Ate lunch at Solarium once and was good as well. Meant to go back but just too many other options.

By the time the cruise was over I had finally figured out where to go for what and when. Will just have to go back on her again now.

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I have my fingers crossed for 5:30!

Thanks for all the help - CC members are great!!

 

 

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We just went up right when we boarded and had no problem getting reservations for then.

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We did 5:30 on Harmony back in July.

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Thanks so much! They wear their crocs or flip flops just about everywhere.

 

As for my original question - last cruise we were on, my son was playing in the children's pool area and managed to slip and hit his head. He really didn't go in again after that happened...so, I'm hoping to avoid the same mishap on our next sailing. Hoping water shoes are ok on the Splashaway Bar area, because he is going to love it!

Never saw kids wearing water shoes in splashaway bay but not sure if they are not allowed either. Also agreed with the previous poster that the deck exposed to the sun are very hot an can easily burn someone

Not sure how old your kids are but they have a 42 inch height requirement for the slides in the non diaper area. They were pretty strict enforcing it. It's 48 inches for the larger slides.

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Finland and German built ships are indeed of better quality than France and Italy built ships. Not always but in many cases. E.g. less creaking and better materials in the cabins.

 

 

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Never noticed the creaking on Harmony. The cabins also appeared to be in great shape. Thought it was a great ship.

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That is very good to know. I didn't think she would go on them since she hasn't mastered the whole, hold your breath and don't drink the water thing ;) Are adults allowed to take them down or not?

Nope, they were pretty strict that if the kids weren't 42 inches tall they couldn't do any slides in Splashaway Bay except for the small ones where swim diapers are allowed.

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yes I did see that. We will be going with our 3 year old so probably won't be spending much time in there unfortunately :(

If you do Harmony, be aware that the slides (other then the diaper area) in splashaway bay are only for kids 42 inches or taller. My 4 year old was just a little short. The bigger slides are 48 inches.

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Johnnie Rockets has outdoor seating, no extra charge for breakfast.

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Can't opine on Lost Kingdom, but crowds in any port are going to depend more on how many ships are in port with you than time of year. According to both cruisemapper and cruisett.com, site that show ships in various ports, on Thanksgiving the 23rd there are 2 ships in CM (8K+ passengers), on Friday the 24th, there are 3 ships in (max number for the port), but only 6K+ passengers as these are smaller ships. On Saturday the 25th, there's only one ship in. Caveat is that the schedules on these sites are not updated frequently so the ships and dates could change.

Thank you for this. According to cruise mapper there will be two ships in port the day we are there.

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Was considering taking the family here ok our Thanksgiving week cruise. It would be my DW, myself an two DD's 4 and 7. My 4 year old is almost 42 inches.

It looks like my youngest won't be limited on what water slides she can go on based on the website. Can anyone confirm that has taken young kids before?

Will it be too crowded this time of year? We are likely stopping here again next year on another cruise during a not as busy time.

Any thoughts/ assistance would be appreciated.

Thanks!

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Can anyone tell me what adventure dining for children on indy is please.

 

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If it's what my kids did, they stayed at Adventure Ocean who then took them to the Windjammer for dinner and then back to Adventure Ocean area. It was between 5-7pm and we did it on both Independence last winter and Harmony more recently. Kids enjoyed it and it gave the DW and I time to eat and other stuff on our own.

There was only a very limited menu though, or my kids would have done it more.

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Ice show was excellent. All I have seen on Royal have been good though. Columbus I could do without seeing again. Just odd.

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Freedom has had O3b service for quite some time.

Thanks for the quick response.

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Current list............I think

 

Anthem

Quantum

Oasis

Allure

Freedom

Ovation

Harmony

Symphony

Enchantment?

Majesty

Independence

Liberty

Do we have confirmation on Freedom? Sailing that one in November. Would be great if it's similar to what we had on 3EY9FG8.

Thanks!

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Can't find a JS on Harmony same month next year for under 5K. Show me a Harmony JS next May for less than your so called 'high' of 3.6k? What sailing is your GS? Can you find me a Harmony GS for 3.9k? I would probably move my booking for that price.

We just sailed in JS on Harmony but there was 4 of us so prices probably don't compare. We also did it over July 4th so not the best time if you want a deal. We upgraded about 6 weeks out for minimal additional cost. When we first booked close to a year out, the JS were well over 1.2k per person more then the balcony. It dropped to $200 more per person after final payment so we jumped at it.

We were in the high 6k range for 4 of us in a hump balcony room. I think we had a discount for the kids at the time but don't remember.

The room seemed bigger then a JS on independence. Not sure if it was laid out different. And we actually liked Coastal Kitchen for dinner. No complaints about any of our three meals there. We are actually going to miss this perk when we do Allure next summer in normal balcony rooms. Maybe we can find that last minute upgrade again. Fingers crossed.

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Current list............I think

 

Anthem

Quantum

Oasis

Allure

Freedom

Ovation

Harmony

Symphony

Enchantment?

Majesty

Independence

Liberty

Has anyone confirmed Independence? I went on in December and it in no way was comparable to Harmony s. I struggled to even check email at times. Sorry I still don't have the speed test details. I was pretty new to cruise critic back then.

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Are the AQUA SHOWS different or the same shows?george35

Different. There is the Fine Line show that you need reservations for. I think it's only at night and it was earlier in the cruise. Then there is Hideaway Heist. It was shown the last couple of sea days in the afternoon. No reservations were needed.

They did the same with the ice shows. One you had to reserve and was early on in the cruise and one was later and just first come first serve.

We liked them all.

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A few more notes:

Disembarkation went smooth. We were baggage tag 76 and line seemed to go smooth and we were called ahead of schedule. The mobile passport line was much shorter then the rest. Much better and quicker then Independence in December.

The flow riders were fun. I did both boogie boarding and stand up surfing albeit was much more successful at boogie boarding. I would definitively recommend earlier in the week and earlier in the day. By later in the week the lines became longer and they also split the one flow rider so two people could do it at a time. Much better only one at a time.

Zip line was fun and not as scary as I thought it would be.

My dw and dd did the ultimate abyss. Neither thought it was worth the hype and didn't want to do it again.

Sorrentos pizza has a premade area and a made to order area. Made to order was much better. I would go back but found it the last day.

Park cafe seemed to have the best included coffee we could find. We started going there before wherever we went for breakfast. I liked the food there but wife didn't.

Ate at solarium bistro for lunch one day. I liked it but wife wasn't impressed. A lot smaller buffet with less options. With the wife and kids the Windjammer seemed to be the go to. Plenty of options for everyone. We also tended to eat on the earlier side of the dining times so didn't run accross crowds.

Really enjoyed the trip. We will definitely have to do an Oasis class ship again. Just really good ship for families, we all had plenty to do. Think we are eyeing the Allure for next summer.

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We will be on the Harmony in Jan. 2018. :) Did I understand correctly that there are two ice shows and two water shows on the Harmony?

 

 

 

Also, with a Junior suite, you get to use the Coastal Kitchen, or did it take some other status?

 

 

 

You sound like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing!

Yes that is correct, there were two ice shows and two aqua theatre shows. The first of each you have to reserve in the cruise planner. The second of each is just show up first come first serve. I thought they were all really good. All talented performers.

Coastal Kitchen is available only for dinners for junior suites. Couldn't be booked through cruise planner. We went up right after boarding and got all of the times we wanted. Food and service were great. Pretty view as well.

Happy to help on any other questions.

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Saw the Hideaway Heist show today at the aqua theatre. Really good just like the Fine Line show a few nights ago. Would highly recommend these shows. A good blend of acrobats, high diving, gymnasts.

Saw Columbus the musical last night. Not my cup of tea but a lot of people seemed to like it.

Saw the Iskate show. Good and entertaining. The other show earlier in the week was great too. Really recommend both.

I noticed a couple of movies being shown in 3D in the main theatre the last couple of days. Curious why they don't do these more.

They also showed a movie during the day yesterday at the aqua theatre. Again wonder why they don't do this more.

Last night and great cruise. We put a placeholder on a cruise for next summer. Looking to move this to an Oasis class ship after this one.

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Thank you so much for your insight! It is all very reassuring. I too do not really leave my daughter with anyone but very close family or my son/his girlfriend (they are 18...yes, we are nuts! One headed to college, one headed to kindergarten!!!). So it's nice to know you all felt comfortable with the people working with the kids. My daughter turns 6 in October so I am interested to see if she'll like being in the 3-5 room or not. She is all about "being a big girl now". LOL

 

 

 

Thanks again!!!

My 4 year old had a lot of fun with Adventure Ocean on Independence and even more on Harmony. The Oasis class addition of the science lab, arts studio and theatre have been really nice. We all blew up a volcano last night at a family event.

My 7 year old goes more reluctantly but has so far had fun every time.

The staff has been good to great as well.

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Curious why you may not eat in the Main Dinning Room?

Did Coastal Kitchen first night and liked it and then did it a couple more nights. Wanted to eat dinner with the kids the other nights and they don't have the patience to sit through a long dinner. Windjammer has been decent at night, good variety and not crowded when we've been there.

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We were on the 6/24/17 sailing just before yours, loved the cruise albeit with some 'technical difficulties:

 

 

 

How's the A/C in your cabin and through out the ship? We had a Superior Balcony - Port - Deck 12, #184 and the Deck Supervisor had to bring us a fan (as well as two other cabins just down our Hallway) as even our Cabin Steward complained it was stuffy,

 

 

 

Voom still working good? On my wife and daughters iPhone it would be either slow and just stop working at times.

 

 

 

Have you noticed the menu's posted on your cabin TV for the Main Dinning room for any given day, are actually not what is served in the dinning rooms?

 

 

 

I had the ultimate drink package and found they tried to charge various cocktails ordered from bars or at dinner, to my daughter's Soda Card, when she ordered a ginger Ale the same time I ordered a beer or drink, and the same thing happened at Labadde (suspect you may not be cruising there)...though with multiple calls to Guest Services, all issues were resolved.

 

 

 

HOTS is a great ship...Enjoy!

None of the above problems. Voom slows down sometimes but not for too long. Also haven't eaten in MDR yet and probably won't.

Room stays plenty cool, even when we had the afternoon sun hitting our window directly while docked in St Kitts.

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I have a question about the coastal kitchen.Because your in a JS you couldn't make reservations pre cruise & had to make them on board.Did you have any issues making them for any day or did you just show up?

No problem at all. Got all the times we wanted but we also eat on the earlier side. We went right up to Coastal Kitchen when we boarded and made reservations for the rest of the week. Not sure about walk ins. It seemed to get full around 6:30-7.

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