tdcackler

Day 5
Sea Day 
12/6/18
 
Yet again a prolonged wait for seating in the main dining room meant not trying that again. I’ve never had that problem on Norwegian, so appears it’s just poor staffing planning on Royal’s part. As I woke up in a funk (probably too much go,go,go) the girls went to eat at the windjammer and I went back to the room for a bit and skipped breakfast. 
While I rested the girls went down to 4 to sign up for the Ice Skating session which they said was quite busy. Once they were geared up and on the ice it was packed and difficult to move. High seas today didn’t help either with trying to stay up on your blades. 
Right at their 11:45 opening we walked into American Icon Grille for the Main Dining room lunch. It’s really odd to me how short the MDR lunches are in sea days. Today was 11:45-1:15 which seems aggressively short for a boat with six thousand passengers. 
Orders were taking shortly thereafter and delivered quite promptly. Addie went with the Strawberry Bisque with mint foam, Nikki the spinach salad, and as none were that appealing to me I went with the Smoked Potato soup with Chorizo. 
 
Since she’s 8, the strawberry bisque worked great as it’s basically a smoothie in a bowl. I took a couple of bites and sent it away. The flavors didn’t work, but we should know better as soups never work on a ship. I guess they just don’t have time to develop flavors. Nikki’s spinach salad was but not great as the “vinaigrette” was just oil. 
 
 
For entrees both Addie and I went with the Lasagna and Nikki had the turkey club. At lunch we never once saw our head waiter, we only saw our assistant waiter Nadine who had also waited our table last night. 
 
After lunch we made our way to the zipline and the Flowrider again, and again, and again. I never thought that would be the highlight for Addison. The zipline wound up being almost more work to get harnessed than it was fun to get across. I’m a bigger fan of the ropes course and zipline on Norwegian Escape and Getaway.
We tried to catch the 3pm showing of Hideaway Heist at the Aquatheater but with no reservations it had filled up early. Standing room for the show wasn’t in the cards for us so we went back to the room to relax. Sounds like it was a good idea because people we talked to about it weren’t big fans. 
 
Dinner tonight was our second formal night and this time in Coastal Kitchen. 
We all went for the shrimp cocktail as the other options weren’t up our alley. It was mostly the same as the MDR but with a more standard issue cocktail sauce rather than the runny mess from last night. Our service Dane was friendly and playful. 
Apologies on the main courses, I forgot to take pictures until it was too late. 
Addison just ordered a Caesar salad with added chicken that was good and better than downstairs. Nikki had tonight’s formal night special of butter poached lobster with favs beans and leeks. 
I went with the NY strip and added the lobster from the lobster dish for a poor mans surf and turf. 
 


Dinner was a step up from the MDR but not worth the thousands extra it takes to get into a suite. I think in the future I’d much rather just buy the full week dining package as the food in the specialty dining venues is a big step up from the dining rooms. 
For dessert we all tried different things hoping one would be a standout. Not so much today, the baked Alaska, creme brûlée, and chocolate crunch bar
A gentleman I sat next to at a blackjack table today was complaining about being “nickel and dimed” to death on cruises now. I think it’s more of just needing to pay beforehand for what you really want. Next time we’ll just do the ultimate dining package and call it a day. 
 
Once dinner was finished we visited the Royal Promenade for pictures as Nikki wasn’t a fan of the ones taken in Central Park. As it was after 9 there were almost no lines to speak of, a nice departure from the first formal night. After I’d taken my obligatory pictures we took Addie down to Jazz on 4 to listen to music and then up to the arcade for a little bit. Made it an earlier night than most as we had to be up early to catch our shuttle to Playa Mia. 

Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

Day 12:  End of cruise

I need to go to a Cruiseaholics Anonymous meeting tonight.

June 2020 on Mariner for 4 nights!
Now to plot for the big reveal!

Headliner Show: Rookie

The 12 Bar Band at the Centrum 

Advanced Napkin Artistry
 

Piano Melodies with Henry at the Schooner Bar

Yes. It’s nowhere near inedible. Considering it’s pizza made by a concoction of nationalities which none of which are Italy it’ll do. And having had that same pizza on Getaway this time last year it’s much better than NCL

Well, after 3 cabin moves and who knows how many phone calls by our TA, we are back in the original cabin we booked a year and a half ago! 
@Matt is 100% correct when he says use a travel agent, John Ames at MEI really came through on this!
Scott
 

Get the molten chocolate cake with a side of vanilla ice cream.
I agree on the apple pie.

Holy Cow !  Is that an ostrich ?

Looks like pictures didnt copy into the last couple of post. 

After lunch Addie wanted to head to the face painting  and Ultimate Abyss slide.  Quick tip, before you head up there be sure to have shorts and a T-shirt on. Addie had on a tank top on so I went back down to grab her a T-shirt while they played some miniature golf. 
The slide was busier than yesterday but still on a five minute wait. The platform before the slide might have the best view on the whole boat with the unencumbered glass and the clear platform beneath your feet. This time even Nikki came along rather than meeting us down on six. 
The pool was the next thing on the agenda, but it was a bit windy so we spent most of the time in the hot-tub. We did make time for The Perfect Storm water slide which was really fun. I was worried about not making it around but went all the way around the funnel twice at what seemed like high speeds. 
 


 
Adventure ocean was having a family activity in the Science area which fit in perfectly before we left for dinner. Today’s active was a Volcano experiment. It was anticlimactic at best as rather than the kids creating a volcano an instructor did just one in the center of the room.

HI all,
I am in port Canaveral sitting in my hotel room this morning and excited to board Oasis of the the Seas today.  This is my 27th cruise, but our first time on an Oasis class ship so I am super excited.  I have had this cruise booked for a year now, after getting an unbelievable on cyber Monday last year so I have $400 OBC this cruise.   This is also our first cruise as diamond, so our first time not getting the drink package in a while.  The OBC will help.  Because it is a holiday cruise, their were no specialty dining packages available in the cruise planner.  We will be stopping in Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten this cruise.  I am excited.  I have not been to St. Thomas and St. Maarten in a while.  I have 2 excursions booked outside of the cruise.  For St. Thomas we are doing the "Taphus sips and bites tour" and for St. Maarten, we are doing the Bernard's island tour and then will likely come back to the boardwalk and get some drinks. In Nassau,  I plan to just get off and have some drinks and appetizers.  Starting at our favorite restaurant in Nassau, Athena cafe.  My plan is to get conch fritters and their basil martini. :). 
We stayed last night at the holiday inn vacation club in port canaveral.  I am an IHG credit card holder, so I used my annual certificate to redeem the room.  The fee to maintain the card is $75, so I feel that I got a bargain on this room for $75.  We arrived here early yesterday morning from Cincinnati.  Lyft from MCO to the hotel was $61.72, and super easy!   Our room was not ready yet so we checked our bags at the resort, and headed to Grills for lunch right next to where Navigator of the Seas was parked. I had the fish tacos which I was able to choose my fish for.  ( I got fresh tuna, sushi style) and an IPA.  The tacos were delicious.  DL got the burger which also looked great!   After lunch, we caught an uber to the taproom and Florida beer company which was a great atmosphere with lots of TV's.  I enjoyed their southernmost wheat beer and DH got a flight and then purchased some IPA's for the hotel room.    
The weather is amazing in florda today, 60's and breezy so I wasn't as inspired to go into the amazing pool and lazy river at the hotel.  Once they called and said our room/villa was ready, we headed back to the hotel.  I sat out by the pool bar for a while and listened to the band, which was great.  I also had a $3 mimosa, and they had a happy hour starting at 4.  Our room was perfectly situated facing the channel so my favorite thing about the hotel was watching the cruise ships depart and come into the channel this morning.  Yesterday, we watched Carnival breeze, the norwegian EPIC, the Disney fantasy, 2 other ships, and lastly Navigator of the Seas.  This morning I woke up early, and saw Oasis come in about 5:30 am.  Since then Carnival liberty and Carnival sunshine also sailed in.  The lighting was perfect for the Sunshine. 
My plan is to head to the gym now and then possibly take a float in the lazy river prior or check out the beach prior to boarding oasis this morning.  We are less than a mile from the port, so it will be an easy uber or lyft ride.   The hotel also has a tram to the beach every 15 minutes, but I have not yet been.    I don't have Wifi onboard, so i will update the blog, but it will be delayed.  I am hoping to do Chef's table tonight or tomorrow night if I can get a special offer on board and since we have so much OBC.  I am also tempted to take the Guacomole class at Sabor on one of the sea days.  I did the sushi class on our grandeur of the seas cruise in march, and really enjoyed it! 
 

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Hi Here Some Cheap Prices For The Water Park And Excursions In Coco Cay. This Price Is From The Harmony OTS On September 15  2019. Is This A Good Price For The Zipline. As Of Right Now The Zipline At Coco Cay Is Cheaper Than The One In Labbadee.

Here's The Water Park Price.

 
 
 

It's purely optional, if you feel someone went above and beyond, then that is what the envelop is for.
Last cruise I gave extra to the Concierge because I felt she earned it. She did a lot of special things for my wife and I that I felt she didn't have to do.

I have seen many boys in shorts in the MDR.  They are kids, as long as they are not in the PJs, it should be fine.  The dining room dress code is quite relaxed these days.

Thanks, this was not something we experienced on other lines, so I was skeptical on what he was telling me (hopefully he won't come here and see me say that. ) ?

We also received an envelope from our cabin attendant on our last cruise.  This was the first time in a number of years that I had seen the envelope.  It is purely optional.  As you said, you have paid all the gratuities you are required to pay in the daily gratuity or when ordering a drink or service that requires an extra charge.  ANYthing above that is optional.

Thanks for clarifying and I agree. You are charged at check out the gratuity but the initial price in your Cruise Planner does not include the 18%.

And yes, I wish that they were a little more "transparent" on the pricing of, well, everything. It would save a lot of confusion when they do offer a sale on a product.

To clarify -- the prices listed for dining packages before adding them to your cart already have gratuity included. Drink packages, on the other hand, only show the base per-day rate without any gratuity until after you add them to your cart; when you go to check out, the gratuity is then calculated and the final total for those package purchases is shown before you give your credit card info.
I don't really get why Royal doesn't just show the drink package price with the gratuity tacked on up front like they do for the dining packages. Yes, the price you see before throwing it in your cart will be higher, but at least when you go to check out you won't have that head-scratching moment wondering why the price suddenly jacked up by maybe a hundred dollars, depending on how many packages you bought.

Yeah, I'm really frustrated about it. They cancelled the cruise, offered me $200 Onboard Credit and a chance to transfer to a select handful of cruises out of the same port and keep my rate OR rebook at prevailing rates. I have a kids sail free promotion that saves us a ton with our two boys. If I had known they were going to cancel the cruise, I would have booked another one when I did this one and got the better offer. I'm beyond frustrated at the complete lack of customer service from RC - to a point where I'm about ready to tell my TA to skip it and I'll never sail on RC. I'm ok with paying the difference between my cruise and a different one, just give me the discounts since they cancelled it, not me. Grrrr.