SWACruising

12 minutes ago, pat1975 said:

Did you use Adventure Ocean?  Do you need to reserve time slots?  We are sailing next week.  Thanks for the info

The kids did not. I was a little disappointed with the teens club. My 13 year old son was looking forward to meeting some friends and planned to attend the first night teen mingle but it never appeared on the activity sheet and when we went by around 7, it wasn't open. After that, he never went back. Not sure if it was a staffing issue or just bad timing on our part.

I didn't see anything about signing up so it may be back to normal.

Just a follow up on an old post. My son was 12 when we booked our cruise and would be be 13 when we actually cruised. He was charged the child rate for the UDP and when we were onboard, no additional charge was added and he was able to order from the adult menu. It appears to be a glitch in their reservation system and when we tried to correct it pre cruise, they had no idea of what we were talking about.

1 hour ago, Jenjer said:

Hope you don't mind if I ask about your UDP How much was it per person? did it include hibachi or was that a extra charge?    Did you feel as if it was a worth it? 

 

We are looking into booking after 2 years with no cruises too. 

There were 4 of us, two adults and 2 teenagers. We paid $167pp plus gratuity. It was very much worth it for us and I don't see us cruising on a bigger ship without it.We ate dinner every night in a specialty restaurant. Chops x2, Giovanni's x2, 150 Park Central, Izumi and Izumi Hibachi. Had lunch at Chops 1 day and used it quite a bit for lunches or snacks at Playmakers and Port Side BBQ.

The Hibachi was an extra charge of $10pp but with that, you could order anything on their menu without additional charge.

If you plan to just go to specialty restaurants, it's a no brainer. When you include the other venues throughout the day it is a great deal. 

2 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Just because I've cruised more doesn't mean I know more!  I could be very much wrong - and happily so - about this.  We've never tried unlimited meals with the plan - always just the one dinner per night and the two lunches.  But live and learn!  I will definitely take a different look at this next time!  LOL

No worries. I remember the Eagles logo so I'm sure I used some of your wealth of knowledge to help me plan this cruise after being away for many years. It's members like yourself that provide incredible amounts of help to many of us and it's much appreciated. I can't see eating multiple evening meals as they have to roll me out after 1 but the sushi lends itself well to hold you over for a late dinner.

3 minutes ago, poocher said:

I don’t think it was happy hour AT Izumi, just that the PP ate sushi as a happy hour snack.  I’ve never heard of restrictions on the unlimited nature of the plan.

You are correct. It was OUR happy hour on our balcony. Sushi and martinis. A week removed and I'm sad already.

1 minute ago, leaveitallbehind said:

First I've heard of that and was not out understanding with the times we did it.  I always understood it to mean one dinner per day plus the two lunches during the week.  I get that someone may have a dinner at one and desert in another, but I've not heard of it allowing, say, for two dinners in a given day.  I also would have thought that the Izumi happy hour may have been treated as one of the two included lunches.

I'm no expert and certainly not as experienced as you are. Just basing it on my first experience with UDP last week. In my research I thought I read that there was no limit. May need to close out a tab and start a new one but if you wanted, you could order multiple meals. We ate every dinner in a specialty and one of the 2 lunches along with Playmakers quite a bit.

2 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

It would be an issue if requested.  But each time you would do it counts as one meal for that day on the UDP.  Just to be clear the UDP does not mean unlimited number of meals - it means unlimited choice from the number of specialty restaurants for each night's dinner. (And typically two lunches).

 

You can eat in multiple specialty restaurants daily. There is no limit. The 2 times we ordered from Izumi some sushi for our "happy hour" we then ate at a different specialty restaurant later that same evening. Some people will eat dinner at a specialty restaurant and then go to a different one for dessert, no issues.

Did it last week on Oasis. Did it right when they opened at 5. Sat and waited for it and was out by 515, no issues.

1 hour ago, amurray88 said:

Hi all,

Arriving tomorrow (Saturday) into Miami. Driving hire car down from Orlando. I've heard awful things about Avis Miami but I'm hoping it'll be ok.

 

Has anyone used Port of Miami Avis before? What time does the shuttle to the port start? Our check in is 11am, plan to drop car around 9/9:30am...will we be able to get shuttle at that time?

 

TIA

We dropped off there 2 weeks ago and there were a lot of people curbside but they may have been arriving from the port. If it becomes an issue, it's an easy Uber to the port from there. We already planned to use Uber so I can't tell you the shuttle schedule or reliability.

45 minutes ago, poocher said:

Just visited both islands last month.  No ID required of anyone getting off the ship or getting back on.  Just need your sea pass card.

Oasis last week and had the same experience. We're told to have Seapass card and photo id but no one asked for it and we didn't take it. Our kids are 16 and 13.

With upgrades, do you first book the free cruise and then upgrade once that's set or do you have to price and pay for the upgrade when you initially book. We have a free inside but would like to upgrade to at least a balcony.

Thanks 

8 hours ago, DukeASUGirl said:

This makes sense, although a bit disappointing. We specifically chose our cruise because we know someone in the ice cast on Harmony (my daughter's coach), so I'll be sad if we only get to see her skate once. I had intended us to watch each show (iSkate and 1887) twice!

Our cruise had over 4000 people on it and the ice show was maybe half full. I think you should be able to walk right up. Aqua 80 was busier but they did accommodate walk ups for no shows.

7 hours ago, captainbuzzy883 said:

I was on the same sailing and had a great time as always. What did surprise me was of the 4 nights we ate in the MDR (My Time Dining), the host guiding us to our table (a different person each night) had almost no clue where our table was located. We'd be left standing in the middle of tables with people eating while the  host walked around asking other servers/hosts where a particular table was. I was surprised at this, especially since they all were carrying maps with them. One night it took almost 5 minutes standing between other occupied tables before our table was found and it was pretty awkward!

That would get old quick. Our stateroom attendant was very new and really struggled. Did you get a Cruise Compass in your stateroom every night? Our attendant didn't really know what we were asking for so my son ended up getting a hard copy from guest relations every night. He told us everything was on the app which it kind of is but I'm old school and like the hard copy.

7 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

How about the laser tag?  Was it open?  Did anyone in your family try it?

I'm guessing it wasn't but I don't know for sure. I just never saw anything about it.

2 hours ago, RoperDK said:

Never been lucky enough to win a handpay. I can understand needing an ID, but how do you prove your SSAN?  Other than my old SSAN card from the 70s, I don't have any proof.  Maybe my passport?  What did you use to prove your SS#?  

No proof, they just asked for the number

49 minutes ago, Cruiser24 said:

Were you able to make reservations for shows ahead of time or is it still once you get on the ship?

 

Once on the ships wifi, we were able to make show reservations on the app. I guess you could do that in the terminal but we moved right through so that was done on the ship. No issues moving things later in the week but the Aqua 80 shows got tight once a couple were cancelled. Not surprising but I didn't realize you couldn't reserve the same show twice until the first reservation happens. Gives everyone a chance to see all the shows.

4 minutes ago, Lionesss said:

Did you have to be diverted to go thru customs and file your www.gov claim?

 

Loved your review.

 

Thanks for sharing.

No, the machine wouldn't pay out the jackpot without a manager coming over. He needed a drivers license and SS# before he could pay out. I'm not a slot guy so this was a first for me. He said I would get a "W2" so I'm hoping it also includes what I donated to the casino this week. 😀

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

Agree chops is my favorite too. Surf and turf so I get extra lobster and a little steak. I'm so glad you had a good time.

My favorite cut is a ribeye but their bone in ribeye was thin. Very difficult to cook medium rare when thin but to their credit it was cooked perfectly. The filet and NY strip were thick and I preferred the strip to the ribeye.

2 hours ago, masspector said:

Can you post  a copy of the entertainment schedule if you have it?  Thanks

I will see if I can find it. I'm pretty sure I packed it somewhere.

Just came home from the March 27th sailing of the Oasis on the Eastern Caribbean itinerary. 4 of us in connecting rooms. 2 kids 16 and 13. Here are random observations.

4000+ passengers including 1000+ Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Although a large themed group concerned me, it was never an issue. Saw lots of Steelers gear around the ship but everything was well spread out.

Embarkation was smooth. Had an 1130 time and we arrived at 1115 and walked right through with no waits. No cards until your room is ready as they are on your doors. Went right to 150 Central Park to make all of our dinner reservations for the week.

Staffing was down a little bit and some specialty restaurants limited reservations but for us it was not an issue.

We did the UDP and ate at specialty restaurants all week for dinner. Usually a 730pm reservation and late shows. A 7pm reservation probably would have worked better looking back but either worked every night.

A benefit of the UDP were snacks and lunch at Playmakers and Port Side BBQ.

Contrary to popular opinion, Chops was our favorite specialty restaurant followed by Giovani's, Izumi and then 150 Central Park. All were very good. Hibachi was fun but lacking flavor.

Several of the Aqua 80 shows early in the cruise were cancelled due to technical difficulties and then seas. Was able to see it on the last night and though it had a few technical issues during the show, it was fantastic.

Never felt like we needed to walk out on Cats. Our daughter gave us the whole back story and we went in to enjoy the dancing and singing. Sat front right as recommended and we enjoyed the show but once was enough.

We all enjoyed the ice show and the kids were more open to seeing it once they realized it wasn't Disneys Frozen.

All shows that we went to had seats open if you didn't have a reservation with Aqua 80 being standby seating.

My son started doing the Flowrider on day 5 and wished he had started earlier. Early and late were the best times for waits.

The Escape room was open but only the kids did that since we didn't try to reserve right away and spaces filled up. They loved the experience. $20pp

The casino had a 800 point promo for a free cruise (interior) and that was my goal. Love craps but that is tough to get lots of points and those tables were rarely open surprisingly. After about $300 down in slots and about 400 points, I hit a $1350 jackpot which of course is taxed. Played later to get to the 800 points and still was up quite a bit. On the last full day a letter and code was delivered to book a free cruise (3-8 days) including Alaska all sailing between April and September.

All four of us are Diamond and had 4 drink credits each per day. Never paid for a drink all week. That is a great benefit that may not last. Hopefully I'm wrong. Their screens show exactly how many credits you have left and they would tell you exactly what you have left if you asked.

Sorry for the rambling format. It was a great cruise after being away from RCCL for better than a decade. Let me know if you have any questions and thanks to all that helped us plan this cruise.

24 minutes ago, handbellplayer said:

So glad it worked out for you!  Can't wait to hear about your trip!

Thanks, I just posted a bunch of random observations on a new thread.

Just a follow up as we came home yesterday. We stayed in 8552 and 8550 connecting rooms and could not have been happier with the location. The convenience to Central Park and most other interior spaces was fantastic. The rooms were quiet and location was ideal for us. Will be back in that area again. Thanks for all the help.

Thanks for all the help! We ended up moving to deck 8, starboard side in the very aft of the front third (if that makes sense). A few rooms away from the elevator bank and less than a minute walk from the forward entrance to CP.

I will try to report back after next week to have some observations. So looking forward to cruising after being away for several years.

On 3/21/2022 at 5:54 PM, leaveitallbehind said:

Also note that the port side is the smoking side along the pool deck, and that can also be an issue, in particular with the higher decks.

Would this be an issue on deck 12? We are on the port side.

3 minutes ago, Susan in Maine said:

Thanks! 

 

Even if it's a RoyalUp?

 

Yes