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8 hours ago, I Love RCI said:

The concierges should reach out to you prior to the sailing. I don't recall exactly when we got our email (we've been on Icon twice now), but it was within a week of the sail date. Respond back requesting the nights and times you want to dine in Coastal Kitchen. It is not usually a problem to get reservations if you are in a full suite. 

Twice already! Did you book 2 cruises at once or did you love the first and book a second?

11 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

From my experience they are usually decorated by the first week of December at the latest. I have been on 4 Thanksgiving cruises. They never decorated the ship the day after Thanksgiving or before the cruise ended for that matter (I realize 4 cruises is a very small sample). 

I was on Indy in 2018 and 2019 for Thanksgiving.  Walked thru the Promenade that Friday and the decorations were up, the tree was beautiful. Last Thanksgiving I met some first-time cruisers and told them how beautifully decorated the ship will be when we wake up Friday morning.  They were so excited to take pictures by the tree. Woke up Friday morning to nothing! I was so glad I didn't run into them again! I guess that's one of those pre-Covid/post-Covid differences. 

1 hour ago, chodnett said:

We were in a unique situation where we had 4 people on one reservation, and one on another, but all in the same stateroom. Don't ask me why, but it's how my TA handled the booking.

 

With that, we didn't qualify for RoyalUp.

 

However, my parents were originally in an Interior stateroom. They submitted a RoyalUp for $75/person to move to an Oceanview stateroom, and they won!

Yay for them! I'm sailing Oasis for the first time in July and looking forward to Royal Up.

52 minutes ago, chodnett said:

 

We sailed away at 6 pm, and sailed back by 7 am the next morning. From what we could tell, the ship did some circles, and also tested the propulsion system a bit, picking up some speed in the open water. The reason they won't stay docked overnight anymore is loss of revenue from the casino and shops being closed while docked.

 

As for the cabin attendant, to be honest, he had a negative vibe from the start. We filled out the form in advance asking for a pack-n-play, and for the pullman bed to be setup. It was not ready when we arrived, and I offered a reminder when I first met him. He didn't follow-through on the first night, and he seemed agitated when I reminded him on Day 2. 

 

On a related note, the stateroom service has become my biggest frustration with Royal Caribbean. I understand cost-cutting and the impact of sourcing good labor, but just two years ago, we were all receiving two stateroom services per day. Then a year ago it went down to one, but it was up to me when I would receive it (morning or evening). Now, they've gone to a system where we're told when our service is happening. For this cruise, we were told our service would happen between 8 am and 1 pm. Not ideal for sleeping in or catching an early nap. On the other hand, my parents were told their service time was between 4 pm and 8 pm.

The cabin cleaning must vary per ship. We were on both Indy and Freedom in the last 4 months and always had the option. I always tell them, I don't know! Just go with what fits your schedule and if we're here (usually my teen), we'll clear out. 

Did you try Royal Up? 

50 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Inventory management - it's all specific to the ship/sailing.

Biker19, I normally like your straightforward answers but not today! lol Why isn't it better to just put people in cabins now? 

5 minutes ago, bajathree said:

Opppssss....sorry that was for double occupancy....however there is currently 1 assigned balcony cabin for 3 available.

Thanks. At $3800 for 5 nights, it was above my price point.

I've been watching Indy Nov 25 - 30 for about 3 weeks now. For 3 people, the cabins for int, ov are only GTY. I even contacted a TA to see if they could see anything different and the answer was no. I'm just wondering about the rationale behind GTY only as opposed to just charging more to pick the room. I didn’t love the location (all the way forward) for my last OV GTY but I want to be on the ship so I may not have a choice.

2 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Any missed port credit, if there's any, is up to the ship.

Well Indy went with nope.

We skipped Labadee and went to Grand Turk and didn't receive any port fees back. I would guess that's because something had to be paid to Carnival?

Very disappointing for sure. I do wonder where they were though. The thinning crowds would have surely made me check and double check the time. 

14 hours ago, Natalianob said:

Hello, sorry for this message, I'm from Argentina, I'm very very sad.

 

   very sad about the suspension of Labadee but why is the INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEA going to Turcs Island? And not to Coco Cay?? We hire a private island where there is food, drink, privacy and transportation. The real and most ethical thing was to go to Coco Cay, why have they scammed us like this? Furthermore, it is not a port that Royal Caribbean uses, and we went to Isles Turcs twice, we already went twice with Carníval, our family trip was destroyed, because they did not want to change ships for me either. They also didn't offer us any remuneration or anything. We don't pay this, who keeps the difference?

Only 2 ships can dock at Coco Cay at once. Many people are going to be disappointed with the new ports and some will be happy. I got switched to Grand Turk and was pleased as we have never been there before. I've been to Coco Cay several times so I didn't necessarily want to go there again. So, it's 50/50. The best you can do is try to make the best of it or cancel and lose  money. As it's been mentioned here many times, per your cruise contract Royal can change ports for any reason.  I can imagine your frustration especially coming all the way from Argentina, but there's not anything that can be done. I hope you still have a great cruise.

16 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

I have not been on Adventure before. I have sailed two Voyager class ships before.

 

Mariner I have sailed on more than any other ship, close to 50 days onboard. I love that ship. It shows its age here and there but it has been amped and has many wonderful features added to it such as Playmaker's, even though the venue isn't really big enough.

 

Explorer I sailed once. I was honestly not a fan. The first three ships in the class had a slightly different design and while it is possible I was just used to things being laid out a certain way and perceived it negatively simply because it was not, I felt like the layout was clunky and they made great improvements on the later ships in the class. It was fresh out of dry dock (third sailing post) but it seemed very worn down and tired. It was not amped and did not receive any of the features present on Mariner or other new ships.

 

The AC was not working well in most areas of the ship, including my stateroom. A talk with Guest Services, who acted like they did not know there was an obvious problem with the AC throughout the ship, did resolve the problem but by the end of the week my room was running hot again so whatever the did was a temporary fix.

 

The internet was upgraded to starlink, but it did not matter as the ship was not capable of handling the speeds starlink was capable of. I had the slowest speeds I've ever had on an RCL ship, including before starlink, and had no service in my stateroom or the dining room of all places. It was just all around a ship that was past its prime. I could not walk from one part of the ship to another without having to reconnect to the wifi.

 

Adventure will be more likely to be like Explorer than Mariner as a first generation Voyager ship. That said, for the right price or itinerary, I would still book it, which is exactly what I did 🙂

Just be aware that it may not have the same level of upkeep as the newer classes of ships. Any smaller than Voyager class I would have to really be in love with where it is going, but Voyager class is still an easy sell, especially out of Port Canaveral.

 

If you have sailed on Freedom class, it is basically a slightly smaller version of that. There are less people, but the venues are mostly the same size. Same number of elevators. The biggest difference is Sorrento's has it's own location which eases the crowds at Cafe Promenade slightly and there is a kids splash pad which does nothing for me personally as an inside person.

Thank you for this write-up!  Independence is our favorite ship. Just came back from cruise #5 on her and we've been on Freedom as well. We did Symphony once and while that was fabulous, it's not in our budget nor does it always fit well with the school schedule. We just love the flow and ease of Indy. There's always good music and never too crowded anywhere. I like that Adventure itinerary and we're in Hollywood so PC is still a good choice. I think I'll leave it in the running. Thank you!

2 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

Well with all the stuff my mom needed, that I still did not finish, I did not get to wrap this up yesterday. 

 

I'm back home now and heading into work but I will get this wrapped up in the next couple of days.

 

I am officially booked again. That countdown though ouch 😫 😳.

 

 

Hopefully something will come up before then, that is an awfully long wait.

Have you been on Adventure before? I'm debating on a similar cruise but I've never sailed that class (only higher). I'd love your thoughts whenever you are rested from returning to work.

I bid for the first time and never received an email saying I didn't win. No big deal of course, but I know people always say you get an email even at the last minute.

On 3/23/2024 at 11:34 PM, smokeybandit said:

We heard a couple stories from passengers last week about getting a golf cart with no power or no brakes.

I guess you mean they ran into trouble after they left. You can power them up and test them out before you pull off.  The no brakes is scary especially with the donkeys in the road!

6 minutes ago, LobsterStalker said:

$120 for a golf car for a few hours , good for them. Someones rakin it in!

Looks like my type of place though ... I'm into Low Key !

 

Cheers

 

Well the tour was $25/person so that would have been $75 for 4 hours. For an extra $45 we could be out all day. Time in port 8:30 - 4:30. We did 9 to about 2:30. 

There were plenty of excursions available once we boarded Thursday. We rented a golf cart at the port for $120 (cash only plus gas) for the day.  It was fun being on our own tour but there isn't much to see! The island is very safe, very few locals even out. Gas station attendant told us the weekends are very low-key here and most people stay home. The golf carts and ATV's are 90% of the vehicles on the road. There is nothing much "downtown". We ate at Jack's Shack and spent about an hour at Governor's Beach. Oh, a 1/2 tank of gas was $10. It was a really nice day and it was a bonus to go somewhere we've never been! And fun seeing the donkeys. They are plentiful!

40 minutes ago, LK0 said:

Jamaica isn't doing much better.  Travel advisory 3, I can't believe RC would send us here 

 

Please anyone taking this cruise please flood RC with calls, this is a travel advisory 3 and is also a place not recommended to travel too.  No place in Jamaica is safe.  I can not believe RC would send us here.

Sorry, but Symphony is going to Falmouth 3/25. Jamaica is not nearly in the same situation as Haiti. It would take a lot more than a few phone calls to change that stop.

3 hours ago, Bethorama said:

Well I’m sure after two whole days of cruising at the beginning of our cruise we’ll now be getting off the ship to do something in Falmouth before cruising another day after that. 

We went to Chukka Estates. The roads are a little bumpy, but the place was very nice, clean and not crowded 

12 hours ago, Jlb1095 said:

New itinerary for Adventure of the Seas, April 20-26th. Anyone know how long it’s taking to be able to book new excursions?

We leave tomorrow with our new stop in Grand Turk on Saturday.  We never got the ability to book excursions. I assume that should improve on future sailings.

2 hours ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

Oasis of the Seas April 7 will skip Labadee April 9 and instead go to St. Maarten April 10. I’m ecstatic!

Oooooh, that is nice!!!

Dear Guest,

Due to the evolving situation in Haiti, and in an abundance of caution, we’re temporarily suspending our visits to Labadee for our entire fleet. We continue to monitor and assess the situation with our Global Security & Intelligence Team. We’ll now enjoy a visit to Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos instead of visiting Labadee. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused by these changes. Nevertheless, we’re excited to take you to a new port! Below, please find our revised Independence of the Seas March 21^st, 2024, itinerary.

On 3/17/2024 at 7:42 AM, Seespot said:

Will you please keep us all posted?  We are on that same itinerary April 4

"Dear Guest,

Due to the evolving situation in Haiti, and in an abundance of caution, we’re temporarily suspending our visits to Labadee for our entire fleet. We continue to monitor and assess the situation with our Global Security & Intelligence Team. We’ll now enjoy a visit to Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos instead of visiting Labadee. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused by these changes. Nevertheless, we’re excited to take you to a new port! Below, please find our revised Independence of the Seas March 21^st, 2024, itinerary.:

3 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

@Ocean Boy these are for you. 
 

 

I give him 15 minutes until he is asleep. 

 

 

Forgive my ignorance as I've never flown outside of economy (!), but those seats are very interesting. Is there an option to sit next to someone in your party or is the point to sit alone? Thanks for the review. It's been fun traveling with your family.