RobInMN

I forget which thread it was right now, but someone in their cruise review (live?) had a picture of an extension cord delivered by the cabin steward and mentioned that they had ordered one (with a lot of other people) ahead of time via special requests. I assume it was for a CPAP. So, if you'd rather not bring one yourself, you can go that route. (If you trust RCL to follow through).

That is correct. It was discussed in the original thread here:

Yes. On the Oasis class ships, they removed Jazz on 4th and made it a non-smoking casino. The main casino still has a smoking and non-smoking half, but there is no physical barrier between the 2 sections and the smoke definitely drifts. People like to compare it to having a peeing and non-peeing section of the pool. It's also typically smoky next to that spiral staircase in the Promenade that goes down to the casino. I agree with every point @TeeRick makes, but Royal seems deathly afraid of loosing gambling revenue by limiting smoking any further in the casino. I think they should at least try putting the smoking casino in the small casino on 1 Oasis class 7 day ship (out of Florida), and compare the gambling revenue to another Oasis class 7 day ship out of Florida. Apples to Apples. I'll be there's statistically no difference. RC won't even put doors on the casino to keep the smoke from drifting out. This is especially bad on the Radiance class ships where the central Atrium acts as a giant chimney under the right conditions. We were on Jewel for 24 nights and there were multiple days where it smelled smokey on deck 10 even 20 feet down the cabin hallways.

Just thought of 2 other possibilities. Maybe a "phase 2"?? Might be useful to indicate 7N vs. 3/4N or 6/8N ?? Somehow highlight drydocks? Like Allure is not sailing at all in March '25 as she has a 6? week dry dock form end of Feb to early April. Most dry docks are only 2 weeks, so not exactly sure how to indicate that. But could be of interest

Great resource. Some suggestions & corrections: Oasis class is off a row Vision and Enchantment (As per @Blue Eyed Belfast Belle) Radiance class is IN ALL CAPS Make the whole thing proper case Highlight the class rows in light grey Dark grey the cells prior to ship launch (Utopia/Star) Year borders are not full (like between N & O) Year borders between 2024 & 2025 are between April & May Quantum class has borders between every cell in Nov 2024 & May 2025

We did a Star class on Allure for the first (and maybe last) time last fall, which obviously includes the Unlimited Dining package. And OMG, that thing is so good! Might be one of the best things we ate all that week!

Mr Pibb works also. I believe that early on the Freestyle machines had Mr Pibb (Pibb Xtra) as it is a Coca-Cola product, but at some point it was changed to Dr Pepper. This is quite common from what I've seen other places that use the Freestyle machines. But without any hard confirmation, we'll have to just bring our own as @Biker19 said (and cancel a soda package).

We have never been on a ship without Coke Freestyle machines. We will be on the Radiance Panama Canal and just realized that Radiance is apparently one of the few ships without Freestyle machines. Dr. Pepper is the only soft drink that my wife actually likes. Is Dr. Pepper available (like in cans?) on Radiance? If not, we'll need to hit up a store before boarding. We were on Allure last fall out of Galveston in a star class suite and there was Dr. Pepper along with other soft drinks stocked in our fridge. But not sure if that was just a Texas thing or not. The PC is out of Tampa. Not as much of a Dr. Pepper hot bed as Galveston is.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/cas-amenities-jan-2024-final.pdf

We had the opposite issue on Jewel. We went back to our room and neither of our cards would work. Of course, the first thing CS thinks is that we need new cards, so they print 2 new cards (really? both cards at the same time?). Go back up to our room (3/4 of the way down the deck 10 hall to the aft). Still won't open. Called the CS from the courtesy phone near the elevators, they wanted to make new cards. I'm like no, we just did that. They finally sent maintenance up. They tried their master cards, nope. Then they finally hooked up some device that must supply temporary power and can override the door and finally got the door open. On the inside, they popped the cover off, replaced the battery pack, and then everything was fine.

We received our 210 block on Allure last September. Just booked the Allure TA in Oct of 2025 when it was posted Tuesday night. I have just calculated our cruises between now and then, and wouldn't you know it, we will hit 280 on that cruise. 🤣 If anyone gets a second Symphony and wants an Allure, I'll trade ya when we get back!

Nice! I hope she is ready for you also! We were booked on her post-Amplification TA in 2020 that was obviously cancelled. The new post-Amplification TA was just released Tuesday night and we booked it right away.

There is no information yet as to whether there will be any changes from the original amplification plan. Here's the original press release from 2019 for the cancelled 2020 Amplification: https://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-release/1403/new-amplified-adventures-on-royal-caribbeans-allure-of-the-seas-to-make-a-summer-splash-in-europe/ If they stick with the original plan, I believe that Sabors will be replaced by Portside BBQ. The Diamond/Crown lounge becomes Playmakers, and yes, the Crown lounge would go to the windowless deck 4. Dazzles will become Music Hall. The one I really hope they drop is changing the Champagne Bar to a Bionic Bar. I think that has run it's course and I think RC knows it. I think they'd be much better off trying to put the Pesky Parrot in there instead (that's what Utopia will have in that spot). Studio On Air will most likely become Spotlight Karaoke. That seems incredibly popular, and what it's used for much of the time anyway. However, for me personally, I like your idea of a piano bar. But we'll have to just wait and see what gets announced.

This actually makes a lot of sense to me. I'm going with your answer. I imagine that an Oasis 7 can enter the build process much faster than an Icon 4 due to shipyard scheduling.

This counters what Michael Bayley said recently. He said that if they can get everything lined up, we should be getting an announcement sometime this year. To avoid hijacking this thread, this is the most recent Project Discovery thread that I think has the most recent info:

I'm surprised. I would have guessed that Oasis was done, and the next announcement would have been either an Icon 4 or Project Discovery 1. I sort of equate this to announcing a new Voyager class ship after the announcement Harmony (Oasis 3). Interesting.

Well.. shoot. This is the first I've seen anything from anyone that's been to both. Next time I guess. 😁

We just did both of these ports on Allure last fall. From Cozumel you can visit Chichen Itza. It's a long day and no time for snorkeling. It's the site by size and what everyone pictures. It's a long travel day. You first take a 45m+ ferry to the mainland, then walk to a where the bus leaves from, and it's a 2 hour bus ride. But unless you are doing a land vacation and staying inland, this is the only way you are getting there. So it's 6 hours of travel. My wife and I did this. My daughter and her BF (now fiancé) said "how long is the travel time? Yeah, we'll pass thanks". I think it's worth the trip, but my mantra is "Cathedrals, castles, forts, and ruins". 😁 In Puerto Costa Maya, we also used Native Choice and did Chacchoben Ruins. This was only 1 hour away. There was another option to do the one that @Hoopster95 recommended, but it was 2 hours away, and at the time I looked into these, I could not find any reviews that compared the 2 itineraries (and 3 sites). So, with nothing saying that the further site is worth the extra travel time, we went with Chacchoben. They do have a combo that does Chacchoben plus Seven Color Lagoon. I thought this was a very good tour also. If you are only doing 1, and don't mind the 6 hour travel time, it's hard to pass on Chichen Itza. If the travel time turns you off, do one of the Costa Maya ones.

Yes, the "Double Points' promo was double (x2) the points. When I say they do themselves a disservice by using the term "double" is referring to the lazy website designers. "You’ll earn one Cruise Point for every night you sail with us, and double points when you book a Suite." https://www.royalcaribbean.com/crown-anchor-society And the FAQ even puts it in ALL CAPS: "Cruise Points are the way you earn membership status in the Crown & Anchor Society. You can earn one Cruise Point for every cruise night you sail with us, and DOUBLE the points when you purchase a suite." https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/cruise-points-benefits But #36 in the T&C fine print says: "One Cruise Point for each completed night of sailing and an extra Cruise Point per night when you purchase and sail in suite accommodations" https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/crown-and-anchor-society-benefit-grid.pdf This is more accurate. While 1 + 1 does equal 1 * 2, so using the term "double" has the same result as saying "extra", when you consider the additional "solo in a double" point, saying a suite is "double" is no longer accurate. (1[base] + 1[solo]) + 1[suite] does not equal (1[base] + 1[solo]) * 2[suite] This is where the arguing pre-startup came from when you drop the "Double points" on top of it. Sure, you could go this way: (1[base] * 2[suite]) + 1[solo] But simply dropping the use of "double" for the more accurate "extra" removes all ambiguity. #36 is also the only place I can find the solo in a double: "and an extra Cruise Point per night when you purchase and sail in suite accommodations (categories RL, RS, PS, SL, TS, A1, A2, A3, CL, OS, FS, GS, JS) and/or sail in any category and pay a single pricing type for double occupancy staterooms." Both the suite and the solo are both "an extra", neither are "double".

Correct. Royal really does themselves a huge disservice here when they actually use the term "Double" in some places. There was a long thread during COVID and before the restart when Royal ran the "Double Points" promo and some people were thinking they might get up to 8 points per night (it was 6 max). Until the restart happened, and people actually received the points, the arguing went on & on.

Overseas Adventure Travels is part of Grand Circle Corporation, the parent company of Grand Circle Cruise Lines.

In 2020, we booked the Central Park View Interior for a grand total for 2 people of $2024.10. That same room on this cruise (1 less day) $2419.32. Not that bad of an increase really, but since then, we've been doing JS minimum and that's definitely where the prices have gone absolutely crazy. Suite GTY: $5912.32 (total for 2) JS: $7018.32 GS1: $11,251.32 OS: $13,412.32 Star class basically starts at $10,000/person We splurged on the GS (to get full suite perks). There's 8 straight sea days, and I think we might spend more time in our cabin than usual. Would have probably considered the Sky JS if they included the WiFi. It's $750 more than the JS, and the WiFi would probably be in the neighborhood of $300. At that point figured, what the heck.

We like both ocean and river cruising. We have not done nearly as many as a lot of people (5). This is our experience and not a definitive report. I would say that we aren't the most social and tend to keep to ourselves for the most part, but don't have anxiety. We typically like the excursions, and on our favored cruise line, AmaWaterways, there are almost always excursion choices and the groups can be as small as just the 2 of you depending on overall interest, and at most, 15-20 per guide. If there's a lot of interest, people are broken up into smaller groups. And you can always choose to do your own thing. Other cruise lines may be different. Even in groups, in our limited experience, while you might move as a group, there is not a lot of cross socialization on the excursions. Even while listening to the guide or looking around, people tend to stick with the people they are with. Hanging out in the lounge, we've never felt obligated to socialize. I really don't think you'll have much issue just hanging around or on any excursions. At least that would be my experience on Ama (or even the 1 Grand Circle one we did). Dinner/meals would be the hard part. AmaMagna does have some 2 -top tables, but the more traditional layouts of most(?) ships would put you with others (tables of 6-8?). It might be hard to keep table mates from trying to engage you in even just cursory conversation. If the cruise is not full, you might be able to talk to the dining manager about the possibility of being seated by yourself off to the side? Limited polite small talk? Anyway, I hope you decide to give it a shot.

Booked! Allure TA Oct 26th Can't say it's as nice as the cancelled 2020 one. 1 less day. No Canary Islands. No CocoCay. Instead 2 more stops in Spain, Cartagena & Malaga These 12 & 13 night cruises kind piss me off with the Stockholder's OBC. Because it's $100 for 6-13 nights, but $250 for 14+. I wish they would just do a daily pro-rate.

Retire. Drive to port TA B24B TA Drive home. 😁