Blulady

On 9/10/2023 at 1:43 PM, TexanTwoStep said:

I'm sure some of you are aware that the TXDPS (Driver's license) system has been down for over a week now.

I've seen multiple posts on Facebook complaining that they cannot get on board due to their license being expired, but "they had an appointment but it got cancelled".  

Get your passport.  It's not that expensive, and makes things 100% easier.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

This is great advice.  I'm a firm believer in getting your child a passport - it is a gift that will have value for their whole life.  Yes, a minor's passport has to be renewed more often, yes it is a bit expensive, etc.  It is worth it.  Most parents don't think twice about blowing that same amount of money on a couple of video games that they won't even play in a year.  There is so much value to having a passport.

2 hours ago, Ryan79 said:

Trust me, they will find you WELL before you go to bed that first night 

Not necessarily, Oasis in May - my son and daughter in law never saw their cabin steward until the afternoon of day 2.  Balcony cabin.

1 hour ago, OCSC Mike said:

There's a popular TA who posts lots of YouTube videos of ships, cabins, etc. He's like 6'4" or 6'5" and in EVERY cabin video he steps into the shower and mentions how even he can fit. It's almost a running joke at this point. Look up "Harr Travel" to see him in cabins, that might help give you an idea.

But of course, if you actually need a TA, use the wonderful MEI Travel that sponsors this site.

This was what I thought of as well!   Danny from Harr Travel is 6'6" and he has done tours of every type of cabin. 

My 2 cents.  We did it once and enjoyed it, but we wouldn't pay to do it again.  From what I understand, the 'show' is always the same.  The food was subpar, overcooked/chewy lobster.  Overcooked steak, rubbery shrimp - you get the idea.  Another thing you may wish to consider:  there were 2 of us so we were seated with strangers.  Some of them were definitely not our cup of tea.

19 minutes ago, twangster said:

Just be aware Voom is included in GS on Oasis, Quantum and Icon class only.  

Since you referenced CK you are most likely sailing one of the classes but for future reference, determining your bid or for others reading Voom is not included on other classes of ship in a GS.

Yes, Oasis class.  I was running some numbers trying to decide if we want to put in a bid or not and how much.  I wanted to make sure I could factor in the cost we paid for Voom and also the price we paid for the UDP if we could do dinners in CK.  Thanks!

I've done some searching, but just want to make sure I truly understand.   If we royal up from a JS to GS will we get full access to coastal kitchen (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and the suite lounge?  Also, would we get the VOOM included?  I've seen where you do NOT get the promotions.  Thanks.

On 5/24/2023 at 8:12 AM, ScottD said:

Wow, I have to watch this in small portions because I'm at work, but first question is about Cape Liberty...we are sailing out of there in october for the first time, all of my previous cruises have been Port Canaveral or Miami... everything I have read about NJ was that it was a really smooth embarkation process, from parking all the way to on the ship.  When did you sail from there....and what was the issues? Hoping it's all sorted out when we go since it will be almost the end of the "season" up there.  Anyway- looking forward to the rest of this video, wonder will probably be our next cruise so I'm looking forward to this! 

Just chiming in with my son and daughter in law's recent embarkation at Cape Liberty.  They had a boarding check in time of 10:30.  They were a bit early, parked the car and messaged me when they were ordering their first drinks on the ship - at 10:24.  They said it was the fastest they have ever boarded.  

8 hours ago, twangster said:

TL;DR

Too long; Didn't read?

If that isn't what you meant, I'll gladly apologize.  Normally, I think of you as being incredibly helpful - this, not so much.  Why not just scroll on by? 

I don't think this is too whiny.  It really starts to get old when you are constantly trying to make lemonade out of the lemons you are encountering at every turn.  My son and daughter in law were just on the May 7 sailing of Oasis and they felt the decline was quite noticeable.  We will be on Oasis in October and we are already planning ways to compensate for the shortcomings - junior suite (2x / day service), UDP - I'm not doing that crappy MDR food, etc.  I truly wish they would just give us what we have come to expect and raise the cruise fare.  Yes, I will gladly pay more for my vacation - I am anyway.  But instead, I am now back dooring the cost to get what I want.  I would rather just pay it up front than be nickel and dimed to death.

I've been on two cruises since the restart and I think they are allowing the public areas to be warmer as a cost cutting measure.  I found Oasis to be uncomfortably warm (interior, public spaces).  I never think the cabins get cool enough so YMMV.

23 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Not all beef, some blend. Maybe that's why they suck.

I've never tried one.  That is probably how it is  going to stay lol

Are the hot dogs at the Doghouse all beef?  Or some mystery blend?  

32 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Specifically on Oasis they required a reservation unless star class this past Jan. You could not just walk up and place an order.

Bummer!  Thanks for the info.

Does anyone have any recent feedback on whether or not you can order from Izumi Sushi "to go" at lunch time with the UDP?  

If the answer is yes, how do you go about doing that?  Stop by, order and pick up later?  Call the restaurant on the phone and schedule a pick up time?  

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

On 4/2/2023 at 8:29 PM, bronxwarrior said:

  My kids are teens and should be okay, but for piece of mind, I'd prefer them next to me. 

 

 

That implies to me that, even though you booked an adult in each room, your plan is for the teens to occupy the room w/o an adult.  Your kids might be fantastic, but I would not want to be in a cabin next to teens with no parental supervision.  Just my opinion.

I agree with everyone else, get the passport now. Children's passports need to be renewed every 5 years.  I view it the same as a bank account - it is just one of those things you can set your child up with that they will carry forward into adulthood.

5 hours ago, ScottD said:

Ayyyy....Eagles fan here. We were on Oasis this past January and embarkation day was the NFC Championship game... the whole boardwalk\playmakers area and the aqua theater seating area was all full of Eagles fans (a few 49ers fans too) and it was a blast!! Nothing like starting the cruise with a trip to the super bowl! We had a boardwalk balcony room and our 11 yr old loved starting the EAGLES chant from up there down to the crowd!   

 

Oh man...that sounds "terrible". When is this again, I just want to make sure I don't ummm accidently...yeah, accidently...  book that week. 

(this is a joke, I can see it being an actual pain in the ass) 

LOL

There were SO many venues that no one could get near.  It felt like they took over everything.  One of the worst things though was the elevators.  Imagine being in that little box with about 6-8 young ladies all wearing too much perfume and all different scents. 

Not with a team fan group, but we did sail with huge number of Monat reps (if you aren't familiar, think Avon or MaryKay type).  Their group was about 90% young female, and because of that, the few single young men on the cruise were seriously outnumbered.  

No 'regular' cruisers could get near the pub for the entire sailing.  We found it all incredibly annoying - each girl trying to be prettier than the others, many wearing ridiculously high shoes that they couldn't walk in, most too tipsy and constant hair flicking.  LOL

I now google our sail dates and pray I don't ever board with a large/charter group again.

1 hour ago, DoomSlayer said:

You have to have a little faith in a company or organization's vetting process, or else you will constantly be living in fear and not enjoying life.  I do trust Royal and have had nothing but good experiences with them.  In fact, my kids will be enjoying Adventure Ocean next week during spring break.  Granted they are older (2 teens and a pre-teen) and now how to react when they see something dangerous or inappropriate, I still have to trust that Royal has a vetting process that will ensure their safety and wellbeing while they are participating with Adventure Ocean.

With that said and to address you conversation of the male crew member acting inappropriately on another cruise line -- this can happen anywhere even with the best vetting processes, interviews by parents, and pristine background and experience.  Church youth pastors, school teachers, friends, and even family members that you trust, and think you know, can act inappropriately around the children at any given time without prior indications.  We see such cases in the news all the time and everyone is shocked because they never thought the perpetrator would have ever done such a thing.

As much as you try, you will never bring the risk level of leaving your child with someone else to 0%.  There will always be a degree of risk.  I do believe Royal does everything it can to mitigate risk within its childcare offerings, but it will always have a degree of risk that you cannot overcome or clearly foresee.  You can continue to shelter your kids from the world because you are afraid, but they will ultimately lose out on great opportunities and experiences.

Thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts - I truly appreciate it.  For now, this is all hypothetical - my only child is the ripe old age of 33   

You and the others have made some incredibly valid points - again, I truly appreciate you taking the time.

35 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

 

 

If you'd like to see the qualifications of staff members, feel free to ask the AO lead. They're very open about it.

 

I didn't even think of that as being possible - thank you!

15 minutes ago, Cactus527 said:

This is a really good question and gave me pause. When my children were younger (12 and 14 now), I would only leave them with babysitters that I trusted or people that were highly recommended to me by people I trusted. Who knows what kind of training they had? My kids survived, obviously, and have some funny/great memories from their times with babysitters.

Royal Caribbean, on the other hand, has to train each of their crew members that work with children very specifically to meet standards of care. This means they know how to medically help, emotionally help, and what "age appropriate" actually means. They know why you would do activity XYZ with a 3 year old but not with a 10 year old. They are constantly being watched by other crew members, parents that come in, and children that are there. There is no way RC would employ someone in the childcare arena that they didn't rigorously train to meet requirements or feel would be inappropriate in that setting. The employees there take their jobs very seriously and work hard to make sure the children are properly cared for and having a great time.

From personal experience, I was apprehensive about childcare on board when we first tried it. I think all my fears were alleviated when my children begged not to leave and kept asking to go back, even when the area was closed, LOL! Every time I popped in there, all the children there looked happy. It was a bit surprising! So, we've found the childcare on board ships to be positive, trustworthy, and a relief for us.

I think being protective of your children/grandchildren is very natural, and I understand where your fears are coming from regarding childcare on board. However, you can be assured that any child there will be cared for properly and positively.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience.  Does RC have documentation somewhere that shows the different training and vetting that they do?  I would feel SO much better about all of this if there was something.  

Again, thank you very much!

Hi everyone,

This has been an ongoing discussion in our family for quite some time.  There are no grandbabies yet, but the future is bright   

Here is the hypothetical:  Parents want to take a cruise and the grandparents will keep the kids - let's say they are a 2  year old and 1 year old.  The grandparents live out of town and still work so they will be placing the kiddos in a daycare or get a sitter where they live for the daytime hours.  Grandparents say, "there's a couple of ads in the paper, we'll just call and see who is open and who is cheapest."  To me, that would not be acceptable - a daycare/sitter needs to be interviewed, vetted, background checked, etc., especially with children who are too young to communicate well.

So, if you wouldn't just leave child with 'just anybody' on land, why would you on a cruise ship?  We don't know any of these people, we haven't checked their references, background, etc.  

The current discussions about it that we are having are in light of what happened last week on another cruise line with a male crew member hiding in the women's bathroom near the kids' club taking photos in that bathroom.  

So, to those of you who leave young children in care of crew - are you concerned? and why not?

And, are there those of you (like me), who say, "no way would I leave my child with people I don't know"?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

21 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I, also, have been seriously disappointed with the pork belly in the past.  A couple of weeks ago, on SY I decided to try ONE more time but when I ordered, I asked them to please make sure it was extra crispy.  It was great !  When it’s soggy and kinda limp, it’s rather disgusting, but extra crispy made all the difference.

Okay, you convinced me to give it one more try!  

3 hours ago, Hoppy2BHere said:

Okay. I stand corrected. I do have to say that every time I have tried it thinking it might taste differently, I am disappointed. It has so little taste to me and little resemblance to the thick cut bacon I was raised on.. Oh well. Maybe it’s just me…

It isn't just you!  I SO wanted to like it, but I find it tasteless, slimy and refer to it as 'gooby' LOL.  In my world, gooby = not crispy, slimy, unrendered fat.