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That one hurts. Should have tried harder to make it work. Only one ever visit for me to Augusta. Maybe I will hit the lottery again some day.

Don't be so sure about that. I think it was Atlantis that stole my Feb. 4th Harmony booking this year. We ended up going two weeks later which increased kids and costs due to other activities in Fort Lauderdale that week. Hotels and Airfare were crazy.

Just added that Wonder cruise to my watch list. And here I thought I wasn't going to visit Next Cruise desk on my Alaska Quantum cruise in June. Those dates are what I try to look for in February so may have to join this fun group. I'll be either 7 or 11 nights away from D+ at the start of that one. Fingers crossed.

I agree with another poster who stated if your cruise enough you will eventually have a bad one. But probably not everything. On Oasis in December I experienced a few things I never had before. Two extremely rude bartenders in the Solarium and the worst head waiter in 15 cruises. This had to be his first, and probably his last contract. He just didn't seem cut out for that job. I would have complained to the head waiter, but he wasn't seen for all 7 days. I found that odd. The cruise director disappeared on day 2 as well, so it sounded like a bug was running through the staff that week. If this was my first cruise it would have turned me off. But I know that wasn't typical. The rest of the cruise was amazing. I could tell our cabin attendant was top notch and experienced. I confirmed it with him when he said he has been doing it for 14 years. Then found some amazing bartenders at Playmakers, Schooner and Trellis bar. On Harmony last month, things were much better. We had the new menu that week and I thought the food was very good. I do agree that the steaks were clearly cut much thinner than in the past. Hard to get a good temperature on that. Ironically, I found better steak at the Windjammer for lunch when we were in Curacoa. It was probably some of the best Windjammer I had in a while, although honestly I don't eat a lot in there. Finally, I always find Freedom class ships feel more crowded than Oasis class. We did a 4 day on Independence last August, but after most schools had gone back. It did feel crowded. But after doing a few 60% capacity before that, it was to be expected. We also had some bad luck on that cruise. My wife came down with covid two days after we got off. It happens. We haven't stopped cruising with 2 since then and 3 more booked. The only thing that will slow me down is the rising prices. May need to stretch them out a little more if prices keep rising. Thus I try to book onboard and farther out to keep ahead.

Check the Trellis Bar for Whistle Pig. I thought I saw it there but can't remember if that was Oasis in Dec. or Harmony last month.

Royal needs to work on the upload speeds. Here is my report from Oasis in December and Harmony in February. 12/11 - 12/14 is Oasis. That wasn’t bad but could be better. 2/20 - 2/22 was Harmony last month. It was horrible. Ignore the one with the 12.7 upload. That was the free Wi-Fi at Mambo Beach which was also Starlink. Royal has some work to do.

You have 30 days post cruise to download the photos. Try this link. https://rccl-photos.com/login I usually get email reminders as it gets close to the 30 day mark.

Yes you can. Just did myself and received a confirmation email from AMEX about 5 minutes after the purchase.

Thanks for the live review. I'm surprised not many people are commenting. My sister is on with you this week. Hope you have a great cruise.

That may not happen. The Harmony 8 day sailing for 2/4/23 was chartered. So a lot of us had to move to either 1/21 or 2/18 sailing instead. I called fast after my email to get a great cabin on the 2/18 sailing. But they were going fast.

I was going to post the same thing for this past Monday. I had 11:00 am. Due to the rocket launch traffic, I pulled into garage a little after 10:00. Walked right in the building and through security in 10 minutes. No one asked about any arrival time. Actual boarding started a little after 11:00 called by C&A status.

Thanks. We are staying off 95 in Melbourne. Grabbed a hotel there before prices went crazy and/or sold out. I'm secretly hoping the launch is pushed back to Friday the 2nd. We are getting off that day and I'm perfectly happy sitting around Cocoa Beach all day waiting then for the afternoon window. Completely agree on Playmakers. We had the UDP on our 8 day Odyssey in February. Great wings, onion rings, burgers, etc. All were excellent. I do plan to eat lunch on our sea day next week at Playmakers. Won't fight the overcrowded pools. Saving our pool day for Nassau.

Boarding Indy on Monday. Going to be crazy if the rocket launch stays scheduled for that day. Not sure how early they let you into the garage. I saw they are going to be strict on the parking and making sure you are a cruise passenger to let you in. Couple questions if you by chance know. No worries if you don't. Any Izumi sushi specials on boarding day? The sometimes offer a discount early on the cruise. Any good IPA on draft in Playmakers? Odyssey had a great selection in February and hoping for the same this trip. Was last on Indy in Nov. 2018. She had been AMPed by then so I remember the ship pretty well. Looking forward to my first Diamond lounge visit on Freedom class also.

My wife and I had the Unlimited Dining Plan on Odyssey for the second week of our B2B in February. We ate at Izumi at least 4 times on that 8 night Southern cruise. 2 dinners and 2 lunches. We sat in the same place at the sushi bar each time. The chefs were fantastic and after the first night remembered my wife's allergies. They modified the rolls to meet her needs. They even prepared a special extra roll for us one day and it was spectacular. In the past, we have done the sushi making classes also. My experience on the dining plan makes me want to try it again on an upcoming cruise. While it may be hit or miss based on the ship or the chefs, the Odyssey experience has me ready to go again. It was definitely quality sushi.

$125 for my Indy sailing in 2 weeks. A huge 10% off! For my Oasis sailing in Dec, it is currently $161. Also with 10% off! LOL! If by some miracle it drops below $100, I may book for the Indy sailing just so I can experience it. It is just the two of us so would be nice to check it out. But the point of this trip was to be a quick and cheap getaway. Coca Cay has plenty of chairs and plenty to explore. So i don't need it. Since I only have 10 more days before cruise planner closes, I'll likely just do it the cheap way. And that is perfectly fine with me. Had a South Beach Cabana in February that was booked on Black Friday at $399. Now that was a bargain for 6 people.

I can believe this. I was on a B2B on Odyssey in February and we were at less than 60% capacity. I felt the pool deck was crowded most days. My wife and I couldn't imagine how bad it would be on a full ship. I did love Odyssey. But we picked Harmony for our Southern cruise next February because of this. We do plan to return to Odyssey for the very cruise you are on. Thanks for the review so far.

Not in your cabin on Odyssey in February. I picked ours up in the Pub. We were on a B2B and I don't believe we picked up our cups for the 2nd week. The freestyle machine does show the "active until" date if you look closely when you fill it up. I believe ours were set to expire 2 days after we got off (by this I mean our cups from week 1 were going to expire 2 days after the week 2 cruise). Worst case scenario is as you describe. They stop working at some point and you have to ask/pick up your new cups.

The only thing not "perfect" at Coco Cay is the Coco Beach Club makes it impossible to walk directly from Breezy Bay to South Beach now. It was such a nice and open stretch of beach when we first visited when it opened in 2019. In February, we had a South Beach Cabana which we scored on Black Friday for $399. So we actually didn't explore much this time. I have two more trips booked this year so plan to try something different each time. I do enjoy spending maybe 30 minutes in the pool area each time. But we are there for the beach for the most part.

Perhaps I should have said "many" instead of "any". Just a quick look at some online menus I found TGIFridays still listing Sam Adams Boston Lager, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and New Belgium Fat Tire under their Craft/Import offering. Believe me, I agree with that being laughable.

At what point does a brewery get past the "craft" status. Because I'm pretty sure Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada no longer qualify. But if you go to any land based restaurant they show up as "craft" drafts on the menu. For past cruises, my go-to beers have been Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Stone IPA in the promenade pub. Nothing on draft even tempted me. But two weeks on Odyssey changed me with Playmakers. I've told this report in a few threads already. Probably to the point that people who recognize me probably call me an IPAlcoholic. But they had Terrapin Hopsecutioner on draft. I originally went to find the Funky Buddha beers. They had none. Likely a supply chain issue as Bubba Gump in Fort Lauderdale the day before also had none. I was perfectly content with the replacement. After two weeks, I certainly came out ahead on those drink packages.

LOL. I know the feeling. Did you use the offer late last year? I did and am wondering if that is preventing a new offer from the same company. I have 4 cruises booked and could certainly buy something in the planner or pay off some additional balance to satisfy any offer they throw at me.

Perfect. Thank you so much for the assist. Our boarding time is 11:00. And since we are used to getting up at 5:30 I don't mind a little longer drive. If it looks like the launch is a go, we will likely head over early anyway to try and get a better view. I haven't seen a launch since the first Challenger launch way back in 1983. There was supposed to be one in 2019 when we were boarding Harmony. But it was pushed back a day and we missed it.

Exciting. I'm on the 8/29 Indy sailing as well. I saw how high rates were so I booked a hotel over in Melbourne area. I figured I wasn't getting in until later in the evening so no reason to overpay for a place to sleep. @John&LaLaif there is a launch that morning, would you recommend I come across 520 or 404 to work my way up to the port? 404 would be going south before I go north. But not by much.

Checked on the Indy cruise I booked on Sunday this morning. While the guarantee rate went down to $129 for an inside, the option to choose your own room would be $25 more a person than I paid. I would also have to pay $80 more a person to upgrade to a guarantee balcony if they even allowed that. I'll just stay where I am and be content to know I didn't leave money on the table by booking 3 days too early. Now to put that money to good use....booking the drink package! 🙂

and of course there is an Indy cruise I booked two days ago. Already inside final payment. Maybe they will let me upgrade to a balcony if I call. Although I know it clearly says new bookings only.