Jill

We were just on Wonder this past May. Yes you have to book at Izumi. The line was VERY LONG! I waited over 30 minutes and I boarded at 10:30! 

The biggest issue is people making reservations for all restaurants for the whole week. That really backs up the line. 

I wish they would limit Izumi to Izumi reservations only. Get the reservation you want then go to another restaurant to make the rest of your reservations
 

This makes me think she’ll get her long overdue amplification. 
 

Symphony went over in March for her 5 year mechanical and since Allure is going a full month earlier, hopefully that means she’s getting all the bells and whistles 

I doubt there will be a transatlantic at that time of year. 
 

Anyone remember when oasis and Harmony went for their amp? Was there a TA? 

Symphony is there now. Oasis is next year. I would imagine Allure for 2025 as she is due for dry dock. It was rumored that Odyssey was going to Southampton (instead of Rome) but now it’s saying (port schedule) Independence from Southampton. I don’t know where that puts Odyssey. There will be some smaller ships as well. Rhapsody is there now out of Haifa. Jewel is out of Amsterdam. I think Explorer is out of Venice? Anyway there will be several and an oasis class for sure to do the western med 
 

9 hours ago, Uncwmark said:

Booked late August, B2B, in sky jr. suite... mentioned in other thread, but was shocked that when I booked (8am today) the price difference between a sky jr. suite and regular jr. suite (without sky suite benefits) was only $20 per person (for 4 of us).  That's a no-brainer.  

Just looked again and, three hours later, there are no longer any sky jr. suites available for booking for our sail dates... 

 

Our sky class JS is now $800 higher than it was this morning. 
 

Once again: to get the best price: you MUST book early the day they are released. 

28 minutes ago, TheMaxRebo said:

I suspect for a lot of non-locals they will combine this with a stay in the Orlando area ... Do 3 - 4 days at the theme parks and then 3-4 days on the cruise

 

Very popular structure for folks cruising Disney Cruise Line - they have their newest ship doing similar 3 and 4 day cruises 

I think this is the strategy. Royal is considerably less than DCL. Royal is actively recruiting the Disney cruiser. 

One thing to remember, the cruise planner is not running any sales. It’s not included with the current sale. 

Our Wonder this past May showed $77.99 for 14 months. 2 weeks before it dropped to $72.99

Hideaway Beach will also be open. (I guess we still don’t know for sure if that is free or not) Have done Beach Club twice. This last may the food just wasn’t as good as March 2022. It’s REALLY hard to justify paying more than $75 a person. Yes it’s quieter but……that’s about it. 

We’re doing a sky class JS. No dining package or drink package. We will use both our D+ Bogo specialty and eat in coastal kitchen the other 2 nights. With our free drinks, suite lounge drinks and beer/wine during the day, getting this cabin was only about $400-$500 more. 

In the end, cruising is still a good value. Try and price a land vacation for the same price. Decent hotel in a beach/resort town is $300-$400 a night easily.
Dinner at slightly above average restaurant $200. Lunch $100-$125. Breakfast $60-$75. You’re at $800 a day. 

I priced an OV balcony today for 4 night at about $2400. $800 x 4 = $3200. I didn’t even include all the entertainment. 

44 minutes ago, Kathleen said:

And as it works out we will earn our Crystal block on that Utopia cruise!

We will get our second block on utopia. Unfortunately it’ll be one of those new ugly ones but I’ll still proudly display it

Splurged on a sky class junior suite for an 4 night October ‘24. Hubby said go for it and then I forgot to put him on the reservation That’s ok, once @Sharla gets it transferred, she’ll fix it. Gotta make her earn that commission

1 hour ago, Sharla said:

I'm booked! 

Are you cruising with us?

6 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

For me, the ship is the destination in Utopia's case. Thinking of doing a 4 night and not getting off the ship at all.

We will get off at CocoCay but not Nassau. New Hideaway Beach will be open

4 minutes ago, barjpoe said:

With only 3 & 4 night sailings there is no time to explore/enjoy the ship with all that it has to offer

It’s basically Wonder with a few changes. I’m kind of at the point: you’ve seen one oasis class, you’ve seen them all with a few different venues. 

This will be our 9th oasis sailing. 

Well we’re booked. October ‘24. Price was lower (by $200) than our upcoming October Allure for OV balcony. 

For $1300 more, we sprung for sky class JS. We rationalized it as: back out a 3 night dining plan (minimum $300)plus drinks beyond our Diamond freebies (likely $400-$500) and it’s basically $500-$600 more to do the suite. 

It was barely showing me any OV balcony. 3 on decks 6 and 9 and they were connecting. About double that on deck 10. 

On 5/18/2023 at 7:18 AM, Stephen Cooper said:

According to the Le Havre port authority, Odyssey of the Seas will be sailing out of Southampton from May 2025.

Anyone else seen anything confirming this.?

Link here. https://www.havre-port.com/fr/liste/2077/escales-croisieres

Hmmmm it now says independence 

5 hours ago, Mr. K said:

I doubt a new megaship will do short runs. If anything, the older Oasis Class ships will handle that. For example, starting in summer of 2025, The Oasis OTS will reposition to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale (currently sails from Miami part of the year). I believe that will handle the short runs to the Bahamas. Just my opinion, I could be wrong, but we will all know next week. Exciting times. 

I was on Wonder’s 3rd sailing. Shows were not 100% up and running. 

Booked on Icon’s 13th sailing. Mostly due to time of year (April). Not a fan of winter cruising. I live in Florida so no need to escape the cold. 

Looking at an October date for Utopia because I don’t like sailing in the summer. Too hot! 

Sailed Monarch in her inaugural year way back in 1991. 

We love “new ship smell.”

Royal holds the bar everyone is trying to get to: 

Norwegian Makes Major Change to Take On Royal Caribbean (msn.com)

Oh my gosh! A sail away to remember 

Go follow Mike’s Weather Page on Facebook. He’s pretty darn good. 

25 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I think @twangster said in an earlier post it was the 8 on Deck 6.

Ok that makes sense. 

Any idea which JS’s will be sky class? I’m taking a guess they would be the ones on the true hump? Balconies look a little bigger? 

I picture a beluga whale. But I’m booked on her! FOMO! 

I’m circling October 7th for us. 2 hours to PC makes this very doable. May even spring for a sky class junior suite and get our next block on utopia, even though the new ones are ugly. 

8 hours ago, twangster said:

Test load on website

 

Pretty decent prices I must say. We’re booked on one of Allure’s first sailings out of PC and paying $2452 for 4 night ocean balcony. I booked back in January 

I hope not! We’re on in late October and we haven’t seen it yet 

So what kind of questions did it ask?