WannaCruise

I think we can all agree that we can't pick just one photo 

On 2/7/2019 at 6:58 PM, twangster said:

BOGO was a great deal at $25.  Then it went to $30.  Then it went to $40.  Now I see it $42.50.  

If you have never tried specialty dining and want to get your 'feet wet' it's possibly a way to do so if you pick your restaurants properly.  They'll assign you some automatically but if you check early enough soon after boarding you may be able to switch them to some of the venues you want.  

On my Symphony cruise it's gone up to $71 CAD.  Makes it less of a deal .  (Then again, that's also the cost of a single reservation at Chops) .  

Thanks for the photos.  Really good to see that they have actually started work on the waterpark.  Others gave said that they couldn't start until the pier was completed so seems that isn't so.  We'll be there in August so hoping it'll be done by then 

16 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

@WannaCruise What is that structure on Mariner that looks like yellow, blue, and green Pringles?

I forget what they call it, but kids can climb in it from bottom to top, like an obstacle course.  Great description...they do look like colorful Pringles.

Think I've seen a photo of it being on Harmony as well on the Boardwalk.

PS - The yellow/orange ball thing in the background is the Sky Pad.

Mariner

Fun Post 

Allure

• Best - Shows, Unique activities such as Zipline, neighborhoods, many included food selections
• Worst - There were a couple nights where you don't have a show (as I love dinner and show each night).  However, nothing is bad as ship is amazing. 

Mariner

• Best - Refurb items such as waterslides, Sky Pad, Laser Tag
• Worst - Pools gets very crowded on sea days as there are only 2 for all ages, fewer food options

Independence

• Best - Perfect size, Broadway show on a non-Oasis class, extra pool spreads out crowds and looks fun for younger kids (even though we didn't use), waterslides, Sky Pad and Laser Tag
• Worst - Dinner service in MDR wasn't as friendly, but that might have been due to MTD and shorter cruise.  Fewer food options compared with Oasis class

I've also been on Grandeur and Voyager but they were awhile ago and I don't remember the details enough to respond.

7 minutes ago, jticarruthers said:

The "sale of the day" is a better deal than the C&A Loyalty deal (balcony discount) ... you cant use both so using your loyalty discount is actually a worse deal than that available to everyone.

Yes you can just decline the C&A discount and use the generally available one but my point was that logging in as a loyal customer shows you a worse deal than not doing so.

Maybe that's why there is $125 OBC showing for our interior booking vs only $75 showing for a balcony room?  I noticed too that the $125 is actually broken up into two deals on the invoice.

3 minutes ago, jticarruthers said:

Yes you foolishly thought that being a member of the loyalty club would work in your favor

How does your C&A affect the amount negatively?  Or it it just that mworkman got extra savings for the balcony discount?

41 minutes ago, JasonL said:

Booking  nearly 800 days in advance is paying off for me 

The cruise I just repriced is for 2021.  Booked around opening day....and I've just watched prices go up and up.  The OBC was a nice surprise today.

3 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

I'd suggest calling your TA and having them check, or if you booked yourself then call Royal and ask them to verify. It's possible, especially if they haven't booked enough interior rooms and are trying to goose the sales at that end.

We book with Royal directly.  Our specific room only has 3 rooms left (very few Central Park Interior rooms that hold 4 people) but yeah, even standard interior room shows $125 OBC.

Trying to decide if we want a higher price with OBC, but net savings is around $85 (depending on exchange)

Actually I take that back as I didn't notice OBC was being offered for one of my cruises.  

Price went up, but shows $125 OBC so net result is actually lower (esp as we book in CAD).  Only thing is...I'm wondering if this is an error as I've never seen such a high OBC for an interior room (Central Park Interior) and especially as Central Park Balcony only has $75 OBC.  That seems fishy to me.

Funny...all 5 of my cruises have gone up with latest sale.

9 hours ago, melski94 said:

If its his first night of being along, you could suggest the teen club.  They have a meet and greet the first night at 8 pm.  Then he has some freedom but you also know he is being supervised.  I understand the concern of the idea that it is a family vacation but we have found that we hang out as a family during the day as well as eat dinner together but in the evenings we can see a show or hang out at a bar and the teens can hang out together too. That is a nice balance and works for us. 

If you don't like the idea of the teen club, then I suggest boundaries.  For example, he can hang out on the boardwalk or the room.  Last year, my 11yo at the time found the size of Harmony quite overwhelming even though we had been on several cruises (Freedom class).  He wasn't comfortable on his own but my older teens had the freedom of the ship.  

We do purchase the internet package as a way to keep in touch.  We had too many times where we tried to meet up and just missed each other.

Overall he'll join us at the shows.  It's just that he is totally not interested in seeing Hairspray (he's watched the live version and the movie when our DD watched it) and it's not his thing.  So not gonna force him.  But yeah...maybe we'll limit him to an area...I'll have to look up where the arcade is relative to the boardwalk (which is our room area) so at least he won't get totally lost.  Guess the good thing is if he is lost he can always ask a crew member.

11 hours ago, HeWhoWaits said:

Whatever latitude you give your son to "wander" at home is appropriate for on the ship. It all depends on the individual's maturity level (some would argue that I shouldn't be allowed to wander on my own at 55).

At home he goes to friends on his own, but he has his phone on him.  So its a bit different.  But get what you're saying.

3 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

So...we ended up with Jamie's x 2, Chops x 2, and once to Hibachi and 150 CP.  

I'm not overly excited about CP (the desserts seem like the best part for me) and for those who don't know it, we're Asian, so we're going to be pretty picky when it comes to Hibachi.  But we definitely want to try it once.  Hubby loves his steaks and seafood, so we picked Chops to do twice.  If Chops turns out to be a bust the first round, then we'll probably do Jamie's x 3.  We love that place!  The Seafood tower and Surf and Turf is calling Hubby.  I am on a mission to prove to @Matt that the filet in CK is either better or the same as Chops quality.  #teamCK for now 

I know everyone is different...and seems like the same restaurant can vary from ship to ship but we loved Chops on Mariner (this is when my son discovered he likes steak). Shrimp is really good there too as you said your husband likes seafood. We couldn't even get a reservation on Independence so hoping to get one on Symphony. Have heard really good things about Hibachi.  Good to hear you live Jamie's. Never tried it but hoping to. Will look forward to hearing what you think of them.

Wow twangster.  What timing!  Glad you had an evening flight and made it!

27 minutes ago, Hoski said:

Different ages for each of my kids. Oldest who has always been very mature about 9 we let her sign herself out of Carnival kids club and go back to room on own only. Middle daughter was just on her first cruise at 12 and we gave her freedom.  She is typically shy but loved the teen group on Navigator.  Our youngest will probably be 18 before she is willing to separate from me.

Makes total sense.  Kids are totally different and it's their maturity and comfort level versus a number.

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

We started letting our kids wander (just to get pizza or drinks) on Anthem in March.  So they were 9&11 at that point.  Then on Mariner and Indy, we let them wander some more for more extended periods of time (still less than an hour).  They were 10&12.  On Harmony next month, the plan is that they will not be having all meals with us.  They plan to head to Johnny Rockets etc. on their own.  Also, they might just meet up with us for shows after having dinner on their own some nights.  This was their request, not ours.  We agreed to give it a try.  I told them if they get lost, they better call our Genie 

That's a good way to ease them into some freedom.  Lol...lucky you'll have your personal genie.

2 hours ago, bhageerah said:

We have twin 13yo girls, we are going to let them do SOME things on their own but not wander alone as of yet.  We will have defined meeting times as well as defined areas to stay in.  I know that we are protective, but I also know that they can not handle being in that huge of a space all on their own and would get lost extremely easily!  I think that it is a personal choice, and knowing your children and how much responsibility that  your child can handle.  I know that some are able to handle the responsibility of going off on their own at 13 but I know that ours are not, they have an issue finding their way around the local amusement park without guidance and we go there quite a few times every year! So under that premise I know they would get completely disoriented while being onboard a massive Oasis class ship! 

I don't think you are over protective at all, and feel the same (DH is totally fine with it, I'm nervous).  Good that your girls have each other.  Yes...Oasis class is huge.  We have been on Allure once, but that was 3 years ago...and also it's the first night that DS would be on his own so no time learn his way around.  I suppose we can leave him in the arcade or something but he'd probably go through a lot of games in the 90 minutes for the show. But probably setting  meeting time would work, and having his stick to one area (or back in our room)

Our son is 13 and for the first time asked if he can wander on his own on our Symphony cruise coming up.  First night we have Hairspray and he has no interest seeing it, so this is his opportunity to be on his own.  We do not get the internet package so no way to contact him.   But he's pretty reliable.

At what age did you let your child wander on their own?  Did you specify an area to stay in?  Meeting spot (or just back at the cabin)?  Any tips?  

Not worried so much on the ship about safety but just wondering what age, and if others have boundaries?  Only thing I'm a little apprehensive about is that it'll be the very first night.

PS - Up until now, he's had no interest in the kids club (which we don't push either as we consider these cruises our family vacation together).

Never noticed (or even checked) but we always book in CAD.  That way, we know what we are paying.  If you pay in USD, then the CAD equivalent will change (unless you pay if off right away).  Also, there is an extra exchange charge on a credit card.

PS - Just tested this for Harmony 2021 cruise.  Non-refundable cost is cheaper in USD, but refundable cost is cheaper in CAD.  

PPS - Not related to price but I love how the USD stateroom selection screen highlights the actual available rooms (whereas other rooms are in white).  In CAD, the colors don't change so you need to manually look for the room number to see where they are.  Great feature.  Not sure why they don't have this on CAD search.

49 minutes ago, jticarruthers said:

Had 1688 on Adventure and loved it, booked on Mariner and looking forward to it .... only real issue is the "stripper pole" which may or may not be an issue depending on who you are travelling with. Cabin is great though.

So glad to hear.  The room is a spacious balcony but looks like the size of a junior suite (but regular bathroom).  Lol...I've seen pictures of that pole....travelling with our kids so aside from bumping into in the dark it by accident if need to get up for a bathroom break during the night, I don't see any issue with the pole (and won't be used as you mentioned )

10 hours ago, cbnsoul said:

We mostly just stayed in the kids area and around the regular and cenote-style pool.  My wife did one of the slides while my son and I waited.  You actually take an elevator up to the top of the slides which I thought was interesting. There’s a nice lazy river that we did together.  The line got really long as they didn’t have a lot of innertubes though it made for a nice, uncrowded ride.

Thanks for the feedback.  Funny they have an elevator, but understandable.  Can see us going on the lazy river so good heads up. We're going spring break so will probably be crowded (although you don't see this park mentioned that often)

cbnsoul, I'm not OP, but thanks so much for sharing.  Looks like a great place.  A bit of a logistics question...we're coming with our 2 kids.  I won't go on the slides and I doubt DH will either.  For your first picture with the big slides, is it something you can let your kids go up by themselves and we wait at the bottom?  Or would we walk them up?  It seems like a long ways up.  Also, obviously you felt safe?  Some of those slides are mighty steep. (Or you commented you mostly stayed at the kids area)