PATRLR

Interesting. Yet you'vehad the time to post on average three times a day, every single day for the last 17.5 years. Yep, I know all I need to know, you've answered my question.

Or, they may love it and leave the bed to you!

"form of cyber bullying"? Really? I suspect victims of actual cyberbullying (or any bullying) would disagree. But, I'll play along. If complaints are a form of cyberbullying, then aren't your "everything is just fine" posts along with your cruise line sponsored "live" reports equally a form of cyberbullying? And what does that make your multiple posts of the brown water from your stateroom sink?

FWIW, I learned this in the roll-call for our Viva cruise: The excursion to JVD was listed under excursions in the App, but not listed under excursions on the web. In fact, there were a bunch of excursions on the app that were not available on the web. So, check the app if you haven't already done so.

Any chance you might actually answer my question? (Although I suspect the answer you already gave tells me pretty much all I need to know)

I agree and I base my opinion on what we see when sailing and able to look at other ships. For us it's more about having that big window and the ability to open the door and not feel claustrophobic.

Is this video showing a standard-sized balcony? Should we expect a similar size balcony on our coming Oasis trip? This looks quite a bit larger than a typical NCL balcony, my most recent point of reference. ("quite a bit larger" meaning maybe 18-24" deeper. With balconies as small as they are 2' is a lot)

I'm just curious - if the menu says rib-eye and they serve you sirloin on multiple occasions, do you also write that off to carelessness? At what point does repeated mistakes become something other than carelessness?

One thing I have learned over the past few years is that most large companies' customer service staff often give bad information.

thank you everyone for the help. I see no way to make MTD reservations. Then I noticed on the app that it says I have 7:30 PM seating. What is frustrating (and this seems to be a theme) is the web seems to be telling me something different the app. The picture below is on my cruise docs, so I assumed I got the MTD I requested. But perhaps not. My guess is that an asterisk is significant but I can't find anywhere what it means (probably means MTD requested which we did). So, as soon as we board (we have the 10:00 - 10:30 slot) we go straight to a dining room, make Specialty Dining reservations, beg for MTD and then make those reservations if they concede to my groveling 😉 . Any other advice?

@firefly333 thank you for your response. And to be clear, as soon as I board I should not only make the specialty dining reservations, I probably should also make MTD reservations too, right? I assume all can be done at the same place?

First RCCL cruise since 2009 - lots has changed no doubt. We're on Oasis August 20, 2023 sailing. Right now I'm trying to figure out dining. We have purchased the 3-night dining package. I see they made a courtesy reservation and I understand that is hardly ever used. I was still curious as to exactly which venue it made the reservation in but I don't see that. Further, I only see that reservation on the web version of the calendar, not the app version. The app will allow me to make reservations at specialty restaurants, but, it wants me to pay for the dinner. Is it safe to say that with the 3-night package, I can only make reservations to use purchased package when I get on the ship? We have MTD for the other nights. Again - do I have to wait until I'm on the ship to make reservations for MTD? And just how important is making reservations for MTD? We will be a party of 2 that tends to like to eat a bit later, 7:00-7:30PM would be a sweet spot for us. On NCL we never make reservations for MDR and typically never have to wait more than a few minutes. Thanks for your help. Looking forward to our first RCCL cruise in 14 years (wow!).

I know there are lots of hotel questions, mine is a bit more focused: We're scheduled to arrive at 6:30 PM, and embark the following morning on Viva (Pan America pier). So we just want a good clean room and bed and a good restaurant either in the hotel or very nearby. Courtyard Miramar seems to fit the bill. There is a Hyatt nearby and Caribe Hilton nearby too. Courtyards in the US typically do NOT have decent restaurants, but that tends to be different outside the states. Any feedback on those options, or other suggestions?

We just booked Viva in December and I see nothing to JVD on the NCL excursions. I was hoping to hear of something more contained than 2 taxis and a ferry each way. But, may be looking for your experiences after you get back in October if you actually do this.

I get it. Vibe is not for you, @graphicguy. It's not for the Birds either. But it most definitely is for me, and for @vacation44 per their post above. Some love it, some don't, most are probably ambivilent. To each his own, it's all good.

And what does all that have to do with "steerage areas" which is what YOU wrote and I commented on? We get it, Bird sees no value in Vibe. You've made that very clear any time you can. I disagree and our disagreement should be no problem. That also shouldn't prevent me from commenting to keep the discussion on topic.

Wow. I don't think I've ever hard Vibe described as rowdy. I know you explained yourself in a later post, and I get that the crowd around the bar might throw off an aura - but rowdy? I suspect not the norm. OP wasn't looking for an escape from steerage, they were looking for an escape from kids. Based on the number of posts complaining about Haven kids being where they shouldn't be (and the entitled parents that promote same), and based on my experience with access enforcement in Vibe, I'd argue that Vibe does indeed have value. Especially when the incremental cost is compared to the overall cost for Haven.

Haven't been on RCCL in quite a few years now. Going in a few weeks and something like this will be a huge issue for us. My question is, are there alternative bathrooms available to steerage class like us? Looking at the map of the island, it looks like if you want to just hang out at a beach, that's where you are going to be?

@PGHProducer I second the recommendation of calling and talking to Steve. I've talked to Steve and he's not a real fan of annual policies.

Oh puuhhlease - It's a cost cutting move, plain and simple. If they wanted to hire enough people, I have no doubt they could. They might have to pay more, we might have to pay more, but if that's the case, then we should. Don't try to blame this on anything other than NCL making cuts to save money.

I've read through the replies here a couple of times. It appears that generally speaking MTD would NOT be shared tables, but, it is possible. Chances are as a couple you eat alone, but no guarantees. We are waitlisted for the 7:30 PM seating. Sounds like if we get that, there is a very good chance of a shared table? We've met a lot of fun enjoyable people sharing a dinner table, but at this specific point in our lives, I'm thinking we'd be happier not sharing. It sounds like I should remove myself from the 7:30 waitlist.

I would be against including the insurance automatically. Besides the obvious fact that NCl's insurance sucks, there are times when I choose to self-insure and don't want to be forced to pay money for insurance I feel I don't need. There are plenty of times I do buy insurance and when I do, my specific needs are likely different from others. So again, I'll pay for what I need, others pay for what they need.

As stated, some of us go back further. Arpanet for me. But usenet was really the first timesink "social media" for me. Remembering the alt.* groups 😉

I can't confirm. It's an encouraging update, if it's true. I keep hearing about seating problems in that venue, so, that would mean NCL is listening. Good sign if true.

Or, more likely they thought it best if those hellions from the mid-west were home earlier 😉 Actually, it was 10:00 as I remember it too and I'm on the east coast.