Starry Eyes

On Oasis class deck 6 is my favorite with deck 8 a close second. There are nice things on both decks. Understandably other people rank them in the other order. I’d be happy to be assigned a GS on deck 6. If you pay for an upgrade, I suggest you cancel/ modify any inappropriate bids. The system should nullify them, but why take a chance. Also your idea of higher and lower category may differ from RoyalUp’s definition of higher and lower category, so take control of your bids.

No, the luggage tags for your current cabin are unrelated to your bid. Your chance of a successful bid is the same.

If you are bidding via RoyalUp, your bar code cabin info may help you adjust your bidding. In this case, as you are not thrilled with your pending assignment, you many want to consider increasing your bids or perhaps bidding on additional categories. For example, a person with an inside gty who did not initially bid on a virtual balcony might want to submit that bid if they don’t like their barcode info. People who like the cabin in their barcode may do the opposite.

Amtrak must, of course, be ADA compliant. So, one does not “have” to be able to climb those steps, though I remember those steps as our “Roomette” on Amtrak was on the second level. I think there were accessible sleepers on the first level of our train. I have no idea about availability, of course. From the Amtrak website: “Accessible Seating Accessible space is available on all trains for passengers with disabilities and mobility impairments. Accessible Seats Often referred to as Transfer Seats, accessible seats offer extra room making it easier for a passenger to transfer from a wheelchair into the seat, a passenger who uses a walker, a passenger with a leg in a cast that doesn’t bend and thereby requires additional legroom or a passenger with a large service animal, etc. There is room nearby to store a passenger's folded wheelchair.”

I hope your mom heal well and that the surgeon allows her to travel. If she is not allowed to fly, in addition to driving your parents might also consider Amtrak. I’m not an expert but I believe they have some accessible facilities and some roomier booking options. They might enjoy the train.

For the Deluxe Beverage package all Royal Caribbean passengers 21 years of age and older (18 years in Australia and the U.K) are required to purchase the Deluxe Beverage Package if at least one other person in their cabin has one. If your kids are under 18 or 21 (depending on location), buy whatever you want for whichever kids you want. And even for adults the restrictions (and waivers) only matter if someone is buying the deluxe package. One adult could buy the refreshment package and the others could decline, for example.

I get a chuckle when people specifically ask to be seated by the window then complain about about the amount of light/glare from that window. If we request a location, it is for a table along the railing. Sometimes we are assigned a window table. Hubby is more sensitive to light/glare, so I take the seat with more light/glare. And sometimes the curtains are already closed.

OP, moving from balcony to inside connecting cabins will help you remember some lessons. Booking guarantee cabins can save some money, but one must be very flexible about location. That us not only true on Royal Caribbean, but also on other cruiselines. If you do not want to be separated from family members or travel companions in other cabins, do not book gty. Come to cruise critic to ask questions before you book if at all possible. Preventing problems is better.

It sounds like you are trying to scope out different cruise line’s policies before booking because you know one of the two people sailing is at high risk of cancellation (last minute work, health, personal reasons or whatever). You might want to talk to a good cruise travel agent about your specific situation. if I were in that situation and booking with RCI, I would first consider whether there was an appropriate contingent traveler who could be prepared to step up if you could not go (name changes are allowed until 2-3 days before sailing.IIRC). I’d also talk to the TA about all the travel insurance options; maybe your cancellation would be covered by the right policy. You should get your port fees and taxes back whether you no-show or cancel. I don’t know about re-pricing if you cancel one person (hope not to do that!)

That probably happens though the frequency may be exaggerated as some able bodied people who picked accessible cabins may claim they were assigned those cabins via gty or RoyalUp to deflect responsibility.

I was aboard recently. It is port side.

We dined in Wonderland when we had the Unlimited Dining Package. Might it might not again. We would not pay ala carte; not worth it to us. It’s cutesy. There are you tube videos of the dining experience that can tell you about the experience far better than I could in a paragraph.

Right now dining times on Symphony seem to be early traditional at 6 pm, late traditional at 8:30, and MTD 7:15-9:30. If you’d like to switch to early traditional dining, ASAP call your travel agent (if you used one) or Royal (if you did not), and ask to switch. If early traditional is full ask to join a waitlist for early traditional. If there is no waitlist or you do not clear it, go to the dining room as soon as you board and see if you can switch then. If you’d like to stick with MTD, understand that the early traditional diners will be assigned the seats in that dining room at 6 pm. MTD is scheduled to start as many of the early traditional diners are finishing their meals (thus about 7:15). You can stop by earlier (there might be space if some diners did not come to the MDR that night)….not at 6 as some posters above suggested; dining started earlier on their ships. They cannot seat you until they know assigned guests are clearly not coming or until they leave.

Having stayed on such hallways multiple times on Oasis class ships, I think you observed fairly unusual event, as I have never seen it. I believe I would have seen it multiple times by now it occurred twice daily (or even daily) as you speculated. Instead I would speculate they may have needed to air out that area (maybe there was a spill or a leak and after clean up there was a lingering odor). I have seen isolated cabin doors propped open, of course. Sometimes balcony cleaning crews open the partitions, so the two end doors might be open a while

I haven’t been on deck 9 since the abyss was added, though we still enjoyed our view from deck 11. Due to the curve of the slide, I think it will be closer to the cabins at deck 9 than deck 11; that might impact the view a bit. Regardless if the feedback about the view you get here, I suggest you just book the best available cabin now. Then watch cabin availability. If a better one in your category pops up (somebody cancels or moves or changes category), call and change to the better one. The best cabin for you is not necessarily the best cabin for someone else (they may not want that long walk, they may want a cabin closer to a travel companion’s cabin, etc). A cabin you want become available…or maybe not.

Yes, many people need accessible cabin and some have disabilities less visible than my relative’s. As the demand is so great I hope the people who book accessible cabins truly need them. Several years ago a couple organized a fairly long, fairly vigorous private excursion that required dexterity and balance. As we chatted along the way, I learned they two had booked an accessible cabin for just the two of them.

I think they if the book a suite gty, they are apt to receive a JS. I do not think it is particularly likely to be an accessible JS, however. I have done some searches as a family member is a paraplegic. In my experience the accessible cabins are in generally in high demand.by those who need them.

I remember that thread. That poster booked an OV balcony and Royal wanted to move the to an inside on same ship; the poster never said what compensation was offered. In any case, it seemed the inside was unacceptable to the poster so they negotiated a move to another ship. So, they did have to leave that ship, moving to one departing from another port. To each their own but personally I’d have negotiated for a great compensation package, and moved to the inside cabin rather than mess with my extended family’s vacation. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2895315-oversold-gty-oceanview-balcony/

I have not seen those reports recently nor did they pop for me with a search. Were these reports on CC or elsewhere? Recently?

Is 7604 is the obstructed cabin you have been concerned about? I have not sailed in that one, but that seems like a pretty good assignment for a balcony gty. Have you seen this you tube from deck seven? I don’t think they give the cabin number, but it still gives a feel for where the lifeboats and davits sit compared to your balcony floor…much better than those who were assigned deck 6. As you can see from the other photos in this thread, you should be further from the davits that the youtuber. Now that I know the location, if it were me, I’m not sure if I’d bother to bid on the cabins with large balconies (you might get one in a worse location…like over that port side smoking deck)

LOL, didn’t I do the math for you days ago…at the very beginning of the thread? Oh, well, that’s OK. Practice makes perfect, so let’s do it again🤣🤣🤣🤣 $17 x 4 = $68 plus 7% tax= $72.76 That’s the math, though I understand your irritation at paying for both the day you enter and the day you leave. Of course, if you are determined to get your money’s worth, pull in a bit earlier and pull out later😀. At terminal 1, some people park early on embarkation day, then go over to Grills before boarding. On debarkation day, one could chose to be among the last off the ship.

If you use the bar code trick once you do get that set sail pass, you may well discover Royal has allocated the cabin but has not told. That was true on my last two cruises (also sold out or maybe rare cabin popping up briefly). Each of cabins stayed hidden in the barcode for 15 days, then each time right at 30 days before each cruise, the cabin number appeared in my app. YMMV, of course.

I think Royal has recently made improvements in their gty invoicing. Twangster’s example is an improvement over the ones I received a year ago.

As a Floridian, you should be booked under US rules. If a better stateroom in your exact same category comes available, they will likely let you swap as you are booked under US rules….but none are when I looked at few minutes ago, so no point calling. The obstructed cabins vary a bit. We were quite satisfied with the one we were assigned; we’d be happy to sail in it again. If you are comfortable posting your cabin number, cruise critic members may be able to help predict your obstruction. Some here are pretty adept at it.

His voyage date is on the invoice pic. When I do a mock booking today, no obstructed balconies showed available, so we seem to have struck out with a swap at the moment Do a “mock booking” on Royal’s site or an online TA’s. In the process you should see what cabins are available for your cruise. You mentioned Miami. Can we assume this is a US booking? Or elsewhere? Why: Frustratingly for those of us trying to help one another, booking rules are different for different countries, and, oddly, that even including cabin swaps mentioned above (people in some countries can, others can’t…crazy).