OSUZorba

I think it would be nice if they just rotated their shows around the different ships some. The cast already changes out every 6 (IIRC) months anyways.

I enjoyed Hairspray the first time I was on Oasis, but felt no need to see it again the second time. I also skipped Come Fly With Me the second, which I didn't really care for. I really like going to shows on ships, but I've kind of decided I have to not repeat ships to avoid seeing the same show.

When I was 13, in a port like Labadee I would've been allowed to do whatever I wanted, I just would've had a set time and place to meet up. When I was 10 I would've definitely been allowed full run of the ship maybe Labadee too, that would've been a case by case call. But I always proved myself to be responsible and never got into trouble or did anything I wasn't supposed to.

I was allowed to freely roam amusement parks by 9 or so, must of the time I had my older brother with me, but sometimes I'd go do something by myself. But again, I always knew where and when to meet.

I just think it depends on the kids, I have known many 15 year-olds I wouldn't let out of my sight on a ship, and plenty of 10 year-olds I'd see no problem with roam, especially with a friend.

My first cruise was on Mariner, in a balcony room. As soon as I walked in I was like OMG and started laughing, about how small it seemed. Once we got unpacked, it never bothered us and never has on any other cruise. The rooms are very functional, so there is plenty of room for everything.

I personally don't really enjoy the specialty restaurants. I have done Giovanni's Table for lunch on Oasis and it was good and worth the $15pp once. But I personally really enjoy MDR, I don't typically eat fancy but enjoy it on the ship. I did my time dining once, and hated it though, I thought the service was very sub-par and with or without a reservation I ended up waiting in line for 10-30 minutes each night.

I did get a free upgrade once, but I had booked a balcony guarantee, two weeks before the cruise and got a junior suite. Considering I got a really good deal through work, I paid less for my Junior Suite than a lot people paid for their interior rooms. I have booked other guarantees, though, without an upgrade.

Wow, it is nice to see Amy got downgraded. I did not like her at all on Oasis. Not sure how much of it is her fault. I am very glad to see Drew on Oasis, might inspire me to go on Oasis again sooner rather than later. I had him on Freedom and was by far my favorite CD ever.

BTW: I wasn't blaming the captains. I work for an airline, I have gotten many seats on planes because people were ignorant of time. But from my experience some captains are more willing to wait an extra 10 minutes and some leave right on the dot no matter what. I just think it is interesting the different philosophies, even between captains on the same (massive) ship.

I think sometimes the ship pulling out right on time a leaving people behind depends on the personality of the captain.

On the Oasis of the Seas back in 2011, I saw us leave 6 people in St Martin. At the captains circle someone asked about leaving people behind and the captain said "It is my call, and I don't like leaving people behind, but I am not going to hold up 5000 people just because someone is ignorant of time and I end up leaving people behind quite a bit, in fact we left 6 behind yesterday." Then he told a joke about having your camera so you can take a picture of the ship.

On Freedom of the Seas in 2012 the captain said that it "happened, but was pretty rare." Then on Oasis again in 2013 the captain (different than before) said it had been "years" since he had left someone at port.

Ever since we saw the people left in St Martin, my wife and I always setup shop where we can watch them pulling the gangways, etc. On Disney Magic in 2011 we could here the crew talking at each port, every time someone got on they would give a count of those not on board yet. And they would start rushing people well before all aboard time. Once it got to the final few people, they would start pulling ropes. As soon as the last person got on, it was less than a couple minutes before we were pulling out. We left each port before the published all aboard time, but we didn't leave anyone behind.

Thanks for this, I've been waiting for someone to post some information on the flowrider.

On boogie board, I've been told no tricks that let you directly touch the mat, i.e. the board must stay under you. So no supermans, no barrel-rolls, no jumping barrels. Hopefully, they do have a divider for the boogie boarding, since it helps the line quite a bit. Please keep us informed.

What is the big deal about a waiter knowing your name? I will never understand the fascination with getting to bond with the staff, does anyone do this in land

based restaurants?

Cruises aren't supposed to the same as land based vacations? But at restaurants I frequent I know the staff, and enjoy the fact that as soon as they see me in their section I have my drinks and they know what I want.

You also get better service, IMHO, because a lot of people will give them an extra tip at the end of the cruise, where people won't do that if they get a different person every night.

Only 32 choices, plus a buffet, a pizza shop, and several upscale specialty restaurants; hope you don't starve.

Except the buffet is awful for dinner and also has no variety (one nice thing about Disney). And many people cruise because it is "all inclusive" and have no interest in paying (a lot) more for specialty restaurants.

I am a picker eat, but normally love the MDR even though many night there are only one or two things on the menu I'll eat, but the next night it is all new with a couple of new things I'll like. The new setup, each restaurant will have 1 or 2 things I'll like, so I'll end up repeating on a 7 day cruise.

I already have basically the same breakfast and lunch everyday, because the windjammer has no variety day to day, and now I'll have reduced variety at dinner. Not going to starve, but it does take away one of my favorite things about cruising.

I've tried getting in three times in the last couple weeks. Gave up after 20 minutes each time. I have to book through the phone or an interline TA, since you can't book interline fares online. I've always preferred going through RCI directly in the past, but I might have to go through a TA.

But, our last cruise was just so-so, and it seemed like service had been cut back, now it seems I basically have to beg them to take my money. So my wife that has been very excited about a new years cruise for a couple years is now saying we should do something else.

I would definitely do an DO over the inside, not sure about over an ocean view. I doubt anyone that can talk about it right now really knows how obstructed the DO. You might look at the deck plans and the pictures of the outside of the ship to try to figure it out.

I think people have said it is a come and go when ever thing, correct? So I can catch whatever shuttle I want out to the beach and come back to the ship whenever I want? Does anyone know if you can do more than one roundtrip? I.e. go out in the morning, come back to the ship for lunch, go back in the afternoon?

Also, are there hammocks? If not, were there trees to hang up a temporary hammock and do you think they would have an issue with this?

I can't remember if the lifeboats are fully tucked on FOS or not, but on Oasis they stick out a little bit. The hump balconies stick out a bit further than the boats, so you get a better view, and there are no boats under the aft hump. I was on the forward part of the hump in Sept on deck 7 (IIRC) and I remember really enjoying the view.

The nice thing about deck 6, is no one is below you, so you can look straight down without feeling like you are spying on the people below. I like watching the water interface with the hull, so I find this to be a nice perk.

Edit: Based on this image, it looks like the hump is well outside of the life boats: