mac66

I'd personally pick Sand Dollar for their affiliation with the cruise lines (which I did for my Feb cruise even thought the ship's dive was sold out) but the standards are pretty much the same so I'm sure you'll have a good time what ever you pick. 
Be aware that diving is an addicting and expensive hobby.  I always wanted to dive but never got around to it until I did a discovery dive in Grand Cayman.  I went home and did the PADI class, then my open water dives on a cruise to the ABC islands.  I was 65 when I got certified. Did 5 or 6 dives on cruises then covid hit. Started diving again on cruises last winter/spring. Just got back from another cruise to the ABCs and dived 6 times in 3 days. I live in the north but I'm strictly a warm water, cruise diver.
 

I should have mentioned another bad thing about these charter cruises...usually your status (Diamond/Elite or above) perks don't apply.  No drink vouchers/happy hours, wifi minutes,discounts etc.  On the other hand we were allowed to bring our own booze on board and they had several events/concerts where they served free rum punch.

I should have mentioned another bad thing about these charter cruises...usually your status (Diamond/Elite or above) perks don't apply.  No drink vouchers/happy hours, wifi minutes,discounts etc.  On the other hand we were allowed to bring our own booze on board and they had several events/concerts where they served free rum punch.

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.
 

As I get older I appreciate the smaller ships more with the less hectic/crowded activities on board. We kind of switched to Celebrity ships before the covid thing but on three  X cruises (2 on the Summit, one on the Equinox) this year we were kind of disappointed with the food and service. We went back to RCI for a late Nov/early Dec cruise on a Voyager class ship and it was very nice. Didn't really miss much of what the Oasis class offers.  We are on a Radiance class ship in Feb. Looking forward to it.  Except for maybe taking grand kids some day, I probably will not do an Oasis class again. Have no desire to do an Icon class either.

No such thing as a "free cruise". You are still paying for it, just in different way.

No such thing as a "free cruise". You are still paying for it, just in different way.

A "sale" is whatever price they are selling an item at, i.e, for sale.    It doesn't necessarily mean a discounted price. The term "sale" has kind of morphed into (through marketing) a cheaper price but that's rarely true.

If you drink 8-12 beers or drinks a day it's understandable why you don't mind paying the price.

Yep at $80-90/day or $65-75 for cruises longer than 8 nights, that would be the cost for two people. Which is pretty much another cruise lol

I have always thought it was Potpourri but you spelling makes more sense.  

Last Feb we bought and brought a couple bottles of booze on board after a shore excursion (stuff we couldn't get back home) fully expecting it to be confiscated. They didn't. That was in St. Maarten.
When we sailed with our adult kids last Dec, they flew in so we picked up a couple extra bottles of wine for them to carry aboard as we were meeting them on the dock.  I had a couple bottles and my wife forgot to give them theirs so she carried it aboard. We weren't stopped.  Though not encouraged there are other ways to imbibe on board.
We are D's and not big drinkers so don't really need extra booze. In fact on our last cruise we didn't even open the wine we took aboard.

Been to Coz a bunch of times. Our favorite Coz excursion was the secret river cave tour.

Been to Coz a bunch of times. Our favorite Coz excursion was the secret river cave tour.

As I get older I appreciate the smaller ships more with the less hectic/crowded activities on board. We kind of switched to Celebrity ships before the covid thing but on three  X cruises (2 on the Summit, one on the Equinox) this year we were kind of disappointed with the food and service. We went back to RCI for a late Nov/early Dec cruise on a Voyager class ship and it was very nice. Didn't really miss much of what the Oasis class offers.  We are on a Radiance class ship in Feb. Looking forward to it.  Except for maybe taking grand kids some day, I probably will not do an Oasis class again. Have no desire to do an Icon class either.

I'm totally with you. I've now sailed on at least one of every RCI class that are still in service.  Freedom and Voyager classes are my absolute favorites. Room enough for activities for everyone.  Small enough to still be friendly and intimate. 
I hope RCI creates something similar as they age out. As twangster mentions, there's plenty of reasons why they might not. I hold there are reasons that they might. Only time will tell. 

As I get older I appreciate the smaller ships more with the less hectic/crowded activities on board. We kind of switched to Celebrity ships before the covid thing but on three  X cruises (2 on the Summit, one on the Equinox) this year we were kind of disappointed with the food and service. We went back to RCI for a late Nov/early Dec cruise on a Voyager class ship and it was very nice. Didn't really miss much of what the Oasis class offers.  We are on a Radiance class ship in Feb. Looking forward to it.  Except for maybe taking grand kids some day, I probably will not do an Oasis class again. Have no desire to do an Icon class either.

No such thing as a "free cruise". You are still paying for it, just in different way.

I'd personally pick Sand Dollar for their affiliation with the cruise lines (which I did for my Feb cruise even thought the ship's dive was sold out) but the standards are pretty much the same so I'm sure you'll have a good time what ever you pick. 
Be aware that diving is an addicting and expensive hobby.  I always wanted to dive but never got around to it until I did a discovery dive in Grand Cayman.  I went home and did the PADI class, then my open water dives on a cruise to the ABC islands.  I was 65 when I got certified. Did 5 or 6 dives on cruises then covid hit. Started diving again on cruises last winter/spring. Just got back from another cruise to the ABCs and dived 6 times in 3 days. I live in the north but I'm strictly a warm water, cruise diver.
 

Okay...well...thanks for posting 🙄

Okay...well...thanks for posting 🙄

There is a reason why cruise lines give away cruises to gamblers. They ain't free.

There is a reason why cruise lines give away cruises to gamblers. They ain't free.

We've been Diamonds for 3 years now and for whatever reasons just used the Diamond lounge for the first time on our Nov 26 Explorer cruise.  It was really nice...food, service and the coffee machine were really good. And it wasn't crowded. We tried the DL on a couple other cruises but it was always so crowded or we were with non D family we passed.

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.