Grandma Petania

2 hours ago, LoyalToRoyalCCL said:

My daughter is very allergic to shellfish but enjoys hooked messy fish sandwich. We always alert our waiter to the issue and have had no problems.

 

Thank you!  I know the other three family members would love eating there, and will be disappointed if I don't join them.

I had a SEVERE reaction about 50 years ago, with my entire body covered in hives, inside and out.  The allergist recommended full avoidance, including items cooked in same pan or oil, etc.  I had already written off Izumi for that reason.  I have successfully avoided even medications with a hint of shellfish, and carry an epipen when eating out.  I guess I'll follow the advice to not risk it at Hooked.

On previous cruises I have eaten safely in main dining room after alerting waiter to my shellfish allergy.  Can I inform the waiter at Hooked, and be sure there won't be any cross contamination with my order of fried fish and fries?  What about food at Wonderland and 150 Central Park?  Has anyone had this experience, or gotten accurate information from RCCL?

On 2/20/2020 at 2:57 AM, Merion_Mom said:

Your tips cover more than dinner.  They cover all of your meals - breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks.  Staff work all of those venues.

 In addition, the automatically charged gratuities cover crew members who provide housekeeping services, linen laundry, etc. etc. etc.

My daughter and I are frugal cruisers and have never eaten in one of the specialty restaurants.  The only thing “extra” that we’ve ever paid for on a cruise has been the Escape Room, and Internet access for one device, (so she can share her adventure on facetime with her sweet hubby).  The included meals, entertainment, and housekeeping, are enough of a treat for me.

In five weeks we will be sailing on Symphony as guests of my generous son & his husband (to celebrate my 80th birthday).  They wanted us to try some of the specialty dinners with them, so I talked them into the three dinner package.  

I remembered it being offered @ $99 on a previous cruise, and was a little disappointed by the pre-cruise price of $115 for our upcoming cruise — until I realized that the 18% gratuity was included in the $115.  If you sign up once you’re on board, $99 plus gratuity makes the onboard special deal  $116.82.  Either way, the cost of each dinner will be around $38 including gratuity, instead of $50-$65 without a “deal”.

Next cruise with my daughter (when we’ll be paying the bill), I’m sure we’ll go back to dining all seven nights in the Main Dining Room, and be quite content.  If I want to splurge on a special meal, I’ll do it when we’re back home, and won’t be forfeiting a perfectly good MDR dinner.

7 hours ago, MaskedTurtle said:

Are there any official areas to leave regular wheelchairs after transferring to the sand wheelchairs yet?  I was planning on bringing a bike lock and chaining my mom's chair somewhere.  Would that be ok/allowed?

My daughter and I were there in November 2019.  She was able to push me in my wheelchair along some walkways.  I believe they were bricks or paving stones part way.  I was able (with My cane and her help) to walk a distance to the beach.  In the meantime she used a bike lock to secure my chair near the eating place (which we skipped).  We didn’t see any of the beach wheelchairs, so I can’t attest to how good they are.  
 

One caution:  I had draped my cover-up over my folding wheelchair, and came back to find it covered in seagull droppings.  The beach going down to the water was a little more sloped than I liked, and the sand under the water shifted a lot, and I found it hard to keep my balance.  We decided that on our next cruise, we will try the fresh water pool.    So far, I much prefer the gentle more quiet beaches at Labadee.

For the sake of good hygiene, they ask you to use a glass and then pour water into your bottle.  Do not fill your water bottle directly from any dispenser.

I am aware of the no-sharing rules, but wonder if there is a daily limit of orders.  Or a minimum time after placing one order before you can get another drink.  What about an alcoholic and a soft drink at same time?  Or a shot and a coffee?  Or fresh squeezed orange juice and a shot?  TIA for answers.

3 hours ago, renza said:

I hate both boardwalk and CP balconies. I do not go on a cruise to look at other balconies. I am not for apartment living on vacation. Love my privacy on the ocean. Love sitting out watch us pull into different ports in my PJs each morning. Even if I don’t use the balcony I love keeping the drapes open all the time seeing the ocean.

Have you tried either, or did you make up your mind in advance?  Just wondering.  Not looking to start an argument.

Love, love, love the Central Park balconies!  Have sailed them on all four Oasis class ships.  

17 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

I checked the price earlier today for my upcoming cruise and found the 4 device package to be the same price as the 1 device package, $13.39/day.

Which ship, and which date?

21 hours ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

I just looked at the cost for my upcoming cruise. The cost for the 4 device package is $13.39/day which is the same as the 1 device package. The Deluxe Beverage Package is only $48/day, the lowest I have seen it.

What ship, what date?  Our March cruise on Symphony has come down a little on Deluxe Beverage pkg, but is still $57.

Thanks Coralc!  I intend to enjoy every minute!

31 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I seem to recall other Oasis Class ships are moving to 6:30 MTD

I’m guessing that all four of the Oasis class ships are changing to what my daughter and I experienced last month on Allure.  There was early traditional dining in all three levels of the main dining room (decks 3, 4 & 5).  On decks 4 & 5, second seating of traditional dining commenced at 8 pm.  On deck 3, there was no second traditional dining—just MTD from 6:30 on.  

When we arrived onboard, we tried to get MTD at 5:30, as we had done on previous cruises.  We were told that the earliest we could choose MTD was 6:30.  This wouldn’t work well for us because we had scheduled all of our entertainment for the early shows (about 7 pm).  We were told that the only two-top we could have at 5:30 was on deck 3, so we took it.  Little did we know that MTD diners would start being seated before we were finished eating, and that there would be long lines of people waiting to get in when we left.  It made for a rather chaotic experience.

My son and son-in-law are treating my daughter and me to a March 2020 cruise on Symphony (to celebrate my 80th birthday).  Guessing that this new dining arrangement may be happening on Symphony, our travel agent managed to secure traditional second seating at 8 pm (presumably on deck 4 or 5), and we reserved later shows for entertainment.  The guys are coming from California, so their bodies will be better attuned to the later dinner and shows.  (I’ll just need to sneak in an afternoon nap - LOL).

When cruising on Oasis and Allure, we were able to view the main dining room menus for the entire week on the TV in our cabin.  On Harmony, this information wasn’t available.  We will be sailing on Symphony in March, and wondering if we will be able to check all week’s menus.  That would help us figure out which evenings to eat in specialty restaurants with our 3-dinners package.

In the past ten years I have sailed at least once on each of the four Oasis class ships.  The only ocean balcony was arranged by my older daughter, where we had two connecting cabins.  One was a handicapped cabin to accommodate my son-in-law who is in a motorized wheelchair.  I shared the other cabin with my teenage grandson, who spent much of his time sleeping, with the drapes closed.  I joined DD & DSIL on their balcony a few times, but I was more interested in the entertainment and exploring the ship, as this was my first cruise.

On my second cruise, I traveled with my younger daughter, and we chose an interior cabin to keep the costs down.  Next time out, we got a Central Park balcony, and we were SOLD!  That’s the only kind we’ll choose now.

 I have never found the cabins to be too hot, and don’t have any problems with privacy.  The only time we feel the need to close the drapes is after dark when we are dressing with the ceiling lights on.  When we are clothed, and without the bright lights on, we keep the drapes (and often the balcony door) open.

As others have mentioned, the view of the park is beautiful and soothing, the live musicians in the evening are very enjoyable, and people-watching is fun, especially from decks 10 & 11.  We often sit on the balcony to play cards or Scrabble.  Before you base your decision on the nay-sayers (some of whom have never even stayed in a CP balcony cabin), if not overlooking the ocean 24/7 isn’t a deal breaker, I suggest you give Central Park a try.  

I almost hesitate to encourage more people, because it might make it harder for us to get the cabin we want on future cruises, but my daughter and I think these cabins are the BEST for us.  (For more comments, check my post on a thread about neighborhood balcony perks ending.)

I was on two Oasis cruises with my other daughter, son-in-law and grandson, before Allure was even finished.  DSIL needed an accessible cabin, and DD chose connecting ocean balcony cabins for the four of us.  He wasn’t at all interested in any of the entertainment, and only wanted to sit on the balcony in his wheelchair overlooking the ocean, reading and posting on Facebook.

Even HE got “chased inside” on several days when the afternoon sun was too bright and hot.  With the CP balconies, if the sun hits the balcony, it is usually only for an hour or two.  Some people complain about the proximity of people on the balconies on the other side of the park.  We haven’t found this to be an issue.  They certainly aren’t close  enough to hold a conversation.  Having never lived in a big city, I enjoy the feeling of a city neighborhood around a park.

We appreciated the park even more after an informative tour by the master gardener, Lazlo.  We got a new tour when the Harmony was put into service under his guidance.  I think he may be on Symphony now, and we hope to reconnect with him in March.  It is a huge project to choose (and keep alive) so many different trees and plants in this unique environment.  If Lazlo is on a ship, you’re likely to spot orchids in the trees.  He sometimes rescues them from celebrations onboard, and nurtures them in the park.

So glad that the Oasis class ships offer the many different types of balcony cabins, but I am definitely sold on Central Park.

On 12/10/2019 at 4:35 AM, EDiamond22 said:

I guess i must be in the minority but i prefer these over the Ocean view. I did the BW last year and really the only perk we took advantage of was the free JR lunch. The perks were not the reason i booked that room but it was definitely appreciated, booking allure for next year and didn't see the perks listed that's why i came here looking if they went away. hopefully they will implement the new way to enhance my CP balcony by next year 😉   

I hope you enjoy your CP balcony as much as my daughter and I have.  We have sailed Symphony, Harmony, Oasis and Allure on deck 10 overlooking Central Park.  I love looking out over the greenery, and people watching day and evening.  As for perks or onboard credit, I think you have to have booked by sometime in September 2019 (while the perks were still shown on the website) in order to qualify for the offer to keep the perks or choose $50 OBC.  Fortunately I already had ours booked for March and December 2020, so the $50 OBC will help with gratuities.

 The March cruise on Symphony is a treat from my son and son-in-law to celebrate my 80th birthday.  (The treat includes my daughter, who is my usual cruising partner.). They will be flying in from California for their first time on an Oasis class ship.  I’m really looking forward to spending the time with them, and sharing my love of these great ships.  They chose an ocean balcony, but I arranged for them to be across the hall a few doors away from our CP balcony cabin.

Thanks for the pictures.  I’ll be following along as you add more.  It will be a year before I will see her in person, but your pictures will help build my anticipation.

With Thanksgiving et al, I didn’t get around to contacting RCCL, but 

I finally received an email with survey link.  Will fill it out today. 

On 11/27/2019 at 5:47 PM, Host Clarea said:

No headliners on Symphony.  Replaced by movies in the theater.

Is this true for all Symphony sailings going forward?  I noticed that no headliners were listed for our March 2020 cruise.

I don’t know if my recent experience is applicable to your sailing, but I have a feeling this might be happening on all the Oasis Class ships.  Here’s what I encountered on the Allure last week.  

The early main seating was at 5:15 pm on Decks 3, 4, & 5.  

There was no MTD at that time.   

We were assigned a table in American Icon deck 3. 

 In the Deck 3 dining room, My Time Dining started an hour later, at 6:30 pm, and continued till 9:00 pm.  

The second seating of main dining was at 8:00 pm on decks 4 & 5 only.

So the upshot is that Deck 3 is for early dining at 5:15, with no second seating.

MY TIME DINING is only available on Deck 3, and not before 6:30.

Second seating for main dining is at 8:00 pm, and only on Decks 4 & 5

I didn’t figure out the whole scope of the plan at first, but it finally made sense.  

Hope this helps.

If she forwards the link to me, we think that SHE won’t be able to do the survey.  That may be what happened last time, and when I tried to use the link, it told me that I had already taken the survey.  Each person may get their own “unique” link so it can’t be duplicated.

Got home tonight after two days in a small beach hotel to decompress.  I think I will try the link offered above.  Will report what happens.

Nope.  I was primary guest.  All previous emails came to me.  I paid.

I paid for the Allure cabin Nov. 17-24.  My daughter received an email with link to survey.  I DID NOT get one.  I’m pretty sure this happened on the  last cruise we took together.  We don’t live together, and she had already filled hers out before I mentioned that I didn’t get one.  I would really like to fill out my own survey.  Any suggestions?  Would it do any good to contact Royal directly?  Anybody have a phone number or email address to recommend.