Tam Tam

How far out is your sail date? Twice in the past year we booked a Nellies Beach cabana online but we booked them a year before our sail date. If they are available online they sell out quickly so I would recommend that you check back often to see if they are available. If not, I would head to the excursion desk as soon as you board the ship! The cabanas really add to the experience and we have really enjoyed them.

We also booked ours a year out. After reading this, I'm glad I did.

I had a reservation booked for this hotel about 3 years ago. It was booked so far in advance that the credit card I used to hold the room expired. The hotel never contacted us about it and when we arrived to check-in, they had already given our room away (by noon.) We were shocked and they were unapologetic.

Needless to say, we will never stay there but found the Hyatt House on Stirling and have stayed every year since. They also have 2 bedroom suites with a full kitchen, free airport shuttle and breakfast.

Ususally it's the suite guests that are loud, ignorant, boisterous and obnoxious, not to mention glutinous and dressed like they are still at the beach......:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Wow, just wow.

This year our steward gave us a Royal Caribbean corkscrew to keep when we wanted to open our bottles of wine. We normally bring our own but forgot so this will now stay in our luggage. It was very appreciated.

According to Royal's schedule, it should be ready now.

Thank you! I've heard such rave reviews for Sabor that I was excited to see it added to Oasis. Looking forward to giving it a try the week of November 1.

Does anyone know if Sabor will be opening immediately after the refurb or not until March, 2015?

I called RCI and no one was able to answer. Shocking!

I'm watching for the same reason except we will be there in late April. I have read reviews by some people saying some opened up and maybe less reviews saying none did. Certainly worth asking. Since we have a sea day on teh way to Labadee, I might wait till then to ask. I have going anywhere near Guest Services on boarding day. Or would this be the Explorations desk?

I was able to reserve one (Nellie's) this past May for next May on the Independence.

When I did a search I came up with http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2008218&highlight=park+cafe+menu

Yep! I've lost about 70 pounds over the last year. Still have a bit to go to fit into all the new clothes I bought for our cruise! If I don't stick to my diet I'll have nothing to wear!

Congratulations! That is a real accomplishment. Good luck on your last few pounds.

Another pre-cruise dieter here! I think it helps me feel better about (justify) that late night slice of pizza or frozen drink. By the time the cruise comes along, I really look forward to any indulgence because I've been good for so long.

On our last Allure cruise we had a connecting cabin with a chair in place of a sofa. Although it gave us more room around our closet, we missed having the sofa and probably will avoid that in the future.

My mother has gone thru several small surgeries for her melanoma so my days in the sun are over yet my sister and her children (ages 16 and 22) still use a tanning bed often. It amazes me how people think things will never happen to them.

I just made 4 specialty dining reservations on the Oasis for November and immediately received email confirmation of the reservations.

Based on the recommendations from others here, I plan on using them twice for my cruise in May.

First time cruiser here, so usually how much cost for ""for any reason" trip insurance" per person, and which insurance company you choose? Thanks

We have used insuremytrip.com many times and usually go with the Global Alert plan. If you plan to purchase the "for an reason" insurance, you normally only have around 2 weeks after the date you booked the trip to purchase the insurance.

Very sorry about your family member. Hopefully things turn around for them and you are able to take your cruise and have a wonderful time. I have a 92 year old mother-in-law that lives 5 minutes from us so we always purchase the "for any reason" trip insurance.

I was a little confused exactly how the package worked and received the following email from Royal Caribbean.

Guests will have the opportunity to save up to 30% when reserving multiple specialty dining reservations. Guests can make three or more reservations at their favorite specialty restaurants before they sail using the new Cruise Planner and automatically receive onboard credit. Guests who make three or more reservations once onboard will receive a straight discount, instead of onboard credit, for the same amount. Three specialty dining reservations will receive 20% of the value in onboard credit or discount, four reservations will receive 25% of the value in onboard credit or discount and five plus reservations will receive 30% of the value in onboard credit or discount. The dining package discount is applicable to all specialty restaurants that take reservations. If reservations are cancelled after the onboard credit is posted, the discount amount will be altered accordingly. Onboard credit is applied on day one of the cruise and is given to the primary person on the cruise booking. Onboard credit applies only to food purchases (cover charges or a la carte) and is not combinable with any other offer.

Kids aged six to twelve now dine at our specialty restaurants for only $8.00, and children five and under eat free! Kids will now have their very own menu that will feature a fun selection of kid-friendly favorites from the regular menu as well. Guests that reserve on the Cruise Planner before sailing will have prices adjusted for kids once onboard.

Guests that eat at any of our specialty dining venues on the first night of their cruise will also receive an automatic 20% discount. The discount applies only to food purchases (cover charge or a la carte) and is not combinable with any other offer.

Royal Caribbean International's goal is to have all Cruise Planner reservations available on our Cruise Planner website at 90 days prior to sailing. However, due to logistical difficulties, we are not always successful in attaining this goal. Our supply teams are working very hard to continue to streamline this process for the convenience of our guests. In the meantime, we encourage you to take full advantage of the added value that is now being offered with these excellent improvements to Royal Caribbean International’s already world class dining experience.

Did you know about the new look of our Pre-cruise Planner site which is now "Cruise Planner"? We are excited to introduce it to you and invite you to explore the fresh and updated landscape of the Cruise Planner site.

The Cruise Planner is a remarkably helpful tool that allows our guests the convenience of booking onboard products and services prior to the start of their cruise vacation. Booking these products and services ahead of time allows our guests to remove these details from their "to-do list" once on board the ship, freeing them to enjoy their actual vacation rather than use vacation time for planning.

An exciting feature is that you can print your reservations from the Calendar view on your Cruise Planner site. This is a new feature that provides you with a daily listing of all activities and amenities for your cruise vacation. After you click on "Calendar" from the main Cruise Planner page, please select the printer icon at the top right hand corner of the Calendar heading to print.

You can access your Cruise Planner on our website, www.RoyalCaribbean.com, from the "Before You Board" tab and select your "Countdown to Cruise" site link or the "Cruise Planner" link from the drop down menu. For assistance with your Cruise Planner reservations, please contact our Cruise Planner Department at 1-800-398-9819 and an agent will be happy to assist you.

For what its worth, when I booked the Oasis back in January for a November 1 cruise, the RCCL customer service rep told me the Oasis would be getting both a Dog House and Margaritaville. I usually take these things with a grain of salt but I would be really pleased to see a Dog House.

On our last Allure cruise this past December there were a few tables set up outside the pub on the promenade either the last day or the day before selling those glasses in different colors and various plastic glasses.

Another WHBM fan here! I'm a major sale stalker and have quite a collection of their jewelry, tops and pants. I have never had a problem with their quality and would highly recommend them. Enjoy!

Tamie

Thank you so much to every one who posted positive comments about the Independence. Having only 3 Allure cruises and 1 Oasis cruise as our recent cruise experiences, I was already a little hesitant to book the Indy. Then I began to ready several bad reviews. But as I read the comments, I realized most of the complaints were things that normally wouldn't even make my radar or could easily be found on ANY ship. I now feel quite certain we will have a wonderful cruise (just on a slightly smaller ship...LOL.)

That is not too much luggage.

I think it's just about the minimum. :D

 

Have a great cruise.

Totally agree. I don't think I could make do with that little, especially to Alaska. Take what you feel YOU need and have a wonderful cruise.

We love deck 6 aft, the closer to the elevators the better! There is absolutely no noise from either the elevators (they are not as close as you think) or the shops on the Boardwalk. My only advice to you about that general area is some of the cabins balconies can look down on to life boats. That may or may not make a difference to you. You can look at pictures of the ship on the internet to see where they are if it matters to you.

We didn't sign up. We were invited. I couldn't believe it since it was our first cruise.

Same here. It was our first cruise and we were shocked. Also happened on our second cruise (a B2B) but with NCL. Very strange. Maybe its our name...LOL. ;)

Tamie

We had a reservation at this hotel 3 years ago that I had made several months in advance. I had to provide a credit card at the time I made the reservation which is not at all unusual. Upon check-in we were told our room had been given away because my credit card had expired (we had a new expiration date since making the reservation) and they said they called us but we did not answer. We did not answer because they called about 2 hours before we attempted to check-in and was on our flight down. The "ladies" at the front desk not only did not care that we were there with a legitimate credit card, they laughed at us and were quite loud with us about the whole situation. While I will say that we ended up getting a free room at the Fairfield across the parking lot, we will NEVER consider this hotel again and would hope no one would get this kind of treatment anywhere.

The following year we found the Hyatt House on Stirling/18th Ave. and have never looked back. We have stayed there every year since and love it.

Alex and Ani has a few cute styles. I bought these.

http://www.alexandani.com/nautical-expandable-wire-bangle.html

http://www.alexandani.com/cruise-ship-charm-bangle.html

They come in both gold and silver colors.