Beth C

Looking at booking 10201... what was the shower configuration?

On 11/29/2018 at 9:06 AM, Schoifmom said:

I still would argue that it's all about expectation management.  Research the ship, know what to expect of the cabins and amenities.  Since you say that this cruise is more about relaxation, I think you will be fine.  Enjoy the Serenity deck, go to a comedy show, have a little fun in the casino.  

I agree as well about the expectation management.  I did the Oasis Inaugural cruise as my first time ever on a ship followed by Grandeur of the Seas - a life boat in comparison.  Went into the Grandeur cruise knowing it didn't have all the bells and whistles of the Oasis but did find myself comparing the 2 ships constantly... that said it was still a great vacation escape 🙂

I wonder how many cancellations they've actually had on this cruise? We're still going, just curious!

I’m guessing quite a few... casino is sending out these offers... too bad Air is $984 return lol

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Thanks for the info, but what do you do with 20 pairs of shoes for a week cruise? My wife and I carry maybe 7 or 8 pairs total.

Lol was a case of a really good deals at the outlets in Orlando pre-cruise. I could easily go with a set of flip flops and sneakers for the week but I know many who would easily pack 10 pairs a person so good info for them [emoji6]

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So I was assigned 3858 cabin via a GTY and was more than happy due to the curiosity of the L shape. I found this cabin A LOT more spacious than other interiors with standard issue storage space but the bonus of the L shaped hallway provided much more. (lined shoes up along left handed wall coming in - easily had 20 pairs and still weren't to the corner... stored suitcases standing up in the corner of the L as well) I have always had cabins in the forward area of Oasis class ships but this aft location wins hands down.

The cabin is tucked away from the main elevator area but extremely convenient for exactly that reason. Hop in the elevator or up the stairs and you're at the casino, Royal Promenade, Boardwalk, Central Park, Windjammer etc. Turn right at the entrance to your cabins and you're at the top of the escalator to get off the ship in port.

When you open the door to your cabin you're facing a "long" (relatively speaking for cruise ships) hallway and hang a left to the cabin. Attached photo shows was taken from the corner towards the door.

When you turn left at the corner on your immediate right is the standard bathroom - vanity with sink, toilet and stand up tube shower. I did find this cabin seemed to have a bit more floor space than other Oasis class cabins i've been in before. Directly ahead of you is the TV/Desk with the beds behind them and the sliding door closet flush to the bathroom and a long 3 person sofa (does NOT pull out)

The one drawback with the cabin is the television set up. You can easily watch from the sofa and the bed next to it but if the beds are separated the person in the desk side bed can barely see the TV even turned at its furthest angle.

In 70 days at sea on Royal Caribbean the only true discount aka awesome deal I have managed to snag was our Hawaii repo in 2013 - was a price drop of $500pp (we had 5 cabins!) around 6pm which I was going to put off until I got off work but something told me to call right away... luckily I did because by 10pm the price was higher than my original booking. Being a group of 10 on that cruise it was a nice little savings :)

We too tried Carnival last year after being Royal junkies for the last 5 yrs. I chose Breeze as my first too - she's no Oasis or Allure but no other ship is! There were a few things that weren't my fav on Carnival... Not a huge fan of the atrium - definitely prefer the promenade concept more. But apples to apples they're more similar than they are different!

Carnival couldn't have been too bad - we're heading out in 3 weeks for a B2B totalling 21 days on the Glory [emoji6]. The 1st 10 days are on a phenomenally amazing aka can't NOT go casino offer and decided to tag on another 11 because of the deal lol

We did a Royal Caribbean 13 night Hawaiian in late April and I think there were 5 kids on board total - all homeschooled siblings. There's definitely no risk of you having 750 kids again that's for sure.

Since you seem to have a bit of flexibility - having flown to HNL in one day from eastern Canada (last stop for the jumbos before heading over the pond to Heathrow lol) I would highly recommend going 1/2 way or so, staying the night and heading to Hawaii direct the following day.

We only had a 6 hr time difference and found it hard to adjust so can only imagine how difficult an additional 4 or 5 hrs depending on the date would be.

I would either divide it up into 4 flights or be the person who actually books that "horrendous" flight with a 18hr layover you always see and wonder who in their right mind would book lol

As someone who travels with someone who requires a mobility scooter another reason NOT to leave scooters in hallways is because on the majority of ships it's near impossible for 2 scooters to pass in a hallway (same goes for luggage, housekeeping carts etc).

The purpose of scooters is for maintaining some independence... totally defeated if you're attempting to get to your cabin only to find the hallway blocked :(

I'm totally able bodied and at some times could have used a scooter on Oasis and Allure... I say go for it!

Depends on when you go, cabin class, and when you book. You can't compare what it costs now as it's not on sale now.

What royal cruise 10+11 night costs $7000?

Interior cabins on both - late Jan/early Feb Serenade southern Caribbean cruises compared to Jan 23/Feb 2 Carnival Glory... I booked Glory [emoji6]

I too agree that the mass market cruise lines are definitely more similar than different. I have done my time on Royal Caribbean, NCL and recently ventured into Carnival land. Was pleasantly surprised that they were an amazing bang for my hard earned buck.

Currently have booked a 10 night southern caribbean Carnival Journeys cruise and most likely going to add on an 11 night onto it because the price is right and I can tick a lot of boxes off on my places to see list. Comparatively to do similar 10+11 night around the same dates to many of the same ports on Royal Caribbean would cost in the $7000 range for 2... If I booked the carnival 2 today it would be under $3000. There is absolutely no way you can make me believe that the Royal experience is worth $4000 more.

I'm willing to bet a lot of these 4J cabins are booked with exactly this hope in mind. Unfortunately for those of us who require the accessible cabins this makes the whole cruise planning process much more difficult and have to spend hours on the phone with carnival hunting down cabins.

How long after booking a premier with casino cash did you all receive the info in the mail? We travel in a group of 3 and usually share a cabin but one received a free cabin/no cash and I received discounted cabin with $700 cash so was 'cheaper overall' to book a 2 person and a solo. There's nothing in my solo reservation to indicate this is a premier booking or the amount of cash to be had. Needless to say a little nervous that i'll get on board and they'll be "huh, cash? don't know what you're talking about" lol

Depending on the deal you 2 are each offered it may be more beneficial to split up for booking purposes then go to guest services and relocate once on board.

2 of us in our normal travelling group get casino offers but share a cabin. For our next cruise we're tentatively booking we're each offered comped interiors and 10% off additional cabins so we'll split up and get 2 comped cabins and 1 at 10% rather than 1 comped and 2 at 10%.

Since no locals have responded I will :) I've driven it a few times, this past year we dropped off at MIA and got the shuttle to the port. It's a pretty easy drive from the Westin Beach resort to MIA - just make your way back out to the 95 (follow the FLL airport signs - you pass by it) and go straight down the 95S and follow the signs to MIA. The most difficult part of your trip will be finding the entrance to the Westin Beach Resort LOL

This is the one area Carnival is lacking in their online bookings... the other major cruises lines make life soooooo much easier with being able to check off that little wheelchair icon and eliminate any sailings that don't have availability.

Unfortunately the only option is to call and rhyme off a bunch of cruises and cabin categories and get them to search for you if you don't happen to get lucky and have one come up online yourself. Call directly to the access department rather than the main booking people though, they can sometimes "magically" make one appear!

Google your ship name accessible cabins and there's a site which lists all the accessible for every ship, whether they're modified or fully accessible and any limitations (i.e. a bunch of cabins on one carnival ship (can't remember which) have 5" lips into the bathroom!?!?)

Holiday flights can be insane prices... I have friends who sail over the holidays every year and it's crazy what they pay. Their flights over christmas cost more than my B2B (13 nights) cruise, airfare, 2 nights hotel and car rental combined a month later.

As a former loyal to Royal cruiser now that i've expanded my horizons i'm shocked at the price differences in cruises. Our upcoming 10 night Southern Caribbean Journeys Glory cruise came in at just under $1400 for 2 in an inside. A similar itinerary 11 night southern caribbean cruise departing the same weekend on a comparable age ship with Royal Caribbean is $4000 for an interior guarantee.

People claim Royal Caribbean is a "better product" but there's no one that can convince me that it's 300% better! Royal has priced themselves out of my market...

No one watches for deals more than I do, trust me. I did see where I could switch to a guarantee room for $230 less on one of the cruises but I would be giving up ES, I would go from an inside on deck 8 to more than likely an inside on deck 1. That is not a deal. That is paying for a higher category then downgrading.

 

What deck is your other friend on. Big difference in price from a 4A to a 4G inside.

We booked deck 6 at that price - that's what I quoted last night price at with an assigned cabin

Yes, but since you mentioned casino cash thrown in, you cannot compare the price of your cruise for $798 for 2 for 10 days to others.

 

Those of us that do not gamble pay full price. I am on the Glory for 10 days and our price is $1600 for 2 for an inside. Big difference there!

You need to watch the deals - i'm paying $798 as a solo before casino cash... another in our group without any casino perks are paying $1381 all in for 2 in an inside on the same Glory cruise! The current price is $1501 for an inside so send in for a price adjustment and get some OBC :)

As a relative newbie to cruising the prices have become quite reasonable in the past few years depending on which cruise line itinerary and ship you choose. Our first cruise was 7 night Oasis of the seas at an insane price of $1800pp for an inside... The past couple years we've sailed for double the length and at a 1/4 to 1/2 of the price.

This years upcoming Glory Journey cruise - solo for 10 nights was only $798 + fees... Can't beat that (and a nice little pot of casino cash thrown in sweetens the deal immensely).

You're right - I hadn't considered the guarantees that haven't been assigned. :(

 

I also expect Carnival may reconsider the "journey" cruises if they have to offer them dirt cheap. One website (no idea how accurate it is) indicates that 68% of cabins are still available on the 1/14 cruise, but only 36% on the 1/3 sailing.

 

Time will tell. We'll book them if we can get them both at a great deal (maybe $40pp/pd). The dates & itineraries make no difference to us, but we want a longer cruise on a non-playlist ship.

If you're looking at the fish's categories % for these percentages above - this isn't the % of available cabins on the ship but the % of categories with cabins available.

For example say there's 4 categories (there's a lot more but for simplicity's sake) inside, OV, Balc, Suite. If all suites are booked then it'll show 75% available even if there is only one of each inside, OV and balcony left they will each still each count as each of the 25% of categories available. Theoretically it may could only be 1 inside cabin, 1 OV, 1 Balcony and no suites.

Also - as you stated there's a max # of cabins showing in each category... if there's 10 showing there could be 200 available but there also could be only 11.

Moral of the story - don't go by the % listed on the site... definitely not an accurate representation of cabin availability and that its a complete crap shoot on what's actually available LOL When you hit the sweet spot for pricing BOOK... never know what will happen :)

We've been receiving casino offers non stop lately - we haven't had a next cruise booked until this week. I hope I was no where near the 5000 pt mark on the last one :eek: but my partner in casino crime's lips are sealed about hers. We travel with a non-casino go'er and generally book a cabin for 3.

With the current deals we managed to put them in one cabin for port fees & taxes, myself solo (whohooo a real bed!!) in a second cabin at a slightly discounted casino rate. Overall cost for the 3 of us in 2 cabins was about $1200 BUT i'm getting $700 casino cash... 10 nights for 3 of us... $500 overall... SOLD!

I post pictures of my room for every ship I've been on with that site and have found that people will post that a particular room is an interior when really it's an oceanview. I started thinking there for a minute that the rooms on Carnival that had a port hole were actually what they considered an "interior". :p I guess they don't monitor the site enough to correct when people put it under the wrong category? :confused:

There are varying interiors on Carnival... a classification of interior with porthole as well as interior with walkway view. I have the latter on my cruise this weekend. It's classified as an interior (read cheap!) but has a full picture window that looks out to the front of the ship. They can't classify it as ocean view because you essentially see the ocean way out at the horizon not directly out the window.

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1749810&page=2