Hackpba

You did the right thing to make reservations even though it is my time dining.  Recently on the Ovation of the seas we just went when we wanted and went through the “I have reservations line”. They were happy to accommodate us every night.  

We loved the Key Program on the Ovation of the seas in Alaska

We got a good price.. $19 a day so it made since to us as we were going to pay $13 a day for voom internet anyway.  
 

it was new to Ovation so we had to ask for some things.... but upon arriving on the ship, there were signs directing Key folks to a special area.  They took our carry on luggage from us and delivered it right to our room.  The beast at Chops was fantastic!  Lots to choose from and great service!  
 

The saved seats at the shows was a nice benefit... we totally spaced asking for the special Key seats at Pixel and regretted it, you really need to sit back or on the second floor to see that show.  
 

‘The special ship embankment worked out nice too.  We went to the theater and was told to sit in the Key area, waited just a few minutes and off we went.  The special times at the ifly, flowrider and north star worked out great for us.  The last morning breakfast was nice and relaxing.  
 

BUT... The best feature by far was the special exit off the ship!  They also had a special area just for Key Program luggage... and a guy there with a Cart that took all of our luggage outside to the long cab line... but wait... he went right to the front of that line, saving us at least an hour wait and made sure we got a van that could hold all of our luggage and 4 people!  
 

So for $19 a day I thought we got our money’s worth

I called RCCL to check one last time for a price drop before paying our cruise off.  The RCCL Representative on the phone said... “I can switch your cruise from a refundable to a non-refundable cruise and save you $550 and give you $75 on board credit.  Since you have the cruise insurance you are still covered”... 

i said... sure!  We have 56 days until the cruise... I hope I did the right thing... I never even thought about doing that.. and did not think you could... but RCCL suggested... 

🍿:rolleyes:

Yes, their are safes in the staterooms and yes, similar to what you have seen in hotel rooms.

Well... Ovation is coming over from the Far East to Alaska in 2019 so maybe Anthem will replace her?

I went ahead and reserved cabin 8278 - it's 8D category for total 5200. That didn't see like too bad of a deal for 11 night cruise on a new ship to Alaska. I hope this is a good cabin. I really haven't researched this ship or itinerary too much but Alaska has always been on my bucket list. I did pay more to have refundable deposit. Thinking about transferring to a TA to get some OBC.

Strange... I’m also booked on the May 13, 2019 Ovation of the seas Alaskan cruise .... in cabin 8278! Did you switch rooms?

I thought this itinerary was awesome... stops at both glaciers... starts in Vancouver and ends in Seattle. Will be my first visit to both cities and to Alaska. And I love the fact that it will be 11 days on a larger ship.

Oh no.... I too have been waiting for more! Love this review. Labadee has always been good to us. My wife loves the sea side massages and we seem to find a nice space in Columbus Cove. Glad I have missed the parade... that must be something new?

Can’t wait to hear more.... Ice Skating.... Famous Roast Beef Sandwich... running walking track, wonder view from the Aft... err... rear of the ship... does she ride the Merry Go Round?.... Putt Putt Golf... Zip Line... Rock Climbing.... Flowrider.... there has to be more.... I want more.... we want MORE!! :o

Merry Christmas 🎄 🎅🏼

Purchase the wifi on board for 2 devices. Download Hangouts or WhatApp on your phones. Use either app to text. As said you can also use Facebook Messager. We did this on Allure and it worked fine. We had a party of 6 and all of us stayed in contact.

As mentioned... Very Important... keep your phone in Airplane Mode so you won't be actually using phone and getting charged additional fees.

Enjoy.....

Be sure to check out the FREE BREAKFAST at Johnny Rockets!

Of course there is always a Starbucks on board for you! ☕️

Get the machines for sure! We won one game and got $250 and then on the win a cruise bingo on the last day.... yes.... we won a cruise! The machines were buy 2 and get one free for the win a cruise one. I think the machines play 30 games at a time and do all the work for you.

Bing Bong!

Be sure to go to the Boardwalk area and eat at the Park Cafe.... it's free... and that is where you will find the delicious carved in front of you Roast Beef Sandwiches!!!

You will thank me later .....

I think the minimum was $10 on Allure... the bigger issue is they only offered single and sometimes double odds...

I agree ... for such a large ship the table was empty a lot of times... especially during the day and early evening.

Anyone on Team Bing Bong? :D Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Oh yes... Marc Bing Bong.... he is a riot

I have taken a case of water on board all of my cruises. I use to do like you said and just put a luggage tag on the case of water. Now they ask you to carry it on as you board. So I just bring with me a carry on luggage with wheels and wheel it on board. Wait until the magic 1pm time when the cabins are available and put them in my refrigerator err... Cooler in the room. Of course ask you room attendant to take out the items they have in the fridge for sale....

Darn... As stated on the Allure of the seas last month I had awesome connections. Sad to hear it's not the same on the non Oasis class ships.

We went to the beach and went over to the "rocks" to see the Oasis sail away on Saturday. On our way back to our hotel we discovered the Nanking Asian Fusion. WOW... I thin it was located inside the Hilton. Upscale Chinese and you get water views.

I was just on the beautiful Allure of the seas last month and yes they do take it so stock up and put money on it... HOWEVER... They could not just scan it like they do in the stores. They had to manually enter my number every time. A little slower but it worked and they seemed happy to do it....

We were just on the Allure of the seas and used the valet service and loved it! Our flight was late, like around 5pm so we had plenty of time. We had an uber take us the the sawgrass mall and spent the afternoon shopping and even saw a movie.

Out luggage was taken the night before just like the others. We did not see them again until we got to the Indianapolis airport baggage claim. Highly recommend this service!

Yes like others have said, the three level MDR is just that. They call each level a different name but they all serve the same menus and are free. We did my time dining and had a wonderful experience.

Now to the other fun free places to eat.... As I was just on the Allure 4 weeks ago... Sigh...

Be sure to take your kids to the boardwalk area... Lots to do here... Free hot dogs, sausages and all the trimmings... Also in the morning free donuts there... And Johnny Rockets is there, breakfast is free, small charge for lunch and dinner. Also Sabor is there, small charge for Mexican food. Also fun shuffle board area right behind the aqua theater....

Royal Promenade, be sure to take the kids to Sorentos Pizza. All is free, including an area where you can tell them what you want on your pizza, so they build it for you, it only takes about 15 minutes to wait but it's so much better. Also the Cafe Promonade this there, free snacks, sandwiches, cookies.

Then there is the Central Park Area. I made the BIG MISTAKE of not trying the Park Cafe until the end of our cruise. This place is free and offers lots of options. Including more healthier selections, always had fresh fruit out for you to grab, a made to order salad area and the FAMOUS Roast Beef Sandwiches. Oh my this roast beef beauties area carved right in front of you, add the horseradish and gravy and WOW....

Also up on deck 15 in the back by the flow riders go the the wipe out grill. All free, made to order omelet for breakfast. Lunch has hamburgers and hot dogs and there are 2 ice cream machines. Did I say all of this is free....

We only went to the windjammer twice and the last time was the sad last morning breakfast before we were forced off the ship....

I was just on the Allure of the seas and purchased the Zoom stream wifi. Mint was awesome! I left my phone on airplane mode so I did not get any extra fees for roaming. M

I used the Whatsapp for texting and sharing pictures and videos. The people you text will also need this app. Me were also able to Skype. And in Facebook there is a feature I think in messenger where you can call people.

On Allure the connection was solid the entire week. Kind of fun to keep up with email, Facebook and share our cruise experience live.

We loved the Wile Out Cafe. It's located on deck 15 toward the back by the two flow riders on the Starboard (right) side. For breakfast they have a made to order omelette area and for lunch lots of hamburgers and hot dogs. And they gave two ice cream (okay frozen yogurt) machines.

Best yet, I never found it crowded. They have lots of outdoor seating by the basketball courts.

When we first boarded we went right to the Solarium area and had to wait for the Solarium Cafe to open, I think at noon. It was kind of busy.

And as mentioned... PLEASE don't be like me and forget about those delicious carved right in front of you, roast beef sandwiches in the Park Cafe in the Central Park area on deck 8. And everything mentioned is free...

And I am going to be the odd one out here........:D

We just got off Oasis on Saturday. First RCCL cruise. Normally Carnival cruisers.

While we LOVED our cruise and thought the ship was beautiful, it was just TOO BIG.

We felt such a huge disconnect with the water, we just didn't feel like we were on a cruise ship. And we had an oceanview balcony. That was the ONLY time we got to the see the water........Also, we felt ZERO movement. I love lying in bed at night and feeling the ship rock. NOTHING on this cruise. So weird.

 

We're going back to Carnival.

 

But we are happy we got to try Oasis out. Again, beautiful ship. Just not for us.:o

Interesting... I just had a wonderful week on the Allure of the seas. Now I can see if you are not looking for the ocean you could miss it... But come on really? We too had an ocean view balcony, sat out there a lot, room service breakfast every morning. But we did not stop there, did you fin the wonderful walking / running track on deck 5? Awesome views of the ocean there... How about the gym on deck 6? Treadmill every morning with an ocean view. And every night we were blessed with a window in the MDR and we saw the ...ocean.

How about on deck 6 in the back of the ship in the Boardwalk area? Just behind the aqua theater there is the shuffle board area and... The aft view of the ocean. We then walked around to the rock climbing walls and hey there is the ocean... What about Deck 15? We camped out a lot in the solarium and got lounge chairs with.... An ocean view! Then we walked to the back of the ship, looking at that beautiful ocean all the way to the flow riders where we turned around and saw the aft view of the... Ocean....

It was a large ship, but if offered so much to do. I guess to each his own, but if you did not see the ocean that was your fault....