PlanetX

32 minutes ago, LobsterStalker said:

Why ?

Age check? It's very much an 18+ event.

2 hours ago, Rewind said:

Welcome to Roatan!

 

Looks like the port expansion is coming along nicely.  Hope the rain holds off for you today!

1 hour ago, wolfcathorse said:

would you please find out who the captain is? 

Captain Marshall Bartlett sailed Harmony into Galveston last week. 

Following! We will be on Harmony starting Sunday, hope all goes well for your sailing after the Alpha call last night.  We got 2 on Symphony last year on the first night and had to head back to Miami, but we were back on schedule the next day, no worries.

Do you happen to know who the comedians are on your sailing?  Guessing they'll be there next week too.

18 hours ago, PACrew said:

Problem is you aren’t getting what you pay for with Royal these days. You are getting less and paying more. 

While true, the service and food was still good in December. MSC has gotten a wide reputation for low food quality (other than pizza and Italian) and Italian (read: surly and clueless) customer service. Is that changing? Don't really know, but I don't feel the need to gamble with my cruise dollars. Royal's customer service and food was still worth the money the last I was on there. If that changes, I'll look at making a change, but MSC absolutely won't be at the top of my list of alternatives.

Before you book MSC, take a look at the food and service reviews across the various ships. As they say, you get what you pay for…

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

I saw hair spray twice on oasis back when oasis was new. .. to me that counts. Flew to florida twice from dallas and loved it. ... but I love musicals. 

Saw it on Symphony in December, it was really good. Cast was great with lots of energy, and great production values too. 

I don't think blanketly ignoring reviews and going into a cruise blindly is a smart move, particularly before you make the booking.

Seems to me the better option is to read a lot of reviews, consider whether they're trustworthy or if the person posting them is just a crank looking for problems, then see what common problems/complains there are. Then ask yourself if those things will bother you or not.  If so, is it a deal-breaker or are there strategies to avoid these issues so they don't affect your enjoyment of the cruise, etc.

More to the point, I've never been on Allure but have been on Oasis, Harmony and Symphony. Yes, there are crowds and some lines at times but between making reservations and knowing when places are less busy, I never really found it to be much of a problem. There is a lot of passenger space on Oasis class ships. While Allure is older and doesn't have some of the bells and whistles of its sister ships (yet), the recent videos I've seen show it's in good shape and still has a lot to offer, especially if you're the type of person who doesn't need water slides and robot bartenders to have a good time at sea.

16 minutes ago, mickeychicky said:

When they ask for your opinion, it's already in the works to figure out how to charge for this. 

Make it another Johnny Rockets type situation?  If so, they'll need to step up the quality of the pizza.

Possibly a fast casual pasta and brick oven pizza type deal, grab your Italian food and go eat somewhere else on deck. A la carte, starting price $7.95 per item or something similar.

Per MB on FB:

https://www.facebook.com/MichaelBayleyRoyalCaribbean

56 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

I hope she does not get the additional cabins above the bridge like Oasis. Ship’s silhouette looks very ugly with them and they take away all the nice open deck space.

They’re still open deck space on top of the new cabins they built on top of the bridge. They just moved the open space one deck higher, off the Solarium instead of a hallway with cabins like it used to be before dry dock. 

They'll get a nice, shiny C&A Pre-Gold membership! 😁

20 minutes ago, TheHomelessCruiser said:

 

Jewel is ten times faster than that now.  Never though Jewel would outperform an Oasis class for internet.  

A bit unusual, but on the other hand, it only needs to be so fast. I'm streaming Youtube in 4K right now without a problem. 

Aboard Symphony now, off the coast of Mexico:

Just one data point, but I submitted my shareholder benefit request on 11/23 and got confirmation and $$ on my account on 11/30, for a 12/10 sail date.  

16 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

In my experience,  those doors tend to be open more than closed.  😉

 

Heck, one of the doors was missing on Harmony the two weeks I was on her last year. 🤣

 

 

But Lioness has more recent Intel on your ship

This was the case on Oasis and Harmony as well, and it was one of my biggest pet peeves about the CLS experience.  It turned the private area we paid for into a public access area where people from all over the ship would wander in randomly.  It also constantly let the steamy air from the elevator shafts into the suite hallway, making it a lot warmer than it should have been.  We tried closing the doors every time we walked through saw them open, but more often than not we'd see them wide open again the next time we came through.

Part of the problem seems to be a major flaw in the way the glass doors are designed.  If you open them too hard, they prop open and don't close automatically, so anyone can float in and out.  Conversely, you can't open the doors to go out without hitting the button beside the door.  It would be better if the doors closed automatically and didn't require any button pushing from the inside, only keycard access from the outside.  I also had the distinct impression the door was being propped by stateroom attendants for easy access, though I never actually saw this happening.

You may disagree, but I've been in 2 Crown Loft Suites (Oasis, Harmony) and I can't go back to any other cabin type at this point.  The GS pales in comparison IMO.  Yes, it has more floor space but the airiness of the CLS and the location on deck 17 near the suite lounge and Coastal Kitchen, plus only 1 floor above Windjammer + 2 floors above the pool deck make it very convenient indeed.  It's a long ride down to the promenade and boardwalk, but I didn't find this to be too much of an inconvenience. 

You are correct that there probably would not be a ton of room left with the couch pulled into a bed and another bed laid down beside it, but there will be some.  Here's a view of our sofa bed folded out + floor space on Harmony, Oasis should be exactly the same:

Depending on width, the bed could go by the phone - we brought an twin air mattress for our 4yo on Oasis, and it fit there perfectly.

Also, be aware that the curtain on the 2nd floor is pretty flimsy, so there's very little privacy upstairs.  We usually went into the upstairs bathroom to change when the kids were downstairs.

18 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Oasis class ship?  If so, huge change!  

Thanks for the info.

M 

Yep, Harmony.  Hopefully someone in a suite on Oasis class can confirm soon.

Maybe the email was worded incorrectly?  I checked the letter that was in the suite folder in the room and it did not mention drinks were for purchase from 11a-11p. 

 

3 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Really?  No  soda & selected beers & wines from 11am to 11pm?

Here's what our email said on the topic:

·  Bar service is available from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm in the Suite Lounge, serving a wide array of beverages for purchase.

·  Hors d'oeuvres, petit fours and complimentary bar setup with a selection of wine, spirits, beer and soft drinks every evening from 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm.
 

We never were in the lounge before the evening hours and had packages anyway, so we never really tested this out or asked.  This was on Harmony last week.

1 hour ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Has the time span changed Ken?  Used to be  from 11am to 11pm.

According to the concierge email we received, drinks are for purchase now in the suite lounge except for 4:30 to 8.

11 minutes ago, BamaLady#13 said:

Are there any venues for late night snacks other than pizza?  I don’t want to pay for room service if I can easily go pick up something myself.

The only other option after Windjammer closes is Cafe Promenade, which is open 24 hours. Sorrento’s was open until 3 am each night on our recent sailing. 

8 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

You do realize, they were only costumes 😇

Those suits were walking around without anyone in them? 😱

Can Tortola handle Harmony? I was under the impression that it’s a tender stop and Oasis class ships can’t tender. 

Last week on Harmony, they simply cancelled our port stop and sailed on to St. Maarten.  

Strange that Symphony has the new (cheap) ones while Harmony as of this week had the old, sturdy ones. Didn’t even see a single example of the new ones aboard all last week. 

If you dislike the new cup design, probably best to make a point of it in your post-cruise survey. That’s what we are planning on doing. 

12 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Maybe they needed the those Dreamworks crew cabins for something else.

Coming soon to Oasis cla$$: new Deck 0 in$ide cabin$ with virtual balconie$. 😁