WAAAYTOOO

2 minutes ago, VinceC said:

Are You a Poker Player?  Royal Poker Championship is happening on the Oasis, Dec 1 to Dec 8.   $750 Buy in of you are already booked, expecting 200-300 player, 4 days approx. 6 hrs per day, over $100,000 in  prizes and 1st place is $50,000 plus a return Cruise Next Year and the seat in the Championship.

Actually, we are both poker players but are not involved in the RPT this time. Dan was in it years ago. Not particularly thrilled to find out that this is the RPT Cruise. It was a circus the year we went. But it is what it is.  I know it’s held the first or second week in Dec but didn’t realize it was on Oasis this year.  Oh well. The casino will be a zoo.

It depends on the ship.  Even with The Key people I have always been allowed to book lunch at Chops on embarkation day EXCEPT on Navigator.  Even trying to enlist the assistance of the Suites Concierge I was denied.  We were able to eat at Jamie's but they had reserved the Chops ONLY for Key people.  So far, at least, I have always been able to get into Chops on every other ship if I had the UDP.  But there might be other ships, like Navigator, that will deny reservations at Chops for embarkation lunch.  NAV is the only one I know of personally, though.

Couldn't agree more re: Dennis.  He is tiresome and loves the sound of his own voice.  Glad he moved on from Anthem.

Steph, Dan and I will be on the following week (1 Dec) and I do believe that there is a not-to-be-mentioned BOT on that same cruise with us.  When I booked this cruise I had absolutely no idea that it was the second cruise after dry dock.  I think if I were you and had the very FIRST cruise after dry dock I would be a bit nervous.  LOL

We are doing a S2S for this one.  Brilliance out of Tampa from Nov 25 - 30 (for Thanksgiving).  Then the next day we board Oasis (1-8 December).  We'll be Star Class on Oasis so I'm not EVEN going to try and figure out dining options at this point. That will be a job for the Genie !   I am certainly not holding my breath that they are going to replace Cats.  It's far too late for that at this point unless they've been holding that intel in TOP SECRET and nothing has leaked out yet....highly, highly unlikely.  I believe there is a complication with the license agreement and Royal was forced to hold it over...at least that's what I have read.

This was a casino comp for us too.  I upgraded to SC back before they changed the "rules" and upgrading became not-so-awesome.

Anyway, I'm glad you will be on ahead of us.  You can let us know what is finished and what they're still working on !!

Just now, DanielB said:

Thanks everyone.....Since we are arriving 2 days prior to the cruise I didn't see any benefit and just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

Happy Sailing!

In that case I would probably opt to book on my own.  No real benefit if you don't need the arrival assurance.

YIPPEE !!  Sounds awesome.  We are only Liberty next week but unfortunately we have the tired old Falmouth/Cozumel/Grand Cayman itin.  I much prefer yours.  I love Costa Maya.

Looking forward to your live blog !

Yeah, the sticker shock is probably the only concern.  Holiday sailings are awesome but they are also pricey.  I don't know if you must fly to your cruise or not but airline fares are also going to be on the higher side so it's all around more expensive but a great experience if you can do it.

19 minutes ago, DanielB said:

So I am looking at booking our airfare for January.  Domestic flight.  Is there any benefit for using Air2Sea other than the book now pay later?

The cost is $20 more (airfare is $10 less but there is a $30 fee)....am I missing anything???  I know with Disney if you use them for air you get the transfers for free but the transfers are an additional cost on the check out page at Air2Sea so for a domestic flight flying in 2 days prior to cruise it looks like not a value.

Thoughts?

I rarely use A2S for domestic flights but in cases when I MUST fly in the day of the cruise (as opposed to flying in a day early) I normally do use them - especially in the winter.  It is just an added "assurance" to getting to the ship on time.

We sailed on Epic a few years ago.  That split bathroom was horrible. 

You can always reprice.  The problem is, since you are inside of your final payment date you would be penalized a cancellation penalty (since a repricing is really just a cancellation and rebooking) and it is doubtful that your fare reduction would be enough to cover the cancellation penalty.

Yes.  The only “rule” is that at least 1 name on the original booking must remain on the booking.  So you can change the name of your traveling companion but you must remain on the booking all the way through.

So sweet. 

The "free" drinks package on NCL (and even X) is a sales gimmick just like everything else.  Yes, I think that some people are lured to try NCL b/c they believe they are getting "free" drinks.  Then they find out that there are limits and exceptions and realize that they did not really get what they were hoping for.

As others have said, if you enjoy RCCL and its experiences then you will stay with them. If you are cruise just for "free" booze then you will probably drift with the sales winds that blow.

I do believe that Royal is pushing their luck with the cost of the drinks packages. I'm sure they will find their sweet spot and level off but it doesn't appear to be a happy trend for the cruiser.  We have stopped buying the DBP (not due to price but due to Dan's decision to eliminate alcohol).  I can still get my drinks in the Diamond or Suites lounge and any time I am in the casino (which is most of the time !) so we haven't missed it so far.  So far my charges for alcohol on a cruise have been less than 1 day's charge, for 1 person on a DBP so economically it is definitely to our advantage to NOT purchase the package.  We'll see if it lasts !!

Sorry.  I passed bad info.  

Back when we were purchasing individual cruise insurance we always went with USAA.  For the past few years we have been purchasing an annual policy with Allianz.  Since we have never made an insurance claim I have no idea if one is better than the other !  We do a lot of business with USAA and I would have purchased an annual policy with them if they offered one, but they do not.

20 hours ago, Matt said:

FWIW, I never do

Neither do we.

14 hours ago, KathyC said:

This group doesn't do a lot of European sailings, so you won't find as many as you'll find for the Caribbean.   But more and more we're venturing out of this hemisphere and heading across the Atlantic so we'll hopefully be able to provide more in the future.  I'll be adding one in May 2020. 

$46 is a great price these days.  

Those little ones are adorable !!

44 minutes ago, IslandBoundMama said:

Thank you so much!!! He was nervous to get in at first. He was holding on for dear life.

I know the feeling.  I love laying in a hammock but I always feel like I’m going to flip.  Sometimes I do !

15 minutes ago, marti314 said:

You mean like CHOPS?  ahahhahahaha just had to do it

Yep, just like CHOPS !

My experience is that even if one of the specialties is having a special holiday meal, there will be another one where you can use your package.  Truly I don’t believe the special holiday meals have been all that successful. They are waaay overpriced and there’s nothing particularly special about them.  We cruise during the holidays a lot and always have the UDP. We’ve never had a problem using it somewhere. I think we went to Izumi one NYE but that’s fine with us !

Welcome, raahc !

When we were on Freedom in April we did NOT dock at Havensight.

Maybe it is D+, Marti.  Sorry

I love both the OS and CLS.  I am not a fan of the stairs so all things being equal, I would choose the OS but being on deck 17 has is own special perks - especially if you plan on spending much time in CK.  I think, with the teenager, I would go with the CLS b/c you will all have more privacy and she will have her own bathroom.