OCSC Mike

Never been on it either. Just going by its list of venues, my only complaint/wish iss that it had another free or low cost dining venue like Playmakers or El Loco Fresh. This is of course based on personal preference coming from someone who hasn't been an MDR fan for many years and doesn't do a lot of specialty dining. That was my only complaint when I was on Indy before they made some of the Fish N Ships items free. I'm a WJ fan but still like those options.

Yep, would be nice if it wasn't limited to the Northeast but I've accepted that are just very few good prices in Florida.

Ours on Indy was noisy during the Promenade parties at night, otherwise fine.

Not really. Even you, in a JS, aren't guaranteed availability for dinner.

Supply & demand, inflation, etc. You have to forget about past deals and just go by the new normal. Either the new prices are worth it to you or they're not. Someone is paying those prices. For many years I have been booking random last minute deals or using the GGG sale b/c we live an hour from PC. I used to get prices like $599pp 3-weeks out on Oasis for 7-nights in the summer. As recently as this past October we went on Indy for $129pp for 4-nights during a GGG sale. Now? I'm happy to be able to get on Wonder for under $1000pp during the times my wife is free which, as a teacher, are unfortunately busy/expensive times like Spring Break and Summer.

That’s an unfortunate pairing. Sorry to hear how crowded it felt. Hopefully you get to experience it with fewer people next time; I’m sure you’d have a much better experience.

My 5-6 month wait was attributed to a backlog & change in manufacturers. Anything is possible. I have the old style but neither the original script font nor the most recent font I saw before the new color blocks started. Maybe mine is rare. 🤷‍♂️

Call C&A if you care. I didn’t even realize we passed 140 on Harmony last June & didn’t get a letter. I called after we got back. It took 5-6 months IIRC but it eventually came.

Those items are also available at the snack shack towards chill beach and the water park snack shack. Love those three items. I alternate between that and the taco bar. One common hack... ask for a plain chicken sandwich and add the mozz sticks and marinara for a chicken parm sandwich.

Your prices are on the extreme low end these days.

Correct. See my edit. I didn't realize how far out you were when I first read your post.

No need to apologize, different things are worth different amounts to different people.

Yes, perfectly normal, no need to worry. Have you tried the bar code trick to locate your cabin? Method 1. If you have an Apple device, add your set sail pass to your Apple wallet. Numbers will now appear under your bar code. The numbers after the dash represent your cabin. Method 2. Scan the bar code with a QR scanner from another device and that should also show you the numbers. NOTE: If you see "GTY" instead of numbers, you truly haven't been assigned yet. One tip off is that if you don't see a muster station on your set sail pass then you almost definitely don't have an assignment yet. EDIT: My bad, you haven't even checked in yet. Try the above after you do, 45 days out.

Prices can vary greatly by sailing based on time of year, what ship(s) are there, number of passes sold, etc. The water park is $160.99 for my Wonder cruise next month.

It's not that bad at all. I was there 3 times between July and October with Indy and Freedom there... 4000+ each, so similar to your amount. Coco Cay can easily handle it.

Pretty cool.

None, you are correct.

Disney is less than zero dollars for a giant pool, several beaches, lounge chairs, umbrellas, snorkeling, unlimited tacos, chicken sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, mozzarella sticks, salad, funnel cakes, cookies, brownies, and more? You must have some special Disney pass I'm unaware of.

It's dragging for me, lol. If you need any info, you know where to find me. No gratuity expected. 😁

As you know, I'm on that sailing. We are the only ship there that day. For future reference, you can look up port info on sites like cruisemapper.com.

Yes, umbrellas with loungers everywhere. When I go with my wife, she usually snorkels for a little bit in the morning while I just have an early drink under an umbrella. Then we move to the pool.

Enjoyed reading about your planning and the great Portside vs. Playmakers debate. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

Regardless of ship or cruise line preference, I would highly recommend including as much time on land as possible if your schedule and budget allows. As I mentioned earlier, we did 10 days on land traveling all the way from Fairbanks down to Seward before a 7-night southbound cruise on Radiance. We did the land portion DIY with lots of help from an outside company and it was more amazing than the cruise portion. This was a special vacation for us and we spent WAY more than our typical vacation (driving an hour to PC for a Caribbean cruise in an interior with a good deal). NOTE: I realize the OP wants to sail out of Seattle which doesn't make this possible but figured I'd throw it out there just in case they have some flexibility and want to look into something else. BTW, IIRC, while in Denali, we "borrowed" the lobby of the Princess Lodge for a short break while we were waiting for a shuttle to take us back to our cabin at the front of the park. It looked very nice.

April is pretty early, temperature-wise. We spent 18 days on land & sea in June 2018 and the weather was very nice, cool but but not cold (long review in my signature though much of it is from the 10 days on land before our cruise). I'd go with June or July.

Nevermind.