JimnKathy

4 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We will also be able to go to Chop's for breakfast starting next week and that's one of the perks I'm most excited about.  No more WJ or MDR mania...for breakfast, at least.

I want to hear about the amazing Chops breakfast for the cool kids in school.  

On 10/2/2023 at 4:19 PM, OCSC Mike said:

Have you been on Oasis class before?

It felt like any other Oasis class ship to me in June... pool deck was crowded, WJ was crowded at peak times (although the new layout is much improved), otherwise it handled the insane amount of people as well as any other ship that large... which is pretty damn well, IMO.

I agree.

We've enjoyed sailings on Allure, Symphony and Wonder and never felt the ships were any more crowded than experiences on smaller cruise ships. The Oasis class design is on point for managing crowd flow.

23 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yet another DIFFERENT result in the BOGO situation....

Boarded Grandeur yesterday and wanted to do our usual - both pay full price for our first night and then get our follow-on meal later in the week would be $-0-.  We wanted to eat on nights 1 and 4 (Dan's birthday).  We were fully willing to pay full price for the more expensive meal (Chops) and get the second less expensive meal (Gios) for free.

No

So, it turns out that we had to go through WAAAY more maneuvers than was necessary, but in the end, it saved us money so - there's that !!

We went to Giovanni's Table last night and paid full price for 1 BOGO for which one of us paid, and the other got our meal "free".  Then, we were required to go to Chops (where we will be having our second meal, on night #4) on day #2 and pay for our second BOGO where we paid full price for one and received our second meal for $-0-. The Chops manager did some kind of maneuvering with reservations where she made us reservations for night #2 and then cancelled them and rescheduled for night #4 or something....I never fully understood what she was doing....but IMO it was all completely unnecessary.  If we had just paid full price on night #1 for both of us it would have been done....but we're getting what we want in the end, and since we only paid full price for Chops once and full price for Gios once, we ended up saving a few bucks, so.....whatever....

WHEW.  What a complete PITA

Sounds like a techy limitation in their reservation system. Sorry you had to go through all that to accomplish something that should be a simple thing to do.

Make sure you get the Internet package. Our experience with NCAA Tournament games is that Playmakers carries the ESPN International package. While you'll get a few games here and there, they may not carry the specific games you want to see.

You may find you'll want to stream your preferred game to a personal Internet device, thus making the Internet package a big deal.

No way I'd take an excursion with that tight of a timeframe to make the all aboard time....simply zero room for error if it was a non-RCL promoted excursion.

Just out of curiosity, how far away is that museum from the ship?

Travel outside the country? Get a passport...end of story.

The one time you really need it (medical emergency, miss your boat, etc.) will pay for itself in spades.

Been to Perfect Day 4 times...the balloon wasn't operational any of those times.  

On 8/30/2023 at 11:43 AM, VillainsGin said:

I personally tip on top of prepaid gratuity and it makes a HUGE difference especially for my needs!

Although their service is already amazing and friendly they do go out of their way for you more than most if you tip a few dollars.

I bring a few hundred dollars in 1's and 5's for tipping and port shopping.

Examples of when tipping made a huge difference:

• When I'm gambling at the casino and the runner makes his way around the tables to take drink orders, I always start of the initial tip with $5 and the rest of the night every time I get my drinks I give $1. the drink runner would come to me first and check on my drink to see where i'm at and would ask if i'm doing good before moving on, even if I didn't notice him or was busy gambling. This was important to me because I do forget to order more drinks when I get caught up gambling.
• When I'm in the pool or hot tub and I definitely start off the initial first order with a $5 tip which is EXTREMELY convenient. The runner would ALWAYS swing by frequently to make sure I have a drink or would keep tabs on when I would need one. This is really important because it saves me the hassle and time of getting out of the hot tub or pool potentially losing my spot and walking over the the bars on deck! [also its cold coming out the pool/hot tub]
• When I meet my cabin attendant on day 1 I initially give him $10 and he goes above and beyond his above and beyond. He takes effort in remembering our names and if he doesn't know he will look on his roster of the assigned area and greet us by name every time. Puts extra gifts when we come back along with tower animals and small treats like cookies/fruits. I even had a bucket of ice in the cooler and never requested it. He noticed I used the cruise soap bar a lot so he had 2 extra bars by the sink. Took note I sit on the balcony a lot so he deep cleaned the chairs and tables, etc.

These are just some of the example but there a lot more!

Yup. 

$2 bills are a pain in the backside for retail establishments...no place to put them in the cash drawer. 

Having been a bartender back in my younger years, I always add extra $$ to RCL's amazing bartenders...it makes a HUGE difference in service quality.  

One hack I use to upgrade the Creme Brule is to ask the waiter to give me different fresh fruit slices on the side...blueberries, raspberries and cantaloupe are my favs.

I just ask the waiter to bring out what he/she thinks is the most in season option and away I go.

Over several decades I've had several land vacations throttled/disrupted/scuttled by hurricanes, and while each time was highly irritating in the moment, I looked back after getting safely home and was extremely thankful I didn't live in a place where lives and property were demolished. 

This disaster in Maui is unprecedented in nature and scope. My prayers go out to everyone who lost family and friends in this devastation.

One bottle of wine per person...we always haul it in our carry-on bags during embarkation...easy peasy.  

On 8/9/2023 at 11:10 AM, smokeybandit said:

Careful with annual plans. Be sure to check the cancellation/interruption benefit since for those it's per policy, not per person.

You just have to buy an annual plan covering your travel partner(s) and you. 

As others have already posted, get an annual plan from Allianz (or another solid provider). The many benefits are great, but the medical evac coverage alone will actually cover ALL of the costs of having an emergency helicopter get you air-lifted back to a 1st-world country. The devil's in the details.

What could possibly go wrong with the combination of the DBP and axe throwing on a sailing (bouncing and moving) cruise ship? 

Everyone knows that Sorrentos offers nothing close to the delicious wood-fired pizza found in thousands of pizza joints nationwide.

I'd like to think these survey questions are merely being test-marketed to gauge guest response...hopefully the RCL marketing/finance folks hear the responses loud and clear. 

Several nuclear scientist folks I've followed for years all state that the type of uranium used in modern reactors isn't the fissionable material needed to make weapons...the terrorist angle doesn't seem to be an issue.

We're all here to talk cruising on RCL...we haven't a care in the world other than helping one another get the most out of their sailing vacations! 

Happy Sailing!  

It's a savvy move to tag everything you carry on...no tellin' how quick those embarkation day cocktails can kick in. 

1 minute ago, Matt said:

The Solarium is only opened to kids on cold weather cruises. It's been this way for many years.

We love the privacy of the Solarium whenever we've sailed in the Caribbean. The only cold weather cruise we experienced (Maine, Canada in October) was too cold to go outside anywhere, so the Solarium exception didn't affect us....we were enjoying views from the heated enclosed lounge on the top deck outside of Izumi. 

Pontificating as a Southerner from the great state of Tennessee, the rendition of pork belly found at Chops is an insult to "low and slow" meat smokin' readily found in backyards and great BBQ restaurants in our part of the country.

They should stick to filet mignon and other cuts of meat that don't require "low and slow" techniques.

Happy Sailing!  

We sailed on Allure in May...my 4 & 5 year old grandkids loved that slide!  

The good news is that Symphony is an awesome ship with tons of amenities to enjoy no matter what kind of room you have.

We've sailed her twice and loved the experiences on each trip!

Happy Sailing!  

Speaking as a retired restauranteur, an expired passport and/or driver's license is not a legal form of ID in the U.S., full stop.

You may get lucky and have a employee in a particular venue allow it on a one off basis, but to rely on it consistently is a big mistake.

Happy Sailing!