danoconnl

1. At Playmaker's, Portside BBQ and Johnny Rocket's, we will get a $20 credit per person? playmakers and portside you get the credit, I think JR is a pay one price place now(at least it was on wonder) 2. We can use a restaurant's credit once per day. So we could do afternoon snacks at Johnny Rocket's and late night snacks at Playmaker's in the same day, but we couldn't go to Playmaker's for both in the same day? you can use one persons credit in the afternoon and one persons credit at night, but once you use either credit that is it for that place 3. We probably WON'T get a credit at Vintages? On wonder I was told by our MJ waiter that we could get the late night snacks in MJ, and it looked like someone complained about being charged for food at giovannis wine place and it was being comped, so ask. On odyssey in 2022, we could eat wherever and it was included 4. But it doesn't hurt to ask? 😀 yes 5. We can only use the UDP at the specialty restaurants for lunch on sea days (I think Chops is our only lunch option according to the posted hours), but we can eat at Playmaker's, Portside BBQ or Johnny Rocket's any time that it's open, including for lunch? not sure on oasis, but on wonder I think giovannis and chops were open. You can eat at the others any time. 6. Somewhat unrelated - is it still the case that we can only book Izumi Hibachi AT Izumi? Can we book all of our other specialty dining reservations there? on wonder that was true. I don't know if you can book the rest, I've seen posts that you cant and posts but others that they were able to. only issue would be that the line at the hibachi tends to be longer than other places because you have to go there. We decided not to do hibachi last time, but if we had, we would have split up.

Depends on price, but we did it when Wonder was the only ship in port. I'd do it again in a heart beat. We ended up with chairs on the beach,. but not far from the stairs to the pool. We loved having a drink and resting against the wall overlooking the ocean. WE ended up snagging one of the pool beds around 12:30/1 and enjoyed it the rest of the day. As far as chairs around the pool go, if you demand right next to the pool, you won't get those, but you'll find chairs in the pool area. My wife and I discussed it and we would pay up to 40-50pp to go probably. Dan

There is pavement all the way from the tram stop to the pool and each eating area. I believe I saw a cart with a wheel chair taking someone back to the ship, but I'm not positive on that. From the end of the pavement to the ocean you would need to go down about 10 steps and then it would be about 20-30 yards I would guess to get to the ocean. It might be closer on the far end past the pizza place. Dan

we were there 3/18. Wonder was the only ship in port. Lots of kids on this cruise. We got off the ship aorund 9:30/45. Took the tram from just inside the coco cay entrance, pretty quick and easy. By the time we got to the pool, all of the loungers right around the pool were taken. My original plan was to try and get loungers on the far end away from the dj to limit the noise while laying out, but there aren't many loungers at the far end of the pool. It was full but not packed. We easily found two loungers on the beach near the stairs to the pool area. Around 12:30/1 we were walking somewhere and my wife remarked how great it would be to get one of the beds that are in the water, and wouldn't you know it, the next bed we walked by was empty, so we grabbed it for the rest of the day. They are very nice. The umbrella that is attached to them rotates 360 so you can have as much shade or sun as you want. The cabanas around the main pool had names in every one, but they were hardly used. I know I saw a couple that were never used the entire time we were there. I don't know if they put names in the unsold ones to make it seem like they are sold out or what, but if I paid what those cost I would be in there alot of the day. We didn't walk down to the other ones and look at them. We didn't get in the ocean, but the beach area is very nice, lots of loungers, tables in between a lot of them, alot of umbrellas if thats what you need. Did see someone get yelled at by the lifeguards as he snorkeled past the end line and kind of into the channel that feeds the lagoon. They say the pool is heated, I found it to be the perfect temp. Not too warm, but not too cold. Very nice to relax in, Outdoor temp was around 80-83 I think the day we were there with sunny skies. Getting drinks from the swim up bar was really easy, never more than 2nd in line. If you want a beer/truly/ or soda, there was a chest of them on the beach near the stairs. Having a drink at the pool wall looking over the ocean is really nice. It was probably more of a party near the dj but we stayed further away and it was really nice.. At one point one of the dancers was spraying champagne into peoples mouths, and drawing a crowd. Music was loud near the dj but not blasting. I found it to be easy to listen to in the background. I had the chicken sandwich and my wife had the coconut shrimp, we thought both were good. I think the sandwich I had was a special one for hideaway, but I don't remember why. we loved it. Not sure how much we would pay for it on our next cruise, but I think $30pp is where we might start to question, we managed to get it for 19.99pp on a sale and would pay that in a heart beat. My wife is going on Allure at the end of May and the price has dropped from $40 about a month ago to lately being in the 20-25 range. She's not going because her mom doesn't want to and the trip is about spending time with her. Ask me any questions you might have and I'll try to answer, Dan

we didn't make Hibachi reservations, but I'm told you need to make reservations there, not sure if they will let you make other reservations there, I've heard yes and no. I don't know where Casitas reservations are made, but I know there were signs on the top deck talking about where to go, I didn't haver one so I didn't pay much attention,. Dan

So when you first get on the ship, the kiosk will be in the middle of the promenade, one of the center desks where normally they are selling t-shirts or jewelry. There will be big signs and 3 or 4 crew members helping. Our plan was to go there 1st together and if there was a line, one of us would go to a specialty rest. on deck 8 and see about getting it there, communicating using our phones. also with an 11:30 boarding time, you could probably show up at 10 and be just after the 10:30 boarding. It appeared to me that they weren't making the 11:30 wait until 11:30, but until all of the 10:30 were on. Dan

well we both could send and receive last week on Wonder, pictures, video, everything. Both to each other on the boat and to firends and family back home Dan

March of 2022 on Odyssey. She could send and receive from everyone she knew(that was using iMessage). I couldn't send or receive. This cruise we both could, there was one time where it stopped working for my wife, but she rebooted her phone and it was back. Dan

also one more interesting thing, we didn't get an internet package but both of our iPhones were able to use iMessage to talk to people back home and each other. It was sometimes really slow(like 1 minute for it to send), but almost always worked. Last cruise it worked for my wife but not for me. Dan

we did not, we decided that we didn't want the hassle or what we figured would be bad times so we just booked the others straight for 6:30. we got all of our times except 2. We were on the ship like 40th after suites and key and walked right to the dining kiosk and I think we were the 1st people to book. We had hooked booked for 2 nights and decided on day 3 or 4 to switch to mason jar for day 5 to dinner, the app said nothing except 7:45 but we went up there and asked and they gave us 6:15, so if you want to switch I would always asked. At the end of the cruise we decided we wished we had done the hibachi, but oh well... Dan

there was open skating on the daily calendar, but we did not partake. We didn't go to the ice show but I heard it was good Dan

Off Wonder of the Seas yesterday, 1st cruise on an Oasis class ship. (Freedom and Voyager before, plus Odyssey) Wow it's a big ship. Using the stairs instead of the elevator was not the same. I got my bearing pretty quickly but I do the research before the cruise, my wife got turned around a few times. Room was 8548, forward not far from elevators. Bed was comfortable, tho I was hot under the covers most nights,GM - Are there any hot issues that I need to be aware of? slept just under the sheet. It was kind of weird how they made the bed, but it always felt like it was coming undone. Steward was really good and made our room up every morning, it seemed almost as soon as we were out of it because multiple times I went back what felt like only 30 minutes after my wife left the room and it was already cleaned. We loved the location for the ease of grubbing a drink at the Trellis bar on our way to and from the room. and since we had UDP getting to specialty restaurants. We would probably choose this deck again on an Oasis class ship. We had the UDP, 1 lunch, 1 brunch and dinner every night, besides just a few things at playmakers. we did Chops(2x) 150 CP(2x) Hooked, Giovannis for dinner and lunch, Mason Jar for brunch and dinner. Every meal was really good, Chops was probably our favorite, hto 150 was really good too. Hooked was a little slow. Mason jar brunch was better than dinner. Every specialty was packed, way more than on other cruises we have taken. I was told by our Mason Jar guy that our UDP package would work for the late night bites in the bar, but we never tried.. I think I saw someone get a bill taken care of after complaining about being charged in Giovanni's wine bar, but I don't know if that was true as I couldn't hear what was said. We ate breakfast in the Solarium Bistro most days, which by the end of the cruise everyone else decided to as well. Our two meals in the Windjammer(embarkation day, and 1 other breakfast) We both thought that the selection seemed alot smaller than what I remember pre Covid on Freedom and Voyager class. But that could just be changes made fleet wide and nor just Wonder. Sandwiches and salads at Park Cafe were pretty good. Sorrento's pizza was really good as well. The pool deck was crowded every sea day, but I didn't see a lot of chair hogs and I'm an early riser, I was out there at 7/7:30 every day reading my book. Almost every other set of chairs had someone holding the chairs and not just leaving towels. I did see a few, and I didn't see a crew member monitoring. I would say if you are out there before 9, you'll get a good spot. tho the cushioned chairs were reserved earlier. We like to lay out in the sun on our cruises and with this ship you had to think about where you were because of a lot of shadows. We grabbed the cushioned chairs on the risers 3 of the days. On the way down, they didn't get sun until around 9:9:30, on the way back, the bottom lost sun around 2:30(and earlier if you were higher). We didnt spend much time in the Solarium/ Bar service was great, not very many lines and lots of waiters walking around the pool deck. Mason Jar was packed every night listening to the country band(the lead singer was filling in and was really good, really nice guy) Music Hall was crowded the 2 nights we saw the temperature band, I thought they were pretty good. They ran out of Mich Ultra about 5 days into te 7 day cruise which kind of sucked, but I can make do with Bud Light. We saw intense(very good), the comedians(guy was pretty good, woman was not), piano guy in the Schooner bar the few times we saw him wasnt our type. The guy in the pub was decent the few times we were in there. We missed Voices and didn't want to see Effectors 2(we thought Effectors on Odyssey was really cheesy). Lots of kids on this cruise but they never really bothered us. My wife teaches kindergarten and we have 4 so while we cruise without them. We're pretty patient with family struggles. Kids being upset in a specialty restaurant don't bother us too much when we see parents trying their best. When you don't have the support they do the best they can. Others might have been annoyed, but we are on vacation and are able to drown them out. If you have any questions I'll try to answer them. Dan

so If I order $23 worth of food and my wife orders $10 worth of food, is it covered, or do I owe 3 and she still has $10. This would be in the same sitting. Because if we get wings and a burger and the cookie for dessert, There isn't a way to combine two of those things on one bill and be less than $20, but they don't all together add up to $40. Dan

For our upcoming cruise on Wonder of the Seas, we've got the UDP. We'll make reservations once we board, but when I was looking at available times today(someone on another site had said that they were all gone) almost all of the times showed up as red because I have a show reservation at that time. The site wouldn't let me book a conflicting time with the show reservation. When I board will I lose my ability to make a reservation because it conflicts with a show reservation and insist I cancel my show reservation. The blocked time was over aggressive in my opinion and wouldn't let me book a 5pm Chops reservation because of a 7:45 show reservation. Just trying to be ready for issues that could come up as we try to make our dining reservations that first day. We've had UDP before, but this is our 1st Oasis class where we need to make show reservations. Dan

How early do you think you need to get there for this not so secret spot? Dan

I purchased the UDP for my 3/17/2024 cruise on 2/23/2023. I was watching the planner pretty regularly at the time because like you I wanted to spread the cost out. Im pretty sure I purchased it within about a week of items starting to appear because the price of the udp went way up and way down for a few days. I ended up getting it close to the bottom tho not the very bottom. Dan

So its my understanding that the new ships usually get the best employees. I may be wrong about this and If I am, please just ignore this. Does that mean that wonder gets the 2nd best employees and Odyssey the 3rd and so on. And every time a new ship comes out they do a reshuffle? I've never really had a bad experience with a Royal employee on our 7 or so cruises. I did notice a bit better service on Odyssey in March of 22, but this could have been the fact that I was so happy to just be cruising again. Going on Wonder in March, but I'm more curious than anything, like I said, I've never had a bad experience with a royal employee Dan

I cancelled and rebought last wek. It took about 45 minutes for my previous purchase to clear the system. I also heard that you can call if it hasn't cleared and they will take care of it for you. Dan

Reply I got from RCL Dining

Not that I've ever made it to multiple restaurants in one night, but there was the option. Saw somewhere else and looking at the verbiage being used, it looks like it's one rest a night. Anyone know if it's now one per night? Dan

I've seen from compasses that the comedians will play the attic and the theater. is it the same show, so if you've seen it in the attic you don't need to bother and if you can't get in the attic, don't worry you can see it in the theater? I know every comedian can be different but I was wondering what exxperiences people have had. Thanks Dan

You can see any big show standby but no reason not to make reservations, IMO. Adult comedy is the one were reservations are more important. Does almost everyone in the standby line get into most shows, including comedy? I can just imagine us having reservations but deeding to change our plans to a different night. Dan

Its a pretty nice area if you are looking for an indoor pool area. The pools aren't really pools but more wading areas. Bar inside there as well as the bistro which is pretty good. Very popular, but usually finding a seat wasn't too hard.

there was an omelet station in the Solarium Bistro. WJ was a little crazy and we found the SB to be a better option for us. You order and they give you a number and then deliver it to your table. Dan

we did UDP on Odyssey in March of 2022, we really enjoyed it. We enjoy the specialty dining but thats a personal preference. I compare the MDR to applebees and the specialty rest to chains like McCormick and Schmidts or Coopers Hawk. When we were on in March every specialty rest was included, Playmakers, and Giovannis Wine Bar(this is the food in the bar, not the rest., thats alwas included) as well. I'm not sure that is still included, it's hit and miss from ship to ship. Dan