ericopia

Just off Beyond, Sunset Veranda 11293 (outermost SV port side, next to a suite, which which it shares a locked vestibule). First two nights out of Fort Lauderdale, the popping coming from the upper-left (when facing outward) corner of the window was intense, like a Florida office building popping as it heats up in the summer sun, only far more frequent. Seas were moderate (6-9 feet, I think) with winds in the mid-20s knot range. Popping went away after we got to calmer waters and wasn’t noticeable later, and I’m a light sleeper (though often used earplugs due to DH’s tendency to snore). I did see someone who appeared to be relocating on the first evening chic night (night 3) and overheard some “oh, your room creaks, too?” discussions in OVC. Out of 20 cruises and 11 or so ships I’ve sailed, I’ve never heard anything like it, even in rougher waters. But all the warnings on here put me in a wary mindspace, and in our room at least, it lightened up significantly after night 2.

On 3/4/2024 at 11:47 AM, Marie51 said:

Thanks for the info. A lot of older people, including myself have trouble climbing the ladder so I was hoping it would be stairs.

I sympathize. After reading your reply I went looking and believe the main lap pool also had no stairs, just ladders. The Solarium pool does have a bench along one side, but at a roughly two-foot drop, that’s quite a step to attempt.

There is a step into the ankle-deep section, but only a ladder into the deeper water. Interestingly, the chair lift also appears only to reach the very shallow part, unless it extends out somehow that I can’t see.

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

You didn’t venture far enough on the island…there are quiet areas,

We walked the perimeter from the pier counterclockwise to South Beach and continued back to the pier, and along the way also passed through Oasis Lagoon and Harbor Beach, so I suppose we missed the outlier Cove Beach. (We also didn’t go into the paid up-charge areas, but given we could hear the music clearly at the entrance to Coco Beach Club, I didn’t hold out much hope had we paid.) By the time we got to South Beach we were done trying to get away from the noise and crowds. Chill Island … wasn’t chill in the least. Packed, and too close to Oasis Lagoon, the source of the music. But I ventured to over 90% of the island, and found no quiet.

This part of the FAQ on the Celebrity site made me laugh and roll my eyes at the same time.

Is there an adults-only space at CocoCay?

There are no adults-only spaces at CocoCay as we want everybody to enjoy the island.

But what if to enjoy the island, I need an adults-only space? 😎

(Reference: https://www.celebritycruises.com/faqs/perfect-day-at-cococay)

20 minutes ago, Eltorodiablo said:

Our experience on Coco Cay pre Perfect Day was similar to yours. Since then, however, it's a much more enjoyable stop, with places to enjoy some quiet beach time (and a better bar experience!)

That sounds like the exact opposite of our Perfect Day visit. Maybe we were just there on a bad day, or the two mega ships in port overwhelmed the staff (which would be a poor omen, IMO). The thumping bass audible everywhere we went definitely precluded any “quiet” beach time. I’m not a big beach person, but when I do go, I just want to hear the ocean waves — nothing more, nothing less — and I couldn’t enjoy that with a background dance-club beat. But, to each their own.

We visited Coco Cay (pre-“Perfect Day”) sailing on Reflection in Dec. 2015, so it’s funny to me to see “this is the first time ever!” news coverage We visited again in Dec. 2021 on Harmony of the Seas (now “Perfect Day”d); we were there along with Independence of the Seas. The beaches were overrun and overcrowded, bars couldn’t make anything beyond basic beach cocktails (not even a Dark ‘n’ Stormy — no ginger beer to be had — and bartenders seemed to only know how to make the five or so on-menu drinks, anyway), and there wasn’t a spot on the island where I couldn’t hear the constant “thump thump” of the dance-party DJ at the pool. At least the buffet lunch could handle the crowd. Not to mention how expensive and extensive all the add-ons are; I miss a more inclusive feel to a private-island day. It wasn’t relaxing at all. To me, it seemed like what I imagine a Carnival Cruises atmosphere to be, and we went back to the ship pretty early. I wouldn’t bother getting off the ship there again, and would probably pick an X itinerary if it doesn’t go there — I know we don’t look at RCL itineraries out of Florida any more, in part because they basically all go there.

I responded to a similar email before our cruise on Equinox last month — mainly out of curiosity. None of the items were in the stateroom when we boarded. I didn’t follow up, though, because there just wasn’t room to store anything beyond the two yoga mats.

Of course, if you need reminding that even the official site’s info is subject to change … it currently shows both Harmony OTS and X Equinox at Terminal 18 on Nov. 12. Logistically, one of these will be changing in the next few weeks…

I throw one into each checked bag, too. I bought luggage-tag straps for them, but I just use them to anchor the tag in the bag. (I was thinking nothing screams "take me" like a shiny thing with an Apple logo on it, dangling outside a suitcase.) Like Jim_Iain, I like seeing if the suitcase at least made it near the plane – on occasion, I've even seen it within range of my phone mid flight – and then seeing that it's coming around on the luggage carrousel at the airport.

28 minutes ago, wendyam76 said:

I was very happy with mine. 62 prints and the same in digital photos - could have been more but couldn’t drag my mum to get them taken! Photographers were lovely - make sure to take advantage of the green screen opportunities. 

Thanks! I've gotten packages in the past and made full use of them … just confused that there's a $50 prints-and-downloads package, and then more expensive, separate prints-only or downloads-only packages, showing in the Cruise Planner. Sounds like the $50 package is a real thing, and works as expected!

Any word yet on whether the $50 package is all it seems to be? Thanks!

AdventHealth is one of the big hospital chains in the area. I thought they were closing their airport location at the end of January, but it’s still taking appointments. (My guess is that’s why the second vendor set up shop — to be there when AdventHealth closed?)

We used the AdventHealth location last summer for an antigen test (so my experience may be a bit dated). Process was efficient. I’d definitely make an appointment, though. The walk-up line was extensive and they had to cut it off quite a bit before stated hours to accommodate everyone.

We sailed Oasis for Thanksgiving 2019 (after its refurbishment) and Harmony for Christmas 2021. I like some things on each ship more than the other. Though I liked the increased storage on either side of the bed on Harmony, they also put the bathroom door on a corner instead of it being more at a right angle with the front door as on Oasis (or any other ship I've been on). While this gives the feeling of a bit more floor space in the stateroom, it also means the glowing bathroom-light button lights up the whole bedroom, and opening the bathroom door at night shines the nightlight across the room, too. Points to Oasis on that one. I missed the pool, however small, in Harmony's Solarium.

I enjoyed Wonderland, which isn't on Oasis. Otherwise I found dining to be the same. (And both ships have that silly Bionic Bar when they could use a really good Champagne or martini bar.)

Though Oasis is missing the third (lower) covered level of Solarium, it does have an expanded outdoor area in front that I enjoyed for the views of the ocean. Glad for the tip off about Hooked Seafood taking up the top-level, shaded Solarium space on Symphony. We all but lived in that space on Oasis and Harmony.

2 hours ago, Painter4me said:

We’re you a “walk off” with your luggage? 

If you were asking me … no. We were group 43. Walk offs were much earlier.

We were on this same sailing, and agree with the comments about the elevators and the theater seating. Grease was PACKED full on the mid level; 4ever much less so. The too-fast "staggered" release of audience after each show just caused even more congestion at the exit, and people caught on and started to leave during the final number of later shows to avoid it.

The most uncomfortable moment for me (outside of check in and debarkation – both closer-quarters crowded situations) was Formal Night/Christmas Eve in the Promenade. Long, LONG lines for all the photo stations, staff trying to guide people to appropriate physical distancing but there just wasn't room. That, and we encountered a number of ladies who weren't putting their masks back on between photo stops (just a presumption on my part but perhaps it was to avoid messing up makeup and/or hair).

They were enforcing times on Harmony OTS at Port Canaveral on Dec. 19 when we boarded, using designated queues for each time window. (We got there right at the start of our window, so breezed right in, but people with the half-hour slot behind ours were held in a dedicated queue.) When we were leaving on the 26th, we saw people being held in some queues while others were entering the terminal.

I was on this sailing, too … I agree, debarkation was a mess. We were group 43, ETA 9:00 … at 9 they were still repeatedly calling group 8 on the PA, while the screens said group 11. Easily an hour behind schedule or more, most of the morning. One of our party went to the photo shop and said the Promenade was wall-to-wall humanity. I went down about 9:30 … there was a line wrapped around Rising Tide; the forward end (by Boleros) was jam packed. We decided just to chill in Central Park and wait it out and hope they'd resume announcements. The line must've started moved quickly, though, since by 10:30 they resumed announcements with group 48 … followed a moment later by "all Guests" … followed a moment later by "last call to disembark." Barely time to get from Central Park to the gangway before that last call.

33 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

For the parking garage for terminal 1, one pays as one enters rather than at the exit.  The system knows the duration of the cruise leaving T1 that day, assumes the vehicle will stay the duration of that cruise, and charges the amount for that cruise.

The surface lot right in front of the T1 parking garage was pay-as-you-exit when we arrived Sunday. (I would SO much prefer pay-as-you-enter – I feel like people arrive in more staggered times than at departure, so we’ll have to end the cruise with a slow wait to pay.)

16 hours ago, SherriZ366 said:

Where did you end up parking?  The grassy area?

Nope, a narrow, open-air surface lot between the garage and the main road. Friends who arrived half an hour later ended up in the same lot, but I can’t imagine where later arrivals would’ve gone.

19 hours ago, Adrienekeating said:

Are you saying that after each sip of a drink or bite of food that you are being asked to put on your mask while still at a table

No. There is nothing about “bite of food”. They only asked people to put their mask back on between sips of a drink (actually, “pull down your mask, take a sip, and put your mask back”) when indoors – and that was only asked once during the morning Cruise Director PA announcement on our first day at sea. It wasn’t repeated in today’s announcement, and hasn’t been practiced or enforced that I can see.

Arrived 12:50p for 1p boarding of Harmony. Dropped luggage and were directed to the surface lot next to the garage. “It’s full,” we’re told, though lots of spots visible up the ramp. Walked to terminal and were on the ship in 30 minutes. 

On Harmony, they announced the casino now is non smoking, and this morning they asked people to replace their masks after taking a sip of a drink when indoors. Most people are playing along with protocols, except of course elevator capacity. Maybe 5% showing noses when walking about, better than at home.

Sigh. This was the problem we had at PortMiami and Crown of Miami terminal a couple of years back. The garage was nearly full by 11 a.m. for an Oasis sailing (I was parking on the roof at 11:15a). All our friends who arrived later were scattered among different garages all down the island and had to wait in interminable lines for busses before and after the cruise. It took over an hour to get on the ship from all the remote garages. We really were hoping for a better experience cruising out of Canaveral…

I booked something in cruise planner using OBC and credit card earlier this year, and cancelled it last month. The OBC was immediately available to re-use. (The refund to my credit card took about two-and-a-half weeks.)