Cutigerlady

We were getting on the Oasis in Miami the week of Thanskgiving and the ship was delayed in disembarking the cruise that was returning.  It was mass chaos because you had an oversold Oasis class ship of people arriving and a group trying to disembark.  I believe they didn't start to get off until around 10 and we couldn't get on until 12:30.  When we returned, we got in line about 7:00 and I was in line for the taxi at 8:00. 

We were also on a cruise right before New Years on a smaller ship and we had no issues getting off at 7:30.  They forgot to tell the port workers and we did have to wait 10-15 minutes for cabs to start to arrive.  We were sitting at the airport by 8:30 and had no issue on our 10:50 flight.  

We find the taxis are faster than Uber in Miami.  I prefer getting dropped off using Uber to save some $$.

We found it easiest out of Port Everglades to just get in the taxi line.  They had a line and someone from the port was assigning the cabs to the people in the line.  I don't recall the exact cost, but I think around $25.  

I was on the Oasis in November and we ate at the brunch several days and they do have lunch options. They were not as strict as the Freedom about the end time, which had breakfast end at 9:30 and they shut the doors so you can’t go inside. I was in the MDR one day in the Oasis until 1:30 finishing our lunch. They never rushed us.
 

We found the brunch to work nicely because we had plenty of time to workout, shower and head down to eat without having to get up so early to make breakfast. we had people in our group go back and forth from both menus. 

My suggestion is to reach out the special needs department before your trip and let them know you have non-dairy food requests.  The email is special_needs@rccl.com and make sure to include your ship, date, and reservation number with your request.  I have non-dairy kids and they were able to get almond milk most places on request.  They didn't have ice cream, so I'm not sure what options were available. RCCL was very helpful with special requests I had on a recent cruise.

I was able to cancel my Izumi reservation and book it back within about 5 minutes for the lower price.  It took a few minutes for it to appear after I cancelled it.  I guess there is a risk someone else will grab it, but I was able to adjust mine without that happening.

I was able to save on our boarding day lunch (biggest savings here) and internet on my cruise in a few weeks.  The deals on cruises farther out were not as great, but I did save a bit and bought some things for the Icon that I've been watching the prices not move in months.  

We'll be doing the free stuff at Coco Cay because the prices for those things have gotten crazy!  

Recently, RCL has been asking for this form: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/countries/GBR/pdf/faqs/questions/minor-traveling-without-parent-or-guardian-form.pdf

It must be notarized.  

I've spent many hours at the rock wall on the Harmony and I've never seen anyone with their own shoes.  The line for this can get long and you get to go up once and then must wait in line again.  If there is nobody waiting, then they will let you go a few times.  I haven't been on this ship in 2023, but our last time in 2022 they were still making everyone wait downstairs and only allowing those climbing upstairs.  

As part of the checkout process online, you enter your booking details to link the OBC to your reservation.  It takes 4-5 days for it to appear in the cruise planner and you will see the credit at the top of the page.

I emailed special_needs@rccl.com to inquire about wheelchair rentals and they sent me this back:

I've been on a few Christmas cruises and they do have an ugly sweater contest.  I think it was the night they do Christmas caroling.  The big dinner is on Christmas Eve and I definitely saw more families dressed up.  On Christmas morning the main dining room is PACKED and lots of matching pjs.  

I was paying very close attention to this because I was considering a cabana for one of my upcoming cruises with someone that is wheelchair dependent.  There is a raised step up between the cabana and seating area with sand in between.  If you watch the video in the background of cabana you can kind of see what I'm talking about.  I thought the some on the end had a sidewalk and were wheelchair accessible though. You probably can email the special needs department and get a definite answer though.  I know the over the water cabanas are wheelchair accessible and the bathroom that is shared by both sets of cabanas is accessible.

In the beach club area - restaurant, pool, and table areas they do have small steps, however they have ramps for wheelchairs there too.  

25 minutes ago, Opie100 said:

Thank you. Is it cheaper to buy rooms next to each other vs. actually connecting? Or are you referring to the savings from booking a cheaper price category (one interior and one exterior, for example)?

Yes, I find that connecting is more expensive than those that are next to each other but don't connect.  I have also booked one balcony and one interior room (my teens asked for the interior room on our upcoming trip).  I find a really good travel agent helps to look at every combination for the ship/date we want and she finds the best deal.  I do think the system travel agents use is easier to find where there are 2 rooms next to each other than the trial and error you have to do online.  

The Icon has non-suite rooms with the split bath - Family Infinity with one room with shower/sink and other with sink/toilet.  However, my family has found it is cheaper to book two staterooms.  When my kids were smaller we got connecting rooms, but now that they are teens I save a little money booking rooms next to each other or across the hall.  You will have to call to get them to do that or book one adult in each room online.  You can get keys to access the other room at guest services.  

I have purchased insurance after final payment, so it is possible.  My family is healthy and frankly I just forgot to buy it.  The terms of the coverage was fine, we didn't need anything special.  You want to pay attention to the lookback window because if you can't go for a medical reason, they won't cover it if it was for something that came up in that lookback window.  The Royal plan has a 60 day lookback from the day you buy it.  

We have a cruise with my parents and I didn't realize this caveat, because I normally don't add the coverage until right before final payment.  In this case, my dad has medical issues that could be argued as something they exclude if he can't go for medical reasons. I bought my TA's plan that doesn't have a lookback window, just to be extra cautious.  

We booked Allure for Sept 2024 and it was the cheapest Crown Loft price we could find.  Ours came out to about $308 pp each night.  We don't have alot of flexibility on dates though.  My son has a week long "fall break" in September.  

We loved our OTW cabana last week.  We were in #13 and our attendant was great!  My comment to my husband was that I wouldn't want to be in the beach cabana's on that side because they all stared at the OTW cabanas and didn't have an open ocean view.  There was a bathroom partway up the path to the Beach Club.  We waited until about 2:00 to go up to the pool when lots of people with the day pass were headed back to the ship.  We stayed until 4:00 to get as much use as possible out of our day because I doubt I will ever see a deal like I got again!

It really depends on what date you are going to Coco Cay, what ship you are on, and if another ship will be there the same day as you.  Generally, it would cost you more to pay for a cabana and waterpark entrance for 4.  The costs of the cabanas has gone up significantly and some locations like the Oasis lagoon is not far from the back entrance of the water park, although I don't think the atmosphere is calming there.  South Beach and Chill Island are going to be a longer walk.  We have rented cabana's inside the water park and we were along the wave pool area and it was a low traffic area, but you could hear the music from the wave pool area all day.  I'm glad my kids are over the waterpark as the prices keep going higher and higher!  Long gone are the days of the cabana for $450 too.

Typically, FL schools have Spring Break in March as do most colleges in the US and are only out for one week.  Most schools don't align with the Easter holiday for Spring Break.  I know my kids are out the first week of April, regardless of how Easter falls for public school.  My private schooler, is also out the first week of April and then gets Good Friday/Easter Monday off.  Some years it is all together, but other years it is not.  

It varies by ship, but in some interior rooms we have been on there is a curtain that can divide the sitting area (where the pack and play would be) from the bed.  However, you would definitely have to walk by it to get to the rest room in the middle of the night.  The bed is usually at the back of the room facing towards the door you come in at.  I would recommend you bring a night light because it is very dark and I've almost stumbled over stuff in the middle of the night before.  

When we returned to the port, they were holding everyone on board until 8:30.  We were at the front of the self depart line and had passports, so exiting was very easy.  There was a very long line of people waiting on their Uber/Lyft drivers and we got right into a taxi and were at the airport a little after 9:00.  Security was quick, so yes you could make a flight if everything goes according to plan. I'm struggling with a similar dilemma for Miami.  I'm booking an 11:20 flight and plan to be in the front of the self assist line (I did pay the $20 to fly standby on any other flight that day, just in case).  

7 minutes ago, Scottdalfonso said:

Wait...if I purchase an internet plan, I don't need to buy one for my kid as long as he has a C&A number??

I’m sorry, I just went back and re-read the benefit and it says discount equal to parent’s benefit. I haven’t actually had my kids on a trip with us since the change. 

If you signup your kids for Crown & Anchor numbers, they get the same internet you pay for free (assuming you are also a member). I always paid for my kids and apparently this was an unwritten benefit they formalized with the changes this year. They also get a few other discounts you may be interested in. This is the easiest way to keep tabs on what they are doing. 

I forgot to mention that outside they had lanes for each boarding group time, so I suspect on the bigger ships they can keep passengers outside if needed.  I've been through Port Canaveral many times prior to this and this was the first time I've seen in setup this way (first time in 2023).  I think the last group of seats inside was 12:30-1:00, so if you have a later group you probably can get on early, but not at 10:30.  

We were on a cruise out of port Canaveral last week. They had chairs arranged in groups by boarding group times and led each group row by row in line onto the ship. The times began at 10:30, but they didn’t start boarding until about 11:15. I’m guessing the 1:00 group was able to get on about 12:30. They would not start boarding a group until everyone was sitting in a chair and several people that tried to join a different group were told to go to their group. We got to the port about 10:15 and were back about 10 rows in our 11:00 group.