Shari3

Utopia may launch spring 2024.  Shoot for the moon.  Utopia in NJ. 

Labadee and Porta Plata is actually about as fantastic of a substitution as you could get, especially knowing it's a NY cruise

Selfishly, I am excited to go to Labadee on a cruise from NJ. It seems to be a rare happening since the restart. they say we will get equivalent of 1 day of cruise fare in refundable OBC. So not bad. I feel for those that are missing out on perfect day if that was thier main reason for booking.

I'm sorry this thread has devolved into this sort of inane back and forth snark. It's the sort of thing we've tried to weed out for years here.

Reviews are mixed. This just showed up on my planner as well and looked into it. Many people said that the tour was neat, but was hard to hear because they packed too many people into each one. As for the food, I’ve heard to was MDR quality and other say it was better. As with everything, I think it’s going to be something subjective. I had it booked when it popped up 2 weeks ago, but have since cancelled based on the reviews and the fact that I have 2 teenagers who won’t get to enjoy the “Sip” part, but I’d still be paying for it. 

I'm going to disagree. You can't compare the two. At a Disney resort if a pool will be closed for maintenance, you will be notified at time of booking. Also the maintenance schedule for major attractions like splash mountain etc is published months in advance along with hotel pool maintenance so guests can plan accordingly to there own specific needs and wants. There is a difference.

Since Carnival announced on Friday that the Pre-Test for fully vaccinated folks on sailings under 16 days takes affect on 9/6 --- My guess, for the fun of the post is, they'll make the announcement today or tomorrow, taking affect on Thursday, 9/8.  Pure speculation, but since Carnival's announcement, I agree with you that, like Thanos said, it's inevitable.  In fact, to my knowledge, RC is one of the last ones to drop it.
 

@Shadyrollz
Dear Veteran, thank you so much for serving I feel heartfelt appreciation for our vets ❤️
We are a fan site with much cruising experience some here are BETTER than RC customer service. 
I know I book specific cabins for my personal needs and I as well don't sail if my cabin isn't what I need for my sailing. That being said what are your criteria without getting to personal. Does it have to be in a certain area of the ship, mid ship, aft or forward for instance? On a certain deck due to the perceived confinement of some cabins? Do you prefer an accessible due to certain abilities? 
Please minimally we need to know what would make this work for you. Also, what ship or ship class do you prefer? What itinerary? What ports? How many days? Sailings are not sold out until 2024 albeit the original ship may be booked at capacity; so just give us something more to work with and we will help you get there. 
We will help you, it's just your original post had so much frustration, I get it. If you give us more we will do our best to help you experience a most comfortable sailing. Standing by, sir please come back and provide more details. 
I'm sure the cabin booked was wrong due to a perception error, I'm confident enough a Royal rep wouldn't book you in something you didn't want. Let's do this together.

I would pay $150 to be directly across from the elevators !  Win, win !

Booked our first Celebrity cruise on Summit last week.  Diamond on Royal.  Looking forward to the more adult vibe I have been reading about. Also love the all included fare. 

Ok, I'll sign up for a test next week and report back. Retired and have nothing else to do with my time.

On iPhones they simply appear in your wallet!

There’s the pre-Covid cruise vacation experience and now the “post” Covid experience. Unfortunately for the customer it’s just a shade of what it was. Given the massive demand for cruise vacations the corporation can settle for less regarding staffing and experience and families will still cruise. Personally, deck 17 on Oasis with my family sounds really great right about now! 

@deep1With all due respect, and sending the best of vibes, I've never seen a person who could use a TA more than you 🙂

Just got back today from our first cruise ever on Oasis of the Seas, and it was hands down THE BEST vacation we've taken.  
Thanks to Matt, all his videos I watched, and all the advice from everyone here, we were fully prepared for everything. 

They are provided free to use by anyone in the Beach Club. 

They are provided free to use by anyone in the Beach Club. 

They are provided free to use by anyone in the Beach Club. 

They are provided free to use by anyone in the Beach Club. 

Sorry, I should have made it more clear... Compared to NYC it's not super busy.  Anyone who has driven in NYC and not moved an inch in an hour in traffic knows what I mean lol.

Me too! September on the Oasis was the beginning of my personal cruising restart. It was emotional coming onboard after being away for so long and being greeted by lines of crew members and officers all clapping and shouting! It was a great feeling! 

Totally agree with the feelings when you take the first steps off the gangway and onto the ship. I’m not too proud to say I shed a few tears stepping onto Oasis this past September.  

Totally agree with the feelings when you take the first steps off the gangway and onto the ship. I’m not too proud to say I shed a few tears stepping onto Oasis this past September.  

Some other things that feel back to normal:
 
We had a top tier event in the theater which included C&A status down to Platinum and the champagne was a flowing!    Also, plenty of crowds of people at the game shows indoors and for the pool deck contests such as the World’s Sexiest Man.    Loving it!

Fat shaming. FWIW, it only reflects badly on the person doing it.