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"MY FRIEND" (lol) was able to get it ALL taken care of as if nothing had happened! P. T. L. #dontmissfinalpayment #mightstranglethehubby #iamthefriend

If they had a good TA they wouldn’t have missed final payment lol

WARNING! This was the killer! More than one month later, I still have pounds that I have not lost yet thanks to those late night snacks! ?

I think we're going to book a balcony for us and an interior room for our kids across the hall (17, 15, 12). One bathroom just isn't going to cut it for a whole week with 5 folks. Plus no privacy for mom and dad if we're in one large room.

Kraken Lava Flow.

She was referring to herself as the friend, not your friend.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=asking for a friend

so did this little episode. I about had a HEART ATTACK when i opened my email this morning at work. I really wanted to cuss and cry...but I am the secretary at a very traditional Presbyterian church...LOL...so I just blew up his phone with texts and pictures and emails instead. LOL

Strangling the hubby causes real hard feelings. ??

Tales from newfound Pen Pals: SweetPea and Derick For being #TeamSuperFOMO, we are fussy eaters. Don’t get me wrong. We love to eat. But the list of things we will not eat is quite long. Batman’s tastes haven’t really evolved from his 10-year-old self. Among his favorite foods: peanut butter, Mac n cheese, French fries, rice, chicken tenders. And while I have a much more diverse palate, I hate foods by texture. I’m going to make a horrible old person. To any of my family reading this when I’m 97, please forego putting my food in a blender and go straight to a feeding tube. Or throw me off the proverbial cliff. Either way. What I'm trying to tell you is that this will not be the blog for you if you're a foodie. Requesting the Coastal Kitchen (CK) menus really went a long way into helping which nights we wanted to schedule there. I know everyone raves about the filet on night one. I do like a tender filet, but that bed of potato puree it sits on freaks me right the hell out, & I don’t like to make a pest of myself right off the bat. One must eeeease her way into high maintenance territory. Anyway, here is some friendly advice from Derick: As for your dining time, I recommend after 7:45pm and there is a two-fold reason for that. Firstly, the early shows finish by 7:30pm and you will get to the dining venue only after that and Secondly, guests who go in for dinner at 530pm are just finishing dinner by 730pm and it takes at least 15 minutes to reset the table, so you will not have to wait too long for a table to be ready. Fortunately, we also have the option of eating in-suite. This requires some notice, but Derick will set this up for us if we wish. I don’t really see us having dinners in the room though on this short cruise. Maybe some lunch. Who knows what we’ll be in the mood for. We’re both just grateful unlimited Johnny Rockets is included. And Brass & Brock (formerly Michael's Pub). Pub Food is awesome. Except for pot pies. And bangers and mash. Because … yuck. After some back and forth, Derick has set our dining. I think we will probably skip lunch on the first day and do Chops for dinner. This may turn out to be a bad idea with the dining package they offer where you can do Chops or Jamie’s on the first night. But we’ll see. I’ll certainly let you all know. We have precisely zero interest in Wonderland (entirely too adventurous and seemingly gimmicky... I know I'm a bit off, but I've watched videos of Wonderland and my teeth grit every time I watch someone paint the menu). And we are not sushi or hibachi peeps either. We have also opted to do North Star while in Bermuda. And for all of you on the itinerary that includes Boston, please note that the North Star is not available during our stay there due the port’s proximity to Logan Airport. Too bad the FAA frowns on this. We could’ve had a North Star/Maho Beach smackdown to see which is more thrilling. BTW, I also pushed my luck to see if they had bleu cheese stuffed olives on board. I like my dirty martinis bordering on filthy, and these are always the perfect complement. Derick said he could get me bleu cheese and he could get me olives. But the “stuffing” might be more than they can manage. (For any of my Havenites following along, you know that you can order bleu cheese from your butler. Your butler will either deliver it to you or directly to the bar, and the Haven bartenders will stuff you some olives. I eased my way into high maintenance territory on NCL long ago...) This isn’t an issue, of course. I already have 2 jars of bleu cheese stuffed olives packed. And, as far as our bar habits and late-night feedings, Derick offered this sage advice: You can let me know your comfort late night snacks and I will have room service deliver it at a particular time each night. You can mix and match on a daily basis, just do let me know by evening of that day, either through call or email. Also will highly recommend schooner bar, if you like live soft music or Two70 bar for something quieter. To be honest, I think we will really be missing O’Sheehan’s and Howl at the Moon from our usual Norwegian haunting grounds. But we shall see! And Derick’s further info for entertainment: I will arrange for the production shows and headliner shows too, which are guest entertainers. There are no reservations required for the first day and also for the late night adult comedies. Also you can let me know when you will like to get a go at the Bumper Cars, during scheduled hours. Of course, I snuck in a question of my own, hoping to get an idea for a small gift as seems to be the custom: Finally, a Genie “survey” question for you, if you will: Where are you from, and what do you miss most about home? :) I am from Mumbai, India. I miss my wife and our 1 year old puppy....and of course my parents, nephews and nieces. So sweet. That didn’t exactly give me ideas, but someone on the Star Class cruisers page on FB did, and it’s all wrapped and ready to go. ?

... then they put your room up for the RoyalUp program so someone else will take it - lol - then you may have to book an interior room down by the engine ? #Don'tMissTheFinalPayment

Multiple excursions on our June 16 went down by ONE CENT per person from the best previous price! And another one went up by ONE CENT per person.

I pretty much check everything daily (check to see if my booked cruises have gone down in price, check all cruise planner purchases). But I have time to do that. Frankly, it's one of the only things that keep me awake at 4am at work ? . It's good to have a hobby?

Haha! Only in my dreams! I live in an igloo in Canada so frequent cruising is hard for us ?

Oh well. Will just have to book another cruise ?

I’m too afraid of commitment to tie my spouse to my C&A status.

Couldn’t wait to reach Diamond because I’d hoped the 3 free drinks would be enough to keep me from purchasing the drink package. Well, after realizing the drink options are limited, I’m still buying it. I could probably make it work for me but not much there for my wife. Not sure if this matters to you but I didn’t realize it was such a limited list.

Someone get @JennyB a lava flow, stat!

Both of these are awesome, you guys rock.

There are two things worse than missing a cruise final payment date......forgetting your wife's birthday and forgetting your wedding anniversary date. ?

My Wife thanks I'm crazy, but I obsess over this, I have reminders in my home office, my office, my Outlook calendar etc., etc.. Last but not least is that @michelle with MEI has told me that she will remind me.

+1 on this! I enjoy the extra info from the shopping seminar, especially about the port itself, and freebies!

Don’t let those mother-scratchers take your luggage ! You may have to fight them but keep your luggage with you until AFTER you check in with the SC greeter. They will try and fool you by making you think they are SC porters but don’t fall for it ! ??

You could book BOTH a balcony and an interior stateroom that is right across the hall from your balcony. If two adults, book an adult in each room. Then, go to guest services to swap around room keys. Then, you also have TWO bathrooms! And! The adults get the balcony!!

In February one of the guys at Sabor Bar on Oasis told me that Playmakers was replacing Sabor. He seemed very confident of this.

And we got what I believe is our last pre-cruise email from my new BFF, advising us of our drop off location when we arrive at the port, which is Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal, Zone 6. We shall be onboard 48 hours from now. ???

OP grievance should be with their phone carrier, not Royal.

@Baked Alaska HM CK menus. Keep in mind that Night 5/6 flips depending on which night is formal night. Formal night will have the lobster. CK D #1_ENG.pdfCK D #2_ENG.pdfCK D #3_ENG.pdfCK D #4_ENG.pdfCK D #5_ENG.pdfCK D #6_ENG.pdfCoastal KIDS MENU.pdf CK D #7_ENG.pdf

Platimun robe? I thought they were Terrycloth white? ?

I don’t think we will ever see an Oasis ship in this region. Too many people for the small Pacific Islands with tendering required everywhere. As Twangster said you would have to reimagine Central Park as even if you could regionalise the plants you still wouldn’t be able to come from Australia to NZ.Our bio security laws are very strict which would also limit the itinaries available. If it ever left Australia to go to Asia for a season you would need to replant everything fresh each time t returned. Even though it is not much longer than a Quantum it is much wider and I think this would cause all sorts of issues in the Sydney harbour with the ferries. Frankly I can’t see that RCI would want all the hassle when we already have a Quantum here. Personally I would be happy if they just sent us a Freedom class in the future.

You missed the biggest pro for RCI...Your GS was likely half the cost of a Disney cruise ? We've done 3 on DCL. It was for our kids when they were younger. I completely agree with most of your comparisons, especially the entertainment aspect of it. But I also agree with others that entertainment is way better and more on par with the type of entertainment on DCL. We gave up on DCL because each time I cruised it, it became harder to justify the cost of it vs. RCI. Thanks for sharing!

Please do! I have found that the only sure cure for “cruisitis” is booking another one or two!!!?

Maybe I am just old and tired but there is no way that I would book more than 1 excursion per day. I say choose one...but that's just me.

I will be trying to BLOG our upcoming cruise this weekend. I am attempting to do the cruise on a budget but still get a few additional items. I will start with the ways that I saved money when booking the cruise and hotels and airfare. The cruise was purchased with the full cost first ticket, My wife was at a 60% discount and my daughter was free with the child sale free promo. Total cost for interior GTY for 3 people including gratuities, taxes, and port fees $2073.72 With $50 OBC Airfare cost $25.00 per person. I used airline miles to get us the tickets for almost free. I do love the airline miles credit cards (tip buy everything on it and the miles add up fast. There is a down side to this, we have a 5 hour layover on the way down and a 7 hour layover on the way back and we need to stay in MIA 1 night after the cruise. I might be able to get our flights changed the day before we fly. I will advise if I have to pay a change fee or not. We will have 3 hotel stays associated with this trip. First I had to pay for but it includes a park and fly option $176 dollars. Cost to park at the airport for our cruise would of been $100. so hotel is really only costing us $76.00. The alternative would be to drive to the airport around 4AM to catch our flight. Our hotel before the cruise I used IHG rewards points for a free stay. For our Post cruise hotel I am using my 1 free Marriott stay per year that comes as a credit card reward. Now for the little extras that I decided would help us enjoy the cruise a little more. I did try for a Royal Up and was successful in getting a Balcony room upgrade cost $600.00. In addition to the Royal UP I did get the unlimited pictures on a Thumb drive for $249.99 ( I think its been changed to a digital download instead). I also purchased the VOOM surf and stream, as my Wife and I will have some work that we must do while on the cruise, I purchased the 2 device plan when it was on sale for $20.99 a day. Since we will not be getting any drink package I bought the 12 1 liter water bottle package using our OBC for $46.02 with the service charge included. As far as Shore excursions go we only booked 1 thru RC the Arawak aqua park and Dragon's Tail Coaster single ride Combo for $33.00 each total cost 99.00 I booked a Bernard SXM Island tour 1 for our port call in St Maarten for $100 total. $40 per adult and $20 for my daughter. If I can get our flight changed on the way to FLL I will look into booking a Jungle Queen river cruise in FLL so my wife can get some nice pictures along the river and canals. More to follow...

Hello all!!! This is my first post as I just booked my first ever cruise yesterday. Actually this will be the first cruise my entire family has ever been on and we are all over 40. So I guess we are late in the game. LOL!! I have been searching these boards all day getting as much info as I can from all of you. You all give such great input and this site is amazing!! I booked a 2 bedroom ATS Suite (A1) category Room 8330 on Oasis of the Seas for a 4 night cruise NEXT May 2020. There are 4 of us traveling. I originally looked on RCI main website nothing was available. I went onto Costco site and their availability was much much better so I booked through them. I am searching this site and reading about how these rooms have MINIMUM of 5 people. Since we are only 4 is this a Costco mistake? I am little nervous that I am going to get an email or something saying your room and reservation has been canceled. Thank you all for your help and i am sure I will be speak to you all again!!!!

oooooooo...good idea!!!

OR..those three are =

I know @Matt never EVER talks about it but attend the shopping seminar. You'd swear they don't exist with matt around...jk. I think it is helpful and informative about each port and many times you get a little hook-up. Free taxi to the downtown Cozumel area once. Cut the very long line and discounted ferry at St. Thomas another time.. Plus free swag! If it's free, it's for me!!

Make reservations early, the normal spa hair saloon fills up early on the afternoons and evenings before the formal nights so I assume this place would also.

We would stop there every a.m. for me to get my Starbucks iced coffee. Caveat they will not allow you to use a Starbucks gift card, nor redeem any loyalty points like a traditional Starbucks.

Mexico in general has vanilla and it is great. However, I have not had luck with buying fresh beans. Each time I bought them they ended up being old.

YOLO! Harmony - May 9, 2019 Oasis - November 24, 2019

Just a warning with the WOW band - you can't use it to pick up your child from the child care center. Even with a license. They will only release a child with the room card (which would have been great to know when we showed up right at the end of the program the first time we picked up). Also you can't use the WOW band to get on and off the ship. There were other restrictions I know I'm forgetting. But overall we quickly decided it was a waste since we always needed the card anyhow (with 4 kids someone was always at the kids' club, so we always needed a card to pick them up).

I ways love rumours, I get excited of the prospect of what is happening and what could be going on in the world of Royal Caribbean. I wonder what other concept they could put in, instead of central park? https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/02/15/meet-the-oasis-of-the-seas-never-was A few of these unused concepts maybe

Ok Sorry Everyone This Blog Is On Pause Until I Get Home From My Next Cruise.

Oh gosh, there are so many “musts” I have now (so many that I keep a permanent list of them and it definitely includes some of those shown above {like the wrinkle spray and a mesh bag for dirty clothes to hang inside the closet}).. But here are the ones that I have added to the list in the last year:: 1. small sissors (small, blunt ones such as the type for nails or the small ones used for needlework and tip cover that comes with them). I am always shocked at the number of things that I need to cut when I’m on a cruise! 2. Moisturizing eye drops (I have spent my life near water, including the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, but the water in the Caribbean seems 50x saltier and my eyes really hurt after a dip!). So, I now always carry this if I am headed to the beach or snorkeling and it really makes my day much nicer. 3. 1-2 disposable food prep containers - sometimes I want a small snack at night, but the room service menu is almost solidly very greasy foods and that is the polar opposite of what I want in the evening. So when I get a chance I sometimes squirrel away a roll and a small slice of cheese or a less sugary pastry into my lidded, thin food prep container that I can toss at the end of the cruise). Happy Sailing! ????

Following from the edge of my chair...