mac66

Three couples of us did that on the Serenade two weeks ago. No problem and I ate my wife's lobster tail since she doesn't like lobster.

Still...there are quite a few smaller ships in service that sail quite often i.e. every week.  Seems to me RCL needs them to keep up with demand...the right ship for the right itinerary out of the right port. 
It also seems to me the CLs would be cutting their own throats by moving everything to the mega ships. 

Any package drink is available in the MDR and all the bars,

I think there's two ways of looking at RC vs. X
1.  Do the cruise for yourself, not for your kid.  An X cruise may not have all the bells and whistles of an Oasis class ship but it's still a cruise. Unless you've spoiled your kid rotten he should have a good time on whatever ship you go on.    It is after all still a cruise, how bad could it be?
2. Even if he doesn't have as good a time on X as he did on the Oasis, it still gives him and you something to look forward to if you decide to go back to RC.  That's kind of why I always recommend sailing on smaller class RC ships first. Get your feet wet on the smaller ships first. You can always go up a class, harder to go down.

I think there's two ways of looking at RC vs. X
1.  Do the cruise for yourself, not for your kid.  An X cruise may not have all the bells and whistles of an Oasis class ship but it's still a cruise. Unless you've spoiled your kid rotten he should have a good time on whatever ship you go on.    It is after all still a cruise, how bad could it be?
2. Even if he doesn't have as good a time on X as he did on the Oasis, it still gives him and you something to look forward to if you decide to go back to RC.  That's kind of why I always recommend sailing on smaller class RC ships first. Get your feet wet on the smaller ships first. You can always go up a class, harder to go down.

I think there's two ways of looking at RC vs. X
1.  Do the cruise for yourself, not for your kid.  An X cruise may not have all the bells and whistles of an Oasis class ship but it's still a cruise. Unless you've spoiled your kid rotten he should have a good time on whatever ship you go on.    It is after all still a cruise, how bad could it be?
2. Even if he doesn't have as good a time on X as he did on the Oasis, it still gives him and you something to look forward to if you decide to go back to RC.  That's kind of why I always recommend sailing on smaller class RC ships first. Get your feet wet on the smaller ships first. You can always go up a class, harder to go down.

The snorkel worked great. I lasted about 45 minutes on my night snorkel excursion. (It was amazing it was like being a mermaid in a night club!) I got a touch of jaw pain on one side at the end. I did snorkel off the beach the next day and it worked even better in the shallow water. (I only saw one fish but it was a beautiful fish)
So glad i am now a snorkel girl!

I don't live in the US so I don't follow their crazy tipping culture but 18% is already way more than I normally tip so I never felt the need to leave anything extra.

Nnm

Feb 4 2023 Serenade. 

We've done three X cruises and 1 RCL cruise in the last year. The X cruises this year were on the Summit twice and the Equinox. The Royal cruise in December was on the Oasis.
Previous X cruises were on the Equinox and Constellation. Previous RCL were the Explorer, Freedom (twice), Oasis, Allure (twice). Majesty & Empress
The first Summit cruise this year was a charter (Rock and Romance cruise in Feb), the food and service were so-so but we had a great time, non stop music.  We did the 12 night Equinox in April and the service and food decent and what we expected from X based on past experience.  A
Just got off the Summit, a 12 night Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia to Boston cruise. Service was slow/bad, food was marginal (i.e overcooked, under cooked and/or cold). Menu's were exactly the same as the February cruise and the April cruise. No variation.  Service and food was so bad this time in the MDR that we actually walked out and ate in the Oceanview cafe (OC) 4 times until we finally switched to the 8 pm seating where we actually got waited on. One of the supervisors (maitre d'?) tried to placate us one night with "free" wine (we had a premium drink package).  We originally had 6:30 reservations.  Overall it was the worse food and service ever on an X cruise.
As was pointed out, the OC pretty much has the same food every night regardless of the ship it was hit or miss.  Our experience with RCL is that the Windjammer has different theme nights. When we were on Allure once they had a seafood night with mounds of clams, lobster, fish, mussels, crayfish etc. It was the same night as lobster night in the MDR.  They didn't have that on the other Allure cruise which was about 6 months later.  I think RCL caters more to the Windjammer since more people/families eat there than at the Oceanview on X. There we very few food choices and consequently few people in the OC (at least in the evening) when we were forced to eat there.
Our cruise on the Oasis last December was pretty good, food was better than we remembered from prior to covid. We did eat dinner in the Windjammer by choice a couple times just to try it. But to be fair the ship was half full. Tend to get better service and food with fewer people around..
We had wifi and the premium drink package as part of our recent Summit cruise. They were out of many of the high end liquors and beers. Couldn't get half the stuff on their booze and beer list.  We had the basic drink package on the Equinox. No drink package on the Oasis last december we're Diamond.
Both Summit cruises were in an interior cabin which were fine. We had booked a interior (we don't spend much time in our cabin so interiors work fine for us) on our Equinox cruise but was bumped up to a balcony when they shut down deck 3 which we booked on. We were given a deck 9 balcony, it was very nice.  I don't know if it was because of maintenance issues or lack of passengers and they just decided to upgrade us.  The ship was half full/empty.
Bathroom amenities were basically the same. The Summit and Equinox both had soap/shampoo dispensers in the shower as do the Royal ships.
We are back to Royal  on the Explorer the end of this November (ocean view) because we found a cheap 8 nighter. And the Serenade, ocean view cabin next Feb simply because we found a cheap 7 day to get out of the cold weather in the north where we live.  It will be our first time on a Radiance class ship so that should be interesting.
We tend to like the vibe on X and switch between the two based on itinerary. Based on recent trips on X we may end up going back to Royal. Just so much more to do and food choices are greate at least on the Oasis and Freedom class ships although menus are the same between X and RCI.  We'll see what the Radiance class has to offer.
 I don't think there is any doubt that food and service have declined on cruise ships since they began pushing specialty $ dining and suite perks.   I also think X is focusing on the Edge class ships and neglecting the lesser classes at least the Millennium class ships.  You just aren't going to feel special on a cruise anymore unless you are willing to pay up for it.
Having said all that, every cruise is different depending on the ship, time of the year, itinerary and how long you go. You pays your money, you takes your chances and as they say... Your mileage may vary.

I would do Explorer first then work my way up to Oasis class. Gives you someone look forward to.
We did Explorer for our kid's first cruise. Then a couple other ships then a couple Oasis class ships. The kids, all now grown up still talk about their first cruise as their favorite. 

Except you shouldn't have to "go somewhere else". You have the right to not have to smell something, or not put up with something that is encroaching on those rights. Weed is banned, make the ship enforce their rules.

Except you shouldn't have to "go somewhere else". You have the right to not have to smell something, or not put up with something that is encroaching on those rights. Weed is banned, make the ship enforce their rules.

Except you shouldn't have to "go somewhere else". You have the right to not have to smell something, or not put up with something that is encroaching on those rights. Weed is banned, make the ship enforce their rules.

Except you shouldn't have to "go somewhere else". You have the right to not have to smell something, or not put up with something that is encroaching on those rights. Weed is banned, make the ship enforce their rules.

Except you shouldn't have to "go somewhere else". You have the right to not have to smell something, or not put up with something that is encroaching on those rights. Weed is banned, make the ship enforce their rules.

I don't do cell phones very much and certainly not when I'm on a cruise. I lock it in the safe when I get on board, unlock it when I leave the ship at the end of the cruise.  I ask the room attendant for a paper copy and if I misplace or ruin the one  i have (go swimming with it) I stop by the desk and get another one.

I don't do cell phones very much and certainly not when I'm on a cruise. I lock it in the safe when I get on board, unlock it when I leave the ship at the end of the cruise.  I ask the room attendant for a paper copy and if I misplace or ruin the one  i have (go swimming with it) I stop by the desk and get another one.

I don't do cell phones very much and certainly not when I'm on a cruise. I lock it in the safe when I get on board, unlock it when I leave the ship at the end of the cruise.  I ask the room attendant for a paper copy and if I misplace or ruin the one  i have (go swimming with it) I stop by the desk and get another one.

When I said "we're done with X for awhile"  I apparently meant at least a year. My wife booked an 11 nighter on the Beyond for Jan '24.  Just will have to suffer through another X cruise...poor us. 😄

We were just on Explorer a couple weeks ago.   The crew we asked said that it was going in for maintenance and refreshing not a complete re vAMPing. They said the carpeting and wall coverings and wall decorations will be changed. Chairs and tables in the MDR and bars/lounges will be replaced.  They are tearing out some of the shops on the promenade and replacing them with a Playmaker's Sports Bar.
We were on board during the world cup soccer and Michigan/Ohio State and other college and later pro games, space was definitely lacking to watch sports.
 

You can have a very good cruise without paying anything extra.  We been on RCI many, many times and still don't pay anything more (except for shore excursions) than the cruise fare and gratuities.

You can have a very good cruise without paying anything extra.  We been on RCI many, many times and still don't pay anything more (except for shore excursions) than the cruise fare and gratuities.

Ah...Dragon's Breath/Fire....World's most expensive 40 seconds.🙄