DreamingBig1

The water slide area on Breakaway has to be bigger than a Carnival ship, maybe even Carnivals dream class ships.

However if you like Carnivals product, maybe you should stay with them. Go with what makes you happy.

It seems like Carnival works better for your family.

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Hopefully they serve Hurricane's at the Five O'clock Somewhere bar. ;)

The addition of that bar is a pleasant surprise.

Whether right or wrong, you just mentioned a litany of expenses for each crew member. So why would you then say there is little to no cost to the cruise line????:rolleyes:

I don't think I mentioned any expenses. There are always expenses. However cruise lines don't have to pay insurance, taxes, unemployment and workers compensation for their employees. The aforementioned staff work principally for gratuities.

So exactly what is the cruise line paying?

I am not saying service is bad. I have just read so many complaints about lack of staff.

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I meant not paying. Rummerroman I agree with you. See what happens when you miss one word? Changes kind of the gist of the whole point. Lol

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To be honest, I don't think even a fraction of passengers think about it this logically. I think the vast majority truly believe they are getting a good deal with these pathetic pricing games. It's just sad and it's seriously deceptive.

Good point. I guess I am hoping people have common sense.

I have seen many complaints on this boards and other boards about cutbacks on personnel. Dining room wait staff, room attendants, bar tenders/drink attendants, etc.

Here's what I don't understand, and correct me if I am wrong. I know I don't know all...

The above mentioned get paid basically on tips, with a small wage built in. We as passengers pay their wages.

I would imagine that RCI or other cruise line is paying costly health insurance, workers compensation, unemployment, and especially taxes that land based companies pay.

So here's the question. Why would there be staff cutbacks if there is little cost to the cruise line? If staff cutbacks are truly happening, there has to be another reason than not wanting to pay staff.

Here's the thing I am noticing about these type of posts. Many people who are complaining about RCI have multiple RCI cruises booked.

Supply and demand. If your booking they aren't forced to adjust.

In fact Richard Fain should be fired if he doesn't take advantage of demand.

I have to be honest. After considering cruises with RCI over the past couple years, the prices have been relatively the same.

For whatever reason there is more pricing gimmicks. That's what I notice.

RCI's newest promotion is hardly giving the alcohol away. In order to take advantage of the buy one beverage package get the next one half off, you have to pay full price for the cabin.

So your really not saving anything at all, and basically buying the UBP at full price.

I rather not have all the pricing games. Just give me the straight story. I already decided that we are sailing the Oasis, it just became a matter of how.

I think the fact that people can place a deposit down at first and pay over time, allows RCI (and other cruise lines) to do pricing gimmicks. People realize they are paying more than they should, but they have a long time to pay it off and budget for it.

Anybody have any idea when NCL is going to release the rest of their 2017 itineraries? The current schedule only go's to April, 2017.

I guess I am looking for people who are familiar with NCL's habits.

Look up Blue Water Safari.. post something on your Roll Call group and see if you can get a group together.

They are a lot of fun. They take you near a ship wreck. Its a old tanker, so nothing special. However its fun. They rum and dine you as well. In fact from start to finish the booze flows free on the trip. Nice people.

Plus you get a nice scenic water tour.

I think overall St. Kitts is not ideal for snorkeling.

DreamingBig - Sadly no, Shanghai is one of the A la carte restaurants (along with Wasabi and Ocean Blue) so not part of UDP although UDP gets you 20% off. Prices at Shanghai were very reasonable - ~$3-4 for appetizers and ~$5 for noodles and rice dishes.

Thanks!

I would like to try ever cruise line before I can say there is a best. Since that won't probably ever happen. I will keep trucking along and trying different lines, and come back to some.

Would I recommend RCI? It depends on the person asking and what they are looking for in a cruise experience.

 

Of the 3 entry level cruise lines (Carnival, NCL and RCI), RCI probably has the most bang for the buck without needing to pay extra for edible food (NCL) or needing a set of ear plugs to walk around the ship (Carnival). Of course, one is paying for features in the fare that they may not be interested in, i.e, ice rinks, rock walls, flow riders, etc.

 

However, one does get what one pays for and RCI will be a low budget experience as far as overall service, food and entertainment.

 

If a person wants to just try a cruise and isn't fussy about food or service and doesn't mind being crammed on a ship with other passengers , RCI would be the way to go over Carnival or NCL.

Have you sailed Carnival and NCL? Please don't take that as antagonistic. Just wondering if other than ship layout, the lines are really that different.

Thanks for the update. We are in San Pedro getting ready to walk to dinner. Tomorrow we finally see the Star!

Linda - promise to take pics and give a quick update? LOL

Hey david_sobe! Loving your review, agree it's fun to read about someone else's experience on the same ship at the same time!

Thanks Love2Travel4, you'll have a blast in October!

Seguetocaribe - thanks and sorry for any confusion, hopefully you saw the edit about the UBP gratuities, I guess it is included and I wasn't looking at our onboard account correctly!

Thanks for reading PathfinderEss!

Salesmansam - have an amazing vacation! I would definitely get tickets for the Illusionarium on your first night with the UDP. There was nothing wrong with La Cucina and I know others have really enjoyed it, I personally thought Cagney's, Le Bistro and Ocean Blue were better. You could also double up on two restaurants in one night if you really wanted to! We spoke with a few people with UDP who would make an early reservation at one specialty restaurant and then a later one at another!

Mirrasi - the card room is just that! A room for playing cards, it's next to the library. It was a cute little room with people playing all sorts of fun card games

 

Day 3 - At Sea (Monday)

 

Freestyle Dailies - I'm just posting the essential info pages with the times

 

Does the Getaway rock/have excessive movement?

I've seen a bunch of people posting and asking about the rocking/motion on the Getaway. You obviously knew you were moving/sailing but it wasn't a bad feeling at all. My husband gets really seasick and he took a precautionary Dramamine on Saturday but didn't bother for the rest of the week. It was a little choppy/windy the first day and that's when we felt the most movement but it really wasn't an issue.

Probably the weirdest thing was being back on land on Saturday, if I moved too quickly I felt slightly disoriented like we were still sailing! I believe this is fairly common.

 

Some of the most choppy waves (no rocking, rolling or seasickness):

 

I found this quick snap showing our larger balcony (Cabin 8136) from the shuffleboard place on Deck 7. It was really great to have the larger space with the 2 loungers but the balcony wasn't super private as people above could look down. No big issue but just a heads up.

 

Lunch at Shanghai Noodle Bar

From top left to right - Glass noodles with chicken and vegetables in broth, spicy Singapore noodles, Beef Chow Fun, the cute little ordering pads, fried pork potstickers (you get 3 per order but I ate one before remember to take a picture!) and shrimp dumplings

• Shanghai is in a slightly weird location, it's on deck 7 sort of at the back of the casino and opposite Bar 21 and it's not super atmospheric (you're kind of right next to a bunch of blackjack tables and can hear the slot machines) but we REALLY liked it!
  
• I'd heard that you should skip the apps as they were "frozen" but I think pretty much everything is frozen on the boat and they were actually pretty tasty.
  
• The pork potstickers were our favorites, you can get them steamed or fried and there are 3 per order
  
• The shrimp dumplings were OK, a little heavy/gluey
  
• The noodles - oh so good!!! A couple of times on the cruise I felt myself just feel so bloated and heavy from all of the food we were eating and that was when I'd go to Shanghai for a bowl of Glass noodles in fragrant chicken broth with mushrooms (the ones beginning with s - CC is assuming I'm typing a curseword and changing it to ****ake!) and bamboo shoots. I'd always ask for a little hot chili sauce on the side to boost the heat. It's the perfect light meal (surprisingly filling) and also a good late morning option if you've had a couple of cocktails too many the night before (easy on your tummy!)
  
• Not pictured but just as delicious - the Peking shrimp and chicken stir fried noodles and the Shrimp fried rice
  
• Everything is in the $3.00-4.50 range so a generous lunch for 2 would come in at maybe $20 and then you'd get 20% off so $16 tops
  
• I was only sad that Shanghai (and Wasabi) weren't open for lunch when we were docked (only open for lunch when at sea) and it would also have been great if they were open later. A couple of times we'd head to bed around 1am and there would have been nothing better than a bowl of the noodle soup!
  
• Being in the middle of the casino it's not exactly romantic or intimate but it's a great place to people watch or sit at the counter and watch the food being prepared in big sizzling woks
  
• Shanghai would be in my list of "must-eat" places next time!
  

 

Casino:

• If we're up to Day 3 then I should probably mention the casino
  
• I'm a small time gambler - maybe $20 on roulette or $50 if I'm feeling crazy
  
• We both signed up for Players Club cards once the casino opened (free and they then track your play on both slots and tables)
  
• My Husband likes to play blackjack (Hello Mark & Lois!) and he played a little each morning and also after dinner.
  
• The dealers we met and also the pit bosses were all incredibly friendly
  
• Tip your dealers! Especially if they give you good advice on what "the book" would say!
  
• I was trying to make sense of the Player Club Guide and suggested we just check in at the Player Club counter (next to the cashier) to see how many points he had after the first few days
  
• The lady behind the desk couldn't have been nicer. She offered him a drinks package (but we already had UBP) so then she offered a free dinner at a specialty restaurant (but we already have UDP), she then suggested perhaps lunch at Wasabi or Shanghai (we'd already eaten at them both at this time) and then she asked if we had plans to go to Ocean Blue. Yes! We had a reservation for the following night. She said they'd take care of dinner and wine for us which was a nice little perk (Ocean Blue is not included in the UDP, it's $39.99/head but you get a 20% discount with UDP)
  
• Ocean Blue plus wine plus the Raw Bar menu was a WAY better deal than lunch at Shanghai or Wasabi...more on that later
  
• The casino is located on Deck 7 and is bang in the middle of the ship (presumably to catch you as you go from one end to the other)
  
• At times the smell of cigarette smoke was a little more noticeable than others but it wasn't too bad. I'm fairly sensitive to the smell of smoke and it didn't bother me. It also seemed confined to the casino area and I didn't notice it elsewhere. The only time I really noticed it was back in the cabin when I was packing up clothes that had been worn when we'd been in the casino for a few hours, you could smell a faint cigarette smoke on them
  
• There are a bunch of slot machines and stuff like Wheel of Fortune, Deal or No Deal
  
• Black Jack tables abound, I think the lowest minimum was maybe $6 and then there were $15, 25, 50 and in the high roller room it was usually $100
  
• Helpful tip (we didn't find out about this until the second to last night) - in the casino there's a little late night snack area (free) with cheese cubes, fruit and hot snacks (tiny deep fried spring rolls with dipping sauce on this specific night). You don't have to be playing to go make yourself a little plate. Just don't try to eat AT the table.
  
• There was a real mix of people playing. Usually the roulette table would be fairly full but they'd open the second one if you asked nicely. Just like David_sobe I saw the same guy playing #17 obsessively on roulette. He mentioned that he brought $12k on board and currently owed the ship $25k - ouch!
  
• The casino is only open when you're sailing - they have to be 3 miles out in US waters and have left port in other locations. I think they usually shut down an hour or so before docking.
  
• I'm jumping ahead but I'll keep all of the casino stuff in one place so on the last night we notice a big sign saying "Redeem your playing points before 10pm" we didn't know what this meant so figured we'd check in with the lovely Players Club lady again. She reviewed our account for a good 10-15 minutes and refunded back around $1200 to "offset our losses" and also gave us a business card for one of the Casino At Sea people in case we want to cruise again.
  

 

Dinner at Cagney's

• We'd heard so much good stuff about Cagney's that I made our reservation early in the week so we could eat there again later if it was as good as everyone said.
  
• There's a bar just outside inbetween Cagney's and Moderno where we had a pre-dinner drink.
  
• I ordered a "Sparkling Garden" and it was pretty great - St Germain, sparkling wine and fresh rosemary. Interestingly I'd tried to order one of these earlier at Bar 21 and the bartender made a face and said it wasn't very good. He insisted he'd make me "something special" which turned out to be mostly vodka and orange juice which I thought was a little strange. This happened a couple of times with different cocktails at different bars - I suspect it was due to the understaffing of the bar and the bartender trying to avoid running around to find fresh rosemary and make a complicated cocktail.
  
• The dining room was darker and atmospheric
  
• Our server was fabulous, friendly and accommodating
  
• We ordered from the wine list (by the glass due to the UBP). I stuck with the Sparkling Garden and my parents/husband enjoyed the Wolf Blass Shiraz with dinner
  
• The food was great. If you're a steak fan then I'd definitely recommend making a reservation here.
  
• Appetizers were very enjoyable, the Wagyu sliders are kind of filling so maybe split them or don't plan on eating both!
  
• My 5oz filet was perfectly cooked (there's also a 10oz filet option)
  
• My dad's 12oz ribeye didn't quite look 12oz but he enjoyed it
  
• The sides are fairly small but you can order as many as you like so go nuts!
  
• There were 4 of us and I think we got 2 gratin potatoes (divine! must must must order these), 1 Cagney fries (truffle and parmesan - tasty), 1 sauteed mushrooms (we probably should have ordered 3 of these there were so great) and I think an onion rings and mac n' cheese. I'd heard that some people thought the mac n' cheese was dry but this wasn't the case with ours, it was good and cheesy and nicely creamy (I hate it when the sauce splits and you have a big pool of oil at the bottom but this didn't happen)
  
• We actually skipped dessert because we were all so full but they looked amazing
  

 

From top left - a "sparkling garden" with fresh rosemary (highly recommend), the jumbo crab cake, Wagyu sliders, shrimp cocktail, 5oz filet with Bearnaise on the side, Shrimp pasta, 12oz ribeye and a bunch of sides.

 

Next up will be:

Day 4 - St Maarten (Maho Beach), a visit to the spa, Ocean Blue, fireworks and Howl in the Moon

Day 5 - St Thomas and Teppanyaki plus O'Sheehans food and bowling and The Grammy Experience

Day 6 - Le Bistro and the Ice Bar

Day 7 - disembarkation, final thoughts and copy and paste of my giant list of tips I made from previous Getaway reviews.

Feel free to comment/ask questions :)

Awesome review!! Incredibly detailed! Love it!!

Question: is the Shanghai noodle bar included with the UDP?

It sounds like the NCL rep misspoke. The fine print say's no California coastal cruises, and not repositioning.

Are you starting at one port and ending in another port? Are you re-positioning? If it doesn't explicitly say repositioning in their fine print, you may want to push it a little.

I think this is accurate. I love RCI, but just don't see myself being able to continue cruising with them much more, due to the increase in price combined with the reduction in service.

 

On my early cruises, you couldn't swing a dead cat around at the pool without hitting a waiter with a tray full of drinks. Now, you have to go up to the bar with 20 other people all trying to order at the same time from two frazzled grumpy bartenders.

 

On my first cruise with RCI, they encouraged participation in fitness activities by giving you Shipshape "dollars" for everything you took part in (classes, walks, etc.). At the end of the cruise you could trade them in for lanyards, hats, t-shirts etc. It was fun, but they got rid of that years ago, just like they got rid of the welcome back gift (On my Sovereign cruise I got a tote bag).

 

They've raised drink prices to the point that I will drink significantly less on each cruise. I figure my OBC will more than cover everything I could possibly want to spend on board on my cruise next month.

 

The photographs on board are terrible compared to the quality on Princess and I will no longer buy them on a Royal cruise. They used to be good - I don't know what happened there :confused:

 

It does make me sad that my favorite cruise line has gone downhill so much. All I hear about on here are the pushy upsells that they try to force down your throat at every turn. I do not want, and will never ever purchase a drink package of any kind. I will no longer eat at Chops. I used to enjoy the spa, but those prices have jumped at least 60-70% since I started cruising and I won't pay what they are asking now. Shrug. I'll make Diamond on my next cruise but I guess I'll just start sailing on any line that fits with price/itinerary no matter which line it is (except for maybe Carnival). I'm even looking closely at NCL as an option after reading so many positive comments about them lately (and on the RCI board, not the NCL board which I haven't visited yet).

 

:( sniff

To be fair to Royal, after reading various cruise line forums, everything you just stated, seems to be the industry trend.

My take on the lack of staff, has more to do with the lack of people out there to work on cruise ships. Every year there are approximately 3-5 new mega ships launched. Basically the wait staff, bartenders and room attendants work for tips, so the passengers cover their cost. The cruise line isn't paying the usual government mandated taxes, workers comp, and healthcare so it can't cost Royal much to have more staff available. I just think there aren't people. Too many mega ships, not enough available man power. That's just my view on that. It seems like a common complaint, no matter what cruise line.

Now if there are cheaper products, food, and poor entertainment, then the cruise line is cutting corners.

We really enjoyed our one cruise with RCI and have constantly recommended them to everybody we have met over Disney and Celebrity. We have only cruised with those three.

We booked the Oasis, only because our kids are getting older (teenagers) and want to go on a Oasis ship. It's one of those things I will be kicking myself over years from now if we don't do it for them. I kept

As you can tell by my signature, we have 2 NCL cruises booked. Yes, price and the free beverage package did play a factor into our decision. I think after studying them they have so many cool venues, I can't see how it doesn't make for a fun experience. If somebody enjoys a traditional and regimented cruise experience, where it's not organized chaos ala "Freestyle cruising" , then NCL is probably not going to be for them.

We are looking forward to both our RCI and NCL cruises, however, I personally am more excited over sailing with NCL. Value did play a role in my thought process.

I still recommend RCI, because truthfully it really has the most to offer for everybody involved, regardless of background. It's not a cheap experience.

I think cruising is still the greatest bang for your buck. So if it means, that a family can't sail Royal, and can only afford Carnival. They should sail with Carnival, because what other experience offers a floating resort that takes you to exotic locations?

OTOH, crepes (both sweet and savory) in Bistro on Five on Celebrity Reflection were so much better than the ones served on any NCL ship - easily worth the small upcharge. I'm very happy with the offerings of both companies in that area. :)

It's funny. When we sailed on the Eclipse, we were all set to eat there and we met two ladies in the hall who said stay away. They said the crepes didn't taste that good. So we did.

Awesome deal!!

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The crepe station really sets NCL apart. I am not sure that there is another cruise line that does them complimentary. Celebrity has a restaurant devoted to them and there is a charge.

Bouncing off cell phone towers, straight to your electronic device for your viewing pleasure.

Late 2016.

Thanks!

When is Oasis supposed to be moved to Port Canaveral?

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We booked last year. Our original booking was under one of the BOGOHO sales. We booked at a price we were happy with, but we continued to look for price drops and available discounts. Since then we've repriced several times. Once to apply the Va Resident discount (better than BOGOHO pricing). Then to apply the EMT/FF discount (better than Va Resident pricing). And finally, when the OBC became available, we repriced to apply that to our EMT/FF discount reservation. It's remained that way since, and we're happy with that pricing.

 

Today, I checked the new "sale" structure. I tried 3 mock bookings (BOGOHO, Va Resident, and EMT/FF). With each mock booking we lost our $200 OBC, and the total cruise fare also increased by ($100, $200, or $300). So our same cruise under the new "sale" was $300-$500 more (when considering that we would lose our OBC).

 

Again, we are happy with the pricing of our current reservation. We have a long way till final payment is due, so I'll continue to check for price drops and available discounts. And if nothing else comes along, I'm still happy with what we paid. All things considered, we paid almost identical for our Nov 2015 Oasis cruise to what we paid for our Nov 2013 Oasis cruise.

How were you able to track when a state discount was available? I have thought about this, but short of checking every day, I am unaware of another way.

Definitely think it is time to start looking at other cruise lines. Have never sailed with anyone else....but I think it truly is time to start looking. These "sales" (promos) are getting ridiculous.

 

RC considers it a "sale". I think they need to look up definition of "sale".

Here is what one online dictionary shows :

 

"for sale" = "available for purchase"

"on sale" = "available for purchase at a reduced price"

 

 

I received an email earlier with this subject line " FINAL Hours! It's your last chance to SAVE BIG". Then in the email it has a countdown clock that appears to expires around 10:00 pm central time tonight.

 

"Save big" indicates you are getting a reduced price. Doubling the pre-sale price to then offer a "reduced price" is not my idea of a "sale". lol

 

If they want to raise prices...then let them raise prices and we can decide whether to purchase or not. Don't give us gimmicks and try to pass them off as a "sale" when they aren't! I feel really sorry for new cruisers who don't know what they pricing was prior to the "sale". Some folks may actually think they are getting a "bargain" or "reduced price".

This particular promo has been going strong for a while now. It apparently is working (unfortunately - lol).