alfaeric

But you said that it's not appealing to frequent cruisers for some reason. Not that it's more or less hyped. I really don't see it different than any other port that we've been to 12 or more times. As I read the question, it's about it being over used or seeing it too often. I rarely ever read the ads. We've changed what we've done at Coco Cay over the many times we have gone, and still think of it just like any other port like St Marten or Aruba that you have to work to find something new to do.

Depends on what you think worst is. Having been to the island quite a few times during the year, I think the worst would be in the August time frame, where it's really freaking hot, and there's a good risk for hurricanes to change your cruise.

How is it different than any other port that frequent cruisers go to? If you've been to Nassau or St Marten or St Thomas or Cozumel etc so many times, Coco Cay is just like every other port you've been to 10 or more times.

When we were looking, the TA does a similar path, but has a few other northern ports as well. We are patiently waiting for the '24 TA's to come out, since IF there's a Greenland cruise as well, it will be there, too.

No, that's always the welcome aboard show.

Ok. Have a great trip.

the other production show the theater cast does. 🙂 (the theater cast and the 270 cast are completely different and separated, much like the ice show vs. the production cast) As for what it's about- that's been debated a few times. It's an original musical written for Anthem.

Hard to say- you actually need to know the pattern from the cruises prior to yours. If the previous cruise had WWRY at the end, you will have it at the beginning. Which would put "The Gift" at the end. And vice-versa. They do that to reduce the amount of packing up of the stage stuff. Once you know that, though- there will be a matinee and evening show of both The Gift and WWRY on the sea days.

As someone who has been low carb for almost 2 decades, I'm curious why sugar free syrup is needed. Everything I would put syrup on isn't something I would eat anyway. At least on a ship where finding keto pancakes is not possible. I can very much understand the sweetners (but I would long term suggest getting off of them for coffee- I'm a cream only person now- makes life easier). And the sugar free yogurt. But not syrup. As for keto on the ship- as long as you can get away from the bread they bring to the table, I haven't found it that hard. Especially when the waiter knows what you are doing. It's a great test to deal with temptations, but at the same time, the choices are abundant enough to not stray.

Seeing the super high end watches on board, they are already doing that. Hublot's for over $25k? Funny how people complain about the art when they have those watches, too.

Well, they *might* be removing 3 or 4 that made up the jazz club band. They could show up around the ship, or not. We will see. Other groups have gone- like the Rosairo strings. But compared to our last Oasis cruise, it *seemed* that they added a small cover band that was not part of our previous cruises. While they were there before, the cover band was playing more than in the past- instead of in one of the lounges, they were out in the promenade as well. For sure, I don't see this as some massive cut in live music. Just a change.

Sucks, but it isn't the first time a small group of people lost something over more people that made more money. We love the club, too. But one thing I noticed is that the music was more the same among all of the groups than small club jazz. Still, it will be missed by a handful. I would not extrapolate this to the end of all live music, though. The live shows are far to popular for that to happen. And the small shows they do around the ship is just them having something to do besides the big shows. Whereas the jazz club band only played there.

We did. To no reply. So we just stopped trying and assume that JS privilege isn't real on an Oasis ship. And then move on. Just want to make sure people are aware that it is a possibility and to not get their hopes up too much.

Maybe. But what probably happened was the rep said- "let me check and get back with you" or something like that. And when quickly smacked back down to say no, they didn't want to deal with the OP being angry that they were not allowed to break the rules. Based on what has been posted so far, I certainly would not want to call them back with bad news. I would much rather take a hit on a customer not being happy with a call back than dealing with an angry customer trying to get super extra special treatment who can't. Remember, being Diamond, they know exactly what rules in the contract they are asking to break.

Fair enough, but for the cheap car rates, they are pay in advance with penalties.

If you can eat early or late, the odds would be pretty good. The fact that you are sailing over a holiday is to your advantage, as it really keeps the number of pinnacles down (high cost of cruising over holidays) That being said, we've never been able to get into CK as a JS to even make reservations or get seated on an Oasis ship. Maybe they move the desk outside???

Sure, I would rather have a shorter time to cancel or change without penalty. But as far as I can think of, the ONLY group that does that are many (but not all) hotel reservations. Where some even allow cancelations up to 24 hours in advance. In terms of airlines, you are wrong, as pointed out. We just paid for a trip in June and canceling will have big penalties. This is well in advance of 90 days. Do I know why? Not sure, but I'm betting that a lot of it is about planning and making sure resources are in place, some of which need time to reserve and make sure they are available on the date- like food. And maybe somewhere near equal to that is to have some security of a full ship (or plane), where it could be too late to fill the X% that cancel at the last moment. Does it suck? sure. Can you deal with it, yea, I can. I'm not going to stop cruising because of it.

So if you were given a once in a lifetime change that you could take, would you rather change this cruise less than 90 days out to your friends, or be able to cancel a cruise due to a family emergency a week ahead of time. You get one. Be careful how you use it.

You mean you sit, drink, read email, talk on the phone, be board, complaining and not paying attention, etc... instead of paying CLOSE attention because there's an actual emergency. Not the same at all. As for not getting close to your muster station- seriously? You go to it to check in. Maybe you don't notice that your muster station is Sorrento's pizza and not directly next to a life boat?

FWIW, I didn't say load, either. I pointed out that there is a lifeboat lowered in the water at least once a week. And during that, part of the crew can be kept in so that they are drilled as well. Somehow that part is being missed in my points. And I also pointed out that the "mass move to the muster stations" is not realistic, either. It's done in spurts and does not at all include the natural panic that will happen in an emergency. As for the crew getting paid- you are demanding that they work during the muster drill- so how is that different than if they do an alternate training during the week? Time is time. Boarding day is already the most hectic day for everyone, so moving some of that to another day is bad? Makes no sense. I get that you are very against the e-muster. But at the same time, you don't seem to get that there are also limitations to the traditional muster that are almost exactly the same. So if they are going back the the real muster- then use the emergency stairs, enforce real phone stops, don't let people drink, force them to pay attention, and actually toss people off when they hide. AND tell people to go to their muster station WHEN they hear the alarm instead of after we all get there. Otherwise, the real muster is barely better than the e-muster for the passengers.

There are quite a few places where you can get water. Pretty much all of them will tell you to not refill your bottle- so be nice and fill a glass of water to fill your bottle. For sure, on the Promenade at the cafe and Sorrento's, you'll see water in the WJ, and you can get a glass at any bar. There are a handful of fountains, but mostly on the upper deck and the running promenade. Oh, and the gym, too. I know a lot of people dismiss the request to not refill your bottle directly- but it's so very easy to use a glass in-between....

Every cruise we've been on, one lifeboat was lowered into the water at some port. So to say that lowering it more than once is a recipe for a disaster, that disaster has been cooking for decades. My point is to use that drill to work with a small part of the crew- like that specific muster station working to lower the specific boat. What I'm hearing here is that the biggest issue with the e-muster isn't the passengers, it's the crew. Why can't they do specific drills once a week to make up for that? I don't get it. That's what training is exactly for. If this isn't about the passengers, then deal with the people it's about.

To me, the regular muster isn't that real- while everyone is there, the action isn't close to what would be happening. Some show up really early, then they trickle in, and then a handful go after the 7-1 warning. And it's the latter who happen to be the most realistic. Let alone, hardly anyone is using the emergency paths which is normal for people in the forward or aft and are a long way from the stairs. As for the other tasks- why can't that be regularly practiced? They lower lifeboats every single week, so doing the reporting can be done at the same time. There are constantly drills where the passengers are not part of, but happen all over the ship. Do it then. Can even do it more rigorous and direct people onto their own life boat that gets lowered into the sea.

Does it, though? We are all told to pay attention, not drink, and not use our phones. I've never seen that ever enforced. People are talking on phones, whining about being there, and just being annoying. As for the search function- the crew that do that are the cabin stewards in my experience. Seems pretty easy to fit that into a normal schedule for them to focus on that task every cruise once. I'm betting that the procedure is to walk through a cabin in a very specific way before putting the red tag in the card slot. I struggle to understand why the key parts can't be replicated every day while working. Just like a plane check list. So what's left is the herding of the passengers by the crew. And they can certainly be stationed on the stairways to remind people to go and do their check in.

Maybe I'm missing something that they show us, but in the many cruises that I've been on, the only thing they ever have shown us is 1) where your muster station is and 2) how to put on a life preserver. Other than that, there is nothing else being demonstrated. The muster station location is part of the e-muster process that you have to actually do, so that's done. What's left is to make sure everyone knows how to put on a life preserver. And while it's easy to claim that the e-muster does not get enough eyes, to honestly check- you have to compare in person muster to the e-muster to know how many people paid attention. Given how people are piled deep into the personal muster and how so many people are clearly not paying attention- the personal muster isn't that great- so you can't assume 100% for that. They do make sure the minors have a band- but that can be done for the emuster check in. And spend time to tell people to wash their hands and understand the basic rules- which has nothing to do with the mustering. And if I'm missing something that it supposed to be demonstrated at the muster event, then something else is wrong.