sojodave

I bet someone working the complaint desk on any cruise line could write a pretty funny book about the complaints from cruisers. When we were on the Oasis, we were walking down the hall and a person was screaming at their cabin steward that they found a hair in the shower and the hair didn't belong to anyone that was in their party and he wanted a DNA test to find out whose hair it was.  bwhahahahahah.

We have sailed on MSC out of Miami on the Seaside and the MSC ships are fantastic.  The worse thing about MSC is their website, but onboard, it's a great cruise.:)

We've been to Ocho Rios on a previous cruise and we were told not to walk around town.  They said to have a tour or a taxi to a destination, but warned us not to walk around town.  

We enjoyed Pearl Island.  My advice is get a chair in the shade early and enjoy a relaxing day.  Beautiful beach and the food was good.

We booked Bella balcony and got upgraded to Fantastica balcony, but it is a crap shoot and you never know until your room is assigned.

You can reserve them once you are on board with the MSC app or your tv in your room.

We are cruising July 7th on the Seaside and booked Bella balcony. Just got my room, it was a Fantastica Balcony. We paid in full, if that helps.

I'm a type 2 diabetic and I eat less than 20 carbs a day. I eat low carb, high fat. I brought coconut oil, and Postum. I added butter and cream and had bullet proof Postum in the mornings and they have an egg station that will prepare custom made omlettes. If you tell the MaitreD, they will show you the menu for the night before and let you prepare a head of time so you can order low carb food. There are a lot of options on board to eat low carb. Here is a website to help you, dietdoctor.com/lchf

How fast and reliable is the internet connection on the Miracle?

Bring coconut oil and make bullet proof coffee by mixing in butter. Stay away from sauces on the meat in the mdr. Let your waiter know your are low carb and they can suggest menu items that will help you. Also, make sure you eat real eggs and not the faux eggs that are in the buffet. I've cruised twice this last year and I've been able to keep under 30 gross carbs a day.

We went on the Oasis last September and absolutely loved it and felt the same way you did about the Allure. In April we went on The Vision of the Seas and I thought I would be really disappointed. I was wrong, I loved the intimacy of a smaller ship and had a great time. Don't worry, you will find another ship to love just as much.

On Roatan, go to Little French Key. You will love it

I appreciate saving money on a port, but do yourself a favor and go to Little French Key. If there was one place I would go on my last day on this earth, it would be Little French Key. Great beach, warm water, great food, super clear water, and a zoo to boot.

ou are in for a treat! Costa Maya is one of our favorite places to go. We made reservations with Steve at Tropicante and had a great time! He reserved some loungers and a table for us. Once we were there he arranged a snorkeling trip for 6 or 7 of us and we had several appetizers and coke products and I think our total bill was only $120 including the snorkeling. He will also let you call home from his phone if you need to check in.

 

You get can a great massage right on the beach for about $25/hour too!

 

You can catch a taxi right from the port to Mahahual (where Tropicante is) for about $2 a person I think.

 

Your teens will love it and this day won't break the bank. It was one of the cheapest things we have done. I just don't understand why the Carnival ships don't stay longer in Costa Maya.

I definitely endorse this. We had an awesome experience at Tropicante and Steve is a super nice guy. Made for a great inexpensive day.

The reason why prices are so cheap sailing out of San Juan is because Zika is spreading like wire fire in Puerto Rico. Check the news stories before you choose.

I've only been on three cruises, my first was with Carnival, my last two were on RCI. We have a cruise booked with Carnival next May on the Miracle. I admit, after being on RCI, I'm a little nervous about Carnival.

We had incredible service with RCI on both the Oasis and the Vision. We thought the food choices were great and the quality was very good. I think the entertainment and the ships are much nicer on RCI. We were impressed there was always live music and things to do on RCI cruises.

There are many small things that concern me about Carnival. Only getting your room serviced once a day, the bacon police restricting your bacon consumption, you can't have just a single person on a drink package, cheesy shows at night, less food choices, ships that vibrate and bounce your drinks, etc.

My wife and are pretty easy to please, I just hope we have fun and and don't regret cruising on Carnival. It will be interesting to compare the two cruise lines.

In September, there can be Santa Anna winds which are hot and can really increase the temperature. If they don't occur, it will probably be in the 80's to 90's. We did that crusie, we rented golf carts and drove around the island at Catalina and it was great. What ever you do, don't do the blow hole tour on Ensenada. They park the bus on top of a hill, and you have to make your way down a gauntlet of aggressive vendors to get to the hold. You see the hold blow for about 2 minutes, and then you realize you have to walk back up through the vendors. You are better off walking into downtown, shopping, and catching a good restaurant.

Can you get a lettuce wrapped burger?

I went on Oasis last September and I just got off the Vision on the April 9th cruise. I'm sitting at my desk and my equilibrium hasn't quite caught up with dry land. We cruised with friends in a group of 8 and we had a blast on the Vision. It was very interesting coming off of Oasis to compare the two.

The Ship: Oasis grade: A. Vision grade B+

Oasis definitely wins in the WOW factor, but I liked the Vision a lot. It was easy to get around, hardly any waits with the elevators, and it didn't take 20 minutes to walk from one end to the other. I didn't miss some of the Oasis bells and whistles, but I did miss the Oasis Solarium. The Vision Solarium got pretty crowded and it was hard to find chairs. The movement of the ship on the Vision was pretty noticeable. I didn't mind the rocking back and forth, but I did mind the shuddering up and down movement I felt in the mdr on the first two nights.

The Service: Oasis B. Vision A.

My wife and I are pretty low maintenance, but I did notice that on the smaller ship the service was slightly better. Our room attendant was as fast as a Ninja in getting our room serviced when we were out. Our waiters at dinner in the MDR, could not have been any better. The Captain made himself available and was very personable.

The Ports: Oasis B. Vision A.

On Oasis we went to Labadee, Jamaica, and Cozumel. We enjoyed those ports, but the ports on our most recent cruise were better.

Roatan:

We went to Little French Key, and if there is one place on earth I want to be if I had one day to live, it would be Little French Key. It looked like a postcard. The water was warm, perfect beach and crystal clear water. It was a little pricy, but worth every penny.

Balize:

Balize is an tendered port and when we got there at 4:30 in the morning, the anchor went out and it must of been near our room because the chain scared me to death. I sat up in bed and thought we hit something. We did the cavetubing.bz excursion setup on Cruisecritic. It was fun and we didn't have to carry out tubes, we got the full cave and river; plus, they feed us lunch before returning us back to the port.

Costa Maya:

We went to Tropicante in Mayahual. They don't charge you to sit down on their lounge chairs and lunch was very reasonable. We loved the beach and walking around to the various vendors. It was a great beach day.

Cozumel:

We went to the hotel Cozumel and did their all day inclusive. It was only $30 per person, but I was not happy when I pre-booked and they said it would be $44 per person if you pre-booked. I argued with the woman for 15 minutes. I was ready to walk, but I was with a group and they wanted to stay. We went back up to the same woman and she charged us $30.:mad: Oh well, we had the place to ourselves with a buffet and an awesome pool.

The Food: Oasis grade A. Vision grade B+.

On both cruises, we ate in the mdr at dinner. The Windjammer was much bigger on the Vision and loved that they had an custom egg station. The Vision had fewer restaurant choices, but we didn't miss it because we enjoy the MDR. I am a diabetic and need to eat low carb. On both cruises, the crew did a good job of getting me food choices. The service was great on both ships and my wife wanted to adopt our waiters.

Entertainment: Oasis grade A. Vision grade B.

The shows on the Vision were shorter and not as good as the Oasis. The comedians were good, but I didn't enjoy Boogie Wonderland and Rhythm and Rhyme. I feel the shows were catered to a older audience. My wife and I are in our early 50's and we felt that more than half the ship were older than us. Karaoke was in a better venue on the Vision, but the talent of the singers on the Oasis was much better. There was always something to do on both ships, but the bigger ships spread people out more and have more to choose from.

The Fellow Passengers: Oasis grade B. Vision grade A.

When we were on Oasis, the majority of people were from Europe and countries other than US. They had a different manner system and personal space than I was used to. The Vision had very few children, a lot of couples in their 30's and 40's, but like I said earlier, a lot were 50+. A lot of the entertainment was built for an older audience. The dance party was for 50's and 60's music.

Our Room: Oasis grade A. Vision grade B+

We had a balcony on the Oasis and our room was on the 8th deck, near Central Park. Our room on Vision was on the third deck, near the front of the boat with a ocean view. The Vision room didn't have a refrigerator, nor did it have any shelves in the closet. I liked the Oasis bathroom better, and the bed was softer.

Overall Cruise Experience: Oasis Grade A. Vision grade A

I loved both cruises and I was surprised how much I liked our cruise on the Vision. We had never cruised with friends before and it was a lot of fun. There isn't anything I would change about our cruise on the Vision and I would book that size ship again. I am interested in the Freedom class to see how I would like that.

We parked next to Oasis in Cozumel, it is startling to see the difference in size.

I'm on the Vision right now and you should be fine. The ship does rock back and forth, but the shuddering up and down is what bothered me. It stopped after the second day.

3 days until Vision of the Seas

We were on the Oasis last September. We were in the Solarium and there were no chairs available. A couple told us that we could take the chair next to them because the stuff was left on the chair, and they haven't seen them in two hours. We moved the stuff aside, and just then a woman with a European accent started screaming at us NO, NO, NO. The guy next to us yelled at her that she can't reserve chairs and that we should call security. We just got our stuff and left. We watched as the woman grabbed her stuff, put it on the chair, and then left it

I was diagnosed a year in a half ago. I did a lot of research and decided to go low carb, high fat. I eat less than 30 carbs a day. I dialed in my diet to get 75% of my calories from fat, 20% from protein, and 5% from carbs. I lost 50 lbs in 4 months, brought my A1c from 8.9 down to 4.7, and dropped my blood pressure and cholesterol #'s. On the Oasis of the Seas, they had omelets at Johnny Rockets, MDR, and the Wipeout cafe. I also had salmon in the morning. Park Cafe has great salads with roast beef on it. The MDR has the Tuti salads which are customized. The solarium cafe had a lot of low carb options and very good fish. You can enjoy our cruise and go low carb.

I didn't enjoy the ruins at Cozumel. But, if you do decide to go to the ruins in Cozumel, what ever you do, pay that guy a dollar that is offering mosquito spray. We said no thank you, returned 10 minutes later with a thousand bites.

We loved being on deck 8 because you get to walk through Central Park to get to your rooms. It was very quiet and the glass doors block the noise.