OCSC Mike

Thanks for the info. I did notice from the app that the hours vary. Other free venues have some similar schedule quirks. It usually depends on port days vs. sea days, I believe. I'm not picky... that's why I said I'd be trying everything anyway. Unless it's terrible, any food I take will not go to waste. 🤣 I make plenty of tacos on CocoCay. Having a taco bar onboard is going to be a good problem for me, lol. If I like the otther stuff... oh boy! Also looking forward to the jalapeno pineapple margarita at the attached bar. The description is pretty much identical to the Goalpost margarita from Playmakers and I'm a big fan.

The temperature of my cappuccino has varied. Your milk hypothesis seems reasonable.

Looks good to me! I'll try everything anyway but did you have any of the pre-made burritos or quesadillas? Will be trying El Loco Fresh for the first time on Wonder in June.

The DL is accessible 24/7 but the coffee machine may be down for service overnight so how early it's available varies by ship/cruise. As an early riser, I used to go get my coffee pretty damn early but on some recent cruises it wasn't ready until 7am. In any case, it's definitely worth it to me as I enjoy cappuccino from the machine far more than the free coffee all over the ship. Try it and decide for yourself. Tips? Don't be afraid to ask someone how to use it if it's not clear to you. There may or may not be an attendant or concierge in the DL depending on when you go but other D members should be able to help (unless they're grumpy in the morning from not having had their coffee yet). Also, they have paper to-go cups with lids but I often bring a travel mug to fill (from the paper cups to be sanitary) and take with me.

Been one of my favorite perks since the day I turned Diamond. I drink cheap coffee at home & am fine with it but sure is nice to get multiple cappuccinos every morning.

Ugh, I know I wasn't the only one recommending the burger but I feel bad now. Glad the rest was good.

Which of course may or may not be enforced. Plenty of shorts in the DL on Indy in the evenings in July and October. Also saw shorts in the suite lounge on Harmony last May/June.

Did everyone enjoy Playmakers?

Hope everything starts to go smoothly and you settle in for another great week!

Kudos to you, sir! I've never done more than 7 nights and the weight gain is my only fear. I've done 7 nights with a 3 week break in between and that worked well. We always diet/eat healthy before cruises so those 3 weeks helped me get back to where I started so I could do it all over again.

Yeah, I almost added that too, lol.

None, ever, and I gain about 10 lbs. per 7-night cruise (some from alcohol and water retention but I love to eat a lot when I cruise). If I've ever not felt well, it's been from overdoing it, which is obviously my fault, not theirs. 🤣

Yep, love being able to take my young nieces "to the bar." I can be the uncle who corrupts them but not really. The now 13-year-old developed a virgin daiquiri problem on our last family cruise. 🤣

My wife and I enjoy being the oddballs. She cruised in nothing but balconies as a kid and we got them on our first few cruises once married... now we book almost nothing but interiors after trying them and realizing we prefer them (we can afford a balcony, we just don't use them). Different strokes...

Since I'm not quite D+ yet (getting close) I still miss the old "First Night, Done Right" deal. Anyone, regardless of C&A status, could get BOGO on night one because it was the slowest night. As a frugal cruiser, we usually took advantage of it.

Sorry to hear that. We've never ever had a bad experience with our cabin attendant. Most of them have been incredibly friendly and interested in chatting any time we saw them. At worst, and this is perfectly fine in our book, they were efficient at their job and pleasant but less interested in chatting. We did our first ever B2B last July and our cabin attendant was happy to help with the cabin switch. I had already learned the procedure from Cruise Critic but he made sure we knew what to pack, leave stuff in the closet, etc. and said he'd take care of it in the morning of turnaround day, no problem (and he did). Anyway, I know you'll have a great time next week regardless but hopefully this one experience doesn't sour you on B2B's or switching cabins. I understand why people would rather stay put but switching cabins really isn't a big deal (when handled properly at least).

True, but depending on the cabin type, it can be narrowed down. As an example, last July I saw we would be assigned deck 3 with our interior GTY from the bar code trick. A low deck is the only place on the ship we'd really prefer to avoid b/c we like being closer to where we spend most of our time and that's not down there. While waiting for my official assignment to look to switch to another interior, I placed a very small bid on an interior promenade view. Obviously these only exist mid-ship just above the promenade so I knew if we won we would move up to decks 6-8 mid-ship... and we did. Didn't really like the cabin as it turns out, lol, but that's another story. We were happy with the improved location at least.

We always book GTY interiors. You do also have the option of switching to another available cabin in your exact category (applies to US bookings, I believe UK and possibly other countries can't do this). I moved my last cabin twice as more desirable locations (to us) opened up. We could deal with anywhere and really only have certain decks we would dislike but we, of course, have preferred locations as well. This helps take some of the gamble out of using GTYs to me.

They have added additional channels/packages for Playmakers. There's more there than what we have experienced on cabin tv over the years.

As of October, the first three nights.

I'll try anything once but adding coke to a white russian sounds awful.

To each his/her own but surely you realize how extremely unlikely something like is to occur, right?

We got one as a GTY interior once (woohoo, huge upgrade, lol). It was gimmicky to us and not something I would pay for but people seem to like them. It didn't bother me; it just didn't add much.

Forgot this one. A bartender a few cruises ago recommended it and I enjoyed it. I think someone who enjoys mudslides would like it (provided they like coffee/kahlua).

This is probably the closest thing to a correct answer. When I got married, I had never been on a cruise. My wife had gone on several as a kid and her parents always had a balcony. She told me she had to have a balcony so that's what we got for our honeymoon (my first cruise ever) and the next few. When we were exactly 4 points from Diamond, I suggested taking the cheapest 4-nighter we could find out of PC (an hour drive for us) in an interior and then we could go back to a balcony for the next longer cruise. Well, my wife learned something new... she didn't actually need a balcony and she loved the interior. For a very unusual reason, might have been the best cruise ever (at least financially). 🤣