Shawn

Surprising cupcake board did not go away. The charms were on clearance and the crew member running it had every indication that she had to find a new position and hated to see it close. She had heard the excursion desk was moving to the spot to expand with kiosks.

Back in July, I had heard Sabor, Izumi, and park cafe were being added. The staff had just seen the new sandwiches they would be featuring. I would love the new additions!

I always look forward to the Indian and Asian food. Hopefully, I will get to try the honey stung chicken next time. Also, I love grabbing an afternoon snack too. It's usually very quiet and great place to soak in the view of the port or sea.

A wow card is a card that you can fill out with the crew member's name and give them or drop off at Guest Services to recognize them for service that "wowed" you. We were given two on Allure a few weeks ago.

On Oasis, you can get JR to go. We used that option one day. Btw sad to say the desserts in Chops on Allure were not ornate like the pictures any more. Almost just a slice of cake on a plate. The one cool dessert a lot of people got was the flaming creme brûlée.

Wow! Not event Chops!? It's been a long time. I forgot that they only had those.

Great, I can't wait to take her to check it out!

 

Definitely taking lots of photos of the whole cruise! Plan on sharing with everyone on the blog. :)

What does everyone think of the food truck's menu concept? I had hoped for more. I Like hot dogs, but had hoped for maybe a little more offerings such as a Mexican flare. Maybe they could have done a food truck and a food cart for the area with hot dogs being from the cart?

That would awesome to have an oasis class in port canaveral! For us, it would save the airfare to Ft Lauderdale! Great to have three classes of ships going out of one embarkation port!

I am going to miss the MDR but always willing to try something new. The quantum restaurants look really cool and cover so many great types of cuisine. Too bad sabor is not on board to try as well. Just a good reason to try a different ship too!

 

For Izumi, is there a good selection of non sushi, such as cooked salmon or teriyaki chicken ? Was the hot rock cooking good? Thinking of taking my older daughter there for her to try it.

 

Jealous Don!!!! 6?!?! ;)

Pier 66 is a nice hotel. We had our rehearsal dinner there and got married across the bridge at the Renessaince 10 years ago in May.

Your absolutely right! They don't even sell oxygen tanks in the shops!!

You have to request and pay a nominal fee for paperwork to be mailed or print at home for free. The luggage tags are folded up paper and stapled to handle of luggage. Last year it worked fine for us. It was a lot of paper to print at home though. Create an account on RCL website and look at your reservation, there is a tab for cruise documentation.

I think I would buy a next cruise certificate now if I wanted to hold onto a relic! Not sure it's even worth the paper it's printed on. Lol. I guess this new structure gives them more flexibility at controlling incentives to if they need to give them.

Yeah I would hope they follow you too. It would be nice to try. It seems like that is the model Norwegian started. I was curious of their exterior promenade deck that they were doing on a newer ship with some of the restaurants having exterior seating if I remember right. Though I would still prefer the traditional dining most nights.

Maybe they should forego the corkage fee since you can only bring two bottles on. How much could it really make the company? Leave it listed, but not collect. I think it would go further with brand loyalty instead of being that lingering annoyance. Or even a crown and anchor perk? And I bet people would still spend the money elsewhere.

Wow! Maybe no main dining?! Rotational dining would be interesting and fun, but I would definitely miss the experience of the main dining room.

For my family, the itinerary is probably the easiest. We pick the cruise based on the week that we can go and the ship available that is best for the kids. Ship selection will definitely get harder when the revitalization program is complete. The cabin selection is one of the more challenging aspects especially with kids of different ages. For our cruises coming up on Freedom, we struggled with what to do with having one daughter in a crib and the other needing a larger bed while keeping it affordable. In the end, we went with the two connecting promenade view staterooms. Shore excursions can also be a fun challenge especially if your getting away from doing excursions connected to RCL. Thankfully royal caribbean blog and other sites like tripadvisor help let you know that the operator is trust worthy and the excursion is fun and safe.

 

The best part of planning is seeing the daily compasses. This way I can create my bucket list of activities that I would like to check off and be on the lookout for while on the cruise.

 

One aspect I wish RCL let you pre-plan is babysitting services. It would be nice to be able to select a dining package for specialty restaurants on Allure next month. But unfortunately, we will have to wait and see if we can get a sitter at sea. We could always drop them off at Adventure Ocean & the nursery if need be.

 

But this is all fun to suffer through and helps start your vacation early! :)

Anyone have info about dolphin encounters that are good for kids in Cozumel? Ages 2 and almost 7. The 2 year old will probably be with but not participate I would imagine, but some of the places listed shows that were apart of the package. Cruise is April 6th.

That's definetly true. Their site is so unpredictable on iPhone or iPad at times.

Odds Makers ;) !!!! When will Royal Caribbean have an app for use on board? Not just deck plans, but linked to sea pass account so you can make show reservations, specialty reservations, book excursions, spa appointments, and show cruise compass. What other functions would you like? Is Len Testa available to develop this? ;) If so, when? 1,3,5 years? I bet they would increase on board purchases.

I love the old photos from the cruises, but my daughter would say a Pets-at-sea animal to take home! Yeah the family photos are ours as well. A few cruises ago, we scheduled on a casual photo day and had some of the best photos of my older daughter. We could take extra time and didn't feel rushed.

Thank you for the link and information. :) just can't wait. Five more days until show reservations! :)

I think did act appropriately. Too bad they can't be a little more direct as too why these incidents occur but hard to know who or blame the very passengers that may have brought it on board. It's a shame the media doesn't do more than just shame the ship that it occurred on and not how to prevent it from occurring in the first place or the fact that it's brought on board.

Great! Thank you! She will have a blast. Hopefully can get the cabana for the mother in law! Brownie points! ;)