tonyfsu21

Yep, this would make complete sense considering the retrofit has been done in the location already. The Solarium playmakers makes no sense at all in any way.

Great ship! She’s the oldest namesake Oasis class vessel and some wear and tear is to be expected. The Amp suited this ship well and it was outfitted with the latest and greatest at the time. I agree, the crew and shows are top notch on this ship! We are sailing her for NYE again this year to the Southern Caribbean which will be amazing!

I have it booked for late August (Labor Day) sailing. I have actually never tried it but have heard really good things about it. Cant wait.

Interesting that a person with this supposed wealth is traveling for a week on middle tier family cruise line. Why are they not laying out on the beautiful white sand beaches of St Barths at Eden Rock? I’m glad someone made the purchase and I can’t wait to see what RC replaces it with in the bling store by our Thanksgiving cruise.

Haha! Pretty much same here. We only go to the MDR the week of Thanksgiving with my entire extended family because it’s entertaining. I don’t think I’ve ever once had a decent meal. There’s so much food across the board of a cruise ship that dinner is not a big deal.

??? Considering this is not exactly the same as parallel parking a car, I think the company pivoted to an available port. The logistics are planned many months if not years in advance. Nassau does not happen to be the only spot they changed itinerary’s to as we are headed to Turks and Caicos in place of Labadee.

We have done Thanksgiving cruises the last 15ish years and I can tell you that it’s the best time to sail! The food for Thanksgiving is not great at all but the overall vacation experience makes up for it. Freedom is amazing and the Playmakers is going to be a great spot to catch some games. Enjoy

That’s good news. We are headed out of NJ in July and plan to be at the port early regardless.

FLL is a similar experience to Port of Miami. You should be able to get onboard early with no issues.

This was Miami. From what I understand NJ is a hot mess. I wouldn’t bank on 10:30 am by any means outta that place.

Same here. Vacation starts at 11am on boarding day and ends at 7:00am on debarkation day. We are usually in the car and well on our way home by 7:15am.

Edit: a “decent foam mattress” cost $500 x 2000+ beds so it’s just not that simple (not to mention the logistics).

I found Odyssey to be one of the better ships in the fleet! I guess opinions will always be across the board but it was a refreshing change from Oasis class. The sportsplex with Playmakers was a game changer and the music hall was best in the fleet (IMHO). We enjoyed the Southern Caribbean route on Odyssey and would do it again in a heartbeat. The 270 cafe was a great replacement for Park Cafe and the MDR was “decent”.

Fluff beyond belief. The company even amplifies the fluff with 11th hour emails warning you to adhere to designated boarding time. Endless fluff.

Last week by 10:30 we had already toured Icon and had a sandwich in hand from the Pearl Cafe! I guess the FL ports just have the logistics under control. I can’t stress enough how boarding times are fluff. They don’t even bother putting the signs up any longer in Miami.

Yeah but it’s still a cruise ship and lacking authentic food across the board. I can’t think of a single venue that would check that box (maybe the Indian food???). The Mason jar has some really great food & drink and an excellent ambiance.

Regardless, it’s important to note how profitable the casino and its devoted players contributions are to the companies bottom line. A bottle of Mondavi 2020 is an insult to players gambling 5 figures over the course of a seven day cruise.

Wonder all the way based on Mason Jar alone! I’ve been in both 3x each and I would say Wonder is the better choice (but you can’t go wrong!!!).

Yes, Fort Lauderdale is a world away from Miami (traffic wise) during the week. The trek from South to North during rush hour is a much better scenario then starting from Miami.

Weekend? If not, you got lucky because I-95, 395 traffic on any given weekday is horrible until you get north of the Jupiter exit in WPB. I personally wouldn’t chance it after 47 years of this crap under my belt.

Day 7 on Icon and it’s been a royale butt kicking from the casino. I did receive a bottle of Mondavi “vintage 2020” and a nice 9000 point certificate. The casino is very nice with plenty of space and machine/table variety. I return to Icon for Thanksgiving and hope to turn my luck around. Icon has been AWESOME outside the casino!!!!!

I think it’s also open for lunch

Same thing happened to me. We realized it’s easy to walk in w/o reservations. I am currently on Icon and we have had dinner at Pier 7 twice with no reservations. Keep in mind this is a full to capacity cruise on spring break with tons of kids and there are no issues eating at Pier 7.

Here’s the lowdown. 1. Assumes you and whomever you travel with is able body. 2. No major customs issue hold up ship in PC from arrival. 3. Get off the ship WAAAAAAAYYYYY before 8:30am. More like grab the luggage and be downstairs on the departure deck ready to walk off the ship before 7am. 4. A game plan is in place for a vehicle to get to by 8am and be headed West on the Beeline before 9am. 5. No major traffic accidents on I-95 (if so, transfer to Turnpike). 6. Arrive at Port of Miami between 12-1pm and board the ship. The rush hour traffic will not impact you because it will end before you reach South Florida in the 10-11am timeframe. **** Note: disregard everything I just said if you plan to flip the trip and go from Miami to PC on a Thursday in the AM because it most likely will cost you a cruise.

This can very easily be done with minimal risk (especially on a weekend).