ahughes517

On the Mariner now. For the beverage package, it’s the “classic” soda cups that RC has used for many years. Availability probably depends on the ship. 
 

Have a good cruise, no matter the cup! Cheers!

1 hour ago, welovetahiti said:

We'Il be tested in Ft. Lauderdale after flying in from California.  Do Walgreens or CVS give printed copies?  If not, will I be able to print out from my cell phone at the hotel?  I'm not great with cell phone usage (senior citizen).

You can ask them, for sure! I had to have them print my results from a January test, as the system was having a hard time emailing me my results. You could probably print them from your hotel, too - the concierge or front desk worker should be able to help you. Have a great cruise!

Our family of three is doing this for the first time next week. We bought passes during RC's Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale in November for $53/person. Since I've been tracking the price, that's the best I've seen by about 50% off. Pricing is dynamic per sailing, but I think that's a good price. 

We cruised on the Indy in January, and we only hung out in the suite lounge once. Just our opinion, but the appetizers weren't very good - the cheese was quite strange - and it wasn't really our type of crowd (mostly older, higher C&A tier folks). However, we were very pleased with the service we received from the concierge and liked the outdoor suite lounge area. If you're in a suite, you should most definitely check it out - it's part of the perks, after all! 😊 Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

On 2/7/2022 at 8:52 PM, movierev said:

Anyone recently cruise on the Indy?  Sailed in January 2022. We've got our cruise coming up at the end of the month and haven't seen any recent reviews or info on the boards. Have a few questions...

How is the ship condition? Good condition. Everything was super clean. The suite lounge looked a little worn, but overall, I think it looked good. 

Are the shows back up and running (Grease)? I think so, but we didn't attend any.

How was the food, specifically the specialty restaurants?  We had the Unlimited Dining Package, ad we were very happy with Chops. We repeated the crab cake appetizer and petite filet (sides -"tater tots," asparagus, mashed potatoes were all good), and also enjoyed the Caesar salad with chicken. Giovanni's was just OK - if you have good Italian restaurants back at home, skip Giovanni's. We also liked Playmakers - the wings were nice and spicy, the onion ring tower was crispy, and the cookie skillet dessert was the best dessert we had on the trip.

Any idea what capacity the ship is sailing at? 1,400 guests, just about the same amount of crew.

Was the mask mandate being enforced? Yes.

Are the reservations for entertainment and specialty restaurants quickly booked on the first day? We didn't have a problem booking our specialty restaurants, and we didn't do any entertainment reservations.

 

I know some of this is varies from week to week, but curious what recent cruisers experience has been.

 

I made mask chains last year - just lobster jewelry clasps, stretchy cord and Czech beads. No problem going through airport security detectors, so I imagine the same would follow, kind of like jewelry. Enjoy your cruise!

I'll add our experience renewing our son's passport. We submitted his passport paperwork at a post office on Oct. 5, and we received his new passport on Nov. 4, with his expired passport and paperwork on Nov. 13.

I'm glad we didn't pay for expedited service! 😉 

My husband and I have always enjoyed at least a few hours in Nassau. Definitely recommend John Watling's (it's a nice stroll from the cruise port) and Pirate Republic Brewing Company (just outside of the cruise port). We've spent a couple of hours just enjoying beers and conch in their upstairs dining room.

Also wanted to recommend John Watling's - a great tour, too. The tasting room has some great cocktails as well. 

Fun review so far! We leave next week on Freedom - question for Coco Cay: was South Beach open? Thanks!

1 hour ago, QuantumLeapUltra said:

Hello everyone!  Thank you for your help!

 

1) We are not interested in Internet packages (prefer to remain unplugged) - so how do we communicate onboard when spread across the ship?  What do you do?

We bring a magnetic notepad or dry erase board and put it outside our door for leaving notes. And some passersby might leave you some funny notes of their own. 🙂

 

2) What are the VERY FIRST things you do when stepping onboard... to get a jump on everyone else?  It is wise to maybe grab a drink and then sit down with the app and make all necessary reservations (for shows and such - COVID requirements)?  Will we have access to the app even though we won't have internet?

You have access to the app via the ship’s WiFi, no package required. When we board, we first like to hit a favorite bar.

 

3) We have the Deluxe drink package, so I assume that there is no need to bother with bringing anything (ie, water) onboard with us, right? 
Correct!

 

4) Are there any "hidden gem" events, or things that should otherwise NOT be missed?

Odyssey is a new ship, so there are lots of “new” things to explore.

 

5) We are huge Disney fans, and are well versed in many Disney "secrets"... ie, asking for secret menus at certain restaurants, knowing how to trigger secret events and such.  Is there anything like this onboard RCI cruise ships?  Any fun, known, ways to interact with events crew or the cruise director or such?  We are BIG into participation outside of our comfort zones.

Not to my knowledge, no.

 

6) Any major tips for Coco Cay?  How to maximize our day?

Search around for trip reports that mention Coco Cay…both on this forum and other places. Those can give you a good idea of what you would like. We personally like South Beach, and LOVE the mozzarella sticks and chicken sandwiches at the Snack Shack. Enjoy!

 

Thank you so much!

 

 

Replies in red!

I wanted to renew my passport before our August cruise, so I paid for the expedited service (via mail). Submitted my application in early May, got my passport back early July. Hope this helps someone who’s on the fence about expedited vs regular service via mail. 

Thanks for this report! It's super-helpful, as we're cruising the first weekend in August on FoS. Appreciate your details.

I also just got this email for our August 6 cruise on the Freedom of the Seas. We didn't need to submit proof of vaccination, like a PDF upload or anything...just gave us the option to say that we are fully vaccinated, so we will still need to show our vaccination proof at the pier.

15 minutes ago, PTAngel said:

My question is how do I download the app?  I am assuming I can find it in the app store.

That’s correct!

2 hours ago, bmblob said:

Is the original vaccination card needed?  Can a photo of it on your phone be sufficient?  Or should one print out the immunization record from their physician's office or medical records?

I would think that just as a photo of your passport wouldn’t be sufficient at the port, a photo of your vaccine card or immunization record also wouldn’t work. 

1 hour ago, lovescats5 said:

When do you show your vaccination card, at the terminal when you are checking in or do you have to give information on the Health online information?

It appears you show your vaccination card at the terminal. I haven’t seen an option for uploading it to the app. 

We are sailing on Freedom of the Seas August 6-9. We checked in via the app, which is very user-friendly.

There are three sections for each person: Travel Info, Arrival Time, and Health & Safety. Travel Info and Arrival Time should be completed as soon as you able; the Health & Safety section will be available the day before you cruise. Travel Info is your passport, security photo (taken through the app), emergency contact, etc. Arrival Time had us select a 30-minute window to arrive at the port (the earliest one we saw was 1-1:30 p.m. for a 7 p.m. departure).

Once we filled in the two available sections, we saw a "Not yet cleared to board" alert, which just shows that before we get onboard, we have to "Answer the health and safety questions the day before your cruise" and "Pass the wellness check at the terminal." The app said it will remind us the day before the cruise as well.

Hope this helps!

Our experience might show that RC is willing to change the name on the FCC. We recently took the FCC offer and booked a March 2022 Odyssey of the Seas cruise. We had about $500 in FCC leftover between my husband, our son and me. The RC person was willing to put that remaining amount only to my husband's and my name, just so we wouldn't have a random, small amount, and wouldn't be "forced" to take our son with us. 🙂 Of course, this means we may have to book a parents-only cruise. 😉

YMMV, but it does appear that there could be some flexibility. No harm in asking and explaining your case. Good luck!

We've done the Columbus Cove beach bungalows (Columbus Cove is the beach furthest from the ship). We thought they were super nice. We liked having a private sand area, attendant and personal space for our beach day with our then three-year-old son. We would absolutely book one again, though the price can fluctuate quite a bit (we paid somewhere in the $250-299 range).

We've done Labadee without a reserved bungalow, and it wasn't as fun. Granted, there are plenty of spots along the beach...we just didn't want to have to scout one out.

We were looking forward to trying the suite area this past August, but COVID cancelled our cruise. 

1. Odyssey of the Seas, March 2022

2. Oh man if this one doesn't sail, we've got bigger problems than cruising. 😉

3. We would absolutely be crushed to not sail this one. We had originally booked Oasis of the Seas for March 2020 (cancelled in Dec 2019 bc we couldn't find affordable airfare, but it would have been cancelled anyway due to COVID), then Independence of the Seas for  August 2020 (as a re-do of our Oasis cruise, with our first-ever one bedroom suite ☹️, but we took the 125% FCC when this one was cancelled). Happy that we got a quick 4-day on the Mariner of the Seas in February 2020.

We've done both Deck 12 and Deck 14, balconies, including underneath one of the hot tubs in the Solarium. We had no issues with noise...maybe just an little bit of soundtrack noise during one of the pool parties that we could only hear when we were outside on our balcony. The sound of the ocean wind drowned out most noises. We loved being that high up.

Another vote for Blanton’s! The last time we sailed the Oasis (pre-amp), the liquor shop had all of the Blanton’s letters arranged on a board - if your husband is a bourbon fan, he might find a picture of that to be pretty neat.

We were on the Mariner last week, and the bourbon selection in the liquor store was pretty poor. Not sure how liquor distribution is decided among the ships, but I was hoping to find some Blanton’s. Hope you find a bottle!

We are on the Mariner now. You both must have the Internet package to message each other. Which, if you both had the package, it would probably make sense to communicate via regular messaging vs the app bc of the loveliness of RC’s IT capabilities... 😜 Have a great cruise - it’s a fun ship!!

Our son was 3 the last time we cruised with him; he’ll be 6 on our next cruise this August, but we’ve done extensive travel since then. 

Absolutely echo what others have said - a few videos pre-loaded on a phone or tablet are essential. It’s also nice for the kiddo to have something familiar to watch. The RC TVs have a lot of cartoons, too.

We let our son pick a few toys, books and one stuffed animal for each trip. We remind him that these are the toys for the trip, and to choose carefully...definitely gives him an opportunity for ownership and to feel like he’s a part of the trip planning. 😉 Bubbles and glow sticks are also great toys to play with/share with other kids around the ship.

When he was younger, we brought some individually packaged snacks - like Goldfish - so he could have familiar food, if needed. Also packed a water bottle (with dish soap, so we could wash it in the sink each night), small amount of laundry detergent (accidents, food stains,) and Clorox wipes (to clean areas in the cabin.) Will probably still pack those cleaning items for our next cruise.

A little backpack for their trip is also great - we like one with a chest clip, so there’s less of a chance of him losing it. 

Hope this helps, and have a good cruise!