irun5k

Thanks all, these are some solid options so far and gives me some confidence that we'll find *something* to do 🙂. Hopping on a tour with someone selling from a kiosk is a little scary to me just because I'm risk adverse and like to reach the company, duration, etc. ahead of time but I am sure it is normally fine. I presume most of the pier runners we see have gone off and done their own thing and planned it poorly. My hope was indeed that the float plane trips had a higher likelihood of happening than the helo flights to the glacier so we went with that option instead. My daughter loves dogs and would be upset not to have some experience with them so I decided to book the musher camp excursion in Skagway figuring that was almost a sure bet. Playing the odds here... not just in the casino.

That is a valid point, depending on the situation. We rarely order appetizers or dessert on land either, or if we do we split it with the entire table (a slice of key lime pie with 4 spoons please!) So, it could represent a better value depending on your dining interests. We often eat lighter so ironically a greater swath of higher quality al-la-carte options appeals to us. For example we really enjoyed Emril's on Celebration- on days when we didn't have a ton of time to dedicate to sitting down for a big event we were happy to spend a few bucks for quick yet high quality food.

There is no shortage of complimentary activities. However the number of upcharged experiences has definitely increased and there are more ways to profit from passengers than ever before. It is partially a perception issue and I suspect easier for some people to ignore for some than others. If you go on an smaller/older vessel there are less activities and dining options overall but also far less upcharged experiences. Some may feel better in this sort of scenario. When they are constantly selling you something, it can devalue what you're getting for free. I remember years ago when the MDR started offering Chops steaks, and when they started selling fresh squeezed OJ at breakfast. I remember one waiter actually telling me the complimentary OJ would barely be drinkable and being fairly rude when I declined the upsell. Meanwhile the cost of the pay-to-play/eat options has increased as well to the point where you might be paying a hefty premium over what you'd pay for a better experience back home. Most all of our fav upscale restaurants at home are less than specialty dining, for example. Excursion prices are through the roof, but I recently saved several hundred dollars by booking directly with the tour operators for upcoming our Alaska cruise. This one baffles me- we'll be right alongside our fellow passengers on these tours so I'm not sure what value RCI thinks they are providing. We are on Allure and Quantum in the next few months and I am sure we will have a good time. We were on the Carnival Celebration last year and actually had the perception that the value for us has increased on Excel class, and that was a good feeling. Unfortunately there are only three Excel class ships but thankfully for us two of them are here in FL. It is easy to defend everything a particular cruise line does if you are a fan. However, demand is not inelastic- there are lots of choices and the pendulum is always swinging. Lots of factors go into those choices, including overall perception!

Can you imagine being one of the few that actually traveled transatlantic when airships were in service? Seems like science fiction but it was actually the 1920's-30's.

Hey all, we'll be visiting Juneau on Quantum in June. We have the float plane excursion with Taku Lodge scheduled for 2 PM. My understanding is that arial activities are cancelled frequently in Alaska due to weather concerns, and the likelihood of cancellation gets worse later in the day. So, with that fact combined with my luck (which is typically not good) I'm prepping the family for this being an excursion that we likely won't get to do. Always better to underpromise and overdeliver. What are some good "plan B" options that can be activated with basically no notice? We're paying a lot to go to Alaska so I hate to just walk around the port area. Anything would be better than nothing- but I'm just not sure what you can walk up and do without a reservation. Also, cost wouldn't be a major concern for plan B, since we're already doing one of the more expensive excursions and I certainly hope it would be refunded if it is cancelled.

Thanks! That looks like a cool spot- didn't put 2 and 2 together to realize it would be so close to the water line.

What is this opening/large balcony-ish area on the deck with the lifeboats? It caught my eye on multiple videos- it is very distinct especially when it is darker out since it seems the perimeter is illuminated.

Ah right, good point about PVSA. We did the two nighter Celebration when it was under Bahamas Paradise. I think if were were local (within a 1/2 hr drive) it would have been better. We drove from the Tampa area down to West Palm and the travel time to cruise length ratio was off. However, I still talk about the BBQ they smoked on the back of the ship after we got back on board from Freeport... some of the better BBQ I've had.

Always glad to see another option from Tampa... I can see the ships in port from my office window so it is always frustrating to have to drive to Port Canaveral or worse, South FL to get a cruise. I think we've only ever cruised out of Tampa once back in 2010 when the Carnival Legend was home ported here. For 7 night cruises we're a little picky and it is worth driving a couple extra hours to get the "right" ship that we're going to be on for a full week. For shorter cruises it won't matter as much to us. I wish they'd offer alternating 3 and 4 night cruises but I guess part of the problem is there isn't anywhere to go in 3 nights from Tampa besides maybe Key West?

Yes, Labadee back in the day was so chill. It still has a lot of that vibe for the most part, but I hope they don't theme park it. If they do that they'll want to get more and more ships in there concurrently and it won't be a recognizable experience. I haven't been to Coco Cay on the other hand since the late 90's- it was not anything more than a beach and a few huts back then. I'm sure I won't recognize it.

Check out the Celebration, it is quite different from any other Carnival ship I've ever been on and hopefully it is the beginning of a trend. It might be my favorite ship of any I've been on. I will say I'm not a great judge of pool decks so I really can't say who has the best one. In my opinion the main pool decks are all overcrowded and I can't handle that number of people jammed into a tiny body of water and deck area. That being said, the Celebration has great water slides (one traditional, one drop slide and one sled side) that are positioned away from the main pool deck and thus never got obnoxiously crowded. They also have an aft pool behind the BBQ joint that was not busy later in the day after sail aways, and was a great place to sit in a ledge lounger and watch the island shrink away into the horizon.

Haha, thank you- you got it, this was essentially my point that was buried in dry sarcasm. It is like pulling up to your room at the Hampton Inn in your Honda and there are a good number of Bugattis in the parking lot. You start looking around wondering if the parking lot is shared with a Ritz Carlton or something! Personally I always take advantage of the free Hampton Inn breakfast- at the one we stay at in Orlando, you can even make your own Mickey Mouse head shaped waffle.

We live in the Tampa Bay Area and a "fun pass" to Busch Gardens is usually around $99 and you can return all year. Go the right time of the year and they still give out free beer 🙂 Disney has gone nuts, but you're right- RCI prices make that place look like a good value.

Having a hard time deciding whether to spend $2,600 for a few hours at Hideaway Beach, or $700 for a family of four a few hours doing water slides.... lol. OMG, I don't even know what is happening here. Yes, I know these are optional activities. It is an odd choice for RCI to highlight these "opportunities" on my planner home page... I know their IT dept is terrible but a middle school student with basic Python skills could write a better recommendation engine than this... I booked an inside cabin after all! With a cheap inside cabin booked, they need to be recommending things in the low 3 digits! I am hoping to see more from Carnival like what they're doing with their Excellence class- it a game changer for them. We went on the Celebration last year and it was nothing like the Carnival of old- I think they've got chance to pick up quite a few RCI loyalists if things keep going like they're going. We felt it was a ton of value just for the base cruise fare. Maybe the base value on an RCI cruise has stayed about the same- not really sure. But I know the opportunity to spend several thousand more while onboard has definitely skyrocketed. Rant complete, I am sure we'll enjoy our Allure cruise but I do feel we'll be trying out more cruise lines in the future!

We are long time RCI cruisers, going back over 25 years. We went on the new Carnival Celebration earlier this year and were very impressed. The ropes course was free and really good, there were a number of free dining options beyond the buffet and MDR and some very reasonable paid experiences- we had some great food at Emril's for just a few bucks, for example. For what they are charging for Perfect Day water park we could get a fun pass to Busch Gardens or their water park (or maybe both, during a sale) and enjoy the parks all year. Speciality dining costs are now more than what you'd pay for a better restaurant on land in many cases. Of course all these pay-to-play options are just that- options. That being said, it was nice to be on the Celebration and enjoy what felt like more for less. The cruise fare was also lower than anything comparable on RCI at that time.

The numbers/stats indeed look bad when you consider tonnage and I had some major concerns about that. Now that I have been on both classes, I believe that Excel did a better job of spreading people out across the ship throughout the day and evening. So, in the end I've not noticed a big difference between the two in regard to crowds. We absolutely loved the Celebration and at this point it would come down to port/price/etc. the next time we have to pick between Excel and Oasis.

That is very cool about your honeymoon. I was on it in 1997 for my college graduation. Looking back I'm glad to have had the opportunity to cruise on an 80's era ship for the nostalgic value. A few years ago we went on her again after Bahamas Paradise bought her. It was actually a decent ship for the 2 night Bahamas cruises. On the second day, they fired up a smoker on the back of the ship and had the best BBQ.

Thanks! We're considering a cruise for next year and I've been looking at the Wonder of the Seas and also considering the Mardi Gras. We're also considering a European cruise next year instead but we've never cruise anywhere but the Caribbean so I have some serious research to do on that. Anyway, I've been doing some research on Wonder and it seems Oasis class hasn't really evolved a whole lot- Im really becoming of the opinion that Royal needs to revisit their dining vision on these mammoth ships. Icon looks impressive but I'm not sure it will be much different in regard to dining. I have to assume the majority might drop three figures on a specialty restaurant for a once night splurge, but the rest of the time it would be nice to have some variety especially when you're sailing on literally the largest cruise ships on the sea.

I forgot to comment on debarkation. There were some delays and it was jammed up getting off the ship which we learned was due to a technical issue- it sounded like with the equipment they use to scan you out for the last time. Also one of the crew mentioned that they were debarking on the opposite side as normal and this somehow was tied in. They were right because this most definitely wasn't our balcony view when we embarked: The delays did not really bother us, we just found seats in the casino and waited to be called. However once we started rolling, the elevators were opening on the debarkation deck and there was a wall of people and nowhere to go. It did seem that most of the ship (including ourselves) was debarking with our luggage in tow. Also, three of us had to travel with birth certificates since our new passports did not arrive in time. Mine still hasn't come and I've written my Senator- I think their new online renewal process has some serious issues. Anyway, there are two lines in the terminal- a passport line and a birth cert line. As far as I could tell the passport line was moving as fast as people could walk through the exit doors of the terminal. The birth cert line was slower than molasses with only a couple agents checking them- and they were barely verifying anything but it was still slow. The moral of this story, get those passports early, and pad the time estimates on their website by a few weeks. And maybe avoid online renewal for now- one would think it should be faster but that doesn't seem to be the case at the moment.

That was my experience as well and something we really enjoyed so that is why I was curious if Oasis class had changed at all in the last few years but it is sounding like some very minor evolution vs. anything evolutionary. There are plenty of opportunities, e.g. replace the hot dog place with a Street Eats concept which had some really good offerings. Shaq's, Guys Burgers, Street Eats (three different windows), and Blue Iguana were all great to hold us over until dinner if we got back from our ports in mid afternoon. Never had time to try the sandwich place, but I did really like the 4 cheese white pizza at Miami Slice. That being said we are leaning toward Wonder for our next cruise- although I could just as easily go with Mardi Gras but I think the rest of the family wants to change it up since Mardi Gras is so similar to the Celebration.

Thanks, sounds like a little more elaborate version of Blue Iguana on Carnival, so I think we would enjoy it.

Thanks, I forgot about it but we did have a Playmakers on Independence a couple years ago. Enjoyed the wings and the venue had a fun vibe. And yeah, my kids eat quality, real food like birds and junk food like crazed lunatics. So, the would share a $3 red beans and rice at Emril's and maybe a dessert. An hour later they'd complain they were hungry and fill up on pizza and soft serve. Kids! Keeps our dinner bill down, though.

Hey all, we've sailed Oasis of the Seas twice, but this was prior to the refit a few years ago. We recently sailed on the Carnival Celebration. Naturally, I've made a lot of mental comparisons of the two, especially as we consider booking a cruise for next year... ideally from Port Canaveral (closer, and Miami was a total train wreck.) Mardi Gras or Wonder would be the two main contenders. While we loved the Oasis years ago, one thing that Carnival's Excel class highlighted for us is how much the complementary dining experience revolves almost exclusively around the buffet and MDR for primary meals. Sure, you could get a hotdog or a roast beef sandwich, etc. but complementary alternatives were limited there weren't really any at all of an evening. The Celebration had so many options and I was surprised to find that they were all really good. This brings me to my question... I know the later ships in any given class tend to evolve quite a bit from the first in the series. Has Wonder evolved in this regard? In particular, I am interested in additional complementary options or more flexible al la carte paid options. For example we wanted a nice but light dinner a couple nights and 4 of us at at Emril's for $30-$40 total which really hit the spot, vs. dropping closer to $200 in one of their steakhouse or seafood restaurant. Just in case, I'll broaden the question a bit- has Royal revamped dining on any of their ships in a way similar to what I've described?

OK folks, I think that is about it. If you're still here, thanks for sticking with the review. Happy to answer any questions you might have. Oh, and I promised a verdict on Oasis vs. Excel class, and whether there were any fights! First, the onboard activities have some overlap with Oasis class but it really is a different experience. If you're burned out on flow riders and rock walls, why not try a ropes course and roller coaster? Dining is where Excel stands out. Oasis class- in my mind anyway- is still centered around the buffet and MDR and mostly expensive pay-to-eat options. I also believe Excel has more onboard action in general... not that Oasis is lacking but there is always a ton happening on an Excel class ship. Where Oasis clearly has the edge is the "wow" factor. There is nothing at sea like the Oasis class Royal Promenade, Boardwalk or Central Park. To me, those areas also make the ship easier to navigate because they are big, easy to understand spaces vs. mazes. I simply can't get lost on the Royal Promenade, and I literally get lost everywhere. Lastly, no fights witnessed! We did see an attention getter in one of the shows that I'm guessing was asked to leave a few times and eventually did w/o an assist from security. And of course there is always the very small percent of rude folks that you can either ignore and move on, or dwell on perpetually. Overall I'd say the crowd on this cruise was not a lot different than our last spring break cruise on Royal.

Last up is St. Thomas. We had never been to St. John so decided to do the "St. John on your own" excursion. You can elect to go on your own and take ground transportation to the public ferry but this excursion is less stress because you leave on a ferry right at the cruise pier which also serves as a nice tour in itself since it is narrated. Once we got to St. John some folks were on a different excursion and went on an island tour. However, there was an open air taxi that was happy to load up everyone that was "on their own" that wanted to go to Trunk Bay, and the driver stayed at the beach until it was time to head back to catch the ferry. So, if "on your own" scares you, it shouldn't- this was pretty well orchestrated. In all, we probably only had slightly less than a couple hours at the beach but it was still worth it. There are good facilities (showers/bathrooms) as well as a bar and snack bar. Would another hour at the beach have been nice? Of course. We lived on Kauai for a while and I still would rank Trunk Bay in my top 5, maybe top 3 beaches I've ever been to- it is fantastic. For us, I'm sure we all enjoyed this more than a bus ride around the island but it is nice there are options since everyone has different interests. This tour left the pier at 10:30 AM and the ship leaves early. Like I said, still worth it especially since the ferry is a bit of a tour in itself but it would be really nice if this tour left around 9 AM, or maybe if the ship would stay later in port allowing a later return.