AshleyDillo

Thank you for the excellent view of what's on the "other side" of the Royal family!

No clue where I got that assumption from..sorry!

Echoing what @Fairlynew said..Pasanggrahan is located at the closest end of the beach to the port. So it's nearly the first one you would come to if you walked up that way. However this stretch of beach has tons of little resorts that will sell you chairs and umbrellas at a cheaper price that you can negotiate down. You can also opt to take the water taxi ($8per person I believe) which goes from the port to the center of this beach near the Hard Rock if you look at a map..then you can walk either left or right up the beach until you find where your family would like to roost for the day. You just have to decide if everything that comes with that $45/pp is worth it to you when you can have the same experience DIY a little bit further up. I've heard good things about Holland House and Lizzy's Beach Bar as places to hang on the beach for the day if you want other places to research. The one time I went and did the beach we just got off the water taxi and took a quick right and walked right down and into the water. Didn't rent a chair or umbrella..along the boardwalk there's places that sell drinks left and right.

They didn't bother to update that part of the deck plans. Are you as shocked and surprised as I am? I also think Leaf & Bean Pub is an interesting name for a bar ?

They aren't doing an indoor pool on Odyssey..so there is more open deck space. Not so much a "cold weather" ship compared to the other Q-class ships. It's almost like they intentionally designed her to move away from that cold-weather label.

Waterslides and Hooked or indoor skydiving and Bumper Cars? Odyssey and Symphony are almost more alike than different with this new iteration of Q-Ultra.

Royal is a mass market cruiseline. They're not really catering to the "finer" things. None of the major lines really are. For a luxury cruise experience you have to go with a luxury cruise line. Even if you stay in the upper level suites on a Royal ship, if you're expecting a lot of luxury you will be disappointed. If you price out a luxury line and cringe at the prices, you may want to give Royal's sister, Celebrity a try. They tend to come off as a little more upscale, but don't set your expectations too high. They're still a mass market cruiseline.

And this is why I will wait until last minute next year to book a Thanksgiving cruise..insane. I know there's probably no chance to luck into this for next year (especially considering this is a price for a SOLO) but still..might as well since I have the travel flexibility and can drive to the port. e!

Funny they still call it a holiday cruise then!

They will take a known food allergy very seriously but it is one of those things where you need to make sure that you ask. They do wonders at modifying dishes and menus to accompany all kinds of special dining needs.

Can Ephesus handle a big ship? Kinda like the thought of Odyssey going back to the general vicinity its namesake. Open pool deck, so doesn't have to be a cold weather ship this time around!

Typically more children. This will be a Thanksgiving cruise so they will have a turkey dinner entree option in the main dining room on Thursday. They might try to charge more for specialty restaurants on Thanksgiving also and sometimes they won't honor dining packages if they're doing a special meal in that specialty restaurant. Typically they will start setting up Christmas decorations after Thanksgiving. Other than that, it's cruising as usual! Air travel can be pretty busy and pricey during this time as well, so be prepared for sticker shock there if you haven't priced out Thanksgiving airfare recently.

Nope. Sometimes one person in a traveling party will get it while others don't. It really doesn't take much time to check in if you have to do it at the port. They just make sure everything is filled out and that your name matches your ID, and take a photo if they don't like the one already in the system and you are done.

Assuming Coastal Kitchen hasn't been formally named that..but there's an unnamed eatery on Deck 14 by the WJ where it's typically located on Quantum Class. Cafe 270 doesn't have a label either.

Their ears must have been burning..just released some of the stuff that will be on Odyssey. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/10/24/royal-caribbean-announces-activities-dining-and-more-odyssey-of-the-seas

No problem. I'm all #TeamPassport for all...but truth is I still bring my birth certificate as a backup. Keep it packed separately from my passport so I have it as a backup.

You ask 10 different people from either and you're likely to get 10 different answers. That's the problem. I know that the requirement for the Real ID with the star is that you have to present more documentation for the enhanced ID, but one of those required documents still isn't a birth certificate. If you visit the Department of Homeland Security's website it does state that you can not use a real ID for international cruise travel. https://www.dhs.gov/real-id-public-faqs

They haven't rolled out the chat feature to all the ships at this point unfortunately and haven't released when they will.

Agreed..it's a totally different vibe than a normal cruise, though. I was surprised by exactly how much different it really was. I did the Warped Reward at Sea a few years ago and it it was very much like the Warped Tour festival..but on a ship in the middle of the ocean. Amazing experience as all the bands end up mingling and hanging out with the fans and treating it like their vacation too.

Go with Allure then...you're from Florida and you sail often enough. Use the itinerary as an excuse to stay on the ship more and take advantage of that..with Oasis class the ships can easily be the destination. I'm not even sure I will step foot off of Oasis next month.

RoyalUp bids can be won up to cruise day..you never know when it comes to down to the wire cancellations. I hope you can get some answers from Royal, but I think you need to contact cruises.com and inquire with them as they are your TA. Royal usually won't talk directly with you because of that.

I was asking the Travel Agency question because TAs can opt-out of allowing the RoyalUp. I believe Costco Travel has opted out of it, but I'm not sure about the other big agencies.

Expedited arrival just means you don't have to do anything else to check in once you get to the port. You will go through security like normal, then they will ask to see your SetSail pass and they will guide you into the seating area to wait to board the ship. No checking in at a counter or with the folks with the iPads..you are good to go.

You said you hated CATS. All other things are nearly equal..same itinerary and the newest Oasis class ship or an AMPed ship. If pricing goes anything like it does for Thanksgiving this year..I would wait until after the 90-day mark and go with whichever of these sailings is cheapest. That's actually what I'm planning on doing next Thanksgiving.

No problem! It wasn't stated in your original request, but if both parents listed on the birth certificate aren't traveling with the 12-year old, they need to have permission from the non-traveling parent. They don't always ask to see it, but you don't want to be caught without it if they do. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-family-legal-documents-do-i-need-to-board