sandym718

We sail Sept 27 and 30th 2024, B2B. We did Atlantis in 2022 but we're taking my nephew this time and wanted to do it again with him. For many months, the only RCL excursions to Atlantis included dolphin swims, etc. I was *Just* about to buy day passes through the resort last month when I checked one more time. Lo and behold...there was the regular Aquaventure excursion. That was Aug.21, so just over a month before our sailings. No idea why it wasn't on there before. My reasoning for booking thru RCI.... we did the RCI excursion in May 2022 and we were happy. Met the group in the theater. Walked out and lined up, walked down pier to bus area. This took a little while but not crazy long. We had pre-signed our waivers and got into the resort quickly. Very few lines and we did everything we wanted to multiple times. Spent about 4 1/2-5 hours in the park if I remember right. Caught the bus (excursion, not local) back right outside the entrance. We probably could have stayed a little later, had time to shop a little at the pier, but we wanted to allow plenty of time. This time around- day pass is $195 and has a 48 hour prior cancellation policy. Sounded to me like transportation to/from would be from $5-10 pp each way. Even at $5, that takes cost to $205 minimum. The RCI price is $219 including transportation. For us, the $14 is well worth it to be able to cancel for weather or not pay if we don't dock for some reason. And for the security of "ship won't leave without us" (assuming we get to the bus of course!). I have heard you can get a little extra time going on your own, but for us we prefer the security over that.

Was the chocolate fountain at lunch or just dinner?

For me it looks like I can cancel but not modify. Scared to do that without knowing what is available. Understand that. But we would have NO issue making show times or any activities 9 pm or later. Have never been in the dining room longer than 90 minutes let alone 2 full hours. We don't drink at dinner and we don't really linger there. We don't rush but 90 minutes is plenty for us. We prefer shows after dinner but early dining is just too early. I don't want to rush after ports especially. We may just go the no reservations route for the shows and see/sit what we can. But I'm going to try calling first. I know we're going to do Playmakers one night and maybe WJ one night so could probably do shows then. Thank you! 5 1/2 hours, that's REALLY crazy...and I'm sure not even possible. I'm going to call tomorrow and see what they say. I can kind of see 9 being blocked out with 7 pm dining, but not 9:30.

Thank you! I might try to call. I'm scared to cancel any because I can't see what's available now and I don't want to get stuck with something really late or nothing at all.

Hoping maybe someone will have a suggestion on how best to handle this. We are on a B2B on Utopia in September. Have MTD and reservations for all 7 nights at 7 pm. Shows aren't up for booking yet but the Escape room is. Won't allow me to book a 9:30 time slot. I think this is because MTD shows for 2 hours. While the Escape room is at 9:30, which is definitely do-able, it looks like it's "slotted" at 9 pm. So I guess they're saying you can't have one reservation end and another start at the same time? I know we never spend a full 2 hours in the dining room and would have no issue getting to another activity at 9:30 pm, 2 1/2 hours later, but the system won't allow it. We haven't encountered this before but I'm pretty sure our last cruise, our MTD dining reservations were at 6:45 which was probably just enough to not conflict with show reservations. Is there a way to change our current MTD time? I'm not seeing one in the app or on the website. Anyone know if the shows are all "slotted" a half hour earlier than they actually start? Am I going to run into this when shows are released where I can't book anything for 9:30? I'm not overly worried about the Escape room, we could always book a completely different time or before dinner maybe. But I hate to have no access to any 9:30 pm shows. We plan to eat in the Main Dining room every night, other than 1 night at Playmakers. That could be a last minute decision as to when though...might need to catch a baseball playoff game 😉 Thanks for any help!

Thank you! I had looked a few days ago (maybe longer than that) and couldn't find anything online. Looks interesting. Too bad our college student won't be on this trip with us. The one on Oasis was really good, she did most of the harder stuff lol

Thanks for doing this Live! We're on B2B in September so I'm very curious to hear about turnaround day. Is there an Escape room and is it up and running? Would also love to hear if you come upon any "quiet" spots to get some sun. We spent the majority of our days on Oasis on the open, front portion of the Solarium. Disappointed Utopia's is fully enclosed and hoping I can find another good spot that's not too crazy.

thanks for the wonderful report! Really enjoyed following along.

Thank you!

Thanks so much! Looks like a great spot!

We used to stay in Tokelau before it became DVC and yep could hear the ferry horn, but as you said...slept right through it. Great reports so far!! I'd love to hear about any fairly quiet sunning spots you find/see on Wonder. We loved, loved, loved the open air front deck of the Solarium on Oasis and that was pretty much our spot for the week. I know Wonder, and Utopia, have closed Solariums which is disappointing to me. Probably a great spot in the evening or if we need a break from the sun, but I'd like to find a similar quiet space when I want sun. Love kids, but we're empty nesters now and I like to read my book without them running all over lol

Following along because we'll be on Utopia and I've heard Wonder is the closest. Your Poly pics are a pleasant surprise. Our favorite Disney resort! We first went in 2007 for a once-in-a-long-time splurge. Well we fell in love and returned in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2018! Been too long now, time for a return trip

I agree. There will be 4 of us, so a flat $100 seems like a fair amount to check it out. Just checked and on the 3 day, we are currently the only ship scheduled to be there. So maybe that $45 will drop a bit.

Thanks for the review! We're doing a B2B on Utopia in September and considering doing Hideaway for 1 of our CoCoCay stops. Your description of sipping a drink from the swim-up bar at the pool wall overlooking the ocean...has about pushed me over the edge. Hopefully the prices drop. Currently at $45 for the 3 day and $75 for the 4 day.

No experience with Allure but last May we booked "connecting interior" cabins on deck 9. Our kids are adults so we didn't need the connecting door really but the square footage was more for these so that's what we booked. We were very pleasantly surprised by the window and window seat! They were not classed as having any sort of view and the images on the website did not show any window. I *think* we were in 9199 and 9201, but that could be wrong...and again, Oasis not Allure but I'm betting this is the same situation.

Cove beach does not have a charge. There are no amenities there other than chairs and umbrellas. You may be thinking of the Beach Club or Hideaway Beach.

Yes, what Mike said...they are the same beach essentially. Cove beach is just at the far end. Most people don't walk that far so it's very quiet. That's what we like about it. But it is a further walk for food, drinks and bathrooms. So it depends on what you want.

Cove Beach!!

Trying again!

Darn, didn't work. I will have to try again later, need to get back to work

Sharing a few photos from the Cove Beach area, hope this works: 485543CA-94EC-4B4A-98EC-82A7BAD1FFD2.heic A05296FD-779B-4F1A-A63C-76360BDB899D.heic 2ABDC82A-62B3-40BA-AD2E-17A057BDEB82.heic D38A2F60-41C6-4516-A4D6-1C9B6C11D9F6.heic 3B5748EB-BDCB-400D-82CB-9307AC9F2795.heic

I can't tell if this is the same beach or not. sort of looks like it but the way it's edited before, I can't tell where they walked from to reach it. Cove seemed more isolated. can't speak to the past but in May it was definitely not.

It's not a very big area, but felt plenty spacious with just 6 of us total over there. Maybe 30 lounge chairs and umbrellas? I looked to see if I had any pictures of the whole set-up over there but I don't. The water was wonderful! We saw several stingrays and small sharks. I'll post the few pictures I do have in a minute. Our day was overcast and drizzly off and on (but still warm) so that may have contributed to how few people were over there. It is a bit of a walk from the ship initially so that helps. There are trails through the wooded area there that make it a shorter walk to the bathrooms, etc.

Cove Beach! My family and one other couple were the only ones there on a day in late May. We were the only ship there, but it was Oasis. Beautiful and peaceful!

Following along, can't wait for more! I like your style