DublinFC

22 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

@DublinFC  If you are already scheduled for a holiday cruise, like Christmas or Thanksgiving then you can L&S. But you cannot go from an October cruise to a thanksgiving cruise.

Hmmm OK good to know, thank you

For the lift and shift I am pretty sure I saw that Thanksgiving is not excluded.  Can anyone confirm that I did see that and its not just wishful thinking?  There is a chance that we take advantage of the offer.  I would like to make sure I have the proper information when laying out options to my family.  I am hoping that we do not need to do this.  We have already had one vacation canceled due to this virus.

I cant see RC making the complimentary buffet included with the for charge dining.  I just don't think that makes good business sense to me.

Never had a chance to try the Windjammer.  I was looking forward to comparing it to the Garden Cafe on NCL.  We are not buffet lovers, but for fun I was going to try it out.  We would go to main dining or another food option for breakfast and dinner.  The buffet was a quick snack/lunch while at the pool.  I read the WJ has really good Indian food.  I hope there is still a WJ to go to.  I am alright with ordering from a server, iPad, or paper and pencil.  I am interested to see what they do with the space.

I am hoping to get our cruise planner refund sooner than later.  I canceled the purchase and made a new purchase.  Price was equivalent so I am not out any money I was  not planning to spend.  I am just tired of seeing it on my credit card balance.  

@Mike P UDP down to $67/day from the $84/day on the Thanksgiving Group Cruise.  My wife and I decided to jump on it now and hope it goes lower during a cruise planner sale.

I would go tomorrow if they were sailing.  I am also wondering what the onboard experience is going to be like. 

15 hours ago, loki007 said:

I don't know how many people you have in your party. Last time we were in St. Thomas we had 2 families, total of 8 people and chartered a boat for the day. Took us snorkeling with sea turtles then to St. John for lunch on the beach. Total cost was much less than RCCL would charge for an excursion. Best port day we have ever had. 

we have 4 people total, and on the later sailings we will have 3.

We are visiting St Thomas in Dec as well (Oasis).  I was wondering if there are any suggestions for lunch in the port area?  We are making it a faux sea day, but it would be nice to step off and eat lunch locally. 

We have other cruises to St Thomas that we will look do to an excursion. The gondola  up the mountain sounds great, but I think the height would terrify our daughter.

@Matt and @ScooterScott22 Thank you for the information.I am hoping that once she gets in and starts experiencing what AO has to offer that she will get a good balance of fun with other kids and time together as a family.

On 4/21/2020 at 3:38 PM, loki007 said:

DBP on my Dec Oasis sailing was $44/pp today. Great deal. 

Same here, very glad to have snagged this price.  I was able to save $82 from what I paid originally $54/day.  Also changed internet from Voom to Voom+steaming that was a $10 savings.  Happy days!

8 minutes ago, melski94 said:

My response depends on if you are going on your cruise during a school holiday.  If you are and there will be a ton on kids on board, I would suggest skipping the first night.  AO is overwhelming the first evening with tons of kids, the staff is trying to make sure everyone is properly registered, and some kids are out of control (ie boys throwing ball around wildly as pinging kids in the back of the head even the quiet coloring kids).  

I would suggest going in a morning or afternoon session as it tends to have only a handful of kids and can be craft based.  The other evenings outside the first one, it is much more packed than the daytime, but not as overwhelming as the first night.  My DD9 is also shy and I tend to take her to some evening entertainment as she really likes the shows and has been scarred by AO.  

If you are going while school is in session, then the overall number of kids will be reduced and the evenings are not that crazy.  

School will be in session, but getting close to Christmas/Winter break for most schools.  I appreciate this point of view as well.  Thank you!

6 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

I am pretty sure it will be in the app but the app is not 100% reliable, so it's definitely best to get a hard copy. The time and place should be listed on the "normal" adult compass as well as in the dedicated AO one, and you can always just ask when you pop into AO during the open house. 

The open house usually finishes up just before muster and the meet and greet sessions tend to be after sail-away and before the start of early seating dinner, so around 5pm to 6pm depending on your departure time. Even in these days of My Time Dining, a lot of the children's activities are planned around first seating dinner times.

Good to know, we have the early seating on our cruise in Dec.  We will make it work though.

@FionaMG I forgot about the open house.  We took advantage of something similar with NCL on embarkation day.  That cruise we had friends and their kids with us. Our daughter had friends already with her to make it easier to get in and have fun.  

Will the app have the info for the st AO session?  Or will I need to get the hard copy?

59 minutes ago, JimnKathy said:

What I've heard works pretty well is to make sure your shy kid attends AO at the outset of the first day so that they're on equal footing in regards to meeting all the other new kids. I think it would be more difficult if they show up after all the other kids have already broken the ice the day before. Good Luck.

 

I think this is a great idea.  I hope it helps. I know once she gets in and make a connection then she will love it.  Just getting her to try and experience a little is what I think she will need.  Being there in the beginning might help with not being overwhelmed joining in when others have already been there.

Hello,

I have been chatting with my 10yr old.  She is more on the shy side when it comes to meeting new people.  Can anyone give me an idea of how the AO staff help children who are shy become involved and excited about being in AO?  We have a few sailings scheduled and of course my wife and I want to have some time to ourselves to enjoy a nice dinner and entertainment.  But, we want our daughter to feel comfortable being in AO while we do this.  I would hate to think she is not enjoying her time there while we are out and about having a good time.

Repurchased my DBP from $54 to $44 for our Oasis sailing this Dec.  Glad I checked the CP site this evening.

On 4/5/2020 at 1:13 AM, Ray said:

This is great news if its from cabin to cabin via AC only then im just going stay in the bar 24/7 from now on.... 

This!  I will raise a glass with you there.  6ft away of course 

10 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

Same for Harmony Mar 21.  Pretty crazy considering we paid $59 CAD for our Adventure cruise this past Dec.  That's literally double!

My guess this is one way they are going to try and make up for the hiatus in sailing this year.  People will pay the prices.  Not everyone, but there are those that will pay it.

On 4/4/2020 at 4:17 PM, Mike P said:

I hope it goes lower, I definitely need the DX for that sailing!!  #teamdx

Yup, I agree.  The price of that sailing was high enough without adding various drink packages for the 3 of us.

I just looked at my Nov '21 sailing on Harmony (RCBGC over Thanksgiving) and saw $84/day for the UBP.  That is steep in my opinion.  I know I can book it now and hold it to see if price drops.  But, I am probably going to wait and see what happens with it.  Plenty of time between then and now.

5 minutes ago, Ogilthorpe said:

I have not seen this. From my experience. Air2Sea reservations are a part of the cruise reservation package and are paid along with the final payment. Like the cruise fare, while guaranteed, can be price adjusted until final payment if they become more favorable. 

That was my thought as well.  I had to call twice, my mother called while I was on hold the 1st time.  Always have to answer when mom calls .  Anyway, both reps mentioned small charges.  The 2nd rep was looking into the charges so I took the time to make the post while on hold.  My floating beach mats, gratuities, and taste of royal lunch were applied to the flights.  I was able to make the actual payments for the flights, just waiting on an updated invoice from my TA to make sure all is well now.  When cruising operations are back to normal I think I am going to call again to make sure everything has been worked out correctly.  

Hello,

I am currently on hold with the Air 2 Sea department trying to pay for my flights this December.  Yes I know using a TA would save me this phone call, but I was able to find better flight prices for some reason on the Air 2 Sea site.  The reason this is taking so long is that the cruise planner purchases I have made were applied to the flights.  The rep listed of dates and amounts and I verified them with my cruise planner confirmation emails.  Has anyone else had this happen?  

3 minutes ago, Chadster said:

I've got a Christmas cruise planned. If that one's cancelled, we're in much bigger trouble than we all think.

100% agree, but I want my darn cruise   But, yes if we are cancelling at that time cruising will be the least of our concerns.

We sail in Dec.  I told my wife that if our cruise is cancelled I will actually cry.