Leaderboard

We are winding down at the Hyatt inside the Orlando Airport for the night. The super early wake up and travel day, followed by a few hours at the pool have all of us ready to get a good night’s sleep before embarkation tomorrow. This Hyatt is an absolute sea of pleasant calm in the chaos of the airport, and so convenient for a pre-cruise stay. We went with a patio room this time because the rooms that look over the airport atrium don’t have doors that open even though they have balconies, some sort of “safety risk” and I love the fresh humid air and rain that we don’t get at home. We are using the ship’s bus transportation in the morning to the port so it’s just a matter of getting up when we are ready and going down to level 1. No proper breakfast needed for sure, as we will be starting our 7 days of food. Here are some pictures of the room ( 2 QNS with patio), the very quiet hallway atrium outside the room that you would never guess is right above the hustle and bustle of the security lanes, and the rooftop pool area with views of planes taking off — definitely not a resort mega pool area with bells and whistles, but more than enough to swim in and cool off, and way bigger than anything we will be dipping our feet in on the ship! We can’t wait for tomorrow, my son asked whether we will be on the loud terminal forklift loading side at PC, or the harbor side looking out towards Cape Canaveral. I’m not sure how the ship is normally oriented while in Port so we will find out soon.

My wife just hit me with something that I just don't know how to deal with it. I didn't think I'd have to deal with this for at least another year or so. I am at a cross roads and I don't think I can handle the old bag anymore. I've been think of getting a new one but it's cheaper to keep the old bag. So I'm asking for your help, any and all comments are welcome and please be candid with your suggestions, answers, criticisms, I'm a big boy and can take it. My wife want to buy new luggage. I've told her the old bags are just fine, at least until our next cruise in Jan 2024. So, my question is: Hard side or soft? Which is the most durable. I like soft sided but I've never had the hard sided ones. She wants hard, imagine that. Besides the B.S. innuendo, this is really a serious question.

Not sure there really is much of a difference between soft side and hard side luggage. The bigger decision for me has to do with the wheels. Pushing, pulling or rolling the luggage around is much easier with the newer style 360 wheels that roll around any which way you want them to. Oh…and the weight of the empty luggage! The lighter it is empty…the more “stuff” I can fill it with before hitting the 50lb mark!! Who knew there was so much to consider when thinking about trading in older baggage for newer ones??

After lunch we headed across the bridge again over to the Tower of London. This fortress was larger than I thought and we explored all over the place. We saw some of the carvings that the infamous “guests” left in the walls and eventually saw the Crown Jewels. They don’t mess around in there with their no photography policy. There were many teenagers who got yelled at for simply having their phones in their hands. Traitors Gate Johnny was ready to defend the fortress! We didn’t try messing with these guys… We were in awe as to what was inside here.

Some fun things we saw on the way to the bus. Nothing says “we are an international tourist destination” when they have to put this on the roads to remind everyone that the direction cars come is different than everywhere else. We also like to find highly rated local restaurants to try out when we travel. It’s a good thing there are so many…… Next stop Tower Bridge

Wow! I can’t say enough about suite class so far - I would pull the $$ trigger on that again in a heartbeat JUST for embarkation on an Oasis size ship. We finally left MCO at 12:15 and the bus ride was uneventful in a good way. There were several people dozing off in the cool A/C after whatever “hurry up and wait” travel situations have finally culminated in getting to the ship. The last few times we have used transportation from the Airport to the ship have been on Disney years ago and the mood on Disney is considerably more amped up with people wearing Mickey ears while being inundated with DCL cartoons and Mickey shorts. I would compare it to a weekend trip to Vegas - the Friday night outbound flight is hooting and hollering ( DCL) and the Sunday flight back is hungover and asleep ( RCL). Speaking of which …. The RCL port rep came on board to let us know there are 6000 ppl checking in, a long line ahead and to have Covid test, and Covid cards at the ready for phase one of spot check. We bypassed the entire cluster of what looked to be nothing short of a 500-800 person line, were shuttled past everyone and waiting behind one family to get into the terminal. 20 minutes from off the bus to door on the ship, but I can feel the elevator pain already as it took almost as long to get to 17. Made it Suite lounge and Coastal kitchen by 1:35, and Mario already handled the aforementioned adult 12 year old dining situation with the UDP. Interestingly enough, not one person in the whole chain has told us how to get to our room? I guess we just see if there’s keys there. More later - I keep getting alerts that I have a few hours left to complete the safety drill. Here is the line at the port at 1 pm

It was Probably my irish gypsy ancestors who quoted for resurfacing the road that runs along it

More importantly once you force a logout, it’s tricky to log back in. Friends don’t let friends logout.

The 360 degree wheels are key.

After we got off the bridge, we were pretty hungry. This sign lured me in. Like any typical male, I didn’t read the whole thing at first and was disappointed when I walked in. Despite my disappointment the food was good. This place is called The Vault and is built into the bridge pier. We got fish and chips, and we are firmly on the side of malt vinegar @JLMoran There was also a burger and some nuggets. The Boss found her new favorite drink

We hopped off the bus at Tower Bridge and explored the area. You know you are in Europe when you see this live in an amphitheater. If you know, you know! Not sure of the significance of the monkeys, but we had to get a picture. We headed into the bridge, and started up the stairs. 206 stairs, and this one made sure to count every one to give us status updates. Once at the top, we headed across the upper walkway. There is a glass floor to let you see down. This one said NOPE to that floor This one loved that floor The views were expansive! Here was a neat view. This is inside the tower, looking up. After the bridge we got to explore the engine room that housed the old steam engines that were in use up to the ‘70s until they were replaced with electric motors.

I'm a guy and can do it easily. For Carribean, I pack 1 or 2 pants for dinner, 2 shorts, 7 underwear and socks, 1 swim suit, 7 polo style shirts plus 3 t shirts, a sport coat and my bathroom bag. I also take a normal size backpack with a change of clothes and usually 2 bottles of wine.

No wonder they call it by the old name !

Yes. Our Genie that we had in March 2022 would not return a reply for days. He turned out to be one of my favourites. How fast they respond is not a good indicator of what they will be like onboard (from my own personal experience).

We switched to hard side bags from Away Luggage a couple years ago. We love them, 4 wheel 360 degree design, good locks, and best of all LIFETIME warranty. We have used the warranty once for a broken interior zipper, and it could not have gone smoother. Called them and described the issue; 2 days later a new bag was on the porch, put the old bag in the shipping box, and Fed Ex came and picked it up.

I guess it depends how much you love the "old bag" Definitely cheaper to keep the older model....getting a newer model will cost you as it won't be just a standard bag it will come with lots of extra costs you may not have considered! Difficult one this! Soft sided ones are obviously more likely to let us down as they are more fragile Where as the hard sided while more robust come with other issues for a more senior person. You could keep the older soft one and your wife could look into getting a new hard one to cater for her needs. Theres always young men at the airports/cruise terminals who would assist in helping her with it.

Wasn’t that what the vaccination was for???

Our trip is saved! Our trip is saved Adapters have been secured! While it’s great to be able to charge phones etc. The Boss is happier now that she can do her hair!

Situated in the room for sail away after exploring the ship. We did have our sea pass cards waiting for us after we left Coastal Kitchen for lunch, and it’s a ridiculously easy walk from our loft suite to the coastal kitchen and suite lounge. Thanks to the good info on these blog forums, I am definitely glad we went with the deck 17 room, and did not entertain a Royal up that was offered on an Aquatheater suite. For this sailing the choices upgrading from a crown loft were the 2bd Aquatheater, the 4 bd villa suite, or the Royal loft with a grand piano — the latter two just way way too lavish for me and the teens! Oasis class general impressions : I can tell as echoed in previous reviews of Oasis class ships THE ELEVATORS ARE A PROBLEM. I can’t even imagine not being an able bodied person to take the stairs if needed - absolutely packed up and down all ways so far, it seems they are short by about half the elevators in both banks. Central Park is ah-mazing. What an awesome concept and kudos to the design team for the idea of live plants and the gardeners who tend the area. The whole ship is enormous and beautiful but the whole Central Park area is a wonderful standout, the kids and I agree hands down if you went with one of the interior balconies - definitely the Central Park vs. Boardwalk. The Casino reeks of stale smoke, we had to pass through there empty to find fhe hibachi place we are eating at tonight and our muster station, and it’s nauseatingly smoky…completely empty with machines off. I don’t want to think how gross it is when it’s open. I’ll be avoiding this area in passing if I can. Suite Class impressions : Wonderful. Mario helped me with the UDP thing for a minute on a busy day around 1:30 when the desk was stacked with confused arriving passengers, and when I popped in again to ask about Waterpark passes since I didn’t see anything in the shore excursions stuff in the room as we returned this afternoon for sail away, he greeted me with a hello by name. Maria in the suite lounge bar, who brought me a glass of chilled wine with lunch approached me immediately upon my return with a sweating glass of beer from exploring the ship waiting to ask Mario about the Waterpark and said “let me get you a fresh glass” Maria ( housekeeper) was in the hall when I was returning to the suite and went over everything about the room and our dining times and the sofa bed before I could even get the sea pass card from my pocket. Wonderful service so far. the Suite : there’s plenty of videos and pictures online of the crown lofts and it’s more spacious in person. Side note we are port side and do face Cape Canaveral for sail away. I was also pleased the depth of the upstairs bed to the railing is more than it seems online, I think I was picturing dropping something off the the side of the bed and bumping my head on the rail, but it is spacious. Here are some pics from wandering around today more later! We had masks waiting for us, different for adult, teen and 12 Also make Note of the super weird artwork piece of the half man half sea creature with a mustache being coddled by a man - my kids noted on the way to the casino, I’m not an HGTV designer but what exactly would be the appropriate room to display this ?? Feel free to tell me in replies

As an update, looks like the cups are back, or at least they are on the Allure. I saw someone post a pic on a Facebook group.

Seriously... We've had just about every sort of luggage over the years... The important thing used to be "durability"...but no longer... For us, the most important thing about ANY luggage is WEIGHT. With airlines allowing only 50 pounds and charging for additional pieces...and with us taking longer and longer trips...plus other considerations--like fitting our luggage into the trunks of Ubers and taxis...and schlepping it around airports and towns...It becomes very important that you can get more stuff in less space with less weight. If your luggage weighs 20 pounds, it only leaves you with room for 30 pounds of clothes and other stuff. If it weighs 8 pounds, you have space for 42 pounds of clothing and stuff...and it takes the same effort to lift or roll it. To that end, I have a very large soft side piece that weighs only 8 pounds--30 inch by Skyway... My wife loves her 30 inch HYBRID rolling duffel by FUL...She did have an airline break the wheel on one...and the company replaced the entire suitcase free of charge! Hybrid means the bottom is a hard-shell Polycarbonate, the top parts are soft nylon...and it has lots of compartments so my wife can organize better...and still it is extremely lightweight.

Personally I don't think it's worth it for Emerald. If climbing the CAS ladder is important to you in tne long term then consider this as a strategy in the future but for existing booked cruise it's not worth it. Cruise because you love to cruise. Don't chase points as a reason to cruise.

We had no expectations of what our genie could do for our immediate family and we were pleasantly surprised when we were able to sit together at shows (behind the other star families). Dinner reservations, as you mentioned, were easily done since we all had the dining package. Our genie allowed us to have my parents (non star) take the place of my two kids (star class) at chefs table and I simply paid the additional for my parents. In suite the family could come and go and help themselves to the drinks and snacks.

Currently waiting in the bus area for transportation the the ship. We got downstairs about 10:20 and waited about 15 minutes to get our tickets for the bus. There was a voucher page attached in our cruise EDocs that I just handed the agent, very simple. We should be leaving around 11:30. I asked what happens if you have an earlier check in/ port arrival and you are on a later bus, they said it doesn’t matter they will let you arrive whenever you say you just got off the transportation — ( so maybe if you are generally running late for your arrival you say you were on the bus ) There’s plenty of seating here and a full Starbucks so we will grab some coffee and wait to be called!

Rahul actually sent me his company phone phone number in our 1st or 2nd email conversation. I only used it twice, once to verify that it was, in fact, his phone and the 2nd time to let him know we were at the terminal. This was on our last Alaska cruise in May. That was a first. Before that (pre-COVID), we relied on email. For me/us, the availability to Whatsapp and virtually live communications with our Genie is a vast improvement compared to pre-COVID. I actually had a situation that I felt needed my Genies attention, in the Pub. I sent him a text and he was there in less than 5 minutes. All I told him was that I needed him in the Pub "ASAP". Poor guy had no idea what he was walking in to. All went well and clear-up.

Some Genies are better at pre-sail comm than others. I can't remember which Genie (I do recall that it was a male), but I have read a number of pre-sail concerns b/c that particular Genie was a poorer pre-sail communicator than previous Genies. When the time came to board, they found this Genie to be exceptional but simply didn't communicate that well up front. Concur with @MLHthat the Genies have to be very careful about what they put in writing. I had a Genie tell me that when it comes to emails and phone cons, they will never "say" anything that is contrary to official policy...but when it comes down to private conversations in person, the Genies will be more spontaneous. I wouldn't worry too much about a short lapse in return comm....but if it goes more than 3-4 days I would send a follow-up just to be sure that everything is a-ok. With Genies moving in and out of isolation so much, you never know what might be a legitimate concern and what might simply be overwork.

Cruise day!

Not that I know of. We were fortunate to do 2 days in CoCocay when we sailed Adventure out of the Bahamas last summer during the restart. My young adults liked it so much I purposely booked a 3night/4 night back to back so they could do it again.

Studio cabins do not provide an extra point for solo since a studio cabin is priced for a single guest. The keyword here is "Studio". If that word appears any in the cabin type it will not earn an extra point for solo. If the cabin would normally hold two guests but a solo passenger books and pays any single supplements for that cabin then a solo guests earns an extra point per night. If the fare is a GTY or "We pick the cabin" type fare and the ship has studio cabins they can assign you a studio cabin that would not earn the extra point. So as long you are not looking at a GTY type fare or a studio cabin then it should earn an extra point for a solo guest booked in that cabin. Also be aware that it only takes one of you earning 11 more points to cross the threshold. Technically you both don't have to sail if you wanted to save $1,100. Once C&A establishes that you and your wife are in a "relationship" then you both will appear to have the status or whichever of you has the higher points. If one of you has sailed more than the other they should be the one to go solo to cross the threshold. If you both have cruised equally then it doesn't matter which of you puts you over the threshold. However if you both want to go on the 6 night cruise then this is a moot point.

We just ditched some bigger hard sides for soft, expandable overhead bags. We are trying to travel with small rollers and backpacks. In training to whittle down the amount of stuff we bring on trips. Our hard sides took a beating and were dying.

Okay, backtracking a little bit here. So where we left off, we had caught our ride up to London to the hotel. We dropped our bags and headed out into the city to explore. We started with a hop on hop off bus tour and headed to the direction of Tower Bridge. We got to see many sights along the way. We drove down Regent Street with all its shopping. Johnny’s ears sure perked up when he heard about the 7 floors of toys at Hamleys! We saw some of the West End and Soho. Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square. Westminster, Houses of Parliament, the clock tower that contains Big Ben, Downing Street, the financial district and on and on. It was a good way to see a lot of the city.

Made it MCO and waiting a long time for bags. The airport is very busy and the baggage claim ( at least Southwest) seems very backlogged. Just wanted to share something cool my son discovered on the Southwest in flight entertainment page - they must have upgraded the flight path Map - there’s now a 360 plane view with earth maps, right and left window views with maps and a cockpit view too. I admittedly geeked out for a few minutes but I haven’t really bothered to look at the map recently as I scroll through the TV and Movies. This button accesses all the new maps

Headed home.

LOL, I miss the good old days when you asked for a coffee or tea and the only options were, cream and/or sugar with that! Now a five person line takes about an hour and a half just for the people to order their coffee or tea. "I'll have a cafe latte, mogopichu, crem al la puke, semi sweet dark chocolate sprinkles, with marmot stool, vegan sweet cream, milk chocolate shavings, grande in a vente cup with Hershey strawberry syrup and a cherry on top of the whipped nondairy cream". Served exactly at 192 degrees with a side order of a glazed donut.

A better strategy is to see what an upgrade to a JS would cost. The advantage is that you get to enjoy the JS for whatever extra cost you ate incurring. I wouldn't book a room you won't use just for points. Note that Royal Up does not get you the double points. You would need to do it through your TA or Royal.

I thought it was very funny

Thanks for sharing. I have found that the MDR doesn't warm up syrup to room temperature, so pancakes or French toast just don't taste good. Remember, if you reognize something is not to your liking, you can notify your waiter and get it replaced or try something else. In my opinion, the best stuff at Coco Cay is the free beach - swimming or even snorkeling (you can rent equipment or bring your own). It's fun sometimes just to lie in the sun. Did you try any of the concerts in Central Park? They can be more intimate and enjoyable than more crowed locations. Hope your next cruise is more fun. Try to research your ship and learn how you can enjoy it more. In my opinion, the smaller ships have better shows (although some don't have an ice rink.)

Just a reminder to qualify for the C&A double points promotion bookings were to be made by September 30, 2021 for sailings departing by December 31, 2022.

I don't believe in paying significant $$ just to get a few more points -- better to book another cruise. Even if you get to Diamond a little faster, at $30-$50/day savings, you'd need to sail an additional 3-4 weeks' worth of cruises for "payback" on your investment. Maybe take that money and buy RCI stock, or book another cruise, as I've stated.

You bring up some very interesting considerations to ponder over. I will consult with my wife and see, hard or soft, it's up to her. Maybe my Dr., can help with this issue.

We have both, our larger bags are soft but the smaller ones are hard sided (Amazon Basics, surprisingly hearty). DD has the large Amazon suitcase, and it holds quite a bit. For me the wheels are the thing. I like the 360° wheels are important for getting around. Hard vs soft- well we drive more than we fly these days so I don't know that it matters (though I think the hard sided would float if dropped in the water)

We always drive from New Hampshire the day before and stay near Newark airport. It's about a 4.5 to 5 hour drive depending on traffic. We always go down through the Merritt parkway in CT and over the GW. We'll leave around 10 in the morning which avoids the worst of the traffic. I'm already planning to drive to FL for our January and March cruises. Nice to be retired and not rally care how long it takes us.

We are sailing Jan 29 on Oasis, booked two months ago and all of the Perfect day excursions showed sold out right from the get go. Last week, boom- all of them were suddenly available. So I'm not sure if they just released the availability, a HUGE group cancelled, or it's all just some weird marketing thing they do, but keep your hopes up- you should be fine!

If you sail Solo in an interior double occupancy room (not the special solo cabin some of the larger ships may have) you will receive 2 points per night. This is the same as you get when 2 people sail in a Jr Suite.

If you have sufficient Crown & Anchor status, you might be invited to the Top Tier event where there is free sparkling wine.

That’s one of the exact reasons I booked this hotel! We are a 5 minute walk to Paddington. I was also able to book Heathrow express tickets early for pretty cheap too!

My TA says my May 15th Greek Isle cruise is still active and sold out. He believes many Serenade of the Seas European cruise passengers (cancelled because of the Ukraine war) rebooked this cruise.

Covid results are in and we are clear to sail, here’s hoping the air portion from Denver to Orlando goes smoothly. I can’t wait for that first waft of hot, humid mildewy jetway air as we emerge into the MCO terminal, that makes me sweat in places I forgot I had sweat glands living here in the dry prairie that is Colorado.

I have a moment to add some quick background info - 1) I ordered the emed test 3 pack through RC on 4th of July weekend WITH expedited 2 day shipping and it still took 9 days - came yesterday and was supposed to be here July 9, so not sure if it was a holiday issue, or UPS having to be deployed for prime day or what, but promised shipping timeframe was WAY off and that was with the quick ship option! We still have a few free drive up Covid testing options in CO so we are scheduled for that as well tomorrow morning with emed as a back up, I don’t even want to to take a chance with invalid results —- Our planned Christmas cruise 2021was derailed by 1 of 4 being positive for Covid in the holiday wave 2) I’ll be comparing the standard suite class offerings on Royal with the Haven on NCL as far as amenities go so when we can rebook a longer family holiday journey we can decide on NCL vs. Royal - we were lucky enough to score a super reduced Alaska sailing in a single Haven room when the kids were small enough to share a double sofa when they repositioned the Joy from the Asian market last minute a few years back, so our most recent family cruise was in the Haven and I have to say the bar is pretty high there in terms of beautiful spaces and food —- I didn’t find the butler to be anything special, he left snacks - but I did enjoy the haven Lounge and restaurant and pool area. 3) my kids are both excited for the teen area on the Harmony, NCL left a lot to be desired in that aspect, and they both loved the Disney clubs when they were younger - also they are in the same teen activity age group for this sailing which makes it easy to have a buddy. 4) I can’t wait to check out CocoCay and Labadee - from the looks of it they blow Castaway Cay out of the water. We have water park passes for the day at CocoCay and a beach bed on Chill island ( where I’ll be lounging with a cocktail and a book after I am Waterparked out - although my kids may stay on the slides all day. Hopefully my next update tomorrow includes negative Covid tests and an on time departure on Southwest Saturday morning ! please let me know if anyone has any questions about anything on this thread, I have found these forums super helpful for planning our trip and am happy to contribute anything that hasn’t been covered.