KLA

On 9/20/2021 at 4:29 PM, BrianB said:

I will when I get there. But I saw a video that showed Coco beach club restaurant allows you to order anything. As long as they’re serving. No limit.

Already planning to skip breakfast in favor of a filet and grilled lobster lunch 

7 minutes ago, Hagar said:

Guess the creek on my Grandpa's farm wasn't the only place to catch "catfish!"

Next season on 90 Day Fiancée...

I don't have a direct recommendation, but I would say take a look at the Hollywood Beach area. There's a handful of resorts and restaurants along the boardwalk and beach with options to rent beach chairs for the day or go out for a lunch. 

This is where we tend to stay when we sail from either FLL or MIA, but if you can find someplace to hang on to your luggage for the day there I think it's a great option. 

12 hours ago, BrianAlt said:

@Mattyou teased a pre-cruise testing video during today’s video. Is that out already or is it coming up in the future?

Thanks 

As an over-preparer, I would also be interested in this 'how to' video. 

1 hour ago, Sassy4106 said:

Add me to this list.  Terexy wants to take me on a cruise if I click the link.

I got the same one. 

AND the 12 PM Check In window just opened for us. Today is a GOOD DAY! 

Following - I'm on the sailing after you!  

2 minutes ago, mathbees said:

Well, then, I'll raise a glass  and hope you get good news!!

We'll see - I'll believe nothing until my card gets charged and I see my room assignment. 

And also that I get my negative Covid test and we can board as planned. 

2 minutes ago, mathbees said:

I can't speak to your question, but I do believe you get the early boarding of the suite, if you are successful.  I think the only suite benefit that doesn't come included is the extra C&A points.

But, my excitement is piqued... Is this for your Oct 3rd cruise on Odyssey?  If so, I'm very much looking forward to *maybe* getting some info soon on my bids for the Oct 9th...  I'm glad they don't bump me down on the list the more often I check the status.  

Yes - Oct 3rd Odyssey. I haven't gotten any official confirmation, but I did see that as of this afternoon my only unexpired bid is the one for my Junior Suite and it is 'Pending', and from my understanding this is a very good sign. 

We are currently in a GTY balcony, so this would be an exciting upgrade as we also do not yet have a balcony cabin assigned! 

Just saw my update - all bids except for Junior Suite have expired! 

Does this mean we also get the hour early priority boarding perk (assuming the Junior Suite upgrade fully processes?)? (Please don't yell at me I'm just excited and will gladly wait for my allocated time)  

1 hour ago, whitsmom said:

I was so surprised how easy and quick that it all happened.  We did luck up on our appointment scheduling as normally we would have had to drive 3 hours north to Cincinnati airport; however, for one week only that had it for Louisville airport and that was only 35 minutes away!  The person that did our interview was from Chicago. 

I did mine at CVG - They were booked out for months and I sat on the scheduling page refreshing until I saw a cancellation a couple days out and I grabbed it. 

1 hour ago, steverk said:

I booked independence on October 3 for 6 nights because it was a great deal.  Odyssey was traded out for Indy,  and now I have a 6 night Odyssey cruise.  Hard to say how common that was

Oh, we'll be on board with you! Odyssey 10/3! 

8 hours ago, CHRIS WONG said:

828 onboard this week on Odyssey.

Quick math says that this is just under 20% full by passenger capacity. 

Any idea what it might be for the October 3rd sailing? We'll be there that week! 

Oh, interesting - so instead of the ‘diamond drinks’ from the set menu, it’s a voucher instead? 

Is this limited to the usual happy hour times? 

Edit: It turns out reading is a critical skill. I see now where this is listed in the PDF. 

I agree with the advice offered. October tends to be our favorite time to cruise and you’ll still be safe with shorts/tshirts/sundresses and it’s plenty warm for the beach further south (not too hot not too cold), but pack some items that will help keep you warm for once you get towards chilly climates. 

4 hours ago, Shari said:

I got my 4 test kits; however, the expiration date is 5 October 2021.  I hope that the 6 month extension is correct because I cannot take the test before 8 October 2021!

There’s a PDF floating around where you should be able to double check the lot numbers, but we should be good. Mine are late Sept, but with the extension will be Dec. 

Again, hanging on to that CVS appointment juuuuuuust in case for peace of mind. 

2 minutes ago, BigKarl said:

I ordered my three pack on Sept 1st with "Free Expedited 2 day" Fedex shipping.  They finally arrived on Sept. 9th and there were only two in the pack.  One of them was crushed and the box was popped open so I was concerned because of the big red square stating in bold letters "DO NOT OPEN until instructed to do so.  I called and was very quickly and politely told that they would rush a third kit and a replacement kit for the one that was crushed.  Two days later I received a package with the replacement kits.  They are very helpful when you call them.

I agree with this - even with the big delay, the customer support representative I spoke with at Optum was incredibly kind and helpful and the wait wasn't terribly long. 

40 minutes ago, Shari said:

Mine shipped too.  Fedex and will be here today.

 

Same!! They're at my local facility now according to tracking. 

Glad it all worked out in the end!! 

2 minutes ago, Sushitex said:

On the Independence out of Galveston?  We are scheduled on the September 19th sailing on her. 2 out of our 3 bids already were "expired" (rejected) but the other said "pending" a little while ago. 

We are more anxious about our Covid-19 test tomorrow, but thinking about the possibility of upgrading is keeping me distracted, a little. 

That's typically a good sign. 

3 minutes ago, CruizIan said:

Well first off we were thinking about skipping Giovanni's because it just looked really casual and to be honest we didn't love Gio's Table the old concept. But we could not have been more wrong. Thankfully we decided to have lunch there on like day three and it was incredible and we went back for dinner on the last night. Everything is awesome. When we went for lunch they recommended three appetizers (The meat and cheese plate, stromboli, & Caprese) all was great but then we each ordered our own actual pizza when we could have split one or really just had the apps for lunch. It was just me and my Wife so we missed not having extra people to help with the sharable portions. 

Teppanyaki - has one of the best views on the ship and is definitely worth one of your dinners.

Playmakers - Food was good sports bar food if you are into that sort of thing and was great to just munch on late night watching a game. I think you could order up to 11pm

Wonderland - If you have never done it before I would say do it because it was an experience but you might have to get something to eat later on because it is not really a "Filling" meal.

We missed the opportunity to have some food at Giovanni's Wine Bar and I found out they have fried lasagna bites that I wish we would have tried.

Obviously CHOPS, CHOPS, CHOPS, everybody! CHOPS!

That looks fantastic - thanks so much for the recommends! 

Anything else we can't miss on the ship?  

7 minutes ago, CruizIan said:

We just did the UDP on Odyssey last week. We very much enjoyed it; but as it was our first time graduating from the 3 night package we felt the need to get the most bang for our buck and did it for lunch and dinner every night and even got some food in playmakers with it. (additional non meal time stops at Izumi) We would do it again but next time we get it we will not focus on absolutely having to have every possible meal we can in specialty. Some nights we were working around their schedule so we ate too early and then on the sea days when we did lunch it felt like we just ate the whole day. 

We did enjoy the food in Playmakers quite a bit while watching a game later in the evening. 

The Pub food was for whatever reason not included. I don't know if that is always the case or perhaps the bartender just made a mistake. Regardless the food is not very expensive in the Pub to begin with, like 4-8$ for appetizers. 

I would say if you are going on a ship that has many specialty dinning options then you should definitely do it. If you are going on a ship with fewer options it might make more sense to do the chops +1 or something else.

We'll be on Odyssey with the UDP in 2 weeks - what are your 'can't miss' recommends?

5 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

I haven't personally seen it, but I've heard from some that sometimes they end up opening the slot 30 minutes before whatever the earliest available was.  Maybe it has something to do with the trends they are seeing for turning things around at the port or they feel they're going to need longer to get everyone boarded, who knows.  Unfortunately Port Everglades doesn't have something like Grills close enough to walk to and kill time.  There's no easy way there to ditch your luggage early and go chill somewhere else until your boarding time.

Understood... yeah they still have slots open all the way up to 8 PM. Given that we sail at 6, I feel like something is going to change. 

I think our plan at this point is just try and get late checkout at our hotel and try to be as patient as we can. 

4 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

As stated, check-in on the app and skip to the select an arrival time part and lock that in. You can go back and add everything later.

Also do not be alarmed if you go in when your check-in opens and there's only one 3pm slot available.  That seems to be the default option that they open up at the scheduled check-in date but they go back in later and open up earlier times.  You can keep checking for an earlier time and grab one when you see it.

I cruise in just over 2 weeks and since I also booked late, the earliest check in time I could get was 2 PM. 

Do earlier times ever open up any closer to sail date? Looks like it's all the way down to 3 PM now. 

Still probably going to schedule a time slot in at CVS as Plan C backup. 

@Shari my kits just shipped - keep an eye on your email.