Maddycakes

Since Covid, My DH and I have been on the SOS, and we are going to sail the AOS at the end of May.  On SOS we were able to see Hairspray, but Flight was not offered.  Cruises, pre-covid, there usually has been two production shows, two different skating shows, and if I remember correctly some ships had two different diving shows.  I am hoping they bring back the full entertainment schedule for my May cruise.  Has anyone heard anything about bringing all the shows back?  Or is this the new normal?

following

Thank you for all the advice.  It is very much appreciated!!!

June 14th we are booked on the FOS out of San Juan.  Our departure time is 8pm.  We are flying into San Juan early in the morning on the 14th.  My question is can we drop off our luggage at the port and enjoy San Juan prior to departure?  If no, any suggestions on how we can get a little sight seeing done and take care of our luggage. 

How was your experience with hooked?  

Has anyone done both properties and could give me some feedback?  Need help deciding which would be a better fit.

Good Morning,

Lately I have been very pleased to read a number of reviews which says Sorrento's pizza was good, some even say very good.  The last time a cruised was June 2018 and the pizza, at best, tasted just as good as the frozen pizza I could get at the local grocery store.  Does anyone know if they revamped the pizza?  It would be great if they did:-)

Interesting... I have been playing with the idea of taking the Freedom of the Seas in June of 2020.  However, the cruise seems to not be listed any longer for the months of May, and June.... I wonder if they pushed back dry docking or possibly it could just be a glitch in the search engine I was using.

Was playmakers open for lunch on port days?

Good Morning,

We touch down in Ft. Lauderdale airport at approximately 7:30 am of the day of our cruise.  We plan to uber to port of Miami which is where we sail out of.  We definitely want to get to the port early, however, this may be just a tad too early;-)  Any advice to how we can kill sometime keeping in mind we will have all of our luggage with us?  I was kinda hoping there would be a plaza close to port with a grocery store (so we can pick up wine and odds and ends prior to the cruise) and a breakfast place to kill some time...

Thank you!!!  I'll take a look:-)

Just starting to research options for our family cruise for the summer of 2020. Indy is one of the ships we are considering.  Has it been revamped?  If so what changes have been made?

1 hour ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Ok, I understand your thoughts about lunch time meals, but I believe that the specialty restaurants are not open on port days. 

I was referring to JR or playmakers...

LOL!!! No, I am referring to booking, and what restaurants were included.  I am hoping that hibachi is included, lunch embarkation is included, and basically if the specialty restaurant is open, regardless of lunch or dinner hours or sea or port days, the  use of the package would be permitted.  Also, if vintages was permitted would be awesome as well:-)

Not sure when the new program was going to start, but has anyone had any experience with the unlimited dining package that they would like to share?

I would LOVE to know the bed placement for our upcoming Symphony of the Seas cruise.  We are room 8298.  Any amazing individual know the placement for this cabin?

I am in the process of researching the cruise and itinerary for our family's vacation for summer 2020.  I have narrowed it down to Freedom of the Seas, which takes out of San Juan.

I have two itineraries to choose from however, I am not familiar with all the ports so I was hoping I could get some advice/recommendations.

First option is; St. Thomas, Bassetrre, St. John's, Castries, and Bridgetown.

OR

Oranjestad, Willemstad, Kralendijk, and Philipsburg.

Thank you in advance for your help:-)

Maddycakes

Thanks for the comparison, My wife and I are sailing Getaway in January 2015 the time of year we always take a cruise. We Love Love the Oasis Class ships, but I have to agree about the bartenders. :p

 

We are Diamond level with RCL and have sailed Oasis 2 times and Allure once. We love the class of ship and do all specialty dining. So much so that on our last cruise on Oasis the head waiter in Chops gave us a public thank you for dining with them twice in a week.

 

Here is my rub though, just like was pointed out in a prior post "price". We are sailing in an Aft Penthouse Suite in the Haven for hundreds of dollars less than I can sail on Oasis in a "Jr. Suite". Oasis gives you nothing as a Jr Suite guest. No need as I said we are Diamond but come on a little larger cabin for the price and nothing given. You have to go Grand Suite or higher to get some perks. We have done that but again price. We are excited to experience Haven. Talk about a balcony 300 square feet! To get anything close on Oasis you have to be in the family suites in the back of the ship by the Aqua center $$$$$.

I think your experience on the Getaway will be vastly different than mine. According to reviews that I have read people who have sailed the haven level suites absolutely glow about the experience. At first reading your comment I was hesitant about your choice, but when I read that you would be in the haven it swayed me. I think you might still miss a little bit of the "wow" factor of the Oasis, but the haven area and service should help fill the void. Either way you will have a wonderful time.

We are diamonds on RCI also. We have not been able to travel as of yet in any type of suites; however, we greatly missed our diamond perks on the Getaway. I just wish that RCI would just lower their prices just a bit to put it back in our vaction budget. A girl can wish right?:D

Cabin

We were two families traveling together. The other family decided to get a regular balcony near an elevator. We decided to save $100 and gamble with a guaranteed balcony. We got VERY lucky. We were assigned to room 8112. This room is near the front of the ship. The secret is it has an abnormally large balcony. The average balcony is approximately 30 square feet. Our balcony was over 100 square feet!! Total score! The room and storage were very comparable to rooms that I have had on RCI ships. I did like the shower more on the Getaway, it felt larger. Also there were free movies you could watch on the TV. You could look through a menu on the TV and select a movie. I liked this feature.

On a side note, one thing that annoyed me was the sofa couch not being turned back into a sofa in the morning. At first I thought it might be just our room attendant. I did not complain because he was very nice and I did not want to be a pain. One evening I was talking to the other family about the pro’s and con’s of the Getaway vs. the Oasis, and I said I liked that on the Oasis they make up the sofa bed every morning. My friend confirmed that her room attendant also did not convert the bed. I know it is a small thing, but the small things sometimes make a difference.

Public Rooms

Oasis/Allure has my vote again. Don’t get me wrong both ships are beautiful and are decorated beautifully, I just feel that Oasis’s layout and grandiosity of their public areas is amazing. Like I mentioned before the WOW factor is there!

Getaway is comprised of a lot of small areas that are tastefully designed. However, there were a few misses for me. One miss is the casino. It is awkwardly placed in the middle of the ship and almost seems like an afterthought. Having a more defined area for a casino adds to the excitement IMHO. Next miss is the theater. It is small and nondescript. The theater on both Freedom and Oasis class ships blow it out of the water. And don’t even let me get into the pool deck. Those of you who have sailed both classes know exactly what I mean. Let’s just say pool real estate is limited on the Getaway. Plus I REALLY missed the solarium on the Oasis. It is opulent and beautiful. The Getaway H2O spice was bare and non-descript. Kind of a waste of space, they had so much room they could have really done more.

On a side note, one thing that drove me crazy in the public areas were where they decided to set up professional pictures. Without fail the pictures were set up in the middle of a high traffic area where you would have to wait until the photographer finished taking the picture. Not a big deal but annoying.

I know it seems like I am slamming the Getaway, so I want to throw in some positive experiences that were better than RCI. First were the drink prices. I like bloody Mary’s and virgin smoothies, both were under $6. I also ordered the mojioto flight. This also came in a beer flight and a matini flight. The presentation is beautiful. It gives you 6 differnt variations of the cocktail for $15. Great deal! Also I thought the bartenders on RCI could be pushy and at times annoying, Getaway bar staff were not. Another big plus for Getaway is how they welcome you back from port. When you return to the ship they hand out cold towels, and water. They throw a little celebration welcoming you back to the ship. This was a nice touch. And the ropes course was AWESOME. We LOVED it. However, be aware, when you get to the zipline portion they will tell you to run and jump off the ledge. Remember to run. On my first try I was so concerned about the rope not supporting my weight that I gently walked off the ledge. Really bad idea!! I got stuck half way across and had to swing my body weight to make it to the other end! This was not a pretty sight and boy was it embarrassing. Lesson learned!

Thank you for the comparison and I agree that it all comes down to personal preference and what a cruise should be for each person. I have not been on a breakaway class ship but have been on the Allure, however, I do plan to cruise on the Escape in 2016.

 

My boss has cruised on both Oasis and Allure more than once each and raves about them. However, when he cruised on the Breakaway last Summer to Bermuda, he said they had a great time and loved the ship and the "one with the sea" feeling it gave. I asked him which was better and he said, it wasn't about which is better but rather that they are just different and enjoys both.

Your boss is right. I think it comes down to what your personal preferences are. We love sailing the newest, and largest ships. However, I read alot of reviews of cruisers who perfer the personal touches and charm of the older and smaller ships.

I think even though the Getaway is a large ship it gives off the charm of a smaller ship. I think this is because instead of the over the top areas such as the prominade, central park, and boardwalk areas (which I LOVE), they break up Getaway into many intiment areas.

Side note: spell check is not working on my computer. Please excuse my TERRIBLE spelling:o

Thanks for your comparisons! I would love to sail the Oasis or Allure one of these days...and the Getaway too. :-)

 

Scary experience about seeing the woman fall and how NCL responded. I would have been thinking much of what you and your husband were thinking. Agree with the poster who said you may want to contact NCL about that experience. When it comes to emergency situations, I would hope any company is willing to listen to their customers to improve how those types of situations are handled. That poor woman.

 

Also, I will say that food is totally subjective. We love the food on NCL. My husband can still list off all the items he enjoys on the NCL menus over a year after our last NCL sailing. We sailed RCCL's Indy this past February...and hated the food. I wasn't a fan of the food on the Grandeur a couple years ago, but went into our Indy sailing with an open mind, because we loved the itinerary. Let's just say we ate a fair amount of pizza on our honeymoon. My husband will not sail RCCL again until they change their menus. We're not foodies, but suffice it to say our experience on the Indy was yours in reverse on the Getaway -- we gained no weight on the Indy. ;-) Is there better food on the larger-class ships? It's the same across the fleet, so doubtful!

 

Last thing and not related at all to your post: notice you are from Clearwater. My DH and I were married on Clearwater Beach at the Sandpearl last November. LOVE Clearwater and Clearwater Beach and cannot wait to return!

 

Looking forward to reading more!

The Sandpearl is a beautiful hotel. I am embaressed to say I take the beauty of my area for granted. I can't rember the last time I went to the beach. I am going to have to put it on my to-do list in the immedate future:)

I agree food is subjective and can be a hit or miss. In 2010 we went on a Freedom class ship, the following year Allure, then the next year Oasis, then because of budget back to the Freedom. The food on the Freedom was OK. I think we got spoiled with the deversity of options on the Oasis class ship. We were so underwhelmed that we decided to try the Getaway out for this years cruise. I would put the getaway cousine on par with Freedom (give or take here and there), but not as good as Oasis..

But that is just my openion. Believe me I never go hungry on any cruise and manage to pack on a few pounds on all my cruises:o

Could you please define average? That could vary considerably depending on where you come from.

 

 

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You are right! Weight is very subjective. The women looked to be in her mid 60's, probably weighing in around 150ish, or possible a dress size 12ish. She looked like your average grandmother:D

OK down to the review. My family and I have been on both the Oasis of the Sea and the Allure of the Sea. These ships have been our favorites. Due to prices we decided to give the Getaway a try.

 

Prior to the cruise, like a lot of people on this site, I researched every review I could find. One of the reviews that I read that articulated the comparison of these two class of ships most accurately mentioned the “WOW” factor. After cruising both class of ships I could not agree with the analysis more. The Oasis class ship has a remarkable, jaw dropping, WOW factor that is undeniable. After you cruise this class of ships it is really hard to be wowed on any other vessel. I definitely missed the drama/ WOW factor on the Getaway.

 

Dining

 

I found the buffet to be comparable on both class of ships. Oasis probably has a slight edge because it has more variety of choices. However, I was very impressed with the hamburgers on the buffet. Normally, I avoid burgers on a buffet, but I snuck a bite on the last day of the cruise of my DH plate and I was pleasantly surprised.

 

Oasis totally kicks Getaway’s but with room service and “anytime” food. The Getaway room service menu options were pathetic. You could also order pizza for a $5 charge, which we did and it was terrible. On the Oasis they have a pizza joint that was open almost all the time. I would say prior to this cruise I would consider the Oasis pizza just OK. However, after eating the Getaway’s pizza I would have to rank the Oasis’s pizza gourmetJ. The other “anytime” food option was the Irish pub. The food was OK, just typical bar food. The menu never varied. Oasis “anytime” eatery’s options varied and there was more to choose from.

 

The Getaway wins with the quantity of specialty restaurants, but in my opinion the Oasis whens in quality. We only ate in the specialty restaurants on the Getaway. I really enjoyed the hibachi restaurant. The food and the entertainment were great. Cagney’s was good, but Chops whens hands down in my book. The kids LOVED the Brazilian style restaurant, but I was underwhelmed, then again I am not a huge meat eater so take that with a grain of salt. The Italian restaurant was OK, nothing spectacular. My favorite restaurant was the Le Bistro. We received the ultimate dining plan for free with our cruise package, had I had to pay a surcharge at every specialty restaurant I would have been disappointed. Other than Le Bistro all other restaurants quality of food is comparable to what I might have ordered in the main dining room on the Oasis.

 

Both ships have a multitude of other eateries. Unfortunately, a lot of the Getaway’s options were just open for dinner. Because of this I did not get to try some that I might have liked. If my memory is correct, Oasis eateries had more varied hours which allowed me to stuff myself more frequentlyJ It seemed the times I would want a snack, usually 4pmish and midnight before we went to bed, there was limited options. I guess those keeping score could count this one as a plus to Getaway for limiting the amount of pounds I could have gainedJ

 

I have to go for now. I will post more of my thoughts laterJ

 

Here is one of the biggest ironies. On most reviews critics have complained about the food

Sorry, I just noticed when I cut and pasted this part of the review I deleted the last paragraph...

Here is one of the biggest ironies. On most reviews critics have complained about the food served at the magic show and the wine musical. I found both meals to be good! And comparing it with the other meals I had on the cruise one of my favorite meals. Go figureJ

Out of curiosity, how large was this "elderly woman?"

 

 

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She was average sized. :)