Jamesszy94

31 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

The second ice show is called “Once Upon a Time: The King’s Royal Ball”. It is a total “tot town” show. We left after 10 mins

That theatre? Looks a bit small....

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

After Izumi in the Park, we did our due diligence and checked in on the freeloaders back at home. Then we headed back to the Aquadome Marketplace for our daily lunch visit. 

I am determined to have a crepe a day, but I admit, it’s so good, but my waistline is paying dearly. I feel worse than SC food coma right now

I'm sure they're absolutely spewing right now that they couldn't sail with you guys on Icon! Those crepes look so good!!

7 hours ago, Sea Squirrel said:

Wow, it didn't take long for the regulars to throw cold water. Sorry for hoping maybe Royal has kept a few secrets up their sleeve for Utopia and trying to spark a little conversation. Geez, this place is turning into a virtual Crown Lounge, lol. 

It's because Icon is currently the latest and greatest and of course people are gonna be talking about Icon for months, when Utopia eventually launches and the novelty of Icon was worn off, people will be talking about Utopia, that's just how it is. When Symphony was just released, people barely talked about Wonder, when Wonder came out, everyone was talking about Wonder because she was the latest and greatest. 

Well I'm hoping I bid enough for the upgrade...

9 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Here's a sample. There's a lot more than this but it doesn't start with Trivia so it's a pain to find.

 

 

Oooh, Outer Space, that's definitely one I'd attend. I'm a huge space nerd so I'd probably do pretty well at it I reckon.

But the other topics seem pretty generic like the ones on the other cruise ships... 

I know usually if it's Harry Potter/Wizarding World, there's a pretty huge turn out, but some of the other ones like Airport Codes or Movie Quotes, there's not as many people...

Wish they'd change it up a bit re: trivia. Have some new topics or something

What's the trivia on board like? Is it like the generic Harry Potter, Disney, etc

Or do they have new trivia topics?

4 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

 

I could see online that the cruise fare went down by $100 and there was an addition $100 OBC. Girl math says that is a $200 savings. When I got to NC, they priced it at $100 off cruise fare and $200 OBC, no brainer, re-price! So now I have $500 total ($200 from X; $300 from NC) OBC to spend on a 3 night sailing

Just buy a bunch of cheap Effy jewellery, or can you not use OBC for that kind of things? 

4 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

We had a 2pm sail away from St. Thomas. Word on the street from the FB roll call group is that there were pier runners; apparently escorted back by police I wasn’t paying attention because I spent some time with friends in their Icon loft for sail away. Today, watching sail away from the loft; was the first time I realized l missed having a balcony this sailing.

Currently waiting in the SL for Hubby to show up in the SL, with my Lavender Martini

PLEASE tell me the ship left without them 

On 1/30/2024 at 7:27 AM, LandstromCruise said:

if you are interested I would definitely reach out to a TA and see what prices they have.  some of them might still have group rates available for some sailings at about half the cost of what the website shows.  Not a guarantee, but worth checking.  

Yeah, I'll have a look into it. Not getting my hopes up though because I would still need to fly to the United States which would be probably an extra $1500-2000 PER PERSON. That's like 5k per person including hotels. Something which I'm not willing to pay (says the person who paid $8,000+ to sail 4 days on the Disney Wonder...)

3 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Could be dynamic pricing. They may have more of one room over another for this particular sailing

Oh, you're right.

I've bid on an Oceanview with Large Balcony and a regular Oceanview. I figured it was cheaper this way to maybe get an upgrade, I called Royal this morning, and to upgrade from IGTY to Oceanview it was AUD$1275 and to a balcony was AUD$2050... yeah I'm not paying those prices..

Wish me luck, didn't bid too high, so hoping I'll be able to upgrade to at least one of them 

Why is it cheaper to bid on an oceanview with a large balcony than a regular oceanview? Someone elaborate... cause I'm confused

3 hours ago, JFCruise said:

What's wrong with Enchantment?

Nothing is wrong with Enchantment or any of the other Vision class ships, I've personally never sailed her, but I'm sure she's still a great ship, just snide comments because of her age and that she feels "dated" and she doesn't have the latest and greatest (waterslides, rock climbing, Flow Rider etc). So people immediately assume she's a crap/bad ship. (Not saying anyone here, just general comments I've read all over the internet)

In other news... many chair hogs?? Have Royal started collecting things from chairs and put them away for safekeeping??? 

52 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

In our room, the pressure is mid and acceptable. There is no option to change the pressure in our cabin. I have no clue about other cabins. 

Dam.. you'd think being a multi-billion dollar ship, they'd have better pressure showers, I guess that's what happens when most companies try to go "green" and are trying to be environmentally friendly. At least give us the option to change the pressure.... Thanks for answering.

This sailing is in 2 weeks and there's still a HEAP of balconies available, and this is just deck 6...

On 1/27/2024 at 12:02 PM, mattymay said:

Anyone have any theories about the Quantum transpacific cancellation? 

Could be something to do with the North Star being out of service? Maybe going into dry dock for repairs and they'll add other features? I don't think Quantum has been selling well regardless, each time I do a mock booking, there's a heap of cabins still available. I have a feeling it's sayonara to Quantum in Brisbane and we'll only have one Royal ship in Australia - Ovation unless they send us Voyager

Maybe the transpacific just wasn't selling well. The thing about Brisbane is most of the ports that it sails to are the same ports that Ovation sails to in Sydney and Ovation is almost sold out on all South Pacific cruises.  I honestly don't think there's much of a cruising market in Brisbane because of this... 

Now if Quantum went to different ports than Ovation, I could see the appeal more - Moreton Island, Fraser Island, even up to PNG, the Solomon Islands, heck even Darwin.

On 1/24/2024 at 7:45 PM, AnneB said:

Hi. So excited to be going to Nz on this amazing ship! First time on RCL

Ovation is a great ship! Hope you enjoy. 

What's the pressure on the showers like? Do they have options to change the pressure? I hate low pressure showers.... 

What are the elevator wait times like?

18 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Here's proof that paper Compasses exist.

It's a shame they didn't spruce them up or make them a bit fancier for the inaugural... you'd think being as ICONic as Icon is... they'd put in a lot more effort. Alas, it is what it is. Thanks Ashley.

That last bit about the departure details though

What I want to know is if they've gone away with paper cruise compass's entirely, or can you still get them and what do they look like?

Anything special or are they the standard cruise compass you'd find on any other ship?

6 minutes ago, LandstromCruise said:

if you are interested I would definitely reach out to a TA and see what prices they have.  some of them might still have group rates available for some sailings at about half the cost of what the website shows.  Not a guarantee, but worth checking.  

Yeah, thanks for the advice lol. I've checked with MEI Travel but they only deal with US prices - like all travel agents do (at least ones based in the US) and Danny from Harr Travel doesn't deal with Australian clients.. yet, I live in Australia, so if you convert USD back to AUD, it'd probably be about the same. I'll just wait till 2034... when the prices come down real low 

But on top of that... I'd have to fly to the US (which would cost even more for flights and hotels) but it's not like Icon is travelling to any port that I particularly want to visit, I don't care about PDCC..

2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Lunch at Aquadome Marketplace again. 

Today we did the noodles and Mac n Cheese. Noodles were not impressive. They are not stir fried. They just put all the items in a bowl for you and off you go. WJ noodle station is better. At least that is stir fried while you wait. @Matt can vouch for me that I did say this. WJ for the win in this area. Mac N Cheese was ok. Nothing gourmet or anything but a good snack. Then we both went back to get Greek again. This time I got the rice base, I liked the pita better from yesterday. 

 

Does this mean you've converted back to being a WJ person?  at least for noodles? 

1 hour ago, GatorCruiser said:

I feel like such a dork wanting to be there hanging with people I’ve never met (you mods) but I do. Thanks to everyone posting. I know it can be a pain but I’m loving it. 

I agree so much! I'm just sitting at my computer looking at Icon of the Sea prices... but that's all I'm doing - looking, I can't afford to sail on her... so I'll just live vicariously through this live blog and the mods

7 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Hubby said it was “not too bad”. Today on a sea day, for mixed wave, he waited about 30mins for each turn. If that is “not too bad” for the FlowRider, I don’t know what is considered bad lol

Really good! Real lobster pieces in it, small but there, and full of flavour. 
Also, we had to ask if the CK was rounded up from SY cause the chicken noodle soup was identical to the original one we fell in love with on SY last NYE. Our waiter was not sure which chef made the soup lol

 

Left the kids at home

 

Your husband must be very patient if 30 minutes is "not too bad"... I waited almost 30 minutes just to take 2 photos with Mickey Mouse on the Disney Cruise I went on last week... 30 minutes felt like almost an hour cause there was so many people... Haha about the kids!   Glad you are having a great time though! 

2 hours ago, tonyfsu21 said:

If QN has cafe 270 then you should get breakfast there and stay out of the WJ. 

Yeah, QN has two70. I've never tried two70 for breakfast, but I have tried the Solarium Bistro - the Solarium Bistro is definitely less ratchet than the WJ buffet (for lack of better word). Maybe this time I can convince my dad to not go into the WJ at all... unless we absolutely have to.

2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

It’s formal night! 

Just you and the husband this time? No kids? 

14 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

For me, I used to love the WJ in our early days of cruising. Now, I avoid the WJ like the plague for several reasons: 

- way to crowded

- like @Neesa said, wish they would serve because so many people don’t have proper buffet etiquette

- the food quality is no longer that good, and it’s very repetitive

I see, yeah, these are valid and fair points and I can understand why people would be turned off by the Windjammer.

I do try to avoid the Windjammer during the peak hours - but we have no choice for breakfast... might just order Room Service this time or try somewhere else. But usually I go around 7-8pm where it's not as crowded because most people are either at the shows or the casino/other activities - anyone recommend any good places to have breakfast on QN class ships? 

You're right about the proper buffet etiquette, so many times I've seen people just grab the food with their hands or they drop something on the bench or the counter next to them and then they just leave it there or put it back into the food.