USCG Teacher

Be sure to check out the CK menus on the app.   I was looking forward to eating in CK very much, until I checked out the menus.    I doubt that my husband will be interested in most of the dinner choices (both apps and entrees), so expect that we'll be in the main dining room or buffet for many of the dinners....... or ordering room service from the main dining room!!!   Guess he's kind of picky.   But I fully expect to enjoy breakfast there, and some lunches.
But we're definitely looking forward to the suite, the suite lounge, and the suite sun deck.   We'd love to try an aqua suite, to be able to enjoy the HUGE balcony and our comfy view of the aqua show.   Enjoy!!!!

Here I am, 51 days out from my Oasis of the Seas cruise out of Bayonne, and low and behold I see those magical words in my email inbox: Your Stateroom Has Been Upgraded.  My minimum $700 bid moved me from a JS guarantee to a 1 Bedroom Aquatheater Suite!  I am beyond stunned, the timing, the acceptance, all of it!  So Suite Snob crew (this is in fact a term of endearment!), help a dad who's never stayed in anything bigger than a Promenade View room taking his kids on their 1st cruise with the lowdown: what do I do now?  Do I cancel my MDR reservations if we're going to do CK, or will the concierge do that?  I suddenly have so many questions that I hadn't even thought about!  Any advice/pointers/experience would be greatly appreciated!

I rarely pay extra for food but have had multiple excellent steaks in locations that aren't Chops... CK, Giovanni's Table, Beach Club at Cococay.
That said, I'm an interior/WJ kinda guy, so I'm guessing our tastes don't align to closely.

You can order as many (numbers/kinds/whatever) as you want.  He will not go hungry unless he chooses! 🙂

Unless I'm very much mistaken, a Ribeye steak is just a Prime Rib roast sliced into a steak and cooked as a steak.   At home, I purchase a large "Prime Rib", bone in, cut it in half to cook as a Prime Rib roast with Yorkshire pudding, roasted potatoes & carrots with au jus gravy and very hot Horse radish, and the other half is cut into 3/4 inch thick "Ribeye" steaks with baked potatoes or white rice and green vegetable.  
However, a terrible steak is a terrible steak no matter where it comes from 😉.  I don't do the Coastal Kitchen for their steaks, that's what Chops Grill is for, at least to me.

1.  Use the Concierge!  I did not on my initial Suite cruises, and it was a mistake.  When you get the email from the concierge about 4-6 days before the cruise, respond asking for whatever you want to reserve.   On a recent trip, the concierge reserved specialty dining and private flowrider for us before we boarded saving some stress.  Our ship did not require show reservations, but I speculate that the concierge can make those as well.   On our recent trip, the concierge could not book the escape room ahead, but I tried!  If you need Adventure Ocean reservations, you can see if the concierge can help you with that as well.  I would email the concierge everything you want to reserve and (nicely) let the concierge let you know what they can and cannot do.
2.  Use the suite lounge space and sun deck (particularly if you are not a crowd person).  The suite lounge and the suite sundecks remain almost unused during the day.  I enjoy the quiet and the drink accessibility.  While your room balcony is great, sometimes it is nice to have a different place to enjoy peace and quiet.
3.  Use the suite concierge instead of guest services.  In my experience, the concierge in the suite lounge is seldom too busy to help, and there are no lines!  (Tip the concierge if they help at the end of the cruise as I do not believe they do not get automatic tips)
4.  Use CK when you can.  It tends to be quiet and stress free for meals.  I enjoy specialty restaurants for dinner, but CK for breakfast and/or lunch is great!
5.  Most importantly . . . have fun and enjoy your vacation!!!!
 

Both Incredibly jealous and happy for you at the same time; ENJOY

I read that a while ago and remember thinking I couldn't believe so little research went into it pre-cruise.
If you're not a planner, no problem, but this woman didn't have a clue.
FYI, that website isn't exactly a beacon of journalism.

Thanks for this, Kristen, I'm looking forward to trying CK, and  I'll definitely seek out Dudesh!  😉

Right?  It's such a silly thing, but I also always really enjoyed it.  Maybe it's something about going to bed every night thinking about how I was going to start the next day's adventures, or maybe it's just because I'm a glutton.  Maybe both? 🤷🏻‍♂️

I mean, @KristiZ obviously nailed it with world cruise, but failing that I'd have to go with Antarctica #1 and Australia/NZ #2.

Here I am, 51 days out from my Oasis of the Seas cruise out of Bayonne, and low and behold I see those magical words in my email inbox: Your Stateroom Has Been Upgraded.  My minimum $700 bid moved me from a JS guarantee to a 1 Bedroom Aquatheater Suite!  I am beyond stunned, the timing, the acceptance, all of it!  So Suite Snob crew (this is in fact a term of endearment!), help a dad who's never stayed in anything bigger than a Promenade View room taking his kids on their 1st cruise with the lowdown: what do I do now?  Do I cancel my MDR reservations if we're going to do CK, or will the concierge do that?  I suddenly have so many questions that I hadn't even thought about!  Any advice/pointers/experience would be greatly appreciated!

My favorite CK item, besides the filet, was the flatbreads they serve for lunch.

On the flip side, DO NOT ORDER THE RIB EYE!  It was not like any rib eye I've ever seen in a restaurant or on a grill. It somewhat resembled a slice of prime rib and was terrible.

World cruise!

Here I am, 51 days out from my Oasis of the Seas cruise out of Bayonne, and low and behold I see those magical words in my email inbox: Your Stateroom Has Been Upgraded.  My minimum $700 bid moved me from a JS guarantee to a 1 Bedroom Aquatheater Suite!  I am beyond stunned, the timing, the acceptance, all of it!  So Suite Snob crew (this is in fact a term of endearment!), help a dad who's never stayed in anything bigger than a Promenade View room taking his kids on their 1st cruise with the lowdown: what do I do now?  Do I cancel my MDR reservations if we're going to do CK, or will the concierge do that?  I suddenly have so many questions that I hadn't even thought about!  Any advice/pointers/experience would be greatly appreciated!

To add on to this, this is how we always did our wake up call when we had an excursion that day. You have time slots you pick from as well on this card so they know when to bring it. They'll knock and show up, wake you up, and then you can eat in room while you get ready for the day.
Checking off what you want for room service breakfast the night before was one of my favorite parts of the cruise. 😂

The Pride of America is a unique ship in that she is US flagged and is required to have 75 percent of her staff from the US.
As Gatorcruiser stated, it wouldn't be good for the consumer if NCL went kaput.  Less competition means higher pricing.

Since I believe menus are mostly fleet wide (i.e. same dishes on different ships), filet mignon in CK was excellent and if you see ribs for lunch there (listed as rum and something), loved those too. More like a short rib than a spare rib there was so much meat on each bone.

Here I am, 51 days out from my Oasis of the Seas cruise out of Bayonne, and low and behold I see those magical words in my email inbox: Your Stateroom Has Been Upgraded.  My minimum $700 bid moved me from a JS guarantee to a 1 Bedroom Aquatheater Suite!  I am beyond stunned, the timing, the acceptance, all of it!  So Suite Snob crew (this is in fact a term of endearment!), help a dad who's never stayed in anything bigger than a Promenade View room taking his kids on their 1st cruise with the lowdown: what do I do now?  Do I cancel my MDR reservations if we're going to do CK, or will the concierge do that?  I suddenly have so many questions that I hadn't even thought about!  Any advice/pointers/experience would be greatly appreciated!

Here I am, 51 days out from my Oasis of the Seas cruise out of Bayonne, and low and behold I see those magical words in my email inbox: Your Stateroom Has Been Upgraded.  My minimum $700 bid moved me from a JS guarantee to a 1 Bedroom Aquatheater Suite!  I am beyond stunned, the timing, the acceptance, all of it!  So Suite Snob crew (this is in fact a term of endearment!), help a dad who's never stayed in anything bigger than a Promenade View room taking his kids on their 1st cruise with the lowdown: what do I do now?  Do I cancel my MDR reservations if we're going to do CK, or will the concierge do that?  I suddenly have so many questions that I hadn't even thought about!  Any advice/pointers/experience would be greatly appreciated!

I can't remember the exact day I received it, but it was right around 75 days.  I thought for sure I wouldn't hear anything until Mid-July at the earliest.

Congrats!  We were lucky to get a 2 br Grand Suite on Oasis with a minimum bid as well.  I agree with everything @OCSC Mike says.  We found the suite deck on the last sea day and wish we had found it earlier in the cruise.  It was quiet and there were a ton of empty spots.  CK for breakfast every morning was fantastic; we ate there every morning.  The bartenders were fabulous as well in the CK.  Dudesh will make you anything you want; if they don't have it in their bar, he will get it for you.  

@USCG Teacher May I ask when you got the initial offer to bid on a Royal Up?
I was surprised yesterday to get a Royal Up email offer 75 days before our Quantum sailing to Alaska. Now I'm weighing my bid options.

Suite Snob here.  Congrats and I hope you enjoy it.  The Aqua Theater suites are a great location and you don't have to leave the confines of your own suite to watch the shows in the Aqua Theater.  I think you'll love it and the rest of your party.  Be prepared though, you will have a lot of walking to get to the elevators.  But, it is wall worth it.  
 
EDITED IN:  BTW, thanks for the "Suite Snob" idea.  I'm going to use it a lot now.  I may even change my Avatar/Logon to that!