Danswife12

They probably will not need to spend money or charge much of anything.  I do not tie my credit cards to my kids sea pass cards, but instead purchase arcade credits via the cruise planner and once they are done with those that's it.  

On 1/7/2019 at 7:48 PM, MississippiMom said:

I keep reading comments to skip the buffet.  Was it inedible for the kids, too?  I ask, because I suspect my children and my nephews would just be looking for things like chicken strips or cheese quesadillas.  I’m leaning toward booking through the excursion company that one of the big warehouse companies recommends, since they have an option that includes transfers to Playa Mia, but you don’t have to pay for the buffet.

The kids thought it was disgusting as well.  Everything was cold..cold fries and flavorless strips.  

We went to Playa Mia in December and it was our second trip.  First time we did it on our own and this time we booked through the ship.  The difference was negligible and we did leave earlier, but our 3 year old was ready to leave.

Do not get the buffet.  It's inedible.  The food off the menu was great.  

Thank you for finding that one. It is nice, but I like to have two bathrooms now that my stepdaughter is 13.  The cost is also about $3k more than we are paying right now.  

4 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Not finding anything right now, I will check again in the morning, not sure why they didn't give you the option of keeping your current cabins and just let you pay the difference if price of the 2 cabins changed?

 

Strange??

It is strange.  I was wondering if they booted us and my TA didn't notice for a few months and now it's too late.  

I'm hoping we can negotiate a refund or future credits on another sailing.

10 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Oh then that might be why there is an issue....let me look again.

Thank you for checking!

6 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

So what Category Cabins did they move you to?

 

The reason they made you switch is because now cabin 6152 hold 4 people, while 6150 only holds 2 people.....so they made those cabins different categories, different prices.

I think 7D and 8D.  We have 2 in one room and 3 in another.

15 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Have your TA call royal and move you to a pair of connecting staterooms.  I have a hard time believing there are no connecting staterooms in your category.

 

What were your original cabin numbers?

She tried to find us connecting staterooms, but said that moving us next to each other is best they could do.  We were in 6150 and 6152.

My family booked connecting staterooms for the NYE '19 cruise on Oasis while on board almost a year ago. We received an email from our travel agent stating that the ship is being undergoing a re-categorization of staterooms and we are being moved to two cabins that are side by side instead of connecting.  We have two small children and don't feel comfortable with them sleeping in another cabin and my husband and I didn't like splitting up when we couldn't get connecting cabins some time ago.  

Does anyone know if it's possible to get a refund or maybe a cruise credit if we cancel?  We booked a non-refundable fare.

We have started to only said during kids sail free. You can't beat the price. We usually pay almost half of what we would pay during other times of the year.

Did you click all the way through almost to the point of booking? I noticed that the discount only shows up now after you advance to the final page.

Ok then. Enough about swim diapers. Anyone else that has experience using the nursery drop off program that can answer my questions?.....

Any tips on how to make the most of our trip and things that would be nice to have that we wouldn’t think of to bring ? We plan to use the drop off sea tots nursery. Were you happy with the program ? Did you book all the time slots for the nursery at the start of the cruise, and were you able to get the times you wanted ? Do they have cruise activities geared towards toddlers like a mommy and me play session? Also, any tips for ports. We are going to Roatan, Honduras , Cozumel and puerto costa maya.

We have used the program a few times and have been very happy with it. The counselors were wonderful and they play well with the kids.

They only let you book a certain number of time slots at a time, but we enrolled him as soon as we boarded and booked 2 hours time slots on the first two days to try it out and then would book in the morning for the same day. There were times that we couldn't get the time that we wanted, but typically could book within 30 minutes to an hour of the requested time. We used them for dinner a couple of nights and one night went to a late show and picked him up at 10pm.

They don't have mommy and me sessions, but they have a large play area that my son liked and we were able to play with him in that room.

I've never been to Honduras, but for Costa Maya we went to the water park and my youngest son and I hung out there and at the pool while my husband and older children did the zip line etc. When we go to Cozumel we go to Playa Mia.

Hope this helps!

It's really a personal preference depending on what you like do on your cruise. My husband and I went on a Celebrity cruise about 5 years ago and while we enjoyed ourselves we probably won't do one again until we are in our 50's, possibly 60s.

It seemed like everything shut down early and the entertainment was lacking compared to Royal. It was very relaxing, but we didn't really do much during the day. A lot of the people were older than us and constantly commented on my age (I am 33, but do look younger). One person even called me his child bride.

We were in the Aqua Class and LOVED the food in Blu (I think it's called). It was much better than the food on Royal. The dining room was beautifully decorated and the views were beautiful as well. I found the service on Celebrity to be much better as well.

Wow. Very nice!

$50?! Which cruise is this? I'm right here in MD too!

They no longer have the store that you can go into like build a bear. They have a machine by the kids clubs that stuffs the animals at certain times. It was broken the entire time we were on Oasis earlier this year.

We are looking for an all adult great resort there if you here of any! Not the clothing optional ones, just regular ;p. We have been to fantastic ones in Cancun but want to switch it up a bit.

Resortforaday dot com has many resorts and a few that are adults only. I love the Hyatt Zilara. It's adults only.

I'm more scared of Mexico than Jamaica. Jamaica is one of my favorite places to go. We have been on an ATV tour and to Hyatt Ziva and Hilton. Never for a minute did we feel unsafe.

My husband held our son on his lap in the van when he was 1 1/2. It should be fine.

We just returned from the Zilara in Rose Hall and loved every minute. I would love to do a day pass there.

There are mixed reviews but my husband and I both loved the food. There is a jerk shack with chicken and pork by the pool that is really good. A pizza type outdoors restaurant where you can pick up a slice or order a whole pizza or sandwiches etc. There is a buffet that has fresh food that is really good as well.

We were there during the week and it was very quiet. We always had a place to lounge by the pool or beach and you can rent a cabana if you like. The beach is very calm as most of it is protected and the water is clear.

We don't really drink so I can't comment on the drinks at all. I only drink wine and had to order a $35.00 bottle because I didn't want the house wine.

Everyone was very friendly and the service is great!

you are unlikely to find both Asian and Italian on any one main dining room menu. That is not a result of DD. On the other hand often Chic and AI would have a pasta dish, steak and some sort of seafood, so using DD as an excuse for "we had no choice but to eat hamburgers" doesn't really hold water. In fact is you include the "always available" option all four dining rooms have steak and seafood every single day

Actually it does hold water because there is definitely more variety in the main dining room then there was at Silk or Wonderland or whatever those other limited options were. Were you on my cruise? There was definitely not steak and seafood that we wanted to eat at every restaurant.

I never had an issue finding something that I like in the main dining room and neither have my kids. Suddenly on Quantum we were forced to choose a specialized restaurant or eating off of a one page menu biting into burgers with gristle.

I've sailed Anthem and do not understand your reasoning.

 

Currently four menus changing every four days in four restaurants = eight

menus of a different type/style of food. Plus lobster every night if you choose. Or that yummy whatever that you had a day or two ago. Or eating in Chic and ordering from Grande's menu, eating in Silk and ordering from American Icon etc.. The only choice you will have in November is what is on the menu in front of you, yes, it will change daily, but your other many choices will be gone.

 

Way less options the way I see it. Back to cruise ship boring. Anthem had a great thing going and did not figure out how to make it work. Sad!

I guess that have changed it since we went on Quantum. I would enjoy this version of DD much better. Our issue was that we were stuck eating at American Icon because none of the kids wanted to try the other restaurants.

We love a good burger too, but why would your large family eat burgers every night? :confused:

 

Now the menus will be down to one across the ship. You will even have less choice.

We were traveling with children, teenagers and young adults. Some of us wanted asian, some wanted Italian, some didn't like either of those things so we were stuck eating American Icon and there was not a variety of foods on the menu.

With the main dining room you can choose pasta or steak or seafood etc. There is something for everything and you don't have to pick from a theme. It's pretty rare that if you are traveling with a large group everyone will want the same type of foods. Make sense?

MEH -Anthem is close my home and I am excited to try it now that DD is gone. Sailed on Quantum a couple years ago and found the menus to be severely lacking. We have a large family and found ourselves going to American Icon and eating burgers almost every night until we were reduced to going to the Windjammer.

Count me in the minority as a YES.

 

If it's in your budget, go...life's too short and we don't know what's around the next bend...

 

I'm booked and staying on the ship...going solo and treating myself to a getaway...prices have gone up since I booked...

 

There is currently an inside guarantee being offered for this cruise. My advice is to book the cheapest cabin possible as you will not be in your room except to sleep on this short cruise.

 

Best to you...whatever you decide.

I'm right there with you! I would do it as well. While I love New York and seeing shows on Broadway, I would rather go to the Bahamas on a nice ship any day then go to New York. If it's in your budget I say go for it! I'm doing the Oasis for a weekend next month for a quick getaway and I can't wait.

Liberty beat Quantum for us but not oasis and allure. However, we still enjoyed the ship. It is in great shape just not as roomy as the oasis class!

I agree with this 100%. My favorite is Oasis class, but the Liberty was great too!