OCSC Mike

Agreed. The RC definition of "small" has become quite skewed as larger classes were introduced. It's "smallER" than the bigger classes but by no means small. We were looking at a cheap cruise on Enchantment just for the price... now THAT I would find small.

Pretty sure that was just an unintentional glitch awhile back that has since been fixed. I've also never used the chat feature in the app but people don't seem to like it. Something about not sending you push notifications like regular texting so you have to check for new messages manually. It was also hacked a week or two ago but that was apparently rectified.

This is what we do for extended family cruises.

If you mean can Discover be used as the CC on file for your Sea Pass account... yes.

That's kinda what I thought but I'm far from an expert. I just know I prefer nigiri to rolls but will take what I can get because my wife won't go near seafood, period, let alone raw fish, lol. She'll eat hibachi or tempura chicken so Japanese isn't totally off the table at least. Thanks for the support.

Ha, talk about different strokes... I refuse to drive anywhere other than PC. The convenience is too appealing and that's with an hour drive. If I had a half mile drive... Given your drive also involves taking kids to Disney (which is close enough to me that we hear the MK fireworks every night), that makes sense (not that it has to, we all like different things). I have sailed from Port Everglades twice although once was 21 years ago for my first ever cruise (honeymoon on Voyager when it was new-ish) so I barely remember it. PC does run smoothly. I'm also not overly excited about Icon but I'll admit I've only glanced at it so I really shouldn't pass judgment.

You can do that on Wonder. They're not going to be all that dissimilar AFAIK. Regardless, my main point is Utopia doing the short cruises just means PC will have 2 Oasis class ships doing the 7 and 3/4 instead of a smaller ship doing the 3/4. So unless there's something so unique on Utopia that would make someone take a short cruise (or a 3/4 B2B) just for the ship, it really doesn't affect someone like you (or me) who would prefer a 7-night Caribbean cruise. Now when we wind up with an Icon class ship here, then things become different.

Wait, sushi isn't a finger food? Who knew?

I'll be on Wonder in 3.5 weeks. Mason Jar has "brunch" on sea days (and embarkation day) that starts at 10am. Other options are Chops. Hooked, Izumi (both hibachi and traditional), and Giovanni's Kitchen. So basically all of them except 150 and Wonderland.

To each his own. Our last 3 trips were with 2 Freedom class ships there and we had no issue with the crowds whatsoever. Looking forward to being there alone on Wonder next month and possibly a couple more times next year.

From what I've read, it actually maximizes revenue for RC. More people at Cococay and the prices for short cruises are already getting crazy on smaller ships. I believe Disney also does well doing short cruises with some big ship out of PC so RC is following along. It likely won't be permanent, but my impression is that it is almost a certainty that Utopia will be doing those short cruises to start.

I’m in the middle of using MEI for the 1st time myself. I almost always booked on my own over the years (unless I needed a TA for a certain sale rate) using last minute deals & GGG sales since we live an hour from PC & have flexibility at certain times of year. Now that prices are a bit crazy, I decided to explore other options. I admit I am most interested in the pricing my TA was able to offer for this particular cruise (significantly below what I could get on my own) but so far the service via e-mail has been excellent as well. I’ve already had him price what will likely be our next cruise after that. The price is only a tiny bit lower than what I could get myself but what’s interesting is I have always booked guarantees (we don’t care much about our cabin) so that’s what I use as my baseline price. Using the TA, I have been able to choose my cabin in both cases. I’ll miss playing the GTY game (ok, maybe not) but even if his price is similar to what I would pay on my own, being able to choose my cabin is obviously worth something (maybe not as much to me as to RC according to their pricing) but definitely a benefit. If I compare apples to apples, his price for that next cruise is also a good amount less, just not as much as this 1st one.

For future reference and for anyone else, you could have just chosen 10:30 in the app & gone back to sleep. You can fill out everything else later. The app saves your check-in time once selected.

Freudian slip? As a loyal PC patron, I certainly hope so.

No, you can just grab your check-in time and worry about the rest later.

The Bar Code Trick Method 1. If you have an Apple device, add your set sail pass to your Apple wallet. Numbers will now appear under your bar code. The numbers after the dash represent your cabin. Method 2. Scan the bar code with a QR scanner from another device and that should also show you the numbers. NOTE: If you see "GTY" instead of numbers, you truly haven't been assigned yet. One tip off is that if you don't see a muster station on your set sail pass then you almost definitely don't have an assignment yet.

That's what I was thinking.

Pretty sure the choices were 5:15 or 7:45 for a Wonder cruise I'm in the middle of booking for next March but not 100% sure. We haven't been fans of the MDR for many years and don't eat there much. We just take early for the heck of it and wind up there once in a while.

Pretty sure when they moved early seating up they also moved up late seating.

Possibly. This would actually be my first time using him (that narrows it down). I reached out to him almost a year ago after reading good things here and he was very helpful but we ended up not being able to book that cruise. 10 months later, he was happy to look up some stuff for me. I've almost always just booked myself, using last minute deals or GGG sales since we live an hour from PC and are flexible at certain times of year but now that prices are crazy I decided to explore other options and he had a much better price for this particular cruise than I could get myself.

If you're comfortable with them, look for 3rd party excursions. More options, better prices. You can start with a site like TripAdvisor.

Onboard is the only time I trust the app to be remotely close to functional and accurate. And I say "close" not to be funny but because last July and October, the activities listed in the app didn't always match the paper compass being dropped off nightly.

No one ever uses my guest rooms.

I would definitely ask to have it looked at if you encounter something like that. I have read that some people had a filter replaced and that helped. I certainly wouldn't be concerned about it ahead of time.

This is what my wife does. Other than the occasional frozen drink (usually virgin), all she drinks is water (or flavored water when available, that's her fav). She has one of those large metallic bottles that keep liquids cold for quite a while even without ice (although she still adds a few cubes).