Ampurp85

@Lovetocruise2002 Your wipes look better...I can always bring both

I think @Thrifty99 and the article@emsff02 cited could be both right..or we could be all wrong. Let me preface this by saying I am not a conspiracy theorist. Through some insane legal, but morally questionable, loopholes......RCC could have like a 77% profit margin. I say this because my IHOP was a franchise and they did questionable things..accounting-wise. Everything doesn't make it to report...I know they were just named an ethical company....again but I said this to say who really knows. As long as I don't feel scammed and they continue to provide a great product, with great service

I have been bringing Lysol or Clorox wipes with me since my first flight in 2001. I literally wipe everything down as soon as I get to the room or my seat. I also carry the tiny disinfectant sprays in my backpack/purse all year round. That can has never been confiscated during a TSA screening or on any cruise. The first time my brother and I traveled together he talked mad crap. Neither of us have ever come back sick...coming back on our first leg from Egypt we were the only people on the plane not sick

@PG Cruiser Sweet!!!

@SteveinSC @FManke As a chubster this is always my go-to for the worst scenario. I once had to do a survival project at work and of course cannibalism was first on the list....my coworkers looked at me funny the rest of the week.

That looks so fun, I gotta say...you and your family take good pictures. You all look like beautiful human beings.  We always manage to have an eye closed or looking at something else, which is never a good angle. Which makes us look like weird potato people or aliens confused by human culture.

@Matt

I think it is important to have a healthy amount of fear. However, when that fear takes over your life and affects day-to-day activities I think a person should take a step back and assess. We don't know everything about the beer virus which is why the hyperactive news reporting has been able to spread unwarranted fear. I do think we should stop comparing it to the flu, but remain diligent in our hand washing. Also ANYTHING could happen at any moment for any reason.....dictator uprising, cannibalism, war etc that may stop a port from allowing a ship to dock.

@AGSLC5 I still use my AOL account for almost everything and my Gmail account for nothing.

1 hour ago, carolsommers727 said:

 

a. How are the clubs on royal Caribbean ships? (Or oasis specifically) Do they get pretty packed? How late are they open and is the music good? I have nyc clubs to compare it to in my mind....Most are open pretty late, and it really depends on the club and music playing...like all clubs

b. At the clubs if we wanted tequila shots with the unlimited drinking package, how often could we get them or is there a specific time period we’d have to wait between each shot? I don't think there is a time limit but you have to finish your drink before they give you a new one...unless the bartender likes you

c. Why is it impossible to find a drink menu for oasis anywhere? I want to make sure drinks I would want are included in the unlimited package. For example how much is a frozen pina colada? (A drink I see myself having a lot of) margarita? mojito? There may not be actual drink menus relative to Oasis as a whole but you can look at the different bar menus to gather a price range. Most of the drinks you listed will be available in the drink package.

d. How does it work if we do not want to pay gratuity in advance? Our travel agent says on the last night of the trip they will put tip envelopes for cash in our room, is that how it actually works or is there another way to self pay gratuity? So this is not 100% the truth, they will give you an envelope to put any extra tips you might want to disperse to various crew members. But the daily gratuity will be charged to your room with the final bill.

e. How does making my time dining reservations go? As well as theater and aquatheater reservations? You can make them on the app or cruise planner. I would check daily as sometimes things fill up quickly. With shows there is a standby line and with diner reservations, if you cannot get the time you want. You might be able to try on embarkment day.

f. For people who have been to the water park at coco cay and Atlantis, which is better? I did Cococay and it was fun, never been to Atlantis

g. Any first time cruiser advice that you think is absolutely necessary? Prebook as much as possible, I know you say you don't want to prepay gratuities but you don't want to ruin the high by having a big bill. Allow enough time for problems by coming in a day early. Get on the ship as soon as possible and have fun.

h. How are speciality restaurants on oasis? Interested in the bbq place and playmakers bar...Someone else will answer this and I won't be on her until March 2022

thank you all!!

For some reason I assumed you were D+ already.  I think those balls are Arancini, we had like 3 variations of them when we went to Italy and I always found them to be bland regardless of the ingredients. I think I am never going to do more than a 3 or 4 night dining plan because it seems like everyone who does the UDP stuffs themselves.

I use to manage an IHOP, it cost us $.50 in total for a stack of pancakes that ran $4.99. Our weekly sales could be anywhere from $14-26,000. Essentially with labor, utilities and general cost we went black by the second week every month.Of course they always want you to make more, so having $65,000 in monthly revenue is not as great as having $86-100,000.  As far as what RCC needs to make in order to be black...My guess would be all of Star class on Oasis and Quantum ships and all the suites, minus jr, on the other classes. Lets say an average of 4000 pax at about $500 per person would be about $2 million. I would imagine that cost, labor and overhead would be under $100 million for the year. So on the low average of $2 million per sailing, RCC just needs 50 cruises to break even. There are some ships that do more than that just on their own in a year. I have found that 35-41%(the maximum percentage of cost they are willing to spend to provide great services) is the medium when it comes to hotel and traveling.  So my guess would be about $176 per cabin, maybe even a little less depending on the ship.

@WAAAYTOOO That joke was hilarious, as I've been telling my brother the same thing. I hope your surgery goes well and recovery is swift. I don't think it has anything to do with age, they just aren't making bodies the way they used to.. My friend is 32 and had to have knee and ACL surgery last week. She was up and at it 2 days later because it was outpatient.

My nightmare is that they always give my room away. Like I get there to check in and they say "Oh you missed one tiny check, so we assumed you didn't want to go. Have a nice day" Then I am escorted off the ship to watch all the happy people sail away.

Well my name is a combination of my initials, year born and the name of the first gift my husband ever gave me. I met him in the 2nd grade, we got married after I graduated high school, and he brought me a purple Care bear. My mother has bipolar disorder and I have never gotten a present before. I named him Purp because that was the best I could do. Purple became my favorite color, I have purple hair, and I had Purp almost 20 years until my house flooded. I try to use it wherever I can, my first name is Alicia but I go by Ali.

@SteveinSC I doubt I will be a fan of larger ships, I started with Mariner and have 2 more cruise on her in 2021. Then I'm doing Liberty and Navigator this year, other than Voom and the refreshment package I don't plan on getting anything else. Allure in Oct 2021 will be my first Oasis class and I somehow felt the need to do Sky class, 3 nights dining and a drinks package. I feel like the sheer number of people will affect my experience so I want to circumvent that. I could care less about slides, Ifly etc as my cruise is all about relaxing.

@SteveinSC I wouldn't think of it as going down, as there really aren't any bad ships in the RCC fleet. It is my personal opinion that when people "go big or go home" the first time they find their niche. By starting with an Oasis class they are already setting themselves up to be overwhelmed or eventually disappointed lol. So they might as well get the most out of this experience.

I have a hard top Olympia USA luggage that is about 23" and I use that for my less than one week trips. I have had it about 4 years now and it has survived many bumps and bruises. I brought into the hype and got an Away Travel Medium size luggage in Eggplant in 2018. I took it one trip so far and don't have anything good or bad to say about it yet. My go-to is still my Samsonite 26", which I have had for almost 8 years and only has a smidgen of fringe issues. I have heard good things about Tumi and Swiss, but it really comes down to need and style.

I would say it depends on levels of comfort, at must I would change the UDP to a 3/4 day. Harmony is a huge ship full of people, so having all the extra bells and whistles may go a long way in making this cruise worth it. You may find it more difficult to enjoy the free options and lets be real, a big ship is where paid options shine. Maybe you should ball out on this one since I knew you will have the cursing bug after. That way when you cruise a smaller ship, you won't have FOMO.

Well that really depends on what you mean by hair braiding. Some styes are culturally specific and can't be duplicated by the average hair dresser. I believe most ships have a hair salon but very few offer braiding.

@Balsam I am sure there are people who like to live on the edge.

I got my brother looking at cruise blogs and he is obsessed with Oasis class. He believes the more people the merrier so he is excited about the two Oasis sailings we have booked. On another note I would be barfing like crazy if I had to wear that 3D harness.

Try Amazon, I have a travel strip but unfortunately they no longer make them. Just search by the country and a ton will pop up.

Maybe its FOMO but that bed looks comfy. I can't wait to try Playmakers, as I am all about that bar food life....really I just looove fries.

They may do Greece, Spain or France IF this continues to play out. Some people say the virus will die when hot weather hits, obviously this is a lie because Iran and Italy have warmer climates. I think when more transparency comes into play we will be able to get a handle on things. The hyperbolic media is definitely making things worse. I am young, just survived the flu so I ain't worried about no beer virus.