dmattinson

just remember, the Euro plug puts out 240V - if you use that device you linked on that outlet and plug in something into the front that is only rated up to 120V, you will fry the plug and possibly the device you plug into it (and maybe even the adapter) - USBs should be OK on the bottom though I find a standard 4-port USB charger works well for my watch, phones for wife and I, and my GoPro, MacBook, or iPad all at the same time. I also use one of these to add more capacity and will plug in our room fan into it.

I can't believe no one mentioned retractable and unclipable cruise lanyards. I like the linked set not only for the variety, but also because they have vertical and horizontal badge holders (great for tapping room entry or at point of sale), they include two other attachment types for the older mag-stripe card that you can punch a hole in, they don't have a clip around the neck portion which can be a breaking point or something that irritates the back of the neck, they have a retractable lead for the tap-type cards to reach the door while standing (you don't have to take it off or bend over to reach the door lock reader), and they allow you to leave the lanyard on and simply unbuckle the card portion for handing over your card for drink purchases with servers. The bit of matching lanyard material still attached to your card makes for easy identification when with a group.

I'd pick the cheaper one AFTER taking into account airfare and transportation costs - I don't know where each of those ships are leaving from but a sailing from Miami in spring and accounting for a day in advance hotel stay may wipe out the cost savings over same time from Galveston even though your transportation costs are higher due to airport distance. I'd consider: cruise fare airfare pre and/or post stay hotel expenses transportation from airport to hotel to cruise terminal time (if it takes you 5 hours to fly to one spot but only 3 to another, is that time difference worth the savings) With Oasis being amplified, you aren't far off from Wonder aside from newness and a couple of venues. I wouldn't hesitate on either of them.

I typically have the drink package and in the 1st day or two, I'm trying out the different bars to see where my "spot" will be during down times to grab a drink or two or hang out post dinner / show until bed time to enjoy the evening. I keep about $10 on me in singles plus a five and if someone goes out of their way and is engaging, they'll get a tip in cash above the included tip. If they ignored me or treated it as very transactional and didn't engage, I just take the drink and move on. Once I find my spot however, I will feed $5 to each server throughout the cruise 4-5 times ensuring that they get at least $20 in cash from me depending on how much they served me (vs. others that may have seen me on occasion in that location). Heck, on one sailing, my wife slept in, didn't read the note I left behind with my phone, and went looking around the ship for me (I was lounging at the pool). She went to the pub (which was my "spot" for that sailing) and they preemptively told her "we haven't seen Mr Dennis today!" She went to guest services to see where I was buying my drinks and found me pretty quickly after that.

sorry, don't like it - the link requested has booking ID included No one is getting my booking ID

if they get stuck together, I just screw in the hook to the base and pry them apart

Sounds like a Reddit argument - not all boomers are financially secured. Depending on their career and whether their company exists anymore, a pension that they may have banked on may no longer exist or was paid out early at a fraction of the intended value, 401k accounts weren't prevalent for many until the 1990's when they were in their 40s leaving their market earning potential limited, inflation has outpaced SSA income, and while some may have appreciated housing values, not everyone is hanging onto a house bought for $50k @ 12%APR (when making $2.25/hr) as an appreciated asset (many have taken that equity and upsized or downsized houses over the years). The over 65 population does have more time and tends to cruise more than non-retirees, but they don't always spend on extras like dining and drink packages as their goal is the adventure, not spending onboard. Inclusive dining options are perfect for many and buying a couple drinks (if they don't get free ones from status) is cheaper than buying a package. Its a marketing push by RCL to drive extra spending and may push someone that was "thinking about it" to "buying it" and as a result, brings in more money where the cruise line has better margins.

So I figured this one out accidentally last evening - we are sailing on Wonder in May, my MIL is linked to our sailing and she is over 65. She is sharing a room with her nephew who is 19. I priced out something showing senior discounted (Mason Jar lunch) that we already purchased. Me and my wife in 1 stateroom were still $30.99, my MIL was $27.99 BUT her nephew in the same room was $30.99. So I'd say it is safe to assume that they know the age and will only apply the savings to the passenger(s) that are qualified.

I wish the federal government issued these type of warnings for places within the US as well - maybe people will realize that places like Philadelphia can be just as dangerous as some foreign lands...35 homicides and 108 shootings so far this year which is a 31% decrease from last year at same time.

We sailed Odyssey in Dec 2022 - nice ship but once you come off an Oasis class ship, the Quantum and Quantum Ultra just seem to be made to push crowds throughout the ship vs. centralize them to a few distinct areas, which for us, was more preferable. Favs spots that I had on Harmony weren't the same on Odyssey like the pub (smaller, odd shaped, loud (live music), and not as busy (I was on a 8-day cruise between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the cruise had a lot of retirees not looking to stay out late). I felt Two70 show "The Book" was odd and I didn't feel it and left about 20 mins into the show. Later in the cruise, I discovered the upstairs to the Music Hall and felt that would have been my spot if I found it earlier. Every time we went to check it out, we went in on Deck 3 and the music wasn't to our liking - the deck plans don't show it on Deck 4 but the upstairs portion has the pool tables, overlooks the music venue, had a large bar and comfortable lounge seating. We only used it on the last two nights sadly. We have eaten at Giovanni's on both Odyssey and Oasis - the experience was pretty much the same...good food and too much of it! I do like how Giovanni's was set-up on Odyssey as it was more open and casual vs. closed in, dark, and formal on Oasis. But the experience with the servers and the quality was on par between the two. We also have Giovanni's scheduled for a lunch on this sailing. We are hitting the Mason Jar for lunch on embarkation day...we will be driving in and won't likely eat breakfast prior to heading to the ship so a nice Mother's Day Sunday brunch will fit the bill perfectly while waiting for rooms to be ready.

I went into this thinking you got drinks with "floaters" in them not that you were topping the drink with a floater shot. Wheww!

short cruises or ones I'm driving to and have some extra luggage space, I'll pack a couple of colorful towels to take to the beach and/or the pool deck - they stand out in a sea of identical chairs so I can set-up and go swimming or hit the hot tub as the wife makes her way up to the pool deck after a late breakfast and she can find our spot or when in the water at the beach, can find where my stuff is because I always seem to exit the water at a different spot than where I entered if I'm flying in, the cruise line towels are adequate

I have tried to find the 3 roll slot machines that are $0.25 bets and have a max play of 3 to 5 coins (meaning $0.75 to $1.25 per pull). You can look at the top glass and see the payouts for 1, 2 or all 3 (or up to 5) bets. Keeps the money going a little longer But those are getting fewer and fewer as new multi-line video machines are taking over the space. When they are all gone, I'll be solely a video poker player.

Just note, if you book an accessible room, you likely will NOT receive an opportunity to RoyalUp - either the availability of higher tier accessible rooms isn't there or they don't want to displace you into a larger, non-accessible room in the event you need the roll-in shower for mobility purposes.

LEAVING FROM: Orlando (Port Canaveral), Florida ONBOARD: Voyager of the Seas DAY: 1 Orlando (Port Canaveral), Florida - Departs at 4:00 PM 2 Cruising - Day at sea 3 Labadee, Haiti - From 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM 4 Cruising - Day at sea 5 Perfect Day at CocoCay, Bahamas - From 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM 6 Orlando (Port Canaveral), Florida - Arrives at 7:00 AM I did it again...booked a lower priced cruise that was low because it sails over Easter...oh well, this cruise will get us to Diamond status. Will need the drink package on this one...its like having 5 seas days

done!

LEAVING FROM: Orlando (Port Canaveral), Florida ONBOARD: Star of the Seas DAY: 1 Orlando (Port Canaveral), Florida - Departs at 4:30 PM 2 Perfect Day at CocoCay, Bahamas - From 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM 3 Cruising - Day at sea 4 Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas - From 12:30 PM - 8:00 PM 5 Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis - From 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM 6 - 7 Cruising - Day at sea 8 Orlando (Port Canaveral), Florida - Arrives at 6:00 AM It'll be our 1st cruise as Diamond C&A Members so why not work towards D+ and book a Surfside Suite?

We booked this sailing at NextCruise when we were on Oasis last year on an Easter sailing. It was a chance for us to rebook a sailing on a different Oasis class ship for others in our party that bowed out of sailing during the pandemic. We'll have a 1st time cruiser in our group. Didn't realize that we are sailing on Mother's Day when we picked it...just like we didn't realize we were sailing on Easter on Oasis

I thought the location of the Bionic bar (and general layout of Odyssey in whole) to be not well thought out - on the Oasis class ships its in the main part of the Promenade with the extra seating available around it. On Odyssey being on the 5th deck and off to the side of a mostly pass-through deck area (where the main Promenade is on 4) it just didn't seem to hit the mark.

It is missing for me too - however, if you use the look-up reservation feature on https://www.royalcaribbean.com/reservation/lookup it will show amounts due and allow you to make payments. It is also showing payments due in the Royal App on my iphone. I thought it was me from a courtesy hold converted to a booking that threw it off.

Agreed - I was on Serenade and only got free drinks from 5-8P...now I'm not going to say that I drank modestly on that 12-night sailing but I could have done a lot more damage than just the two bottles of Bulleit I killed solo in that lounge before our dinner seating time It almost made the drink package not worth buying even with that limited time

I'm sure people have booked already and are looking for roll calls to begin planning out their sailings.

Why not file a change of address with the DMV and get a new license with the correct address? Most states allow you to do this online or at a tag agency and the license comes back in short time

mobile service on board the ship while sailing is VERY expensive - you can get caribbean cell eSIMS for on-shore if your cellular plan doesn't have international roaming but onboard the ship while at sea, you are best to just get the Voom package from RCL

My MIL kept telling me that the drink package for our May Wonder sailing was down to $67.99/day - I was still seeing $72.99. She is in her early 70's, I'm in my late 40's. Definitely focused marketing effort.