Neeny12

10 minutes ago, prmssk said:

I usually let the cruise line know through the special needs e-mail address before the cruise (I don't know if this really makes a difference) and then I talk to my waiter the first night and the head waiter came to our table before that first dinner was over.  I've done two cruises with the new menus with vegan options and still have had the option to order just about anything off the menu.  First night is a bit harder as they don't get advanced notice but after that I pre-order each night for the next day just like I have always done in the past.

 

Night one from the Welcome Aboard menu, they were able to modify the Pan-Roasted Fish Fillet to be dairy free.  I was looking forward to fish and was happy with the vegan appetizer and dessert so didn't ask about any other options.

 

FYI - Almond and soy milk are available at Cafe Promenade and in the main dining room (I haven't asked at the buffet but I imagine they are available there too).

Thanks for the info. I stopped notifying special needs on the last 2 cruises because they told me to see the head waiter instead.

Fish fillet sounds great!

Looking forward to following your live review as it will be our first time on this class of ship. 😁

We’ll be boarding when you’re back in Port Canaveral on the 20th. 
It’s good to know the head waiter will still work with you on the menu. I also have a dairy allergy, but I thought they weren’t doing anything special anymore. I thought I had to order vegan but there’s a few vegan dinners that I’m not going to enjoy. Did you contact the head waiter when you boarded or did you let them know on the first night? Thanks! 

11 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

We are now watching RC “innovation” at work. We are making bets if this disappears at the next dry dock or not. 
 

 

 

I’m in the unpopular opinion here: We love the Bionic bar. Especially as a stop before dinner for a drink. She has her secrets…🍹🍸IYKYK. And for those looking for the human connection, I always tip the staff that is usually there to keep it clean and ensure it runs smoothly. 😉

Great review. I always look forward to reading them. 😁🏄‍♂️

Did you receive any updates for Labadee? Someone posted on CC that some offshore excursions for this week’s sailings got cancelled (fishing, Sea Doos, etc.), but others said future sailings still have them.

I read an initial report that said this was a rescue cat that was supposed to be euthanized. This was a desperate attempt by someone to save the cat. Earlier reports also say it was unclear if the person who smuggled the cat was the cat’s owner.🤷🏻‍♀️🐈‍⬛ Lucky kitty.

3 minutes ago, nana51 said:

Hoping to see more reviews 

So sorry. I’ve been recovering from my post cruise bug. Not Covid but a really bad cold. I had a migraine on Day 6 so it could have unknowingly been a pre-cursor to the bug. Today was the first day I have had any energy so just getting caught up with the land based stuff.  
 

I will be back soon to finish my now non-live review. 😁

42 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

I have NEVER seen a bar with a "tap box"

It’s a little white box that I have seen at most bars. We’re on Harmony and they have them, but the dining room doesn’t have it out. By day 2 most of the other bars put it on the bar top to use once they make your drink. I didn’t see it at Boleros but in that case we just gave them our room # and they could see our drink package.

Love the WOW bands. I never wait for a server to bring a drink except the dining room and that’s if I don’t bring it with me. Much more convenient to tap for drinks and store purchases. After a day or two most bars put the tap box out so you don’t really need to take it off.

We removed the old muster station on ours and then got them reprogrammed for the current sailing.

Day 2

Up for MDR breakfast which was nice but Solarium is closer so we likely do that tomorrow.  DH is off to FlowRider.

WOW bands. We were able to get our old WOW bands reprogrammed. We had sanded off the old muster station. They originally said they won’t reprogram them but since ours is mow not showing anymore, they just reprogrammed them. 😁👍Depending on the bar, you might need to remove it or you can just give them your room number.

Tonight we will try to track down the Casino host as my husband’s card would not register on the machines. GS said his card was otherwise fine.🎰

Captain is booking it to Cozumel, not our first stop, due to a medical event We dock briefly tonight then off to Costa Maya tomorrow. He said it shouldn’t affect our schedule but 🙏🏻 prayers that this passenger gets the help they need.

Dinner was in the MDR. Beef tenderloin for DH and Beef Bourgonion for me. Both were excellent.

Boleros is my new favourite bar. Great cocktails and the band was excellent. The Schooner Bar piano player doesn’t sing that great 🙁. The guitar singer in the pub was good but it was crowded by the time we got there.

Costa Maya tomorrow but we are staying on the ship. One day we will get off jut not tomorrow.
 

Day 1 

Very long car lineup to get into the port. We took an Uber so they were able to get in the taxi line but I don’t think there was much advantage over car’s dropping off other passengers. We had a 10:30 embarkation and each time slot had a separate line. Ours was short as we were arrived at the port at 10:40. The line for 11:00 was huge. 

Long line for security but we finally got on the ship. Rooms were ready around 1:30pm.

DH went straight to the FlowRider while I sorted out Voom connection issues.

Dinner in the MDR. I have dietary restrictions (no milk products) and they kindly swapped out my mashed potatoes that came with the prime rib for a baked potato. I had the vegan peanut butter bar for dessert. It was like a very peanutty rice crispy treat!My meal was great. DH had the fried chicken and key lime pie. He enjoyed it. 

I was a bit tired from the day’s events and my not limiting my walking took a toll on my hip so we packed it in early.

Dinner at Bayside Marketplace

The pre-cruise hotel.

Arrived in Miami! 🌴

Took the MIA mover to the Tri Rail which had a stop about a block from our hotel in Brickell (found out it rhymes with pickle not brick-elle 😬).

We had a lovely chat with a fellow on the train who was coming home from Japan. He kindly offered to be our tour guide for the trip. 💕

6 hours ago, Welly9 said:

Neeny, we avoid YYZ at all costs! 1st its one of the worst hubs/airports on the continent, and AC is awful, WJ is no better! We prefer to go to Buffalo or Detroit, cross the US border their and back and so much slicker! Then you are flying within the US - again so much smoother. 

We use Nexus too so we are pre cleared and skip the long lines at any airport, BUT sometimes in TO or Montreal they shut them down! 

Last year/May 2022 coming back from our Italy/Greece cruise, they re routed us thru Montreal then to TO, omg LMAO they are a joke, the customs agent in Canada, hardly spoke clear English to start, asked why we are flying back to London??? and highlighted our boarding pass to clear thru another area for Internationals, i had to explain to her, we are from London Ontario CANADA, and was on all our docs! And of course, they lost our bags! lol

 

OH have fun!!! Enjoy your cruise!! 

 

@Welly9✈️ Smoothly done on my trip two weeks ago and today. I’m hoping they have ironed out the issues.  US Customs was a big line and although we got routed to a separate line early this time (I have a cane), it was moving quickly and I think we would have been through in 30 minutes if we stayed in the regular line. We live very close to YYZ so it’s our preferred airport. 

The pre-flight:

Fortunately no pre-flight as our scheduled flight is on time to MIA. We dodged a big weather event in Florida.  My heart goes out to those who are dealing with the damage to their homes and cars. And also a big 👏 to our fellow cruisers who persevered, rebooked their flights, rented cars and will drive for hours before arriving at the port the day before and unavoidably for many, the day of the cruise. I wish you all safe travels.

The pre-US customs:

Flying out of YYZ (Toronto) so we went through US customs in Toronto before we board our flight. 👍 MPC is down so no express customs line. Huge lineup for security and customs so get there early.

The pre-drink package plans:

No lounge alcohol until 11am (after our flight leaves) but we’ll have one or two on the flight and then one with dinner. I need to prep for the DX beverage package. 🍹😁

The pre-boarding health check:

We have done the health check on the app. Go to Edit Check in and then for each person scroll down to the health check, answer the questions and select submit.

The Pre-weather:

We fly in to Miami on Friday and sail away is Saturday. 😬 

The pre-trip: 

We just returned from Florida two weeks ago. The guys golfed and the ladies had planned several outings. One lady had a big list of things to do. It was a bit too much walking for me at this time, but we did see eagles at their nests, owls nesting and a mama manatee and her baby. We went down to the Wellington Equestrian Festival and saw the jumping competition. Parking and admission were free and we saw World / Olympic class riders and their horses.

The pre-amble:

It’s just me and DH this time. DS is in school until June. 

We were on Harmony back in 2017 when she was about a year old. We had a noisy cabin due to a loose item in the bulkhead (we thought it was our neighbours and they thought it was us)😳. 

We are going to Costa Maya, Roatan, Cozumel and Coco Cay. All beach days for us.

The pre-cruise:

We’re flying into Miami on Friday and I hope there is a break in the weather. And that hope is for the Floridians. Looking at the weather, it’s been a deluge with flood warnings. There are Pride events 🌈 in Miami this weekend so I’m hoping that they will have great weather. 

We’re staying in Brickell and we are hoping to get over to Bayside Market Place for dinner but it may depend on the weather. No problem as there’s lots of places to eat near our hotel.

DH: “Is there a problem?”

M: “No problem, I’m just waiting for the Porter to put our luggage on the cart”

One time I got to the door and then went back to the porter because it was still at the curb, so I asked him if he could put it on the cart. 🤷🏻‍♀️ If it doesn’t go on right away then I usually ask them and wait for it to be done. We tip about $5 per bag. Everything has gone up these days so our tip will likely be a bit more next time.

6 hours ago, perfect match said:

Thank you, @WVU-79 and everyone else for sharing your experiences with booking this package. I just bought one package which should include both me and DH per their description for our Odyssey cruise coming up in April. I’m going to print out their offer just in case it disappears 😱. I like having a paper trail. I haven’t cancelled my internet package bought at Black Friday prices yet just in case this does turn out to be a glitch and gets cancelled on us. If it still looks good for this package, I’ll cancel the internet before our cruise planner closes pre embarkation. I know we won’t do or use everything listed, but even with just the things we will use it’s a great deal! 

Ditto. Also not canceling any original items until a few days before the cruise. 
😁🍀

No birth certificate or passport but I bet he had a hoot of a cruise. 🦉💕

We had a noise issue on Harmony in 2017. Thought the neighbours didn’t close their closet and it kept making a banging noise.  After a couple of nights we got up the nerve to ask them about the noise and they thought it was us😳.
I called our room steward who called the Hotel manager, that’s who you call to resolve cabin issues.
It turns out that it was a loose item in the bulkhead between the cabins. The HM made us some offers, but we declined as they had temporarily secured the loose item so that we barely noticed it for the rest of the cruise. 👍

12 hours ago, Ret MP said:

Yes, thank you.  But, the bar and system can't make a frozen drink like a frozen Margarita.  And mixers are limited to the none frozen kind and/or very think kind, like puree.  The machines couldn't make them for my wife on a few cruises that we were on that had the Bionic Bar.  We have yet to get a drink at the Bionic Bar.  The wife likes Malibu Rum, Mango Puree, made frozen.  

Frozen drinks were never offered. It’s poured, shaken or stirred drinks. I guess it’s not the bar for your spouse. 🤷🏻‍♀️

11 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

I would think that the bar has a wide variety of alcohol and brands.  I think the real questions is what is the availability of mixers (mango, strawberry puree, and such) and capabilities (like making a frozen Margarita, et al).  But, if you are a Rum and Coke type of person, I'm sure there is something to meet your needs.  

They have an attendant that keeps it stocked. 
Pro tip: Make a custom cocktail 🍹 😉

8 hours ago, jagsfan said:

It’s the Royal app, my sailing Feb 26. 
I can see the menus for early and late dinner. But even looking at all three MDRs, I can’t see lunch menus. 

Just wondering if your app updated? 

1 minute ago, poocher said:

And the robots will NEVER pour generously!

As I said earlier, custom drink. 🍸😉