Snuggss

Hey everyone.  We have a booking for Odyssey OTS next year in a Balcony Guarantee that we made on our Freedom OTS cruise last month via NextCruise.  Under the stateroom category of XB-GTY it shows "Stateroom Obstructed View Percentage 0%".  Does this mean that we are not at risk of being assigned one of the Deck 6 balconies with an obstructed view, or is that still a possibility since it is only a Guarantee?

Thanks for the pics.  Did you specifically book that stateroom or did you have a GTY booking?  We'll be on Odyssey next year with a GTY booking currently and haven't decided if we want to just pay for an assigned room or try to get a JS through RoyalUP. 

That's the day after Thanksgiving, so traffic should be OK in the morning unless there is a wreck.  We were just on the Freedom and were off the ship and rolling last week by 8. With a 45 min drive, that would give you could make it for a 11:15 flight with 2+ hrs to make it through to the terminal.

It was $79 on Freedom last week.

I'm not worried about cancelling the other room, just wondering if there would be a problem with the other 2 people sleeping in the 2nd bedroom as our guests.  We are 2 adults & 2 15 year Olds.  One of each assigned to each stateroom but will sleep as 2 adults in balcony & 2 kids in the inside cabin. If we upgraded just one room, I would think that anyone we invited (the other 2) could stay assigned to their original cabin, but would stay in the suite.doubt I would win the Royal Up bid anyway.  Never have in the past.

We have an upcoming voyage on the Freedom of the Seas out of Miami.  1 Balcony room for 2 & the Interior across the hall for another 2.  If I was  to bid and win the 2 BR Grand Suite as an upgrade to the Balcony, could just have the 2 people in the interior room move in and we all stay in the 2 BR suite?  not sure if anyone has ever done this before, but just wondering if RC would be ok with it.

Just my 2 cents, but I think that the Specialty Restaurants have hurt the quality of the MDR.  It seemed that the quality of the food prior to the addition of the Specialties was what we now have to pay for now in Chops, Giovanni's, etc.  I remember the food on cruises that we took in the Early 2000's as the highlight of the trip.  Not that the food is bad now (usually better than the food at local chain restaurants) but it's not the next level dining that I remember from days gone by.

It's super easy.  Don't even stress it and you'll be on the ship in no time.

I've never won a bid since it became a thing.  Guess I'm too Cheap, LOL......

Go ahead and buy.  If it gets cheaper, you can always cancel it for refund and rebook at the lower rate. 

In addition, if you are getting multiple connections, buy it as one person with multiple devices instead of multiple people with 1 device each. For my little 4 day cruise on Freedom in July, it's currently $79.96 ($19.99 x 4 days) for 1 device for one person so 2 devices would be $159.92.  If you buy 2 devices for 1 person, its $123.96 ($15.495 per day X 2 days X 2 devices). 

Did you use the test provided by the government in the orange boxes?  We have a cruise coming up in July and were thinking of using the iHealth Proctors to utilize them.

16 hours ago, klfrodo said:

No. There won't be any fireworks. I believe only Disney does fireworks.

 

If I remember correctly, the MDR sings a USA patriotic song, there will be some red, white, and blue banners and decorations.

 

It's all a bit much in my humble opinion. This is an international ship, with international crew, international passengers, and sailing in international waters. 

Celebrations and fireworks to celebrate at home are expected.

Thanks for the response.  I reviewed the cruise compasses from last year after the restart and it looked like they did fireworks on the 4th with a "Fireworks Spectacular", but I wasn't sure if it was a normal thing or a one off.  

As far as the celebration is concerned, Since the ship ports in the US and is filled with what I would guess is an overwhelming portion of US citizens, it doesn't bother me if they wanted to celebrate the holiday.  Just like any other holiday (Christmas, Halloween, etc.) they have special events just for those although all on the ship might not participate/believe in that specific event. 

I would just love to see the fireworks at sea.  That would be cool in the darkness of night at sea on deck.

Hey all!!!!  We are booked on a 4 night cruise on the Freedom of the Seas departing Miami on the 4th of July.  The question I have is if there will be any sort of Independence Day Festivities onboard.  Has anyone ever had a trip on the 4th?  Might there be fireworks or anything from the ship?  That would be cool, but I can't find definitive info as to whether t here has been on previous cruises on the 4th.  Thanks to all that respond.

3 hours ago, CucaSean said:

Is the internet speed strong enough to support WiFi calling at sea on The Explorer of the Seas? Thanks!

It should be strong enough, I'd just suggest setting up the Wifi calling at home before you leave.  You will have to put in a home address and other things and it didn't want to go through on our previous cruise. We had to connect to a land based wifi in the past to turn it on.  Not sure how it is at this moment, but better safe than sorry.

Thanks for all that are giving info on this thread.  Didn't realize we could do this.  Gonna be way better than they Binax Now since I already have the 4 from the government.  Maybe they will cancel the requirement for our July cruise, but this is nice to have in our back pocket.

I second what SECdawg said.  Was a little worn, but spotless.  Sailed in November.  You'll have to wait to drop off in the room until 2 ish.  

Thanks to you all for the comments.  Our thoughts were to do the no-show, I was just curious if anyone else had done that instead of a straight cancellation.  Now, time to get packed as we head to Florida on Saturday morning.  

Hey cruisers, got a question.  We have a family cruise coming up this weekend on Harmony.  3 different rooms.  My sister decided 2 weeks ago to break up with her boyfriend, so he isn't going.  Couldn't find anyone else to go in his place.  What would be better, cancelling him or letting him be a no-show?  I'm thinking no-show as the prepaid gratuities & port fees/taxes would be refunded, right?  Cancellation would forfeit everything paid from what we can find.  Wanted to see if anyone else has had this happen.  Thanks.