NanciRDH

I'll have to agree with rooms service on my balcony, but we only do that if we're in a suite so we can get the full meal. Our experience on both Oasis and Allure has been exceptional, the food arrived hot in less than 20 min, and the hash browns were declared best onboard by DH and the kids. I usually only order fruit and a bagle, but my bagle was still warm, unlike the MDR or WJ.

I agree with Capt BJ...in the early days of the new offsite lots there were a few price wars, but now they've become so popular I assume it isn't necessary. I did learn in September at Park and Cruise if you prepay it's $1 less per day than just making a reservation. These lots have become so popular I think, we've been using them for a couple of years now, and this year it was so full they parked the car for us, and then gave us the keys to keep, so no worries there.

I know this doesn't help you with scheduled activities, but be sure to pack a couple of cheap sand pails and shovels. Filled with socks or something in your luggage they won't take up much room, and cheap means you can leave them behind at the end if needed. Most kids didn't have sand toys, and my DD suddenly had lots of friends to play with on the beach, lol. They all had a good time sharing and making a few sand castles.

I bought a box of Pampers, taped the edges to be sure it would stay together and used clear packing tape as previously mentioned to hold down the luggage tag. It had handles in the sides of the box, the kind that are punched in, but I honestly never gave it a thought. It wasn't that big, or heavy to toss around, and it made it to the cabin with the rest of our bags. The remaining diapers at the end of the week were just tucked here and there in our bags.

On RCI sea days on Oasis and Allure (possibly others, these I know from experience) you could pay for a "lunch and play", you just had to let them know when you dropped them off in the am, and chose a lunch option for them. DD begged to stay, but we picked her up. DH and I kinda laughed because with this program and the late night party zone it would have been possible to drop her off at 9:00 am and not have to pick her up until 2:00 am. It was formal night, and leaving her for dinner was also an option, though that didn't cost extra. I couldn't imagine doing that, but I'm sure she would have loved it! LOL :p

Gem has Patrick, Sponge Bob, Diego and Dora! I know this for a fact because my oldest DD is "friends" with Dora! LOL. She grew up cruising, and going to dance class, and was lucky enough to combine her two passions into an awesome job. Though from the pics she posts on Facebook make her grandfather wonder if she really ever works. :D

We must be the unlucky ones! Even with 3 of us spinning since DD turned 18, we've won one keychain just once lol. Is there a prize above the shirt? I honestly haven't paid attention even though we take a chance every cruise because after all, it's "free" :D

We cruised in that suite on Allure...loved it! I don't have pics, but I'll answer any questions you've got. We are a family of 5, 3 girls aged 6, 14 & 18 at the time. We had no issues at all, and we're totally spoiled! DH preferred the shower in the second bath, he's tall, and the tub/shower combo in the master bath wasn't as comfortable. Oasis class RFS don't have DVD players like some other ships, but with 3 tvs, everyone was happy when we had some down time.

Congrats! We too won a cruise on another line, DH had the lucky card, and all we had to pay for was taxes and fees, less than $75 at the time. It was our first cruise, and we decided we used up all our luck then...I bit a slots jackpot, DH was lucky at the blackjack table, and of course the free cruise. Never been so lucky since! LOL

Thanks for the info...we're heading on when you disembark on the 4th. I'm a bit of a germophobe so my hands will likely be dry and ravaged from all the cleansing. Note to self: Pack lotion and sanitizer. :D

 

Glad you didn't come down ill...

 

Gold Bond has a great sanitizer/lotion combo! It's in the lotion section at Walmart, and I don't cruise without it.

 

My DD is crew on the Gem, and she said it hasn't been as bad for this current cruise as it was the previous week as far as ill pax and crew. She's part of the entertainment staff, and said they're not allowed into guest areas to eat (a staff perk) until the ship is well again. She and her team escaped the virus.

I already posted this on another thread, I did book FOS today, and was told the only exclusion was QOS. I took the D+ balcony discount...it was greater than the $100 OBC that was offered. I hadn't realized until last night there was a WOW sale, I tried to book our cruise online and saw it, but the website can never give me the connecting cabins I want...I'm always told not available, and offered something else, usually two cabins on different decks, lol. Calling direct gets me better results.

Well,if you dont want to call or use a travel agent to book it for you,Im afraid you won't be able to do it.:(

 

The Freedom was excluded??? :confused::confused::confused: It is supposed to be for ALL ships except the Quantum..

 

I booked Freedom today, for June. I was told only Quantum was excluded. And the price I was quoted was the same as I had seen on the site over the weekend. I had to decide between the C&A discount or OBC, and as D+ the discount was a greater value than the OBC, it was a no brainier choice. I knew this ahead of time, so no surprises there...I would have booked it myself online, but the site can never manage to find me connecting cabins.

We did the whole water park excursion thru the cruiseline...it seemed the easiest way at the time. I did price Comfort Suites, but weare a family of five, so that wouldn't work. It was fun, but as noted, rather expensive. Ticket prices were about 3x the daily rate for the Orlando area waterparks, and the food prices were typical theme park average, not as bad as I had expected. We had fun, it was different enough that it didn't feel like we were just at a standard "ride the slides" kind of place, but DH and I agreed that we most likely wouldn't spend the $$ again.

At 1 AM with a beer in hand I think that Sorrento's pizza tastes just fine. Now, if I were anywhere other that as cruise ship and given the same pizza my opinion might be somewhat different.

 

I totally agree! My teens had no complaints, even without the beer, lol. And it was often used as a bribe to get the little one away from AO at night...she had a choice of a slice, or a cookie from the cafe. DH and I appreciated it's close proximity to the pub when we were out late visiting friends from the roll call.

Personally as long as my bed is comfortable I could care less the direction it's facing...Once my drapes are closed it doesn't matter ;)

 

Ditto! I never sleep so well as I do at sea. :p. I've even looked at the Royal Caribbean bending collection when we were last talking about a new mattress. But unfortunately though it is affordable, it doesn't come with a room steward to make it up and turn it down every day. :cool:

I really must learn how to copy the quotes properly. My last message doesn't look how I intended it to, but never mind, the idea was there.:)

 

Click on the QUOTE button on the lower right of a post if you're only wanting to quote one post. If you want to multi-quote, use the (") button right next to the quote one, until you get to the last one you want to quote, then hit QUOTE, and all the messages you chose will pop up in the new message box. You then treat it like any normal reply.

 

Hope that helped!

 

Oh, and I said yes. :D

 

Congratulations!!!!

Thanks ARCruisinNana, duly noted. I've updated the spreadsheet so will say so on it from now on. Can we delete comments on here so that people get the new version not the old one? I can't find any way to do it

 

You can click the "edit" button on your own posts, but I think there's a 30 minute time limit to do that.

Awesome TR so far! Loving all the pics, can't wait for more. :)

It is always a table in one of the MDRs

 

It depends on which ship or cruiseline youre on...Oasis and Allure it's upstairs in the concierge lounge, and on Carnival Sensation it was in the library. I'm not sure about other ships, these are the ones I've seen.

Make that: EPIC FAIL!

 

Agreed, Wrong, so wrong...:mad:

Hey Nanci, how are you? I have used the freestyle machine on the Allure and I actually liked it.

 

Hey Mikie! We are all fine, getting excited for Oasis! :D

 

Where were the machines? (attempting to stay on topic :p)

From what I understand you also need it if you are using the Coke freestyle machines.

 

Oops, forgot about those! We haven't done the soda package since they were introduced. And from what I've read in reviews, they aren't getting favorable ones at all! They either run out or aren't located in convenient places.

You won't need to carry the cup, there will either be a sticker on your seapass, or if you order it ahead of time, it will be preprinted with one.

 

I can't help you with reviews, but remember, they are subjective...one persons miserable vacation is another's trip of a lifetime, even on the same cruise.

We want more!