Bob_KY

A change I have noticed on RU's is the minimums have gone way UP!

I always tag all of my bags, including my carry-ons.
1.  I have an easy way to recall which cabin I am in !!
2.  If the carry-ons somehow become separated from me, the crew will know where to deliver the stray bag.

I've found the lanyards very useful to not be digging through pockets, bags, etc. For my kids, they can't misplace it if it's around their neck! Then we used magnet hooks by the door in our stateroom and hung them there to not lose them in the kids' stuff. We got a 3 pack of lanyards from Amazon for around $7 pre-cruise. 

Roll the dice because they are both amazing ships and you can’t go wrong with either choice! Odyssey does a Southern Caribbean route which would tip the scales for me personally as Aruba and Curaçao are great ports. 

Just to show how subjective cruising is, my wife and I prefer Quantum Class over Oasis Class.  🤷‍♂️

I'd go one step further and say skip breakfast on the ship entirely and have it on the beach at the Beach Club and make your lunch reservation early.  Before you take my suggestion, I'd double-check with someone who has been there more recently, but last summer they had some continental breakfast items (muffins, pastries, etc.) and fresh coffee available for self-serve at the restaurant  "lobby" area.  Unless you're the type who need a big hearty breakfast, I'd just enjoy some light fare under a palapa with some fresh coffee or a mimosa and enjoy the Beach Club for every moment that you can.  @CanHardlyWait and @JimnKathy are right, you're going to want to spend as much time there as possible, and the day goes amazingly fast!

1.  Release the shows schedule early tethered to if I purchase the UDP I can look at it and make my dining reservations BEFORE I board. Boarding day should be reserved for making adjustments, it would just relieve some frustration on day one. I think they would sell more UDP if reservations can be secured before hand with the UDP.
2. For goodness sake standardize the suites product, it is different across the fleet and I think if the product was the same across the ships it would generate a better feeling of value, and possibly more bookings = more revenue. At minimum a Sky class experience for the Grands & higher, Sea for the Juniors. (Star on the smaller vessels seems not needed, ie. too small) 
3. Along the same lines the Suites Lounge has become wildly popular and address in some way the capacity problems. If you stay in a suite you are afforded this amenity & if not then please enjoy another venue or make the lounges bigger with an additional concierge because one can't handle it. 
4. This may be off putting but reaching 700 + nights sailings and achieving Pinnacle means a huge investment was made with the company, Pinnacles should be afforded "free room service" always no matter what class of cabin they are in as well as 9 drinks per day! Depending on the amount on board say 20 have a special luncheon service just for them.**
5. Open the theaters early before the shows and just allow people to enter at their leisure. 
6. I've repeatedly stated allow cabins to be booked with or without Genie service (the Star ones) Have the service as an add on at booking for certain cabin types. 
** I am not Pinnacle, but want to be one in the future! Only about 33 seven night sailings to go!!
 
@FSUFAN thanks so much, this was fun!
 
 
 
 

I don't disagree, and ultimately this is the price they all paid for being non-US companies - they weren't eligible for any kind of COVID bailouts/support from the US government the way the airlines and other businesses were.  Of course, they probably wouldn't be able to exist at all if they had to comply with US shipping and labor laws, so there's that.
I'm still betting one of the big three is going to go through a bankruptcy reorg at some point.  The amount of debt (and equity dilution) that Carnival, NCL, and Royal all took on was staggering.

To me, this [oversold situation popping up so frequently lately] screams that either RoyalUp isn't working OR they just don't trust RU to get the best $$ result. Obviously, whatever "buffer" inventory that they had been using in the past has been replaced with "sell it all and hope for the best". Desperation, much ?

My wife and I broke from tradition this year with a Celebrity cruise.  We are back to Royal. We are looking forward to a few "firsts" with this cruise: Quantum Class and new islands. We welcome any excursion recommendations or ship "secrets."

Apologies for those who jumped to conclusions. This forum is definitely for discussing things and events related to Royal Caribbean.
Sorry to hear that you are not having a great time on Oasis after coming all this way to North America. As others have mentioned, tours can often be cancelled by the operator, not Royal. Also, I am a huge tea snob myself. I always bring my own. But yes, I when service is not great, that can compound the frustration.
My sister is actually on the same sailing as you. I will have to chat up with her after she returns to see what her experience was this past week.
Sorry again, and welcome to the message boards.

Or don't do that to the crew....more people than not are going to pay the gratuities, so you won't be doing any harm to the company- just the people who helped you during your cruise. I haven't noticed or been bothered enough by cut backs to cause me to want them out of business. If you don't like how they operate- there are plenty of other lines you can try (all doing the same thing, by the way) 

We use something like this.  On the ship, holds sea pass & tip money and on excursions holds cash & credit card.
 
 

My kids grew up cruising, and as adults now would rather go to other destinations when traveling as a family.  I'm sure if grandkids ever happen we'll consider Royal again. 

Gen X is getting up there in age, many of us are retiring now.  Once our kids outgrew the toys on Royal, we hopped to Celebrity and don't plan on going back. 

I really like Celebrity - slower pace yes, and more adult friendly - they have fun wine tasting classes and unique dinners.
and restaurants that I really like.  I took Solstice to Alaska last year and loved the staff and the Sky Suite I had.  And your
Royal benefits transfer too.    The ships are different but I like the change of pace, the all-included packages I can add
and the fun shows.

As a follow
up, in case anybody is wondering, the Dinner on the Edge(Magic Carpet) was really nice. I must say though, that although the food was decent, it really was the atmosphere that made the experience special. Our dining time was just before sunset so we were able to enjoy a nice sunset while we dined.
The experience is not like Chef's Table and I'm not sure if everyone on the Magic Carpet that evening had the same menu. 
One strange thing that happened is that right before dessert was served, the Host and the Chef came over to our table and spoke to us as well as the couple at the table next to us. They asked how our meal was and to offer a 'special' on the cost of the dinner. All of us were a little confused, but said "OK"!! The next day we checked our account but didn't see any change. We waited one more day then asked the Suite Concierge to look into it. They did verify it was a valid offer and said they would credit our account for the difference. 
I would recommend the Magic Carpet for sunset views and al fresco dining. An example of the menu is attached below:

Day 9: A pleasant surprise. Raw on Five. As I've noted previously in my reviews, I'm not enamored by specialty restaurants as they seldom set themselves apart from main dining venues - our exceptions are Murano and Eden. I can now add Raw on Five. We walked up for lunch without a reservation and were seated immediately in a desirable window table. An experienced waiter - that I judged so by his manner, presentation and skills - approached and gave an explanation of the menu. There's no up-charge to dine here. Menu items are al a carte and priced accordingly. I thought the pricing was reasonable. I ordered a sashimi  plate with a choice of 4 of 6 items on the menu for that plate. My second order was something akin to a California roll- A green topped tuna roll. The green top was beautifully sliced avocados neatly laid on top of each of 10 pieces forming a roll. This was $12 - well worth it. My wife had shrimp tempura. She liked it. The best parts of this lunch experience were that it was delightfully quiet in a beautiful setting with 5* food quality and table service. A.
We debark tomorrow morning. This is our 5th cruise on an Edge class ship, the first right after the cruise industry's restart in June 2021.  They take some getting used to but it has been pointed out to us that each new class ship in the Celebrity fleet builds on what worked and what didn't in the previous class. Edge is an improvement on a lot of levels especially propulsion, hull design, system management and cabin design. I like the restaurant changes that are part of the cruise industry's trend to offer more dining options moving away from "Main" dining concepts that have predominated since the beginning of the Golden Age of Cruising in the early 20th century.  The average age on this cruise I'd estimate to be 65. It's an old crowd, few kids, If any at all, and an adults only cruising experience as compared to the younger crowd and family experience on RCL ships. It isn't for everyone but it works for us. The Sky suites were nice but I have trouble justifying the enormous up charge. We'd rather take two cruises in the $4-5K range than one for $8k+. That's just us. If price is no object, go for it. Some of the perks - priority boarding and debarkation, private dining room  - Luminae - access to Blue and the Retreat - are nice but I can do without all of them. As I've mentioned Luminae wasn't great and the Retreat was, IMO, in the one instant I went out there to try the pool and lounge chairs, was more crowded than I would have expected of the exclusivity you're paying for to be in there. The Retreat Lounge is a bit on the boring side. Folks that were in there stuck in their groups and the two times we went there for cocktails before dinner we didn't socialize and stuck to ourselves. This will be my last post in this series. Hope it's been informative and useful if you are considering a voyage on Edge class ships in the Celebrity fleet.

Day 2: Dinner at Luminae. Change of plans. We had thought we were going to do our version of progressive dining by ordering from different main restaurants in Luminae. Turns out we liked the offerings on the Luminae menu. More on that later. After our meal I inquired of the hostess about ordering from the main restaurant's menus while dining in Luminae. Her response did not seem to encourage that although she said it was possible based on availability of a Luminae server to go and get the dish and a person in that restaurants meal staging area willing to make that dish available to Luminae staff. I probably would't try this. Although it can be done, both times we've dined in Luminae it's been very busy. Table staff doesn't need extra work although I'm sure they'd be glad to do it. 
On to the meal: We dined at 8:10pm right after the 7pm theater production show. This can be problematic because early show goers tend to dine afterwards - that's a lot of people looking to get seated in one of the ship's restaurants. Luminae was busy when we arrived but it wasn't show goers. We were seated promptly. Again, it was quite noisy. More on that later too. After a time, we were approached sequentially by several wait staff asking if we had been served yet. This seemed to reflect some disorganization on who was serving our table. There seemed to be plenty of wait staff. Strange - this is a restaurant manager issue that I would not have expected in Luminae. We sat for quite a while waiting for wine and beverage service. When it came it was fine and beverages were promptly obtained and served. Our order was taken about the same time. The starters we ordered came quickly. The main course took a while to get served - again, wait staff organization issues . The lobster, hearts of palm salad was absolutely delicious. Nice sized chunks of lobster in a creamy dressing. I had a Jerusalem artichoke soup with a big mushroom and a thin slice of prosciutto in it. Excellent flavor and consistency beautifully presented. Main course consisted of Baked Alaskan Halibut on Jasmine rice and a small side of bok choy. We enjoyed a glass of Conundrum Cab blend. The halibut was deliciously baked with a very fine crust on top of it and drizzled with a lemony sauce that did not take over the dish - maybe the best fish dish I've had in any restaurant aboard a Celebrity ship.  Prepared and presented perfectly. We finished with a delicious chocolate cake with a small scoop of coffee ice cream and an espresso.  Meal quality and presentation exceeded expectations for fine dining. A real treat. This one gets an A. Not a plus because of the noise and seemingly confused wait staff about who was serving our table. On the noise. I wear hearing aids so, of course, everything is amplified. Even when I took them off, the noise levels were uncomfortably high.  The design acoustics seem wrong - low ceilings and no baffling. I spoke to the Hostess/manager about the noise levels. Apparently I'm not alone in my expressed concerns about it. I asked if there was seating with less noise and she said there is. She made a note in her system that would I like a quieter table. In my 22 years of cruising, I have complained 2x, this was one of them. Both professionally addressed. To be clear, the points I raised in Luminae are nit-picky issues. However, my sense is that for what you are paying for Celebrity's "Suite Life," these issues shouldn't exist.

This is day 1. Strolled through Ocean View Cafe. It's busy, lots of choices beautifully presented. Lunch at Lumanae. Very busy. Service prompt despite this. Extra staff is obvious  so is training and experience level. It was very noisy. Surprising. Split pea soup with ham and scallions. Soup was poured from a taurine into a small bowl containing ham and scallions. Very nice. Delicious - one of my Celebrity favs. Kale salad. Small, good for a starter. Quinoa, orange sections, light lemon flavored dressing also nice. Tasty. Steak Frits w/bernaise. A medium sized uncut sirloin a bit fatty and  undercooked but tender. Two potatoe wedges as frits. Taste was good. I can think of a lot of ways to improve presentation. Dinner next. Overall B+.

I've noticed a serious dearth of top (and medium, even) shelf liquors on our last 3 cruises (2 Harmony, 1 Wonder).
There used to be Trace, 4 Roses, and other good choices.
Blame the supply chain or whatever, but I think it's just another example of Royal going cheap.  I have become a 
cruise fanatic, but RC is not too far from losing me, at least for a couple of cruises.  
Get some danm bourbon!

Posts I have read on the blog have recommended placing your drinks in carry-on.  In the checked bags, it may be difficult to distinguish an allowed bottle from a prohibited bottle.  In the carry-on, a quick inspection of the bag puts the matter to rest in seconds.

Since your status does not change until the points actually post a week or so after the Freedom cruise you won't officially be Diamond from the Freedom sailing until somewhere around May 17 (7 days after the Freedom cruise ends).
That means you won't have Diamond status boarding Icon on May 11.  You will board Icon as Emerald members. 
You can visit the loyalty ambassador on Icon and ask that you be granted Diamond benefits.  The loyalty ambassador may require 24 hours to research your cruise history with headquarters.  It can take 24 hours because your Freedom cruise will not have posted yet and they need to ensure you actually sailed on that cruise so the Loyalty ambassador needs help from folks on land at headquarters to validate you did in fact actually sail on Freedom.  
Some loyalty ambassadors may provide you with Diamond benefits on the spot and some may wait the 24 hours to hear back from headquarters. Technically a loyalty ambassador is not obligated to provide you with Diamond benefits.  A loyalty ambassador could state you are not Diamond until the points post normally and deny your request however most users report that loyalty ambassadors tend to be willing to make the adjustment for you.  Just understand that if this loyalty ambassador denies your request technically they are right to do so.  
Once the loyalty ambassador adjusts your sea pass account manually only then will Diamond benefits be available so it might not be until day two if you talked with them on day one.   
I boarded a cruise as an Emerald member having just finished a B2B on Anthem that put me over the Diamond threshold.  The loyalty ambassador on Anthem had adjusted my status for the second part of my B2B because I crossed the Diamond threshold on the first cruise.  Because the points for a B2B only posted once the second of my B2B cruise ended I wasn't officially Diamond when I boarded the next cruise a few days later.  Walking into the terminal I was Emerald.  I had to use the Emerald line in the terminal.  I boarded the ship as an Emerald member.  I visited the loyalty ambassador and brought my sea pass cards from Anthem with me including the replacement card for my second Anthem B2B cruise that showed Diamond status.  The loyalty ambassador asked me to return the next day.  On the next day the loyalty ambassador agreed to extend Diamond benefits to me for the rest of the cruise.  

Lucky you. I cant wait to try that ship. From all the reviews I have been reading, you are in for a real treat.  I wish Royal would step up their game the same way.  Coastal Kitchen needs an improvement.  But you are in a ship with fewer passengers and the cruise will cost more in comparison.  You get what you pay for I suppose.

We have dined in Luminae on both M and S class ships. All were very nice and a cut above the MDR. The food was better. But the service and atmosphere were top-flight. We usually had reservations, but if we didn't or arrived early or late, the head waiter was gracious and we were seated immediately. Getting to know all the waiters, assistant waiters, sommeliers, etc. by name was very enjoyable. We have not sailed on an Edge-class ship. We are looking forward to Apex in May to experience that one. I don't think you will regret it.