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It looks like the playmakers Onboard Symphony will serve gourmet burgers, not sure how that will work with Johnny rockets being over the way but we shall see. lots of real beers could b on the cards too along with an arcade and virtual bungee. I cant wait to try her out on April 7th, go to the wipeout bar then down the ultimate abyss for a drink.

 

what do we all think?

playmakers 3.png

playmakers 2.png

playmakers 1.png

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I am really looking forward to this sports bar.  Both my wife and I love watching sports.  I doubt they will be broadcasting Raptor/Jays games.  Maybe my Fins (not until next season).

 

Is this Royal's play against Carnival's Guy's Burger Joint?  Johnny Rockets just doesn't cut it.  I did enjoy my breakfast at JR though on Oasis class.

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It seems that they have come full circle re: the sports bar concept.  Waaay back when there used to be a sports bar behind the casino on the Radiance class ships but they took it out (I think !).  The problem with that space was that they did not have a reliable live TV feed so they kept re-showing the same 2 hours of a month old soccer game on the TVs and nobody went there.  I think that now, with the real time sports feed they will do much better.

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21 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

It seems that they have come full circle re: the sports bar concept.  Waaay back when there used to be a sports bar behind the casino on the Radiance class ships but they took it out (I think !).  The problem with that space was that they did not have a reliable live TV feed so they kept re-showing the same 2 hours of a month old soccer game on the TVs and nobody went there.  I think that now, with the real time sports feed they will do much better.

I remember those bars! I recall seeing it on Jewel of the Seas and thinking "There's one place I'm not going" :8_laughing:

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2 hours ago, twangster said:

Newest deck plans show just how big Playmakers will be:

Playmakers.jpeg

 

Will say it is a huge investment of onboard real estate. I'm sure if it gives the Dave and Busters feel it could pay off big with more adult arcade investment.

Biggest issue I feel will be the hours. If it is open too late and the clients leaving are a bit rowdy I'm sure the noise complaints will really pile up. What would be ideal is if there was an enterance/exit that dumps out right at the Boardwalk enterance. At the same time I do hope it fills in the late night decent food offering that Royal is missing. Wouldn't mind paying if was Anthem Jonhny Rocket prices (burger and fries for $4).

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42 minutes ago, CGTLH said:

Will say it is a huge investment of onboard real estate. I'm sure if it gives the Dave and Busters feel it could pay off big with more adult arcade investment.

Biggest issue I feel will be the hours. If it is open too late and the clients leaving are a bit rowdy I'm sure the noise complaints will really pile up. What would be ideal is if there was an enterance/exit that dumps out right at the Boardwalk enterance. At the same time I do hope it fills in the late night decent food offering that Royal is missing. Wouldn't mind paying if was Anthem Jonhny Rocket prices (burger and fries for $4).

I'll be right above it on the transatlantic.  Two NFL Sunday, Two MNF, Two TNF.  Possibly some baseball too. 

Indeed, food prices will be interesting.  

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Hoping this is a hit, as I wondered why Royal didn't seem to cater much towards the sports crowd or fan. This maybe what will change that. Looks like they are putting a good effort into it.

 

Again, I hope they don't try to nickel and dime in here...even a mix of some included and some extras to pay for..or perhaps late night snacks at a charge wouldn't be so bad....guess we will know in April!

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A massive venue like this, with an unquestionable theme of "come park your butt in front of some TVs and spend hours watching them while drinking beers and eating pub food, and maybe dump some money into video games while you're at it" is definitely shaping up Symphony to be the most "the ship is the destination" kind of ship that RC has made yet. For a certain kind of person (definitely not me), they won't have any reason to ever get off the ship until disembarkation day.

"OK, honey, the kids and I are heading off to enjoy the local Mayan ruins, do some snorkeling, and hang on the beach for a while. You have fun staying on the ship and watching your foosball or whatever it's called."

?

The more I learn about Oasis class and its progression, the less inclined I feel to actually sail one of these behemoths. If I want to stay in a resort, I'll go to an actual resort, no floating required.

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15 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

The more I learn about Oasis class and its progression, the less inclined I feel to actually sail one of these behemoths. If I want to stay in a resort, I'll go to an actual resort, no floating required.

I don't believe the intent of Playmakers is to attempt to seduce people to spend the whole cruise there.  People like sports.  That doesn't mean the whole cruise will be spent stuck in front of a TV, but one of the more common questions on any cruise forum is "Will the (insert favorite sport) game be available on the ship?".  Up until this point the answer is often "probably not, unless it's the big game".   Cruisers are asking for access to more sports content and RC is responding.  When the spouse heads to the spa for a treatment why not watch an hour of golf with a beer?

I'd recommend keeping an open mind with respect to Oasis class.  I think every one should experience them and I'm pretty confident you'll feel differently after sailing one.  Central Park is a fantastic neighborhood unlike anything on any other cruise line or class of Royal ship.  Very romantic at night, very peaceful by day.  The size of Oasis class allows the crowds to be better dispersed, better that Quantum or Freedom class in my opinion.

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@twangster, it's not just the fact that Oasis ships are basically floating resorts that's a negative for me. It's all the other effects that decision on ship design has introduced:

  • Very limited ports of call on any Oasis itinerary, because so few ports can handle a ship that massive
  • Moderate to significant cost premium vs smaller ship classes (partly because they're the new shiny, I think mostly because of everything on offer that's included in the fare)
  • Impossible to get a trip more than 7 days without doing a B2B, and all of those itineraries are 3 port days, 4 sea days

Since I have to fly to FL for any cruise that departs there, that impacts my vacation budget. The cost premium, short itineraries, and limited ports make doing a cruise on an Oasis class ship much less appealing to me for those factors more than anything else; seeing the design of these ships and how they're clearly meant to make the ship the destination was basically the straw that broke the camel's back for me.

A big part of this is my mobility limits. I only have so many years left before spending hours walking around places, taking in the sights, and soaking in the culture are going to be history for me. So I feel a real compulsion to get the most out of every vacation I take and make it something more than just sitting on a beach or visiting the local honky tonk. Eventually I'll be past that point, and then maybe a ship like Oasis class will work better for me. But until then, it's smaller ships and at some point river cruises for me.

To paraphrase Hamilton: "Why do you travel like you're running out of time? Seeing all these places like you're running out of time?"

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31 minutes ago, twangster said:

I'd recommend keeping an open mind with respect to Oasis class.  I think every one should experience them and I'm pretty confident you'll feel differently after sailing one.  Central Park is a fantastic neighborhood unlike anything on any other cruise line or class of Royal ship.  Very romantic at night, very peaceful by day.  The size of Oasis class allows the crowds to be better dispersed, better that Quantum or Freedom class in my opinion.

 

3 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

 

A big part of this is my mobility limits. I only have so many years left before spending hours walking around places, taking in the sights, and soaking in the culture are going to be history for me. So I feel a real compulsion to get the most out of every vacation I take and make it something more than just sitting on a beach or visiting the local honky tonk. Eventually I'll be past that point, and then maybe a ship like Oasis class will work better for me. But until then, it's smaller ships and at some point river cruises for me.

To paraphrase Hamilton: "Why do you travel like you're running out of time? Seeing all these places like you're running out of time?"

Just don't write of off Joe.  You know I am a huge Oasis class fan so my opinion is biased but like @twangster said already, that class of ship has so much to marvel at it would be a shame not to experience it.  Especially if you end up falling in love with cruising like many of us have.  But I also totally understand your arguments against it.  Many others share those same concerns.  I have heard it from others online and from friends.  Just don't write it off as a possibility. ?

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Nassau

St Thomas

St Maarten

St Kitts

Costa Maya

Cozumel

Jamaica

Labadee

CocoCay

Roatan

San Juan

That's not exactly a bad list of ports to choose from.  Plus we are now seeing some 3,4 and 9 night Oasis class voyages.  Harmony, Mar 2019, 9 Night Eastern Caribbean for example.  

I fly everywhere, no ocean or cruise port in Colorado so I feel your pain.  Oasis and Allure are often available at bargain prices.  I'm looking at a B2B in the fall, Eastern and Western Caribbean.  I like all ships and having variety to choose from is a great thing about Royal Caribbean.  Sailing only smaller ships would get old for me, I like all classes of ships.

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10 minutes ago, twangster said:

Harmony, Mar 2019, 9 Night Eastern Caribbean for example.

Interesting. If they offer this itinerary at a time that better lines up with school schedules or over the summer then that could be an option, as long as it's to ports we won't have visited yet; my wife and I both agree that repeated trips to the Caribbean should visit at least a couple of new ports each time until we've been to all at least once. Repeat visits aren't forbidden, but we want to see all that's out there and be able to figure out where we'd like to visit again for different excursions that show us something different than the last time.

I'm kind of like @Sabrinaklai, @Sweety, and @Boston Babe in being tied to school schedules for a few more years, at least for trips for the whole family. In another couple of years, when our older daughter is in her 20s and our younger one in her late teens, we can start looking at more "just the two of us" trips that leave from ports other than Cape Liberty. By then we'll have the security cams installed all over the house to make sure there's no crazy partying going on. ?

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38 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Very limited ports of call on any Oasis itinerary, because so few ports can handle a ship that massive

I think the amount of ports it cannot visit has reduced significantly in last few years.  Other than tender ports (Grand Cayman and Belize), Oasis class ships can go to pretty much every port any other RC ship sailing from mainland USA can hit.

40 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Moderate to significant cost premium vs smaller ship classes (partly because they're the new shiny, I think mostly because of everything on offer that's included in the fare)

You're totally right that you are paying a premium for newer ships.  Of course, price for Oasis and Allure is cheaper than Harmony or Symphony since they are "older", but you're right the best "bang for the buck" is with smaller ships.

41 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Impossible to get a trip more than 7 days without doing a B2B, and all of those itineraries are 3 port days, 4 sea days

That's pretty much true of all RC cruises from USA.  There are a few exceptions, most notably ships from the North East that have to take longer to get anywhere, but it's not to say that other ships sailing from Florida are offering 10+ night cruises with any great regularity.  It's more a statement about American's vacation habits than a limitation of the Oasis class.

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24 minutes ago, twangster said:

I fly everywhere, no ocean or cruise port in Colorado so I feel your pain.  Oasis and Allure are often available at bargain prices.  

I feel that pain too!  We fly everywhere, even to Cape Liberty.  Hubby says the 1.5hr flight is way better than the 10hr drive.

You really have to look hard and deals are there.  I learned that just this week.  Like I mentioned in that other post, that Harmony sailing that I'm on next March break (2019) was lower in cost than Oasis and Allure!  I don't even understand how that is possible?

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25 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

in being tied to school schedules

I'm not tied into school schedules anymore, husband is retired, but I get where you are going with the biggest ships. I will sail on one of them in the future as @Sabrinaklai will force me into it, but for right now, the smaller ones are better for us.  Reading, a few cocktails, casino is about what we are looking for now..

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2 minutes ago, Boston Babe said:

I will sail on one of them in the future as @Sabrinaklai will force me into it

Re-wording:  Sabrina is opening your eyes to the world of Oasis class possibilities...

3 minutes ago, Boston Babe said:

Reading, a few cocktails, casino is about what we are looking for now..

You can do all of that and more on Oasis class.  :10_wink:

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16 hours ago, twangster said:

I'll be right above it on the transatlantic.  Two NFL Sunday, Two MNF, Two TNF. 

Good lord, I'm sure hubby will force me to watch. NFL is getting more and more attention in Germany but you couldn't prove it by me. I'm a soccer and motorsports girl. Too bad we will miss Nascar in Homestead by a week :(

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13 hours ago, Sabrinaklai said:

I feel that pain too!  We fly everywhere, even to Cape Liberty.  Hubby says the 1.5hr flight is way better than the 10hr drive.

You really have to look hard and deals are there.  I learned that just this week.  Like I mentioned in that other post, that Harmony sailing that I'm on next March break (2019) was lower in cost than Oasis and Allure!  I don't even understand how that is possible?

My cruise Harmony April 2019 was cheaper than Oasis and Allure. I am so happy that I check my cruises twice a day. I was at a PD(professional development day) and checking cruises and airfare.

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12 hours ago, Boston Babe said:

I'm not tied into school schedules anymore, husband is retired, but I get where you are going with the biggest ships. I will sail on one of them in the future as @Sabrinaklai will force me into it, but for right now, the smaller ones are better for us.  Reading, a few cocktails, casino is about what we are looking for now..

I am on count down with five more years of teaching. Woohoo!!!

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On 2/4/2018 at 5:06 PM, twangster said:

Newest deck plans show just how big Playmakers will be:

Playmakers.jpeg

 

That. looks.awesome.

 

RCI has long ignored sports fans. Other lines have catered to us.  As mentioned above, technology has improved. RCI should be able to give us the NHL/NFL/MLB/NBA/NCAA we crave!!!

 

 

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9 hours ago, Sweety said:

I am on count down with five more years of teaching. Woohoo!!!

You sound like my husband!! You will sooooo enjoy retirement! At least he is. I'm hoping to hang it up in the next two years but I work from home, have great bosses so I'm not in a hurry!

When we see you on Adventure, he'll tell you all about it! LOL 

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9 hours ago, Sweety said:

I am on count down with five more years of teaching. Woohoo!!!

Man, I wish I had that short a time frame. I've got 7 years minimum, and that would have me retiring at 55 with a kid still in college with not enough savings to last all that time. More likely I'll be going all the way to 65, in which case I'm looking at a very long 17 years. My wife can retire a couple years earlier.

On the plus side, that much extra time should let our nest eggs grow quite a bit more, even allowing for market ups and downs. And who knows, maybe I'll semi-retire at 55 and do like my dad did for a while, teaching a class or two at a local college or university. Not like people won't still need to learn computer science for the next several decades. :3_grin:

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