dejagatkins

Love the carry on bag!! 

We just finished an Anniversary cruise and though I loathe photo shots, we did line up on a formal night for one good photo so I would have it next to my wedding photo on the wall. The number on your Seapass will line up with the column and folder you can find your random photos at the photo store. They took a quick one on the way on to the boat, which I had no intention of buying but let them take it. Turns out that one and the formal night yielded two photos we really liked. So we bought two 8 by 10's that were already found in our folder, for about $23.95 each? I think. It was under $50 for both and we really liked those two for our memory book and wall. (I scanned it when I got home and now it's on my FB page :-D   ) We left the ones we didn't like, in the folder and called it a day, happy that we didn't over do on photo prices. The rest of the boat load, haha of pictures, we took ourselves and we love love love them also.

I am using Super Shuttle for pick up at Fort Lauderdale Airport and transfer to Miami port. It's costing my family of four $97 for a private shuttle.  :)

I'm cruising on the Oasis 2017 but we have to go to Port Canaveral instead of FLL. I am really annoyed I have to rent a car just to go 45 minutes out to the hotel at the port. How did you find the shuttle to Miami?

When we were on Freedom two weeks ago, I decided to buy myself a watch.  I don't wear one all the time, but mine

is getting some age and I wanted a nicer one.

 

I was perusing the specials on the Promenade and found a pretty Invicta that was 75% off of the "retail" cost of $525.

I ended up paying $149 for it and was pretty happy (Mattheus was super helpful and nice, BTW).

 

A couple of days after I got home, I looked on the net to see just how much I saved...to my huge disappointment, 

every site I saw had it for less money.  Some of them a good bit less.  

 

So, my advise is to be smart when you shop.  If you have connectivity, research before you buy.  I know that, in the end, 

it's my fault for not knowing any better, but nonetheless...  It's still a lovely watch, and I'm going to enjoy it.

This is the one thing about my first cruise that has me turned off about the next one. The constant selling of the same items on the Promenade gets my brain jaded as I start to think of it as a mall I've already walked three times that day. I suddenly am not seeing the fun of the promenade but a boring done that mall. I love the little pocketbooks and cover up I got there but now, I have to remind myself that the ship isn't boring. Just the 'mall' I walked too much. And when they overide the lovely music during my coffee break for the yelling sales over the microphone and count down to the sale like we're all lemmings....well you can see....the 7days of looking at the same watches and plastic jewelry really got to me.

We are down to 89 days before my family and I head to mostly everyone's first cruise.  We booked ours July 2, 2015.  I have been counting down the days.  Now that we are at 89 I have booked shows and  see I can start the online check in.   Once all that is done I don't know what I will do with my time.  LOL 

June 2017 will be here before you know it!  We are also going on the Oasis.

We just got off the Oasis of the Seas and I still dream about her. :-D I imagine I'll walk over to the Windjammer for breakfast and then I realize I'm at home and can't do that! Oasis is a grand lady we look forward to seeing again in April 2017. Can't wait!

We just finished our first cruise. The honeymoon we never had, taken as a 43rd anniversary celebration. I knew we'd have a wonderful time and I was sick with excitement each time I added an element to the cruise planner, running into the living room to let my hubby know the next detail I had added to the upcoming cruise. I was nervous about getting seasick,finding my way around, feeling like I was in a tuna can in the interior stateroom, etc. What I didn't anticipate is how MUCH we would adore the cruise experience. One unpacking, multiple ports to visit, come back to luxury and impeccable service and food. One day as we sat on the deck looking out at the awesome ocean color we had never seen before, we realized we had also found our destiny. We found the hobby we can both obsess about. He loves sports, I love quilting and flowers but together we are crazy cruisers!! The only thing holding me back is the money, but even with that said, we've already booked two up coming cruises in our anniversary month. Of course we started at the top with Royal Caribbean, so we will always stay with them, when possible. Our next two cruises , of course, have a balcony. If money didn't allow for a balcony, I'd gladly take the interior stateroom as it was lovely, but as it is, with each booked cruise, the room got higher on the boat and the balcony larger. :-D

With Dynamic Dining Choice, you just go onto the Cruise Planner site and reserve your desired time.  Just like if you were making a reservation at Chops Grille or any other specialty restaurant.

Yes, that part I figured out but wanted to choose the Grande Dining room level rather than be seated in the American Icon or Silk level. Is that possible?

I actually had good luck with the Michael Kors on Indy! I had my eye on a bag that I knew I wanted, and it was the same price on board as on land... plus, duty free! Fun souvenir. :)

 

I've had good luck with some of the perfume and cosmetics on board as well - better prices. 

 

I'm sure jewelry and watches are something different entirely. 

Yes, I believe Michael Kors can be better researched so you feel good about the purchase when you make it. That store interested me.

Myself, I wouldn't buy something "high level" like diamonds on a cruise.  

 

We were wandering back to the ship in Cozumel a few weeks ago, and these brilliant dark orange stones in one store caught my eye.  I usually buy my wife something on each cruise, and we hadn't seen anything interesting thus far, so I inquired about the price.  We dickered, I walked away, came back with some cash along with the credit card, and the salesman and I came to "an understanding".  I wound up buying a Mexican Fire Opal ring and earrings for about $600.  

 

If I brought them back to the states and a jeweler said they were only worth $100, I wouldn't be upset.  They are with the $600 to me for the memory, and for that moment, and for how beautiful they are as-is.  And it's such an unusual stone when my wife brought the ring in for resizing when we got home all the jewelers in the store had to check it out...they "oohed and ahhhed" over it, as they hadn't seen that type of stone in person before.

 

Now, if I bought a generic diamond ring for $5,000 and brought it home to find it was only worth a grand.... I'd be ticked.  A diamond is...generic.  I can get them at home, with the usual assurances that it is what it's supposed to be.  You don't get that in a cruise port, no matter what the marketing says.

 

Buy something "unusual".  Something that allows you to re-live a memory each time someone says "wow, I've never seen such a beautiful stone, and what an unusual color!".

 

MEN:  this is what they look like:  mexican-opal-ring.jpg  Buy them.  Trust me.   :)

 

Well put...thank you. That type buy suits me best anyways with the heart, not loads of money to lose and major diamond items from places I know better.Generally don't trust ungoogled items for purchase. :-D Ring is gorgeous by the way :-D

Last time we did MTD and were always had to enter via level 3 and be seated in the American Icon at the same table, same waiter. That was nice but next time we wish to be seated in the Grande Dining room at 6pm. How do I choose 6pm for the Grande? Or does RC choose your dining room when you choose the 6pm seating?

What about the purchases backed by RC on St Maarten? Do you trust your diamond purchases there? Are they really a good deal as advertised on the RC brochures?

The last time we cruised out of Port Canaveral and went down a day early, we rented a car for the day and drove one way - then took the Royal Caribbean shuttle back to the airport at the end of the cruise. It was not prohibitively expensive to do a one-way car rental.

 

We picked up the car from Hertz at the Orlando airport. Because we wanted to visit the Cape for the day, we stayed in Cocoa Beach. If you book at the Residence Inn, Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach (321-323-1100) the car rental office and the hotel are connected by a parking lot, so dropping off the car when you are done is VERY easy. It's no more than 100 steps from the Hertz office to the hotel. VERY convenient and you can keep the car as long as you want on Saturday. The car rental place closes (4:00, I think) but they have a drop box where you just leave the keys. They have no idea what time you drop it off. We arrived in Orlando (9:16 AM), rented the car, toured the Cape, ate dinner and dropped the car at the Hertz lot around 8:00 PM, then walked over to the hotel and had a very restful night's sleep before getting up the next morning and going to the ship.

 

The Residence Inn is very convenient to the port and they shuttled us over to the ship on Sunday morning. The new pier at Port Canaveral is very nice - lots of nice restaurants right there. It was all very, very convenient.

 

Unfortunately I don't have the receipts for the car rental but I recall that it was very reasonable to pick up the car at the airport and drop it off at the Cape. The Residence Inn cost $217.43 including taxes and everything, which isn't bad for a single night at the Cape on a Saturday night (that's the most expensive single night to stay in a hotel, in nearly all cases).

 

So it really depends on what you want to do in central Florida. If you aren't going to one of the amusement parks, I recommend going on to the coast the day before and spending the night nearer the port. Obviously if you are going to do something closer to Orlando you would probably want to stay in Orlando for the night and go to the port the next day...but I am such a worry wart...I always want to get to where I am going as quickly as possible to avoid last minute commuting delays...but that's just me.

 

I would highly recommend the Hertz-Residence Inn connection though. It worked out very well and the hotel got us to the ship so there was nothing to worry about once you dropped the car off.

I just booked The Residence in you mentioned and it was reasonable too. Even thought it's not till next April I found hotels booked up quickly on my last cruise.I assume the hotel has a shuttle service that will come in to offer us a ride to the ship and then to the airport after the cruise.. Is there a shuttle service from the airport to Cocoa beach that's reasonable it we don't wish to drive out to Port Canaveral?

This is one of those questions that I will never understand. Since beds and comfort in them is so personal really no way to answer.  Matt may be so tired after, everything he does that he could sleep on the floor.  Another may require a very very soft bed, or a little soft.  It is kind of like saying how good are American Made Cars, so people will think great, good, average, fair, poor, or anything in between.  Even if everyone here says they are great you still may not like the beds or the other way around.

But as with all reviews,they do help you see a pattern.If lots of folks said they had issues, then I'd pay attention a bit more. And that is helpful. But some folks will only know for sure when they try something out. I'm so positive on RC that I think they would fix that if it were a general common complaint.

Very glad to hear that you hardly hear about it. The excursion Secret Sands no longer seems to be on the list of RC options so I will choose Magens beach next time.A bit or prednisone and I'm on the mend. I'm prone to eczema anyways, so my skin is sensitive to allergens. But I've been to beaches all my life and this was the first time I had an allergic reaction. But I loved my cruise and will be back next April!

This was our first cruise last week on the Oasis and the twin beds were put together nicely, with a memory foam pad on top and we found it very comfortable.

It is almost like asking has anyone ever taken a walk in the park and got Poison Ivy. Some seaweeds can be poisoning, but most of the time no contact with them. Sorry that you had a problem but the chances of a second encounter is very small I would think.  

Well I know about poison ivy, I just never in all the years I've been to the ocean, had an issue like this, so I had to google it. Since it was my first time in Caribbean waters, I thought I'd hear from others and  find out if this is common or well known, etc.

Has anyone experienced an allergic reaction to the ocean water? Just came back from the Caribbean and had a fabulous time on the Oasis of the Seas!! My first cruise and it was all and way more than hoped for!! (already booked next years) But after swimming in the ocean, my eyes started swelling and I got an angry rash on my face. Spent the second half of the voyage with cold compresses on my  eyes, taking benadryl and wearing sunglasses a lot. I am seeing the doctor today, but I am guessing it's seaweed dermatitis. I was wondering if anyone else has had this type reaction?

Just saw this...we have Come Fly with Me show.. Will reschedule as Chef's table starts at 8 and it's our anniversary so don't want to rush the Chef's Table

Thanks everyone. So it's just a disclaimer kind of warning. I will ignore all, and sign at the pier. I've already packed my deet!

I just got an alert about the Zika Virus from RC and referring me to their web site concerning my very close cruise start date. Then it says reply Yes. Does that mean if I reply yes, they will reschedule my cruise or does yes mean I read the alert? I certainly don't want to reschedule.

The Main Dining Room on Oasis of the Seas is comprised of three decks.  

 

All three decks make up the MDR and are very much a part of it, the difference is MTD guests dine on one deck while traditional dining guests on the other deck.

 

Rest assured, whether you are MTD or Traditional, you are in the main dining room.

 

One last note, on Oasis of the Seas, the three dining rooms were recently rethemed in preparation for a change that never occurred.  Royal Caribbean had planned to roll out Dynamic Dining to Oasis of the Seas, but changed their minds.  Nonetheless, the only difference is each deck of the MDR has its own name and somewhat different theme, but it is assuredly the main dining room.

Thanks! Could not understand why MTD goes to deck 3 but the other folks go to other decks. Knowing it's multilevel helps me understand.

First time cruiser here and have been reading the Cruise Compass. Looks like there is My time Dining deck 3 and the Main Dining room  deck 4 on Oasis. I thought when I signed up for My Time Dining that it would be in the main big dining room, no? If not where do they put you for My time Dining? I wanted to be the the large multilevel dining room I see on all their ads.

Looking at the last cruse compass from Feb, it was night 2 and 5.  You won't know for sure until the night before.

On your prompt I looked at Jan 2016 that matches my future cruise in days and stops and they did 2nd and 6th evening. That works! <3 Probably the best guess going! Thanks for pointing out past cruise compass. Didn't realize that might be a clue.

Thanks...that's what I was guessing but there is a beach excursion on the 2nd and the 5th so not sure. So looks like I have to wait until i get on board. 

Folks seem to guess which nights are formal on a 7 night cruise but when do you get the actual schedule from RC on your particular cruise? It does affect my choices for dinner on which nights. I've checked my cruise planner, on check in stuff but 12 days away I still don't know which nights are formal.