PATRLR

Wait a sec - are you saying the Jersey Boys actors moonlight working in the Internet cafe? you go in for help and the guy helping you is the same guy who will be performing in the show? For anyone reading this, if Harv and Marv aren't available, a very similar reasonable alternative is Alaska Humpback Adventures. Steve Olmstead runs that whale watch, Steve was the original Harv and Marv Captain. And there are others with the same small (~9 passengers) boats - IMO those are the best for whale watching. Bit pricier but much more personal, a much better experience.

The red thing in the center looks like a lobster pot buoy, but not knowing where you are, no way to know. Same for the white thing to the left in the picture. To the right of the red thing I'm seeing a bunch of white dots, I don't know what those are.

I tried that Marshmallow old-fashioned on Oasis a couple of weeks back. I was pleasantly surprised, and had it a few more times after that. To the best of my knowledge, they were using the Buffalo Trace, if they weren't, they didn't tell me (I always ordered it from a server, not at the bar so I didn't see what they were using).

Having cruised HAL in 1987, our group of 4 cabins was part of a larger group of over a hundred cabins and we were told emphatically "no tipping" by our group leaders. You are correct, HAL used to promote this benefit to cruising with them. None of us tipped anything, I suspect most of the larger group did not either. We didn't experience any problems. I really liked that model and would very much like to see a return to that model. Funny anecdote: As I said we were told many times in materials we received before the cruise "no tipping". When my girlfriend (at the time, now wife) and I met our cabin steward, his name was "Atip". Really.

Confirming this to be my experience on Oasis as well.

My recent experience in Bayonne was that the scheduled arrival times are not checked. Until I hear otherwise, I'll consider Bayonne to be "show up whenever".

Have you been on other large ships? Did you enjoy them? If so, Bliss will be fine. I believe OP (like many others) just isn't a fan of larger ships. If this Mexico trip you are planning is the first on a big ship, I think you should just try it with an open mind. Worst case, at the end you decide you won't do a big ship again. We don't mind the large ships and the inherent crowds. We find the Away and Away+ class ships like Bliss to be some of the better-designed large ships.

Not only did he catch a bit of the Superbowl, but he captured what was, IMO, the most important play of that game (Jason McCourty screaming out of nowhere to break up and otherwise sure touchdown to Brandin Cooks).

Actually, the first CN cert you get a $100 credit for. If you buy 2 CNs, then you get $100 for the first one and $150 for the second. You will probably even see it listed that way on your account statement.

You are correct of course, you didn't write that. But dang, this line sure seems to imply you don't think people should post negative reviews: Sorry if I inferred too much there. I didn't think so. My claim about your words was incorrect and you are defending it. No problem, I'd do the same. And with probably a lot less tact 😉 Same here.

By that logic, people also shouldn't put positive opinions out there either. PEOPLE MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT WHETHER TO DO SOMETHING BASED ON THESE OPINIONS It's all caveat lector, isn't it? So, I disagree with your assertion that people shouldn't post negative opinions. What people shouldn't do is make decisions on one anonymous person's opinion (good or bad) on some internet forum. In the case of Viva, the negative opinions will be, I suspect, helpful to me when I cruise on her in December. No ship is perfect, it's always helpful to have an idea of where/what/when/who the possible negative issues are so I can prepare and mitigate them. Of course, I won't do anything based on one anonymous person's opinion. I'll do my due diligence and hopefully be appropriately prepared.

Did I say "EXACT"? Did I use that word anywhere? Did I even remotely imply "exact"? (Hint: The answer is "No" to all 3 questions). If you really do not believe that when provisioning for the MDR they take into consideration the likely volume of meals to be served in the Specialty restaurants, then, I guess there is no point taking this any further with you.

They certainly are ordering less food for the MDR, they'd be pretty stupid if they weren't. The number-crunching folks have a decent idea of how many fewer meals they will serve in the MDR because of Specialty Dining and I have no doubt they take that into consideration when provisioning the ship.

I was on Oasis Aug 20-27. I'd give the MDR menus a 7/10 (in other words good choices) but the quality of the food is about a 3/10. I've been an NCL frequent cruiser lately and while I give NCL a slight edge in MDR food quality (maybe they get a 4 or 5), Royal's service was far superior. Royal also had a few things that were much better than NCL: The French Onion Soup for one. Royal's prim rib is a lousy quality like NCL, but at least Royal cuts it thick enough to measure (NCL uses a deli slicer to slice theirs, I'm sure) The good news is, IMO, Royal's Specialty Dining was far superior to NCL's.

NCL policy is to not open the dividers, citing fire hazard. I believe other cruise lines might also have similar policy. Sooo... I suppose a possible reason a captain may have is that it is a fire danger. (All those of you who want to cry BS on the fire safety issue, don't attack me, I'm simply the messenger here.)

That's not how it's supposed to work, you are not supposed to be able to use NON-Refundable OBC to purchase CN certs. I'm not saying it didn't happen that way for you, just commenting that isn't how it's supposed to work. @catbro You need to determine what kind of OBC, Refundable or Non-refundable. If it's the former, your numbers are right, if the latter, you'll have the $350 OBC still to spend and $250 due on your account that will eventually get charged to your card.

It's a good question, but I don't see any practical way they could be calling back passengers. I'd expect that they would have been watching the forecasts and if they were going to need to leave early, notified the passengers of a shorter port stop (It's already stupid short), or possibly skipped it entirely. Do we know that they are there right now?

@BND I'm in a similar situation as you are. I was told by two different brokers that annual policies wouldn't cover me if I had to cancel due to my MIL's health. I've bought per trip polices since. You might want to give Steve at tripInsurancestore.com a call, he's usually very helpful. Or talk to folks in the Insurance subforum here at CC (where Steve is a frequent participant).

I find things like this to be annoying. If you buy an "unlimited" plan, I get that it really isn't unlimited, but you should be able to go into a restaurant and get a full meal without paying more. Will the additional charge ruin my cruise? Or not getting s desert to stay under the limit? Of course not, not in the least. It's just annoying. If you start to have many of these "annoying" moments, that can and will influence your overall opinion of your vacation, it's only natural.

I am curious as to why you only got part of the return flight home. Was it due to hitting a maximum payout value? Likewise for the Royal Up, had you won a bid. And possibly related, was your insurance a per-trip plan, or, an annual plan?

Not correct for many policies. Yes they are relevant if they are the reason for your claim. Simply not true for many policies. The posts above, and others in this thread are proof positive of the importance of doing serious research on travel insurance. There is an entire forum here on CC dedicated to the subject, it's that complicated.

I suppose shade might be one benefit of the larger balcony.

Was on Oasis 8/20-8/27. Great cruise. First cruise on RCCL in about 12 years. We royal-up'd to a large balcony stateroom because we enjoy lounging on our balcony when we can. Imagine my surprise when we got to the room and the balcony furniture was the same as a standard balcony (2 straight-back chairs and a table). I'm not sure what the advantage of a larger balcony is, if there is no different furniture. Do they expect me to move the bed out there or something? On past cruises with NCL and Carnival (and I thought RCCL too), when we had a large balcony there was always at least one, sometimes two loungers on it. Sometimes it might have been those chairs with the separate footrests that made for a quasi-lounger, but, there was always something different from the standard balcony furniture. When in Nassau, I looked over at NCL Joy, just to be sure and every larger balcony that I could see had a lounger on it. For future reference, for those that typically book the large balconies on RCCL, do they ever have loungers or do they typically have the same furniture as the standard balcony?

And if NCL's newest ship (Prima for sure, I assume also Viva) is any indication of direction, their BBQ place has been moved to the Indulge Food Hall and is now free.

Right. A smoothie at Vitality after my workout was part of my equation.