ScooterScott22

While it is not as close as it looks, it is impressive to see. Highly recommend getting up early to see that bridge passage. If you are not from the west coast, it shouldn’t be too hard to go to bed a little earlier and to get up early. It should take a little to get from the port to the bridge and with the longer daylight hours, you should have some visibility.

Agree with the above two points and will add it never hurts to check in and ask. There is really no specific expectation on how busy it might be on one night at one sailing. Since there was a recent thread that mentioned no pinnacles on a couple cruises. That is one more item that can influence how busy CK will be. We have only used CK about 10% of the time when we have been Sky or Star class so even people in suites with access may not use it as often as others. Good luck getting a spot, enjoy your cruise.

Interesting that they would cancel or not have it since there are no pinnacles. If they normally allow other tiers, besides pinnacles, then the event is not exclusive to that group. If it is specific to Pin's then they should rename it "Pinnacle Recognition" or something similar. It seems that the pivot that the Grandeur did, mentioned above, was a nice way to handle the no pinnacles. Maybe on the Adventure they just used that as an excuse.

@JohnnySB welcome to the forums! I'll add a few details to some of the awesome information that has already been shared. We have done the Crown Loft Suites on Harmony and really liked it, I also travel to Miami for work besides cruises. If you have any specific that you want answered please post here or Message me directly. Suites boarding in Miami is just to the right of the Main entrance. You will proceed to the right for security and to head to the suites waiting area. The drawback is you do not go up the escalators under the big golden props. Expect to spend minimal amount of time in the terminal lounge, unless there are boarding delays. If you arrive before or near the start of the terminal opening to the guests, the boarding will still not have started but it usually doesn't take long before they start letting the suites and top tiers on the ship. As for dining on the Harmony we have done the UDP even though we were in a suite. There is enough variety in the specialty restaurants that if you enjoy dining you will be satisfied. Chops, and the two Izumi restaurants are what you would expect and good options. 150 Central Park has some nice options and we enjoy Jamie's (our family and friends). Do some lunches at Johnny Rockets and Sabor and you can easily get your moneys worth. Wonderland can be interesting and fun but for some of the less adventurous eaters it is usually a miss. The other bonus is if you have the UDP and you are a planner, you can pick your dinner dates and times and submit that to the concierge when they email you. You might have to make some adjustments but you can get most of what you want scheduled before boarding the ship. The other detail is CK has not always been the most enjoyable. It is nice but having been there as a suites guest, Sky and Star, it can be negatively impacted buy the number of Pinnacles that might be sailing. Most of the time it is a quiet place that is welcoming but it can also feel as some folks are using the space as their own club and you are not invited.

We had nothing on Wonder to note. For the Oasis class, we have been on Oasis, Harmony, Allure and Wonder. Only on Allure did we really notice any motion. It was only for a day or two and it was long rolling intervals, so it was probably just the sea conditions for us. My guess is that is what you were experiencing.

We got the RoyalUp to a CLS on Harmony last year and had one of the aft facing. Really thought it would be more of an issue and it was not. You can still see out to the water and it is pretty open. We thought it we ever did one of the CLS we would absolutely book a side facing, and while that is still our preference it would not be a deal breaker now that we have stayed in one of the aft facing. Funny thing is we did the Royal Loft Suite last fall and we spent as much time or more on the aft facing portion of the veranda as the more private side portion. If motion is a concern, we can’t share much as we have never had an issue even with stormy seas. If it is really rough it seems to me that you will feel it pretty much anywhere. If you are sensitive to the ships motion it may make a difference but since the oasis class is so big it really takes a lot.

Don’t think there should be a huge difference between those dates. The Caribbean temps do not fluctuate all that much; that’s why cruises go there, and rain is spotty mostly due to fronts but probably more common during hurricane season. Since your dates are out of that time, should be more specific to any local disturbance or front. Agree that amount of passengers will vary some. The goal of the cruise line is to get as many heads into beds as possible. Still peoples schedules will impact that amount. Those couple of weeks between thanksgiving and Christmas are not the busiest for the obvious reasons. March can be hit or miss depending on holidays and spring break schedules. We did the 8 day southern in late September and it was great.

Try staying inside the ship balcony, if not the views might be better until you splashdown.

Lots of options, more info to help guide you could be helpful. - do you have a price point? - flying in (shortly before the cruise) options near the airport might work and are less but still easy transit to the port for boarding. - staying a few days and want to tour or explore? - staying a few days and want some beach time? - do you have any frequent guest programs (Hilton Honors/Marriott Rewards, etc)

Not sure what you plan to do but Stavanger is not bad and the trip options land or boat to pulpit rock are great options. We did a fjord cruise there. Kristiansand was one of my favorites, we did a tour later in the day but I did a great run in the morning around the town and waterfront areas. Very nice place. (At least a few years ago, it was.)

Without reading others feedback, I’ll share that we loved having a balcony on a Norway, Iceland, Scotland cruise. We prefer balconies anyway but as you sail into or out of many ports you may be traveling in fjords. Always some interesting sites and easy to jump out to the balcony for a quick peek. The weather can be good or bad and I would actually say the balcony is a plus in bad weather. Very easy to stay in and comfortable with the ability to pop out quickly to see a site. Might even see a tiny island church. or just watch the clouds hanging on mountains like these headed into Akureyri.

I'm of the mind that at 2-3 drinks per day it could still be beneficial. Maybe trying one or two new things could be worked in on a few days. Also you have specialty coffee's and other drinks that it helps defray the cost on, like grabbing bottled waters throughout the day. You just have to remember it is not only alcohol that is covered, but that is where you get the greater "value". Before making a decision, estimate all your potential drinks (Coffees, booze, soda, etc.) and then see what you estimate as your daily cost for comparison.

Probably easiest to head to the airport for most companies. There are some that are closer to the port but be careful. If you search by distance, you may see that the "closest" car rental sites to the Royal terminal are at Miami beach. Those are physically the closest but require you to backtrack from the port area then out to Miami Beach. The other consideration is the airport sites will likely have the best selections if you are part of any of the programs that allow you to pick your own car (Hertz Gold or National executive).

I’ll agree with the short trial concept. I can work from the ship but agree that it can be challenging. I also use some of the work arounds like scheduling meetings on port days. One key difference I found from a friend. He historically never works from the ship. He tried this fall to work and found that his VPN did not function with the ship’s internet. Personally haven’t ran into that but for him it pretty much eliminated the ability work from the ship option. If you can test that all the systems you will need are going to function even by doing a short cruise you should be able to start planning.

Love the info but just have to comment…. … turntables are for records. Ships have a turning basin at some ports. Here is Port Canaveral.

You question is a little vague. If you mean that you have two cabins for one party (Don’t think that is the situation) or can you bid on multiple Royal Up options above your cabin category. Since I think it’s the second option and I’ve done it I’ll respond about experience. Yes, you can bid on any category that is higher than yours. We bid on select suites this past spring, our original was a balcony stateroom, and won the CLS. They will only select one, if you even win the Royal Up at all. We did not bid on every option that was available and some bids were stronger than others. Was surprised to get the CLS as our Owners Suite bid was actually the strongest. Likely it was due to the availability of the category that helps determine a win.

Knowing where the Chef's Table is on your ship may also help you decide what to where. We have only done Chef's Table on Quantum and Oasis Class ships and they seem somewhat special. Some of the ships have it in a different locations and it can be more casual. On Allure we booked Chef's Table on formal night so it was a suit for me. It was a smaller group that night and in the other two parties the gentlemen wore sports coats. The Allure has a pretty unique Chef's Table location, upper deck of the Diamond lounge overlooking the Boardwalk area, which adds to the felling of a special night/dining experience.

Copied the picture above, to add a little detail. Hopefully they give you the option to park in the lot between the terminals. There is a gate at the upper corner (NE) that will a allow you quick access to terminal 18 on boarding day if you can park where I circled below in red. That would also allow quick access from the terminal 19/garage area (original red pin) from the other side. We were required to use that lot on one occasion and it really seems like it would be ideal for your situation.

Guessing that the timing on when the secondary company notifies Royal about wining bids can vary. This spring we won a RoyalUp from a balcony to a CLS so we for sure had no access to the concierge prior to the upgrade. Our notice was a few weeks before the cruise and I was in contact with the Concierge to make dining reservations and everything was set before boarding. Likely there is some algorithm that is followed agreed on by the two companies. Not based on facts, just what we have experienced. I would guess that the first batch of upgrades happens far enough that the open cabins can be put "back into stock" and sold to the general public for a short time. That may help get heads in beds as late bookings may grab those rooms. Probably a second batch of upgrades is done pretty close to sailing. Then finally the last group of upgrades is probably late cancellations and no shows. Those last two groups are more of what we consider upgrades, moving customers up categories for their benefit and to create customer loyalty whereas the first wave incorporates that but is also really to maximize occupancy. There is probably some variation built into the timelines for the waves related to the cruise date (demand), ship type, and actual occupancy rates. Again just speculation but likely this impacts when Royal knows and therefore when/if the concierge can reach out or not. I thought I heard that the passenger manifest needed to be submitted 24 hours before sailing, even though there might be modifications right up to sail away.

No, we are doing Harmony early Feb.

Had to chime in, our son got the notification and we did not! Our next cruise is not until Feb 2024.

Saw that you posted you are considering the drink package. Just adding if you tend towards mixed drinks probably a good choice, if you are more of beer and wine maybe not. The coffee/specialty coffee machine in the suites lounge can be accessed and taken back to the room. With beer, wine and soda available from the lounge pretty much all day, that leaves only mixed drinks and liquors. The last CLS we did was our last cruise before Diamond and a Star Class cruise so we opted for no drinks package and never felt the need with what was available.

Sorry above was for a non-Oasis or Ovation ship. Here is the correct one. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-are-the-benefits-of-royal-suite-class

Just to add here is the list of perks for Sea Class. (cropped out the longer two, higher tiers) Edited - added the correct image and link below. Happy sailing!

Having a Junior suite make you a Sea Class guest as part of the royal suites program on the ships that have those designations. So you can see in your image that you shared the policy that applies to booking Coastal Kitchen. You will be allowed to make reservations on a first come basis if there is space available. Check after boarding when you can make your first night request and check daily.