thrifty99

If you can travel on a short time frame, look for good deals on the Royal Family Suites (2 bedrooms / 2 bathrooms).

We did a 7 night southern caribbean on the Adventure in December in a RFS for about $3,500 for 3 of us.

I just did some quick looking and found a 7-night Western Caribbean on the Navigator that leaves on Feb 1st and is $4,253 for 3 adults in a Royal Family Suite (less if you apply any Crown & Anchor discount).

I was also able to use multiple devices when in our room (when on the one device plan)... I logged in on my MacBook Air and then set it up to share internet connection. We could then use the MacBook, and iPhone, and an iPad at the same time. The iPhone and iPad logged into the MacBook's shared internet connection.

Yes, you can use the internet from multiple devices but only one at a time. You don't need to log out of a device... just log onto the new device and it logs you off the prior device automatically.

FYI - this is based on how it worked when I was on the Allure in mid November. I assume it is still the same.

The new high speed internet is great. I really missed it when on the Adventure a few weeks ago.

We had Ryno as the Concierge lounge rep on our Dec 14th Adventure sailing. He sent an e:mail ahead of time, followed up promptly on an e:mail we sent back, and did a great job helping out during the week.

We usually receive an e:mail about a week prior to the cruise from the Concierge rep when in a suite (Allure, Oasis, Adventure).

9am flight out feasible?

No checked luggage.

I suppose it is possible if everything went smoothly but I would not schedule it that close. We got off the Adventure a couple weeks ago very quickly at about 8:15am (could have left earlier).

We could have probably made it to the airport by 9am (we were staying an extra day in San Juan). But then you need to have bags go through Agriculture check and then get through security so 9am seems a long shot and any delay along the way and there is no way to make it.

I would not do earlier than 11am and prefer flights after noon.

You will have a great cruise on the Adventure. I recently posted an Oasis class / Adventure comparison as we had done 4 Oasis / Allure cruises and then did the Adventure a few weeks ago. Hope that did not make you feel bad about your upcoming cruise.

For us, the better on-board activities (especially the shows) on Oasis class fit our style better. I also trade options for a living and the high speed internet on the Oasis class allows me to do a few trades during the week to pay for the cruise.

We also sailed on the Song of America for our first cruise. A lot has changed since then.

The southern Caribbean routes on the Adventure have fewer days at sea so less time to worry about on board activities. You have some great destinations to explore.

Have a great cruise.

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Can I please ask how many cruisers that you had in the Royal Family Suite? We only have 4 but I think we need 5.

It was only 3 of us in the RFS. They opened it up about 60 days prior to the sailing date for any size party. It was a great deal so we took it.

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We were on the Adventure 2 weeks ago in the Royal Family Suite 8694.

The views from the back were great. Here is a photo from the balcony. You do have some of the ship structure, but that did not really detract from the views.

The only negative on the aft balcony is you need to brush off your chairs before you sit down. There can be some little black soot particles that settle on the chairs and you don't want to smear those on your pants / shorts.

Ok - yes, cheapest balcony for 4 on Oasis is $4,393 week of May 23rd. A bit higher than the other alternatives.

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How many room / people are going?

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I was looking at prices and the cheapest balcony on Independence in May is $999 per person. Out of curiosity, is there a reason you are not considering the Oasis? In May the cheapest balcony is $1079 and the $80 would be worth it in my opinion to choose the Oasis over the Independence.

There are more activities / shows on the Oasis and more dining choices (although not sure dynamic dining will be available by then).

And the "Wow" factor... Your friends would be impressed by the Oasis.

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We just enjoyed a Royal Family Suite on the Adventure last week... LOVED IT!!! It was just my wife and I and our 18 year old son.

The RFS on Rhapsody is 480sqft. The Grand Suite is about 350sqft and an inside cabin is about 130sqft. So the amount of floor space is basically the same.

The 2nd bedroom in your RFS has no windows so their bedroom will be nice and dark if they like to sleep in. Our son liked this. There was no TV in the 2nd bedroom, but there is one in the master bedroom and one in the sitting area. That may work better if one of your sons wants to sleep and the other wants to watch TV. One can sleep in the bedroom and the other watch TV in the sitting area. If they shared an interior room, you don't have that flexibility.

The 2nd bathroom is about the same as a bathroom in an interior cabin.

Our RFS was a little larger on the Adventure as we had a dining table area along with the sitting are / couch. We also had a HUGE balcony with 2 lounge chairs and a large table with 4 chairs. We ordered room service a couple of times for dinner and enjoyed eating at the table.

If you are only paying $300 more for the 4 of you to have the RFS, I would pay that for the suite perks for everyone. It gives everyone double crown & anchor points and it gives everyone access to the Concierge Club. We enjoyed the free drinks / snacks in the Concierge Club. The food during happy hour was very good... during the week they had things like shrimp, chicken wings, meatballs, bacon wrapped scallops, chicken / beef skewers along with cheese, meats, and crackers.

We enjoy spending time together so will do a larger suite when it makes financial sense versus 2 rooms. If you don't mind being around each other, go for the suite.

I have not sailed Oasis with the new Concierge Lounge, but you will enjoy the suite benefits. The CL is nice for evening drinks / snacks. Prior to the new CL, you could get breakfast and lunch in the CL as well. We also would get drinks at lunch in the CL - not sure if that is offered in the new set-up. I'm looking forward to trying the new Coastal Kitchen for suite guests the next time we are on Oasis.

Reserved Theater seats are in the balcony - center section. If you like watching from the balcony, the seats are nice. The 1st row or 2 can have parts of the stage blocked by the railing. They open this reserved area about 10-15 minutes before show time so get there before that. There were also some reserved seats for the Aqua Theater shows.

You also get a private sun-deck with its own bar. This is nice to have a separate quiet area, but is not next to a pool -- believe it is on deck 17 forward (if I remember correctly). Pools are on deck 15 and you go up to deck 16 and then there is a stairway with a brown wooden gate stating the are is for suite guests only.

We liked this sun-deck for a more quiet area to sit and read. There are some nice sitting areas with cushions that are protected from the sun / wind. There are lounge chairs for getting some sun, but it is Very Windy up there. There is a bar and separate restrooms which is nice -- not as crowded.

I wish they would have a couple rows on the "stair" seating near a pool for suite guests. We enjoyed this on the Adventure last week. Nice to have suite pool seats closer to the pool.

Finally, you can get any food served in the Main Dining Room delivered to you via Room Service. This is great to enjoy a quiet dinner served in your room. We don't bring clothes for formal night se we could still enjoy the lobster in our suite as well on formal night.

Enjoy your suite!!!

I see. Just in case I've made reservations for My Time everynight and I figure we can cancel and go somewhere else if it is busy. We'll see. I'm trying not to stress about it and just go with the flow.

 

Koohiichan

That is what I would do too. Make the reservation for My Time each night and then cancel / replace if you decide to do something else.

Also look / ask for discounts when you get on the ship. They will sometimes offer a discount if you book 2 or 3 specialty restaurants the first day of the cruise. On one of our Oasis / Allure cruises there was a 20% discount on your specialty dining charge if you booked 3 specialty dinners on the first day of the cruise.

Your comparison couldn't have come at a better time for me. We will be on Oasis in January and our last 2 cruises were on Adventure. We loved Adventure, but do tend to love ports rather than the ship. I've been a little worried that we won't like Oasis as much, but I feel better now. I do have a question about the restaurants. On Adventure it was so easy to do My Time Dining without a reservation. Almost no waiting. I've Oasis is not like that. What was your experience? Did you just eat at other venues or do a lot of pay restaurants?

 

 

 

Thanks and Happy Holidays!

 

 

 

Koohiichan

We have never done My Time dining so can't help with that. We like the specialty restaurants so we tend to do those on the Oasis class. Last month on the Allure here was our dinners ($$=up charge):

Main dining room

Samba Grill $$

Chops $$

Main dining room

Giovanni's $$

Rita's Cantina $$

Johnny Rockets $$

We had some perks from our travel agent for $60 in specialty dining so that paid for some of it and we had $300 in on board credit to more than cover the rest.

We have also done Izumi's but did not on the cruise last month.

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We just returned from the Dec 14th sailing on the Adventure of the Seas. Had a very enjoyable cruise and attended our first Meet & Mingle. It was nice to meet some other Cruise Critic members.

We have sailed the Allure / Oasis the past several cruises so was not sure how we would like a smaller ship. We were hoping we might find it more "intimate" being on a smaller ship. It is personal preference, but after sailing on the Adventure last week, the larger ships are definitely our preference. In case you are wondering if the Oasis class is worth it, here are the main reasons we like the larger ships.

- Quality and number of shows: This is a big item for us as we really enjoy the shows. The Broadway and headliner shows are much better on the Oasis class. We did not enjoy them on the Adventure. They also have more shows such as the Cirque de Soleil style of shows and AquaTheater shows. We found the Ice Shows comparable on both. Comedy shows were better on the Allure, but that varies depending on the comedian.

- Crowds: We found the Adventure felt more crowded than the Oasis class. For example, the lines at the Promenade cafe were longer at times. Part of this is due to the Adventure having the Promenade cafe that combines what is the Promenade cafe and Sorentos Pizza on the Oasis class. The Oasis class has so much more room and more venues to spread out in. The Oasis class Central Park, Boardwalk, and Promenade large open areas compared to just the Promenade on the Adventure is a big difference. The Promenade also feels more crowded on the Adventure when they are having the merchandise sales as there is less room to move around when they put out all the items for sale.

- Food: We definitely prefer all the food choices available on the Oasis class. Adventure has Main Dining Room, Windjammer, Giovanni's, Promenade Cafe (has pizza like Sorentos but can't make your own), and Johnny Rockets.

Allure has Main Dining Room, Windjammer, Giovanni's, Johnny Rockets, Rita's Cantina, Boardwalk Dogs, Promenade Cafe, Park Cafe, Izumi, Sorentos Pizza (and you can make your own), Chops, Solarium (Samba Grill at night), 150 Central Park, Vintages, and WipeOut Cafe. The Solarium offers a healthier menu for breakfast which is nice. There are just a LOT more choices for both complimentary and specialty dining on the Oasis class.

Activities. Both had similar activities such as karaoke, trivia, contests, etc. But there were not many people at the events we attended (karaoke and Majority Rules game). We won the Majority Rules but there were only 7 teams participating. The Oasis class has the FlowRiders which our son enjoys. I also like the jogging / walking track on the Oasis class as it has its own deck.

Since we sailed out of San Juan, there were a lot of Spanish speaking guests. For this reason they do ALL the announcements/comments before shows and activities in both English and Spanish (which is understandable). However, some of the comments got long-winded and you had to listen to them in each language. I wish they would keep the stories / funny comments shorter as it got tiring after a while listening to them twice.

The piano bar entertainer on the Adventure (Matt Yee) was a big hit with my wife and son. They enjoyed his show every night for at least an hour.

Internet: this is an easy one... on the Allure in November I paid $136 for the mid level internet package for one device (w/ Emerald Discount). The Oasis/Allure have the new high speed internet. The middle package had download speeds of about 2Mbps. The Adventure was $161 for unlimited on one device with the discount and was HORRIBLE. After the first day of having to wait 5 minutes for a page to load I cancelled and received a full refund. Maybe it improved later in the week, but I found it unusable for my needs. On the Allure last month I was able to video chat with my kids back home with no problem. Internet is important for me as I trade options. If I have reliable internet I can easily pay for a cruise while I am on it by doing a few trades. This was not possible on the Adventure for me.

Staterooms: Hard to compare. On the Allure we have had Oceanview Balconies, Junior Suite, Grand Suite, and Owner Suite. On the Adventure we had the Royal Family Suite for the 3 of us. That was a great suite... 2 bedrooms / 2 bathrooms and a huge aft balcony. I would prefer to not have an aft balcony as I like to watch as we are approaching a new port. Can't do that from the back of the ship. But that was a minor negative to an otherwise awesome suite on the Adventure.

Since we had a suite we could compare the Concierge Lounge on each ship. Adventure was a smaller room with no windows. The CL on the Allure has a large window wall overlooking the Boardwalk and back of shift towards the Aqua Theater -- much nicer room. Food was about the same. We did find the staff in the CL on Adventure MUCH BETTER than on the Allure. Ryno was the attendant in the CL on the Adventure and he provided great service and went out of his way to help us. On the Allure this year, we were pretty much ignored.

The suite lounge on the Oasis class will be even better with the updated lounge (former Viking Lounge) and Coastal Kitchen restaurant just for suite members.

We all decided at the end of the cruise that the better shows and wider variety of food / restaurants is well worth the additional price for the Oasis class for us. It was nice to visit some new ports on the Southern Caribbean itinerary on the Adventure, but we enjoy more time onboard and less time with port excursions so that fits with the larger Oasis class.

I have not been to St. Kitts but was just at St. Croix on Saturday via the Adventure of the Seas.

We really enjoyed St. Croix... not as many cruise ships stop there so it was more relaxing than some of the other ports. We did a 12-mile bike ride excursion that was great. Worked off some of the food eaten during the week and the guide did an awesome job of sharing the history of the island with us at stops along the way.

There is a beach very near the pier and easy to walk to. The water was crystal clear.

We are looking forward to the DD on the Oasis / Allure. We usually do mostly specialty dining on these ships so this will give us more complimentary choices to try as well.

My tips for avoiding the crowds:

- Wipeout Cafe for breakfast was not as crowded for us. And my made to order omelette was awesome. We like Park Cafe too but found it to be more crowded and tables closer together.

- avoid the promenade when there is a parade. The parades are fun to watch but VERY crowded.

- specialty dinners are usually quieter more relaxed. However, there can be large groups having a dinner and that can be loud. Request when you arrive to not be seated near a large group if possible.

- depending on when you cruise, pool deck can be very crowded and all chairs "reserved" with towels by 8am. We found this to be true on Oasis/Allure in March. Last month this was not a problem. The deck chairs above the pool deck are not as crowded. There is also a nice quiet seating area at the back of the ship on deck 5 (running track).

- if you are in a suite, the sun deck for suite guests is not crowded. It can be very windy, but there are some "cabana" type chairs for 2 out of the wind.

- shows in Studio B (ice arena) and the comedy club feel more crowded due to the smaller venue size than the main theater. Studio B has the ice show and Quest adult game show.

- karaoke is fun to watch but usually held in On Air which is pretty small and can get very crowded.

Overall, I've felt less crowded on Allure / Oasis than any other ship.

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Yes, I was on the Allure last month and enjoyed the new high speed internet. But they had lower "Holiday pricing" last week on the Allure and was wondering if they also reduced Internet pricing for the holidays on the other ships. I'll find out later today I guess.

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I saw on another post that the Allure had reduced holiday Internet packages this past week.

Has anyone seen this on other ships? We are on the Adventure tomorrow and hoping they have holiday reduced Internet prices.

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You get a "coupon". It will be automatically loaded, so that when you go to sign up for an internet package, it will appear in your pricing.

Yes, I have used the discount. But I was wondering if they were giving the C&A discount along with the holiday pricing.

That is great news. Hope they have this on the Adventure for our cruse that leaves tomorrow. Would love to get a holiday price for my weekly internet.

Do you know if they still gave the Crown & Anchor discount % off the holiday rates?

On the Allure right now and pricing seems to have changed again. I have the middle of the road package for one device and it is now only $115 for the week. I don't have any discounts (first timer with RCI). I'll see if I can get the other rates (since I made an account and signed up it won't show the rates now).

I'm curious if you were able to get anything from Guest Services with the rates. When I was on the Allure in early November they gave me a sheet of paper with the rates and descriptions.

I'm on the Adventure next week. I will miss the higher speed internet that the Allure had.

We will make Diamond level next week on our Adventure Southern Caribbean cruise. We are in a suite and I mentioned to the Concierge Club rep via e:mail yesterday (had some other questions for him) that we would be hitting Diamond level during this cruise. He said he would be sure to get us our Diamond pins next week.

We plan to book a late Jan / early Feb cruise while on the ship next week. I will see if they have any way of giving us the Diamond balcony discount or if we have to wait until our C&A status updates after completing next week's cruise. I'm hoping we can book on the ship and then call to have the higher discount added if they can't do it next week.