OCSC Mike

8 minutes ago, Jax said:

I’m curious to see them too! Looking forward to your blog. 

Two different posters here were kind enough to take pics in the area of where #22 will be and I think the view will be fine but it might be kind of close to the walking path that people take from the beach to the pool area... so my best guess is that we'll just have to decide what we want on that one side... another daybed or a walking path.

Really not a big deal of course. I'll be busy eating and drinking either way. My first choice is actually that they get so delayed that it's not even installed by July. I think I like #14 being on the end. It's been almost 4 weeks since they told me 2 weeks so who knows? I figured I'd shoot them another e-mail on Monday just for the heck of it.

BTW, my next blog/cruise isn't even the one with Paradise Beach. We're doing the same Western in June and July but Paradise Beach is July.

1 minute ago, Jax said:

Currently overwater is almost twice as much as beach cabana’s. Surprisingly all the overwater cabanas at coco beach club are still available so  prices may drop. (But it is over Christmas so I won’t count on it)  Our last stop at PDCC with the over water cabana still ranks as one of our best days so I am definitely being pulled in that direction.

Twice as much? Crazy. Give it some time. I keep an eye on stuff we'd never actually buy out of boredom/nerd-dom and I've actually seen less-crazy prices lately... but as you know everything is highly variable by ship/sailing.

The $70 daybed at Paradise Beach is my idea of splurging, lol. Still waiting for them to install those new ones BTW.

8 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Love this story!  Love the name Ramona too…my kids and grandkids read all those books about her…lol!   

I wonder how Dan would feel about "Beezus" as a nickname.

No critters the one time we had one last June. There was a lemon shark by our OTW cabana in June 2022 that chased my wife out of the water though, lol.

Pick your critter... or ?

FWIW, I much preferred the OTW cabana and prices seem to be all over the place depending on the sailing. We're not actually shopping for one but on one of my cruises the difference was only like $100 at one point.

On 5/7/2024 at 9:26 AM, ahayes said:

what is island grill on Adventure of the seas

This is probably better off in the main forum but where are you seeing something called Island Grill? Never heard of it.

You'll be fine. GTY's are accounted for.

You will also see "sold out" categories show back up as available if you check often enough.

41 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

We like Paradise Beach, but the pool really does get crowded. If we didn't have the kids with us, we would try Nachi Cocom. With the kids, we will most likely come back again.

Thanks for all the pics and info. We were at Nachi last October and it was super relaxing but the frozen drinks were awful and the food was just OK... that's what led us to try Paradise Beach. I'm sure we'll walk around since we've never been there and hop in the pool or the ocean just to cool off but there will plenty of time spent eating & drinking in our daybed.

31 minutes ago, HeWhoWaits said:

That will be the first time sold out, just like the MTD reservations between 6:00 and 7:00 are now.

Agreed.

31 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yes, Centerpiece is appearing in the Music Hall, which is right around the corner from our room on deck 8.  Sometimes we do go to see the band on other ships...and we actually stopped in one evening on this trip, on our way back to the room...and TBH, neither of us was very impressed.  Maybe we just caught them on an "off" song.  We haven't been back.

Music is as subjective as food but thanks for the feedback. We'll see how we like them. We didn't like the band that was previously on Wonder (Temperature). If nothing else, Music Hall has some unique drinks to use vouchers on, lol.

31 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

You guessed right in that we are not big live music fans.  I have heard the live music in CP in the evenings and it seems to be quite good if you're into live jazz.  We are not...but it's worth listening to if you want a nice, calm experience.  We enjoyed it when we were staying in the CP balcony b/c it was right there--- but we don't go out of our way to go and listen.

We feel the exact same way. We actually went to sit out in CP one night in March and it's definitely peaceful, it was nice and cool that night, but it's just not our thing. We got bored after 5 minutes, lol. A while back we were having dinner in Giovanni's on some other Oasis class ship and had a window table. There was a woman playing violin in CP and our server cracked the window to let the music in... we thought that was nice.

31 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We don't go to any of the comedy shows on any of the ships b/c I have been to far too many really bad ones and I've heard ALL of the cruise ship jokes.  Done with those.

Couldn't agree more about the cruise ship jokes. We get it... cabins are small and people eat a lot. We still go though b/c we really enjoy stand-up, we just hope we get someone who works the crowd with some improv and doesn't do the cruise ship jokes. We keep winding up really liking one comic and hating the other. We actually saw the same guy on Allure in October and on Wonder in March... fortunately we liked him. From checking the app, he seems to be on and off Wonder quite a bit so maybe we'll run into him again.

31 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

the AT show

We could possibly see it again if we have nothing else to do but it's not one of our favorites. I appreciate all the dance-type stuff but wish there was more diving.

31 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

going to see the Effectors on the last night (even though it's kinda lame...but we're going anyway, I guess

We did that in March but said we're not going a 3rd time. The special effects at the end were still cool but I can't sit through the rest of the show again.

31 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We've been popping into the SL for HH in the evenings which is something we almost NEVER do.  We enjoy being up there on this ship, for some reason.

Obviously I'd be there every night since I never have access but I think I already mentioned we agreed how especially nice we thought the entire suite neighborhood was (compared to Harmony, which we thought was plenty nice at the time). I'm sure you have a routine as often as you cruise (heck, we do and cruising 3-4 times/year is our max) so doing something different is probably a nice change of pace. Glad it happened to work out that way.

31 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Believe it or not, Dan and I both used ALL 6 of our drink vouchers yesterday.  The first time EVER !  Most days I don't use ANY of mine.  Go figure...

Congrats!!!

I'm skeptical about using up our 10 but I'm gonna try! My wife probably averages 2/day but she'd never get to anywhere near 6 so I'm going to have put in some effort.

As mentioned above, no matter what any document or app or website says, I think almost all early traditional is now 5:00pm (and also mentioned above, that means they want you there by 5:15pm).

We've had the "5:30 turned into 5:00" experience twice already (Allure and Wonder). Yes, it's earlier than I'd like, especially since I like to pop into the CL to check out the snacks before dinner but I also want no parts of MTD so we mostly show up at 5:15 on the nights we eat in the MDR and there hasn't been an issue.

If RC ever rolls out the 3rd traditional slot at 6:30-6:45pm that's been discussed we'll consider moving to that.

3 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I'm trying HARD to provide you guys with some USEful information but I'm getting NO HELP

Food recaps and personal anecdotes are useful to me... they're getting me ready for my own Wonders and are entertaining! I know who the captain and CD are (not that it matters much to us). Nice of you to try to help though.

Ooh... that reminds me. Someone here mentioned that the band onboard right now that plays in Music Hall and sometimes on the Promenade was very good (Centerpiece). We're not big music people but I googled them and found some YouTube videos from various ships and they did sound good doing some Queen and Journey covers. I don't recall you ever really mentioning music so I don't think you guys are into listening to the band either but just figured I'd mention it. Have you happened to hear them at all? Now that we've been on Wonder twice and seen every show twice (except Voices, once was enough), we only plan to see the ice show and comedy going forward (and possibly the headliner depending who it is) so we need something to do at night. That's not a complaint btw, I enjoy having an open schedule after dinner, just need to fill it with something (besides my 6th meal of the day, lol).

18 minutes ago, Kelseylovestocruise said:

This is crazy. Where I live they are released 4 years in advance. 

It's like 1-2 here for my wife. Don't actually have the 2025-26 calendar yet so we have a spring break 2026 cruise booked based on an educated guess.

30 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

I have to be honest here, I think people are making way too much of kids on the ships.

Since my wife is a teacher, we almost always sail with tons of kids even though we don't have any and it's never been a big deal to us. My explanation, aside from being tolerant and easy-going people, has partly been that we don't spend a ton of time where they do (i.e. the main pools). We use the Solarium to chill or a shady spot just outside the Solarium recently on Wonder when the Solarium was too warm that's not really by the pools even though it is on the main pool deck.

If I liked to spend time in/around the main pool or experienced what some others have, maybe it would bother me more. Sure some kids can be annoying and misbehave in the elevators, in WJ, running through the hallways/stairs, etc. but nothing has ever reached the point where it has significantly impacted our enjoyment.

5 minutes ago, Ducky57 said:

Our questions is  does a Sky Junior suite have all the benefits of Sky Class ?

No, not all. When these cabins were reclassified they were supposed to have full Sky Class benefits but then RC pulled some of them.

I know internet is not included except on selected shipa (I believe Icon, Utopia, and 1-2 others).

Hopefully someone else has the full info but the general answer is that you should have MOST Sky Class benefits but not all.

1 hour ago, ScottD said:

I'm team benefits over view all day.

+1 says the guy who wishes there was a Sky Class interior.

2 hours ago, Memphis Mafia said:

This is our 3rd time on Wonder. Its a great ship and currently my favorite. 

The Mason Jar is a great venue. The country Trio will be new people for us this time. The last group was very good but I know 2 are on other ships.

The Highlight for this cruise will be the band Centerpiece. Found them on Oasis in 2014 and have sailed with them 7 times since. They are an amazing band with incredible talent. 

We'll be on Wonder for our 3rd time 3 weeks after you (or 2 weeks after you get off, however you want to look at it). Also our favorite ship and also huge Mason Jar fans.

We're not usually big on music while cruising. Is this the type of band that will be playing in Music Hall? What type of music do they play?

EDIT: The app and Google pretty much answered my questions but feel free to chime in anyway. I found some clips of Queen, Journey, etc. They sounded really good.

39 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

It is pretty easy to get out of the port for a 3rd party excursion.

Thanks for sharing those pics. I wasn't worried about finding it but we have a 3rd party tour in Roatan next month.

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Oh, God !  We are not in the class with those 2.  Please adjust your expectations.

Mario who? I don't see his ongoing live blog from the past month here.

We're all #teamWAAAYTOOO here.

11 hours ago, jeremyveres said:

Oh no! Me and my wife were looking forward to eating some chips and Guacamole! 

I love to eat on cruises and I'm not picky, believe me, but the guac in ELF on both Allure and Wonder (twice) was pretty bad, IMO. Food is subjective though and others don't mind it so give it a shot and form your own opinion. I'd still add some Cholula unless you don't like spicy (chipotle isn't very hot though).

FWIW, I love ELF in general, I just prefer the tacos and quesadillas there. I think the only day I didn't go there on Wonder in March was when we were off the ship for an excursion in St. Martin from like 9-4. It's my daily post-lunch or afternoon snack. I just don't happen to like the guac.

4 hours ago, Chili said:

No ,not yet, I’m hoping it might be a glitch and it will fix itself.

Obviously do whatever you're comfortable with but the glitch for most of us seemed to be that we needed to change our PW and that solved the problem.

2 hours ago, jeremyveres said:

Also, what’s your go to nacho toppings combo at El Lock Fresh? 

Anything but the green stuff that’s supposed to be guac and add Cholula chipotle.

(Credit to @asquared17)

2 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

It was hotter'n blazes out there anyway, so I'm not sorry that our trip to the AT was cut short.

In March the Top Tier Event (which we usually skip) on Wonder was in Studio B. If it's back in the AT in June/July I think we'll go back to skipping it... although it does give me an excuse to pop into Playmakers for one of the two drinks I really like there.

5 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

The Pinn luncheon started at 11:30 and we did manage to make it for that.  The lunch was very good, as it almost always is.  Shrimp cocktail, filet and carrot cake for both of us.

Sounds like exactly what I would order.

22 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

So my Symphony cruise this month still shows being at PDCC on the 19th with Indy.  HOWEVER, Because of the Labadee fiasco Royal changed our schedule and WE are now joining Wonder on the 20th!!  That is TWO Oasis size ships together!  Both arriving at 7am!  Cruise mapper has not updated the Symphony schedules!

Circling back to this... CruiseTimeTables.com seems to be updated more than Cruisemapper. They show you there with Wonder.

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/cococaybahamasschedule-20may2024.html

5 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

IMO, the Grove is like WN suites sundeck but even better because you have food there.

That’s more fact than opinion in my book. 

4 hours ago, Chili said:

Yes I have,they ask for a secret question like my school but it’s not valid 

So you either don't remember the answer you entered when you set up your account or there's a glitch. Have you contacted RC about resetting your PW?