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Kennedy Space Center visitor center is excellent, and while less expensive than theme parks, not cheap either. Speaking of Theme Parks, they are the best in the world, if you're into theme parks. Disney is great for families of all ages, but especially 10 & under, while Universal has the roller coasters that most teenagers are looking for. Figure on about 80 minutes drive to Disney, less with good traffic. Assuming the government is open, Canaveral National Seashore (aka Playalinda Beach) is usually uncrowded and a nice beach. Clothing rules are unenforced at the very very far end of the beach, or so I am told. No such issues in the first few miles of beach parking though. Also on Canaveral property is the Black Point Wildlife Drive, a gravel loop a few miles long where you can see bald eagles and assorted Floridian wildlife. A hidden gem imo. Easy to get to in Orlando is the Crayola Experience, I hear good things from people with younger kids There's a nice shopping complex/outdoor mall nearby in Viera, and some very mediocre malls in Merritt Island and Titusville. Go to Viera. Ron Jon is neat, once, worth a visit if you like Been There Done That kinda things. Daytona is also a very doable drive, the world famous speedway there has daily track tours if that revs your engine. I wouldn't go just for the beach, though, hit Cocoa or Playalinda and save the gas. St. Augustine is farther than Orlando, probably at the outer limits of a day trip, but has a different feel than the recent history of KSC or tourist-ness of Orlando. Oops, just re-read that you'll be there in February. The beach advice might apply, but probably not. Have a great time though!

I wasn't kind of hoping for Bifrost of the Seas ?

Seen this over on Spacebook this morning, anyone else seen any info on her?

For those of you that are cruising this month, Congrats and Smooth Sailing! February 2019 2 - JohnUK (Grandeur of the Seas) 2 - mvannie (Symphony of the Seas) 3- Sparkymedic (Anthem of the Seas) 3 - SouthernYankee (Oasis of the Seas) 3- Intent2Smile (Liberty of the Seas) 4 - SpeedNoodles (Mariner of the Seas) 14- Matt (Brillance of the Seas) 14- ShakeDownCruise (Brilliance of the Seas) 14- Boston Babe (Grandeur of the Seas) 14- islandgrandma (Ovation of the Seas) 15 - Sweety (Majesty of the Seas) 15 - WAAAYTOOO (Anthem of the Seas) 16- Erika1971 (Symphony of the Seas) 17 - crazytaxman (Harmony of the Seas) 17- kate7723 (Harmony of the Seas) 17- dobbsa (Harmony of the Seas) 23 - BrianAlt (Symphony of the Seas) 23 - WAAAYTOOO (Anthem of the Seas) 24 - MONTLEYBRUE (Mariner of the Seas) 24 - tdcackler (Navigator of the Seas) 24- yzfmik (Oasis of the Seas) 24- Bob_KY (Allure of the Seas) 28 - mworkman (Independence of the Seas)

Just shared photos and a video, with the most important info....she will sail from USA! https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/02/01/odyssey-of-the-seas-will-be-royal-caribbeans-second-quantum-ultra-class-ship-and-sail

My attorney from @twangster, @twangster & @JLMoran advised me you cannot be trusted madam.

With luck, Bayonne, NJ! ?

Matt - loves MDR, likes WOW bands, likes the cold Me - hates MDR, not a fan of WOW bands, hates the cold Can we still be friends? ?

Just off of Brilliance, and my wife's drink of choice to end the night was a chocolate martini in the Schooner Bar. She was wary of going off script, since they had made such a great one in the champagne bar on Oasis as noted above. The gentleman behind the bar was... methodical... but the end result was excellent. He also kept refilling her glass from anything left in his mixer so it was like 1.5 drinks, which was not bad for a non drink package cruise.

Didn't you know? You've been switched to cruise on the Mein Schiff! ?

I don't mind repeating ships, we don't make an effort to do so however. Sometimes it just works out that way. Been on Serenade 3 times and am going again in April. Always itinerary and price driven, not to mention when we want to go. Been on Golden Princess 3 times in different parts of the world.

@melmar02 I usually never go against what the wise @twangster and @WAAAYTOOO say but I believe the answer to this one is the following: Your 5th passenger will be added on at whatever your 3rd and 4th have already paid (check your cruise confirmation), not prevailing rates. The reason being that once you book 3 or more in a cabin, the price gets locked in for any additional passengers after that. I have it in writing from Royal because I looked into this specifically for two of my sailings. The only way this would not work is if like @twangster said, the ship has already maxed out its 3/4 lifeboat capacity. Then you are out of luck and you would not be able to add anyone else period. Adding to this, we booked a Villa suite on Harmony for December 2020. At the time of the initial booking, 10 of us were in. A month later, the price changed slightly and my sister wanted in so we added 4 more at the initial price of the additional passengers. The price was locked because we already had more than 3 on the reservation. Regarding booking them in now and cancelling them later, that would be unwise and you would incur the cancellation fee since it is a suite. Unless you have some kind of "cancel for any reason" insurance that would cover that.

I wonder if its too much to hope for her to port out of Florida in which case may pave the way for an Oasis class to shuffle over to Galveston for the new terminal ?

I suppose hoping for a home port of Duluth (Lake Superior) would be asking too much. Probably too big to get under the lift bridge, anyway. ?

What makes KSC so amazing is the building devoted to the Space Shuttle Atlantis --- The entire lead up to it as you see the history of the shuttle program is something, you will NEVER forget. As you enter the building, you walk under two solid rocket boosters (pictured) ---- plus the section devoted to those lost on the Challenger and Columbia will bring a tear to your eye

I Live Two Miles From The Port And My Favorite Things To Do Is The Space Center. For Lunch I Wound Got To Fishlips. It Is Less Than A Minute From Terminal 1 And Has So Good Of Food That Elon Musk Goes There To Eat When He Is In The Area. Also Do The Tower There. The Tower Looks Like A Sail Boat Sail. Inside The Tower There Is A Museum About The Port And Area.

Kennedy Space Center or drive to Orlando for the day is a decent option for rainy day. KSC has outdoor walking, but their exhibits are all pretty much indoors.

Typically guests are added at prevailing rates on that day. There has to be enough capacity within your muster zone so the best thing to do is call and ask them "What would it cost to add...". Never hurts to ask the question then you can decide based on the answer. The call is free ? If you booked through a travel agency call them, not Royal direct.

Yes, @Baked Alaska let me know what you need recon of. I'm on it. 38 days!!

@Sparkymedic We just got off Anthem and didn't see or hear about the flu, i did see where people complained once we were off the ship. i guess we were the lucky ones, I'm sure it helped that we drank fresh squeezed orange juice every day and i mix one of those 1000mg packets of vitamin c a week prior, during and after each cruise. Worse place to pick up viruses is on airplanes with that canned air. Needless to say i washed my hands like 50 times a day....i wonder where i seen that at ...?

To be fair, a lot of women’s clothing has nonexistent or non functional pockets. It’s a crime. And then if you were to ask me how much CRAP I have in my purse??? Weeeell, how much time do you have?? ?

Yes, pretty much what was said above. Think Smirnoff vs Tito's or Kettle. It depends on your crowd who will notice or not. If people tend to have a bunch of mixers in their drinks maybe not so much but if they drink straight up or only mix with club/water it would be more noticeable. I know if I were invited to a reception and someone was paying for the drinks I would be happy with whatever they provided. Maybe inquire if someone wanted something specific if they could purchase it on their own.

We won a 7 night cruise by winning the grand prize playing bingo on board the Oasis of the Seas. We mailed in our certificate as directed. Does anyone know how long it takes to be called back to set up the cruise? It has been 11 days as of now and we have heard nothing back.

Touche! Totally agree with your last comment. ?

I have been on Allure 3 times, Liberty 2 times, Adventure 2 times, Voyager 2 times. I will be on future cruises Oasis 2 times, Harmony 2 times and Anthem 2 times. After my 3rd cruise on Allure which was just 2 weeks ago I feel like cruise 3 is the sweet spot for me, we knew where everything was, all the little secrets, tips and tricks. I repeated or will repeat for varies reasons, ship was the destination, the itineraries, availability (date) and itineraries, and/or room features (Star Class)

About three years ago we also won a cruise through Royal Caribbean bingo. Everything takes time. After two weeks, I would be calling them. Hopefully, you kept a copy of your certificate in case it gets lost. Ultimately, we did use our certificate with an upgrade and had a very nice, very inexpensive nine day cruise.

Dont try to go to Disney World. Trying to cram any of the theme parks in just a day (a short day at that) is going to be a waste of money and you will spend a a better park of the day traveling, parking and just going through the process of buying tickets. Not fair to the kids and you will be worn out before you even start the cruise. Since your already close, Kennedy Space Center would be your best bet. Enjoy the cruise, your family will really love the Harmony.

Thanks So Much for your response, You're absolutely right about not having interest in the bumper cars and flow riders. I think they are the type of people that have a great time no matter what and enjoy relaxing by the pool instead of jumping from one thing to the next. I appreciate your response!

We did that exact ship and itinerary last March and live blogged it here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/category/category/rhapsody-of-the-seas-live-blog

If you want to do "touristy" things, there is always Ron Jon's if you head south on A1A. If you have most of the day to spend, you could visit Kennedy Space Center, there are nice exhibits and a bus ride that takes you all over the center. There area couple of nice seafood restaurants at the port (Rusty's, Grills, etc). Lots of people like visiting the Cape Canaveral Pier. I assume you will be taking the Oasis out - I'm jealous!! I live close by there, from Merritt Island we can see the Oasis sticking up on Port Canaveral skyline......

The new person would definitely NOT be added at the rate that you originally paid. There is a chance (a good one, I think) that the booking would be completely repriced at the prevailing rate and with whatever booking bonuses are currently being offered....meaning that you would ALL pay the new rate. If it's lower than what you originally paid, great, but if not, ugh. But Twangster is right. Just call. It can't hurt to ask...but be prepared for bad news (or good news if the rates have dropped).

Yes, I think this is a great first cruise ship for your parents. Most likely they aren't going to be all that interested in flow riders, bumper cars, circus trapeze and levitating arms. I think this will be a classy and entertaining option. Our first Royal Caribbean ship was the Grandeur (when she was sailing out of Tampa !) and it was enough to hook us for life so there ya go !

Gotta love the Stepbrothers reference!!!!!??

Haha...not a fan of dinosaurs or any animals. And with that this thread is officially off track! ?

Agree with @twangster on this, frequent business traveler myself, give me a card every time, hate trying to use my phone.

Agreed, plus as a business traveler I've tried to use this feature at hotels and hate it. Standing in front of the door, app open, door not. Wait, wait, wait. Bingo, door unlocked. Each and every time. 30 seconds doesn't sound like a long time but when standing at the door, trying to get in, it seems like eternity. Next stop, front desk to get a key card. I have a bluetooth enabled lock on my house and 50% of the time it works. Then there is the matter of my iPhone that mysteriously died one day. Poof! Completely dead out of the blue. If that was my only means of access I would have been locked out in the cold.

Thanks for the quick replies

No Freestyle machines on Navigator when i was on it in 2018

Odyssey is WAAAY better than Spectrum. Whoever agreed to that name should lose their job !

I'm sure this feature will not be available any time soon. Money better spent on driving up revenue (WOW Bands). They could soft launch to The Key guests first so they can work out the kinks and whatnot since VOOM is already included and safe to assume they own a smartphone.

Following along!

In December, it was Terminal 18. Last week @twangster also left from Terminal 18 (for Indy). Port Everglades has an app (iphone, not sure about Android) that shows you the terminal that each ship will be using. I have that on my phone because I like to see how busy the port will be. Gives me a guide as to how busy hotels will be in the area.

We sail March 24. I totally don't mind if I can figure out how to compress the pics enough when I get back! I won't have voom so I'm planning on livish blogging. Will definitely give my opinion on Samba. Jane

Two weeks after you ?

Did this search: https://www.google.com/maps/search/vegan+Restaurants/@25.7925848,-80.1322054,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m8!2m7!3m6!1svegan+Restaurants!2sHampton+Inn+Miami+South+Beach+-+17th+Street,+1700+Collins+Ave,+Miami+Beach,+FL+33139!3s0x88d9b49b6d97d24f:0x7df32099aae35c80!4m2!1d-80.1300167!2d25.7925848?hl=en

I freshened up but stayed in the clothes we had on, we left the house about 5am, flight was at 6:55, landed in Ft Lauderdale at 2pm, took a limo service to Miami to the hotel about 3pm settled in for about an hour and then were at the restaurant by 5:30ish. But it's just the 2 of us, no kids, I get it especially after being at the beach, those are usually get cleaned up and order a pizza type of nights, lol.

Royal Caribbean Strikes again! I've not been able to get into my cruise or cruise planner from ANY platform, Chrome, Firefox etc. I said, ok, I'll try my MAC, surely Safari will get me in! NOPE! The website opened in German! When I tried to log into my Cruise planner, it took me the UK sight quoting everything in pounds! HELP!!!!! We are leaving in 14 days. YOU CANT MAKE THIS UP!!

Can't help you with dinner suggestions, but I have heard great things about Rosetta Bakery which looks to have a location close to the Hampton Inn. Might be decent to grab a light lunch or some breakfast if the free Hampton breakfast doesn't do it for you.

Ok, this might not be the correct answer, but it wins anyway.

LOL. On November 3rd, 2019, New Jersey will "fall back" and be on Eastern Standard Time. When you fly to San Juan to board Freedom, San Juan will be one hour ahead. They'll probably tell you on the plane when you land in San Juan to set your watches ahead one hour. From that moment forward the time will never change at any of your ports or on the ship.