GregD

I have been to Atlantis in February during the winter break week for schools in the northeast, and the lines weren't terrible. I too was given advice on booking a room at the comfort suites, and did look into it. There were no restrictions then, but this was pre-COVID. We ended up not going that route since when we got our tickets, the price difference was small, and not having to worry about finding taxis with two small kids (at the time) in tow was worth the extra expense of booking directly with RC.

@JennaRCB had this great write up here https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/09/29/excursion-review-jaimes-the-blue-reef-all-inclusive-day-pass-costa-maya

This would be where I would head if Maya Chan wasn't an option.

@ZBradyI think you will be fine. My family has typically done the early seating in the MDR. We have had excursions that end close to dinner, and we talked with our waiter the day before, and it was never an issue getting there later. We have arrived at 6:00-6:15 before. They would just "speed up" our service once we got there, so instead of dinner being at a leisurely pace, dishes would come out faster. 

My daughter has skated with leggings.

9 hours ago, Pumpkin Rita said:

I have been notified that a group of friends are cruising February 2023; I already booked and paid for a December 2022 cruise. Question: is it difficult to change and or cancel one cruise and get refund/credit for another cruise if I change my cruise and ship dates?

No, It is not difficult, you just have to call. You will be subject to any cancellation charges etc, that are noted at the bottom of your reservation invoice (typically $100pp) as long as you are greater than 90 days out. If you are less than 90 days from your cruise, its probably not worth changing when you add the increased cancellation fee, plus the probably higher  cost of the February '23 cruise.

Shouldn't be an issue, but YMMV

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Nope. They all either fall under the “cannot take time off work” or “cannot leave children during school year” category. I’ve always wanted to try a solo cruise. Just not sure if I want to do 12 nights solo. 

Hubby and The Boss can keep their “it’s too small” butts home!

2 hours ago, GregD said:

Me sending this thread to "The Boss"

 

Well, "The Boss" heard what ship and how small it was and said hard pass.....oh well. 

Me sending this thread to "The Boss"

Sure can. There are some beach areas, and more. My kids played at the beach while I went snorkeling.

I booked a cruise yesterday for 2024 and the gratuities are $14.50 and $17.50 so the July 15th thing seems incorrect. Who knows....maybe the intern is at it again.

3 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

YOLO Book it!

I'll just copy and paste this blog in April '24

I'm so glad that you guys had a great trip! The Boss wants to sail in that suite too sometime so I guess I'll have to start looking for some deals!!

I have not cruised celebrity yet, but I like the idea. I don't think it changes anything on the base points, just gets you one extra night of points, so for instance if you were in a veranda/infinite veranda room, you earn 3 points per night. If you opt into that program, you would get an extra 3 points at the end of the cruise. So say a 7 day cruise would be 21 points. If you opt in, it would be 24 points.

Pretty sure it does for both

25 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Holy crap! Just got an email from the Royal up program about our Adventure of the seas cruise this Tuesday that our offer for the 2 bedroom grand suite was not accepted but it's under review by ship personal and could be charged to till the morning of. This is the room we wanted from the beginning of this process. What does all this mean? This is crazy cool. 200 bucks for a 2 bedroom grand suite for 4. 

Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst? Those rooms are great. I was in one on Navigator, and Liberty if it does work out you will love it!!

They should all be able to accommodate large parties. I would visit the restaurant of choice on day 1 though to get it set up. This isn't something you want to spring on them the day of.

You can look through the cruise compass section to see if there are some on similar itineraries that you are doing.

On 7/22/2022 at 7:58 PM, IzzyB said:

A couple questions

1. When we were looking at cruising last year they weren't doing shared tables much so you were typically at your own table because of Covid.  Is that gone?  So our party of 5 will be sat with others?

 

In my experience as a party of 5 in the MDR, we were always at our own table, even before COVID, and never had to share.

On 7/22/2022 at 7:58 PM, IzzyB said:

2. On the first day can you go down and get your table changes maybe being closer to the window?

Yes you can, YMMV on the request.

On 7/22/2022 at 7:58 PM, IzzyB said:

3. Any way to know in advance which dining room you are in?  I noticed that the one is 5:15 and not 5:30 because the MyTime dining is after it.  I was hoping to not get that one.  When I look it says we picked traditional and it does say 5:30.

The Traditional Dining rooms are typically the same for the early and late seating, and the MTD is on a different deck.

5 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

I'm gonna stick with 6216 on deck 6. Keep an open mind and go with the flow. We have a view of the ocean on one of the grandest ships on the ocean. How bad can it really be?

This is exactly the attitude to have! Don’t let anyone make you second guess you choices! Only you can decide if your choose was good or not. Have a fabulous time. Oasis is a great ship!

29 minutes ago, SFaz said:

Thanks so much! Makes me feel better knowing you had the same and it turned out okay Hope you had a great trip 

It was amazing, you can read about it here! 

This same thing just happened to me for my Norway Cruise last week. Unless you get a cancellation email, I wouldn't be too worried. If it continues to show up in your calendar, it's booked.

Wednesday morning came way too quickly. Based on news reports and advice from @Lovetocruise2002 we chose to get to Heathrow 4hrs early for our flights.

We left the hotel at 5 to give us plenty of time to make the short walk to Paddington and get to the airport in case there were issues. This proved to be fortuitous because all of the elevators were not operating, so I got to play Sherpa at the two stair cases to lug the have suitcases down. (It really wasn’t that bad)

This is the walk we did. With everything new, the sidewalks are nice and smooth, and it takes you right to where you need to be.

The first trains 5:15 and 5:30 to Heathrow ended up being canceled, so we ended up on the 5:45 and we’re off. So far, stress level low…

We stepped off the train a few minutes after 6 and headed to terminal 2 to get fully checked in and turn over the luggage. 
 When we got there, there were lines out the door. That was for check in area B, we needed C which thankfully was still inside. Here is what it looked like inside….stress level rising, but not much we knew we still had time, and the line seemed to me moving okay…

What must have been a Heathrow record, we made it all the way through check in and security to the departure lounge by 7:20!! So 1hr 20min from stepping off the train to sitting on my butt sipping coffee, stress level waaaaay down!

While waiting for our gate announcement, I wandered a bit and looked at some really fancy watches. The guy at the counter barely acknowledged my presence because me in my jeans and t-shirt definitely didn’t look the type

The second one from the left, bottom row was 30000£!!!

I almost had to buy this scotch. I live in the village of Scotia, which was founded by Alexander Glen, who was from Scotland, but at 400£ I thought I better not….

Throughout the day, all of our flights were fine, no big delays or issues.

We flew back via Dublin, so we got to do US Customs there which was pretty easy, and made our arrival at Philadelphia as if we were domestic travelers.

By the time we departed for Albany we had been up for many….many…….. hours. This one fell asleep while waiting to taxi, and didn’t wake up until after we landed.

With weary bodies, but heads and hearts full of wonderful memories we arrived home and crashed in our beds….

It was a wonderful trip that I will look back at so fondly. It was an absolute pleasure sailing with @Lovetocruise2002 and her family, they are some of the nicest people out there….except for that one kid while driving bumper cars

Thank you everyone for reading and following along to our adventures! Now I wish I had a genie to take care of the mountain of laundry I have to do…..

Oh….I almost forgot….this happened too!!

That evening, while packing, we ordered pizza from Pizza Express right by the hotel, I do NOT recommend….it was not good.

I’m not sure if I had mentioned earlier, but our hotel is in what’s called Paddington Basin and that are has recently been redeveloped. There are quite a bit of new buildings. The area was the end of a canal that was in use from 1801. 
 

It really looks nice in the evening.

Paddington Station is also quite nice