irun5k

10 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

Thousands of Bella and Fantastica guests are enjoying Seaside right now. You'll probably enjoy it, too.

Thanks- that is pretty much what I suspected.

If I don't enjoy the Seaside it will be the first cruise I've ever been on that I didn't enjoy, big/small, short/long and even nice sailing through Hurricane Michelle.  So, the odds are pretty good 🙂

Hi- I am looking at Seaside for March 2019, Fatastica Balcony, 2 adults, 2 kids.

• Booking system says early dining is unavailable.  Is it possible to change onboard, and if so what is the average likelihood?
• I've seen mention of early/late seating in relation to the buffet.  Is it not a "come anytime" like the buffet on other cruise lines?
• Appears I can pay an extra $80/pp or so for "free" wifi and unlimited drinks.  However, fantastica alone gets us 12-drink punch cards (one per person?)  Also,  unlimited drinks doesn't appear to include gelato like the punch card... given that we're not heavy drinkers I don't see this being a value unless I've missed some fine print.  Basic WiFi appears to run around $80 for the week.
• This is only a very minor concern right now because I can't believe it could be true, but is there a noticeable, multi-level division in passengers based on the class/experience level?  Seeing the way this is marketed and reading some posts makes it almost sound like the Titanic where the non-YC's are sharing berths with livestock.

Appreciate any help you can provide or any other tips you may have!

You’re telling me there was a time that people were only nice on this site? I’ve been here for 8 years and it’s been 8 years of nasty & nice all mixed up together...

Wasn't too bad 16 yrs ago. I think in general social media has gotten nastier since then. Back in the late 80's as a school kid I used to dial up BBSs with my modem. We'd have some arguments from time to time but in general it was a calmer, better place.

About the syrup, someone just brought us a 3-pack sampler... light, dark, and amber. Never knew there were different colors. Dark was good but I could see it being more of an acquired taste.

Can you tell me what the temperature inside the ship is? I tend to get cold and am wondering if I will need a fancy sweater to wear to dinner when Im in a dress. Ill be dining at the specialty restaurants. Thanks.

I never found this to be an issue... probably similar to your indoor shopping mall at home. I'm not totally insensitive to the cold, I do have a hoodie I keep at work because by the afternoon it is too cold in our office.

That being said, if you have any concern at all I'm sure a lightweight sweater wouldn't take up much space... you could bring one just in case :)

How did you travel at the ports? We will be on the Oasis in August with our 9 year old and 11 month old and trying to figure out how to travel with a car seat aged child?

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Labadee was not an issue of course. This is one reason why, with a family, I really like this type of port. It is a way to enjoy time off the ship with no hassle.

In Jamaica, we just walked around the port area so no issue there for us either. I couldn't find an excursion that had much appeal and was appropriate for all our ages, and I'm not one to spend a couple hundred bucks or more on an excursion for the family unless it is something we really want to do.

In Cozumel, we caught a cab to Paradise Beach, which was great. We buckled everyone in but didn't have a car seat for our 3 yr old. For an 11 month old, you might want to check over in the family cruising forum. Caution: people have some pretty strong thoughts one way or another. Better just to read the different options/thoughts/opinions and silently make your own decision :)

For some reason, American companies are absolutely terrified to challenge anyone who brings an animal with them anywhere. The ADA is broad, but it is not unlimited.

So true. Years ago I was in the store (with a no pet policy) with my then 2 year old, and some person's dog completely lit up at my son, who had done absolutely nothing. Horrible, aggressive growling. I asked a store clerk that saw the whole thing, "I thought you have a no pet policy" and he said "we do." Just shook my head.

The RCCL policy posted above is so broad that it seems to allow basically anyone to bring a pet so long as the owner is willing to lie about the purpose.

Do TA's get an kickback if you transfer your booking to them? Well, they must- and it must be considerable given some of the perks (even knowing the TA isn't paying face value for the perks.)

I guess I don't understand the business. If the TA doesn't originate the business, why would they get an incentive for taking over the paper post origination? I would think the cruise line would provide incentives for TAs that originate bookings but is there really much value in a TA servicing the booking? Like, does that somehow take a considerable work load off of RCCL or something?

On Oasis a couple weeks ago it was one punch for whatever you wanted. They had iced drinks including a really good coconut latte type thing, but I didn't see any frozen drinks on the menu. In fact the menu board had various things removed, covered up, and replaced, to the point where there were only 2 or 3 things on the iced/cold menu.

Krazyfuntimes, you lucked out if they gave you two massages and also offered you 150 Central! Nice deal :)

I think we booked back in January for the early June cruise.

Just to close out on the perk info, we just got our cash back yesterday- less than a week after getting back from the cruise. It is a $140 cash card for the big box; we got 2 cards, one per stateroom. Nice to get that back on top of everything else :)

I really appreciate you giving so much info about all the things that were in the package, it's a bit nerve wracking to trust it's all just going to work out but you've set my mind at ease!

No trouble, I figured it might help some folks since I discovered beforehand that there wasn't much info out there about it. It did feel like a bit of a leap of faith that everything would be in place; but then I realized there are probably dozens more folks on the same sailing with the same package... comfort in numbers :)

The time periods for the water slide and coaster were not enforced; in fact they didn't even seem set up on Labadee to enforce time periods for those activities. We were given an all-day wrist band for the water slide and a single-ride band for the coaster (they cut it off just before you ride.) The water park is strictly by time period for everyone though; these are 1 hour sessions.

We were on deck 6 outside the forward elevator lobby last week. Sort of nice to be one deck from Promenade- easy access to morning coffee at the cafe, pizza which the kids wanted often, and the rarely fully functional freestyle machines.

For *most* folks, I'd imagine if you're more than 3-4 decks away from your destination, you're talking an elevator vs. stairs.

I think the bigger deal (for me anyway) is *where* on the deck you are. Being all the way forward was inconvenient for the WIndjammer where we ate most of our meals. Given that experience I think I'd rather be more midship to aft-ish.

Was it difficult to find an available time for the massage or dinning?

 

Also, can the Johnny Rockets dining be used for lunch instead of dinner?

We had no trouble finding an agreeable time, but we did use port days for both. I would just book them both sometime on the first day.

Johnny Rockets can be used for lunch also. If you're platinum (can't remember about gold) don't forget you should have a BOGO milkshake that you can use at the same time if you are so inclined.

We also have the same TA package. Ours has a Specialty Dining voucher with a set amount - was yours listed this way and if so, did you have to pay the difference? We were hoping to go to 150 Central Park and this would change our plans.

Thanks!

I just looked, our booking email from the TA originally said:

"USD 30 specialty dining voucher"

However on board there was no mention of the USD 30. Instead it was redefined as "specialty dining for 2 at Chops or Giovannis." So it is actually worth around $80 onboard; but it is a little more limiting since it can't be used anywhere else.

I believe it is definitely limited to those two restaurants. When I inquired at Sabor about using it there, they explained the way that it is all set up between RCCL and the TA- it isn't like OBC or anything but rather set up as credited meals at those two named restaurants.

I booked my cruise with the same package/extra perks. Did you have to make the spa and specialty dining reservations onboard for the package?

Yes we went the first day and made spa appointments. The Swedish massage was a full, real deal thing, $119 value! I *think* this had to be on a port day.

The dining was easy too, someone actually called our room and told us they knew we had a dining credit and asked if we wanted to make reservations! I can't remember whether this had to be on a port day or not.

Labadee activities came in the form of excursion tickets which you take onshore and exchange for wrist bands and such.

Labadee beverage credit to me looked just like a generic $25/stateroom credit, but just to be sure we drank our money's worth on shore... kids enjoyed a non-alchoholic labadoozie :)

Johnny Rockets free dining just involved presenting a small coupon we cut out from a coupon sheet that was in our stateroom.

Freestyle cups were in our room upon arrival.

Supposedly the big box gift card we were promised will arrive via mail now that the cruise is done.

Great review, we are on the same big box deal on our upcoming cruise so this was especially helpful for me!

 

How did they resolve your soda package issue? I'm a bit worried about the freestyle machines being out of order, I am caffeine free so that's the only place I can get my caffeine free Diet Coke!

 

Was it the iced coconut mocha macchiato they had? That's my new favorite drink so I'm thinking a coffee card might be in my future! I will have to find out if they have decaf espresso shots on board.

 

You've also made me a little nervous about AO because my 7 year old has autism and will just shut down in that kind of environment. I hope they have better trained staff in his group.

I think it was an iced caribbean coconut- basically an iced latte with coconut flavor. Really good.

Our Sea Pass account def. had the soda package on it- the agent just forgot to get us stickers which are really only there for quick sight reference I think. (Some bars/restaurants didn't even ring up our Sea Pass, I guess seeing the sticker was enough.) I had to laugh a bit- I went to guest services about the sticker and didn't even have to wait in line- the agent roaming the entrance to the line asked what we needed and he just went and got us the stickers- didn't even check our sea pass account.

At 7 your child will be in a lower age group (which may help), and they did have several activities identified as autism friendly. Our sailing had an "autism on the seas" program going- it may have been a specific charter. I wouldn't stress over it, honestly the benefit to Oasis is there is so much more for families to do beyond the kids club if for some reason the kids club doesn't work out. Our sailing may have just had a rowdy bunch of 9-11 year olds.

Great info thanks! We are going in October with DS, DIL and GD's (5 & 3) so I hope their activities are enjoyable.

5 & 3, that is perfect, they'll be in the same age group, my son really enjoyed the program at that age :)

Is Sabor now fixed pricing all day, even at lunch? I used to love going in for just a drink and a couple appetizers but wouldn't typically sit down for a full meal.

Yes, the deal is done. $19/pp, any time, all the time, every time... unfortunately. It did seem to have an affect, it wasn't busy in there.

This is why we switched to Carnival last year. For children 2 - 3, Carnival is easily the best choice. Now that my youngest will be 3, switching back to Royal again.

This will be as anecdotal as a comment could possibly be, but: our one Camp Carnival experience with a 2.5 yr old was fantastic. Not sure if this quality is fleet wide but the staff was so awesome and caring and every day he did something/made something special. I felt it was a (small) step down when he did the 3-5 group on Oasis the year following.

Thank you, question, as many people claim their staterooms were too warm even set at the lowest setting, did you find at night your room to be warm?

Actually we found the opposite, ours were on the cool side and we were dialing back the thermostat to more of the middle position.

I will say that the room gets hot quick when the balcony is open. It is a two-fold thing, when the door is open you let all the "bought air" out (as my aunt used to say), but also the AC shuts off. A couple times we noticed it getting warm and the balcony door wasn't fully engaged and we had to fiddle with it a bit- looked like it was closed but wasn't.

We've been on Oasis twice, once in Oct 2011 and then last week. There are lots of good Oasis reviews but maybe something in here will help someone. Four of us traveled, our kids are 9 and almost 3. I will focus on providing detail on things that I personally had questions on prior to sailing.

Embarkation

Parked in the garage at ~11AM. Security took a while- there was a queue just to get into the terminal and inside the terminal we looped around many times. The line did move constantly though. No questions asked on the wine we brought (one was actually a cider style drink and the other was a mango-wine-ish type thing, both from Trader Joes. After security it was quick, got our Sea Pass cards (they forgot the stickers for the soda package from our TA though) and then walked right on.

Stateroom

For this sailing (a big box TA's special deal type of thing) it was nearly the same price to get two ocean view balcony staterooms than it was to shove 4 of us in one room. Considering this one came with an almost unbelievable number of perks that now got multiplied by two, there was no comparison- two rooms were a far better deal. We were in 6662 and 6564 which were adjoining. We were directly outside the elevator lobby just one level up from the promenade but we never heard anything at night- I was amazed.

A warning: I would never consider getting a stateroom that adjoined with another unless you're getting both rooms. We heard almost everything even with the door shut. I would have thought that a shut door would be about the same as a solid wall but there was no comparison. You might luck out if the folks on the other side are super quiet but it seems like a really big risk to bank on that.

Staff

Overall the staff was good to great- friendly and helpful throughout the ship

We did experience on fellow that was sort of the doorman at the Opal Theater... he was borderline abrasive during the 3-D movie. He had a way he was supposed to run things, I guess, to make the 3-D experience "proper", e.g. balcony off limits, center lower section only, etc. However there were no signs anywhere explaining this, and if people ended up in one of these artifically "off limit" spots, he gave them hell! I actually got a chuckle out of it for some reason. BTW the 3-D movie was Boss Baby, which was sort of cool since it isn't out on disc yet.

Hard Sells

We didn't find this to be a major problem. (perhaps our youngest acts as a good deterrent, not sure.) A couple times someone visited our table in the Windjammer to ask about speciality dining, and starting on day 4 I was often asked about buying the 10-count beverage card when buying a drink. (All bartenders admitted it would be a poor choice for me as a beer drinker.)

Coffee Card

Perhaps the best buy that I made... this really does save money if you drink espresso beverages. I went down every morning and got a Latte for the wife and I and brought it back to our cabin. One punch per drink, no double punch nonsense as I've heard about on other ships. I was a little surprised they only had three iced beverages on the menu but I will say the coconut iced drink was really good.

Adventure Ocean

We only used this once (sadly.)

Our 9 year old previously had a great time with his 3-5 group back in 2011. He didn't want to go this time and the deal was ruined for good after the first visit.

This is just a pet peeve but when we checked in day one and returned to visit a couple days later, the staff never engaged him directly- not even so much as a "hey, ready to have fun"- it was like they were accepting a package delivery. While I was signing him in I already heard a staffer having to discipline a child and my son said it continued, kids in timeout, another was asked by the staff if "he was 2 yrs old or something", etc. I'm sure the children deserved it but I can't blame my son for not wanting to be around this on his vacation. Perhaps this is just the nature of the beast in this oldest 9-11 age group, not sure.

We also took our almost 3-year old to the nursery during the same visit. The staff here was much friendlier, but in the end we basically paid for her to sit and watch TV the entire time. She is potty trained and enjoys doing stimulating things but this is really geared for much younger children IMHO... many kids between 2-3 are ready for real stimulation/thoughtful activities/etc. Carnival continues to have a major, major advantage here for anyone with kids that are between 2-3.

Windjammer Food

Overall the quality was good, at least as good as the last time we sailed. Also, several good desserts which I mention since I know at times this has been a weak spot. Given our < 3yr old we ate here almost all the time, I will say that the menu got a bit tired by the end of the week as some portion (over half?) of the buffet is actually static from day to day and if you didn't care for the part that changed on a given night.

Sadly no Filipino food on the international station, but I wonder if they cater to the major minorities on board in a given week... many more folks from mainland Asia this week than the pacific islands.

Chops

Our TA included speciality dining which I learned upon arriving on the ship was good at only Chops or Giovannis. Service was very good and they kept it moving at a steady rate, no excessive waits between courses or anything. We both had the filet (medium.) My wife's "medium" was cooked all the way through, mine was cooked perfectly. With kids in the nursery/club we didn't make a big deal of it. The quality fell short of, say, Ruth's Chris in my opinion but it was still a decent steak and overall a nice dinner. One complaint, our table was uncomfortably close to another, we were against the back wall where one side is just a really long bench.

MTD

We only used this the very last night, maybe around 5:45 or so. We were promptly seated, service was very good. Food was good. By the time we left there were a lot of people waiting.

Drink Prices

I knew what to expect so we were prepared but yes things changed since 2011. We aren't big drinkers (a couple per day) so we made use of things like drink of the day, BOGO beer/wine for C&A (1 deal per guest), the wine we brought on board, beverage credit our TA gave us for Labadee, and drinks on shore in Cozumel. I only had one max-price drink, a $15 (including tip) coconut mojito that many talk about. Disappointing. In retrospect, not a good feeling spending $15 on a small, lackluster drink that seems like it was gone in a couple sips (small glass, tons of ice.)

Soda Package / Freestyle Machines

Our TA gave us soda packages. At least on this week, the Freestyle machines were a massive failure. They were never working properly- either completely out of order and shut down or "operational" but with no ice and/or almost no beverage choices/etc. This made the lines even longer- Promenade was the worse... often a several minute wait in line. Next time I will try to train myself to avoid these machines and go to a bar that isn't busy for soda. It is just so tempting to want to use the machines. Perhaps there is an opportunity for Coke to improve these machines for high volume locations (higher capacity, better reliability, simplified servicing, etc.); it seems they need a lot of attention.

Spa

My wife and I had separate free massages from our TA. We thought they were very good.

Labadee

Haven't been here since ~2000. With kids you definitely want to take the tram if you're headed to the end.

Our TA gave us waterslide, coaster, and water park tickets. All tickets left in our stateroom had someone else's name marked off with a sharpie. All tickets also had a specific time but it turns out the time doesn't matter for waterslide and coaster but *does* for the water park. (The water slide tickets actually said 7:45 AM which was before we even docked!) If buying these tickets, I think perhaps only the water park would have been of value to us- that was unique and pretty fun. Perhaps the coaster as well. The water slide was fine but nothing special at least for us living in FL where there are plenty of water parks and even resorts/hotels that have similar or better slides.

Return trams by early afternoon seemed harder to come by and were often full.

Other Ports

In Jamaica we just walked around the port complex. Meh... just a place to stretch the legs. In Cozumel we took a $15 cab ride to Paradise Beach, $3/person to get in (our youngest was free.) They ask that you spend $10/person but I'm not sure how they enforce it- but at any rate was happy to spend that on drinks and lunch. I'm very glad we did this- honestly at $3/person I thought this place would be a dump (we pay more than that to park here at beaches in FL) but man was I wrong, what a nice place! And Freddy and the "el Mojito Cart" is not to be missed.

Sanitation

The hand sanitizer stations and requirement to use them in some areas is a welcome change and I would have to imagine help quite a bit.

However, I wish they would introduce a station somewhere where one could wash his/her reusable soda tumbler with hot water and dishwashing liquid. For all the attention on cleanliness, it is not really possible to properly clean these tumblers in the small stateroom sink with no cleaning agent. Next time I would for sure bring a small container of dishwashing liquid.

Trolls

If your kids are into Trolls, they are onboard but appearances were made artificially scarce :) Poppy and Branch showed up on Thursday and Saturday.

This Place is Dead Anyways

Talking about Vintages... I don't think we saw anyone in there the entire cruise- and I'm talking of an evening, not at 8 AM. I'm not sure if this is true on all sailings.

Also, Sabor definitely seems to be suffering rom switch to fixed pricing... not a ton of activity in there and one busy night at Johny Rockets (free dinner from our TA) we were served by Sabor staff. We would have eaten in Sabor once or maybe even twice if it was al la carte but had trouble justifying fixed pricing. I did ask about using our second specialty dining credit in Sabor since that would have worked well with our kids in tow, but they said it could only be used in Chops or Giovannis, so that credit went unused.

Debarkation

We were in the 8:30 departure group so we had a stress free breakfast at the Windjammer and then walked right off. We used a porter and got through Customs in no time. No declaration needed now unless you truly have something to declare. I got the car while my wife and kids waited with the luggage- the car line was very slow/backed up. (Someone mentioned a vehicle was broken down but I didn't see this.) We only have 3 bags but I tipped our porter $20 (which I think is fair?) but became a bit disappointed siting in that carline forever watching other porters take luggage up the elevators so that those folks could drive right off. To do again I'd ask the porter upfront if he could take the luggage to our car.... I didn't expect this to be a big deal until I realized how bad the car line was.

That is all, happy to answer any questions if you have any.

That is only a one time use perk.

Yeah, but it does apply per guest, so if your spouse doesn't drink much you can take advantage of theirs as well. Same for the bottles per stateroom allotment... 2 adults, 2 kids across two staterooms still = 4 750 ml bottles, might as well take advantage of all you can :) It all adds up.

10 drink card showed up for us mid cruise and they were pushing it pretty hard. $79 I believe. Not worth it for beer but another way to supplement w/o the beverage package commitment, if you're drinking a couple of the $13 drinks a day.

Just off Oasis, mostly drank beer, drink of the day, or what we brought on board... worst deal I had was a coconut mojito, in a smallish glass, @ a little over $15 total. Thankful I drink beer... otherwise you'd basically *have* to have a package if you drank any amount at all.

If you're at least gold or platinum, you should get a BOGO on beer or wine, per guest at that level. We had two staterooms so that was 4 bottles of wine/champagne we could bring on board. Plus our TA gave us $25/stateroom beverage credit so that bought a few drinks. Also TA gave us a soda package. And last but not least we had a few drinks on shore at cheaper prices. Not sure if signage was legit or not but in Cozumel pier shops I saw beer advertised at 2 for $3 (Sol or Dos Equis.)

In our case I was glad we didn't buy the beverage plan- would have been stressed out about not drinking enough and doing so would have been "wasting" (sort of) the other benefits/perks/etc. we had. But I can see how it would be necessary if you're downing several $13 + gratuity drinks/day on board and don't have any other perks.

Note regarding arrival and parking at the port:

 

Today's drop off was pretty backed up, because a pickup truck had broken down in the center lane... so, I am sorry for those who tried to get through that mess :o

Ah so that is what it was. It took quite a while to get through. Our porter dumped our stuff right outside the terminal and then I realized as I was waiting in the line with the car to meet the wife, kids, and luggage that it would have been much, much better to walk the luggage further away from the terminal- but instead I had to wait in that big back up to reach them. Or, just take our own luggage up the elevator, although our 2 1/2yr old ties up one set of adult hands so that would have been difficult.

Actually, I was a bit depressed after seeing some porters taking luggage up the elevator. I saw this *after* tipping our guy $20 for 3 pieces of luggage. Had he helped us up the elevator to our car we could have skipped that big queue altogether. I realized he did up a bit of a disservice by dumping us right in that big pile of people outside the terminal. Oh well!

Just off this sailing myself. Does anyone know anything about the injured person on Labadee? I heard it was a young lady on a jet ski. Obviously I don't know her, but just the same really hope to hear she is OK, such an awful thing to have happen.

I'm not sure where they would take a patient from here? Dominican Republic? The helicopter (spanish markings) seemed to take off low heading around the coast.