Newbie here :)

[firewife78]

Hi everyone!

 

My husband and I both just joined cruisecritic.com. This place looks amazing and it feels like everyone is already friends.

 

Not sure exactly where or how to start so I guess I'll start here:

We are going on our 2nd cruise in April (stats below) and can't wait.

Our first cruise was on Carnival a few years ago and we went to the Bahamas and loved it. Decided we needed to do another cruise and upgraded to Royal Caribbean (in our humble opinion of course :D)

 

So anyway, just wanted to jump in and day HI!!!

[PORT ROYAL]

Hi everyone!

 

My husband and I both just joined cruisecritic.com. This place looks amazing and it feels like everyone is already friends.

 

Not sure exactly where or how to start so I guess I'll start here:

We are going on our 2nd cruise in April (stats below) and can't wait.

Our first cruise was on Carnival a few years ago and we went to the Bahamas and loved it. Decided we needed to do another cruise and upgraded to Royal Caribbean (in our humble opinion of course :D)

 

So anyway, just wanted to jump in and day HI!!!

 

Big welcome to CC, you are now with friends. You will find the CC members a fountain of cruise knowledge, all being willing and eager to help all cruisers albeit new or long standing. There is no such thing as a stupid question. Do not forget to join the meet/mingle, as they are great to finding out about new events and the best travel agents. Have fun. Enjoy the site. Happy cruising:)

[kicker]

CC, in my opinion, is far and away the best site for cruising info. You have to realize you'll occasionally run into negative comments and negative people on here, but 99% of CC'ers are friendly, and always willing to help with questions or concerns.

 

A word of warning: BE CAREFUL!! This site is highly addictive!:rolleyes:

[firewife78]

Thanks for the welcome :D Yes, I can see that it's highly addictive already! I really need to get back to work! LOL!

[windjamming]

Welcome! All of it can be overwhelming at first, but don't stress. Reviews are a great place to start when you "don't know what you don't know".

[TheCalicoCat]

Welcome. Just like everything else "take it all with a grain of salt."

 

IMHO If you liked Carnival, you will like RCCL - more alike than different again In MY Humble Opinion.

 

I'm about to do my second Royal cruise after 1 HAL, 3 Carnival, & 1 in the Great Barrier Reef - in 2 weeks!

 

(All other things the same I'd choose HAL for the unlimited laundry:), but we liked the itinerary better on this Royal cruise.)

[Rockfordcruiser]

Thanks for the welcome :D Yes, I can see that it's highly addictive already! I really need to get back to work! LOL!

 

welcome to cc.. Heres a link you can add to your quick links tab..

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1785917 This will get you with the people sailing on your cruise... enjoy!:)

[hollon]

Welcome! You will love royal caribbean Oasis of the Seas! It is a big ship w/ plenty to do, you will have fun. Just make sure you make show reservations, you will be glad you did. You don't have to do this on the other rccl ships, but w/ Oasis/Allure being so big, it's just nice to have a reservation and not worry about getting it. We are all here to help you answer any questions that you might have :) Also, keep checking prices for a price drop.

[MMOMOM]

That's how we got started .... we weren't sure we'd even like cruising since we travel a lot and are very independent and like to do our own thing. So, we got a good deal on a very reasonably priced short Carnival cruise on the Imagination. This was a very long time ago. We had a wonderful time but decided (again in our own humble opinion, :D LOL) we'd 'upgrade' and got another VERY good deal on a Royal Caribbean Cruise out of Puerto Rico on the Adventure of the Seas with a port every day except one sea day. It was fabulous! Course the sale was for a Junior Suite .... so from then on we were hooked on the JS!! We had a balcony with Carnival and really, it was fine. Just it seems it's hard to go back once you've had a JS, LOL!! Since then, we've done mostly RCCI ... along with the Adventure, we've done the Mariner, Explorer, Freedom and most recently the Oasis. We love RCCI and have never had any complaints. We tried HAL once ... another 'last minute good deal' on the Eurodam and had another fabulous time!! A year or so ago, we had a week planned in FL for our anniversary (long story, but usually go to Hawaii for 2 weeks since we have Hilton and Marriott vacation clubs and exchange ... but didn't work out that year.) .... so we had this week in FL and just so happened that Carnival Freedom had a great deal that coincided with the timing of the land vacation ... so we got our two week anniversary and once again had a great time. Some on the boards are very prone to one line or the other, some skip around. Personally, as long as we can get a JS for the right price and timing, we're pretty open as we just love to cruise!! I was once told you either love it or hate it ... well, haven't found anyone that hates it yet, but we love it. The Boards are a wealth of knowledge and you really can learn a lot, get good advice, research different ports, etc. I know you'll enjoy it here. Good luck and Happy Cruising! :)

[At Sea 4Ever]

Hi everyone!

 

My husband and I both just joined cruisecritic.com. This place looks amazing and it feels like everyone is already friends.

 

Not sure exactly where or how to start so I guess I'll start here:

We are going on our 2nd cruise in April (stats below) and can't wait.

Our first cruise was on Carnival a few years ago and we went to the Bahamas and loved it. Decided we needed to do another cruise and upgraded to Royal Caribbean (in our humble opinion of course :D)

 

So anyway, just wanted to jump in and day HI!!!

 

Welcome again!! We are on same roll call : )

[KeywestK]

Welcome to Cruise Critic! It's a fabulous community of like-minded folks. We all love travel and cruising, and everyone is happy to share their knowledge and experiences. Don't hesitate to ask any questions about RCI, the ports, or whatever you want to know.

 

Be sure to join your sailing's roll call (I saw someone already provided the link,) and sign up for your Meet & Mingle.

[trev71]

Welcome,

 

You will learn so much from this site over time. 99% of the time if you ask a question someone will answer you and most times you get more than one answer which is good. Always gives you ideas of what to except and other peoples opinions.

[OCruisers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic! :)

 

Please do try a variety of different cruise lines. You'll never know which is the best fit for you if only stick with one.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[Cruzn Fool]

Welcome.

 

I too have tried some different lines and for my money RCCL suite me the best. My opinion is once you go on Oasis you won't go back. I enjoy the Freedom class ships and obviously the Oasis class too. I have been spoiled and now I won't just go on any cruise ship......so consider yourself warned :D.

 

Have a great cruise and remember that the actual cruise is only 7 days but part of the fun of the trip is the months of planning in advance, including many trips to Cruise Critic and then the months afterward re-living the trip on Cruise Critic until it is time to start the cycle all over again.

[rodenboy]

Welcome to the forum, from one relatively new poster to another!!

 

I have only sailed Royal Caribbean but enjoyed it so much I probably won't cruise with anyone else!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[A&L_Ont]

Welcome to CC. I hope you love Oasis. She is our favourite, with Allure a close second.

[impatientlywaiting]

Welcome to CC and cruising. We started with Royal and have never left them. Plus after our next cruise we'll be Diamond status. I asked hubby if he wanted to try another cruise line {fingers crossed behind my back because I didn't want to leave RCI} next time and he said why leave something that's proven to be a good thing! WOOHOO for me since I feel the same way!!!

 

Anyway, have fun and again, welcome! :)

[maureencruiser]

Welcome to CC, what is your hubby's screen name, so, we can look for him, as well? :)

[Jimnbigd]

Welcome aboard. Note that the Oasis requires (or I should say "strongly encourages") advanced reservations for shows and clubs. You might not get into a show if you don't make reservations online in advance. I have not sailed this ship, but I bet others who have can tell you when and how you do this.

[MMOMOM]

Welcome aboard. Note that the Oasis requires (or I should say "strongly encourages") advanced reservations for shows and clubs. You might not get into a show if you don't make reservations online in advance. I have not sailed this ship, but I bet others who have can tell you when and how you do this.

 

Yes, my first experience with making advance reservations was before we sailed the Oasis. They told us it was best to do otherwise we might be disappointed. So, I did. Not an issue .... you can do it online. I got every show and time I requested with the exception of the Ice Show. That wasn't a problem either since I guess they 'hold back' a few tickets for the different time slots and dates' so that once we boarded we went directly to get the tickets. No big line or time consuming event ... got the time and date I had originally requested and we were off to explore the ship! I was and am still amazed that a ship that large, with so many people and so many things to do can run so smoothly and really never even seem crowded!! I would love to sail her again ... and wouldn't mind trying out her sister ship, the Allure. The ports, in my opinion, are nothing to write home about and we'd been to most of them anyway, but the real deal is the experience of being on the ship. I was told I wouldn't have time to go and see and try everything and that is true!! We didn't! LOL!! It truly is a one of a kind, amazing experience I think everyone should try at least once if they can. Happy Sailing and make sure you ask all the questions you want on the boards .... people are always happy to help you out! :)

[Sea Turtle]

Welcome, firewife78!! Enjoy your countdown to April. :) Planning is 80% of the fun for me, and this is a good place to gather up lots of info.

 

Welcome to CC, what is your hubby's screen name, so, we can look for him, as well? :)

 

You're slipping, Mcruiser! :p ;) Your brain must be frozen up with all that Alaska planning you're doing!! :) Check out her signature--husband is Firemedic78.

[firewife78]

You are all amazingly welcoming and a wealth of information! Thank you all!

 

Someone asked if my husband was a fire/medic, yes he is and I'm sure he'll enjoy "talking shop" with you as well! :) and yes his screen name is Firemedic78. Not sure if he's actually posted anything here or not yet. I'm more of the computer bug than he is ;)

 

We've made a few reservations for excursions already and we are looking at what is available to reserve on board but there's sooooo much! I guess it's a matter of trying to decide what we really want to do and what can wait til next time! (Yes, there will be a next time!)

 

We've signed up for and received our confirmation for the Meet and Mingle, thanks for the heads up on that. Sounds fun.

 

Well I guess I'll keep snooping around here, gaining knowledge and counting down till our departure date! Glad to "meet" everyone!!!

 

Thanks again!!