kearney

The design of their site is fairly new. It looks like they are pricing it by location but the prices are actually just like they used to be, by stateroom category. If the same category that you have goes down in price before final payment you should still be able to get prices drops unless it is a sale for "new bookings only" which they seem to have a lot these days.

Okay cabin class does make sense. But I swear that when I booked in the past an ocean view balcony was the same price regardless of location... when I looked on the website. I can't believe I overlooked that... being as cheap as I am :)

I missed your update. Glad it worked out for you. My husband's case was such that I had to purchase cheap shirts and cut them to be able to dress him while keeping the shoulder in the sling. Later, when we went back to the doctor I ran into someone who also had surgery and they did not have to be as strict about keeping it in the sling.

His shoulder is now great... wished his knee was doing better.

Okay I am having rotator cuff repair on 9/6 and will be out of work for a little bit. Follow up appointment is 9/21. So I decided what is a better way to recoup with a little get away.

Just booked a cruise for 5 days on the Majesty of the Sea.. think this will make me feel better and the price was really nice too..

When are you planning to go.... I would allow two months before you go.

My husband tore his rotator cuff and had his shoulder immobilized for two months. He had to sleep in a recliner... could not move his shoulder at all... could not shower... I used baby wipes to clean under his arm. Now he had a bad tear... so I would check with your doctor.

FYI back in summer of '14 my husband fell over something in the back yard tore his quad muscle. We did not realize how bad it was.... he fell again a month later and tore his rotator cuff. He had surgery 1 on his quad muscle in Jan '15.... in April we took a 5 day cruise out of Tampa knowing that in May he was having his shoulder done..... well doctor said he needed to do more work on the knee... so in December '15 we planned on his third surgery of the year... and so in October we took a cruise on Oasis, knowing that we was going to be laid up. Infact he was in a cast up to his ass for two months... and we scheduled our next cruise for Sept 16... He is still recovering

I can not stress enough that if you know the tear is bad... allow at least 2 months before your cruise... or take plenty of friends along to help. It is possible that you will not need to be as immoble as he had to be... as I recall he had two or three tears.

I hope all goes well for you with surgery and your planned cruise

Okay, I need help understanding something. Just signed up for another cruise while on Allure. We have sailed 15-16 times on RCCL and have never done this before. I am under the impression that if there is a price drop they will match, if before 90day full payment period. Okay fine.

I usually book over the phone after doing a number of mock bookings using the website.

Something seems to have changed. Sometime in the last two months the pricing on the website has changed. It used to be that you would select, say balcony... then select say deluxe ocean view and you would see a series of cabins on various decks.. all with the same pricing. So if you had signed up with next cruise... it was easy to see if their had been a price drop.

Now when you hit ocean view balcony, the next screen gives you a choice of bow, aft or midship... and the pricing can vary by section. Once you select the section of the ship you want... the next screen shows different decks and again different pricing.

Flash forward say two months... lets say they have a great sale. I go back into the website but all ocean view balcony's on the aft of the ship on say deck 11 are gone but their are plenty say on deck 9. Will they match the price or will they allow me to change cabins..? not sure how this works.

I worked in marketing for 40 years.. from that perspective I think what they have done is positively brilliant and should improve profitability by charging more for popular locations. But from a customer perspective they seem have removed a benefit of next cruise program. If there is no real way for me to get a price break I might as well hold off, book later and take a chance on precise cabin location. Am I missing something here? As I have said I have not used next cruise before. I usually book less than 2 months prior to the cruise so I pay full price then. I pick a cruise based on getting a good price, ship and destination. This time I paid a few hundred more than I usually do anticipating that I would likely get that back if I just paid attention to the sales. The extra $ is really not that big a deal, I just spend less on the ship.... Just wondering 1) is the change I noticed new or did I somehow miss the pricing differences by deck and part of the ship and 2) if it is new any ideas on how the price matching will work going forward for those who signed up on board.... sorry for the long message hope I am clear

I don't think you can go wrong with either choice. I love the Oasis class ship, but I prefer the eastern caribbean vs western.... 8 days is nice too. The Oasis is such a unique design, really worth experiencing. But it gives you something to consider in the future... by then there will be even more features.

I think your kids would like both ships, there is so much to do. RCCL real has focused on families... again you can't go wrong.

Once you choose, don't look back and think 'did I make the right choice'. You will enjoy it.

More views of Ocean from public areas.... e.g. bars, restaurants etc. Oasis class is so internally focused you need an ocean view cabin if you want to see the Ocean. I would also like a real promenade deck like smaller class ships and if they can't add more ocean views... add a Viking lounge with panoramic views. I love the Oasis class but without more views from public areas, the design is only practical for Caribbean where there is nothing really to see... Less desireable for Med.

The 30% off would be a good deal if the base price had not gone up. I keep track of a few cruises I am interested in. The base price on some cruises jumped quite a bit while others only went up slightly. You need to establish the price you are willing to pay and the look for a deal that lines up.

That's the bad thing about e-mail, it costs nothing to send. If no one books via a direct e-mail link there is no incentive not to send it again.

 

Back in the day of mass mailings there would be research, what was the percentage of people who replied vs the number sent out. Then do a color change, font change, wording change and look at the percentage again. Once the "perfect" design was found then mail would go to everyone. 1,000's of people would be employed by it directly, 100's indirectly.

 

Now, a cron job is ran on some computer somewhere and when the date ticks over millions of emails go out. It costs Royal fractions of a computer cycle, who cares if anyone replies or if it generates any income.

Hit unsubscribe, in theory this should remove you from these emails. Also check your profile on C&A.

I was temped to book reservations as well but was concerned about trying to reconcile spending later and there is not guarantee when you get on board... if you cancel the reservation it could go to someone else assuming people are on some kind of a wait list. If there is not wait list, there is no need to book in advance. anyway that was my thinking.

Okay, I finally found a shot with the shadow revealing a stick, now I understand :)

Love the photos. I can see you in the shots, how does this camera work? I thought it was a small drone, but when I googled it ... it looks like a remote. so I am confused... but fascinated.

Did you, by any chance, sign up for one of the dinner packages (3-4-5)? I want to know how you handled making reservations when you got on board... did you run into time problems regarding reservations?

I have started packing a small battery votive candle to use as a night light. I like packing in advance, but one problem is that I end up over packing :)

Keep in mind if you are in a suite, RCCL gets the premium for that suite, not sure staff sees much of that. If you can afford a suite, you can afford to tip as appropriate for services that deserve tipping. Also if you don't get that level of service no tip.

On Oasis our guy was on his computer quite a bit. At on point I recall asking him for something and realized that while he was on the computer a lot, he was on their working on something for a passenger... eg looking for reservations etc. I realized that he was not surfing the internet or doing email, he was actually working. So keep that in mind... that they may actually be helping someone out. Hard to prove one way or the other... but thought I would mention that:)

Looks like they are trying to have fewer passengers 'fall' off the ship. Lawyers probably advised them to have some type of control over consumption. Blame the idiots who find a way to go overboard despite chest high railings.

the same thing happened to me in Barcelona. none of my luggage arrived. I was a basket case!! Fortunately we arrive 2 days before the cruise. I called the travel insurance company and they did all the work for me. By that evening they had delivered 1 luggage and the day of embarkation I received all of my luggage.

 

the insurance company did all the work. All I did was call them right away.

May I ask, what insurance comp. did you use?

We have done several cruises with a short time frame. My husband was recovering from knee surgery and about to go into shoulder surgery, so I scheduled a cruise out of Tampa on Brilliance about two weeks before the cruise. I was not picky about location and more concerned with cost, given all the surgeries. We booked an inside cabin.... Turned out it was next to crew staircase. Not the best location given early morning traffic up and down the staircase. The other thing I did not consider was that if DH was tired of walking, there was nothing to see in the cabin. A balcony cabin would have been a better idea. That way if he did not feel like going anywhere, he could have just sat on the deck.

Later in the year after shoulder surgery and before his next knee surgery, I booked a cruise on Oasis on Aug 29th for Oct 31. This time I was wiser and fortunate to be able to book a cabin near the aft elevator on the same deck as the Diamond lounge... above the Schooner bar and the main dining room with easy access to both the boardwalk and central park. This time we were more prepared. He sat on the balcony when he tired of walking and the walking was not too much... I was worried about this given the large size of the ship.

Traveling with a large group may mean that you are spread around the ship more than you would like and cabin selection might be more limited... but with the right attitude... you should still have a good time. I am not familiar with Anthem so I am not sure where good cabins might be located.

We planned our next cruise 5 months in advance... which is very advance planning for me. When I want to go... I like to go now or at least as close to now as possible. Best wishes on you planned surgery. But to consider a room with a view, for those days you might feel better staying put. The nice thing about cruising with a group is that there is enough to interest different people... you don't need to all hang out together if you have different interests... just meet for dinner... or joint activity... Best wishes on your surgery

Ocean view balcony is far more private too.

We are driving from Atl to Orlando, staying with a friend and then on to Ft Lauderdale. traveling on Allure.

Cost of cruise including taxes, for ocean balcony $2000

Gratuities $190

package of 4 specialty dinners $190

All access tour $150

est of drinks and misc spending onboard $175 (not big drinkers, plus we are diamond members)

one night at hotel in Ft Lauderdale $112

Parking/tip at park n go $72

travel insurance $112

misc meals coming and going to ship $250

Gas for drive (excludes other costs of maintenance) $240

roughly $3500 for the trip (excludes misc like sunscreen, OFF, any new clothing which is minimal)

I enjoyed CATS

I would really like to know why people liked or did not like CATS. My husband and I saw part of it on our last Oasis cruise. We snuck out with half the audience at intermission.

I wanted to like it. I blame it on, sitting too far from the stage (husband has knee trouble) so you could not appreciated the details of the performances. Plot was a bit heavy for a cruise.... you want light happy...; the music was, for the most part, not particularly memorable (pun not intended). The cast was great, voices great, dancing great.... I just did not like it...

Those who liked it... did you sit close to the stage?

while the ship MIGHT arrive at 6:30, assuming no delays of any kind.... keep in mind that the ship has to clear customs before passengers can leave. Also Customs needs to be set up and ready for passengers... and you are among hundreds trying to leave early.

I would recommend a noon flight, otherwise if you are like me you will be stressing, beginning the day before arrival as you plan how to get all your stuff off quickly.... don't do it.

I believe Zika is on St Thomas. I plan on bringing repellant. While I am not as concerned about Zika impact on me... don't want US mosquitos spreading it from me to others. I have a relative who is pregnant. My thought was to use it if I go on excursions... eg St Kitts trip into countryside. Not sure it would be needed on the ship. As I understand it the mosquitos dont travel around much... I figure that if I have it with me I can decide later if I need it.

Elevator - Unfortunately their are able-bodied individuals will jump right in front of as it you didn't exist. No it isn't just kids. In fact it's more often adults than kids. You need to get on the first elevator that's somewhat empty regardless of it's direction top be assured of getting on. During period you're best to go to the Forward or aft bank of elevators. For example the bank of elevators that's close to the pool or windjammer is always the busiest.

 

Dining Room - On embarkation day go to the MDR. Check to see that there is a sufficient path to your table so that you can drive the scooter and than transfer to a chair. If not than see the Matre'D and request a change in location. The wait staff will park the scooter for you and than return it after dinner. Have the wait staff return the key to you.

 

Shows - Unfortunately the wheelchair accessible seats are not the best location. The wheelchair location is the last row on the main floor which is actually the first row when coming into the theater. It's best to get there early.

 

Tendered Ports - If the itinerary has a tendered port the scooter will only be allowed if the tender has roll-on capabilities. Even if the tender has roll-on capabilities it's at the discretion of the Captain if conditions are safe enough for scooters and wheelchairs to be boarded. Suggest you do not pre-book any excursions for tender ports and a getting a refund is not likely. Following was copied directly from RCCL's website :

 

In order to safely board most tenders, guests must be able to take steps and use a collapsible manual wheelchair. In addition, motorized wheelchairs and mobility scooters can not be taken on tenders, unless roll-on capability is available. Inquire about tender roll-on capability at Guest Relations Desk while on board. Please note roll-on capability is not guaranteed.

 

Weather, sea conditions and other factors may preclude tendering. Safety of our guests and crew is our primary consideration, and the Captain and his staff will make the final decision regarding transferring guests and their assistive devices based on safety reasons.

 

If guests are unable to tender or disembark because of due to these circumstances, there will be no refund or credit for missed ports. While we recognize your disappointment, the safety of our guests and crew takes precedence.

 

Size of scooter - Though another poster suggested you rent the smallest scooter the type of scooter vendor will rent to you is determined based on your weight relative to the weight capacity of the scooter.

If you require a full size bariatric size scooter know that it will not fit through the doorway of a standard cabin and will require to have booked an accessible cabin. Even if you qualify for a portable size scooter it will be a tight fit getting it through a standard door cabin. The hang up will be the arms rests not necessary the scooter itself. The arm rest will have to adjusted or completely removed in order to clear the door frame. will have to be backed out.

 

The scooter CANNOT be left or stored in the hallway should it not fit through a standard cabin doorway. Doing is a violation of SOLAS ( Safety of Life at Seas), cruise line and coast guide regulations. Ignoring these regulations can and does impede that safety of others whether disabled or abled bodied moving about the hallways not to mention impedes the safety of other in the event of an actual emergency. Even if the cabin attendant tells you it's Ok it's NOT ! I for one will contact the ships security to have the scooter removed if one is observed left in the hallway.

 

Following was copied directly from RCCL's website;

Assistive devices including mobility scooters must be stored and recharged in your stateroom so fire doors, corridors and elevator lobbies are kept clear for emergency evacuation. When parked throughout the ship, they must be parked out of the way to allow safe and easy access by other guests and crewmembers.

 

Taking scooter off the ship - Unless the scooter is full size or a bariatric size the typical rental scooter is the Pride GoGo Elite Traveler which has an under clearance of only approximately 1.5". Therefore it's not unusual that the scooter will get hung up on the gangway joints. Under no circumstance should you allow the ships personnel to force push the scooter over the joints which is their first reactive response. The scooter needs to be placed in freewheel mode and than rolled over the joints. If you aren't to walk down/up the gangway than a person from the ship's crew must guide the scooter up/down the ramp while another pushes the scooter up/down the ramp. If you are unable to walk up/down the ramp it's recommended that you do so than scooter can be rolled up/down the ramp in freewheel mode. If this isn't done the scooter can be permanently damaged and if it's rental your on the hook for the full replacement cost if you did not purchase the insurance offered by the rental company. Replacement cost will be in excess of $1,600.00.

 

Other things to note : You can request wheelchair assistance to board when arriving at the port. However it's important to note that there are a limited number of wheelchairs to board passengers and a wheelchair will NOT be left with you. The attendant is also NOT allowed to take you directly to his cabin. The attendant will take you to a public area of the ship . Once cabins are available to passengers someone from your party will have to go to the cabin to get the scooter. Also note that the scooter rental contract, whether it be http://www.CareVacations.com or http://www.SpecialNeedsatSea, states that the scooter will not be delivered until 2:00 PM . It's also important to note that rental equipment delivered to the ship is not given priority loading by the cruise line as ships supplies take precedent. Therefore the scooter might not appear in the cabin until closer to the sailing time though the it was deliver to the port by 2:00 PM.

 

The rental scooter must be left in the cabin on disembarkation day. The cruise line will not provide wheelchair assistance/pickup from the cabin. The night before a location for wheelchair assistance for disembarkation will be published in the daily cruise newsletter. You f can ride the scooter to that location but than someone from your group must than take the scooter back to cabin for pickup from the rental company.

 

Scooter keys are not unique as car keys and all the rental scooters look alike, Scooter keys are universal and a scooter can easily be mistaken. I print an extra luggage tag an affix it to the scooter as well as tie a bright green scarf to mine as an additional identifier.

 

Cost of rental is based on the following criteria

• Embarkation Port
  
• Disembarkation Port.
  
• Weight and height of end user relative to weight capacity of the scooter required
  
• Number of cruise days
  
• If insurance if purchased
  

 

Scooter do not automatically stop when you take you hands off the control. It rolls to a stop and length of the roll depends on the speed that the scooter was being drive before attempting to stop.

Thanks for this information. We did not need a scooter on our cruise, but we were thinking about it and may need to do so in the future... you raise a lot of issues that are best considered early... thanks again

It seems to me that someone on board would have posted something to cruise critic.... Do cruisers sailing out of Asia generally post (while on board) or is this strictly a US/UK phenomenon?