OCSC Mike

We went with #14 on the beach. None of those beach locations look particularly close to the water but we didn't want to sit around the pool. The ones right by the path (16 and 17) seem to have a slightly better view of the water but my wife was concerned about foot traffic from people going from the beach to the pool area, bar, restroom, etc. I don't think it's going to be a big deal either way, TBH. Looking forward to your review. Someone who posts at another forum is going with a large group next month and they have daybeds #14-17 so I'm awaiting her review as well.

We ended up booking Paradise Beach with a daybed for July.

Moreso this. I'm in the same situation but with PC. Keep an eye on the GGG sale. https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Promotions/rci_sales_event_USD.pdf There used to be better deals more frequently but some good deals have been popping up in recent months. We booked one about 4 weeks out and sailed at the end of October and my friend got a very good deal on a Wonder cruise in December a few weeks ago.

Won't affect me but that's pretty weak.

As I said, everything's relative. Many people will see value in paying $200ish pp (for a party of eight) for one of those cabanas, especially when it has recently cost far more than that just to access the Beach Club. I'm frugal and enjoy CocoCay without paying anything except tips for my voucher drinks, but having been treated to each of those cabanas once by a generous family member, we had an amazing experience both times (especially the OTW).

Everything's relative and having 2 or 8 people in your party matters just going by per head price but after seeing the $3000+ prices for both beach and OTW cabanas for a long time, they were both under $2000 for my 10/25 Allure cruise. I didn't save the info but I think it was like $1400ish for beach and $1750ish for OTW. That sale seemed to only include cruises that were closer to sailing. The prices for my March-July Wonder cruises were not on sale. EDIT: I'm sure it was clear but this was for CocoCay. Our original itinerary actually did have Labadee (changed due to weather) but no sale on Labadee.

There were actually reasonable C&A sale prices for cabanas on select sailings last month. Ya never know. 🤷‍♂️

Definitely agree with this. I even skew towards having a lower opinion of the MDR years ago, long before menu changes or covid. I was never a huge fan... just personal preference. That said, I did enjoy it more years ago... but my recent meals on Allure were perfectly fine as well. Some items were better than others but that's to be expected. I'm also not overly concerned with dinner (unless we have specialty planned that night) b/c, when staying on the ship, I spend all morning and afternoon having meals and snacks from the CL, WJ, ELF, Park Cafe, etc. that I enjoy. Again, personal preference here, I realize not everyone likes to snack off and on all day, lol, but when there's always a taco, a kummelweck, something random in WJ, cookies, pizza, etc. to be had, I don't need a gourmet dinner.

Had no problem getting extra towels every morning after requesting on day one recently on Allure. Also saw our stateroom attendant in the hallway frequently enough to ask for anything else we would have needed.

And what makes it worse is the inherent bias of reviews... People are more likely, regardless of subject, to take the time to complain about negatives rather than share positives.

Yeah, it makes me want to stop posting it b/c people will react however it is in their nature to react, but sometimes I can't help it. I could have added that I even thought Sorrento's was quite good on Allure (crispy and I liked the rotating pizza of the day the 3 days I tried it) but that's going too far for many, lol.

Mostly this but 1722 is still the optimal GS. 😁

No issues with the food on Wonder in June or Allure end of last month. Don't let bad reviews bother you before you've even started your cruise.

Yes. One on each side.

We only had one once for 3 nights and didn't care for the layout and the storage. I can see how a solo would like it more. There are at least three different layouts for regular interiors on Wonder. One has the bed along the wall like a balcony room, one has it along the back wall like other ships, and another has it along the back wall but there's not even a couch, just a small chair. As long as I avoid the chair, which I think we did, I'm fine with either of the others. We liked our CP interior on Allure. We didn't need it but we liked the layout and it was bigger than a regular. We spent zero time on the bench and our view was mostly blocked, but the extra space and light coming in was nice. Just had to remember to close the curtains... something we're not used to, lol.

Not my fault I know how to pick my GS's better than you even though I've only had one twice ever, I'm just now about to hit D+, and I didn't even earn half those points. 🤷‍♀️ The irony is I didn't actually pick 1722 and that wasn't even supposed to be our cabin. The family member who booked that cruise screwed something up, lol.

I’d live out of my suitcase for what’s essentially free suite lounge access.

And they’re fantabulous!!!

I believe so but I think I read that a lot of the cow print decorations were gone I love your name for it, lol, but I believe it’s affectionately called the Ben & Jerry’s Sweet.

Nohoch Kay. It was a last minute cruise, I knew very little about Costa Maya, and the more popular clubs were sold out. Don’t even remember how we wound up there.

Agreed. 99% sure we’re going there in July when we have no other excursions planned besides CocoCay (which is totally fine with us b/c we really do sail for the ship first). We also leave Costa Maya at 2pm, which is why we’re not going back to a beach club we really enjoyed there or doing anything other than walking around the port. FWIW, while I do like to eat, it doesn’t need to be amazing food. I’m happy eating WJ omelets, ELF tacos, kummelwecks, CL snacks, and whatever for dinner. I can appreciate a good steak but we love the burgers & garlic parm fries at Playmakers too. I even had some pretty good pizza from Sorrento’s on Allure last week (late night snack of course but it was crispy and perfectly fine to me). Del Mar became an option for June b/c it’s pretty inexpensive & convenient. It’s just something to try. No real expectations although the reviews are pretty darn positive. That said, since we already have an excursion for that cruise, I have to decide if just trying something for $100 or whatever is really worth it when I know we’d be content relaxing on an empty ship using vouchers & eating whatever. I’m neither wealthy nor poor, the $100 won’t affect my life, but money is money. I have to disagree here. Yes, I expected Nachi to be better… but I’m truly not picky. I’ve never had more watery/icy drinks in my life. Switching to margaritas solved that. They weren’t strong or special like my favorite jalapeño pineapple margarita from Playmakers but I wasn’t expecting them to be nor was I trying to get hammered so I just drank a few more than I would have if they were stronger. The guac was fine. No complaints. I wasn’t there to eat salad, lol, so I ordered fruit so my wife could have extra. My grilled fish was OK but it didn’t really have any of the grilled flavor I was hoping for. And my flan was fine. We really didn’t have a bad time, I just wouldn’t go back. If anything, I was comparing it to this beach club in Costa Maya that was even smaller than Nachi but had amazing service & food. It looked like a hole in the wall but we loved it. The manager came over to chat, randomly asked what I liked to eat (I said seafood b/c my wife won’t eat it, period, so I don’t get to very often & I was staring at an ocean, lol), asked if shrimp was OK (of course) & said he’d have the chef make me something special. It wound up being a very simple garlicky shrimp over rice dish but it was amazing. They had a dog hanging around who napped under my lounger for an hour. It wound up being very charming with great food & no complaints about the drinks. Sorry for rambling. To wrap it up, I did choose Nachi b/c I had heard such good things but I don’t think that affected my final opinion. In hindsight, being 20/20, Paradise may have been a better fit but we wanted the limited crowds & I didn’t do enough research to realize a daybed could help mitigate that. I also only had one day at home to book something for Cozumel due to the itinerary change & I had Nachi in mind from prior reviews so I just booked it. No regrets.

Aaaaand.... I was wrong, lol. She didn't care that it was tiny with no beach. Her logic was "It's the same as sitting on the beach and looking at the ocean at Nachi, there's just no beach under our chairs. It's not like we play in the sand." Pretty hard to argue with that. That said, as predicted, she left it saying it was up to me. She's willing to try it but she'd be fine chilling in the Solarium too. And this time I have to take that at face value since we have other plans for the June cruise and this is less appealing than Paradise (albeit much less expensive). So do I try it just for the heck of it b/c it's inexpensive or remember that I'm happy to hang out on the ship for no added cost? Decisions, decisions...

I consider eating and drinking my activity. Sorry if that was unclear. 🤣 This will turn into the same discussion as whether or not we should go to Nachi or Paradise or just stay on the ship and chill in the Solarium where the food and drinks are free (we'll be D+ by then and 10 drinks is plenty for the two of us). Her final comment regarding Paradise was "I'm fine either way, it's up to you." She means it when she says that, but after 21 years of marriage, I know she may feel differently if we go on our 3rd 7N cruise in 4 months and have nothing else planned besides CocoCay. Just getting off the ship for one other port holds value. This would be coupled with our private tour of Roatan the next day so there's far less "just to get off the ship" value. It's probably not even worth it for me and I'm just in research mode trying to keep busy in between cruises, lol, but the low price makes it worth considering. Thanks again for the insight.

After some quick browsing, I'd actually be tempted to try Del Mar Latino just because the price is right, especially without the cab ride, and the reviews seem really good for what looks like a very strange tiny man made "club" just kinda sitting there on the edge pf the water. I don't think it would appeal to my wife but maybe I'll show it to her. I think a friend of mine who cruises solo was going to try it but changed her mind. Now I wish she had gone.

It really is just different strokes. That's long been my cruising mantra. I love how many different ways one can enjoy cruising (and ports). This is going to sound contradictory at first but we're really not beach or pool people, lol. HOWEVER... if there's included food and drinks (and shade), then I enjoy chilling in a lounger for short spans in between eating, taking a quick dip in a pool/ocean to cool off, etc. I can't just sit there reading a book or playing on my phone or closing my eyes for hours. This is why we like CocoCay but weren't excited about Labadee. I really like the food on CocoCay and Labadee looked like not much more than burgers and dogs. I have my voucher drinks on both so that's a wash. This is also obviously why an AI beach club works for us. Off to look up Buccanos. I've written so much I can't remember if I mentioned that we'll actually be in Cozumel in both June and July but we weren't going to actually book anything for one of the two stops. If I wind up loving Buccanos and we go there too... it's your fault! 🤣