tonyfsu21

I will go against the grain and say amped or not, Oasis class is perfection for a first time RC cruiser. If the cost is not a major factor, I recommend you sail on Allure as there is absolutely nothing like the Oasis class experience. 

You should call back on this one, it sounds like you were told a bunch of nonsense. Don’t rely on RoyalUp because win probability is very low for the most part. 

I just went from an interior to Ocean view for $50 total on Navigator out of LA.

I would suggest not relying on Royal Up and just pay for the upgrade to secure it. If you roll the dice with Royal Up, you most likely (90% chance) will be disappointed with the outcome. 

Royal Up is a hot topic and it might be beneficial to post screenshots of past wins/losses to assist others who may be interested in bidding but don’t have a baseline. Obviously this would be data from past cruises so as to not expose any bids on future sailings you may have. I will start with a win and a loss. Oasis 12/26/21 was a holiday sailing where we were booked in a JS. The 4/12/20 was a GS 1br win from a JS. 

Post Covid workforce. It’s going to get worse before it gets better. It’s difficult to maintain an expectation of a pre Covid level of service when you have a new and mostly untrained crew. Better luck next time. 

I just got the RU email and I'm shocked how low minimum bids are. 

GS to GT on Mariner for a 5 night is only $70pp
 
Granted, it'll require a cancellation to win that RU since this will be a full ship

Royal Up is a hot topic and it might be beneficial to post screenshots of past wins/losses to assist others who may be interested in bidding but don’t have a baseline. Obviously this would be data from past cruises so as to not expose any bids on future sailings you may have. I will start with a win and a loss. Oasis 12/26/21 was a holiday sailing where we were booked in a JS. The 4/12/20 was a GS 1br win from a JS. 

Yeah, both are horrible places and I agree with you. The good news is they are not long for this world. Fort Lauderdale is changing so rapidly that anything old is being sold off, knocked down and rebuilt. I suspect the Roadway & Red Carpet will be bull dozed in the near future (thankfully because I’m sick of looking at them every single day on my commute). 

I would suggest not relying on Royal Up and just pay for the upgrade to secure it. If you roll the dice with Royal Up, you most likely (90% chance) will be disappointed with the outcome. 

I would suggest not relying on Royal Up and just pay for the upgrade to secure it. If you roll the dice with Royal Up, you most likely (90% chance) will be disappointed with the outcome. 

Invicta is horrific. I enjoy nice quality watches and the word “Invicta” is off limits in my house. I don’t get it. 

There’s chair hogs and then there’s Freedom 3 or 4 night out of Miami chair hogs. I have seriously never witnessed more hog sightings at 06:00 on any other voyage we have been on. Keep in mind we are D+ and sail the Freedom weekend voyages quite a bit. I would say 60-70% of the chairs and 100% of the prime locations had either a book or a towel on them and it was still dark out. This happened every single morning and I witnessed it while taking my AM walk. 

Nope. Labadee is more ribs, hot dogs, hamburgers. The Barefoot Beach spread is supposed to be "upgraded" but the regular food offerings were way better.

I agree with OP re: Miami sucks, however, I wouldn’t allow a forced stop in Miami to ruin my cruise! I also don’t see how you can pin this on RC? Seems like you need to take this gripe up with the US Customs and Border Patrol!

The wow factor is going to be Allure and considering the fact that you can actually use the pool area (possibly unlike the Navi in March), this should be another reason to get on the big ship for your first cruise. 

The wow factor is going to be Allure and considering the fact that you can actually use the pool area (possibly unlike the Navi in March), this should be another reason to get on the big ship for your first cruise. 

I agree with OP re: Miami sucks, however, I wouldn’t allow a forced stop in Miami to ruin my cruise! I also don’t see how you can pin this on RC? Seems like you need to take this gripe up with the US Customs and Border Patrol!

I will go against the grain and say amped or not, Oasis class is perfection for a first time RC cruiser. If the cost is not a major factor, I recommend you sail on Allure as there is absolutely nothing like the Oasis class experience. 

It should not be hard to rent a car in San Pedro on a Wednesday.  Hertz and Enterprise are both in Downtown San Pedro--on 6th at and accross the street from the Crowne Plaza--close to the Cruise terminal--about a 3-4 block walk or short, cheap Uber ride.  Renting a car for the duration is somewhat crazy as you'll pay for all those extra days plus another $20 to park it at the pier.  You also don't need an Uber on embarkation morning as the Doubletree has a free shuttle to the pier--just make sure you sign up for it as soon as you check in.
Traffic in the LA area on a weekday morning is never great...BUT, you're not going to be too bad off because 1)  You have several route options and 2) you will largely be going "against traffic".  You MIGHT be taking the bridge across to Long Beach, then north on the 710 and 605 to the 210 east to the 15...but, if that shows traffic, you can take the 60, the 91 or the 22/55/91 to the 15.  Make sure you have a good GPS App with up to date traffic adjustments (I really like "Waze") .  It will give you the best route to avoid traffic and get out of the LA area...
By the time you get off the ship, get to the rental car office and get the car, you're probably not getting on the road at 8:00 am...but the drive to Vegas is only 4.5-5 hours, so you'll get there pretty quickly anyhow...

We live in the Greater LA area but often stay a night pre-cruise in San Pedro.  There are only two hotels in San Pedro I would recommend:  The Crowne Plaza (an IHG product) and the Doubletree (Hilton).
The Crowne Plaza is better located for convenience--LOTS of restaurants within very close walking distance and only three blocks from the cruise terminal.  The Doubletree is an a little more remote location--down at the small boat marina...a couple of miles from the cruise terminal.  There is only one good restaurant within walking distance (The 22nd Street Landing--seafood)...but the hotel will shuttle you, for free, to restaurants in the Downtown San Pedro area.  I highly recommend the San Pedro Brewing Company (brew pub/ecclectic menu--I love the Tri-Tip sandwich) and the Green Onion (Mexican)...Both are very caual and reasonably priced.
At the Doubletree, get a room facing the marina...
Here was our room at the Doubletree--from most recent stay:

...and the view from our room:

I've looked into the Doubletree for possibly staying the night before (I'm still close enough driving distance to the LA port) but could never find pricing competitive enough to make it worth it for me versus just driving to the port in the morning and parking there. But the hotel looks great for that purpose.

Was a breeze drive like 5 mins to the port. The hotel was great and well located. We were happy with it for the one night we stayed. Really pretty area down there by the water. I absolutely love navigator and I’m a big ship homer. You’re in for a treat. 

I just booked this hotel, thank you. Was it an easy ride to the cruise terminal? 

As a 40+ year resident of the LA area, here is my 2 cents. The LA port area isn’t all that great of an area that you want to be walking around. Even if it was super safe, it’s not a walkable area. It’s very industrial. Downtown Long Beach, as has been said, is probably your best option but at night it can be a little stretch. Stay on main streets with traffic. There is no reason to rent a car. Ubers and Lyft drivers are just about on every block. Just avoid public transportation in So Cal. It’s not safe or convenient, especially since you will have “tourist” written all over you with your bags.