Huntley

Just book it for one person.  One reservation can have 3 other people in it with you.
Actually, I think the number is up to 6.  At least that's what the cabanas say.

Brian is right. Just book for 1 person.

Who has stayed in a promenade cabin on a Freedom or Oasis class ship? Are there any noise issues? I can accept music intrusion during the parade. Can the background music they play on the promenade be heard in the room? Walking on the promenade it looks like the speakers are above and below the bay windows. I have the feeling that it must not be a big issue since i don't see comments about it. But, I thought I'd ask the questions hoping someone might have firsthand knowledge.

I've always just created my own spreadsheet with the entertainment dates and times and dinner times.  I especially have to do this when we travel in a big group.  It's a nuisance but it's the only way I can make sure we don't miss anything !

Hope I'm not too late with this, I'm a bit of a procrastinator.  I got this on Oasis during the consecutive cruiser meeting in order to book the shows for week 2.  I have never seen it available anywhere else.  I hope it helps to give an idea.  I wouldn't hold it as gospel though.
Enjoy your cruise.
Show Times.pdf

Does anyone know if there is a spreadsheet view on Cruise Planner of all the Oasis Entertainment? I saw one for an Allure cruise years ago. I want to see everything so I can more easily make my selections.  The display options that I see Cruise Planner don't really work for me. I'm sure all of the planning nerds can appreciate my predicament   ;)  I may have to create my own Excel document.
 
Thanks!
Hunt

It should be a fun and exciting day at Port Canaveral on Sunday 11/13. the Port Authority is holding  a special celebration at Jetty Park  from 3pm -6pm. I'll be there. I hope to see some of you crazy blog people there too!  :)

Does anyone know if there is a spreadsheet view on Cruise Planner of all the Oasis Entertainment? I saw one for an Allure cruise years ago. I want to see everything so I can more easily make my selections.  The display options that I see Cruise Planner don't really work for me. I'm sure all of the planning nerds can appreciate my predicament   ;)  I may have to create my own Excel document.
 
Thanks!
Hunt

It should be a fun and exciting day at Port Canaveral on Sunday 11/13. the Port Authority is holding  a special celebration at Jetty Park  from 3pm -6pm. I'll be there. I hope to see some of you crazy blog people there too!  :)

It should be a fun and exciting day at Port Canaveral on Sunday 11/13. the Port Authority is holding  a special celebration at Jetty Park  from 3pm -6pm. I'll be there. I hope to see some of you crazy blog people there too!  :)

Does anyone know if there is a spreadsheet view on Cruise Planner of all the Oasis Entertainment? I saw one for an Allure cruise years ago. I want to see everything so I can more easily make my selections.  The display options that I see Cruise Planner don't really work for me. I'm sure all of the planning nerds can appreciate my predicament   ;)  I may have to create my own Excel document.
 
Thanks!
Hunt

You are going to LOVE this cabin type! I was in 1864 on FOS deck 12 in Jan. it was one of the two corner cabins. gorgeous floor to ceiling windows. stunning views. Enjoy. Oh and See you onboard FOS sept 4th!!

I looked and looked for a FOS Group Cruise thread, but couldn't find one.  If there is one, feel free to delete and point me in the right direction!
 
So who all is going?  What are you most excited about?  
 
For us, it will be my husband Nick and I celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary (Sept 1) and our almost 2 year old daughter Mackenzie.   
I'm excited to stay in the panoramic ocean view room on Deck 12 and for the bike riding excursion we booked in Grand Cayman.  
 
96 days and counting!

The Solarium Cafe is a great place to grab lunch on boarding day. It's so much nicer that trying to navigate the Wind Jamier.
It's also my favorite place for breakfast. It's such a relaxing way to start a day. It's peaceful, with beautiful views of the Solarium pool and sea beyond. 

The Solarium Cafe is a great place to grab lunch on boarding day. It's so much nicer that trying to navigate the Wind Jamier.
It's also my favorite place for breakfast. It's such a relaxing way to start a day. It's peaceful, with beautiful views of the Solarium pool and sea beyond. 

If by mini suite you mean junior suite, then no, your stateroom category does not count unfortunately.

Huntley, if I am not mistaken the cabanas are first made available to Grand Suite and above; if there are any left (which is extremely rare...I have never actually seen there be any unrented by the Suites guests) then they are made available to everyone else. I do not believe that Junior Suites qualify for the "first option" on the cabanas.
 
You asked about any of the sweet suite perks. I do not believe that Jr. Suites qualify for any of the suite perks...HOWEVER I have heard conflicting information (from RCI CS reps not just hear-say) that Jr. Suites are eligible to go to the Coastal Kitchen and suites lounge on the Oasis and Q Class. Whether this is actually the case or not I don't know. I have been in a Jr. Suite MANY times and have never been able to utilize any of the "Suite Perks".
 
That is why I now get at least a Grand Suite. I love Jr. Suites...they are much roomier and the ones on the aft are AWESOME but the Suite Perks are really nice and I have become accustomed to them so I am now completely and utterly spoiled and ruined for any other room ! How pathetic is that ?!

I don't think so. Unless things have changed in the past month, RCI does NOT permit ANYone to discount their cruises. The only thing that a TA can offer you is benefits that THEY pay for - gratuities, OBC, beverage packages, etc.
 
I think you will find that those "half price" quotes are bogus. They are using the base price as their basis and then offering the same discount that RCI offers (BOGOHO or 30% or whatever special they are offering at the time). If you do a real comparison I think you will find that they are the same prices that RCI is offering. I conducted such an evaluation just last week. It LOOKED like they were offering a discount but in reality they were just offering the same published discount that RCI was.
 
That is NOT true of other cruise lines. Most of the others DO allow TAs and agencies to discount their cruises, but RCI does not...unless that has VERY recently changed.
 
If this has changed I will be very surprised.

I thought it might be kinda fun to look at some of the differences between the Harmony and the Oasis/Allure.
 
Deck 4 - The Blaze nightclub on the Allure/Oasis has become the Comedy Club on the Harmony. The old Comedy Club on the A/O is now the Diamond Lounge on the H. There is no Blaze nightclub at all on the H.
 
Deck 5 - The Starbucks that is on the Promenade on the A/O is gone (you will see that H has moved it to the Boardwalk when you get to Deck 6). The Champagne Bar on the A/O will be a bionic bar on the H. The complementary restaurant on the A/O is called Silk. On the H this restaurant is named Chic.
 
Deck 6 - It appears that they have removed 2 of the interior rooms that they added during the A/O refurb. The Starbucks has been moved from Deck 5 up to Deck 6 on the H. Either the donut shop on the A/O has been removed on the H or they just haven't finished naming all of the little shop/retail areas on the Boardwalk of the H (a number of these spaces are just labeled "retail" at the moment. No doubt they will fill those names in later). The space that is labeled "Candy Beach/Star Pier" on the A/O is now an Arcade on the H. The bar that was smack, dab in the middle of the back of the Boardwalk on the A/O has been moved over closer to the Sabor restaurant. This seems like a good move. That bar was really in the way, IMO.
 
Deck 8 - It looks like they have removed 1 interior room on the starboard side of the ship
 
Deck 10 - It looks like they have converted/combined a couple of the smaller balcony rooms into Grand Suites. There are 6 GS on the Harmony (3 starboard, 3 port) and only 4 on the A/O (2 each side)
 
Deck 11 - They have added 1 new interior room the front cluster of the ship. Again they have converted/combined some smaller balcony rooms into GS. Same config as Deck 10, 6 vs 4. What was the lower level of the Diamond Club on the A/O is now Wonderland restaurant on the H. It appears as if they have removed the Library that is on the A/O completely from the H. The 2 Grand Suites that they added to the aqua theater area on the A/O during drydock are now AquaSuite rooms on the H. They are much bigger than the GSs on the A/O. The GS on the A/O are 466 ft sq (room) 470 ft sq (balcony). On the H, these new AS rooms (classified A4) are 606 ft sq (room) and 626 ft sq (balcony).
 
Deck 12 - Same conversion/combinations of balconies becoming GS. What was the upper level of the Diamond Club on the A/O is also Wonderland restaurant on the H. Similarly, the GS added to the aft during drydock for A/O are now AS (A4). These GS were 433/362 ft sq and the new AS are 604/631 ft sq.
 
Deck 14 - The GS added to the aft during drydock for the A/O are again AS (A4). The GS were 421/136 ft sq. The new AS are 562/589 ft sq.
 
Deck 15 - There appears to be some changes to the H2O zone (kids' pool area). It looks like they have added a water slide and made some other modifications. They seem to have moved the Wipe Out Café on the A/O a little bit and it's called Mini Bites on the H.
 
Deck 16 - Either they have removed the Mast Bar that is on the A/O or they just haven't named it yet on the H. That space is just empty on the H deck plans.
 
Deck 17 - Very curious. It looks as if they have removed both of the Royal Suites with balcony (RS) rooms on the A/O and replaced them with much smaller Crown Loft Suites (L2) on the H. It also looks like the Suite Lounge and Coastal Kitchen on the H are much smaller than the they are on the A/O. So, unless I have missed something (entirely possible) they have completely removed the biggest suites on the ship - the Royal Suites. Perhaps they had trouble keeping them sold since they are SOOOOO expensive. Who knows.
 
Deck 18 - They have added a new upper level on the H that serves as the water slide launch area.
 
So...once again they seem to be downgrading the Diamond Lounge, relegating it to some small, interior area on Deck 4 vs the beautiful glass area that it currently has on the O/A and have eliminated the Concierge Lounge completely (as both the Oasis and the Allure have as well).
 
There are probably plenty of reallocation/changes of different staterooms/categories throughout the decks that I missed. I did not look at every room nor its category. I just got the ones that kinda stood out.

I just booked 1864 on Freedom for January 2016. Yeah, it's a long wait. So, here is what I've found. Navigator which is a different class but almost identical in size, had the same cabin configuration added during it's drydock last year. I found a pano pic on cruise critic. https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#AU532ODWtiszmz  it looks amazing. 20ft wide of floor to ceiling windows. Matt will be on FOS later this year. I asked him to do some recon on cabin 1864 to confirm that it's identical to Navigators. you'll be on Freedom before me. so, let me know what you think.