WAAAYTOOO

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

I have heard many such stories about difficulties with scheduling and making reservations. I think there are still some logistical and software glitches that are being worked out. Any new system takes time to master. I also agree that they bought themselves trouble that they didn't need with changing a system that wasn't broken. We'll just have to see how it all works out. Judging from the fact that RCI has just refunded everyone $100 who has sailed on the Quantum EVER, I think it is an indication that they are getting some not-so-positive feedback on their decision. As for formal night, I have not sailed on a Quantum class ship so I cannot speak to that specifically, but I can say that the level of formality on formal night spans quite the spectrum. One change that RCI has made that I think it a GOOD thing is the softening of the formal "requirements" and accommodating those that do NOT enjoy doing the formal thing. According to the feedback and comments that I have read, I would expect to need at least a jacket for meals at the Grande. Show and entertainment events scheduled times...I would not rely on anything that is found in the PDF document. I would think that the online times are closer to accurate but I don't know that I would even depend on them as I have read MANY postings that say that the times that they reserved were not accurate once they got onboard. On my January sailing on the Oasis they made some last minute changes to the showtimes for the Water Show so those kinds of last minute changes are inevitable. I think these onboard schedule changes are a main causal factor for the frustrations that have been rampant on the Quantum. Once your dinner time gets bumped as the result of a change in the entertainment schedule, getting that dinner time rescheduled is problematic. It causes a kind of domino effect. I am not familiar with The Gift. Have a great cruise !!

The obstruction is some ship superstructure (flat beams) that extends beyond and behind the balconies. I do not find these beams to be a problem at all. Granted, there is not a completely 100% unobstructed view out the aft of the ship like there is on the Vision or Radiance classes, but it is not enough of an issue to make it a problem for me. The huge balconies and lounge chairs more than make up for any partial view obstruction, IMO. It just depend upon what your priority is. If you want the big balcony then I believe you will enjoy this room even with the partial obstruction. If you're looking for a 100% unobstructed ocean view then this might be more interference with that than you would want.

Well, that is true to an extent. Some obstructed view b/c of the ship superstructure but still worth it IMO

DEFINITELY fantail (aft) room if you can get it. The balconies are huge compared to regular balconies and you get lounge chairs in addition to the table and chairs on a regular balcony. Very private (usually) and lots of ocean view...if you don't mind seeing where you have just been (looking out the back !). These rooms are generally the first to go. BTW, there are also regularly priced balcony rooms (range from D1 - E2 ?? (not sure about that) depending upon the ship) on the fantail too. These are the best bargains on the ship with the exception of the family ocean view rooms when you can snag one for 2 people or the accessible rooms if they go out to general inventory. I will say that these fantail rooms require a bit of a hike. If you don't like to walk or cannot walk easily, these may not be the rooms for you but if you don't mind the walk to the fantail rooms are the best IMO.

Thanks, Stephanie. I am willing to withdraw my hypothesis re: lobster and thank you for your response. Maybe the Classic option will work just fine !!! Glad to hear it.

I see what you're saying, Mike. I look at it another way. I have not been on a Quantum Class ship so I do not know this for a fact, but I am willing to bet that not one of the 3 new DD/Classic restaurants (or any other complementary restaurant onboard, for that matter) offers complementary lobster on its static menu. If it did then they would be serving lobster left and right every single night. I ALSO suspect that lobster appears SOMEwhere on one of those menus (perhaps more than one) as an upcharge option. So now, those of us that had been getting lobster once during a 7 night cruise (usually the second formal night) will no longer get lobster unless we are willing to pay extra for it. I suspect that the same is probably true for other pricey main course options such as the lamb shank and/or lamb chops. I see DD as a weasely way for RC to get OUT of the business of offering these "premium" (although the lobster has become somewhat pedestrian in the past few years) once-in-a-week options. My objection is not solely with the lack of variety but with the loss of those special dishes that we have come to love and expect. I think they are going to be gone, gone, gone - unless you're willing to pay for them - very shortly. If I am wrong, someone please tell me. I am willing to retract my hypothesis. It is nothing more than that.

Will the new rotational dining plan be implemented on Oasis before our September 19, 2015 trip? I didn't know that they were going to implement Classic dining on the Oasis and Allure. I guess it makes sense since they will be doing it on the Harmony. I think that's good news. Better than Dynamic Dining, I think. Even though these are still static menu restaurants at least you get to keep your waiter which is 1 of the 2 biggest objections I have to the idea of DD. I still say that not having a rotating menu is going to be a bad thing. I hope I'm wrong.

Don't mean to make light of her misfortune, but did it choke the stingray ? Sorry...couldn't resist

I don't want to bash TAs on this site since I know that an agency is the sponsor of this site (and I thank them for that !)....but I will say, with no malice intended, that booking yourself is always the right thing with RC. Since RC does NOT permit agencies to discount their cruises there is literally no advantage to using a TA for RC, IMO. Now, agencies CAN add their own incentives such as OBC (although it is always minimal from what I have seen)and paying for gratuities, specialty dining, drink packages, etc. but that has never been enough of an incentive to get me to bother with a TA for RC. That is NOT necessarily the case for other cruise lines ! As for getting a TA to hunt for price reductions for you, that is not going to happen. It is a LOT of work to do that. You have to check VERY often. I check at least DAILY and have been the recipient of MANY discounts that just pop up. As one blogger mentioned, when the BOGO offer first came out for a VERY brief time (not more than 1 day), they had not yet increased the cruise base price to compensate for the 1/2 off deal and I managed to catch it before they did....I ended up saving a LOAD on the January 2015 Oasis cruise. It turned out to be nearly free by the time they added the 1/2 off ("free" being a misnomer...there is no such thing as a FREE cruise). But you have to be diligent. If you want to catch a deal YOU have to do the work. Yes, a TA will go in and capture a discount if you let them know about it but why bother with that ? You can do it yourself ! ..and SHOULD. If you want to be lazy and not do the work, you will probably NOT get the unpublished discounts or be able to take advantage of mistakes - and YES the cruise lines DO make mistakes from time-to-time - that come along periodically. One blogger mentioned a family room. I managed to snag a Royal Family Suite for my upcoming cruise on the Freedom LONG b4 it should have been released to the public. They hold those rooms to require a minimum number of people to book (usually 4 people is minimum. For some categories, it's 6!) but if those rooms don't sell close to the end, they will release them to "general inventory" which means that they will appear online and you can book that room with just 2 people (the same thing for handicapped (excuse me, ACCESSIBLE) rooms). I caught it on just the right day and even the [RC] agent who booked it for me commented that the room should not have been available for less than 4 people, that early. As soon as I booked my room they immediately moved all of the other Family Suites behind the "Not available for online booking" firewall. I just happened to see it b4 they caught their mistake. So....checking the website becomes automatic, and fun, after a while. Make it a THING. You will be the recipient of unexpected windfalls. It's awesome.

Stephanie (and anyone else who might be interested) my name is Raye. Thanks for asking. It is always a no limit game. I have never seen them play a limit game on any ship. When I cruise out of San Juan the Marriott has a limit game at night but I've never seen one on a cruise ship. I just don't think there's enough people interested enough. Sometimes we have trouble just getting a no limit game going. ...and then sometimes, like on the transatlantic I took several years ago on the Jewel, we played all day every day and all night for 12 days. There was always a waiting list just to get on. You just never know ! I know what you're saying about the electronic tables. Lots of people don't like them b/c they feel that they are subject to "electronic whim" but I have never really had that concern. I usually do pretty well...I just like having a live dealer better...more personal. I saw the hangover machine on the Oasis but never played it. Slot machines are nothing but money pits for me ! Now THERE'S where I think the machines can be set to exploit "electronic whim". If you enjoy poker and also table games then I recommend the Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em table game. It's one of my top 2 faves - the other being 3 card poker. It is raining like crazy here in Okinawa. I will be here all week and it's supposed to rain the entire time I'm here....which sucks in more than 1 way since I will have to be outside climbing telecom towers most of the time ! Not looking forward to that very much !

Yeah, Stephanie, that casino discount is awesome at the moment. I hope it stays that way !! The tax day discount was helpful too...$200+ more off ! I sense that the casino changes are being pushed back even further. I think they're encountering some problems...which is fine with me. I like the program JUST the way it is ! I look forward to playing (in the casino !!) with you on this cruise. Are you a slots player of a table player ? I despise slots so I rarely play any slots other than the occasional video poker. I will be at the Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em table or the 3 card poker table or the regular poker table. When I was on the Oasis in January they still the electronic poker machines - which are ok...I don't hate them the way some do - but I do prefer a live dealer. I am guessing that Allure is still using their electronic poker machines too. UGH Well, I am off to Japan for a week (business) so I won't be blogging much - or maybe at all - while I am there. Take care everyone !