yj_eugene

They really aren't needed in this day and age anyway.

That's true. These days the electricity will just magically flow across the room to the bedsides where DW and I have our CPAPs. :rolleyes: We ask for extension cords on every cruise from both special needs before the cruise and the room steward after we board, and more often than not we never get them. That's why we bring our own: we can't count on Royal to provide them. We just pack them with our CPAPs, and never have had them questioned or confiscated.

2). Someone with a disability needed that room for some reason. That it was medically necessary for someone to have that room, or connects to a room that someone in their party needed for medical reasons.

I can definitely confirm this does happen. DW and I were moved once with no warning because the cabin we had was next door to an accessible cabin and was needed for a traveling companion. The Loyalty Ambassador on board confirmed it when we asked. No complaints from us though, as we got a GS for that 15-night TA out of it. :D

Have to be careful here. There are some Caribbean nations that might not accept it. It is up to them. They have not all signed the compact.

Indeed. Quoting an article I found from USA Today Travel:

Traveling to Other Nations by Sea

Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as protected territories of the United States, allow U.S. citizens to pass freely without passports. Visitors to Barbados, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, St. Barthelemy, St. Martin and Trinidad and Tobago must present passports if arriving by sea. Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, as independent nations, chose not to participate in the WHTI. Haiti wasn't included in the WHTI, as the U.S. considered it to be one of the most politically unstable countries in the world. The remaining countries, as parts of the Republic of France, adhere to French laws, including those governing travelers entering and exiting the country.

I went on Harmony in December and was not sure how I would feel about a mega ship. But I actually found I liked it a lot. I was able to find more places of quiet to read and relax than on the smaller ships. That really surprised me!

Same here. We went on Oasis in December, and we're pleasantly surprised by how much we liked it. We found that we spent most of our time in only two or three of the neighborhoods, so the size of the rest of the ship really didn't matter. My only major complaint is that the Viking Crown is now off limits to non-suite/non-Pinnacle passengers.

We are going on Oasis of the Seas out of Port Canaveral. Does anyone have recent experience with taking water and/or soda on board? Can you check it in with a luggage tag? Can you carry it on board in your carry on?

We were on Oasis two weeks ago, and brought a case of bottled water in a duffle bag. Checked it through to our cabin with no problem.

We just got off Oasis and I saw new mattresses in the halls so I think they are in the process of replacing them. Ours was older and had a foam top. Not the most comfortable. But it was okay.

We too just got off Oasis. We had the older, softer, rounded-end mattresses, and slept well. The newer, square-end ones are both smaller and only slightly harder than fossilized concrete. I wish you the best of luck for your turn at mattress roulette.

My issue is my DH has a mobility scooter. I HAVE to grab a porter as I can not handle all of the luggage by myself. How long would we have to wait for a porter to become available to help us get our luggage to the car? We will be parking (hopefully) in the garage.

My DW and I both use walkers, so we also have to use a porter. We just got off Oasis this past Sunday, and no porters were available once we found our luggage. The wait was short though, 10 minutes and several were on their way back in. Tip them well, they are worth every penny.

As you can see from my handle, I am a big time NY Giants football fan.

My condolences. :p

We are on the Grandeur, Dec 10-22. There will be 2 Sundays when I would like to watch my Giants. Are these games on TV on the ship, like in the Sports bar?

The game against the Cowboys on the 11th is the Sunday night one, so I expect it'll be carried on the ship. The one on the 18th is a 1pm start, and there are a couple of other games at that time that would be more attractive to the general audience, so you'll probably be spared watching the Giants lose that game to my Lions. :D

Restore the Roar!

Smoking should be limited to the lower muster station deck.

So the smoke can be blown into the balconies above? :(

Up on the top decks where it can quickly be dispersed makes much more sense.

Gerangier, Norway

I'm curious why you feel the Majesty is better for PC than the Enchantment.

The short answer: MJ is a better fit for me than EN, and having MJ in PC means I will book the 3-4 night cruises out of there once again.

The longer answer: I like the Theater, Schooner Bar, Viking Crown, and Windjammer on the Sovereign class better than those on the Vision class, and those are places I frequent while on board. I also like that MJ has a Johnny Rockets. The things that EN has that MJ doesn't, such as Chops, the R Bar, Solarium, or Diamond/Concierge Clubs, I rarely use, as are some of the things EN has that may be better than those on MJ, like the pool area and shops. The MDR on EN is nicer than on MJ, but the food is pretty much the same, and to me that's what counts in a dining room. I will grant you that the cabins on EN are better, but it's not enough to make me want the EN instead. I'm in the cabin to sleep, shower and dress, not spend all day in.

So, why I feel MJ is better is probably no different that why those who like EN better: they enjoy cruising on one ship more than they do the other.

Unfortunately RCI opened the door to let NCL take over the extra days (as in Saturday) and we lost out. :( Carnival has three ships in PC...RCI is behind on that. :(

You are right about that, no question. I was hoping the addition a year and a half ago of Explorer as a third ship in PC was a sign of things to come, but unfortunately that hasn't materialized into anything permanent so far.

Majesty is not even close to being a good replacement.

And there are those of us who think a Sovereign class coming back to PC is Royal finally correcting their mistake. To each their own.

We could not imagine why somebody would need a crock pot on a cruise!!!

One reason would be to warm one of those heating pads that have buckwheat or rice in them since there is no microwave available.

They will, however, provide you with one if asked, as these are inspected and tested regularly and they know they aren't surge protected and are in good repair.

They might provide, not will. My DW and I each use a CPAP, and I both contact special needs before the cruise and our cabin steward once aboard to arrange for extension cords, and more often than not there's not one in the cabin upon arrival and we're told there are none available once we're there. Hence I always bring two of our own in our carryon for the CPAPs, and in two dozen Royal cruises have never had them questioned or confiscated. I would not count on any cruiseline to have one for you, especially if it's medically important.

Regarding smoking unless it's changed since our last cruise - they had a Non Smoking night in the Casino ~ I'll review smoking policy, might well be different on different vessels. I don't smoke but do have an alternative whereas Hubby does smoke.

On which side and what decks of the Oasis are the outside smoking areas now?

Pink Squirrel

Lemondrop

Cosmopolitan

Appletini

I think you're correct, having one in Tampa for part of the year allows us to experience their perfection. There's only four of them after all, so they're a fairly rare bird in the world of cruise ships.

True, and given nothing larger will fit under the bridge, we can probably expect to have one of them in Tampa for the foreseeable future. Lucky us! :D

Now if they'd replace the Vision class ship doing the Tampa 7+ day cruises with a second Radiance class, that would be ideal.

So much Oasis vs. Vision Class talk here. Has everyone forgotten that the Radiance Class ships are the best in the fleet? :)

Must be an Ocala thing. Seems only those of us who live here always remember that. :)

Why would anyone in their right mind use ranch dipping sauce when eating Buffalo wings? There is only one accompanying sauce for wings...blue cheese! Yes...I'm in my own little world here.

I'm right there with you in that world on this one. Marzetti's Ulitimate Blue Cheese is my preference. I figure restaurants that serve ranch do so because they save money over using blue cheese, but why anyone at home would choose to use ranch is a mystery to me.

Check out Nationwide Cruise specific policies https://travel.nationwide.com/plans-cruise.html

To be covered for or pre-existing conditions the policy has to be purchased prior to the final payment. Not within a 10-15 window of the booking date as with other companies.

 

Personally have switch to Nationwide's Cruise Policies since it doesn't have to be purchased until prior to the final payment. This way I'm not out the insurance premium if my plans change prior to the final payment as has happened in the past with Allianze and Travel Guard.

Agreed. We've switched to these Nationwide plans for exactly the same reasons.

I'm cracking up! What in the world would those be for? Who needs meatballs or slow cooker chicken when you have access to food 24/7?

 

Just imagining what they were going to do with those is comical....

Mulled wine.

we were very pleased when we started sailing on the Radiance series. That is the series I was dearly hoping would come to PC. Sigh...:(

Probably won't happen, at least until most of the fleet has scrubbers installed. The gas turbine engines on that class are too valuable for use elsewhere because of their lower emissions.

"World class"

A euphemism for outsourced to Elbonia: http://dilbert.com/strip/1996-02-20

Majesty is not a good trade off :(

There are of course others, DW and I among them, who believe the opposite, that moving a Sovereign-class back to PC is RC correcting their previous mistake. Add to that Oasis replacing Freedom, and I think this is a win-win at Canaveral.