uvadover

1 hour ago, ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE said:

Hey guys!

 

So I have some exciting news!

 

I found out last night that I'm going to be transferred to Oasis Of The Seas in 3 weeks time. This is a big step up for me, and a lot more responsibility is going to be put on me - but I'm excited for this challenge.

 

I'll be flying out to Spain to join the ship, and then crossing back to America for the beginning of the Caribbean season.

 

Let me know if any of you will be on Oasis! I look forward to meeting you!

Will be on the New Year's Sailing of Oasis on 12/29.  See you there!

11 hours ago, ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE said:

Just posted my video from New Years Eve on Independence last year!

 

Let me know what you guys think. Anyone here cruised during New Years?

 

 

Sailing New Years on Oasis this year!

We're looking at a private charter on Cozumel in early Jan.  Any idea if this bans all visits to El Cielo, for example, or if it's specific to the reefs?  Not knowing the area well, would the boat still be able to land at a spot that allows folks to get in the sandy bottom water and/or swim to the beach?  

On 9/27/2019 at 12:50 PM, brookeq said:

Look up El Cielo.  Its too far to get by taxi but several companies go there by boat.

We used Fishing with Pedro.  It was the best day.  He will take you deep sea fishing, snorkeling and then to chill at el cielo.  it was beautiful there.  He also made us some fresh ceviche with the fish we caught.   He was so friendly.  We rented a small boat for our family so it was a nice private tour.   

Obviously you don't go on a cruise if you're worried about motion, but how rough is the water on a private boat tour down to El Cielo?  Definitely considering that for our family, but the wife is a bit sensitive about small boats in open water.  Thanks!

Taking a look at Royalton Sands vs Hyatt Ziva.  Anyone have opinions?

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

 

It's all in the cruise contract.

Yes, that literally nobody reads.  Not questioning whether they can do it, but whether they should do it.  It's terrible customer service, and wholly unnecessary.

Spoke further with RCCL on this matter today.  A few takeaways.  Their "revenue department" has basically instructed them to dig in, and that they should not be offering ANY compensation for the swaps.  The reclassification is not necessarily a function of adding more cabins, though in this case it likely is.  Sometimes they decide to change a double room to a triple or quad (perhaps based on group bookings).  For whatever reason, this holiday sailing has gone through this a bunch.  When I half-heartedly joked "at least I can't be moved around again," he said "probably not, but you really never know."  Didn't realize there was this much unpredictability in a confirmed reservation, that has been fully paid, and within 90 days of sailing.  Extremely disappointing, and makes me question my loyalty for sure.  

How is the food?  Included or separate?  We are trying to figure out our plan for Falmouth on New Year's with 3 kids, ages 10/7/3.  Sounds like a nice option.

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

🤔Wouldn't the casino be open more on a sea day?

Exactly!

1 hour ago, FLACRUISER99 said:

Maybe I'm missing something, Why add cabins if you have to remove folks from other cabins and have the same capacity as before?

I assume it's because Guest #1 and #2 in a cabin cost more than Guests #3 and #4.  At least in my case, where I have 3 people in the second room.  They make more money selling Guest #1 and #2 in a new room, and free up the slot(s) by nixing the ability to have a 3rd or 4th guest in existing cabins.

Update:  Two hours and fifteen minutes on the phones, including an escalation to a supervisor.  They've clearly nixed a bunch of the cabins that hold 3-4 people, so the 2nd of our connecting rooms with the 3 kids was the issue.  First I was told there was simply nothing that could be done, and we would just need to get two rooms next door - that's simply not an option with small kids.  Ultimately, they "found" two connecting rooms on Deck 8 (instead of Deck 12).  I was told "the good news is that it won't cost me any extra."  Needless to say, I would expect moving 4 decks DOWN to a much higher traffic deck would be less desirable and, therefore, less expensive.  I was told there would be no price accommodation.  

I asked why other people couldn't be shuffled around to accommodate us - perhaps there are sets of adults who don't really NEED connecting staterooms, for example, and could easily get by with nearby or next door cabins.  I was told "we can't possibly do that" - but of course, why could they move ME so easily?

At the end of the day, I have almost no leverage.  $4500 in flights non-refundable, cruise nearly sold out, actually cancelled a hold we had for Norwegian Escape for the same week, etc.  At the end I asked if there would be any goodwill/compensation, and the answer was a hard no.  I asked for further escalation, and that will result in a callback within 24-48 hours.  I am so beyond frustrated by this.  We're also booked on Ovation next summer and I am seriously rethinking that decision.  My platinum status may be pretty low but I am a relatively young cruiser and have been a loyal traveler many times.  

The representative did indicate that "quite a lot" of people were affected by this, so I'll be interested to see if there is more fanfare.  Frankly, if I had followed their direction to "wait 1-2 weeks," I would have most certainly been SOL.  

1 hour ago, Sherri914 said:

Can I ask what type of cabin category you booked into?  (Inside, balcony, etc)  Just curious which ones they're reclassifying.  This would be incredibly frustrating.  I hope you get a satisfactory resolution. 

We have (or at least had) connecting standard balcony cabins.

14 minutes ago, soremekun said:

All of this couldn't be figured out by Royal when the plans were finalized .... before the ship went in to be amplified?  Are they still making changes to the floor plans?

Beats me.  I booked last December or January.  Was contacted in May/June with exact same "issue" - cabins reclassified, so need to change cabins.  Now contacted again, inside 90 days.  The response is that I need to wait 1-2 weeks to be contacted by their special team with a resolution.  Why they didn't wait to notify when a resolution was available is beyond me.  Now I just sit and wait nervously.  I may not be as frequent of a cruiser as I would like to be, but I am RCCL Platinum, which isn't nothing.  I have been a loyal fan for many years.  This sours me big time.  And hopefully all turns out well, but not happy about the agita.

5 minutes ago, epanchenko said:

They are adding cabins to Oasis.  In order to adhere to lifeboat limits, they have to reduce capacity of other cabins.

Maybe so, but this is the 2nd time in 4-5 months that they have recategorized MY cabins for the SAME sailing.  Just don't know how on earth that happens.  And I am going to be super ticked if I end up with crappier cabins because I really have no recourse.  $4500 worth of non-refundable airline tickets, hotels lined up for the days before the sailing...oh and I can't wait to go.  But this is tremendously frustrating, especially when they email you 1-2 weeks before they are able to talk about a proper resolution.

Booked on holiday sailing, and this is the SECOND time we have been contacted by RCCL that cabins are being reclassified and that "We recently noticed that your stateroom's capacity cannot accommodate your party. As a result, we'll need to make a change to your stateroom."  We booked a long time in advance, chose our staterooms extremely carefully, and absolutely need connecting staterooms to accommodate our kids.  They did an initial reclassification during the summer where I had to pick new cabins - at the time, if was far enough in advance that there was some decent selection.  Now we are talking about a holiday cruise, fully paid, less than 90 days away, etc and they've told me I need to wait "a week or two" to be contacted for resolution.  That's extremely frustrating.  I know the cruise is nearly full for a holiday sailing, we have $5k worth of airline tickets purchased, etc.  Any experience with this or thoughts on how to proceed?  

9 hours ago, ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE said:

Did you guys see my Labadee video?

 

Which do you prefer, Labadee or Coco Cay?

 

Did you hear the itinerary on Mariner has changed? The 4 day cruise is going to Coco Cay twice now - instead of having a sea day!

 

 

Love the video, but I'd probably edit out the schlong and balls suntan lotion gag.

Family of mom, dad, and kids 10/7/3 on Oasis in December.  We had originally booked the All Inclusive Day at the Iberostar Resort, but it was cancelled for some reason.  Looking for something that the whole family can enjoy.  Currently looking at the so called Family Thrill Seekers Pass & Adventure Falls excursion.  Looks like a medley of activities that the kids could pick and choose from, but wondering if anyone has first hand experience with it.  

"Play for a day on our 2,000 acre Good Hope Estate Park, located only 20 minutes from the Falmouth Port. See and experience an amazing blend of nature adventure, fun-filled and adrenaline-packed activities, wrapped in a period of colonial history and culture; perfect for the entire family.  Blah blah blah..."

Not sure if it's kosher to link another site, but Oasis is currently en route from Barcelona to Cadiz for drydock.  Excited to see how she emerges for our 12/29 sailing!

I have asked this specific question in several threads, have tweeted RCL, and have spoken to phone reps.  Literally nobody seems to have the definitive answer.  I've seen detailed maps of Barefoot Beach, but nothing similar appears to exist for Nellie's.  My family has a waterfront cabana (we "upgraded" from over the water when one came available), but are not sure if it was a good decision or not.  We have a few younger kids, so figured direct beach access would be better than OTW, but who knows.

On 9/13/2019 at 7:57 AM, jiimmy2k said:

Royalton  or Hilton Rose Hall because they have great water activities that you would enjoy. 

Do you book those thru the cruise line or elsewhere?  Thanks for the recommendations.

As fate would have it, just received a cancellation of the excursion to Iberostar by RCCL.  Not sure what the story is - sailing isn't until December.  Now looking for a different excursion in Falmouth.  It's me, wife, plus 3 kids so most likely looking for a nice beach day with a pool.

3 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

We had B2, which was great as some travelers were a bit "mobility challenged" and the ramp, etc to the Hilltop and OTW cabanas could have been an issue.

 

Here's a map:

 

Does anyone have a similar map for the cabanas on Nellie's Beach?  We have a beachfront cabana reserved for a December cruise and I have no clue what the layout is.  We actually had an OTW cabana reserved, but gave that up when a seemingly better (aka more expensive) beachfront one came available.  Figured that might be a better setup for our family that includes younger kids.  Thanks!

11 hours ago, Goofyfanatic said:

And I hope you get caught...

 

 Because it affects you how?

Saw your awesome post about Christmas time cruising.  We are sailing on 12/29 for the New Year's Eve sailing.  Silly question, but would you expect the Christmas decorations/tree to still be up?  Absolutely fascinated by your blog.  Thanks!

Appreciate the heads-up.  Just booked reservations for my 12/29 sailing on Oasis.  Was able to get mostly 6:30 MTD reservations, as desired, with a 7:30pm reservation on New Year's Eve.  One question - I purchased a 3 night specialty dining package.  It doesn't appear that I can book that package ahead of time - you can only book a reservation if you pay "a la carte" online.  Is that correct?  Need to book my specialty restaurants when I get onboard?