essgee_ca

Hello Cruise Critic Friends!  

It has been a long time since I checked in.  I finally feel safe cruising again and got the cruise bug.  A cruise came across my Travelzoo feed that looked interesting.  Long story short, I booked cruise of the Islands of Fiji on the Fijian Princess for the end of March.

What I'm looking for from you is information, tips, "must sees" and suggestions.  Any suggestions for my pre and post cruise stay would be welcome too.  I'm in Fiji (20 minutes from the airport) for 2 days pre cruise and 1 day post.  I will have traveled for over 18 hours by the time I get to Fiji so will likely be very jetlagged, meaning the first day may be shot.  But, hey, who knows?

Thanks in advance!

I've been refunded for both of my cruises (both cancelled by Royal).  In both cases the deposit was separate from the final payment.  The first cruise (originally scheduled to leave on Tuesday! 😞) was pretty straight forward: two down payment refunds and two final payment refunds.  The second cruise was more confusing.  There were two refunds for the down payment and then two separate but different amounts for the final payment.  What I finally figured out was that we purchased a BOGO 60% off and that's how they refunded it - one at full price and the other at 60% off.

I have not been refunded cruise essential purchases on either cruise yet.

1 hour ago, ROYAL CARIBBEAN DUDE said:

Thanks for your continued support guys! You guys have shown me so much love for my YouTube content, I am really lucky to have you as viewers.

 

I've spent the last week trying to figure out how to keep my channel growing, and the type of content I want to make moving forward. I actually didn't enjoy making the Q&A videos at home, and I would much rather make content I enjoy creating.

 

I have a lot of videos already made, before the Coronavirus pandemic started, and I should have enough cruise content to post once a week - to last until cruising starts again.

 

I am back home in the UK safe, sound and healthy.

 

 

Chris Wong

Good to hear from you, Chris, especially that you are safe and healthy.  I grew concerned when there were no new vlogs and the more recent ones disappeared.  I love seeing your cruise vlogs, so I'm happy if you keep posting those.  After all, given the new reality, it's likely the only cruising we'll be doing for quite some time.

Thank you for continuing to entertain us!

What has happened to his vlogs now?  He was posting from home, (England) about life in isolation.  He started a series "ask me anything about working on a cruise ship" and did several vlogs where he answered numerous questions.

Now I can't find any of those newer videos.  When I do a search for his vlogs, the newest one that shows up is when he leaves and flies home. 

Has he been shut down?  Is he sick?  I'm not a twitter follower or any other social media.  Has anyone heard anything?  Is he ok?

I went back a few pages and did not see this topic.  My apologies if this has already been discussed.

I have two cruises booked, one of which has been cancelled and the other will likely be cancelled.  My question is this: For both cruises my TA gave us some on-board credit.  Will we lose it with the cancellation of the cruise or will that be part of the refund?  Not a huge amount, just curious if anyone who has already gotten their refund got the on-board credit refunded too.

At the end of the Day 8 vlog while he is recording the sunset he says it will be his "last sunset onboard."  I thought it an odd thing to say when at the beginning he said it was 50-50 whether or not he'd be going back to the UK.

In another (or maybe even day 8 ) vlog, I thought he mentioned Oasis going to Miami.  Again I thought that odd.  Why would Miami allow them to dock when they are not allowing cruise ships to dock? Maybe after the 14 day self isolation with no cases they would allow it?  I don't know.  I don't think anyone does.

Just watched Chris Wong's vlog and at the beginning he is saying there is a 50-50 chance that he will go back to the UK.  At the end while he is filming the sunset he says this will be "my last sunset onboard." Something obviously happened between the two segments of his recording.

I can hardly wait until cruising is back to normal! I will be retired in 6 weeks and plan to spend a lot of my retirement on a ship I hope!

This was emailed to me by my TA on March 11th:

15 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

So glad you are home!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 

Do you have to self isolate?

10 hours ago, sgk2000 said:

We are on the Oasis April 5,2020 cruise and have been unable to book entertainment.  No one posting on our roll call has been able to.  April 12th roll call have not been able to either.  There was a post o the April 12th roll call that there was a conflict in scheduling.  Have you had any problems with entertainment on your cruise or heard of future problems?

Sailing on Oasis June 7th (and really looking forward to it) and entertainment just opened today.  Booked all our shows.

She appears to be moving now....

Parsipany has been suggested (earlier on this forum) for pre cruise stay.  What amenities can be found near the hotels there?  Are there stores and restaurants nearby?

Thanks.

3 hours ago, Jimbo said:

They are heading to Coco Cay tomorrow, I guess they don't have far to go, they could swim it.  135 miles and 13 hours to get there.

Looking forward to hearing about this. Sailing on Lady O in June and have booked the hot air balloon "excursion" on Coco Cay.  Curious to hear about all the new stuff.

Thank you so much for your advice.  I'll sign us up for the guided tour.

10 hours ago, SteerageJoe said:

I recommend you take the tour. 

 

You travel a different route to the KSC and avoid the general entrance lines and lines for the standard bus tour (included in standard admission). This will save a lot of time. You may also get to see a bit more of the active launch areas than the standard tour (your route depends on the actual rocket launch activity on the day of your tour - some areas are closed to the public during those times). 

 

You may also get to stay a bit longer (for some tours the KSC offer extra time to watch the IMAX films, etc).

 

 

Thanks.  Just to be clear, you're recommending the guided tour over the self guided?

Sorry if this has been asked before - looked back at 10 pages and didn't see it.

Sailing on Oasis of the Seas in June.  First of port of call is Port Canaveral.  My friend and I want to visit the Kennedy Space Center.  We don't dock until 1:00pm.  Ship offers two different tours.  One seems to be a  guided tour and the other seems to be self guided.  Costs are about the same.  What would you suggest?  Or should we go with an independent tour?  Thanks in advance.

I was able to book my MTD, for my May 2020 cruise, but it looks like for only the first night.  Does this make sense?  If I booked a time for the first night, will I be booked at that time for all nights?

9 hours ago, clochette said:

I love the wow bands, I often wear clothes without pockets and it is great not to have to worry about where to put a seapass.  I find them very convenient.

 

Ditto.  It's why even though I'm not going to be a suite guest on my Oasis sailing this summer, I will be looking into getting one of them.

It will also be nice by the pool. 

Question - can they be used to leave the ship?  Would be handy at the beach too.

Hey Chris!

Great video.  It's interesting to see how the crew live.  I don't think I'll ever complain again that guest cabins are small.  They look gigantic in comparison to what you live in.

I see the spelling of Assistant on your name tag is still incorrect.  Doesn't Royal care?  It kinda looks bad - you might even say unprofessional!  (Perhaps they replaced it and you just hung on to the old one for a laugh.)

Phew! Just read all 18 pages of this thread looking for an answer to my question.  Did not see it.  A friend and I are sailing Oasis of the Seas out of Bayonne June 7th.  Last time I sailed out of Cape Liberty I flew in.  My friend doesn't fly so we're driving down from Ontario.  The ship sails on Sunday so we're going to drive down on Saturday the 6th.  Last time I stayed at the Country Inn and Suites in Elizabeth.  I was thinking of staying there or nearby.  My main concern is this: I drive a high end vehicle.  How safe will it be in the hotel parking lot? (I'm worried because one of the first posts in this thread is about a jeep sitting on cinder blocks.) I plan on parking at the pier for safety and convenience.

Any other suggestions for hotels? We're hoping to keep it around $200 mark and won't need parking or a shuttle to the pier.  Breakfast included would be nice. I've seen Parsippany (sp?) mentioned many times and wonder if that would be a safer option.  How far is to the pier from there?  Having driven 8 hours (or more) the day before, I don't really want a lot of driving in the morning.  We plan to arrive at the pier at the suggested time frame of 10:00 - 10:30am.  Given that it is a Sunday, is that feasible?

Thanks in advance for your help.

3 hours ago, eem0924 said:

We booked a Boardwalk balcony on Oasis because of the great price and the extra perks (soda package and Johnny Rockets). It was fun to do the first time on a new ship, but I wouldn't do it again for the reasons listed.

 

It's nothing like an Ocean View Balcony......

 

Say what now? You get a complimentary soda package and Johnny Rockets food with the purchase of a Boardwalk Balcony?  First I hear of this.  Was it a perk your TA gave you or was this something from RCI?

Read this thread because I'm sailing on Oasis in June.  Searching on Cruise Critic is challenging to say the least.  I'm looking for info on complimentary beverages on Royal, more specifically Oasis.

Seeing the comments above I was prepared to hear that these things were $40 or $50.  Five bucks?  Wow is right.  I can see this coming in handy on formal nights when I'm wearing a dress with no pockets or at the beach or pool when I don't want to have to worry about where to put my sea-pass card.

I worry about losing one though.  Wouldn't someone be able to charge your account if they found it?

I've booked this cruise for June.  I've done this itinerary before.  For me, the real draw is the possibility of being able to drive to port - my travel mate doesn't fly and the ship.  I always wanted to try the Oasis class and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.