OCSC Mike

25 minutes ago, dodgestang said:

at least I think that's a star class suite

If it's Panoramic like the ones on Freedom class, pretty sure it's Sky Class.

That said, you can show up an hour earlier than your assigned arrival time with Sky Class if you want. No genie obviously but the suite concierge should e-mail you 5-6 days before the cruise and answer any questions you have, make reservations if needed, etc.

13 minutes ago, Va4fam said:

I think we would be happy with either ship.

Then Vision is a no-brainer IMO.

15 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

What's the deal with telling people if they are using there own water bottles to pour water into a glass and then into your bottle for germs etc?

Many people hold their water bottle right up to the dispenser instead of letting the water fall into the bottle. RC is mostly just going out of its way to be as hygienic as possible (or at least give that appearance).

I'm not a germaphobe and it wouldn't really bother me, personally, but the extra 1-2 minutes it takes to use cups also isn't something that would even register as something I would care or complain about either.

Hope the doggy continues to do better.

All the complimentary food venues may supersede my lack of interest in some of the other new aspects.

Congrats! I can't think of anything off the top of my head that isn't listed in that chart.

14 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

I just spotted a new function on Royal's booking page. It's a "write in" search box right up near the top of the page. I was sceptical but I asked it to find me cruises to Europe in June 2024 and it did.

I started seeing that a week or two ago. Haven't used it but seems like it could be useful to some.

10 hours ago, ScubaEagle said:

Does nybody have any further information  or confirmation?

I’ve only read rumors of it here or elsewhere. Some have said It may be closer to Voyager class than Radiance but I think it’s just speculation for now.

1 hour ago, RafaellaCG said:

I do hear that a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food.

Cannibal of the Seas!

8 hours ago, wordell1 said:

If you are physically able, I highly recommend the self-assist walk off debarkation.  It avoids all of that mess.

I also enjoy not having to pack & get my suitcase out in the hallway the last night.

The old fashioned way went smoothly last time we sailed with extended family as well but that was in a suite so it’s not really apples to apples.

17 minutes ago, twangster said:

If parked in the terminal parking garage.

Some of the terminal 1 overflow lots are not as generous to B2B.  

Thanks for clarifying, never knew that. I’ve only ever parked in the garage (and only ever done one B2B).

17 minutes ago, Ron Rico said:

Has anyone done a B2B out of Port Canaveral and driven to the port?

We will be using Terminal 1, which has you pay before parking. How does it work for B2B cruises, when you won't be leaving the garage until the end of cruise #2?

Thanks, all!

You get the 2nd cruise parking free. This is a serious answer. It's an inadvertent perk of doing a B2B there.

Spend the savings on a specialty dinner!

13 minutes ago, Matt said:

Not sure if you can see me cringing from over here...

Jayme King from Fox35 has some charisma but I think he's happy doing the morning weather 5 days/week and spending the rest of his time fishing around central Florida.

Giovanni's (and their filet) has always been our favorite.

50 minutes ago, Elisag said:

Will definitely try the onion rings!

I'm also thinking of taking my kids to Izumi sushi for lunch one day. They want to try sushi for the first time. Any recommendations? Nothing spicy... we can't do spicy. Lol Thanks again.  

I actually don't do much specialty dining and have never eaten at Izumi, sorry. The dining staff at any venue is usually happy to recommend things though so perhaps ask them. Or maybe if you have a sushi-loving friend/family member, show/read them menu from the app and get their opinion.

I love it but I don't get to eat sushi very often b/c my wife won't go near it, lol. I glanced at the menu and their rolls seemed a bit more than your basic tuna or salmon so it would depend on which of the other ingredients you all do or don't like (asparagus, cream cheese, avocado, etc.) Maybe they will make more basic rolls upon request.

Just don't order all fried/tempura type stuff. Anything fried is delicious but if your kids really want to try sushi, they need to try actual raw fish.

EDIT: I didn't see the "Chef's Sushi Selection." I'd at least go with one of those as it's like a sampler of basic sushi.

6 minutes ago, Elisag said:

Thanks for the info. Haven't been to Playmakers but after seeing some videos I'm looking forward to trying that campfire cookie.

Burger with garlic parm fries was very good on Indy (and only $9, which I find oddly low for a good sized bacon cheeseburger and fancy fries, but I'm not complaining). Also liked the onion rings and many people seem to like the wings.

I'm also a big fan of 2 specialty drinks there... The Pitch (modified Long Island) and Goalpost Margarita (jalapeno pineapple).

10 hours ago, Elisag said:

Well I don't know too much about MLS, sorry. But if the Florida Panthers make it to the Stanley Cup, they better have it on somewhere or I'll be a very unhappy hockey fan. Lol I've been waiting for them to get back to the finals since the last time they were in the finals 27 years ago! Can't think of anything that would make this amazing cruise better. Watching my team win would be the cherry on the sundae.

On another note... does anyone know how the private karaoke room works? Do I need to reserve as soon as I get onboard? Any idea on price? My daughters would love to do karaoke but they're too shy to do it in front of strangers so I figured this would be a nice way to do it. 

I would expect to find a major event like the Stanley Cup finals available in Playmakers (great food if you've never been and not overpriced). Years ago they showed the NBA finals on the big screen in the Aqua Theater (when there wasn't a show going on of course).

Can't help you with karaoke, sorry.

18 minutes ago, ScottD said:

you are boarding a ship with water slides, carousels, bumper cars and candy stores... it's literally screaming "there WILL be kids on the ship" 

My wife is a teacher (bit of a trend in this thread) and thus we cruise almost exclusively with tons of kids during the summer and the occasional spring break. It's never really bothered us and one reason is correlated to the above.

Because there are lots of families with kids, they congregate to the above locations. This leaves locations we frequent like the Solarium no more crowded than at any other time and perhaps even less so. We don't even use the Solarium to get away from kids, I just need shade and we prefer the smaller, quieter venue to the chaos of the main pool.

TBH, I'm not a huge fan of crowds of any age. Kids on the ship only bother me when they REALLY misbehave... same for adults.

14 minutes ago, twangster said:

To get to this point of implementing change and standardizing the suite deposit policy across the fleet must have taken some time for the review, analysis and gathering internal agreement before making this public.

I only hope they follow up by giving the same due effort and time into standardizing suite benefits more closely across the fleet. 

Including Voom with all full suites for example, especially now with the lower cost Voom through Starlink. 

The 11am to 11pm SL beer & wine only on Oasis class is another example.  That is mostly a crewing issue which they accept on Oasis class but no others.  Those bar crew don't do double duty as CK hosts or anything else.  If they are able to maintain extra bar crew on Oasis class for the SL bar why not on other classes?

While they may never add a CK venue on older classes there are many small and subtle ways they could standardize more suite benefits across the fleet.  

Might as well cross-post my response...

I'll only be playing the role of suite guest one last time next week for the foreseeable before returning to the frugal cruise life but this makes a lot of sense to me.

It may be factored into the price, of course, but the Oasis class suite perks were what I enjoyed last year and am looking forward to next week (nothing against the room, it was very nice). Without them it would be far less of an enhanced experience to me. Personal preferences, as always.

Just now, ScottD said:

Exactly! The ship is not a regular bar... especially a family ship like RC. I think it's cool for a kid to be able to go up and order a shirley temple or a mocktail of some sort. That's why I was kind of surprised at the original topic of this post, which was a guy calling people out for bringing kids on rising tide. It never even crossed my mind that a kid shouldn't be allowed on there! 

Never would have crossed my mind either.

1 minute ago, ZBrady said:

But yea, I think its super cool when a kid is independent/comfortable enough to order their own drink. My kids aren't to that age yet but I'm looking forward to teaching them about etiquette, patience, etc. 

I have mentioned this before but on our extended family cruises, since I don't have kids of my own, I enjoy "taking my niece to the bar" even though she's only now 13. It did not take her long to become comfortable enough to order her own virgin daiquiris with her D vouchers, lol. We just wind up spending some uncle-niece time going for a walk or a snack when the rest of the family is relaxing or doing something else.

For whatever reason, I don't view bars on the ship the same way I do on land. I guess I just see them as one more part of the ship and the rest of the ship (with a few exceptions of course) has an open, welcoming, family vibe. We're also never pulling up a seat and parking at one though. As soon as we get our drinks we're moving on so maybe that plays a role. Or maybe it's because I already know kids are welcome in the bars. Probably all of the above.

23 minutes ago, wordell1 said:

I would bring both.  I don't think the typo you are describing would affect you - only if your info was wrong.

Agreed, definitely bring both; there's no downside I can think of. I also wouldn't worry about the typo.

They don't apply the scrutiny to examining documents that you are likely envisioning.

16 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

 I just want to know how someone who apparently is wealthy enough to be able to waste so much money could be so miserable to begin with!  

The human mind is a very mysterious thing.

Yes, unfortunately it's fairly common knowledge that Invicta watches are cheap and the prices on the ships aren't good.

I'm sorry you weren't familiar with the brand. In the future, I suggest checking prices online for anything like this.

I actually bought one on Amazon a long time ago for like $65 to be my cheap watch that I wore to run errands, didn't care if it got scratched, etc. I expected it to die after 5 years or so. Somehow it has lasted over 10 and still serves its purpose. Dumb luck probably.

1 hour ago, Montemy2419 said:

Coco Cay is the best and we booked a 3 and 4 day cruise back-to-back just so we could visit there twice in a week.

Did the same thing last July & had a great time.

I’m sure the OP is convinced by now but here’s another poster who burns easily & isn’t even a beach guy but loves sitting in the shade at CocoCay (in between repeated food runs).