dgramling

This is great, I just got off Odyssey and would go to the Fitness Center before getting ready for dinner.  So my choice was to wear a sweat damp bracelet, or a water soaked one.  I preferred the plastic one from Allure in October over the cloth self cinching ones.  

The Forward Sundeck did not have the loungers unstacked our entire cruise.  Very few people used the deck 5 aft chairs.  At night I usually sat alone on the flowrider deck where the Ultimate Abyss would be on the other oasis class ships. There is a nook in central park that lead to a crew door, it was very quite there and I believe there was a bench there.

15 hours ago, Travel Bear said:

Will be on Carnival Pride with one in our group that can walk short distances but has difficulty with long walks.   The aNassau pier is quite long if i remember correctly but in the pre covid days the had transpot vehicles you could pay to assist for a small fee/gratuity.  Are these still available? Any info about the pier would be helpful to decide if this passenger can handle the walk. TY.

We were there 9/17 and there was no shuttles running.

No, if you want to do the dolphin encounter, you do not need to also book the beach break.  When you arrive they will direct you to the beach and then you will have a time to show up for the dolphin encounter.  You will arrive and leave on the same boat as the beach break people.  Depending on how long you are in port, don't expect a lot of time at the beach with the dolphin encounter, they make sure your return boat gets you back in plenty of time and the trip to the port is ~30 minutes.

On Allure the shop is now a Coach store, but like YankeesFan4Life mentioned there was pieces at the art gallery, and they were doing the guess the piece weight. 

No, just got off and no card slot in our balcony room.

I found the downstairs seating area to be a little chilly. It's heated but is very warehousey down there and the doors were clearly propped open.

You are able to show up and get the next open tour.

2 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

How to not punch a key card

 

After muster Laura wanted to go to Guest Services and get it punched. No one was there, but the punch was available. Laura said don't do it, but I did anyway. And I killed it.

 

Went back to GS's, huge line, so I got Lyli to make me a new one. She hss no punch, so I had to go back to GS after dinner.  Mission accomplished 

A trick on RFID cards is to hold a flashlight up to the back of them.  You should notice a oval circle inside the card don't punch there, but there is also be a small chip about the size of the top of a pencil eraser coming off the oval avoid this area as well

1 hour ago, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

I have my own selfish reasons for hoping for smaller ships. Baltimore is so easy to get to and it sails full constantly. With the selling of grandeur I have to assume that Enchantment isn't far behind. What is left that will fit under key bridge? Majesty?

 

Better yet a new port down below the bridge...

I wonder if there is a point that developing a new port and terminal becomes economically beneficial.  If an area can support a mega ship homeport, but has a limitation of a bridge why not make the long term investment to allow for it.  

11 minutes ago, dgramling said:

Having placed the Ovation doing Alaska itineraries they are moving to a larger ship in that market.  I follow a lot of travel vloggers and Royal invited a group of younger vlogers on the Ovation, I take that as a sign that Royal will be marketing the Alaska market as an adventure market.  In the past Alaska has been marketed as a passive sightseeing trip, the future will be climb a glacier, ride a helicopter, etc.  Royal has been successful in putting a new youthful spin on existing routes, and part of that is placing the more Instagramable/full-featured/adventure ships on those itineraries. 

Sailed to ports Juneau, Skagway, and Victoria, and Endicott Arm & Dawes Glacier, via the inside passage, so there is some trade offs.

3 hours ago, jakeil7 said:

I don’t think RCL wants to get out of the Alaska market yet as a specific brand. However, otherwise I think you are right about migrating the smaller ships to a different brand (Celebrity?). Small ships don’t fit their brand anymore. They are all about active, family oriented trips. Which means big ships. 
 

if I was in charge, I would unify their loyalty program and then transfer the ships.  I think that would address any lingering concerns.  Although it would raise others. 

Having placed the Ovation doing Alaska itineraries they are moving to a larger ship in that market.  I follow a lot of travel vloggers and Royal invited a group of younger vlogers on the Ovation, I take that as a sign that Royal will be marketing the Alaska market as an adventure market.  In the past Alaska has been marketed as a passive sightseeing trip, the future will be climb a glacier, ride a helicopter, etc.  Royal has been successful in putting a new youthful spin on existing routes, and part of that is placing the more Instagramable/full-featured/adventure ships on those itineraries. 

8 hours ago, cruisedoctor said:

the Perfect Storm slides are different than the Harmony/Symphony, seems like they will be shorter with different colors and portholes.

2 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

Correct, Harmony and Symphony have been built differently with an enclosed area above the bridge.

I guess it could be done... it would require a new pool and hot tubs on Symphony and Harmony, but they could raise it all as one level instead of the step down there is now.

Sorry you guys are pondering cruises. If you tell me the ship and sailing date I will try to comment on storm path relative to your sailings.

 

Forecast for two days now has been straight down the 15n parallel which places Dominica (hit hard a few years ago), Guadaloupe, and Martinique.

 

We would typically expect some deflection and a turn to the NW at some point, but the models show continued west - which would be GOOD... pass south of the big islands and Jamaica please... and fizzle out before reaching Central America. Isaac, are you listening?

Pelican,

What do you think about Freedom of the Seas out of San Juan on Saturday the 15th. Scheduled to fly into San Juan Thursday the 13th at 12:40pm

Thank You