OCSC Mike

14 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Just curious why you would do a B2B on a 3 and 4 day cruise? I would book a 7 day cruise every time instead of doing a B2B 3/4 day cruise. 

Not the OP but I've done one 3/4 before and have several more booked.

Some of our reasons (which are all related to personal preference as @doghog mentioned)...

- We sail mostly for the ship and love CocoCay so don't mind lack of ports and enjoy going to PDCC twice in 7 days

- I only sail from PC and group rates for Utopia were either similar to Wonder or far less than Star for the dates I was looking at (plus I'm not really interested in Icon class).

- We won't spend a penny on excursions and I usually do on 7N cruises so that helps bring the total cost down.

-Internet is totally covered by D+ on short cruises (we share one device) so that also saves money.

-We want to see Utopia after going on Wonder 4-5 times (even though they will be very similar).

Different strokes...

2 hours ago, justjim9510 said:

The 16 year old that we are traveling with REALLY wants to ride jet skis on this trip. Unfortunately they are sold out. Any chance they have cancellations the day of and fit him in?

Anything is possible. Keep checking the cruise planner (someone may cancel in advance) and if nothing else, visit the ShoreX desk when you board and inquire. Worst case is they say no.

You'll get instructions onboard (via a letter in your cabin). You'll be told to meet somewhere at a certain time in the morning, hang out for a bit while everyone else disembarks, then be led into the terminal (briefly) to go through customs, get new sea pass cards, then be led back onto the ship. It's business as usual after that. You have to do muster again like any other cruise.

Looking forward to a few Utopia B2B's myself but not for a while.

34 minutes ago, danoconnl said:

don't trust the app if you want to make changes

I can definitely attest to this. On Allure in October we had Sabor dinner reservations and decided we wanted to change the time that day. The app said nothing was available. We went there at lunch time and were offered literally any time we wanted.

It was almost completely empty that night. I felt bad for our incredibly nice server, who we chatted with for a while since she barely had anything to do until a large party eventually showed up. Who knows how many tables/tips she may have gotten if the app showed the actual availability?

No issues for me on either website or app (iOS) since changing my PW the one time.

9 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

have never met anyone who has gone to the Beach Club who didn’t think it was the best part of Coco Cay.

Nice to meet ya! I enjoyed the filet & coconut crusted lobster sandwich (actual lobster is overrated IMO) but I’m just as happy sitting in our preferred spot by the Oass pool under an umbrella making frequent trips to the nearest snack shack and Chill Grill.

Only way I’d ever be back would be if someone else was treating… like the other two times.

I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong, just not an experience I personally value as much as others may.

1 minute ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Hard to justify any cost when Coco Cay is awesome without paying anything.

This is our feeling. Even at $20pp we'd sooner use the $ for something else. There's just nothing offered there that holds value to us but everyone values things differently.

I only go in the pool if it's hot and I want to cool off so a heated pool doesn't interest me. My wife wouldn't try any of the extra food offerings out of pickiness and we've always loved the snack shack and chill grill food so that part doesn't make much sense. And we aren't bothered by kids so no need to pay to get away from them.

Different strokes...

5 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

I’m a sucker for banana pudding so I asked for it to go as I was so full I couldn’t see straight

My wife loves it. I like the dessert to go move but we already discussed that.

Thanks for all the food pics. 6 weeks til we return to try Giovanni’s for dinner and have another Mason Jar brunch (our current favorite).

Should have mentioned this sooner but since you mentioned burgers a couple times… if you find yourself on a ship with Playmakers again, we love the burgers there. They come with double patties, bacon, etc. by default.

Safe travels home tomorrow!

1 minute ago, snaefell said:

Who do you send the request to?

rcldining@rccl.com

3 minutes ago, DS9 said:

pardon my ignorance, but what is a 2-top? 

Table for 2.

20 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

I've never eaten in CK. What's your opinion of it? Is it more like a specialty restaurant or more like a smaller MDR just with different choices?

In my limited experience, the food is somewhere in between but the service and atmosphere are much better than the MDR. Night one always has filet mignon which stood out as excellent. Other nights varied but food is very subjective. Personally I'd never eat in the MDR if CK was an option.

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

LOL, I have found just the opposite, I've lost track of how many times they have not charged me for my drinks on the island.  Sometimes those written slips of paper get lost.

Same experience here. None ever showed up for us last month and it certainly wasn't the first time.

8 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

I thought for JS cabins CK is only available for dinner on space availability and breakfast and lunch isn't an option. Is that not true for JS cabins? I'm on the Ovation at the end of the month.

That's all correct.

42 minutes ago, DennysDad said:

I contacted Mona, she hooked me up.

With what in particular? Just curious. My only request is for a 2-top which we always get with the generic e-mail (which is probably redundant b/c I'm pretty sure my TA already requests one for us).

15 minutes ago, jennellen said:

The price difference was like $70 more for the week to have the balcony and it's double the size.

I'm frugal and we almost always sail interiors b/c we don't care about our cabin and never use our balcony if we have one... and even I'd pay the $70. You get double points this way too (if that matters).

1 hour ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

That’s all I got and it was honored on our cruise last week. 

Same experience for me on recent cruises.

25 minutes ago, Badatz2 said:

can these prices be booked by someone who is not a travel agent?

No, you need to go through a TA.

Clearly I'm not well-versed in the ways of solo cruising. I've never done one but I do eat quick snacks or in-between meals alone at times, especially at El Loco Fresh... where a crew member was doing too good of a job of clearing tables while I went back for more and I "lost" half a margarita once. 😭

13 minutes ago, Nickles_1 said:

I'm really hoping there will be another "Broadway" show on Utopia.

The rumor is that it will some version of "Back to the Future"...

9 minutes ago, doghog said:

I first downloaded the RC app January 2022. The one and only time I was forced to change my password was just the other day. No issues since. Works also for the website. 

Same deal here.

1 minute ago, RobInMN said:

Discovered a new tip:

If you order a BBC (Banana Baileys Colada) in the MDR, the galley bar will make it with real banana! Yum!!

If you like it with the banana liqueur, you'll love it with actual banana

Sounds good!

My wife has a hack for something similar... She grabs a banana from WJ or wherever and asks a bartender (usually at the Solarium Bar since that's where we lounge) if they would mind adding it to her strawberry daiquiri. No one has said no yet. It's a bit more like a smoothie but she's not really a drinker. And as an added bonus, the banana usually winds up producing more than one drink's worth so they usually give her the extra on the side.

3 minutes ago, BillOh said:

I sympathize with your wife,.  IN 2011 I was training for my first marathon, and I did 10 miles a day on Allure's track.   I've had to retire from marathoning after 7 of them, but I'll probably still get down there for a walk occasionally.

She was pretty into running for a long time but it was more just for exercise and socializing as she had many running friends. She was never overly concerned with personal bests or anything and only did 2-3 full marathons I think. She did a lot of shorter races. Running takes a toll on the body, of course, and we're not getting younger, but she also kinda lost interest.

Her last hurrah was doing the "Dopey Challenge" at Disney... a 5K, 10K, half-marathon, and full marathon on 4 consecutive mornings.

On 4/11/2024 at 9:04 PM, joepeka said:

Agree. And since your check-in window is a week from today (or a week from last night at midnight, port time), I would be interested in knowing if the app still allows you to select arrival time without going through the prior traveler info step. Some have reported recently that you cannot do that any longer. 

@joepeka  Business as usual last night. Check-in opened around 12:07am in the app (there always seems to be a short delay past midnight), grabbed the earliest arrival time (10:30 at PC), and went to bed.

5 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

We called an audible tonight. We headed to the aqua theatre about 5 min before show start to ensure we saw the show atleast 1 time. We had no issues getting seats even though they were on the side. The show was amazing.

Good call on the audible. Not one of my favorites, I prefer more diving, but I can appreciate the "dancing" and choreography they do. I booked it for June just b/c I could; not sure we'll see it a 3rd time but ya never know. That's why it's so easy to get in standby, people like me grab reservations and don't show up. 🙈

7 minutes ago, Steelers0854 said:

Pro tip if you take the stairs next to the aqua theatre down to the jogging track it takes you right to the upper level of the theatre. Easy peesy. The show was good. DW loved it, I thought it was ok. I wasn’t loving the music choice and I felt the videos in the background were more distracting/creepy at times then added value.

That's also a nice quiet spot, down behind the aqua theater, especially early in the morning. We get up pretty early and wife used to go running (now she walks) while I go to the CL for cappuccino. I've taken my coffee down there before (some ships have chairs, off the track of course, don't remember if Wonder does) and peacefully watched the wake of the ship as my wife passed by every so often. Great sunrise spot if you're up THAT early.

Not a fan of Voices but glad your wife liked it so much!

23 minutes ago, Robo1098 said:

I really can't remember others but they tasted good.

Yeah, I paid no attention to how they were made on Wonder but my wife's cookies n cream shakes tasted good to me.