Newbie Questions! (seasickness, adults only pool, gift cards,

1- Any issues or stories to tell about seasickness? I get bad cases of it in small boats (in bays and such). I'm hoping on a super large cruise ship, I'll be okay!? I'm guessing I should pack some dramamine just in case?

2- Do the ships sell gift cards of any kind? I'm sailing with my parents over Christmas and my dad is impossible to shop for. He's nearly 81 and doesn't need or really want anything. My mom suggested I get him a gift card for something back home. (Boring, but okay.) But how about a card he could use right on the ship?

3- Do ships have adults only pools?! (I'm going on Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas)

4- How many people use walkie-talkies on board? What other ways are there to communicate with on-board family members? Electronic message boards? (If that doesn't exist yet, it should.)

5- Explain meals. Are you supposed to sit at the same table?

6- Hmm... what else?

Rather than a gift card, it's better to buy on board credit for your Dad. Call 800-722-5443 to do this.

Oasis has the adult (16 and over) Solarium.

For other Oasis and/or RC questions, check out the dedicated RC forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=83

Dramamine or Bonine will be useful if you are easily prone to motion sickness.

Suggest you also post on the RCI Cruise Forum for more response to your queries related to RCI.

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The few times when I’ve experienced some motion sickness has been while in the stateroom, not walking around the ship, so I would recommend that you select you stateroom’s location wisely, preferably towards the mid section on a lower deck where you feel the motion less.

We’ve brought walkie talkies before but they weren’t very useful. Even though they had a 10 mile range, we couldn’t hear each other if we were in different parts of the ship, even on te same deck. The only time we could hear each other clearly was when we would be right above or below each other on a different deck.

We just returned from a Disney cruise where we could use their app free of charge to text each other. Don’t know if Royal has a similar technology but that worked wonderfully.

When we sailed on the Allure, Oasis sister, we literally experience zero motion. It felt like we were on dry land the entire time. Of course we were blessed with calm seas most of the week, but the size of the ship did play a role in how much (or little) motion we felt.

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Our experience with walkie talkies has been poor. Once we get more than a few decks apart, communication was poor to impossible.

... 5- Explain meals. Are you supposed to sit at the same table? ...

If you opt for traditional (fixed) dining, you will sit at the same table each night. If you opt for My Time Dining, you may or may not sit at the same table. They try to to put you at the same table with the same wait staff, but it doesn't always work out that way.

If you opt for traditional (fixed) dining, you will sit at the same table each night. If you opt for My Time Dining, you may or may not sit at the same table. They try to to put you at the same table with the same wait staff, but it doesn't always work out that way.

For some reason I thought the OP was asking if they had to sit at the same table as the parents 😂

I would come prepared with something to prevent sea sickness to be on the safe side.

I would see if your physician has a recommendation. In our case we use Bonine which is sold in most pharmacies.

Keith

I always advise people to check with their family doctor as to what they should take for sea sickness. He knows you better than we do. He knows what medications (if any) you are taking.

Why not take your parents to one of the specialty restaurants for a gift?

1- Any issues or stories to tell about seasickness? I get bad cases of it in small boats (in bays and such). I'm hoping on a super large cruise ship, I'll be okay!? I'm guessing I should pack some dramamine just in case? green apples and ginger pills are better. no drowsiness. unless the seas are extremely rough, the larger ships tend to be pretty stable.

2- Do the ships sell gift cards of any kind? I'm sailing with my parents over Christmas and my dad is impossible to shop for. He's nearly 81 and doesn't need or really want anything. My mom suggested I get him a gift card for something back home. (Boring, but okay.) But how about a card he could use right on the ship? not as such no. on board credit is an option. or just pay for a meal in a specialty restaurant.

3- Do ships have adults only pools?! (I'm going on Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas) yes, and no. there are adult only areas which may or may not have a pool that is policed by staff to keep the under 16 crowd out.

4- How many people use walkie-talkies on board? What other ways are there to communicate with on-board family members? Electronic message boards? (If that doesn't exist yet, it should.) walkie talkies suck and do nothing but seriously tick off your fellow guests. its called making plans at breakfast. you can use sticky notes or a white board in the cabin or use the phones scattered around to call back to the cabin. event he behemoths like Oasis is not so large that you can;pt find someone if you need to

5- Explain meals. Are you supposed to sit at the same table? if you are on Traditional dining, yes you will sit at the same table with the same people every night. with My Time Dining, you will be seated as a group when you arrive( with or without reservations, which are not required) but you may not be at the exact same spot with the same waitstafff each night. Windjammer Buffet is a free for all.. wherever there is room, thats where you eat.

 

6- Hmm... what else?

the daily planner is delivered to your cabin each night during turn down service. thats when you go over plans for the day. some people find each person using a different colored hi lighter helps keep track of the goings on. start taking ginger pills a few days before boarding then every day while on board. green apples are available on board but will disappear FAST if the seas are rough.

Why not take your parents to one of the specialty restaurants for a gift?

That’s a really nice idea.