Sunshine-lady

DH and I are following you on this cruise.  We are looking forward to your pictures and posts.  We are sailing on Harmony in September, 2019.  It will be our first time on an Oasis Class ship.  It will be our first time also as "Diamond" members.  We hope you have a wonderful cruise, and enjoy the warm weather, while we freeze our "***es" off here....lol.

Dear husband and I are really enjoying all the Live reviews on Harmony. We are really looking forward to your review. We will be sailing on her for the first time, September, 2019. It will be our first "Diamond" cruise. It will also be our first time on this class of a ship. So, a lot of firsts. I wish we were on this ship, after reading who you will be seeing.... Michael Bolton. I absolutely LOVE him. His song, "Back on My Feet Again", really helped me. I was going through a lot of brain surgeries at the time that song came out, and it really touched home for me. He was supposed to perform in my town, and I was supposed to meet him, but his concert got cancelled. If you do get to see him, please post how it was, I would really appreciate it. We hope you really enjoy both your cruises, and we will be following all the way. Hope you have calm seas.

We have Harmony booked for September, 2019. This will be our first time on Oasis Class. Can you explain what the "Wow" band is? And also, does it cost anything to have it? Thanks in adance.

ADVENTURE: Clo O'Connor July 6 until early September. (then who?)

ALLURE: Jimmy Rhodes March 11 until August 12, then Mitch Merucci August 12 for 2 months.

ANTHEM: Dennis Charles May 12 until September 6, then Chris Brown September 6 for 4 months.

BRILLANCE: Mike Szwajkowski July 3 (for 2 or 4 months?)

EMPRESS: Hugo Arenas (need dates)

ENCHANTMENT: Bobby Broughton April 6 until early-September. (then who?)

EXPLORER: Topi Ylönen returns June 8 until July 27. (then, is Graham Seymour returning, or will it be someone else?)

FREEDOM: Drew Devine March 17 until July 28, then Topi Ylönen July 28 until September 29,followed by Drew Devine September 29 for 4 months.

GRANDEUR: Bob Leininger June 2 until October 6. Bob Leininger returns December 1 for another 4 month contract. (Will Mitch Merucci or Mike Szwajkowski be doing the fill-in from Oct 6 until December 1?)

HARMONY: Dru Pavlov April 21 until early-September (need handover date) then Abe Hughes early-September for 4 months.

INDEPENDENCE: Joff Eaton May 28 until September 22, then Tim Connor returns September 22.

JEWEL: Simona Ferraiuolo June 16 until August 19, then Andrea Olivieri August 19 for 4 months

LIBERTY: Jeff Arpin May 27 until July 22, then Marc Walker July 22 for 4 months.

 

MARINER: Carlos Torres July 9 for 2 months, then Ricky Matthews returns in September for 4 months

MAJESTY: Patricio Honores late-June until late-August (then who?)

NAVIGATOR: Rob McNally May 6 until late-August, then Cuddy Cudworth returns in late-August. (need handover date)

OASIS: Dan Whitney early May for 4 months. (then who?)

OVATION: Mike Hunnerup March 23 (until late-July? then who?) Joff Eaton returns November 28 for the Australian season.

QUANTUM: Is Fang Lixin is the current CD? Paul Rutter returns in the Fall (Sept/Oct) for a few months.

RADIANCE: Cuddy Cudworth June 15 for 2 months followed by John Blair in August until January. (need handover date)

RHAPSODY: Tim Connor June 23 for 2 months, then Elvis Pinto returns mid-August for 4 months. (need handover date)

SERENADE: Jamie Fentiman May 13 for 4 months. (then who?)

SYMPHONY: Michele Scarpato March 11 until late-July (need handover date) then Bobby Brown returns through the TA November 9

VISION: Steve Davis April 6 until August 6, then Ken Jones August 6 for 2 months, then Steve Davis returns in early October for 4 months.

VOYAGER: Michelle Oliveira began late-May (for 4 months?)

CDs who are no longer active on RCI ships:

Jerome Sueur is reportedly joining Carnival and getting married soon.

Keith Williams has been cleared to return from medical leave, but does not currently have a ship assignment.

Casey Pelterworks shoreside for Celebrity as Manager of Entertainment.

Graham Seymour is semi-retired but fills-in from time to time as needed

Rich Edwards sadly passed away in June 2017. RIP Rich.

John Perry is Operations Manager at Hyatt Hotels (per LinkedIn)

Ken Rush works at corporate in Miami as RCI's Director of Entertainment, and occasionally fills-in as CD

Amy Fickert-Southgate works shoreside

Luke Aerowsmith is working at the corporate office in London

Gordon Whatman is retired, but fills-in from time-to-time if needed.

Allan Brooks works for Celebrity in their corporate office.

Richard Spacey is a CD with Celebrity

Becky Thompson works for Celebrity Cruises in their corporate offices in Miami.

Dave Chapman is a CD with HAL

James Andrews is a real estate agent in Sydney

Leo Papa is a Product Manager at Tauck Corp in Connecticut

Anna Bass is a make-up artist

João Pereira is the Cruise Sales Manager on the Liberty of the Seas.

Kirk Detweiler is now CD with Silversea cruises.

Simeon Baker- is a sales exec at a Porsche dealer in Saskatchewan

Matt Baker - Sim's brother - is a radio presenter.

Kieron Buffrey - CD with Viking River Cruises

Tom Canosa - teaching 6th grade science in North Carolina

Peter Benfield and Johnny Osborne have emigrated to Thailand

Anthony Richards is working for Royal Media Partners as Manager PortRevenue Operations

Rico du Breil is a CD with SilverSeas out of Italy

Paul Lancaster is no longer with RCI, and resides in England

Abel Jeney is with The World - Luxury Residence at Sea

Parker Cristan is living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin -staging/choreographing for local theater

Ashley Kerr - married and living in Vancouver BC, working as a marketing rep for a PR firm

Karen Maybury - has a consultant/pr/entertainment agency

Jannie Cloete - leading expeditions on small ships

Warren Allen (aka Warren Melhuish) lives in Ontario, Canada. He has retired from ship-life but still works on the stage

Thomas DeCell is no longer with RCI

Leigh Xuereb and his AM Frankie Portera are CD's for Carnival

Thanks for taking back this thread. You do a tremendous job doing it. Also, LOVE the way you set up the format, with the ship names being in red. It is easy to read and easy to understand.... for all. Thank you VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!

If she likes the Miami Vice, try the "Love Connection". It is wonderful. Same as Miami Vice, except they put frozen Mango on top. Very yummy!!!!!

Looking forward to your review and pictures. We will be sailing on Harmony next May. It will be our first time on this size ship, so really looking forward to reading what you think.

Just got off Navigator in March. The Flow Rider is free. We have been on a number of cruises, and the Flow Rider has been on my bucket list. I finally got up the nerve to do the boogie board this past cruise. I am a bit on the older side, and I can say that it was pretty easy. I had a lot of fun doing it. The people with cruise line really help, and it's free. But, if you are wanting private lesson, there is a fee

Looking forward to reading one of your live reviews again. We will definitely be following this one. DH and I are sailing on Harmony in May, 2019. This will be our first time on one of the mega ships, so we are excited to see your pictures and read your perspective on this ship. Safe travels and happy sailing.:D

So, what was your opinion on the new menus?

So glad this question was asked. We are getting ready to go on our first B2B cruise in a couple of weeks. On the second leg of the cruise, we will be turning Diamond, a couple of days into the cruise. We called RC and asked a Customer Service Representative, and they told us that we "could" use our "Diamond" status. But reading this thread, it does seem kind of hard to get the perks right in the middle. So, I guess, there is a reason to book another cruise after we get off the ship and get our "Diamond" status.

I’ll help if I can....

 

Labadee is a beach day for us, so we just do the beach lounger for 2. It is overlooking adrenaline beach, and sometimes can be a bit windy, if you are looking to swim you can lay out by barefoot beach which is usually more crowded but the water is amazing there.

 

Aruba we also consider a beach day as it has the best white sandy beaches of the the ABCs. Eagle beach is closest to the ship and also quieter than Palm beach. Agree the bus is the way to go, right across from the port exit and a smidge to the right. Eagle is best for laying out and enjoying the water and palm is better for amenities, beach bars etc...but is also much busier as it has the high rise hotels. Honestly if it’s your first time, go to palm, rent some chairs and an umbrella for $30 near a beach bar and enjoy some Amstel Brights. There is no fee for the beach (or the palapas on eagle beach) as all beaches in Aruba are public. Don’t sweat catching the bus on the way back, cab is only $15...tip included and were plentiful.

 

In Curaçao, we did the Aquafari, located in pirate bay near piscdera. This was phenomenal, and I highly recommend. We got a cab there for around $15, and we had enough time after spending time in the beach to do some exploring while trying to find the bus stop back. We ended up walking to a nearby hotel, and the security guard pointed us to a paved walking trail that ran all the way along the ocean and directly to the cruise ship. It was an unexpected highlight of the day, we saw some really cool little houses like some that you would find in a little fishing village. It took about 40 minutes in total, so if you’re up for it, you can’t beat the view.

 

Bonaire...this is one of our favs. The past 2 times we have been there we rent the golf cart from Bonaire Cruisers, and explore on our own. We love it....went to the Cadushy Distillery, the flamingo sanctuary and ended off the day to the southern part of the island at Sorobon Beach resort. The people in Bonaire are simply fantastic, waving to us as we passed by in the golf cart always smiling and just Dushi in general. We made several pit stops for some Amstel brights while touring the island and had a phenomenal time.

 

As far as the Navigator...she is one of our favs, the crew on this ship are always smiling and they actually seem to enjoy their job. We spent a lot of time in the casino and at vintages and have nothing but positive things to say. The only negative I can even think of is that the quality of the food in the MDR for supper and in the jammer for breakfast seems to have plummeted. We did this cruise last year also, and were so shocked on how good the food was that we only booked specialty dining for 2 nights this cruise anticipating that they food would be the same. We are very easy to please, it hopefully this is only a temporary glitch, and the MDR and the Windjammer offering will be much better going forward. That being said, we ended up doing speciality dining for the remaining nights after 3 mediocre dinners.

 

Can’t think of anything else right now, but if I do I’ll chime in...

 

Cheers and enjoy your cruise!

Thanks so much for all the information. This will really help us decide on what we want to do in just 3 weeks.

Does anyone have the 5 day dinner menu from Navigator, or can you direct me to the place to read it? Thanks!

Does anyone know if the Beach across from the Airport is back open? Maho Beach?

DH and I are getting ready to cruise on Navigator, March of this year. We purchased the non Alcoholic drink package. This is the first time we have done this. We are both taking medications that prevent us from drinking alcohol:(, Oh Well. I like fruity drinks and frozen drinks. What are some good drinks (besides the Daiquiris and Pina Coladas) that we can get. Anyone have any good mixed drink suggestions? Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

Since the beginning of time, pre laptop days, dinner is and always will be an off limits time for doing work. Taking phone calls, conducting business, and generally ignoring others around you. That is rude. Business is conducted after dinner, where deals are made. It might include a cigar and Whiskey, but it is not at the dinner table. There is a time for work, and a time for business.

Thank you for the voice of reason. Had the kids not been running around looking at the screen, it may have been a emergency, but that put it over the top, Thanks again!

I would not take my laptop to MDR but everyone is different and if someone else did, I would find it strange but not necessarily rude. You get all kinds on a ship and I am not going to impose my sense of etiquette on others.

 

On one cruise (A transatlantic), I took my books and laptop and I did spend time doing some work. Not in the dinning room but elsewhere on the ship. I very much hope nobody passed judgement for me to be seen with a pile of books and a laptop.

You had the common sense to not do it at dinner and have the Kids parading back and forth. What rights do the other diners have, None? I find what the OP said in his original post to be Rude to the other people at the table and stand by the statement. Have a good day.

Maybe they were all reviewing what they did that day and just reliving it.

At the dinner table? If so, that was really rude. That is why you have a cabin and the ship has a library and all the open decks. Sorry, I don't think anyone has the right to affect your time on your vacation in a negative manner. Have a great day.

I do agree that seeing someone working on a laptop at the MDR may raise fellow cruiser’s curiosity, but I don’t necessarily agree that it would be considered rude unless others are being bothered by the lit screen or audio. Plenty of people have working dinners or lunches at restaurants on land, even at fine dining establishments.

 

With all of that said, I am not going to judge those who must work on vacation and who unfortunately must be glued to a laptop. For many years, my wife had an extremely demanding, high pressure, high stress corporate job with tight deadlines. Although this job provided the means for us to pay our bills and even go on vacation, it also demanded a lot of time that should’ve otherwise been spent as a family. Those with this type of job know that being on vacation doesn’t mean that you get to disconnect from work. Deadlines still need to be met, and your company doesn’t care how you get the job done as long as (sometimes unrealistic) goals are met. And they don’t care if a deadline happens to conflict with family time at dinner.

 

My wife was guilty of taking work on vacation with us more than once. Although she never took her laptop to the MDR, she did take it with her to other venues around the ship, and even on shore excursions. She believed that, even if she needed to work on a project that had a deadline right in the middle of an activity on the ship, at least she could be physically present with us and partially enjoy the vacation. This option seemed more appropriate than staying behind while the rest of the family enjoyed the vacation without her.

 

Many times, she felt tortured because she was required to choose between work time and family time. If work was neglected, then our family finances were neglected. It wasn’t a good place to be but unfortunately one that we found ourselves in, and one which many other families face these days.

 

Long story short, the demands and high pressure of her job finally took a toll on her health and she was forced to make the tough decision to leave a career that she’d had for 15 years. Fortunately by then, I had advanced enough in my career to minimize the financial impact that the elimination of her career would have, as long as we made some adjustments.

 

We are now in a much better place, and what we lost financially, our family has tremendously gained in other blessings that can’t be measured in dollars. But for many years, we couldn’t see a different path than the one that we had taken.

 

Because I personally know how hard it is to find oneself in that position, I can’t judge others who still find themselves trapped in the demands of a high energy and high pressure job and who must power up their laptop at inopportune times on vacation. I don’t personally know what their own responsibilities or career demands are. All I can hope for is that they can eventually find a way to break free from that type of life.

 

Some may consider a laptop at the MDR to be bothersome, rude or distracting. But I personally consider it more rude and self righteous to judge someone who may find themselves in a position where they feel forced to take work with them, even to dinner.

 

 

 

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As has been pointed out by many, the KIDS were making several trips to look at the screen. This is Rude in almost all circles. It wouldn't have ruined my cruise because I would have left after telling the Waiter why. Unless the kids were giving work advice, I am gone.

 

For those who are interested, I was able to purchase a drink card yesterday. $86 for 10 drinks. As long as I don't use it to buy a soda I think I have made out with a fairly good deal. .

On what day did they have this deal, and how did you find out about it? We sail the same itinerary in just 9 short weeks. Very excited about this cruise. We are really enjoying your review.

Looking forward to your review. We sail in just 9 short weeks (3/16/18), WE can't wait. Enjoy your cruise and the warm weather. We are having a heat wave.... 10 degrees...... YUCK!!!!!:eek:

We can't thank you enough for posting this review with the pictures. We are doing this cruise in March and this helps to hold us over. Thanks again!

We are really enjoying your review of this cruise. My husband and I were supposed to be on this cruise with all of you, but unfortunately, I had 3 surgeries in one month, :(and had to cancel. We were able re-book for the March 16 cruise on Navigator. So, we are enjoying your thoughts and opinions on this cruise. We are really enjoying all the pictures. Thanks for the great review.

Don't have a picture, but always get a "Love Connection"!!!! Yum!!!!!!:D

We are scheduled to cruise on Navigator of the Seas on March 16, 2018, and return the 25th. We are trying to find flights home from our cruise. We found a flight out of Miami leaving at 10:00 a.m. Is that doable? Or should we try a later flight. Thanks for any suggestions

While the mega ships are definitely not my favorite, I do think it is worth trying. I had ruled it out for many years until I was convinced to at least try, and I'm glad I did. There are some really neat features on Oasis class that are worthwhile experiencing.

 

Thanks for following - I'm glad you came back after your trip to the beach to catch up! :cool:

LOVED reading your review. DH and I LOVE the smaller ships also. We love the Freedom and Liberty. We are getting ready to sail Navigator. We are wanting to sail the Allure or Oasis. The only question is, do you have to make reservations for "EVERYTHING"? And, what I mean, is, for the shows? How far in advance do you have to make reservations? And, what if you just eat in the dining room every night? WE usually eat at the early seating. Is that the same, on this class of ship?