PhillyFan33579

I have cruised on Odyssey multiple times. They always had pickleball in the morning at the sportsplex.

You can’t buy the refreshment package on day 3 of a cruise.

If you are cruising in the Caribbean, a passport is not needed at any port, so keep your passport in your safe.

From my experience all the hair dryers on RCI ships suck, and I don’t have that much hair to begin with.

Yes, on deck 5 on Promenade and deck 11 in WJ.

I don’t think there will be much of a difference kids wise between the two cruises. I did a Halloween cruise last year and there were a lot of kids on the cruise.

I always book my own cruises including B2Bs. As others have stated, having the same cabin for both cruises is the way to go. You can easily do this on RCI’s website. Once you find a cabin you like that is available on both cruises, start booking the first cruise but put a hold on it. Next, go book the second cruise, assuming the cabin you want is still available. Then go back to the cruise with a hold on it and complete the booking for that cruise.

I agree with you 100 percent. I loved Tap Factory. Saw it multiple times on Odyssey and Wonder. I would book a cruise just to see that show again. I have posted on this site before that Voices is the worst show I have seen on any RCI ship. Still confuses me that the shows on Wonder leave a lot to be desired. At least they corrected that on Icon; the Wizard of Oz was one of the best shows I have seen on a cruise. Also really liked the ice skating and water shows on Icon.

FWIW, I am currently on my 6th cruise this year. I have not had any issues with the app this year, with the recent exception that I needed to reset my password to logon to the app. But the app itself has worked fine for me including selecting a check-in time only for every cruise I have been on so far (plus a few upcoming cruises).

If you use the app, you can select your check-in time without providing any additional information. However, if you use the website you have to provide additional information like you mentioned.

Lots of good information already provided. I cruise frequently on both lines, although currently more often on RCI. The one point I would stress is the environment on RCI is completely different than on Celebrity. In general RCI ships always have something going on with lots of kids everywhere while Celebrity is a much more relaxing environment, which you obviously know. I am in my late 50s and cruising more and more on Celebrity. I don’t expect that to change in the future as I get older. Someone already mentioned this point, but if you didn’t like NCL, you probably won’t like RCI. People like to say the cruise line they are loyal to is best, but the reality is NCL, RCI and CCL have a lot more similarities than differences.

Since you are cruising in May there is no reason to pay for Hideaway Beach in my opinion. I have been to Hideaway Beach several times over the last few months, but the only reason we keep going there is for the heated pool. The area is definitely on the loud side, so when the water gets warmer (ocean and Oasis pool), there is no lure to pay for Hideaway Beach

Based on my experience, I find swimming in the ocean far more strenuous than sleeping by a pool.

Did you ever find out the total number of passengers on board? I am curious if the port change resulted in a lot of cancellations. The Nassau port area is significantly nicer these days. Unlike a lot of people, I have been to Nassau over 50 times and look forward to going there. There are lots of things to do around the island, not to mention there is a lot to do and see within walking distance from the terminal.

Looks like we were typing a similar response at the same time. It comes down to personal preference, but I find it much easier to complete check-in on the app as opposed to using a desktop computer.

The only thing you need to do is select an arrival time (the only reason people check-in as soon as possible is to get an early check-in window). You can add all the other information mentioned in a previous post at a later date. Make sure you check-in on the app; that is the only way you can just simply select a check-in time. If you do it on the website you will have to provide most of the additional information to select a time.

One thing we have done when there are a lot of people playing is go to rally scoring. Games go by fast, which helps with the courts constantly turning over. I find it interesting how one month I can be on a cruise with dozens of average or better pickleball players and the next month be on a cruise where you struggle to get enough players for a game.

The daily planner will show times when the sports court is available for pickleball. On most ships pickleball is available/played for 3 hours every morning. This has been consistent on every ship I have been on over the last few years. However, I have not cruised on Navigator since she moved to the West. The ship provides paddles and balls. I would recommend bringing your own paddle, since the paddles provided are not very good.

Park Cafe in Central Park.

If you are in a suite Coastal Kitchen is a no brainer.

Not sure if I am supposed to reply to this thread, but we have Utopia booked in September and October this year. Always look forward to cruising on a new ship. It helps knowing I won’t be let down by certain areas of the ship like when we were on Icon. Oasis class ships are still my favorite.

For a few days I could see everything about everyone else’s cruises and was told by others they could see everything related to my cruise (passport, purchases, etc). The one thing you couldn’t see was the full credit card number for those who already had added one to their account.

Was it crowded? I sailed on Grandeur twice last year. According to numbers they showed at the Top Tier event, about 75 percent of the passengers on both cruises were Diamond or higher. Not really surprising since older ships like Grandeur tend to have a very different passenger demographic compared to newer ships like Oasis class ships.

Several years ago when I was still working I drove over the Skyway Bridge going to and from work. I lost count how many times I saw cruise ships going under the bridge (or in the immediate vicinity of the bridge) leaving the Port of Tampa. No matter how many times I saw it, it was always an incredible view.

A friend of mine linked several bookings on a cruise last year. We had shared booking numbers to link reservations so we would be seated at the same table in the MDR. Everyone called (which is the proper way to link bookings for MDR purposes) except my friend who thought linking the bookings online would do the same thing. Long story short, every one of the 8 people linked could see everyone else’s information until several days later when the reservations were unlinked online after numerous calls to RCI.