vickic233

18 hours ago, bundtkate said:

Hey, y'all! I don't normally do lives because, frankly, I am terribly selfish and just want to enjoy my cruise. But this time, I'm sailing without my husband and with a big group of my extended family that are all guaranteed to be in bed before me. So, I'm going to try to spend my wee hours cuddled up in the inside cabin I'll have all to myself sharing my thoughts on this cruise and answering as many of your questions as I can. I'm all packed and just have one more sleep before my mom pops by to pick me up on our way down to Galveston.

 

So before I kick it off, a bit about me so you know when not to trust me. I'm a 36 year old remote tech worker living with my husband and 4 cats here in currently stormy south Texas. I definitely thought I'd hate cruising until my work brought me on an RCI cruise for our annual company retreat and I developed, ahem, something of a problem. I've since been on 5 RCI cruises (4 for work), 3 MSC, and 1 NCL (got married on that one), and I have 2 more planned (Alaska on HAL Koningsdam and an Arctic Circle on Celebrity Apex which I'm hoping to book on board). I've been lucky enough to stay in a suite twice (Haven and Yacht Club), but you'll normally find me in a standard balcony cabin. I can be picky about food, but I am happy enough with something that's okay. My happy places are in Central Park with a book, in the pub listening to the guitarist with a beer, or outside on deck at night checking out how many stars I can see. I was a theater kid in high school so I love shows, but all of the musicals I like are downers and will never get on cruise ships, though I'll have you know Les Mis did numbers at the box office so I feel like we could make it happen. Think about it, Royal, okay? I will take any cruise with the right itinerary at the right price, but so far Oasis has been my favorite so I'm stoked to be back on an Oasis class ship. Oh and I'm also kinda long-winded. Sorry, you've been warned.

 

The theme of this cruise for me is trying new things. Since I'm only paying for myself, I figure it's a bit less painful to try an experience or service that I end up not liking if I'm only paying for me. Some of the new things I'm checking out are:

 

Not doing the planning - I'm normally that person that obsessively plans for weeks -- okay, months -- and tries to squeeze in everything possible. My husband just asks me where we're going that day and off we go! This time, my mom planned. I'm doing one excursion on my own (noted below), but everything else was all her. I don't even know what hotel we're staying at tomorrow, but I hear there's a reservation for seafood so I'm a happy camper.

 

An Inside Cabin - My husband and I are usually balcony folk and this will be my first time sailing in an inside cabin outside of a suite (we did an MSC Yacht Club inside last month but I feel like that doesn't count as a real inside cabin). I do know I wasn't bothered by the lack of light when waking up, but we'll see how I do without easy access to a totally uncrowded suite lounge and sundeck.
 

The Key - I've always had a similar attitude to many here on CC that it's just not worth it unless it's really close to the price of internet. In this case, it was about $15/day more than internet and I already had an early check-in time, but I wasn't able to get reservations for one of the shows, I hate embarkation day at the Windjammer, and I travel with just a carryon. The Key means I may have a chance at getting into that show, I can have a Chops(-ish?) lunch away from crowds, and I can skip the porters and walk everything onboard. That last bit alone is a $10 tip saved so it's something. We'll see what I think.

 

Snorkeling - Yes, yes, I have been on I think 9 cruises now and I've still never been. I'm doing a Catamaran sail and snorkel excursion in Roatan. We'll see how I do!

 

Specialty Dining - I can't call myself a budget cruiser, but I am weirdly unwilling to pay for a lot of things. Specialty dining is typically one of those. Nothing has lived up to the MDR food on my first cruise on Freedom, but it's all been just fine and I didn't even have to help cook it so why pay more? But, we're trying new things so I'm going to Chef's table (in part because my mom paid because apparently that's what happens when you refuse a family activity because it's too expensive -- moms are pretty great), and Wonderland. Wonderland was totally my idea because absolutely love the concept of Wonderland and I had OBC so I convinced my mom to join me so I'm not feeling all awkward eating dirt by myself and I paid for her seat so I got her back.
 

I'm also foregoing my book in the park to try out several onboard activities including 2 wine tastings and the sushi making class! I'm usually a bit of a wallflower so this is somewhat new too. 😅

Anyway, I think that's just about enough from me today. If the I-35 traffic allows, my mom will be picking me up and I'll be on my way to Galveston around noon tomorrow (okay, technically today since it's 1:30am). We have dinner reservations at Katie's Seafood and after that it'll be maybe some Mardi Gras followed by one more sleep before we board Harmony! I'll check back in that evening with thoughts on whatever the heck hotel we're staying at and if anyone has questions about Harmony, let me know and I'll see what answers I can get you.

 

We board when you get off, so excited for your review!  My fav thing is also breakfast and a book in Central Park. Enjoy!

On 1/15/2024 at 8:51 PM, schooner_Drinker said:

Been on 24 since restart and got on every sailing with a carry on suitcase and a backpack each.

 

It really is no big deal

 

Once you get the art of packing cracked,

it makes the whole travel day (s) so much easier and self disembarkation is a breeze.

(yes 3 pairs of shoes, dive shoes and flip flops)

 

If you are flying, this is also a big plus 

No waiting for cases - and the biggy for us, if you have ever lost a case

You are not losing it when you carry it on.

 

We even do carry ons for International as well (plus backpack)

Saves many minutes at other end waiting for and hoping your suitcase comes out onto the conveyor 😎

1st through immigration and Passport control before the lines start getting backed up.

Nancy 🍷🍹

We are the same way! Just returned from London with my son. Took 1 carryon and 2 backpacks. So much easier to us!

5 minutes ago, scottnkim said:

The $50 OBC is a nice payment for the research participation.  No way this was a "glitch"- too put together.  Maybe a premature release with a bogus price attached- but they got to see how well received it would be.  

 

I completely agree 👍 

If this truly was a mistake and not a Royal Caribbean product, whoever did this not only posted the offer to RCLs website, they even changed the loyalty name to Crown and Anchor instead of Celebrity's loyalty name in the fine print at bottom of details. Thats not oh I pressed the wrong button kind of thing 🙃 😅 

On 3/8/2023 at 8:30 AM, Shand9219 said:

So yes it's totally my fault for not checking properly before booking. But my cruise says docking in St thomas 7am-1pm

 

Can anyone tell me if this means back on the ship for 1 or leaving? Seems super short? I was hoping to book Sunfari tours but it seems like that's a really tight time frame to really do anything. Is that enough time to explore? What time would you need to be on the ship for? Thanks for reading this ramble and for any help.

My sister lives in St Thomas, so Im a bit familiar with this port. Walk over to "Tickles" restaurant and theres a water taxi to Water Island. You can see the ship from this island. Super close, and theyre very good at getting you back on time. No taxis needed, nor traffic to worry about. If you google St Thomas webcams, I think theres still a live webcam of Water Island. Enjoy! Its my favorite island.

5 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

Yes, I bought the package in my name and my set sail pass has a key.  My plus one, DH, does not have a key on his set sail pass.

Same with us!

Used it on Radiance in January, no issues.

We were on Radiance last week. Originally had set dining time on 5, but when we boarded, we saw it was with a large group. Went down to 4 and asked to be placed at table for 2. They added us to a list for 815pm. We never had to wait long at all. Noticed they asked each group of people in line if they minded sharing a table and were seated pretty quickly. 

3 hours ago, hoosier sailor said:

I drive the Chicago area quite often and I think New Orleans (I-10) is worse.

At certain times, for sure!

On 12/6/2022 at 9:28 AM, hoosier sailor said:

I stayed at the Fairfield Inn in LaPlace and it was great. I got there around 5 pm and they had upgraded me to King Suite The only issue I had was driving into the pier, because traffic around the airport was ungodly!!

I live close to airport area and yes, theyre working on expanding the I10 for airport traffic, so its always a cluster :/. If someone doesnt want to stay downtown close to port area, Metairie hotels are closer and easy I10 access. 

1 hour ago, jean87510 said:

so a quick update on doorbell.  Last night around 11pm, my husband was doing more work and ding dong giggles.  He heard them again a few minutes later and waited by the door looking through the peep hole.  It was about 4 kids.  He yanked the door open and said AH HAAAA!!! They screamed and ran.  No problems after that.  

I wouldve done that too! Thats great 😂

On 11/22/2022 at 4:44 PM, jean87510 said:

I was on the Allure in October with the Key.  I was told I had to go with the non Suite guests.  I still haven't recovered from that trauma (;))  It was all good though as we were out quickly.  But I was surprised as I was under the impression there was a separate line.  First timer with the Key.  I'd probably get it again if I was on the Oasis and Quantum class and no suite.  I enjoyed the perks.

Same with us on Symphony a couple of weeks ago. I bit disappointing as the line to leave was huge and slow. 

12 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

Hiro practicing 

 

its amazing to see them practice and then see the show… I truly enjoy Hiro.  It is my favorite aqua show!

One of the reasons we booked a boardwalk balcony is being able to watch not only the show , but the practices from our balcony. We like oceanview balcony rooms too, but when boardwalk is available,  we book it. We enjoy people watching at night too 🙂

3 hours ago, BennyBrun said:

Hooked Dinner … I created my own lobster feast 😂 

Thanks for the food pics! We are from New Orleans so hoping Hooked food tastes as good as it looks! 

1 hour ago, BennyBrun said:

Thanks so much!  Please please please as soon as you board pick up a show schedule and go down to the attic and get in line for the box office.  While you are in line make dinner plans.  Why can’t you do both?  Their system blocks out 2 hours for dinner so when you are making other reservations it will say conflict… and while you are waiting for that to be resolved shows will sell out!  

We noticed the conflict when we bought udp and wanted a certain time. I had to cancel the main dining room reservation 1st. We have the Key, so hopefully that will help get show reservations a bit quicker? Idk, as this is the 1st time with the Key. Thanks for all of the info and suggestions!

Loving your review! Thanks for the South Beach pics. We reserved a beach bed there for our November cruise and there arent alot of current pics. Also, reading about the udp, you convinced us to try it out for the very 1st time! Looking forward to keeping up with your adventure this week. 

2 minutes ago, JacqueO said:

Well!  I had given up hope as we sail tomorrow (Sunday) and yesterday we got the email that our royal up bid was accepted!!  We moved from an ocean view balcony to a 2 bedroom grand suite!  Cannot wait!

Congratulations!!!

18 minutes ago, stompy said:

Some Crown Loft Suites opened up on our next cruise.  We're currently in a GS with RoyalUP bids on a GS 2 Bed and an Owner's Suite.  If we upgrade to the CL Suite what happens to those offers since they'd technically be downgrades?  

 

Also, for things like the VILLA, Skyloft Suite  and the Aqua 2 Bedroom, would my minimums be reduced since I was in a higher category room?

Once you upgrade yourself,  I believe  you can cancel bids. They may send another royal up invite, depending on sale date. 

2 minutes ago, S904 said:

 

Update: GOT THE EMAIL!! ACECPTED! Owners Suite here I come for 10 days! Originally had paid $1415 pre port fees for a Junior Suite and Free Gratuities. So in total paid just about 2K per person for 10 days for an owners suite! l

Final bids:

 

Grand Suite 1B - 350
Grand Suite 2B - 400
Owner Suite - 475 - Accepted!
Roayl Suite - 710

 

 

Yeah, so happy that you got it! Enjoy your cruise!

9 minutes ago, S904 said:

 

eeeekk!! ill try not to get too excited until i receive and official email lol

Oh I hope you get it!!

4 hours ago, Canmilitarywife said:

 

43 minutes ago, stompy said:

 

We waited a few hours and were finally able to get back in.  BUT all our bids showed $0.  So we had to go back in a redo them all.  The next hurdle is if we win the Villa Suite we need to transfer guests from another room to ours and it doesn't look like that is possible without cancelling their cruise and giving up the funds...

I havent gone back and looked at the Royal up "rules" but Im almost 100 pct sure if bid is won, they dont allow any add ons in room that was won with bid? May want to check just to be sure. 

20 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Can you bid on a Superior Ocean View.

Those are much nicer than the regular Ocean View cabins, and should be much less than JS

Funny that it wasnt on the list!  We will probably bid ...still trying to decide lol. We will be happy either way:)

6 minutes ago, tvlworm said:

A number of people on my sailing who either did not receive an email invite previously or haven’t made a bid, received new Royal Bid invites in the last 24hrs.   We sail in 11 days, on Harmony and I’m trying to be optimistic on my chances but they still haven’t assigned some suite guarantees their room yet!  I bid as soon as I had the chance January 2nd and getting really anxious to know either way. 

 

I hope you get it!

Just received our Royal Up offer for our April cruise on Majesty of the Seas. We are currently in an oceanview on 4. Minimum bids are 400 for junior suite, 500pp for grand 1 bedrm, 550pp grand 2bedrm, 600pp owners suite. Im not sure we will bid due to not many perks associated with suites on this ship, along with some reviews stating the suites are below windjammer and pool area. I love the idea of being on 4, close to lattetudes, boarding area, dining room and casino. Ive tried looking for others who have recently been in suites on this ship to get opinions but nothing has really stood out as far as detailed perks .

Thanks in advance for any opinions!