DDemuth

If you can, get a photo of Mr. Lindell so it will be easy for us to recognize him on our Nov sailing.

Maybe not. Although not formally announced by RCI (to my knowledge), a recent CC post from someone on Allure stated that if one purchased a drink package onboard, that all passengers over 21 in a cabin were required to purchase the package. Apparently doesn't apply to pre-purchased packages. Suggests that this change in policy is just around the corner fleet wide.

From the posting times, it seems that it took BrianAlt only 17 hrs to complete the calculation. Good job! Always said that I learn something new every day from the board. That said, this is the last thing I would be doing if aboard Harmony in a Star class Suite. I would have asked the Genie to do it for me...

Echo those comments. This was/is really a "once in a lifetime event". Here are current storm totals... http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/nfdscc1.html ... and short term forecasts... Additional rainfall accumulations of 7 to 13 inches are expected across the upper Texas coast into southwestern Louisiana, with isolated storm totals as high as 50 inches.... The flood threat has spread farther east into Louisiana. Additional rainfall amounts of 5 to 15 inches are expected in south-central Louisiana. Rainfall amounts of 5 to 10 inches are expected in southeast Louisiana and coastal Mississippi and Alabama. For passengers on Liberty or the Carnival ships, I don't see that there were any better options than what was done. In fact, as said above, Liberty in Miami might be better off overall than Carnival in NoLa. However, RCI did treat incoming cruise passengers very poorly in my opinion. To read about individuals who traveled to Houston and became stranded based on RCI's fantasy that some "window" of opportunity would occur on Sunday is inexcusable. Carnival handled the situation much better and gave options to upcoming cruisers based on their own situations.

And hence, not something to worry about... I know, I know,... easier said than done.

Certainly. It's a no-win situation for everyone involved. Given that this morning, NHS forecasts that Harvey will still be in the immediate area around Galveston until Thursday, there will likely be no outcome that will be ideal.

Clear your history and cache. This can be done using your browser functions or there is a nice program called CCleaner that does this very nicely. It's a free download that comes with several other useful tools as well.

It seems from the information from RCI that was recently posted on the blog, their strategy seems to be to wait until the last minute to make a call. The upside of this is that forecasting stalled storms is very difficult and it is possible that a wobble to the south will open an opportunity to dock on Sunday. If so, no interruption to the weekly scheduling. The downside is that this approach forces next weeks passengers to travel into a storm with no guarantee that they'll actually be able to get there, and if they do won't be stranded there if Liberty cannot reach Galveston. By choosing not to make the trip to Galveston, are these passengers forfeiting their cruise if a window does open Sunday? Seems to be a catch-22.

The path and duration of exposure for the Galveston areas by Harvey is unusual. If RCI cancels, I assume that they would have to refund all passengers which might possible slightly reduce profits this year, but by a small amount. Not sure I understand what maritime lawyers have to do with the situation. These cruise contracts exclude acts of God and a cat 3 hurricane that forms from a cluster of thunderstorms in 36 hrs would certainly be classified as such.

Ah, understand. But still this is the first time that I've seen a non al a carte menu listed for Oasis. Makes sense that a transfer of menus would be the easiest solution. Curious, what is the cost for Sabor on Freedom?

It's common knowledge now that on some RCI ships, Sabor recently changed from al a carte pricing to a prix fixe of $19. At the same time, there were posts stating that the al a carte menu was being reduced, but I never found any real documentation as to what the new menu offered. In the Cruise Planner, the menu that was linked when one made Sabor reservations was the old al a carte menu. Tonight, however, I noticed another link at the very bottom of the restaurant description that links to this .pdf file, which appears to the be the new prix fixe menu. Seems to me that many of the old menu items remain and although I was originally skeptical about the value of the $19 price for lunch or dinner, given that one can order unlimited food for the price from the menu, I can see $19 being a reasonable value. Whether this is a recent new posting by RCI or one that I've missed seeing before, if you haven't seen the prix fixe menu, take a look here. sabor.pdf

It seems that how FNDR is being implemented is changing. Previously, one could be assigned any Specialty restaurant for the $15 charge and one was able to change the reservation once onboard. But recently (at least on on Oasis class ships), the only choices offered for the assigned reservation are Giovanni's and Sabor. If you want to reserve another Specialty restaurant such as Chops or 150 Central Park, you could reserve at 50% of the normal price. Given that those full prices are $49 and $45 respectively (again on Oasis class), you would be charged the difference between the pre-paid $15 and the half price amount. Make sense??? Not sure if this has been implemented on all RCI ships. Regarding how 50% off is calculated, it's a moving target. The same question could be posed about all RCI "sales". Welcome to the world of RCI dynamic pricing...

My understanding is that his is held on sea days. If you have already booked the cruise, go to the Cruise Planner and do a mock reservation. You will see the sates and times that are available.

I think this only pertains to some ports in Europe. Not available for cruises departing from US ports.

..., or of what's hiding in the rice.

Petrified of what? I agree, that's pretty pitiful. Hopefully just an off night.

The source was a post on the CC boards from someone who is currently on Allure. The individual was mentioning things onboard that were different from their prior cruise (don't recall how long ago that was). If accurate, perhaps this applies only to onboard package purchases?

Well they couldn't get dynamic dining to work, so now they're trying dynamic pricing...

What, no evening shows? The ice show is very good; why not reserve the Comedy Club and Headliner. More active stuff? Try the Flowrider and zip line. What about the Sushi making class? No shortage of activities on Oasis class ships. For shows, better to try reserving before boarding, but you still might be late. If your preferred times are not available, try to reserve as soon as you board; there are usually seats left open for onboard reservations. And if that fails, arrive at the venue early and wait in the stand-by line.

For Oasis, it was listed at 20% off at $46 per day in the Cruise Planner until about a month ago. Then it jumped to $55 per day but still stating 20% off. Welcome to the world of RCI pricing. In my case, I was planning to purchase the package but wanted to wait a week for a new credit card cycle to begin. In that time, it jumped to $55.

Well, I'm booked for FNDR for an early Nov cruise. Reserved several months ago. If it isn't clear by then, I'll let you know our experience. Would certainly like to have choices, but Giovanni's will do. Or maybe I can argue to grandfather me to common practice at the time of purchase...

.. But then again, this post from CC by someone who is currently on Oasis. " Thanks everyone! We made it on with no problems. Arrived at 10:30, was on the ship before 11:30. I was pretty impressed with how quickly the process was for getting on the ship. We were arraigned FNDR at Giovanni's and they said we could only chose between it and Sabor. At first I was a little annoyed, but since we were Considering it anyway..."

This is all that is present in my Cruise Planner: "Embark on a culinary journey with a reservation at one of our specialty restaurants on your first night and save 50%. Select your preferred time and number of guests, and a courtesy reservation will be made on your behalf. You'll receive confirmation of the restaurant chosen for you in your stateroom upon arrival. If you wish to amend to your reservation, you may do so at the hospitality desk or any specialty restaurant. " Pretty non-descript. 50% off what, since no Specialty restaurants on Oasis cost $30. But under restrictions, it states "none".

WipeOut Café has an omelet station; Cafe Promenade for specialty coffee and pastries; Solarium Café used to serve breakfast but not so sure now on Oasis since in the Cruise Planner, the hours of operation now list opening time as 11AM.

I would leave the mouse ears at home, though...