twangster

Alamo/Enterprise will pick up at port and shuttle you to MIA airport for rentals. You have to have a reservation with. I've also seen a Hertz shuttle riding around the port.

OBC can be sourced from Royal or from a travel agent. When Royal provides OBC they are not just giving away money. Sometimes cruise fares are lower and sometimes fares are slightly higher and you get OBC. Rarely does anyone just give away money for nothing. At the end of the day the cost of your cruise vacation is the price of cruise fare less OBC if any. If your vacation is going to be more enjoyable with lattes then budget for them as if it's part of the total cost to go on vacation. If you pay for them at home or at work then you are already accustomed to spending some money for them on a daily basis. Consider something like a refreshment package that includes specialty coffees.

Common mixers are available and included. Frozen concoctions are not included.

JFK is a big airport that is a distinct European gateway airport. Ironically it may be easier for me use it on a connecting basis than it is for locals driving there. When I've stayed in Manhattan I took the subway to JFK. Can't speak to driving to JFK. Does PHL have any flights?

Personal preference. I'm not someone who buys Starbucks ever so my tastes are pretty easy going. A coffee aficionado may scoff at WJ or room service coffee.

Agreed. When I have a balcony a plate of fruit, croissant and coffee are a great start to the morning on the balcony. With so much food at other times of the day I don't need a big breakfast.

Looks like they removed the gold card suite area and put in three new cabanas. Those pinnacles won't be happy.

Well, Viator emailed and my Sitka tour lost the brewery. Apparently the brewery has decided no tours this year. The local tour operator is offering a town bar in it's place, but I don't need to pay for a tour to visit a bar. Consequently I cancelled this tour and will make my own beer sampling event in Sitka.

When I've stayed in a Grand or Loft suite I've sampled much of the menu ($7.95 fee waived for full suites). The food is pretty good. The Royal Hamburger is actually very good and not just a windjammer burger. The fee is per order so for less than $10 it's a solid choice and nice way to enjoy a meal on a balcony.

I don't disagree it would be a profit center but this is Royal we are talking about. They struggle with a basic website.

Typical room service menu: Coffee options are caffeinated or decaffeinated. Mimosa and Bloody Mary's are available at a cost even if you have a drink package or drink card. Beyond that, the SO is heading to the coffee shop on board.

In 2017 a propellor was damaged. A possible cause was a shipping container floating just below the surface that they ran over. Cargo ships losing cargo overboard happens quite often, more often then most people think. It doesn't hurt the ship, but it dinged a propellor blade. They cut off the bent metal but now the propellor wasn't balanced and when operating at higher speeds would cause a noticeable vibration so they slowed it down. Safety was never an issue. It's about comfort. A vibrating ship would not be comfortable for any guest in the aft section. These propellor are massive and it takes months to make a new one. It's custom made for a specific ship, it's not like they can run down to a local marina and buy a spare one off the shelf. They haven't stated what the nature of the issue is this time. It could be the same or it might be something different. However safety isn't the concern, comfort is. Imagine being in a boardwalk balcony cabin and feeling vibrations the whole time. That wouldn't be enjoyable. If they had to they could crank up the speed but it would come at the cost of comfort.

The Passenger Vessel Services Act or PVSA does not allow a foreign ship to transport guests between different US ports without stopping at a "distant foreign port". As far as US law is considered, a cruise ship registered in the Bahamas or Panama is a foreign ship even if the company operating that ship has it's headquarters in Miami. Many countries have such maritime laws and air carriers have the same restrictions which is why you can't fly Air Canada from Los Angles to New York but you can fly them from a US city to a Canadian city. You don't hear about the maritime laws in other countries as much because few countries have the cruise market that the US does. In the case of Oasis, moving from Florida to New York with guests would violate the PVSA. A common "distant foreign port" is the ABC islands but for Oasis to head that far South and turn around to go that far North just doesn't make sense so they'll have to reposition without guests. This occurred this past weekend for Harmony, Allure and Mariner. Harmony moved from Ft. Lauderdale to Canaveral, Allure moved from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale and Mariner moved from Miami to Canaveral. In all cases they had to drop their existing guests from the previous cruise in the same port where they picked them up, then they had to sail empty to their new home port later in the day. Puerto Rico has a special waiver in place that allows cruise ships to carry guests when repositioning between the US mainland and Puerto Rico.

From someone who has climbed the C&A ranks quickly the secret has been a lot of solo cruising on longer cruises and occasional suites. To make it economical cruising off peak is the key. Long cruises help a lot. A cruise of 11 nights solo equates to 22 points. The snowbird migration last year was 13 nights netting me 26 points. The best "bang for your buck" are transatlantics on older ships. Rhapsody Nov. 2020 14 nights for $1,300 "all in" (inc. taxes and fees) on a solo basis would net you 28 points for a very low $46 per point although you do have to consider the cost of international airfare. These ultra low fares are few and far between so if you used them exclusively it would take years to climb the ranks. It's not always about just sailing the cheapest cruises. You'll want to enjoy the cruise, it is money after all, so not all of my cruises are the bargain variety and often they cost me much more per point. If it's strictly a points grab suites can help but you have to look at the numbers. In some cases the extra cost to move up to a suite is less than the cost of another cruise to gain the same number of extra points, in other cases it isn't. I've got a 15 night cruise booked in a JS that will net me 45 points solo in a suite. If I cruised solo in a regular cabin that would be 30 points. The extra $1,200 to move to a JS comes with an extra 15 points. I could spend the $1,200 for another 7 night cruise that will get me 14 points or for $1,200 I get 15 points so in this case it made sense to upgrade and I get to enjoy a JS cabin. More importantly it's a pretty cool and unique itinerary and being 15 nights the extra space will be appreciated compared to an interior cabin for 15 nights. One feature of C&A to be aware is the ability to put you and your "significant other" in a relationship. Qualification so far appears to be having the same address on your C&A accounts. Once in a relationship if one person achieves a certain level in the program, the other person is granted that level even though their actual points remains below the threshold for that level. They don't get your points, but they get your level. This is how one can sell the notion of cruising solo to a partner. You are "taking one for the team" as you will both level up as you advance. Cruising just to get points doesn't make sense but if you research and check often you can find some pretty cool and unique itineraries and often they are cost effective off peak when most working class people or those with kids can't cruise.

While true for US consumers, in some countries there are extra protection mechanisms in place for travelers buying a combo package. For some travelers visiting a foreign country it's easier to let an agent handle it rather than investigating a foreign country or city, good locations versus bad locations, etc. Looks like the extra cost for refundable is currently around $260 per cabin. However since it's fully refundable there is no risk. You can always cancel it and get your deposit back or convert it to non-refundable and seek the lower fare. You do have to be willing to float the deposit on a credit card though. Sometimes the prices increase for NRD over time so it doesn't make sense to convert it months later.

I've booked the cruise fully refundable. Once I can secure decent airfare I'll consider switching to NRD. Best of both worlds and it protects me against price increases with little risk while grabbing the cabin I want.

It's getting close to airfare booking windows. Delta for example is accepting reservations through April 1st 2020. In another two weeks that will extend out to mid-April. By this time next month April 24-28 should be bookable. You might want to wait a bit and monitor prices. Airfare is often priced high this far away since they are unsure what might happen with fuel prices so they protect themselves by increasing rates. As it gets closer they have a better idea what might occur and they often lower prices. BTW - I'm also booked on that TA.

The cruise contract you agreed to specifies they can make changes. All cruise lines have contacts written this way. A late August cruise is before final payment due date. Cancellation should be $100 per person with the balance of your deposit in future cruise credit. Those were the terms you agreed to when booking non-refundable. You booked in the prime of hurricane season without travel insurance? Wow. Risky. But that was your choice.

The verbiage has been in the terms and conditions for a few years. Pre-booking them requires paying adult prices and getting an OBC credit once you visit the venue. That led to the general wisdom of just showing up with kids and dealing with it on the spot.

I was originally doing Ovation in June but my other guests wanted to do something else. When I cancelled Spectrum it opened up the May 13 special Ovation itinerary which was too attractive to pass up.

For a 3 and 6 yo the extra bathroom you get with two cabins may not have the appeal that it would with older kids. Balcony is a personal thing. With younger kids there is some comfort not having to worry about them on a balcony, not that you would ever leave them alone, but still. I often cruise in interior to save money. Plenty of opportunity to get out and explore the ship. Having said that when my kids were younger it was nice to put the kids down at bed time and sneak out to the balcony with a glass of wine to enjoy some adult time and conservation without whispering. Many Eastern itineraries have been updated with a stop at CocoCay or "Perfect Day". If your family is beach or pool oriented this could be a huge plus. On the Western itineraries Labadee is a common stop which is also beautiful but is beach without pools. There is some variety to Eastern itineraries now so without knowing the exact ports of call it's hard to say. Both have pros and cons so seasoned cruisers might have a preference but for a first cruise both are compelling. Is it easier to fly to Orlando versus Fort Lauderdale? I'm in Denver and fly to both ports but do find Ft. Lauderdale just a little easier since the port is right there versus an hour away in Orlando. Harmony is a beautiful ship and second newest Oasis class ship. Oasis is getting refreshed later this year but no one really knows what she will gain in her update. Harmony does have water and dry slides if those are a big draw for your family. Oasis may get these in the update but we just don't know yet. In that sense Harmony is the safe bet but we all expect Oasis to look pretty close after her updates.

I was listening to VHF radio on PTZ yesterday and heard she had divers in the water for 3-4 hours yesterday. They notified the Captain of the port when they were going in which is standard procedure.

They may have been running tests to study the vibrations and impact to bearings. With no guests on board they can do such things without complaints. My understanding is that it wasn't late. Recent communication suggested "do not arrive at terminal before 4pm". They were tied up at 3:45pm with no guests to disembark so it seemed to be on time. Looks like she's been running 19-20 knots since departing.

I don't think I've seen a headset jack on any TV onboard.

I cruise Anthem in the winter because it's cheap. I put up with the itinerary because it cheap. People are afraid of winter weather. Summer Bayonne load factors do not apply in the winter. This may be a leading cause of Anthem's $70M gap in revenue compared to her sister. If you put Odyssey beside Anthem no one would sail Anthem. I guess that could be good - a week on Anthem for $299 per person to fill it.