Biff215

Thanks for the replies, I just hadn’t seen this discussed previously. I agree that as long as they get us on the ship I’m not worried about what it looks like. Plus we have @Matt and others to report back for those of us cruising after them!

Sorry if it came across as a dumb question, and maybe I didn’t phrase it well. In all our stops in Nassau, I just can’t remember a terminal “building” where passengers and luggage could be processed. Have ships gone out of there before?

My apologies if this has already been discussed but I couldn’t find it anywhere. We’ve been to Nassau a few times. Obviously they can handle a bunch of ships visiting for the day, but where exactly will Adventure dock? I’m just trying to envision how they will handle security, luggage, etc. Is there an actual cruise terminal?

On 4/6/2021 at 7:43 PM, Vanessa77 said:

Hi all,

I'm curious about whether anyone has any info on whether royal and presumably other cruise lines are taking bookings to capacity or if they are capping their bookings to a certain percent? 
I’ve booked a Jan 2022 cruise, and it already seems pretty full. So I am wondering if when cruising finally get the go ahead, will it be those that booked are good to go, or if cruise lines are offering bookings to full capacity in the hopes that by the time it resumes or gets to that specific cruise (for later cruises) they will be able to sail with more passengers. Which if they aren’t will require cancelling some bookings. Thoughts or info available? 

I don’t know if anyone would have a definitive answer to this but I’ve thought about it also. Like some others have said, I presume they’re willing to book the ships solid. Not only do they not know what restrictions there will be, but they’re also using these bookings as the only revenue coming in right now. They’d be crazy to limit it.

We had Symphony booked for July. Even if that cruise sails (unlikely in my opinion), I’m willing to bet they could be overbooked already based on a potential capacity restriction. We didn’t want to get canceled or moved, so we chose to move our deposit over to Adventure since it’s as close to a sure thing as you can currently get, but obviously that doesn’t work for everyone.

Just my guess!

On 4/1/2021 at 7:09 PM, Jill said:

We’ve got a corner aft JS on Radiance for Alaska next May. My only fear is we are under the Windjammer. I’ve been told not to worry lol 

We just booked right below the WJ on Adventure. I’m not as concerned about people looking down on us but more about the potential noise. But as you said, everything I have read says it’s not an issue.

We’ve never cruised this far aft but we could pass up the larger cabin and balcony at no extra cost!

We were in the same boat (but different ship, lol). We had Symphony booked for July 3. We already went through a cancellation and refund last year on Harmony. It wasn’t terrible but did take some time plus the added disappointment.

So we took the newly added “Door 3” and moved our deposit over to Adventure out of Nassau for the same dates. We got a bigger room thanks to Michelle at MEI and we’re paying less, for a cruise we believe will actually happen.

With no test cruises planned yet, you have to assume we’re still at least 90 days out from any cruises to resume. And since not all ships will start immediately or could be booked too full, cancellations will still likely happen at that point.

If you stick with it I really hope your cruise sails!

7 hours ago, Landry_TX said:

What did you do to get the cruise planner to work again? Mine has been saying the same message for a couple days. 

I just continue to try it on multiple devices. It seems to work worst on my phone and best on my laptop. 

It’s working again now for me (on my phone). The “sale” doesn’t seem to be helping much, and now the water park is back to $89 both days so I’m glad I grabbed that at $53. Trying to book any unlimited dining also appears to be unavailable still.

Clearly Royal is still trying to work out some glitches which is understandable given how quickly everything has happened lately. 

10 hours ago, Matt said:

Yes, a lot of people (including me) have it.  Just an error.

Thanks, it did come back last night.

Just a heads up, for the second day at Coco Cay, some prices are significantly cheaper for our July 3 sailing. Water park goes from $89 to $53 which is interesting. I believe the Beach Club was similar so worth taking a look!

On 3/24/2021 at 1:22 PM, Matt said:

Interesting. Royal Caribbean said their prices would be discounted/subsidized. 

Air2Sea stated a $100 discount on our flights. Definitely saved close to $400 for our family of 4 on American in July (PHL) so this was a nice surprise.

On another note, yesterday I was able to look at Cruise Planner but today I get the “This sailing has been suspended...” message. Anyone else getting this?

20 hours ago, Landry_TX said:

Booked for July 3rd!!

What are the odds they’ll shoot fireworks on the 4th while at CocoCay? 
 

We'll be with you on that cruise and we're hoping for the same but it will be great either way!

Thanks Michelle from MEI!  We were still hoping our July cruise on Symphony would happen and had no plans to switch to Adventure today.  Now we have an awesome room on a cruise that is going to happen!

Still showing 16 days to go for our cancelled Harmony cruise. I need to close that tab and stop depressing myself!

5 minutes ago, loki007 said:

there is no bad part of the ship. I've been in forward cabins, mid ship, aft, high, low, all ocean view balconies are great. 

I agree, I don’t know of a bad ocean view balcony on Oasis class ships. In theory you could get whichever cabin no one else chooses, but it doesn’t necessarily work like that. Royal typically assigns a temporary cabin at the time of booking which ultimately may become your room. Try the Apple Wallet hack to see what that is. 

We have an ocean view balcony guarantee on Harmony next month (not yet cancelled). Our room ended up being the room next to our cabin from last August. We chose that room so we’re obviously happy. So crazy!

Two parks technically, both in the Disneyland Resort, effective March 14. Resorts there close March 16. As of now, Downtown Disney stays open.

This is in response to the California governor requesting no large gatherings of people. This is happening in NJ as well as other states I’m sure, so Florida may not be far behind.

Until today I really believed we’d make it on our Harmony cruise in April. Now I’m not feeling great about it. 

Here is where I learned it:

39 minutes ago, deep1 said:

I might have been doing it wrong? Do I look at the base of the bar codes? Numbers seem to be possible. Opposite ends of the ship but possible...  

Yes, the numbers under the barcode after the hyphen. Again this could always change, but others have reported this ended up being their room. 

25 minutes ago, deep1 said:

It was 400 upgrade and lost 200 OBC..  On the mock booking that listed our desired room they showed the same price we paid originally for the first room...  First and only time I did at Next Cruise and left a really bad taste in my mouth. I would have cancelled all together not worrying about the 400 lost deposit  but I was committed to Fiancee and her kids ...

Though I was fuming and feeling burnt with the one room, I'm happy now with the upgrades...  Just want my room assignments...

 

 

 

Did you try the Apple Wallet hack (send your Set Sail Pass to Wallet if you have an iPhone) to see your room assignment? It worked for us and we’re still 36 days out. It could still change but it shows the room they’re holding for you. 

We’re still waiting on our official notification for our April Harmony cruise, but the Apple Wallet hack did reveal a stateroom number. Crazy thing is it’s literally the cabin next to the one we stayed in last August. I assume it’s just a coincidence as I imagine it’s computers making these assignments?

Thanks for sharing the hack, it’s nice to know where we might end up!

1 minute ago, Mrsbeaker1127 said:

Hello we are going to be in Disney World at the end of July and decided since we were so close to Port Canaveral to tack on a cruise to Coco Cay.  We’re staying at the Swan Hotel which doesn’t provide transportation to the port, so I’m turning to message boards to elicit help.   What is the best way to  get from Disney World to the port? 

There are a bunch of options, but goport.com is one of the biggest. They’ll pick you up at your resort and may stop at other resorts before taking you to the Port. It’s reasonable and gets you there fairly quickly.

My preference is to rent a car so I can make a quick stop for bottled water and wine. Depending on how many people there are in your party, the cost can be close. Alamo is on Disney property and very close to the port. 

3 hours ago, wstephensi said:

Yes.  They have several sunken planes and ships with great fish in about 8-10 feet of water about 100 yards off the beach.  Also the rock breakers have great fish as well.

Life guards are on duty.  There are several floats for resting as well.

Gear can be rented on the island.

Can anyone confirm that the sunken plane is still there? I’ve heard it was removed and it doesn’t seem to appear on maps anymore.

We enjoyed snorkeling around the jetty at Chill Beach back in August where we saw some small fish and a ray. Last month the surf was rough and we weren’t allowed past the jetty making snorkeling impossible  

If there’s a better place to snorkel I’d love to hear about it. 

We also love breakfast on the balcony at least once or twice per cruise. It’s one of our kids’ favorite things to do. We were a little lost on our last cruise when we had an interior, it just wasn’t the same!

Jumped on my April Harmony sailing as well, was in the $80 range before it opened this past weekend  I’d be tempted around $50 but I’m okay without it too. I’ll drink a few Coco Locos and eat several Snack Shack chicken sandwiches instead. 

5 hours ago, dr martini said:

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I must say that it's funny to me, the number of people worried about the number of people on this particular island versus the dozens or even hundreds of other caribbean islands that have four to six cruise ships tied up on any given day, to say nothing of the hotels, resorts, rental homes and other visitors that could potentially add up to 25,000 souls or more.  

For example, I love some of the as yet not hugely developed islands like St. Kitts where there will regularly be an oasis class, another middle sized from another line and a luxury style anchored offshore.  There's not exactly a lot of infrastructure or a whole lot of thrills to seek on that island and yet the only place that feels crowded is right next to the ship.  

I think almost everyone here who's been can tell you how busy St. Thomas feels most of the year.

Royal caribbean has made a huge investment, they are continually expanding what there is to do and see on their ships and on Cococay, I don't have a problem with it at all and have never seen anyone comment that it looks busy, in fact I've only seen people comment with surprise at how sparse and laid back it still feels.

I understand what you’re saying and you’re right, we’ll have to see what happens if Royal tries two (fully booked) Oasis class ships or even 3+ ships. But I think the concern is valid. Even your least developed island has more excursion options than CocoCay to spread guests out. As great a job as they’ve done with the island, it’s still primarily a beach port and there are a finite number of chairs available, particularly as more cabanas and beach beds are added. While the capacity may be higher than they’ve attempted yet, many fear that the experience will change significantly with more guests. Only time will tell if it’s an issue or not.

From my own experience I felt the difference was obvious between a day on Harmony and a day with Mariner and Navigator in port. We still managed to have a great day, but I’d argue a few thousand more guests might affect that opinion. Of course Royal says this is only Phase 1 for the island, so maybe we’ll see even more capacity added down the line to facilitate more (and bigger) ships in port on the same day.

As others have said, today’s charters aren’t a great indication and who knows, maybe that’s the only time it will even happen. I’m sure it was a fun day!

It sounds like they might be, although I would keep checking back as it can change. Either way, you can also check once on board and there is always a standby line. We never had an issue getting into shows last August on Harmony, just had to get there early and understand we might not get the “best” seats sometimes. 

I don’t think you have to worry much on board and at CocoCay. Royal attempts to sell out every sailing so it’s not really any busier than normal just because it’s peak season. To me that’s the beauty of cruising compared to say Disney, where crowds will be insane. You just typically pay more for peak season cruises.

As was shared above, you can avoid crowds on board by eating at different venues or off peak times. We also find it best to experience the activities on board early in the week as everyone is trying to pack in all they missed during the last couple of days. 

We sailed on Indy for two 5 night cruises to Mexico before the amplification. We really enjoyed both and it worked well since we only had the six days to be away.

Sailed Harmony this past August to the Eastern Caribbean. Incredible ship unmatched by any others and the perfect amount of time. We enjoyed it so much we’re returning to her in April for the Western Caribbean.

If you can swing it I would certainly recommend Harmony over the others, but we’d also do 5 nights on Indy again if we didn’t have the 7 nights to give. Did 3 nights on Mariner last month since it was all that would work. Had fun but would stick to a minimum of 4-5 nights going forward.