Matt

What does everyone think of the food truck's menu concept? I had hoped for more. I Like hot dogs, but had hoped for maybe a little more offerings such as a Mexican flare. Maybe they could have done a food truck and a food cart for the area with hot dogs being from the cart?

Let's just say I'm not booking Quantum for the food truck :)

 

It's fine, probably not as impressive as I had hoped for but it is a "plussed" version of the hot dog cart on Allure so there's something.

Travel Weekly UK reports this under their April Fool's news. I don't know if this is real or not.

 

Royal Caribbean to give Explorer of the Seas a British twist

Royal Caribbean International is including a Big Ben bungee and Stonehenge-themed kids play area on recently revamped Explorer of the Seas, ready for its first sailing from Southampton next year.

The US line plans to celebrate all things quintessentially British in acknowledgment of the record breaking numbers of British holidaymakers booked to cruise in 2015.

That is a joke but Explorer going to UK is not :)

If you're willing to gamble on getting a good cruise deal, you can buy the airline tickets in advance and then wait to book the cruise until you get a good fare a few weeks ahead of sailing.

 

I've actually done this before with success. It's certainly not something I'd recommend for most, but if you feel comfortable with a wait-and-see approach on the cruise fare, it can work. It does help if you book air with someone like Southwest where you can change the tickets for full credit toward a future purchase, just in case the cruise fare doesn't work out.

The Southwest idea is a pretty good idea! You can reasonably book a flight to somewhere in south Florida in advance and be assured there will be something available for a decent deal.

Hi Matt, I think it was about $70 Cayman dollars…I think a little more for the double one, but works out cheaper than paying two single ones.  Well worth it…we loved it.  

Thanks! Always looking for something to do in Grand Cayman

Glad you made it back in time

Are they letting go the ones that don't score high? 

No, I don't think that's the case.  The WOW cards are more like awards in the military, the more you have, the faster/easier you are promoted.

I straight up asked a few crew members on Oasis in Oct. 2012 if I should bother giving them out--if it made a difference. Most gave a resounding "yes." And were very thankful/grateful when I did...

WOW cards go on their file with Royal Caribbean.  In terms of their career, it's the best thing you can do for a crew member

On Navigator Izumi only serves non-sushi items at dinner.  For lunch, it's only sushi.

MTD dining experience is same as MDR with the only difference being the time you dine varies.  

 

The waiter will take your order and keep checking on you throughout the meal.  They bring appetizers first, followed by entrees and then desserts and come by between each to clear things out and see if you need something else.

I didn't see any on my Radiance OTS sailing in Aug. 13 or Majesty OTS in Dec. 13. Good to know that you can request.

I didn't get any on Freedom or Jewel but was aware you could ask. 

Reef Gliding in Grand Cayman! OMG, this was the best thing my family and I have ever done! I think the company's name is Discovereef…they're right off the main road when you get to the port.  My husband loves to snorkel, but I'm not a very good swimmer and my 4 year old doesn't swim at all.  We were able to go snorkelling all together as a family because you lie face down on a boat like thing and look through the glass to see the bottom of the ocean. You don't have to go in the water and you don't have to swim…I didn't even get wet. My husband used his own and my son and I went on a double reef glider so that I could control it and my son could just lie there and see the reef. The boats go really slow, so no danger at all…and we were all wearing life vests.  IT WAS THE BEST…my son is still talking about the stingrays and turtles he saw.  We have to go back soon and do it again.  :D Highly recommend for sure!

Sounds like a lot of fun. How expensive was it?

We have just completed a 33 night Circumnavigation of Australia that took in the NZ South Islands and Sounds as well as Bali... So we are saving up our vacation time again to head to the USA in 2016 and do an Alaskan Cruise, a cruise on Quantum out of New York and then cruise back to Sydney from Hawaii. It will be our biggest adventure yet.

Are you looking to adopt a 32 year old son?

Nice jeans are perfectly fine.  My wife will also wear a blouse sometimes with jeans, you should have absolutely no problem.

 

I agree the dress code rules are so infrequently enforced anyway but if you were to ask me, shorts, flip flops (beach flip flops, not the kind some women can pull off with the right outfit), or tank tops are really the hard and fast no-gos for MDR.

On our Navigator of the Seas cruise we definitely felt like the youngest people onboard.  I didn't really mind but it's something you pick up on pretty quickly .

That's my issue with last-minute deals. Unless you live in the departure city, the cost of flights will outweigh the savings of a last minute deal.

There's no question last minute deals are aimed at people that live close to the ports.  Living in the southeast United States is a major benefit since you can drive to many cruises.

There are some ports where we have done our own thing but I get highly paranoid about getting back on the ship and not being left behind. LOL

We do our own thing usually but are VERY cognizant of this possibility.  We always make sure we plan on being back at least 2-3 hours before we have to so we pad extra time for unforeseen delays.

I think the new dining is awesome. It's different and that's what being on vacation is about. I've always loved the speciality restaurants and think this is a fresh and exciting new arrangement for dining. 

The concept grew on me a lot, especially after the event last week.  I agree it's something fresh and I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Do they do the WOW cards anymore? I didn't see any on my last two cruises...

We got a couple when we went on Navigator in February

Gosh, that photo looks like it's of the model of the ship instead of the real thing due to the lighting, etc.

Agreed. I could be wrong but that looks like the tilt shift photo effect

It's obvious… they want a "hot spare" to replace any ships with mechanical problems. :)

I asked RC if the change was a result of Adventure's propulsion problems and they responded it has absolutely nothing to do with any issues on Adventure.  Furthermore, they hinted at something else to be announced that would make sense.

 

I think they needed to open a slot up in Port Canaveral and if I had to bet, I'd wager it's to make room for an Oasis-class ship. Just a guess

We have done a couple of Disney cruises (3 night only due to cost) and close to ten on RCI.

 

On balance we believe the experience on Disney to be slightly better, although clearly we don't have a problem with the RCI experience at all.

 

However, on balance the value for the money favors RCI dramatically.

 

As we usually describe it "On Disney everything is perfect, on Royal its all good to great but you can afford a longer vacation".

I found Royal Caribbean to beat Disney in a few categories: food, price/value, adult entertainment (not that kind!), itinerary variety, shipboard activities.

 

Disney's shows, especially compared to RC ships without Broadway shows, is better. Free soda, disembarkation, TV programming and toddler activities are all areas Disney also does well in.

Did you invite him to join us on the RCI blog cruise? ;)

Ha! I'm sure he'll be right behind us onboard :P

My next cruise is the blog cruise.  :D  

I really can't wait to cruise with everyone from the blog.  It's going to be so much fun!

I think when I retire I'm moving to Florida and will have a bag packed at all times ready to take advantage of last minute deals. My Oasis cruise next week had balcony cabins listed this morning at just $899.  That's a helluva lot less than what I paid...

It's a gamble to wait for last minute deals.  Although if you waited to today to pay I doubt your airfare would have been less than what you paid previously.

As you probably read, Explorer of the Seas is going to the UK in 2015.  

 

I emailed my Royal Caribbean PR rep about the move and if it had anything to do with Adventure of the Seas' recent propulsion issues.  

 

Their response was....

 

The deployment of Explorer of the Seas to the UK is not associated with any issues with Adventure of the Seas. Stay tuned as the reason for Explorer of the Seas' deployment will become evident shortly.

 

Sounds to me like there's something else to be announced.  

 

Thing is, Adventure and Explorer are both Voyager class ships and both will have been refurbished by summer 2015.  So why would Explorer have to replace Adventure?

 

In the words of Yoda, meditate on this, I will.