dwp10mm

21 minutes ago, exm said:

Do you believe this? I got Celebrity Cruise now. They are giving me all cruise lines except Royal. Frustrating.

LOL.  I know the feeling.  Did you use the offer late last year?  I did and am wondering if that is preventing a new offer from the same company.  I have 4 cruises booked and could certainly buy something in the planner or pay off some additional balance to satisfy any offer they throw at me.  

Perfect. Thank you so much for the assist.  Our boarding time is 11:00.  And since we are used to getting up at 5:30 I don't mind a little longer drive.  If it looks like the launch is a go, we will likely head over early anyway to try and get a better view.  I haven't seen a launch since the first Challenger launch way back in 1983.  There was supposed to be one in 2019 when we were boarding Harmony.  But it was pushed back a day and we missed it.  

Exciting.  I'm on the 8/29 Indy sailing as well.  I saw how high rates were so I booked a hotel over in Melbourne area.  I figured I wasn't getting in until later in the evening so no reason to overpay for a place to sleep.  @John&LaLaif there is a launch that morning, would you recommend I come across 520 or 404 to work my way up to the port?  404 would be going south before I go north.  But not by much.

Checked on the Indy cruise I booked on Sunday this morning.  While the guarantee rate went down to $129 for an inside, the option to choose your own room would be $25 more a person than I paid.  I would also have to pay $80 more a person to upgrade to a guarantee balcony if they even allowed that.  I'll just stay where I am and be content to know I didn't leave money on the table by booking 3 days too early.  Now to put that money to good use....booking the drink package!  🙂

and of course there is an Indy cruise I booked two days ago.  Already inside final payment.  Maybe they will let me upgrade to a balcony if I call.  Although I know it clearly says new bookings only.

For reference, I also just booked a quick 4 night on Indy for end of August.  When I booked it was already inside check in being open on the app.  So as soon as the new cruise showed up in the app I went in to pick my arrival time.  11:00 to noon was still wide open.  Like you I was considering the Key just because of the minimal difference between the Surf internet package.  But since I don't care about the lunch I'll likely just get the 2 device surf/stream.

Well I put my money where my mouth is.  Booked Indy for end of Aug. with connecting Promenade rooms.  For a cheap 4 day cruise I'll take a chance.  Now, I've had these type of rooms 3 times before.  But in those cases I could open the door and tell the kids next door to shut up.  :-).  Hopefully I have quiet neighbors on this voyage.  

Very timely thread.  I am going to say I lean more towards the "more cruises" side.  From my cruise history, my very first was a true inside cabin for 4 nights on Enchantment in 2007.  Being my first cruise I didn't know what to expect.  We followed that up with a balcony on Freedom the following year.  Now we started to get hooked.  Fast forward 2 more years and we decide we could share a balcony with our kids (10 and 7 at the time).  Uhm, that is not going to work.  So our next few cruise all consisted of connecting Promenade view rooms on various ships. I didn't mind them at all and it kept the cost low enough for a family of 4.  That morphed into neighborhood balcony rooms on Oasis class ships.  Then finally, our first JS on Odyssey this year.  Now with Diamond status, I will always gravitate towards a balcony room for the discount.  But that all changed this past week when I saw a crazy low prices on inside rooms on Independence for late August.  Since it is only 4 days I think we are going to jump on an inside room and give it a try.  Too cheap to pass up.  Sure it is hurricane season.  But so were a few of those ones I mentioned earlier.  And the kids are all in college now.  So this will truly be a cheap getaway.  But I suspect I will always lean towards the balcony cabin on longer cruises.  I will try a Crown Loft Suite at some point just to say I did it.  But only if I can find a good deal on it.  No rush.

Can't say for certain but wanted to share what I see in my cruise planner for my upcoming cruises.  I don't have either booked.

UDP for Oasis wording for December.

What's Included

• Unlimited visits to speciality dining restaurants every night of your sailing and lunch on sea days. 
• For restaurants with a la carte pricing, you’ll receive a $35 food credit, with the exception of Port Side BBQ and Playmakers which will be $20.
• For ships with these venues, Teppanyaki/Izumi Hibachi is included, with a $10 surcharge, Chef's Table is included, with a $49.99 surcharge, and Dadong is included, with a $35 surcharge. These will be charged once onboard.

UDP for Harmony wording for February.

What's Included

• Unlimited visits to speciality dining restaurants every night of your sailing and lunch on sea days. 
• For restaurants with a la carte pricing, you'll receive a $20 food credit
• Teppanyaki/Izumi Hibachi is included, with a $10 surcharge, Chef's Table is included, with a $49.99 surcharge, and Dadong is included, with a $35 surcharge. These will be charged once onboard.

RCI = Really Consistently Inconsistent.  I wouldn't cancel.  If you get on the ship, ask at Izumi on day 1.  If they say it isn't,  you can cancel then before taking advantage of any of the meals.  

I had UDP on Odyssey in February and it was the $35 then.  My wife and I ate there at least 4 times (twice for lunch) and each time used the App, 2 rolls and dessert option.  The sushi chef even made us a special/extra role one time which wasn't on the menu and it was fantastic.  No additional charge.  Good luck and hopefully it will work out for you.

On 6/25/2022 at 12:34 PM, cruiseguy1016 said:

Voyager class or Freedom class are my favorites because of the Royal Promenade. We've never sailed anything bigger and, at this point, have no intention to. I think the bigger ships are too big. My favorite ship right now is Freedom. I love the additions she got with her Amplification. 

I do love Freedom class.  But after sailing 3 times on Oasis class, I did a 4 day on Independence and immediately asked "who shrunk the Promenade" when I got on.  I don't feel Oasis class is any more crowded than Freedom class.  I did sail on a B2B on Odyssey in February and believe it would feel very crowded at full capacity rather than the 60% we sailed at.  I guess I will find out next year when I do Quantum to Alaska.  But don't worry about crowds from Freedom to Oasis class.  I think the spacing is well planned out.

11 hours ago, Cigar King said:

The only time I have seen this is where they had a special suite area and towels were available there.  I'd love this if it were a standard perk.  Seems pretty simple.  Maybe they should do it on all ships.

 

This brings up a question.  What kind of card does the JS get?  The last one I had was silver.  Is that still the case?

We were on Odyssey. Same color card the other user posted. We simply showed our card at the main towel station. They did not scan it. Also picked up an extra towel on Coco Cay. Same experience. Simply saw the color of the card and gave us the towel without scanning. 

One benefit I found out about in February was you did not need to check out towels if you had the suite card.  They just looked at your card and gave you the towels.  No worry about checking them back end at the end of the cruise to avoid an unwanted towel charge.

I ended up with 40 points on my B2B on Odyssey in February. First leg was 6 nights in a JS. Second leg was 8 nights in a balcony. Funny thing is I originally booked the JS as I needed 12 points for Diamond. But that cruise was cancelled so lift/shifted it to this year. Now nicely on my way to D+. 

On 4/15/2022 at 3:36 PM, crewsweeper said:

If the pub is carrying the UK brewed Newcastle on tap, that's w decent one. Paulaner Weiss,  Stone IPA, Sierra Nevada Pale. Are about your only other choices. 

Playmakers  mayhap Terrapin  IPA. On tap too.

I was pleasantly surprised to find Terrapin IPA on draft at Playmakers on Odyssey in February. On all previous cruises it was Stone or Sierra Nevada from the Pub. I’m fairly certain I paid for my drink package by day 3 of each week on my B2B finding this. 😀

My very recent experience.  Cruised on Odyssey in February.  My boys (21 and 18) were listed as Emerald. Their accounts showed 46 points which should have only been Platinum without inheriting our status on their respective 18th birthday.  My youngest would have made Diamond if Jan. 2021 cruises would have happened.  They are now officially Emerald any way you add it up since they earned 12 points each on the 6 day, double point promotion.  My wife and I on the other hand blew through Diamond in our 24 point JS.  That just means the boys need to do it the E.F. Hutton way....earn it!

2 hours ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

Sounds like we had very different itineraries ... was yours by chance the 8-night rather than 6? Our itinerary was Coco Cay on day 2, Costa Maya on day 4 and Cozumel on day 5.

 

We were the 6 night. Roatan day. 3, Cozumel day 4, and Coco Cay day 6. That explains our different formal night. 

16 hours ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

 

 

Our experience on the 2/22 Odyssey cruise was a bit different--only one formal night, on day 3. Day 5 had lobster, and the dress theme was "Casual/white." Which I'm pretty sure nobody actually did. 😉

Was your Day 2 at sea or a port stop?  Ours was a sea day on our way to Roatan.  According to my cruise compass, Day 2 was "formal" and Day 5 was "Dress your Best".

On my February 6th cruise this year it was night 2 and 5.  Lobster was night 5 and they brought 2 on each plate.  Some of the largest I've had on a cruise.

Room service has been an extra fee for a long time now.

4 hours ago, island lady said:

 

I mention the volume on my surveys also.   It's not just the movie screens, but the volume in the shows, the bars,  the "piped in" music and announcements....everything.  Does the ship think we are all deaf?  

 

I have good hearing, so it's really bad for me...but the DH is mostly deaf, takes out his hearing aids and it is still too loud for him!  😮 

 

It was especially bad on Odyssey last month.  

 

 

 

 

Agree.  I was on Odyssey 2/6 and 2/12 sailings.  Everything was loud.  Even the "boom box" by the Windjammer check in station was blaring every time we went in.  Unnecessary.  While no central park on Quantum class, they did have a daily movie running by the pool.  It was very annoying to me.  I would have much rather had music than movie re-runs while trying to enjoy the ocean and the pool.

1 hour ago, erinsmom03 said:

This is making me nervous about our May cruise. We have a zero balance, yet the "pay remaining balance" button continues to show on my cruise planner. The last thing I want to do is be on the ohone for an hour + to get this resolved, but I also don't want to be receiving emails threatening to cancel our cruise when the PIF date arrives. 

 

Same thing happened to me for my Odyssey cruise in February.  I kept getting the Balance Due $0 emails. Two days before the 30 day final payment, I made the call.  Was on the phone for 90 minutes and they never could tell me what was causing it.  Mine was a lift/shift for a JS.  So I wanted to make sure it didn't get cancelled.  They assured me I was paid in full, emailed me a receipt showing the 0 balance and said it would be fixed.  One week before the cruise it still showed like this.  While I could check in, my edocs were not available and I couldn't print luggage tags.  So this time I emailed and asked for them to send my docs.  I never heard back from that email.  I planned to call again 5 days before the cruise.  But by some miracle, I logged in that morning and the message was gone and my edocs were available.  Good luck on getting it updated.  It was frustrating for sure.

24 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I had the UDP on our cruise Feb 12-20.  It most certainly worked at Playmakers and Crown and Compass.  I never went to Giovanni's Wine Bar.  Also, the day I went to Playmakers was a sea day so I'm not really sure what happened to the other posters who reported "only on port days."  I think I went to Crown and Compass 3 different times for lunch.  The nachos are great.

I guess you could say technically it wasn't a sea day when I used it on boarding day.  But I have no other experiences to report for lunch during port days other than that for my time that week.

50 minutes ago, danoconnl said:

 

did you use it the pub or giovanni's wine bar?

 

Dan

I did not nor did I try.  It was my understanding they were not included so didn't ask.

Was on Odyssey 2/6 - 2/20.  I had the UDP in week 2.  I ate at Playmakers at least 5 times and was always asked if I had the dining plan.  Pricing is very reasonable so never came close to the $20 in food I could actually eat.  

Tip:  If you have the UDP, go to Playmakers when you board and skip the Windjammer.  They were open at 11:30 and serving food.  I was on a B2B so planned on sitting there and catching up on work from my first week.  I grabbed a window seat overlooking FLL harbor and put the UDP and DBP to good use for a few hours.

I just did a B2B on Odyssey this month.  First week we did main dining.  Second week we had the UDP.  The food in main dining was great.  Although I would say the variety was less than it had been in the past. But I would have no issue eating there for 2 weeks.

We did decide to do the UDP in week two since there would be 4 sea days.  Biggest challenge was getting reservations for the times/locations we wanted.  And remember I was B2B so was at a desk making reservations before others even started to board.  

I enjoyed the UDP but it is something I wouldn't do often.  Things I most enjoyed was Izumi for lunch and Playmakers whenever I wanted quick snacks.  Three times at Chops will put on the pounds, but was certainly worth the price.  Wonderland was a once and done for me.  Glad I experienced it but I wouldn't go back except to get "The World" desert again.  Italian isn't my thing either but the one meal I had there was very good.

Long story short you will likely get your moneys worth.  But plan on mixing in some regular main dining room as well.  It was all good.

1 hour ago, CruiszBug said:

Sorry I missed this posted info from Twangster? Could you tell me the buckle size? Is this 1/2 inch? 1 Inch? Would also love to order these!

5/8 inch worked perfectly.  This is what I ordered.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08V8DFLHL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1