markinct

Oasis has so many great things onboard.  Definitely see CATS, eat at Sabor and Izumi, and EXPLORE.  The ship is so big but there's a lot of little gems all around.

oh and Brad, I need to meet this Chiropractor of your's if he's a fan, lol

Good advice.  On past two cruises I've ordered the kids chips and guacamole appetizer on a few occasions!

I actually just answered this question here: http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/questions/how-do-you-know-how-much-money-bring-you-and-how-much-save
 
In short....it depends :)

I found some guidelines from frommers.com:
 
http://www.frommers.com/articles/7185.html
 
Basically they recommend about $5 per day to steward, $5 per day split between waiters.
 
What about when you go to specialty restaurants... do you tip them, or is that included in the additional fee you are charged?

You've picked some great locations.  Have a great trip.

bcarney,
 
My thoughts exactly. To bring nicer cloths I would have to bring a garment bag, which adds to the cost of the flight, but more importantly I don't want to.
 
I never cruised before, so last year was my first. I lived from morning until night in wet-dry bathing suit and polos or t-shirts. For dinner I would throw on slacks and a polo and loafers. Formal nights I would hide :) On night we ate in a specialty restaurant and I had a blazer, oxford shirt, etc... and couldn't wait to break free of it.
 
Thanks,
 
Mike_

I just wanted to remind everyone to ask for the kids' menu in the MDR especially if there's nothing to your liking on the regular menu or if you're looking for something different (e.g., finger foods).  We often find that desserts of the kids' menu can be a nice change as most cruise lines have some version of a banana split which can make the regular ice cream a bit more appealing.  On Royal, it's more like sliced bananas with chocolate syrup, but still quite tasty especially if you opt for the specialty flavor of the night.
 
Remember, any adult can order for the kids' menu just like any kid can order from the regular menu. :)

The thriller jet boat does nose dives and 360 degree turns ..it's amazing and you get a video of your ride..you will get soaked on this ride but it's a blast:)

yep agree on the bugs for the Mayan ruins, it made the visit not that fun - there are some small one's on Cozumel you can see
I liked doing an island drive on Cozumel and eating out in town, jet boats are great too
Labadee is a great relaxing day and its fun to sit on the beach and watch the zipliners coming in

Heh... I'm such a noob!

We did a Mayan ruins excursion back on Oasis of the Seas in 2010 when she went to Costa Maya (since Falmouth wasn't yet ready for her). The excursion was quite nice, but the bugs were horrible, and I forgot my bug spray (I grabbed two sunscreen sprays instead). Fortunately, my friend brought extra.
 
I don't have any experience with excursions in Tulum, though.

Tulum is awesome, but it is a lot of travel for a short visit. I don't remember wanting/needing more time there, but it didn't allow much time for anything else since at least four hours will be spent getting there and back on top of your time at the ruins.

Thanks, we are really looking forward to it. I feel like we might be a little rushed but we just want to see everything.....oh and I forgot to mention 2 days also in San Fran lol

They don't have any forms of entertainment that require a reservation on the Jewel. They just offer the traditional main showroom and the lounges.

That's because Oasis (and Allure, Quantum, and maybe a couple others) have reservations for the entertainment, so it's integrated in the Cruise Planner.
 
Most ships don't have reservable entertainment, so their schedules aren't published in advance.

Wow! That's a vacation!

We are also doing an Alaska cruise with princess, New York, Las Vegas and Hawaii on the way home.. About 7 weeks in total.

I dont know if I'll ever cruise with Carnival (never did) But it's a good thing you gave them a second chance. Thanks for sharing with us. Things changes so fast I this industry.  I also beleive that Royal offers a superior product but I think they know it too. And that's when I'm affraid of maybe paying to much for an ameneties that other cruise line are offering at much lower customer friendly price.
In my oppinion, if they lower the price of some activities or packages,  they would sell more and overall make more money. Just look at activities on Labadee, everything not "included" are rather pretty expensive. 

Matt: I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that you just might favor Sabor.... just a little....

Not sure if you can transfer the reservation now that you're so close to your cruise and final payment has been made.
 
Any good travel agent should be a fee-free agency, where the cruise line pays them and not you.  A good TA will give you additional services, support and advice (and maybe some booking incentives too).

Yes, they will pro-rate the remaining amount.

I swore to never cruise Carnival again after our honeymoon cruise on them in 1996 as it in no way compared to Royal. However, we recently sailed them and were fairly impressed especially for the money paid. While I think Royal is a superior product, Carnival has improved enough that I wouldn't hesitate sailing on one of their newer ships again.

Wow..thats a cheap price and going to draw alot of people to look at them for a cruise option.
 
Not to mention that their cruises are usually half the cost of most of the major players.....
 
Not a deal break for me to be honest while travelling...but for $5 I would defn sign up!

I can see both sides of this, however even being a milenial/gen x member I can appreciate the MDR. Yes DD has 'the grande', but that's formal every night. While our generation does indeed demand variety and is likely what is causing Royal to push DD, I believe you'll see as more of us get past the 20's and into mid to late 30's that more want the traditional sit down family dinner. Royal is smart to delay DD and take its time with this. If it turns out to be even a partial dud, the fix certainly wouldn't be cheap. I think the better move would be to perhaps cut the MDR down one level and put in one more free option. This would leave 2/3 of MDR capacity while giving a bit more choice which some would possibly choose. This may seem like an odd solution , but I think a big part of the problem with DD is the severe reduction/utter removal of the MDR. Leave a decent size MDR in and I forsee DD becoming ALOT more popular.