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We were supposed to be on the Oasis of the Seas from 04/05/20 to 04/12/20 but it was canceled due to the pandemic. I was devastated. We had a beautiful Crown Loft Suite reserved (the nicest room we've ever booked) and I really wanted to see the revamp that was done in 2019. The last time we were on the Oasis was in 2012. Fortunately, we have two more cruises booked. One, for Christmas 2020 and the other, for Spring Break 2021. Since we were able to get a full refund for our April 2020 cruise (sadly), I figured, what the heck? I emailed my TA yesterday and upgraded our Junior Suite to a beautiful Owner's Suite on the Freedom of the Seas for our Christmas cruise. YAY! I will now start my Keto diet again, ramp up the exercises, and start getting bathing suit ready for December. It will happen....it HAS to happen. LOL! Here's to cruising SOON...very soon!

As a matter of fact:

I noticed the prices have gone down so I called for a price adjustment and the new price was $654 less. In October 2019, I booked a balcony room on Symphony of the Seas 7 day cruise for October 2020 for $3262.16 and now it's $2608.16. I notified my friends who booked a stateroom and they were also given $600 price adjustment. RC representatives said to keep checking back and they will price adjust until final payment is made. For those who have cruises scheduled for the later part of the year I would call for the price adjustment.

Not exactly the same thing but on our Feb Anthem cruise (the one that started out as an 8 day Bahamas and ended up as a 5 day Bermuda cruise), they awarded all 16 of our C&A points even though we only actually earned 10. So it is not entirely unprecedented. One thing's for sure...they will not do it unless they feel compelled to do it.

Please add Grandeur, August 1-6 2020. Thanks !!

Be sure and take the time to have room service from the MDR in your suite...especially breakfast. You will have a nice dining table and chairs in your suite and also on your balcony. You will be so spoiled !

Recipes anyone? Need suggestions on how to prepare it, @rjac?

Dear Club Royale Member, We hope that this message finds you and your family well. The world truly is going through an unprecedented time, and we have all felt the impact of our decision to pause all global sailings. As we continue to evaluate what’s next, there are a lot of moving parts when it comes to the cruise industry, and we have been diligently working through how all of this impacts our fleet, crew and staff, and of course you — our Club Royale guests. It means so much to us that many of you have reached out, eagerly awaiting your next offer or looking to rebook your impacted vacation. You want to get back onboard soon — just as much as we do. We are so thankful for your loyalty to Club Royale and we want to show our appreciation by sharing a few key updates we’ve made to the program, so you can enjoy your benefits even longer. 2019 & 2020 TIER STATUS EXTENSION. All Club Royale members will receive an extension of their 2020 tier status through March 31, 2022. Additionally, members who were in jeopardy of losing their tier status on the recent April 1, 2020 renewal date will receive an extension on their status through March 31, 2022. This means you will enjoy all your benefits and perks for the next 24 months. ANNUAL CRUISE BENEFIT. Any members who were not able to take advantage of their 2019 annual complimentary cruise benefit will be able to redeem it through March 31, 2021. CRUISE OFFERS. We remain committed to extending our cruise offers to you, and our Casino Representatives are here to assist whenever you are ready and able to travel once again. As part of the Royal Caribbean and Club Royale family, our Casino Representatives are available at 888-561-2234 to support and assist with any questions or concerns you may have. Or you can visit ClubRoyaleOffers.com and enter your Crown & Anchor Society number to view your current available offers. Please keep in touch and we look forward to welcoming you back onboard. Sincerely, Club Royale

Yes, but for 2021 cruises running at $90/day that may actually be a cheaper route. Buy the Bourbon, Gin, Vodka and Scotch with the sodas they give in the package. Carry on your 2 bottles of wine and a case of H20. Open up your own speak easy in your cabin, selling to your neighbors at 10 bucks a pop for mixed drinks, 5 for wine, 2 for H20! Voila you made money and now you can pay for that DBP at $90 bucks. JK! LOL?

We are still Gold so the extra points will be nice but if we lose them it will be okay too. Bonus for us is I upgraded to a Jr. Suite just a couple days before we took off for Miami - scored double points. Just a small blessing during this crazy time we are currently all dealing with. Not going to complain if we lose them as there are so many others dealing with much more than C&A points!

You’re going to love the OS. I love those rooms.

What is the code word to get in?

Thanks, I just switched ours from the Alaska sailing to our NE/Canada sailing in Sept. ?

Thank you for the tip. I saw a video of a nearby Owner's Suite and these rooms are gorgeous. I definitely want to have a few meals there. Yes! Spoiled. That's what I want to be. LOL!

We used the from a cancelled cruise to upgrade to an Owner's Suite for a future trip too, I'm so excited about this room! I can't wait to see how you enjoy it.

If I go forward on my June cruise, I'll book Chops for lunch on embarkation day through my Cruise Planner and report back. The things we do in the name of research!

The criminal investigation is because the border force / port authority /health dept are all blaming each other for disembarking passengers without screening or enforced isolation.. as far as I can see the ship followed all protocols informing authorities of a number of sick passengers on board before being given permission to dock....as a result of a monumental stuff up by [who knows] there have been multiple deaths/cross infections from covid19 that could have had a better outcome ....the criminal investigation will be for a coroners inquest into these deaths.....the poor crew are still on board being questioned as well as being in danger of further disease..its a shambles at least some lovely people from Woolongong where it is docked have sent care packages onboard for them so they can at least feel the Easter spirit and know not all of us Aussies are against them

The best room we have ever stayed in so far is a Grand Suite. I am so very excited to see this room and to see the Freedom of the Seas. We have never sailed on her before. Only issue is we have 5 ports in 7 days so there won't be quite as much time on the ship since we love to explore the ports, but I will enjoy every minute either way. I'm having cruise withdrawals like everyone else, I'm sure. ?

Might just be spoiled with the luxury of leaving out of the two-gate Trenton, but even with leaving out of Philly, Frontier has never been horrible. If the base airfare is that low, consider upgrading to the "stretch" seating that reclines. If you fly them enough, you'll get these upgrades for free. ?

Almost simultaneously with receipt of the Club Royale email, extending benefits, I also received an email from Marriott extending my Bonvoy status through Feb 2022. That is REALLY great news since I had obtained Titanium status and would NOT have requalified this year. Now I just need American Airlines and National car rental to jump on board !

Yeah, I’m used to booking airplane tickets every couple of days so I guess I channeling that energy onto RC and Celebrity’s websites.

See? This board is a veritable mine of highly specific and useful information.

I had this exact situation with my 3/15 Oasis sailing. I learned that Royal will apply the OBC from the cancelled sailing to a new sailing. If you contact rewards (888-305-4626) with the cancelled reservation number and the new reservation number they will make the transfer. Additionally, they told me that this applies to any NextCruise OBC from the cancelled cruise also.

Matt has posted new pictures of the Odyssey receiving here last two blocks. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/04/08/last-two-blocks-added-odyssey-of-the-seas Something caught my eye on differences between the aft on other Q class. This seems to confirm that the Windjammer will be fully enclosed with no aft outdoor seating (like Spectrum). It also shows a space that appears to be a lounge ( Suite or Concierge Club) on deck 13 aft unlike any of her sisters. The two story loft suites are on deck 8 and 9. Deck 10 single story cabins. Deck 11 single story cabins. Deck 12 single story cabins. Deck 13 lounge space. Deck 14 Windjammer. I have mixed feeling on this as I really like the outdoor seating behind the Windjammer. Even in Alaska I enjoyed several meals out there on Ovation. At the same time more interior air conditioned seating for the Windjammer is always a good thing.

But it's Frontier. Ugh. I've flown them before, once, then said never again.

I thought this was bad enough for 15 night Sydney cruise ?

Has any cruse line thought of a cruise from a US port out to open waters for a few days then return to the same departure port? How would Customs & CDC handle this. I would be willing to take a cruise like this not entering any other countries waters. Your thoughts Capt. Ken

We cancelled our Oasis March 22nd sailing on March 8th. I had the pre-paid grats, taxes, port fees, and change fee (reserved a suite for another cruise and changed our minds)refunds by March 20th.

@jticarruthers, yes, but most cruisers are not Diamond + and that is what RCL is banking on right now at that price. Plus, other things when it comes to the price. IE. My hubby and I are not Diamond and will not be for a while even though we sail every 9 months (7 night + cruise balcony). I think I am more of a consumer they are banking on at that price than you....no offense. I am loyal, I am purchasing the middle of the road cabin. I get every a.m. an iced coffee with an extra shot of espresso from the starbucks (cafe latitudes) on our way to the MDR for breakfast. Don't know the actual cost, but lets say 6 - 7 bucks Breakfast we always ask for the squeezed OJ. Can't stand the fake stuff. Guessing $3. I am officially at $10 and I have yet to eat breakfast. Husband hits the Gym after breakfast. I go to the Solarium. He hits the freestyle machine to fill his cup with a Powerade, I grab a bottle of H2O. It is now 9:00 a.m. and we are at $13. 11 a.m. rolls around and we hit the bar for a cocktail...He is a Lava Flow fan. Me I will stick with margarita on the rocks. BAM we are at $26. Always ask for a bottle of H2O, BAM 29. I never order another cocktail until I finish the bottle of water 1st. Lunch @ 12:30. Be it in the MDR or WJ we get a soda. Now I am at 32...again I don't know how much a soda goes for, guessing it is $3 a pop. Back to the solarium @ 1:30 after lunch and grab my 2nd cocktail for the day. I am now at 45. Mind you only 2 alcoholic bevs all day long. Still following my rule, I also get another bottle of water. I am at 48 and it is 1:30 3:30 I call it a day at the pool to hang on the balcony. Hit cafe latitudes and get myself a frappucino. I am at $55. Hubby refills his cup with Cherry Coke Zero. He is at 51. We always do a pre-dinner cocktail. At 68 now Dinner glass of wine, followed with a cappuccino and amaretto shot. At @ 95. (total alcohol bev = 5) Off to show and get a bottle of water. I am at 98. Show over and I get 1 more bottle of water. 101. Granted that is a sea day. Yet, you can see how someone like me can easily be a losing money maker for RCL. Additionally, I think I ran low on the numbers. My SoS cruise is also hitting both Labadee and Coco Cay, that means I am using the package 2 of my port days. I have 2 sail days. I am only at a non RCL port 2x on my 8 day cruise. Those port days also are unique. I will stop at OSJ from noon to 10 pm. We will be eating breakfast, lunch and dinner on the ship. We will get off the ship after lunch, back on for dinner, off SoS after dinner, back on for the late show...IOWS will use our alcohol pkg that day too. St. Thomas is a short day in port, depart at 4. That means again, we will be back on the ship by 2:30 or so. Using the package again, because as we walk off the ship we will walk off with a couple of bottles of water. Get back on, change and hit the Solarium bar/pool for sail away. I get that 84 for my cruise is OMG compared to when we paid 57 prior. I am not saying I will buckle and pay for it, but I do get the rise in cost. I also believe it will come down since they need to make cruising affordable again, and $1600 for a 7 night cruise on top of the dining package, excursions like the Coco Cay Beach club pass, plus the cabin will price them out of the market.

Some may be outraged by the pricing, others just write it off as business. Either way, if it's more than you're willing to spend, don't buy it. RC will then have to decide whether or not to drop the price, based on supply and demand.

Log into your account and check out the items under the Royal Gifts at the top right of the page. You'll find liquor bottles there, but they are expensive.

That's fantastic! I've checked ours and no updates...glad I haven't been holding my breath. Well, aside from COVID-19 requirements.

Thanks for the info, WAAATOOO! we may just have to bring our own wine and be happy about that. Thanks again!

I specifically called and asked if TA's can get credit for this offer and was told YES. Clearly its always whoever you get on the phone which is so annoying lol. I should of went ahead and booked the offer then but I wasn't ready to. But you got an awesome deal. I hope this ends soon and we can all go back to enjoying our favorite things cruising and gambling.

Iceland has always seemed like one of those places that I needed to visit for multiple days. The problem is that it gets super expensive in the times when you would actually want to visit. And with WOWAir out of business pricing has gone up and I’ve lost my direct flights out of BWI to KEF.

On one of my cruises that's been cancelled now, I was able to both put it in my cart AND complete the transaction; I'm wondering if Chops was closed for "The Key" luncheon, which has now moved to the MDR?

Yes, I spoke with him before our Navigator Cruise last July. He was in the suite waiting area with us prior to boarding. He has a condo in Miami. He stated he gets off the ship early early and goes to his condo and checks on things and comes back.

May 30 on the Adventure

I agree, I have mixed feeling as well. My wife & I rather enjoyed sitting outside, out back, on Anthem; however, those moment we chose to sit inside, it was fairly difficult(primary late mornings & peak lunch hour)to find a table inside. BTW....Playmakers is located in the Sea Plex & yes, they do have Laser Tag there as well. Also...there is a way to structurally have the water slide barely straddle both the sides of the ship and in front of the Sea Plex, for a Big U around the ship, using water jets similar to the Blaster on Navigator, beginning near the Sky Pad & ending just behind the Rock Wall on the other side. Just one slide however, unless they build a tight spiral behind FlowRider, with a slight overhang over the back.

Yes, indeed, that has been the trend in recent years. We like to do one cruise a year if we can and the last three years we actually saved money by flying across the Atlantic and doing Caribbean cruises rather than cruising here in Europe. That said, if the ship itself is not your priority, there are usually much better prices to be found on the smaller older ships, which also have the advantage of offering more interesting itineraries. Rhapsody and Vision of the Seas are two that come to mind and it is worth noting that the smaller size can often mean better, more personal service on board. For bigger, newer ships you can usually get better prices with MSC, which also offer a more international ambience, although without the typically very attentive service you'll find on Royal's ships. You can also often pick up great rates at about two months before each sailing date, with the caveat that the choice of cabins may be very limited at that point and you may find yourself paying more for flights. Occasionally great rates pop up randomly for no apparent reason so if you're flexible on dates and attentive bargains can sometimes be had. For example, we are currently booked on Allure of the Seas for this coming September, which we booked on the spur of the moment because of an incredibly cheap rate that I found a few days before the whole Covid thing kicked off in Italy. Of course, if I had known what was about to happen I doubt we would have booked it and whether or not it will even go ahead now remains to be seen...

Take a look at past cruise compassess here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass That should give you an idea if specialty dining was open on day 1.

We have a two bedroom Grand Suite for our Quantum sailing. Sleeps up to 8. There will be four of us.

You are very welcome. Yes, I do think the Chops lunch on embarkation day is worth the money. I don’t know if you can make a cruise planner reservation for embarkation day or not, but even if you cannot, I’m sure you can go on a walk-up basis and pay on site. I would recommend you go fairly early if you do it that way. I think they’re usually open until 1:30 or 2:00. It’s a very special, relaxed way to start your cruise. They normally open at noon.

The $1B per month claim for Carnival to keep operating is interesting. While Carnival has a larger fleet now you begin to see the magic of operating mega ships and how CCL and RCL differ financially. Last year CCL corporate had $20.8B gross sales with $2.99B of net income. That makes expenses roughly $17.8B or $1.4B per month. Granted that is extremely simplified. Last year gross sales for Royal were $10.9B of which $1.88B became net income. That makes expenses roughly $9B or $750M per month. Granted that is extremely simplified. Royal's gross sales were 52% of Carnival's yet Royal's net income was 63% of Carnival's. How can that be? In part it's because of mega ships, but in simple terms Royal is more efficient and generates more revenue per guest with a much smaller fleet. Carnival PLC has just over 106 ships versus RCCL with half that. The cost to idle a mega ship will be close to the cost to idle a smaller ship. Minimal fuel to putter around, cost of minimum bridge crews and marine department will be marginally higher for a mega ship compared to a small ship. While the hotel department crew counts are much higher on mega ships much of those crew are going or have gone home. Normal monthly expenses include fuel consumed at normal cruise speed and supplies to feed roughly a hundred thousand guests among other things. With ships slowly idling around and with the dramatically lower cost for oil right now their fuel costs are significantly lower. Fuel is one of the larger operating expense during normal times when ships are running at cruise speeds. Now? Not so much, comparatively speaking. While revenue is dramatically lower right now so are operating expenses. With crew contracts ending and crew going home what's left are the marine department crews and bridge officers. Consequently employee costs are down and there are fewer crew mouths to feed by the tens of thousands across the fleet. It's very interesting that CCL is claiming their floor to operate right now is $1B per month. That suggests they have shed $400M in monthly expenses. RCCL has lower expenses because they fewer ships to float right now, roughly half as many ships across all brands. On the surface using CCL numbers Royal would shed $200M per month in expenses for a fleet half the size. Fain and other executives are also cutting their salaries through September. The magic question is what Royal's minimal cost to keep the fleet floating around and cover land based employees that are retained during this period? Until this year's SEC filings occur that's anyone's guess but let's call it $500M per month as a SWAG. With the secured credit to date that should last at least through the end of the year.

I have not been on Enchantment so I cannot confirm but on MOST ships, the Chops lunch (not including the Key) is served in the restaurant and uses the normal Chops lunch menu. I do know that on Oasis, Chops is no longer open at all on embarkation day (unless this has changed since December). So if you have purchased either a Chops lunch or the Unlimited Dining Package, you should be able to have lunch in the Chops restaurant on embarkation day, except on Oasis.

Re-created the 150 Central Park Garden Martinis ... to perfection tonight! ??

@twangster I wish I could hug you, this post is absolutely spot on!!!

Early on China claimed it wasn't spreading human to human. If that news had been corrected earlier compared to letting the world (including South Korea) find out once community spread was common place and in full force places like Europe and the North America may have been spared a significant amount of what it has gone through. It's not just the US that was slow to react. The slow reaction was founded in reports coming from China in the early days.

No, not nervous. I am resigned that it will be cancelled, unfortunately.