WAAAYTOOO

Congratulations, Joe !!

Waaaay back in the last millennium, I was a newly certified female diver, too ! LOL I was not traveling alone, but a group of my family spent a week diving in Grand Cayman. It is one of the most spectacular experiences of my life. You will love diving in GC. I would say that if you believe this will be your one and only trip to dive in GC, do NOT miss diving one of "the walls". It is GC signature dive experience. It is very safe (as long as you have experienced dive masters with you) and it is really something. Frankly, I cannot recall whether "the walls" were boat dives or shore dives (it's been over 30 years !), but whatever it takes, I strongly recommend that you do it. Don't get me wrong...there are plenty of great shore diving locations too, but if you're going to be in GC and especially if you think this might be your only time, don't let this opportunity go to waste. There are many locations for wall dives so you shouldn't have any trouble finding one that will work for you.

I have never booked a tour with Thenford Grey but I have been on the scenic railway. Based on the reviews that I have heard from those who have taken a Thenford Grey tour, I would say that the Thenford Grey tour would be better. While the scenic railway is interesting, I thought it was WAAAYTOOO long. I wanted to do it just for the experience, and now I have. I do not feel the need to do it ever again.

Within limits....yes. Often I will order cream of mushroom soup or red velvet cake, for example, when I am in the CK or one of the other specialty restaurants but I have never tried ordering one of the entrees from another specialty. While I suspect that they would say "yes", it is not something that I would do. As an aside, you can also order a dish from the MDR when you are the CK or one of the specialty restaurants. As I have said a number of times, Dan's very favorite dish is the roasted lamb shank. We buy the UDP 100% of the time these days which means that he would miss his lamb shank since we are not dining in the MDR anymore. BUT he just orders it at whatever restaurant we are dining at on the night that they are serving it in the MDR. We have never failed to have them bring him his lamb shank ! Same goes for the lobster. If we are dining at one of the specialties on lobster night we just ask them to please bring us lobster tails from the MDR and they will. Also know that if you are in a full suite you can have meals from the MDR delivered to your suite via room service. If we are in an Owner's Suite we will sometimes get the lamb shank delivered to our suite instead of going to a specialty. Anything less than an OS usually isn't practical since there is no dining table in the lower suites. The Grand Suites have a smaller table out on the balcony so you can eat out there if it's not too warm.

Yes, you definitely will get an email from the Suites concierge (probably 5 days before you sail) if you are in Sky Class. If you decide that you want to do Chops, just ask the Concierge to make a reservation for you for embarkation day. ....and CK as a backup in case things go awry is not a bad option ! Additionally, you may also want to ask the Concierge to make your dinner reservations for the first night. I always ask the Concierge to make lunch reservations and dinner reservations for the first night so that I at least know where I will be going that first day/night. Once onboard you can make the reservations for the rest of the dinners.

So far we are batting 1000 with embarkation lunch and UDP BUT I will also add that we have always had the benefit of having a Concierge or a Genie make our reservations in advance for us. That is not to say that you would be turned away if you don’t have advanced reservations but we’ve just never tried to do it without advanced reservations. In addition to always getting in, we have always received the “regular” lunch menu and not the more limited Key menu at Chops. I love specialty dining on embarkation day. It is such a relief not to have to fight the crowds.

That’s the attitude that we had when we did B2B on Anthem in Feb. There is so much to do inside that I never once worried about what was going on outside.

I believe that with the new Unlimited Dining Package the rule is, if the restaurant is open and they can seat you, it is included.

I guess we were just lucky but I don’t recall getting charged the overage for a drink over the max when we were SC. One notable exception was when we went into Vintages on Anthem and ordered a Caymus (each). When they brought the bill for $17 EACH I disputed it saying that we had the drink package only to be SUPER embarrassed to be informed that the $17 was the OVERAGE price meaning that the wine was $30 a glass. I sheepishly slinked away and haven’t been in a Vintages since. ??. I obviously have no appreciation for fine wine. It tasted just like any $13 wine I have ever had before.

Our food was so bad on our last “meal with an officer” that Dan has not yet wanted to go back. Maybe some day. For now though...nope.

I know what you mean I am so unhappy with the new upgrade discounts on comps.

I think the bungalows at South Beach actually look better than the cabanas at the other locations. They have the double couch like the old cabanas. Even without the full second wall I think they look like a better option - at least, to me.

+1 Excellent job !

DOGged persistence ! I love it.

This was one of our greatest disappointments after looking forward to it for so long. Our meal was AWFUL and the officer (on our end of the table, anyway) was a very low ranking operations officer who knew little about anything except for the engine room. We have not been back to another one since. If I were you, Stephanie, I would temper my expectations.

No. MEI will have nothing to do with Visa OBC. When you complete the redemption process you will get an email confirming the redemption. It WILL show up in your CP as available OBC

I will ! Thanks

Changing stylists is easy as long as you switch salons at the same time ! The awkward-ness happens when you go to see a new stylist in the same salon where your old stylist still works. No thanks !

We’ve waited as late as 1 week prior to sailing but it’s best to redeem at least 2 weeks prior. The system has definitely improved over the past couple of years. It used to take a while to get the process completed but now with it all being online it’s much more reliable. If you redeem 2 weeks prior the OBC should show up nearly immediately on your account. If you redeem 3 or more weeks ahead it might not show up immediately

That is really such a personal kind of decision. For anyone who is new to cruising, I say that it is wise to give the MDR a try first. We ate in the MDR for YEARS before we ever tried our first specialty restaurant. We just, eventually, got tired of the same menus over and over again and decided to venture out...so if you have "been there, done that" with the MDR and enjoy eating at the specialties, I'd say $154 for the UDP is an excellent price (7 nights ?).

Is Wings Airways a member of the One World Alliance ? How did you manage to get the exit row seat ? ??

I am also in NOVA. If you like Amaretto (me too !) try getting a pina colada made with amaretto instead of rum. It is liquid candy !

This is particularly offensive for men. I guess it’s somehow effeminate to drink cappuccinos after 10 AM. I am also a frequent violator of this norm. I also don’t care if they brand me a tourist. So be it.

Be careful with pizza in Italy. To them, pepperoni is peppers.

Sashimi does not have rice. You probably wanted to order ebi nigiri.