kearney

Currently RCI has 3? Year contracts or is it 5 for all their shows, which is good news for grease , Saturday night fever and mama Mia, but bad news for Cats which means it is around for a couple more years

Boy, I am glad to hear someone else didn't like Cats. I had never seen the show and could not sit through it. I tried and really wanted to for the sake of the cast, but ducked out with half the audience at intermission.

I tried to figure out why I did not like it. The cast was fabulous and clearly talented. The dancing, costumes and set design were terrific. We were sitting in back row, my dh has knee issues. I think part of the problem is that you need to be close to the stage to really appreciate the performances. Another is that it is rather heavy story, not light like Chicago (which makes light of a heavy topic-murder), Mama Mia, Grease. You are on a cruise and want upbeat shows. Finally, frankly the songs were just not as good as I expected. Other than Memories, the music was just not as memorable as I would have expected. I have seen Mama Mia on Broadway and am looking forward to seeing it on Allure.

Maddy,

My upcoming cruise on Freedom in November will be my first Diamond cruise. Is the 24 hours free internet actually 24 hours online or for a 24 hour period?

 

I love this thread! I'm definitely going to consider Celebrity. It seems like a more "adult" experience. I prefer fewer kids, so never cruise during the summer, spring break or holidays. The smoke free casino is very appealing. The casino is my favorite excursion!

 

Sandy

It is for a 24 hour period. So If you start at 11 am on day.. it ends 24 hours later. I like the idea of NOT being connected to land, but I still feel the need to check email and news a couple of times .... I usually use one of the benefits around day 3 of a 7 day cruise and then us dh's benefit on the last day of the cruise. Just enough to know what is going on without completely losing touch.

Last fall we sailed out of Port Canaveral. We parked at Park N Go, which is very close to the port. If you reserve/pay in advance the cost is about $8/day. I think it is about $12/day if you drop by later (google parking at port canaveral and you will see Park n Go) When you drop off your car, they will park it and you immediately get into a van with others heading to the ship and after they fill the van... within a few minutes they drop you and your luggage off by the baggage handlers. When you return... there is a spot where the vans come regularly to pick you up. This took a bit more time than the original trip. It worked out well and cost less than the $15 day they charge at the port. And the nice part, we all stayed together ..vs dropping bags and other passengers off and then going to park.

Glad to hear that things are looking better. sometimes when we have nothing better to do... we look at the harbor web cams and look at marinetraffic.com... where you can actually track the ships progress... My husband noticed the ship doing a loop and heading back. Sorry to hear it was a medical emergency but I guess it was a good thing that they were so close to port.

Moms worry, it is their job:) There is a website where you can actually track the ship. Frankly it is rather cumbersome to figure out. I am putting a link, but don't know how well it will work. It should show were Adventure of the Seas is located (currently st Maarten). http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-63/centery:18/zoom:10

If it doesn't work. go to the web cam for St Maarten... someone already linked... at the bottom you will see the map and you can click on the ship... the website that provides this informaition also tracks the ships location.

My husband and I have sailed on a ship trying to outrun a hurricane a number of years ago. I have issues with motion sickness.... but I was actually in pretty good shape. The ship rocked a bit... but everything was generally alright and actually a bit more exiting than usual.... came home with some good stories... no issues.

I would like to see the BOGO with 60% off second guest again. The problem for me is that the base prices seem to be higher than earlier in the year. Just an observation.... as I like to price the same cruise at various points in time....

I had the same question when considering the package. I actually called RCCL. This is what I was told. When you sign up for the package you provide the day and time you want your first meal. They will then tell you which restaurant you will be at. It has to be on day one or two of the trip. Then, when you get on board you make the arrangements for the other days. I am not really comfortable with this, but thought we would test this out to see how this works out.

It is an incentive to get on board early. I do think that guest services could have a lot of people lined up for this. As I recall you can also go directly to the restaurants.

What I did was to go ahead and book my time dining for the days I hope to use the specialty restaurants. So I first secured entertainment, then scheduled my time dining. I just hope that I dont have to reschedule entertainment to fit restaurants.

We will see how this works out... but the savings were enough to make it worth testing on this next cruise.... in Sept.

Do Diamond members still get one 24 hour internet connection? I hope so. My DH and I like to use this to checkin with email and news twice during the cruise.... and that is all the connectivity I want. Thanks

I am guessing you guys had some engine trouble.... circled around and 3 hours after sail away still just off Bermuda.... now appears to be heading out... but still only traveling at 10 knots. Would be interested if anyone knows what the problem was or is.

Love to look at various port cams and the marine traffic map. Just made an observation and wondering what is up.

It looks like the ship turned around and is traveling at 2 knots.... is the ship heading back to port? Going too slow to be for medical emergency or to pick up passengers... just wondering..

I love the Radiance class ship for its open views of the ocean from the public areas. But it does not have a promenade. If you find that you like that part of the ship on Oasis class ship, you might consider the Voyager class ship. It has a nice promenade area with shops, and bars etc. I think the Freedom class is my least favorite. It is a step down in size from Oasis. My issue with Freedom is petty, I know, but I dont believe they have enough elevators or they are a bit too small. This class ship always seemed a bit crowded at the elevators. I did not feel the same on the Oasis class. Now I have only been on that class ship once... so it may have been atypical. But looking at the deck plan... the Oasis class has more elevators and those in the aft part of the ship seemed larger to me than the main elevators on Freedom.

If you go to Alaska consider Radiance class. You can see the fabulous views throughout the ship. That is not the case on Oasis class. But in the Caribbean, not nearly as much to see as in the inner passage heading to Alaska. After having sailed on different lines we find ourselves sailing more with Royal because of the ships. They have become a destination.

I believe (as I recall from last cruise) it is part of the "fisherman's platter".

Juniors Mom & Dad would probably sue you for filming the little angel, with out their permission.

 

In our society they would win!:(

 

Reader

Good point.... I hadn't thought about that....

We have had a promenade view cabin on the Mariner class ship. I thought it was fairly quiet. You could hear something going on, but it wasn't bad enough, in my opinion, to be disturbing. Just enough noise to let you know that the parade must have started. Did not go on too late. I guess it depends upon how light a sleeper the young ones are. My husband and I went to bed fairly early on that trip and I dont recall it bothering either of us at the time

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/shared_assets/pdf/menus/beverage-flyer-general-v4.pdf

This link might help. Not sure what brands of sparkling wine are offered.... but it appears that sparkling wine of some type is offered

Perhaps the time has come for us old farts to learn from the young and get that cell phone out and film the problem. From what some of the people posting, I am sure that headquarters would be shocked to see what is going on. Perhaps if you took video not to guest services, but asked to see someone in charge... you would get somewhere. Seems like everyone under 20 is filming everything.... Just a thought for the future.

One more thought on double wide stroller. On the first and the last day of the cruise, luggage fills the hall making use of a larger stroller virtually impossible, since many people put their luggage out before early dining. Also, when I was on the Oasis, the WJ seemed to be more crowded than I recalled other ships... tables are on top of each other making passage for one, between tables a bit tight... forget about navigating with a double stroller. Another thought is how your cabin is configured. If you are in a regular cabin, it would be better to have the bed by the window/porthole/balcony... so that you can get any stroller into the cabin. I am not sure what people do who need a scooter. It is tight for any additional mode of transport.

Pricing of a cruise can be very tricky. It is difficult to get a good deal. They say 50% off.... but off of what.... sometime the gross price has changed.... there are different discounts for different things sometimes they are combinable.

Here is what I do now. I pick several cruises that appeal to me. I go onto the Royal Caribbean website... to a search... check the sr box, add residency info and C&A number ... and then go to the cruise I am interested in and select a cabin.... one that appeals to me.

On a spreadsheet I enter gross price and list each of the discounts and port charges. I

then come back when there is a sale to see how price compares.

Bottom line. If you can get an ocean view balcony cabin on Oasis Class ship for less than $800/person. That is a good price. So when a sale comes around and I see that I can get it for around that price... time to decide if I want to go or not.

A few observations from being such an anal person. Gross cruise prices seem to vary and I do not understand why. Recently I noticed that the C&A balcony discount went from $225 to $200. Not sure if this is just a one time error... but something I noticed.

I have not used a travel agent, so I may be missing an opportunity to do better. Any points of view on that? When I have called in directly to RCCL the agents have been helpful in finding me the best price (at that time).... sometime the resident discount was better than other discounts. Also it seems that they may have better access to knowing cabin availability than what they should on the website. For example my husband has trouble walking so I prefer a cabin near stern elevator on Oasis class. Nothing showed up on the website... but the agent found one. One comment. It is difficult to know when talking to agent if you are getting a good deal. There are so many numbers taht they throw around. This is where doing work ahead of time helps you recognize a good deal or not. Just some thoughts.

Thanks for the info re: Solarium Bistro. I think we will like the health orientation (I saw the menu on line). It's my mom and I, so we don't need romance, but quiet and nice sunset are a plus for us.

 

FYI the menus for the two restaurants are quite different. Sabor is Mexican food. And people have raved about the table side-made guacamole, hence the reference to ripe avocados. No ripe avocados=no fresh guacamole.

 

Sounds like both are a good option for us to opt for in the moment. Info is much appreciated.

Oh, now that makes sense. I did not realize that. This trip will be our first on the Allure. I love the Oasis Class ship but my only real complaint is the lack of ocean views in public areas. Eg the Schooner and other bars and specialty restaurants. Our habit is to schedule specialty restaurant on the first night around sunset... so that limits our choice. It was a nice way to start the cruise... particularly since the specialty restaurants tend to be quiet the first night. This trip we are trying one of the dinner packages, so we do not know where we we eat night one. Have a good cruise

We had a rainy day on the Allure and it did not seem crowded at all. The promenade had more people at times, but a lot of people seem to stay in their cabins. The WJ was crowded at peak times, but if you went later for lunch, it wasn't crowded at all. The CD added an extra Trivia game and that helped. It was a sea day, too, so there were already a lot of activities planned.

That is good to know. On other RCCL ships we used to go to the Viking lounge to read and look out at the view on rain filled days. Fortunately there were not many of them.

I had the same concern after being on the Freedom class. But I noticed that the Oasis had more elevators and that most seem to be larger. I really think that helped to move people and keep things from getting too bottled up. Central Park and the Boardwalk are on different decks and that seems to help keep people spread out. We are not pool people, so I can not comment on the pool deck. My only question is how crowded is the ship if the weather is bad? Considering how much of the ship is outdoor. But our last cruise had perfect weather.

I was surprised how disperse 6000 passengers were. I have to say that up to this point my favorite class was the Radiance class. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. If walking is an issue.... I suggest a cabin near the stern elevators... very quiet.... but the main dining room, schooner bar and access to boardwalk, central park and the promenade are all an elevator ride away. Now the fitness and spa areas are up in the bow...

A few things missing from Oasis class.... is the Viking lounge... with its panoramic views... is now for the suites....

the elevators might be an issue as well. I believe that the elevators on the Oasis class ship might be a bit larger than other ships.... but I am not sure how easily you will be able to get into an elevator. Good thing you are checking in advance.

We enjoyed the Solarium Bistro last fall. I didn't have a particular need for avacados, so no idea if they had an issue. It was fairly empty. We did enjoy it and frankly if I want a crowd I can go to the main dining room. It is one of the few places where you have a bit of a view. It was nice to have diner around sunset in a restaurant that was fairly quiet. Was actually a bit romantic....The menu is more health oriented, so you need to keep that in mind. I don't think reservations would be necessary based on the one time we ate there. I am not sure how the menus for the Solarium Bistro or Sabor compare... since I have not been to the Sabor....

Have you signed up for the meet n mingle event on this cruise. You might check into that. It is a way of meeting others who will be on the same sailing. .... share notes.

We are going in Sept on Allure. We did Oasis last fall. I have to admit I was hesitant to go on a large ship. I found the Freedom class to be a bit too large. But Oasis class is so well designed it does not feel crowded. I think that is because they have a few more elevators and they seem to be a bit larger. My husband had leg surgery not long ago and stairs are just not an option for him. with Central Park, the board walk and promenade being on different decks... it spreads out the crowds. Now if it is a rainy day, that might be different... but Oasis class is perfect for the Caribbean. Now one thing... the ship is internally focused, so having an ocean view cabin is a good idea. Smaller ships like the Radiance are more externally oriented with ocean views from many if not most public areas.

We have not done Disney cruises. Frankly we do not have children and are not into characters. There is such a diverse group of people on the Oasis class. With the combination of sports/physical activities and nice separation from areas focused on children's activities from adult activities.. it works very well for a wide range of people.

Have a good cruise

I like the idea of being able to pay for a package of say 10-15 drinks for a price that saves you say 15-20% vs buying one at a time. That way you could use your drinks over the course of the cruise. You save something by pre paying, but total drinks more in line with moderate drinker... if you choose you could burn it up one day or use a couple a day over the week cruise.

I agree... with the idea that if I purchase an all you could drink package... well I would feel obligated to not just break even... but be ahead... i.e. drunk.

I wonder if packages like this are linked to some issues with problem passengers... dancing on the balconey tables and taking a header off the side