WAAAYTOOO

Actually I had a family oceanview room on the front of the ship on the Jewel (FO-7004) in May 2011 for a Transatlantic. There is a big room that has a bed, couch, coffee table and I think 1 chair (could have been 2 but I think it was just 1) and then a smaller bedroom with 2 single beds (I suspect that they could be pushed together to make a double bed but they were separated for our cruise). There is only 1 bathroom. There was no television in the second bedroom. The room has 2 or 3 large windows that look onto the bow of the ship.

 

Since there were just 2 of us we found this room to be lovely and very spacious. Being a Transatlantic we didn't see the need for a balcony since there wouldn't be much to see except for sea (pun intended) and it wasn't going to be particularly warm. The Family oceanview seemed sensible and it was !

 

It is quite a bit bigger than a standard room - even a standard balcony room.

 

I would highly recommend this room depending upon how many people you will have. I would say that 2 adults and 3 children would be comfortable here or 4 adults and 1 child. Probably the limiting factor is the single bathroom. I wish I had some pictures but I do not.

 

It is really quite large.

Agree. I have some dear friends that got married a few years ago in Grand Cayman. They made all of the arrangements pre-cruise directly with the wedding coordinators, got off the ship, got married and then got back on and finished the cruise. They had a GREAT time and it was far easier and cheaper than trying to organize/coordinate a wedding on the ship (so they said).

 

I also saw a bride on our last cruise (May 3 on the Freedom) but like you, bcarney, I wasn't overly curious about where or how they got married. I can't even remember if it was ship photographers taking pictures of someone from the wedding party. I just didn't look that closely.

Wow ! You're halfway there (to Pinnacle) ! I don't expect to ever make Pinnacle unless I plan to live in a ship somewhere, which isn't too likely.

Making an assumption here that the Allure will undergo the same drydock renovations that Oasis did. If that isn't the case then ignore this posting. Since the deck plans for Allure show these changes I assume that means that they WERE completed.

 

They did the big "restaurant subdivision" turning the old 3-level MDR into 3 separate static menu restaurants. This was, of course, in preparation for the whole rollout of Dynamic Dining that never happened. If they follow through the same way on Allure as they did on Oasis then you will just have 3 separate Main Dining Rooms. Since we were on MTD we dined on deck 5 in what is now Silk but of course, the menus were the same as they have always been - changing dialy and were not the menus that would have been specifically for Silk (a Pan Asian menu if I'm not mistaken).

 

They added 6 new Grand suites (decks 11, 12 and 14) where the old "secret balconies" used to be, aft, near the Aqua Theater. These new GS rooms are larger, both in cabin and balcony square footage. The biggest ones are on Deck 11 (11330 and 11730) which have rooms of 466 ft sq and balconies of 470 ft sq. The rooms and balconies become progressively smaller as you move from deck 11 up to 12 and 14 but they are still much larger GS than the traditional "outside" GS that are 371 ft sq room and 114 ft sq balcony. They also added additional staterooms in various places around the ship, the specifics of which I do not recall.

 

Another change is the addition of the Suites Only restaurant (Coastal Kitchen), and Suites lounge on Deck 17. With the addition of that lounge, they have eliminated the old Concierge lounge and relegated the D+ C&A members DOWN to the Diamond Lounge on Deck 11 and 12. This particular change was one that I was LIVID about when we were on the Oasis in Jan. As if the Diamond Club wasn't crowded enough already, NOW the D+ members are stuck there too. Only Suites guests and Pinnacle can use the Suites lounge. The Harmony is going to have the same configuration re: Diamond/Suites lounges which is why I am in a GS on the Harmony in October '16.

 

There may be a few changes to shopping venues and I think they stuck a hot dog shack in there somewhere. The old Ritas Cantina is now Sabor (HUGE improvement !). Rita's Cantina was dreadful.

 

They had made quite a few changes to the casino (something I notice more than others, perhaps). The old electronic blackjack multi-person machine has been removed. Unfortunately the electronic poker machines are still there but there are now 2 instead of 3 and they have been moved into a new location. There were other changes too but they were fairly esoteric so I won't go on about them. Overall, on the Oasis at least, the casino staff was much improved, which was a good thing.

 

For the most part, except for the dining room changes, the changes aren't particularly noticeable unless you're a D+ and enjoyed using the Concierge club.

 

Have a GREAT cruise. I love the Allure and can't wait for Feb '16 !

JTI, I am with you. I have never had a BAD cruise. 'Nuff said

Perryhouse, please do not be overly concerned with the reviews that you read online. It has been my experience that some people just like to complain. Honestly, I don't know where some of these complaints come from ! I wonder if it's a competitor just planting bogus bad reviews sometimes.

 

I sailed on the Explorer in November of 2014 for 14 days (repositioning from NYC to Port Canaveral - before the refurb) and it was glorious ! I think it all comes down to what you expect, going in. If you expect perfection then you will be disappointed. This is your first cruise so you don't have anything to compare it to. You will love it ! I found the crew to be very thoughtful and pleasant.

 

Don't let those bogus reviews worry you. The ship will be beautiful, big, fun and you will have a blast.

 

I'm not sure what upgrades they made to the Explorer in drydock but I'm sure they will make her an even more beautiful ship. It looks like they have replaced Portofino's with a Chops Grill (steakhouse - Deck 11) and they have added Giovanni's Table down on deck 4. Honestly, the food is wonderful in the Main Dining Room so if you don't feel you want to spend the extra money on the "premium" restaurants, don't. I rarely do !

 

Have fun and don't worry. You will be hooked after just 1 cruise !

Agree. On the Navigator and Freedom class do NOT get the 10th floor fantail rooms. All you hear are deck chairs moving on the pool deck above. 9th and below fantail rooms are awesome, but not 10.

My goodness, can't RCI come up with any original ideas ? I am somewhat embarrassed that they seem to be able to do no more than wholesale copying NCL ideas ! Come on, people. Come up with something original ! At LEAST call it something different for goodness sake. UGH

In a way I guess I'm being very myopic and self-serving. I guess what I really want is to make sure that I do not lose any of the benefits that I currently enjoy as a suite guest. I have been burned so many times lately by changes that RCI has made....privileges and perks that I once had that have been withdrawn.

 

Would I be opposed to seeing invitations to specialty restaurants added as a perk to the higher level suite guests ? No. That is not a perk that they currently offer me so if they decide to offer that as a special perk, perk to the high end suite guests then I think that would be fine.

 

Stephanie is right....the REAL suite benefits start at GS and that's fine....but if they start cutting any of those benefits, currently offered to GS guests, I will have a problem with that. I'm just a little gun shy, I think. With so many perks disappearing in the past couple of years I am concerned that they will choose to cut benefits to the lower suite levels to make the higher level suites feel "sweeter" than include NEW benefits to make them feel sweeter !

They have White Hot on RCCL ? I thought that was an NCL thing

Personally, I have never even SEEN any "super cheap last minute fares". All of the last minute offers I have seen have always been at least what I paid for the cruise and in most cases, significantly more. I guess there must be some way to find these [soon-to-be-extinct, apparently] super low fares that I am not aware of.

 

I would never begrudge anyone from taking a reduced last minute fare if there was such a thing. I book early so that I get the room type and location that I want and also b/c this is NORMALLY going to be the lowest fare (occasionally there will be a fare reduction along the way that I can take advantage of). If someone is willing to wait until the last minute and take whatever is available, and be happy with it, more power to 'em.

 

I would never be able to take advantage of a low, last minute fare anyway (except perhaps out of Baltimore or NYC) b/c the last minute airfare to get to Florida would WAY overtake any cruise fare reduction I might have realized.

 

As for Booly100's situation, if it turns out that RCI reduced this fare JUST after the final payment date, that would be unfortunate and very underhanded. There is no way [for me] to know when the reduction actually occurred. I check my cruise fares at LEAST daily to make sure that no reductions have materialized....which is generally the case....but sometimes I get a nice surprise and find that the fare has been reduced and I call and get the reduction applied.

 

It does seem, from the threads that I am reading on this site, that those in Europe have a more difficult time making changes to their reservations than those of us in the States. Not sure why that would be...but that does seem to be the case.

Hmmmm. Interesting. I missed that piece of information somehow. Well, if they change the menus for everyone in the 3 restaurants I guess it would work. I had never heard that they were going to be changing the menus. That's actually very good news, I think.

 

Well, it appears that MANY of us won't encounter any DD ships any time soon unless you are going on a Quantum ship as that whole scheme seems to have hit undefined roadblocks. Like you, I have no interest in sailing on a Quantum ship so I don't have to worry about it either...

 

Thanks for the info. That's news to me !

bdchili, when you say, "...the menu will change at each restaurant at the halfway point..." what do you mean ? Do you think that the menu itself will actually change ? I don't see how that would be practical given that all of the other people eating at that restaurant (the actual Dynamic Diners) would have the same old static menu that they always have. Do you really think that the Classic "wandering troupe" - those changing venues every night for 7 days - will actually have a different menu than the other diners at that same restaurant ? I don't see how.

 

As for Doc's comment I think there are always going to be "stragglers" that don't have a reservation anywhere or want to change their reservation somehow that will just show up at the restaurants at any given time looking for something to eat and that will solve any over-staffing issues. That is basically what happens now with the MTD "no reservations" line. From so much of the feedback that I have heard re: DD, it is very difficult to get/change reservations once you get onboard (if you have not made them beforehand online) so there are always going to be people trying to just get "walk-in" tables.

There are other classes of ships (besides the Oasis class) that have Royal Family Suites. I just got off the Freedom yesterday and we were in a Royal Family Suite, but I understand the purpose of your question.

 

I certainly hope that they do NOT "tier" the Suites' benefits. That is so divisive, IMO. I guess, in a way, there already are 2 suite tiers as the Junior Suites are suites in name only and do not qualify for most of the benefits of the "suite package" (the ones offered once onboard, at least) but to further tier suites and graduate the suite benefits is just unnecessarily patrician. Okay...so the suite guests want to feel that they are special. I get that. I am a suite guest most of the time and I LOVE the suite benefits...but to say that some suite guests are MORE special than others is ridiculous. It already infuriates many cruisers when they are turned away from a venue or events b/c they aren't suite guests. Why further class-divide your most loyal and lucrative customers ??

 

I will admit that RCI has a problem to solve - there are ever-increasing numbers of senior level loyalty customers (Diamond and Diamond Plus) every day and when you combine those with the Pinnacles and Suite-level guests you have something of an overcrowding problem.

 

I mentioned above that we just got off the Freedom. We were able to get seats in either the Diamond Lounge or the Concierge Lounge a grand total of 3 times during that 7 day cruise. All other times we tried we just looked in, turned around and left b/c there were no seats available. This is b/c there were so many Diamond, D+, Pinnacle and suites guests on that sailing. I suspect that this same problem is repeated on many, if not most, of the RCI ships sailing every day.

 

IMO the solution is NOT to subdivide the groups but to reward them ! Provide bigger/better facilities for their senior/exclusive customers. The Concierge Club on the Freedom was a joke. It was a small, dingy, interior space that was both unappealing and inadequate. If RCI really wanted to do something special for their special clients, make the Concierge Club a bigger, more cheerful venue with a da*n VIEW !

 

What they are doing by tiering everyone, IMO, is to DESUADE people from trying to achieve the senior levels/suites. How do you achieve the senior levels ? You cruise MORE ! Why would they want to penalize guests for doing that ? What kind of a marketing scheme is that ?? If every time you take a step forward they move the goal posts 2 steps further ahead, how long do you think they are going to keep up that trek ? Not long, I assure you. REWARD your senior levels don't make them feel devalued !

I will add my 2 cents also. I have never noticed any kind of issue/concern resulting from an adjoining room door. It is my experience that the door itself is no different than having a solid wall between the rooms. I have had, on occasion, some limited issues with noisy neighbors (most often related to small children) but it was never the result of having an room-adjoining door.

I've never had to cancel/rebook a cruise to take advantage of a fare reduction....and I've never lost any incentives that were in affect when I originally purchased the cruise. They just adjust the price and that's that. If you change the cruise itself, that's a different story...but just taking advantage of a published fare reduction should not be any problem at all.

 

Marc is right though...you can only adjust prior to final payment. I have learned, over the years, to NEVER pay a cruise balance off until the very end. A number of things are terminated once a cruise is paid in full including the ability to purchase cruise insurance, if you are so inclined. There is no advantage to paying early...only loss of options.

I'm pretty sure Dynamic Dining will remain Dynamic Dining (all choice/all reservations on your own) and Classic dining (1&2) will replace both MTD and Early/Late seating Classic. I mean, once this monstrosity is fully implemented....where would you go ? There won't be any MDR anymore so both the early/late and MTD will be moot won't they ?

We tried the walkie talkie method when I was with a big group once and it was a disaster. Nobody wanted to carry the things around and when we were in the casino you couldn't hear them anyway.

 

We just do a very good job of arranging meet-up times and places if we are going in different directions for some period of time and there is always a "rendezvous" point for "lost comm" (my husband's pilot lingo) that is prearranged on day 1.

 

Never tried the Royal Connect thing. I think it's still around but we never used it. Maybe it has improved ? Anyone ?

I'm sure there are some spotty refurbs where it's needed but I don't think there was any large scale refurb on the cabins

I have used ChoiceAir a couple of times...usually when we are going overseas or during the dead of winter when I am concerned about weather.

 

I am very surprised that you received poor customer service, JillyAlex. This is quite literally the first time I have ever heard that ! I have never had anything but excellent service and professionalism. I cannot imagine what could have caused that.

 

First of all, you will NOT save money with ChoiceAir. ChoiceAir is not designed to save you money. ChoiceAir is designed to provide an integrated travel product to augment/supplement your cruise. If price is the most important thing to you, ChoiceAir is never going to be your best choice. Booking your own airfare will always be cheapest. However, if you want to make sure that your airline schedule and cruise schedule are complementary and completely integrated, and you don't mind paying a little bit more (I think there's a non-refundable $15 PP charge) to make sure that your trip is seamless, then ChoiceAir is a good choice (pun intended). They WILL find you a very reasonable airfare, but there is always going to be that extra charge. I do recall that when we took a transatlantic over and flew back from London they did get a fare that I was never able to match, checking on my own...so they do put some due diligence into looking for the lowest airfares.

 

In a way, ChoiceAir provides the same kind of peace of mind that booking an excursion through the cruiseline does. They both provide a guarantee that the cruise ship will not leave without you OR if there is some unavoidable delay such as weather or flight screw-ups, they will get you to the ship some other way....but they are always more expensive. On simple itineraries where the risk of flight interruption is minimal (warmer months, etc.) or situations where I am spending an extra day on either side of my cruise, I don't normally use ChoiceAir but when I am going overseas or on a transatlantic where timing and coordination are crucial, I always do. It is worth the extra money to me.

 

So, as with most things, it is a matter of personal preference and priorities. Jilly, I am truly surprised that you had a bad experience. If you are really interested in using ChoiceAir for whatever reason, I would try again. I am almost certain that you will have a better experience this time. They have always been very professional and responsive to me. Since you are obviously not concerned so much about $$ (b2b GS !) and if you are wanting some peace of mind about scheduling your best air itinerary, I recommend you give them a second try. There is always going to be that extra charge. No getting around that. Maybe they waive it for Pinnacle members...I don't know. Please let us know if you do try again. I would like to know if their customer service has really taken a dive or if it just someone having a bad day...as we all do from time-to-time. Good luck !!

I was on the Oasis in January. I do not think that they spent much time/money on refurbing the staterooms. I think the primary purpose of the drydock was splitting the MDR into 3 separate restaurants, which they HAVE done.

 

Having said that, our balcony was in good condition and the "common" areas seemed to be in good condition. Honestly, I am not one to dwell on the condition of the ship unless it is REALLY BAD which is very rare.

 

I thought the Oasis looked great. I feel sure that the Allure refurb will be pretty much the same.

Have cruised out of SJ a number of times (Adventure, Jewel and Serenade). AWESOME !! You will be glad you are giving yourself a couple of days on the island. Lots to see and do. I have always stayed at/near the [Condado] beach so I have no knowledge of the OSJ hotels. I can say YES to the Marriott and Ritz Carlton and NO to the Condado Beach Plaza Hotel (now the Condado Plaza Hilton).

 

Here's a cool piece of intel... The Ritz Carlton San Juan offers a US government rate EVEN during the Holiday season EVEN Christmas week !!! We saved a BUNDLE staying at the Ritz just prior to a Christmas cruise on the Adventure a couple of years ago. So....if you are a government employee (including military) or a government contractor and qualify for a US government discount, you can stay in San Juan in STYLE for a very reasonable price and I will say, the Ritz San Juan is VERY nice. They have a nice little casino.

 

The Marriott has a wonderful limit Texas Hold 'Em poker game in their casino in the evenings and the InterContinental has, I believe, the only no-limit Texas Hold 'Em game left anywhere in San Juan. IF you are interested in playing poker I would definitely contact the hotels in advance and ask if they still have a poker game although that did not particularly help US as we asked that question before booking the Condado Beach Plaza hotel to which the answer was "yes", just to find that they no longer played poker at that hotel when we arrived. Needless to say, we were NOT happy.

 

San Juan is one of our very favorite cruise ports. I know you will have a blast !

Wow....this is a complicated one ! I am amazed and somewhat alarmed that the 2 entities have such divergent policies and that one entity cannot even TALK with the other. One would think that the booking/canceling/rebooking policies would at the very least, be consistent with one another.

 

What was their excuse for why you lost your original deposit ? Are you with the time limits of the cancellation policy ? I cannot believe that they would penalize you for transferring your deposit from one cruise to another. That has never ever happened to me. I know that doesn't help you...

 

I wish I had some advice for you but, alas, I do not have any experience or expertise in this kind of thing.

 

One thing I have learned from your situation though....I will NEVER book an onboard cruise anywhere outside of the US or Caribbean !

Duh....what a dolt I am. I got my Freedom cruise next week mixed up with the Group cruise. UGH. Sorry

That isn't the same week in Feb that our group cruise is going is it ? Feb 21, 2016