WAAAYTOOO

I unfortunately have to cancel this itinerary...
 
Because I'm joining Matt for the Royal Caribbean Blog Group Cruise! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS for getting my schedule worked out.  :lol:

Always book more people than you need.  It is much easier to drop someone off a reservation than it is to add them to a reservation especially when you're talking third and fourth bunks.  In addition, you lock in the lower price and you can even switch them out with someone else or drop the person off the reservation completely before final payment and with penalty afterwards.
 
I'm going to do this with one of the group cruises.  I'll book for my wife and I, but I'm fairly confident she won't come.  Either way, I'd end up paying the same price and have a spot for her should she decide to go.

Also, neither line will reciprocate each others' discounts so X will not allow you to use your RCI balcony discount or vice versa.

We book two cruises right when they are released, 18 to 24 months in advanve. But we have an adult child who is out of the house and we book the same times of year (2nd week in April & 2nd week in November give or take a week). So for us it is all about the potential saving that are associated with booking early! And there is now downside other than tying up a few hundred in deposit.

Ugh. You're right, Jerel. I was looking at Nov 2017. I'm such a dolt !

I've got to say: The way this was handled and the overall process for chartering, quite frankly, sucks. I read the link posted earlier that gives an FAQ about chartering a ship, and they only require 9-12 months advance notice. Meanwhile, the itineraries are announced nearly two years ahead of time. So now you have a ship with some (not insignificant) number of bookings, who have been looking forward to this trip for at least several months, maybe even a year. And they're told nothing more than, "Sorry, someone just bought the ship for that week and you've all been kicked off. Figure out some other vacation plan for that time."
 
The FAQ does say that if they have a certain percentage of the ship already booked, even if it's in the allowed time frame for making a charter, that they can deny the charter request. But who knows how full that threshold is?
 
If they're going to allow ship charters, that should be something that's worked out before the itineraries are announced. Then no-one gets bumped because some super-wealthy group or individual decides they want to have a private party for several thousands of their members / closest friends.

Yeah, the website is really bad. I can get as far as looking at actual cabins and then it freezes completely. Even the back arrow doesn't work. Once it feeezes nothing to do but start over. Very annoying.
 
Many cruises are filling up (thanksgiving for instance) so if you have something in mind I recommend you call rather than waiting for the website to unglitch.

Same here. I just want to see it listed in My Cruises because it makes me feel warm and fuzzy.  Obviously not much to do with the reservation 600+ days away  :lol:

I believe that is Steeler's Wheel...

Not only is it poor customer relations, but I think RCL is taking a big risk with this kind of thing. If a charter is done prior to publishing a deployment schedule, sure. Or, there’s a charter request and the requesting organization can have access to all staterooms not currently booked, then fine too.
 
In this day in age with social media and the news media drooling over abused customer stories, RCL risks some serious brand damage. Vacations are a huge issue for people…tick off a few thousand and it can cost some serious dollars beyond any revenue gained from a charter.

I haven't actually taken the cruise yet, but thanks to you good folks here I learned to book just one excursion in any given port (unless we plan to split up and do different things at the same time).

Thanks for sharing!

Day 8 - Disembark
 
The dreaded day had arrived - far more quickly and malevolently than on any previous cruise.
 
Reyno had asked us, the evening before, what time we wanted to leave the ship.  Of course, we told him we wanted to remain on board as long as we possibly could (hoping that he would just forget about us and we would be able to stow away.  That didn't happen.... :angry: ).  He advised us that the Coastal Kitchen served until 9AM (which is much later than anywhere else on the ship as far as I know).  He said the best plan is to arrive at the CK no later than 8:45, at which time we would be seated and allowed to have a leisurely b'fast until right around 10AM when he (Reyno) would show up and escort us down to the appropriate customs line.
 
We had pre-arranged with the Jim Twins to meet for b'fast just as Reyno had recommended and we enjoyed our last b'fast in the CK together.
 
Around 9:50, in trots Reyno, who gathered us all up and we headed down for the final time.  As with the Concierges, the Genies have a magic card that highjacks the elevators and allows him to preempt any intermediate stops.  Because we were going down from the highest deck (17) there were no other passengers on the elevator when it got to us so we had a private ride down to the gangway.  All 4 of us had used Luggage Valet so all we had was our carryons, which made it very easy.  Reyno escorted us to the priority customs line where no one was waiting so we were first in line and we rushed through in seconds.
 
To our surprise, Reyno, himself, went through the customs line and headed out of the building with us.  We found out that he was heading into town to purchase something otherwise, he would have left us at the customs queue.    We needed a taxi to get to the airport so we got into the taxi line.  Sorry to say, the customs line is where all Suites priorities end.  We had to get into that long and hot line and wait for a taxi along with everyone else.  Oh, the inhumanity !
 
Just so ya know, we did NOT abandon our other [non-suite] friends.  They had driven down from VA and they had chosen to walk off early so that they could drive away and go visit their friends at the Washington Nationals spring training camp....wherever that was.  Had they chosen to leave with us, Reyno said they would have been welcome to join us for b'fast in CK and walk down with us.
  A quick ride to the airport.  The Jim Twins were on Southwest Airlines so they got out first.  We were on American so we went all the way to the end of the Terminal.  We had an uneventful wait, uneventful flight home and the limo picked us up at the airport and took us home without incident.  We were back in the real world with no Genie to make our every wish come true.  It was NOT an easy adjustment !   :P
 
 
Am I spoiled for life ?  YUP

I'm planning on wearing my US Army Dress Blue uniform with a black bow tie.  Or just a jacket and tie.  Depends on my mood.
 
A lot of high end restaurants in Manhattan still have loaner ties and jacketds for people who do not meet the dress code - usually something really out-of-date for the current fashion.  Do any of the boats do this?

Day 8 - Disembark
 
The dreaded day had arrived - far more quickly and malevolently than on any previous cruise.
 
Reyno had asked us, the evening before, what time we wanted to leave the ship.  Of course, we told him we wanted to remain on board as long as we possibly could (hoping that he would just forget about us and we would be able to stow away.  That didn't happen.... :angry: ).  He advised us that the Coastal Kitchen served until 9AM (which is much later than anywhere else on the ship as far as I know).  He said the best plan is to arrive at the CK no later than 8:45, at which time we would be seated and allowed to have a leisurely b'fast until right around 10AM when he (Reyno) would show up and escort us down to the appropriate customs line.
 
We had pre-arranged with the Jim Twins to meet for b'fast just as Reyno had recommended and we enjoyed our last b'fast in the CK together.
 
Around 9:50, in trots Reyno, who gathered us all up and we headed down for the final time.  As with the Concierges, the Genies have a magic card that highjacks the elevators and allows him to preempt any intermediate stops.  Because we were going down from the highest deck (17) there were no other passengers on the elevator when it got to us so we had a private ride down to the gangway.  All 4 of us had used Luggage Valet so all we had was our carryons, which made it very easy.  Reyno escorted us to the priority customs line where no one was waiting so we were first in line and we rushed through in seconds.
 
To our surprise, Reyno, himself, went through the customs line and headed out of the building with us.  We found out that he was heading into town to purchase something otherwise, he would have left us at the customs queue.    We needed a taxi to get to the airport so we got into the taxi line.  Sorry to say, the customs line is where all Suites priorities end.  We had to get into that long and hot line and wait for a taxi along with everyone else.  Oh, the inhumanity !
 
Just so ya know, we did NOT abandon our other [non-suite] friends.  They had driven down from VA and they had chosen to walk off early so that they could drive away and go visit their friends at the Washington Nationals spring training camp....wherever that was.  Had they chosen to leave with us, Reyno said they would have been welcome to join us for b'fast in CK and walk down with us.
  A quick ride to the airport.  The Jim Twins were on Southwest Airlines so they got out first.  We were on American so we went all the way to the end of the Terminal.  We had an uneventful wait, uneventful flight home and the limo picked us up at the airport and took us home without incident.  We were back in the real world with no Genie to make our every wish come true.  It was NOT an easy adjustment !   :P
 
 
Am I spoiled for life ?  YUP

I'm going on my first ever cruise next month, and I'm super excited! One of the struggles I had was deciding if I should get the deluxe drink package. For awhile I thought it wouldn't be worth it, but after listening in the podcasts, I ultimately decided to YOLO book it, and here are reasons why!
 
25% off was enticing. I got the package for about $44 a night, and seeing how each drink is about $12, I don' think it would be difficult to drink that much throughout a day. We booked a 5 night specialty dining package, so it's great that you can use it at the restaurants. I'm sure I'd want to try out all their featured drinks without having to worry about paying after. Speaking of trying drinks, it gives me the opportunity to really find my "go to drink at a Royal Caribbean cruise" just in case Matt wants me to be a guest in his podcast *ahem ahem I don't have to worry about buying too much drinks when I get in that happy state of mind lol. I originally wanted to bring two bottles of champagne and order fresh squeezed juice in the morning to enjoy at the balcony for some makeshift mimosas. But I don't have to worry about that anymore. I planned on bringing water bottles to the cruise, but since they give free bottles with the package, my luggage will be so much lighter! I am a heavy consumer of tea and orange juice. If each one is about $3-$5, I may not even need to drink alcohol to make the package worth it. Most importantly, I'm on vacation! Purchasing the package will make it feel more "all inclusive" without having to worry about going over board on spending. 

Yes, it has been my experience that this will vary from ship-to-ship.  I was actually very pleased to find that the limit on UTH (which is my favorite game) was $5 and not $10.  I had heard that all ships were going to increase their minimum wager requirement and was delighted to find that, at least for now, that is not true....at least, on NAV.
 
So you just won't know until you get there, I guess.
 
Kris is right about the casino making changes based on player participation though.  This is especially true with the live poker cash game.  On my last 2 cruises they were declaring that their cash games were $2/$5 blinds....but if you stick to your guns and insist on lowering the blinds they WILL let you play $1/$3.  The first night of the cruise we sat down to play poker and the first dealer we had insisted that the blinds would be $2/$5 and that there could be no deviation from this.  I just went to to the Casino Manager and told him that we would not play for $2/$5 but we would play for $1/$3 and guess what ?  We played $1/$3 blind no limit Texas Hold Em the entire 11 night cruise.  So you CAN influence their gaming limits...you just have to be firm with them !
 
A quick word about the dealers.  I'm not sure what RCI is doing with their dealers but it seems as if 90% of the dealers on our NAV cruise were new hires.  I almost ALWAYS know at least a couple of dealers from previous cruises...and we did, actually, see 1 dealer that we knew from prior cruising, but that was it !  He told us that nearly all of the dealers on the NAV were new.  I really miss seeing friends that I have made on previous cruises and I don't care for the fact that they are choosing to hire all new dealers.  It seems like it would make things very difficult to have a bunch of newbies on there are the same time but there must be some rationale.  Salary perhaps.  Who knows.  Maybe it's just a demand thing.  With all of the new ships maybe RCI is moving all of their experienced dealers to the new, big ships and the older ships are getting stuck with hiring all newbies.  I can check out that theory when we go on Harmony next month !

Having been the coordinator of such events in the past, I do NOT recommend that you pay for everything and then expect everyone to pay you back.  That is a recipe for disaster to your wallet, in my experience.
 
If they are requiring full payment before sailing then I recommend you consider a different option, like Doc says....maybe Mr. Sanchos or Nachi Cocom.  I'm surprised that any of these kinds of facilities would require a full prepayment knowing that their competitors do not.  ...but if they do require it, they are most likely going to lose out.  There are too many options that don't require prepayment and most will opt for that.

Having been the coordinator of such events in the past, I do NOT recommend that you pay for everything and then expect everyone to pay you back.  That is a recipe for disaster to your wallet, in my experience.
 
If they are requiring full payment before sailing then I recommend you consider a different option, like Doc says....maybe Mr. Sanchos or Nachi Cocom.  I'm surprised that any of these kinds of facilities would require a full prepayment knowing that their competitors do not.  ...but if they do require it, they are most likely going to lose out.  There are too many options that don't require prepayment and most will opt for that.

Day 7 - Sea Day
 
The final day at sea (or final day, wherever you happen to be !) is the worst EVER.  I dread this day from the first step I take onto the ship.
 
We went to eat b'fast in CK and ran into the Jim Twins.  They had just sat down as well so we all ate our b'fast together for the first time on the whole cruise.  They looked pretty rough so I think the party in their suite had gone on into the wee hours of the morning.  They reported that, while they had come down to the casino earlier in the evening, the party made a rebirth afterwards.  I know the rest of the guests on 17 were delighted - NOT !
 
We have learned, over the years, that the best way to get past the dreaded packing is...well...to just do it and get it over with. There's NOTHING worse than dreading going back to your room to pack.  We packed right after returning from b'fast and put out luggage outside of the Suite to get it out of our minds.
 
Here is where I will discuss our ONE and ONLY disappointment with the Genie service.  For reasons which I cannot fully understand, the Genies are directed NOT to get involved with the Luggage Valet program.  This makes no sense to me at ALL as I consider the LV program to be a huge Suite perk.  Had we not known, we would have missed out on this perk ENTIRELY as Reyno never once mentioned the LV paperwork, when or how we needed to get it submitted.  Luckily, we DID know and let the Jim Twins know or they would have missed it too (they never read their compass or any of the paperwork that is delivered to their suites.  They are so clueless !!!  The only thing they want to know (in this order) #1...where and what time is dinner and #2 what time does the casino open.).  So today was now Friday and the deadline for submitting the LV paperwork had been Wednesday....so all was well.  The correct LV luggage tags and associated paperwork had been delivered to our Suite as it should have been, but this was with absolutely NO thanks to the Genie. When we asked Reyno why he hadn't helped us get the paperwork submitted or even mentioned the LV program to us, he told us that the Genies had been forbidden from involving themselves with the LV program.  This is ridiculous.  Whatever.  We got it all done on our own and all was well, but I cannot understand why the Genies are not allowed to help with this.  I  made sure I mentioned this in our post-cruise survey.
 
With all of the unpleasantries out of the way, we went about enjoying our last day on the ship.  The thought of this being the last day never fully leaves your consciousness but at least we no longer had the demon of packing weighing on our brains.  We made our one and only trip to Izumi sushi side (we had gone to the Teppanyaki side one evening) for lunch.  I think one of my biggest surprises on this cruise was how FEW times we managed to get to our favorite restaurants.  With all specialty dining included, I had imagined that we would be in and out of Izumi and Chops and Johnny Rockets multiple times but we just never seemed to make it.  We did have JR one day for lunch.  I seemed to have missed that in my earlier daily reviews.  I can't remember which day it was. The milk shakes were included in the Star Class Package.  That makes the package worth whatever it had cost !!!  :P
 
I'm sure the afternoon was spent visiting the casino and whatever other impulsive thing we did.  The last day is such a downer for me.  I wish I could make it a happy time.  Dan is much better at doing this than I am.  There was probably a nap in there somewhere on that delicious bed.  I wish I could have smuggled that mattress off the ship with me !
 
For our last night, Reyno had booked us at Jaimie's.  I will say right up front that I MISS GIOVANNI'S TABLE...or even PORTOFINO's !  While Jaimie's wasn't terrible, it was not nearly as good as Giovanni's or Portofino's, IMO.  First of all, the chairs (at least the ones outside since that's where we sat) were THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE chairs I have sat in since the last time we were on the Rising Tide Bar on  Allure.  Up until that point, I thought those seats (on the Rising Tide) had been the most uncomfortable, but those horrid metal diner chairs at Jaimie's took the lead by a mile !  They were SO uncomfortable that I actually could NOT stand it and had to ask Dan to get 2 chairs out of the Central Park area for us (he didn't like the chairs at Jaimie's either) so that I could even stay there.  I ordered the rib eye steak and it was so full of gristle and fat that I just put it to the side.  I can't recall what Dan got.  I think he enjoyed his meal more than I did.  Thank goodness we had ordered a couple of appetizers so we had plenty of food it just wasn't what we had expected.  It was NOT as bad as Wonderland, but it came in #2 from the bottom for sure.
 
I don't want to obsess on the whole chair issue, but I will pass on a bit of GOOD news and that is....they have changed the horrible chairs that they had on the Rising Tide bar on Allure.  On Harmony, they are very nice, comfortable chairs.  So I guess I wasn't the ONLY one who complained about those awful chairs.  Maybe next time I go to Jaimie's they will have removed the torture devices that are currently there with something more spacious.  :D
 
I don't think I closed down the casino on the last night.  I usually try and make it a reasonable hour since we must get up and about early on debark day....the most loathesome day ever....
 
Edit:  Of course I forgot something.  What's new ?
 
This last day of the cruise was our busiest, relating to the shows !  We had asked Reyno to please reserve seats for us at the Ice show, 1887 (2:00) and Columbus, The Musical (5:00).  While waiting for the 2:00 ice show to start, we made our one and only visit to the Diamond Lounge on Deck 4.  It was very nice - bigger than I had thought it would be.  Reyno met us there and walked us down to our seats.  The show was very good...probably among the best ice shows I have seen.  The costumes were extraordinary.  The storyline was a bit esoteric, as they all tend to be, but the skating was super and the music and lights were very good.  For Columbus, we met Reyno outside of the main theater lobby about 4:45 and he walked us right down front where we had sat for Grease.  I enjoyed Columbus.  I don't think I am as psyched about it as some but it was a good show again with a rather wandering storyline but this is the fate of most shipboard productions.  It's definitely worth taking the time to see.
 
There were 2 shows we did not see.  We did not see the other ice show (I think it was called ISkate) and ironically, I never saw the other Aqua Theater show (The Hideaway Heist).  It's hard to see how I could have missed the AT show since it is right in my back yard but I did.  I'm sure Dan must have seen it since he spent more time in the suite than I did.  Oh well, we will be on Harmony again in September in another ATS so I'm sure I will still get the opportunity to see it then !!
Day 7.pdf

Day 7 - Sea Day
 
The final day at sea (or final day, wherever you happen to be !) is the worst EVER.  I dread this day from the first step I take onto the ship.
 
We went to eat b'fast in CK and ran into the Jim Twins.  They had just sat down as well so we all ate our b'fast together for the first time on the whole cruise.  They looked pretty rough so I think the party in their suite had gone on into the wee hours of the morning.  They reported that, while they had come down to the casino earlier in the evening, the party made a rebirth afterwards.  I know the rest of the guests on 17 were delighted - NOT !
 
We have learned, over the years, that the best way to get past the dreaded packing is...well...to just do it and get it over with. There's NOTHING worse than dreading going back to your room to pack.  We packed right after returning from b'fast and put out luggage outside of the Suite to get it out of our minds.
 
Here is where I will discuss our ONE and ONLY disappointment with the Genie service.  For reasons which I cannot fully understand, the Genies are directed NOT to get involved with the Luggage Valet program.  This makes no sense to me at ALL as I consider the LV program to be a huge Suite perk.  Had we not known, we would have missed out on this perk ENTIRELY as Reyno never once mentioned the LV paperwork, when or how we needed to get it submitted.  Luckily, we DID know and let the Jim Twins know or they would have missed it too (they never read their compass or any of the paperwork that is delivered to their suites.  They are so clueless !!!  The only thing they want to know (in this order) #1...where and what time is dinner and #2 what time does the casino open.).  So today was now Friday and the deadline for submitting the LV paperwork had been Wednesday....so all was well.  The correct LV luggage tags and associated paperwork had been delivered to our Suite as it should have been, but this was with absolutely NO thanks to the Genie. When we asked Reyno why he hadn't helped us get the paperwork submitted or even mentioned the LV program to us, he told us that the Genies had been forbidden from involving themselves with the LV program.  This is ridiculous.  Whatever.  We got it all done on our own and all was well, but I cannot understand why the Genies are not allowed to help with this.  I  made sure I mentioned this in our post-cruise survey.
 
With all of the unpleasantries out of the way, we went about enjoying our last day on the ship.  The thought of this being the last day never fully leaves your consciousness but at least we no longer had the demon of packing weighing on our brains.  We made our one and only trip to Izumi sushi side (we had gone to the Teppanyaki side one evening) for lunch.  I think one of my biggest surprises on this cruise was how FEW times we managed to get to our favorite restaurants.  With all specialty dining included, I had imagined that we would be in and out of Izumi and Chops and Johnny Rockets multiple times but we just never seemed to make it.  We did have JR one day for lunch.  I seemed to have missed that in my earlier daily reviews.  I can't remember which day it was. The milk shakes were included in the Star Class Package.  That makes the package worth whatever it had cost !!!  :P
 
I'm sure the afternoon was spent visiting the casino and whatever other impulsive thing we did.  The last day is such a downer for me.  I wish I could make it a happy time.  Dan is much better at doing this than I am.  There was probably a nap in there somewhere on that delicious bed.  I wish I could have smuggled that mattress off the ship with me !
 
For our last night, Reyno had booked us at Jaimie's.  I will say right up front that I MISS GIOVANNI'S TABLE...or even PORTOFINO's !  While Jaimie's wasn't terrible, it was not nearly as good as Giovanni's or Portofino's, IMO.  First of all, the chairs (at least the ones outside since that's where we sat) were THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE chairs I have sat in since the last time we were on the Rising Tide Bar on  Allure.  Up until that point, I thought those seats (on the Rising Tide) had been the most uncomfortable, but those horrid metal diner chairs at Jaimie's took the lead by a mile !  They were SO uncomfortable that I actually could NOT stand it and had to ask Dan to get 2 chairs out of the Central Park area for us (he didn't like the chairs at Jaimie's either) so that I could even stay there.  I ordered the rib eye steak and it was so full of gristle and fat that I just put it to the side.  I can't recall what Dan got.  I think he enjoyed his meal more than I did.  Thank goodness we had ordered a couple of appetizers so we had plenty of food it just wasn't what we had expected.  It was NOT as bad as Wonderland, but it came in #2 from the bottom for sure.
 
I don't want to obsess on the whole chair issue, but I will pass on a bit of GOOD news and that is....they have changed the horrible chairs that they had on the Rising Tide bar on Allure.  On Harmony, they are very nice, comfortable chairs.  So I guess I wasn't the ONLY one who complained about those awful chairs.  Maybe next time I go to Jaimie's they will have removed the torture devices that are currently there with something more spacious.  :D
 
I don't think I closed down the casino on the last night.  I usually try and make it a reasonable hour since we must get up and about early on debark day....the most loathesome day ever....
 
Edit:  Of course I forgot something.  What's new ?
 
This last day of the cruise was our busiest, relating to the shows !  We had asked Reyno to please reserve seats for us at the Ice show, 1887 (2:00) and Columbus, The Musical (5:00).  While waiting for the 2:00 ice show to start, we made our one and only visit to the Diamond Lounge on Deck 4.  It was very nice - bigger than I had thought it would be.  Reyno met us there and walked us down to our seats.  The show was very good...probably among the best ice shows I have seen.  The costumes were extraordinary.  The storyline was a bit esoteric, as they all tend to be, but the skating was super and the music and lights were very good.  For Columbus, we met Reyno outside of the main theater lobby about 4:45 and he walked us right down front where we had sat for Grease.  I enjoyed Columbus.  I don't think I am as psyched about it as some but it was a good show again with a rather wandering storyline but this is the fate of most shipboard productions.  It's definitely worth taking the time to see.
 
There were 2 shows we did not see.  We did not see the other ice show (I think it was called ISkate) and ironically, I never saw the other Aqua Theater show (The Hideaway Heist).  It's hard to see how I could have missed the AT show since it is right in my back yard but I did.  I'm sure Dan must have seen it since he spent more time in the suite than I did.  Oh well, we will be on Harmony again in September in another ATS so I'm sure I will still get the opportunity to see it then !!
Day 7.pdf

Yes, I am targeting an Alaska GC in June 2018. Those itineraries should be released next week, and then I hope to be able to pick a sailing quickly to set it up.

Woop woop sorry for the childish exclamations I am in my 40's after all, in 4 days I will be climbing on board a plane in the UK to travel to San Juan for my first ever a. Cruise and b. Time in the Caribbean, on the Adventure of the Seas, excited doesn't begin to cover it.
 
Is there anything on board that I really shouldn't miss???
 
Excited from the Isle of Wight, England x

I cruised on Epic in 2013 and I like some things about it and didn't like others (pretty much like everything else, I guess.  Good/bad).
 
I liked the casino very much.  I loved one of their complimentary restaurants but I can't remember the name.  O'Sheehan's, I think.  It was great for just grabbing something fast but WAAAY better than a buffet.  It had a pub atmosphere and the food was good enough.  I didn't care for the MDR at all.  I think we only ate there once.  I don't remember much about the other restaurants.
 
I HATED the stateroom.  We had a balcony room with the split bathroom.  The shower on one side, a tiny little closet with the toilet on the other side and the sink was right out in the bedroom.  Whoever came up with this design should be barred from EVER designing another ship.  The room was also just small. 
 
I recall that the ship was somewhat difficult to navigate from end-to-end.  You often had to go up or down to get from one end to the other.
 
Unless the price was WAAAY cheaper than Oasis (and I do seem to recall that the price was pretty good for that cruise) I would choose Oasis EVERY time.

Yes, it has been my experience that this will vary from ship-to-ship.  I was actually very pleased to find that the limit on UTH (which is my favorite game) was $5 and not $10.  I had heard that all ships were going to increase their minimum wager requirement and was delighted to find that, at least for now, that is not true....at least, on NAV.
 
So you just won't know until you get there, I guess.
 
Kris is right about the casino making changes based on player participation though.  This is especially true with the live poker cash game.  On my last 2 cruises they were declaring that their cash games were $2/$5 blinds....but if you stick to your guns and insist on lowering the blinds they WILL let you play $1/$3.  The first night of the cruise we sat down to play poker and the first dealer we had insisted that the blinds would be $2/$5 and that there could be no deviation from this.  I just went to to the Casino Manager and told him that we would not play for $2/$5 but we would play for $1/$3 and guess what ?  We played $1/$3 blind no limit Texas Hold Em the entire 11 night cruise.  So you CAN influence their gaming limits...you just have to be firm with them !
 
A quick word about the dealers.  I'm not sure what RCI is doing with their dealers but it seems as if 90% of the dealers on our NAV cruise were new hires.  I almost ALWAYS know at least a couple of dealers from previous cruises...and we did, actually, see 1 dealer that we knew from prior cruising, but that was it !  He told us that nearly all of the dealers on the NAV were new.  I really miss seeing friends that I have made on previous cruises and I don't care for the fact that they are choosing to hire all new dealers.  It seems like it would make things very difficult to have a bunch of newbies on there are the same time but there must be some rationale.  Salary perhaps.  Who knows.  Maybe it's just a demand thing.  With all of the new ships maybe RCI is moving all of their experienced dealers to the new, big ships and the older ships are getting stuck with hiring all newbies.  I can check out that theory when we go on Harmony next month !