jayblue

Great and detailed review!

Just leave them in your room. They will magically disappear.

I think I would do this before leaving it outside my door. Unless I don't want to be disturbed.

I wouldn't take it on the rock climbing wall or flowrider either.

The OP talked about taking food from WJ, which we have done on RCI and P&O ships, which from the replies on the thread is not an issue, but I wonder from the past whether it was and if passengers were prevented from taking buns or fruits from the self service areas ?

Yorkvillian: 😃😃😃😃

Mark Sheffield: The majority of the answers to the old question (it was from 2014) posed on FB were that people should just use room service. That menu is too limited for my taste, and I would only use it if I was (self) confined to my cabin by illness.

Then, I was reminded that Norwegian tried to do the same. Their policy, however, appeared to be cost motivated.

Ditto.

I have 3 cruises under my belt, but this will be my first solo. I will need at least one night of peace, solitude, relaxation, etc.

Heh!! You wouldn't have the megaships if not for those "pesky" smaller ships.

At one time, Majesty WAS a megaship.

i like all the ships.

 

I like variety.

 

I like options.

👏👏👏

You'd be surprised. We saw a family with 2 full plates of food from WJ at one of the shows at the Aquatheater on Oasis this past week.

I would take it on deck for the movies by the pool, since they don't provide popcorn, but the Aquatheatre is stadium style seating, isn't it?

You can take it any where you want to eat it...if you're taking it back to your cabin you can even ask a WJ waitstaff to provide you with a cover for it.

That's good to know. I am trying to anticipate every situation that could possibly happen. I've been on 3 cruises before, but always ate in either the MDR, WJ, or a couple of times in the Solarium when I was last on EOS (it was a little different than it is now).

I saw this question raised in an article I found on FB: Is it acceptable to grab a plate from the Windjammer and take it back to your cabin? Or, is it a no-no?

I know RCCL has no rules against it, but is it a cruising faux pas?

Nice! I'll go with that! :)

That's because you're a fun mom!

I have the sheet titled "As You Depart" with all the details re: disembarking. I'll scan that in and post a link later.

 

We were carrying our luggage off ourselves. It worked for our plans for the day.

 

Self Carry Departure is from 7:20 am until 8:30 am.

 

We didn't get much sleep this night.

 

We didn't eat before leaving the ship...we weren't even hungry.

 

There was a constantly moving line to exit the ship. It was very long...beginning close to the theater on Deck 5...out to the Promenade Deck and down the side of the ship to reenter by the stairs...down the STAIRS to Deck 4 and off the ship.

 

I did see people "join" the line on Deck 4...

 

Customs/Immigration was a breeze. No wait.

 

We had paid for round trip shuttle service with Cortrans. They were very easy to find. Two people were standing at the front of the ground transportation area. We waited for the shuttle to arrive...and for our fellow passengers to arrive.

 

Waits tend to feel longer toward the end of a trip...but I would guesstimate that we waited less than 30 minutes.

 

This shuttle was larger...could seat 20 travelers. There was an enclosed trailer hitched to shuttle to haul luggage.

 

Our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 8:40 pm.

 

I know.

 

It was the only non-stop flight available with the cheapest fare that we could make...

 

We had a plan for the day though.

 

The Hyatt Regency Orlando Int'l Airport has day rooms available. Basically, you become a hotel guest from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. You have all the rights and privileges of a hotel guest during that time.

 

From past experience, we learned that it may not be possible to check baggage when your flight is more than 4 hours away...also, we knew we wouldn't be up for trying to make a day out of Orlando.

 

The Day Pass room was a great plan. A comfortable, private place to hang out / relax with our luggage.

 

When I tried to contact the hotel directly, the price quoted was ridiculous. I had been reading several positive reviews that conveyed the idea of the day pass room being the best $99 the reviewers had ever spent at the end of a vacation...

 

The hotel quoted me a price closer to $200.

 

We were able to book the Day Room through this website:

 

https://www.between9and5.com/

 

We booked a "triple" and were quoted a price greater than $99, but more reasonable than directly with the hotel.

 

I did not double check my reservation through this website with the hotel, although I could have, I had a reservation number with the hotel in addition to a reservation number with the website. We had no problems checking in...and in fact...we were charged only $99 like I had read about from others on line.

 

Which made no sense to me at all...but I didn't complain.

 

Our room had a king sized bed. It was spacious and as wonderful as I had hoped it would be.

 

This hotel is attached to the airport. From my balcony room, I could see the security lines:

 

 

 

We slept on and off all day...zoned out to some cable tv.

 

 

There was a deck area, with an in-room coffee maker with Starbucks coffee supplied:

 

 

This is a horrible photo of the large, comfy leather (leather-like?) chair and ottoman:

 

 

The bathroom was really nice...and surprisingly big:

 

 

The toilet was to the left of this vanity. The shower bath was to the right.

 

There was a foyer feeling space and the entrance. Here there was also a large double-door sized closet...and again, a surprising amount of floor space.

 

Perhaps it all seemed so big because in contrast to the stateroom...regardless...it was very comfortable for our family and fulfilled our needs for the day. With the desk, chair, and large balcony space...this room could easily work for a larger family...especially if anyone was interested in using the pool or other hotel amenities.

 

We did not leave the room except for food so I cannot comment on the hotel amenities.

 

We checked out right at 6 pm.

 

We headed for security and the terminal thinking that we would have plenty of time for a nice dinner before boarding.

 

Unfortunately, the terminal for our Southwest gate (Gate 120) has very limited food options. We would have had a much nicer dinner at the main terminal, but it feels good to be through security and in the terminal, so would probably still plan on eating in the terminal in the future.

 

Soon enough...we were landing in Atlanta and driving home.

Once again, I have to thank you!

Because I have a noon flight, RCCL can't accomodate me on my trip back to MCO. I signed up with Cortrans for this. I am glad it worked for you!

This is a perfect preview of my EOS cruise next month. I will have to reread it a day or so before I leave.

Although I agree with your last paragraph, I do think that it's ridiculous to think that telling your tablemates or waitstaff that you won't be in the MDR is a security issue. Yes, it's a piece of personal information, but it's useless to anybody unless you tell them more.

 

The sticky wicket is when somebody says, "really? where will you be?" Then you have a choice of looking paranoid and a little rude when you reply, "I'd rather not say," or incautious if you say, "I'm feeling sad and lonely so I'm going to dine alone in my cabin." My solution, whether travelling with DH, friends or solo, is first just to have a table for 2. If that fails, then I tell our waitstaff not to hold things up on our account.

 

 

 

But it is there business where you aren't (at the table) if your absence will delay their dinner.

Not so. I would not be the person who decides when dinner is supposed to be served.

It's been a few years since I've cruised, but the waiters never waited for absentee guests to arrive back then. They wait now at their own discretion.

+1.

Add 1 more.

If you are traveling with a group, then you should tell them. If not, it's nobody's business where you are.

On 7 day cruises, after 2 days of relaxation.

My next will be my first 4-day, so I am hoping to be relaxed before I leave.

And this is the reason MTD works great for us ;)

Preach!

 

This evening "Tonight's Dinner Dress Suggestion" read "Casual/White after dinner."

 

And there was NO OTHER written promotion or information regarding the idea of a White Party. If you attended any shows or activities that were hosted by the CD staff, then you may have heard just a bit more about it.

 

Consequently, I would say that there wasn't a HUGE amount of white on board. There was white...but the participation felt more like 50/50...maybe even 30/70...if you want to be technical as to whether someone was dressed ALL in white.

 

Our family was not prepared for the White Party, however, I had my lace skirt (off-white) and the men had their linen pants (again, off white). DS came the closest to all white because he had a white background plaid shirt. So we had SOME white (ish) on.

 

This is my take on this White Party...

 

I did not go to the Viking Lounge...and I did wonder if there were greater participation there and if there were black lights, etc., that would make wearing white more fun...

 

We DID go poolside for the Dancing Under the Stars Poolside Party (11pm - 1 am) and Midnight Delights Buffet (11:30 pm - 12:30 am) aka the Nassau Sailaway Party.

Thanks for this info. I probably won't wear all white (too much trouble), but I will try to stay awake for the Nassau Sailaway Party.

I don't see how you could do DD "slowly".

They didn't have to completely nix the MDR. They could make it smaller and still open up one or two complimentary venues on the levels above the MDR. As they build newer ships, make all of those DD, the way they did the Quantum class.

The idea was to draw a newer, younger crowd to their company without alienating the older crowd.

NCL has already tried this type of dining with their Freestyle dining and actually are the innovators of this concept. It works very well for hubby and me. We love it and were looking forward to RCCL following suit. Royal's MTD is a very poor imitator of the Freestyle/Dynamic dining concept.

 

We much prefer smaller dining rooms to the cavernous feeling of the current Royal Caribbean main dining rooms. Hopefully, RCCL will rethink Dynamic Dining and bring it on board in the fleet.

RCCL made a mistake in trying to introduce this fleetwide while it was still in its trial stage. It's not like a waterslide, where people can take it or leave it. It is something that affects each and every passenger. Thus, the protesters.

If they do it, it should be a gradual process, so that those who are used to traditional dining can get used to smaller changes over a period of time. Cruisers should be used to small changes in the industry. They are how it has grown over the years. At least from my standpoint, it has.

This is no different than dining at a shore restaurant. The cruise line does not provide seating sufficient for every passenger at one time. The most popular dining times are between 1900 and 2000.

 

This is one of the advantages of traditional dining. It forces approximately 2/3rd of the passengers to dine either early or late which regulates the flow of passengers into the MDR. You have a choice, you can be forced to dine at one of the traditional times or you may experience a wait.

I have a problem with being "forced" to do anything on my vacation.

What am I missing here?! This is all OLD news and it seems like everyone is acting like it's new, including the OP. I'm very confused! And also irritated having to read through all of those same old, same old comments trying to find somebody who is asking this question! Concerning dynamic dining...build a bridge and get over it!

As you can obviously see, the argument in favor of it hasn't disappeared. Neither has it completely.

So, as opposed to building that bridge, we will merely bide our time until RCI introduces a better version of it.

So, don't put that glass of whine away yet!

It doesn't matter what the majority choose on your Oasis cruise since they were not given a choice between traditional dining and Dynamic Dining.

 

Obviously, you didn't take two hours to dine since you asked to be served quickly to see the shows. What would have been the typical dining time had you not requested expedited service?

 

There are many like yourself who find traditional dining attractive because of the features you mentioned. The problem is that in order to attract a larger customer base to fill the new ships, the cruise lines are going to have to attract a different type of customer. The ones the cruise lines are trying to attract find traditional dining to be very boring.

 

Royal attempted to modernize the dining experience to attract this type of passenger. They attempted too much too soon with too little planning and preparation. They will try again because they must attract this new type of passenger because those who like traditional dining are becoming a smaller and smaller fraction of the cruising public.

Well said!!!

That was the big reason behind DD. RCI decided that the future demographic for cruising finds the traditional dining concept to be a turn-off. They do not find the idea of spending two to three hours dining with a bunch of strangers to be appealing. Nor do they want to build a 'relationship' with their servers.

I've cruised 3 times in the past with the old school version of dining. It's a shame that in 18 years, it hasn't really changed much. Actually, from what I am seeing, the food isn't quite what it was back then.

Actually, there are a significant number of people who were disappointed by this decision. They find the same table, same waitstaff, same menus, and same table mates every night to be so boring.

 

I would not be at all surprised to see DD return to the fleet.

They will find a different way to do it, I'm sure.

I'm bored with traditional dining. Thankfully, they have MTD, the WJ, and specialty dining in EOS. I wouldn't have booked a cruise on RCI without them.

RCI needs to find a way to accomodate those cruisers who don't respond well to change while continuing to draw a more progressive crowd to it's ships.

We'll see what the future holds...