sabrefan15

Check in opens up on app 45 days before sailing, not sure about an email but I'm sure it is the same.

7 minutes ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

Hope you had a good trip!  How did it go with Larry's?

Thanks had an excellent trip. It went pretty well with Larry's. They were a little late picking us up to go to ship because he went to wrong hotel. Luckily it wasn't far away and was about 15 minutes late. Picking us up from ship was good, someone took wrong suitcase (my son's) so we were late getting to van for pick-up because after he looked for his luggage he had to fill out a form. Driver still waited for us and we got to Ft. Lauderdale airport from Miami by 9:30.

On 5/9/2023 at 4:04 PM, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Specifically Anthem and Liberty?

 

I'm pondering what to do for Feb Break next year and was looking seriously at Anthem's 8-night out of Cape Liberty as a) there are solo balcony cabins and b) I wouldn't have to deal with airfare.

 

I looked at cruisemapper (as was suggested in another thread about Coco Cay - the one about "having" to spend money on the water park) and Liberty and Anthem are both scheduled in. I'm not a Water Park kind of girl, but would prefer to not have things be insane in other parts of the island. Would it be crazy with both of those ships there?

 

TIA!

Was just there in April on Oasis, Enchantment was also there and didn't seem overcrowded. 

8 minutes ago, DrDani226 said:

 

How much are they?

$10.00 each

On 5/12/2023 at 3:00 PM, hazeleyes46 said:

Does anyone know where to get them when you get on the ship? Thank you. 

We were on Oasis April 23 sailing and got them at guest services.

On 5/8/2023 at 4:07 PM, barb in ga said:

I have 2 Wow bands from previous cruises. I didn't love them, but we are traveling with an 8 yo and 14 yo and thought they might be useful for them. Can they be

re-programmed for the current ship/itinerary so that the girls don't need their seapasses while on the ship?

Thanks,

Barb

I purchased Wow bands on Oasis and was told they can be re-programmed on any ship that supports Wow bands.

1 minute ago, live2beontheseas said:

Did you get to see the show on you cruise?  We have seen on many other sailings and we like it for a change of pace from the usual production shows.  Never saw many people at Portside or Johnny's but glad you enjoyed.  Seems like there is a lot if difference between cabin attendants.   Some may be adjusting better than others to the changes. I think sometimes too that the mix of guests can have a bearing on the crew attitude.

Yes, I seen Aqua show twice. I didn't go to ice show or Cats. On sea days the line at Portside BBQ was very long. I ate breakfast at Johnny Rockets 3 times and was good, no wait at all. Ate at MDR once and it took 25 minutes for omelets. I read on another post that attendants went from 8 rooms to 14 but on 2nd leg of B2B our attendant said he had 14 rooms to do.

On 4/30/2023 at 11:55 AM, live2beontheseas said:

I usually do not write reviews or post much as you can see, but rather use Cruise Critic to answer my questions about the current situation of cruising.  I feel compelled now though to write a review/comparison of our recent Oasis cruise on April 16^th; comparing with our Symphony cruise a little more than 6 months ago.   

 

A little background on my family.  This was my two daughter’s (8 and 7) second cruise (first being the Symphony) and my wife and I’s ninth I think.  We have cruised solely on Royal as I have never been able to find a comparable cruise/prices on other lines like Carnival or NCL.

 

Condition of Ship:

While I do understand that the Oasis is much older than the Symphony, it just was not up to par as the Symphony.   I know that it was refurbished in 2019, very close to when the Symphony came out, but it just does not have the sparkle.  There a noticeable rust on some of the metal parts of the ship (balconies, upper decks, etc) that I did not notice on the Symphony.  Room condition was actually quite poor for the standards that Royal usually sets.  Stains on the carpet, hard surfaces with scratched/dents.  Vanity chair looked like it was glued together several times and the bathroom needed a full overhaul (finishes coming off the metal fixtures, toilet with scratches and rust on the bottom of the entry and shower door.  Don’t get me wrong the cleanliness of the room and the whole ship was great, but there is a lot that needs to be torn out and replaced.  Now I do understand that the weather plays a role in a condition of a lot of the outdoor areas, but this stuff we just did not see on the Symphony.  And the room layout is far superior I feel on the Symphony.  There is also a severe vibration on the rear of the ship especially on the top decks.  Noticed when they were moving at full speed.  Was shaking quite a bit at El Loco Fresh.  Not too bad in our cabin in the back half on deck 11.

 

Entertainment:

I feel that I can compare the entertainment since both ships are Oasis class.  The aqua show was cancelled for our sailing which was a bummer and they tried to fill the void with a “variety” show of musician, ventriloquist and the high-wire part from the aqua show.  It was ok, but somewhat cheesy and a lot of people left the show.  I can still not understand how there are two production and two ice shows on the Symphony and not on the Oasis.  The shows on the Symphony were probably some of if not the best shows we have ever seen.  My kids enjoyed the content of them.  On Oasis you only have Cats, which was so weird and we could not understand what it was about.  The scenery never changed and there was little dialog to try to help you get the plot.  We have never seen Cats in any form and I hope too never again.  Not sure why there was not another production show like Flight on the Symphony.  Ronn Lucas was good and the girls enjoyed him.  We did not go to the Aeromyth as I did not think my girls would enjoy that type of music.  Ice show was comparable to Symphony, but I think that Symphony has more technical aspects.  I also wish that there would have been some type of family comedy show.  I think several years ago they did have on one evening in the main theater; this was before we had kids.  We just found ourselves somewhat bored on Oasis versus Symphony.  I think if they added another production show or kid friendly shows on the Oasis it would help to match the Symphony.

 

Food:

As I know this topic is always subjective I will preface by saying the my family and I and nowhere near foodies.  Our dining out consists of places like Red Robin, Chili’s, occasionally the Cheesecake Factory and our local “Chinese” buffet.  We are not fine dining in the least.  The food on Oasis was the worst that I have ever encountered on any of our cruises and was much worse than 6 months ago on the Symphony.  I could not believe how much has changed in this time.  I will say pizza at Sorrento’s was fine and similar to Symphony as was the Park Café, but I did notice that they were not toasting sandwiches to order like on the Symphony, but they were under a lamp and crew just grabbed them.  We went to Playmakers for the first time and the food was “meh”.  The onion rings were good, garlic fries were a little soggy and not like the steak fries from Red Robin and the wings were ok.  I will add that we live in the Buffalo, NY region and are spoiled as to true chicken wings.  The ones at Playmakers were a little small and over cooked, but the sauce was tasty.  I do appreciate that they included blue cheese, but people, please stop with all the ranch for wings.  All the tables around us asked for extra ranch.  People, blue cheese is for chicken wings and ranch is for salad.  We had lunch at Giovanni’s Table and it was not like we had had on cruises before.  I felt the flavors were a little bland.  Chicken picatta lemon sauce had no lemon flavor and the garlic “prawns” were not that strong.  And they were not prawns they were shrimp.  I remember several years ago they were actual prawns that you had to remove from the shell.  It left us with a “meh” feeling.  Glad I did not pay full price as I do not feel it is worth the money.  We did not go to the main dining room as I had selected my time and I did not understand that it doesn’t start until 6:45, much to late for my kids.  I should have taken early dining as the menus looked nice and had enough choices for my family.  This was our first time eating at El Loco Fresh and it is great.  I would steer clear of the burritos as they were too many beans for my liking but all the meats were flavorful and the nachos with all the toppings you wanted was a treat.  Kind of upset we passed this up on Symphony.  They are always very busy but the line does move reasonable fast.  Be careful though as it can get windy and you may lose your chips.  That leaves us with the Windjammer, which was pretty bad in comparison to the Symphony.  There are several stations that are missing on the Oasis, like the nightly ice cream and show cooking stations.  Breakfast was decent, but the number of selections has definitely dwindled in the last 6 months.  And I do not know why they cannot cut up the fruit.  Some days it was nicely cubed and others it was just sliced rind and all.  Not really the way I want to eat my pineapple.  I would stick with the fired eggs or the omelets as the scrambled some days were more like “soup”, very runny and no flavor.  I missed the packaged yogurts as my girls enjoy them; but all that I saw was the parfaits with a fruit jelly.  They was not even fresh fruit in them that I saw.  Dinner was abysmal when compared to the Symphony.  There was little variety.  1 station with breads and salad bar.  Another with Caesar salad and other pre-portioned salads that looked like the same every night.  Then you had the American station that most flocked to that had the same every night with a few rotational items.  The last station said Asian, but there was usually always Indian food and only what I would classify as Asian a couple nights.  Then you only had burgers, dogs and chicken fingers.  It seemed like they had larger bowls of food so they didn’t need to have as much variety.   The quality and flavor were just not there and I rated it quite low on my cruise survey.  One good thing was that we usually had very little trouble finding a table as compared to the Symphony and the staff cleaned off tables much faster than on Symphony.

 

Service/Crew:

It was very evident that there are staff cuts/hiring on the Oasis especially with the cabin service.  We knew that we would be down to one service so that was not a surprise.  The surprise was that I had to pick a time to have the service and we needed to make sure we were out of the room.  When the steward introduced himself to us, he had a clipboard that he was filling in times for everyone’s service.  We told him that we wanted evening so that he could get the bed ready for the girls and he was like “oh good” as I have no room for service in the morning.  He seemed so spent and overworked.  He did was he needed to and nothing more.  Not very pleasant and professional; always calling me “man” when passing in the hallway.  He knew our names.  He instructed me on how to close up the bed because he said that he would not come in the morning to close it up.  Staff in Playmakers were slow and uninterested.  We had to wait a while before we got menus and then almost immediately were asked what we wanted.   Other staff around the ship were cordial but not nearly as friendly as the Symphony.  They all seemed like they were super busy and over-worked.  Windjammer staff was nice and quick too clean tables and sports staff were pleasant and patient when my girls did those activities.

 

Fellow Passengers:

We saw some of the worst behaviors I have ever witnessed by a select few passengers.  I will say that this was a relatively small groups and most we encountered we pleasant and friendly.  I think that maybe they need to have a video on cruise etiquette that you watch before you leave like the muster station one.  Some of the stuff I would not expect from people on land either.  Windjammer etiquette was just silly at times.  Picking up food with hands, cutting in line for one thing they want; well, hey I am waiting in line too for one thing like a responsible person.  We ever say a lady put a baby on the condiment table while she got her ketchup or whatever.  And the water bottle filling is ridiculous.  Big signs say not to do it and yet there are always people doing it, are they that ignorant.  Use a cup to fill your bottle like I do.  People not pulling in chairs so others could get by and some even taking things off table that someone else had put there to hold table so they could use it.  Surprisingly elevator etiquette was quite well, no unsupervised kids that we encountered.  Shows were a different story.  People coming in late, waving their hands in the dark so that they could show someone where they are (makes not sense to me), and standing up during the show.  Loud talking during performances or being on their phone.  Why are you there if you are going to be on your phone the whole time.  Unsupervised kids my kids’ age that have no patience or consideration on the mini golf and when asked to wait they look at you with a blank stare.  I know there can be a language barrier, but when this is just basic stuff that no matter what nationality you are is universal.  Again these behaviors were limited and have happened on every cruise we have taken, but they seemed more extreme this time.  It is funny when my kids ask why adults were doing these things as we have raised them to be courteous and polite in public.

 

I really hope that things turn around the other way for Royal.  We really love their ships and amenities but I just don’t think the value for the money is there right now.  Their prices are really getting out of hand even with all their “promotions” and loyalty discounts.  My kids want to go on Icon, so hopefully in a few years things will be back to the good old days (not likely) and we will have a great time like we used to.

Please feel free to ask me any questions and I will do my best to answer them.

Just got back from a b2b on Oasis, April 23rd 7 day and April 30 4 day. Too bad Aqua show was cancelled for you as this is probably the best show IMHO on Royal. Pablo in Globe and Atlas was also very good. Unfortunately we had no tribute band at Music Hall, as a matter of fact Music Hall was closed due to private function every night on our 4 day. Laser tag was a blast. As for the food I agree with your review of Park Cafe. We had good service at Playmakers and also being from the Buffalo, NY area we felt the wings were pretty good, small but what should we expect for $25 for 50 wings. El Loco Fresh was good as long as it wasn't the premade burrito's. No specialty dining for me but I felt like Main Dining was fine. Portside BBQ was excellent. We had a room change after 1st cruise and had total different experience in cabin stewards. 1st cruise he asked if we wanted morning or evening service and we chose morning. As it was hot and humid we were taking 2 showers per day, he would ask if we wanted clean towels in evening as well. We said yes please but only received them once. On 2nd cruise we weren't given the option of when we wanted service but he did a good job. Had no problem with other passengers.   

,  

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

Carnival raised theirs too and went to once a day housekeeping.

 

Are you over there telling them too it's unfair. Get over it. Prices are increasing. I'd rather they cut housekeeping than food. Each has something important to them. I was already telling them just do me once a day but I didnt cut tips. I personally dont like someone in my cabin twice a day, so your whining is lost on me. I was already asking for once a day, leave me alone. I dont like to be fussed over.

I'm not whining, just replying to the person who said gratuities haven't gone up.

22 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Why not say to yourself how happy you are gratuities havent gone up. Wages are increasing so it costs more to hire help.

 

once a day is plenty for me. 

Gratuities did go up, from 14.50 per day to 16.00.

2 hours ago, Denversail said:

So I couldn’t hear all of the announcement but I heard something is cancelled for the week due to technical difficulties. My guess is the aqua show. This is a bummer if that is the case since I skipped last week so i could see it with the family. I will have to confirm. 

Yes I heard Aqua Show has been cancelled for the week. We are on next week, hope they start doing it by then!

Just now, sabrefan15 said:

• Author

• #123  

Posted Tuesday at 11:11 AM

So I dropped into Playmakers and ordered a gold post margarita. I’m not gonna lie, I’m not sure I’m going to like this one but I’ll try it. 
 

i didn’t realize they have an owners box you can reserve. It is $100 and is good for one game with 10 person capacity. It includes 2 pitchers of beer and 2 appetizers. If you are a big sports fan and your game will be on during your cruise seems like a great deal. The box has two large screen tvs in it.

This from another post.

I will be on Oasis for the April 23 and April 30 sailings B2B. Will be looking forward to hearing what time you get to FLL afterwards as we have a 10:55 flight home.

On 4/2/2023 at 7:28 PM, cruisinelmo said:

Sabrefan15 - I got a quote from both Larry's Limo and Jiffy Jeff both are in the ballpark of each other, the last time I used Larry I paid the driver after each time we were dropped off is that still true today ? Will they require a deposit say 30 days before the first pick up ?

They didn't require a deposit. I will pay them on way to ship for both directions.

Never used Jiffy Jeff but have used Larry's many times. Have always had a good experience with Larry's so I won't change until I have a reason to. Will be using Larry's again in a few weeks, will let you know if I have anything but a good experience. 

On 2/20/2023 at 9:03 AM, ela123 said:

Just about to book Larrys limo getting off the celebrity equinox on 6 April to go to celebrity silhouette from Miami. I don’t know what dock the equinox will come in on. Is that a problem or if I give them the ship name will they find us?

 

thanks 

Just give them name of ship they will find you.

We have used Larry's Limo on multiple occasions. They have always added the gratuity onto bill but we have always gave extra due to great service. I'm sure they don't expect any extra but anything is appreciated.

23 hours ago, dmpuszcz said:

I am looking for recommendations on transportation from a Fort Lauderdale hotel to the Port of Miami for a group of 15.  Please let me know if you've used a service for this many and whether your recommend them or not.  Thanks

We have a group of 20 going in April. We have a 24 passenger mini coach booked with Larrys limo.

https://www.larryslimo.com/contact.html

We have used them before for smaller groups and have always been on time with clean vehicles.

9 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Haven't seen Turkey since last spring

Was on Allure in October and I was drinking Wild Turkey 101.

6 hours ago, nydney1 said:

The previous post explains our experience perfectly.Mr Sanchos was a tad too crowded for us, we tried it as they did have the inflatables for the kids.

 

We go back in two weeks and we are giving Paradise Beach a try. It appears to be a cross between the two.

 

 

Please give your opinion on Paradise Beach when you get back. We are considering it for our cruise in April.

https://parkncruiseportcanaveral.com/ 

I've parked here without any problems. Its a fenced in lot with a shuttle to ship. 

7 hours ago, PompeySailor said:

Backward progression, so now we don’t even have any docs available 

Good ole IT breaking what was not broken.

25 days out and this morning my luggage tags are finally available to print out. 

11 minutes ago, watcher_62 said:

Hi - we are sailing 18 days in connecting cabins on the Quantum.  We have connecting cabins - wondering if the balconies can open and if anyone has photos?  Thanks!

Sorry no photos but we had 5 connecting cabins in June on QOS and we had all open. 

13 minutes ago, PompeySailor said:

Received eDocs for upcoming Harmony cruise yesterday 30 days out.

Sure it used to be 22 pages with luggage tags on page 20/21 

These eDocs  only have 19 pages and no images of luggage tags to print.

 

If already discussed ignore 

Has anyone else experienced this recently.

 

Not a big deal as they can do at port 

Just interested to see if this is a glitch or the new normal.

 

Happy Days!

My cruise is 28 days out and eDocs are 19 pages. When I log into my account it says luggage tags are pending so I would assume they will be available to print soon.