Jill

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/drinking-water-onboard-regulation

I remember my second RC cruise on Majesty’s sister, Monarch of the Seas (now retired/sold). It’s was in her inaugural year and was the worlds largest cruise ship. That Sovereign class really is what launched Royal Caribbean. Our first RC cruise was on Song of America. A really classic ship. 

There’s no equivalent to the Oasis class from the other lines. (Meaning carved out Central Park/boardwalk/aqua theatre)

If you want 3 sea days and 3 port days, you pretty much have to do oasis class.

Honestly I wouldn’t totally knock out Port Canaveral. It’s an hour drive. Harmony is there now. 
 

The pilot never controls the ship. He gives spoken directions to be carried out by navigation crew. 

A good friend of mine is a pilot at the port in Jacksonville. He’s carried out to the container ships via tugboat to board the vessel then directs it through the channel of the St Johns River. These pilots know the currents and under water topography to safely guide these ships to port. 

Pretty amazing to see his drawings of the bottom of the river that he had to do for his exams. 

Just read it missed Oasis by 30 ft! 

Here’s a good video. Damn that’s close to Oasis 

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/florida-cruise-guide/os-tr-cru-carnival-glory-slams-into-carnival-legend-cozumel-20191220-nmdrumkfcvajpfthw63vkg6bte-story.html

We did it this past October. It was good! Took us 27 minutes to get out. I got it for $19.99 per person. We enjoyed it and the group we were with worked together well. 

I complain on every survey about the smoke in the casino. I always plan to gamble, walk in then pretty much walk right back out. It’s the people who flock there just to sit and smoke and drink. They’re not even at a table or machine. It’s awful. 

We have a JS on Symphony in May on deck 7. One deck up Central Park, one deck down boardwalk. I would avoid a connecting if possible 

Warning: chocolate martinis vary from bartender to bartender. I’ve had creamy deliciousness to chopped ice with chocolate. 

Oasis has had the best so far. 

Something you never think about happening on your vacation. Terrifying and incredibly sad.

Chocolate Martini in Central Park

With the new private beach club, I don’t see where they would put a suite only area. Every inch of beach has been developed once the beach club/over water cabanas opens. 

I was there in October on Mariner and the beach club hadn’t even been started. I just bought it for our symphony cruise in May. Got it for $50.99  (Down from 69.99) on Black Friday. Have no idea how crowded it’ll be with an oasis class. Daughter was there 2 weeks ago on Symphony and said it wasn’t all that crowded. Oh well, bought it anyway! Lol 

We did this over 20 years ago on our Monarch of the Seas as an after cruise excursion since we had a late flight. 

It was awful. We were exhausted and riding on a bus for hours was not fun. We all agreed we should’ve just sat in the airport. 

On 11/24/2019 at 5:13 PM, Melodyjn said:

I get so upset when FB doesn't notify me when Matt goes live  and now I have to go on Netflix and search Documentaries

I agree with you about being lucky to live in south Florida, we have a cruise port smorgasbord!

I am in the process of booking a cruise on the new Odyssey of the Seas in Feb of 2021 with our great friends that took us on the Navigator, I am beyond excited for this one however the countdown will be brutal for me 

I was looking at that same Odyssey cruise and then my daughter got engaged and wedding will be spring of 2021 so I’ve decided to wait until Odyssey goes to the Mediterranean that summer and book then. 

You are among friends here who are great enablers. We will never talk you down off the ledge.

Debating the April 9, 2021 Odyssey to Aruba, Curaçao, Grand Cayman or save the $$ and wait to get her in the Mediterranean. We have a wedding to pay for spring of 2021 but I REALLY need to cruise! Lol 

We’re Diamond and have never gotten any pins. 
 

Our friend was HD on Oasis up until last year. I would have been happy to act on your behalf if he was still there. 

Different ships have different prices. You’ll always pay significantly more on an oasis class. Our Mariner cruise was more than half off of oasis class. 

Glad I got my southern Caribbean out of San Juan last March. 

I don’t see this coming to fruition. PR is in dire financial straights. Some sort of agreement will be made. May take some cruises/ports being cancelled to realize the loss. 

Lol I think he is my least favorite CD! To each his own. He wasn’t horrible but definitely not a favorite of mine. 

We did our first RC cruise way back in 1990 (maybe 1989) on Song of America when we were in our early 20’s. Did 3 more right after that. Had 2 kids and bought a farm. Took a loooong 16 year break. Fast forward to now, 9 cruises later with #10 in May and getting ready to book #11 with 12 and 13 shortly after. Empty nesters now, only 2 horses left on the farm and we are on the go! 

All with Royal. We are now Diamond so I see no need to switch now! 

Glad you’re hooked! 

1 hour ago, rtread said:

WTG on your NED!  My cancer surgery was Jan. 2017 and my oncologist keeps giving me good reports. Wishing you the best!

All my best to you too! 

@TJ! if I were you.....I’d get a credit card that has airline miles. Go to Clark Howard.com and see what he suggests as the best card for miles. He’s a former travel agent who is now a multimillionaire that has a radio show for consumers. 
 

Id also consider doing b2b out of Florida to get a good bang for your buck. Catch a ship that is changing itinerary so you get 2 different itineraries on one ship (eastern Caribbean first week/western second week). 

Also if you book a suite, you get double points for Crown and Anchor so if you book super early in a Junior Suite, you’ll get double points and move up more quickly. We’ve never done a suite, but just upgraded our May Symphony to a Junior Suite for about $900. That now gives us access to Coastal Kitchen for dinner which is like specialty dining. 

So book early and get a credit card for miles. 

Which Symphony are you on? We’re May 2. 

We took 4 cruises before we had kids (1989-1993) when we were in our 20’s. All were RCI. (I took 2 booze cruise type cruises for college spring breaks on an old military supply ship turned cruise ship lol) 

We took a very long break while our kids were young plus we live on a horse farm and it’s not easy (or cheap) to find farm sitters. 

In 2011 we came back with our kids and did Oasis. Super fun! We wouldn’t cruise again until 2017. I was diagnosed with stage 4b cancer in 2015 and that cruise in 2017 (again on Oasis) was to celebrate 6 months of NED (no evidence of disease) and my 50th birthday.

Since then we sailed Oasis a third time in 2018, Freedom in 2019, Mariner 3 weeks ago and have Symphony booked for May 2020.

After our Freedom cruise, we achieved Diamond status. 

I’m now down to 2 horses. Our oldest is 26 and engaged and out on her own. Our youngest is sophomore in college. 

Hubby sold our business back in 2012 and now is semi retired. I have learned the hard way that life can be taken very quickly. I’m not as picky about farm sitters and have let go of my anal retentiveness when it comes to my animals. They are still alive when I get home! Lol 

Getting ready to book 2 cruises (another quick Mariner next October and a Mediterranean probably for 2021) over Black Friday. 

We have a wedding now to pay for so the Mediterranean may have to be pushed to 2022. 

Paying off my car this month and youngest daughter’s last month freed up a nice sum that we are putting some towards wedding and some towards us. I also may take in an additional boarded horse to help fund the addiction. 

Through my cancer journey I also found out I have a hereditary cancer gene (Lynch Syndrome) and have an 80% chance of developing another cancer so we are YOLO’ing as much as we can. 
 

**edited to add that we do live in Florida and can drive to ports although Miami is a bit far. (5 hours). When we flew to San Juan for our Freedom cruise we drove 2 hours to Orlando and flew Southwest. About $650 total.