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I tried "Show me cruises where I don't need a second mortgage to book one" and no results came up

So, it's working??

Here is my comprehensive video review of Wonder of the Seas in 2023. I review the drink package, unlimited dining package, WoW bands, ports of call, and much much more. Enjoy. If you don't want to watch it I can sum it up that we will continue to happily cruise with Royal Caribbean.

Did he look like this?

For Christmas we prefer to give our kids experiences instead of random gifts. Either we're on a cruise on Christmas or we give them a trip as their gift. This year they got a Quantum Vision of a Christmas gift: TWO cruises, Southern Caribbean on Vision March 31-April 10 and Alaska on Quantum May 29-June 5, hence this is Part 2. If you're interested I also did a live blog on our Vision cruise. Hubby and I have been on two Alaska cruises and after sailing on Ovation just after the restart we decided we should finally take the kids. We've been on two Quantum class ships, Anthem and Ovation, and are excited to experience Quantum of the Seas. Who's sailing: Hubby and I and our 4 kids: D16, S12, S8, D5. D16 has minimal time to enjoy Diamond benefits as she'll be relegated to Emerald when she turns 18 next summer, as I understand it. S8 is technically still S7, but his birthday is on embarkation day. This is not considered a birthday cruise, it was just the least expensive time to go to Alaska without missing school. Also sailing are MIL and FIL, as well as MM (my mom) and MD (my dad). We are all on deck 11. The adults are all in balcony rooms, and kids are across from hubby and I in an inside room with virtual balcony. We have cruised with parents before, but never both sets of parents at the same time. MIL loves warm weather Disney cruises and snorkeling all day every day. They just returned from B2B Southern Caribbean sailings on Disney on Saturday and snorkeled 10 days straight. So she's really unsure about this cold and rainy cruise and I can't wait to show her the beauty of Alaska and all of the fun stuff on a Quantum class ship. Where to: Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Victoria. If you weren't aware, all of Quantum's visits to Skagway were cancelled this season. Some were moved to Icy Strait Point, others to Ketchikan, and some to Sitka, I guess it depends which ports were on your original itinerary. We got switched to Ketchikan. We're taking it in stride, but I am quite bummed. Our favorite excursion ever was in Skagway where we took a boat to a remote area and along the way saw lots of wildlife and waterfalls. We then canoed to Davidson Glacier where we got to touch the glacier and it was just really amazing and the college age tour guides were hilarious. They live in this remote area with no electricity and no cell service and in their free time make up skits using boxes. We had the three older kids as well as MIL, MM, and MD signed up for that. D5 isn't old enough so we were going to take her on the train with FIL, then a bus ride back down to see sled dog puppies and many other sites. Bummed to miss such exciting excursions but especially bummed my kids didn't get to see a glacier up close. Mendenhall glacier is just too far away. So instead hubby and I are going to wake up early in Ketchikan and do a 5 mile hike, MM and MD are doing an ebike and hike excursion, and MIL and FIL are going to stay with the kiddos and meet us for the 12:45 lumberjack show. Then we'll look for a delicious crab lunch. Good news: saved a ton of money...or so I thought. Last week Royal FINALLY released the excursion that allows us to get off the ship directly onto a boat in the middle of the Fjord. I figured since it hadn't been released at 30 days out that we wouldn't see it, so was surprised for it to appear less than 2 weeks before sailing. The ship will continue to Juneau arriving around 1 and we will meet it there at 2:30. This is one pricey tour, so no money saved by hubby and I in the end, but yay for my kids being able to see a glacier up close after all. However, MIL and FIL did have to cancel their helicopter tour in Juneau in order to go with us. I think FIL was relieved, he gets motion sick easily. MIL decided that she would be super disappointed if they got to Juneau and the helicopter flight was cancelled due to weather and so then they had no excursion at all plus she wants to be with the grandkids. Getting there: We were going to drive to Seattle, but then I checked Air2Sea and the flights were....drumroll.....$137. Roundtrip. Nonstop. First Class. On our preferred airline. It'll be the kids' first time in first class, but shhhh they don't know yet. I thought for sure this was some Royal IT glitch, but nobody has called me to up the price or return my money. I've never used Air2Sea but for this price I couldn't resist. The flights showed up on the Delta App within hours for us to make our seat selection. We fly out on Sunday!

If you are physically able, I highly recommend the self-assist walk off debarkation. It avoids all of that mess.

I always enjoy the onboard experience down under as some of the complaints I see in the US market do not apply down here. 1) The casino is non-smoking in Australia/NZ 2) Gratuities are included Most of my gripes relate to the land and Internet experience. For example, you used to be able to change your cabin number or upgrade your room on the website, I would like to be able to search on cabin type by price. However, the main change I would make is to change star class bookings to earn 3 C&A points per cruise as they are next level suites.

Just chiming in with my son and daughter in law's recent embarkation at Cape Liberty. They had a boarding check in time of 10:30. They were a bit early, parked the car and messaged me when they were ordering their first drinks on the ship - at 10:24. They said it was the fastest they have ever boarded.

IMO, if you are looking for higher quality, Carnival will disappoint.

At the CAS meeting this week while on the Radiance in Alaska, our Captain Merrek, said a new ship and class similar in size to the Radiance is being planned in the next 3 or 4 years. The name of the ship is to be the Discovery of the Seas. Does nybody have any further information or confirmation?

Hello, 7 cruises and Diamond now : 09/2016 Harmony, 09/2017 Freedom, 09/2018 Symphony, 09/2021 Harmony, 05/2022 Vision, 09/2022 Wonder, 05/2023 Jewel Next : 09/2023 Enchantment (B2B), 01/2024 Anthem, 05/2024 Odyssey, 09/2024 Anthem

I just spotted a new function on Royal's booking page. It's a "write in" search box right up near the top of the page. I was sceptical but I asked it to find me cruises to Europe in June 2024 and it did. I did try asking it to find me one-way cruises as that's something I'd like to see as a search option but, unfortunately, that overwhelmed it: "We're sorry, but we couldn't find any results that match your search. Please modify your search and try again"

Finally, I just reach Diamond. I know about the 4 drinks per day. I know I can go to the diamond lounge for the coffee. What other benefit do I get? Beside that's list here? https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/crown-and-anchor-society-benefit-grid.pdf

The best time is whatever time fits your schedule and budget. Cop out answer, maybe, but true.

The week of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be full, expensive cruises because that's when most families have time. While mid March is spring break for a lot of schools, you would be okay if you are sailing out of Galveston. Therefore my opinion is mid-March. But ultimately it comes down to what you want and can afford.

Wow! Someone put down the RC pom pons and gave an honest review! I really enjoyed your video and appreciate all the post production work, Thank You For Sharing!!!

There have been rumors of "Project Discovery". Royal likes to call new ship class developments a "project". However that's all that been known. Considering that Vision and Radiance class are all that can use the Panama Canal, it stands to reason that Royal would look to create a new class that could. Mega ships are great but they are a PITA when deploying ships between the Atlantic and Pacific. They need something that can. Without any proof or facts, I've always thought that taking the Edge class platform, the basic hull design, not an Edge class ship and painting a Royal name on it, they could leverage a successful hull design and save that engineering cost, and by using LNG engines, build on that hull design to create a new class for Royal.

Welcome to Europe, Some information: Split is easy to visit. The cruise arrives in the city centre. Split is a very beautiful and ancient city. Nearby, possibility with boat shuttles, to go to the small town of trogir. Dubrovnik: very easy to visit alone too. but the cruise does not arrive nearby. Either there will be a shuttle to the port or with royal caribbean, or the urban bus. Afterwards, the historic heart can be easily visited on foot. Naples: the ship arrives directly in town. there is just the street to cross. If this is the first time, it may be useful to take the sightseeing bus to visit. There is a bus stop right in front of the castle... in front of the port. Also, the possibility to get to Capri... Civitaveccia to finish: a shuttle bus to get out of the port. Then go to the station to take the train to rome (less than an hour by train).

I do hear that a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food.

@NoobCruise Thank you so much for posting this! I haven't watched the whole video but I will. Although I am sailing on a different ship this fall, I have both gluten-free & lactose-free dietary restrictions (actually I am on a Low FODMAP diet, which includes, among other restrictions, gluten free and lactose free). I keep seeing people talk about dining gluten free onboard, never gluten free AND lactose free. So I'm very interested in your travel party's experience.

You get the 2nd cruise parking free. This is a serious answer. It's an inadvertent perk of doing a B2B there. Spend the savings on a specialty dinner!

IMHO some of the promenade/boardwalk/Central Park shopping options are a complete waste of space. I would have preferred another bar/dining venue in the majority of the higher end retail shops. There’s no need for Cartier, Bulgari or Tiffany on a mid tier cruise ship. I feel RC missed the mark on this and should offer a nice mid to high end watch and jewelry shop (slightly higher end offerings then the current shop on promenade), mix in the logo store, mercantile, sugar beach and a beach lifestyle store with name brands and it’s covered. Swap Bulgari and Cartier (which by the way don’t even sell the love bracelets which is what 99% of people want) with a dueling piano bar or possibly the Tiki style bar that they have on Mariner. I have a close friend that is an executive at one of these luxury brands and insists the ship outposts are not money makers and actually dilute the brand. Tear them all out and replace them with useable venues!

There are still many out there who don't blink at losing the $250pp deposit for suites. For me, when I heard the news this morning, it doesn't matter in the long run. However, we are type to not book unless we have every intention of going so the money will have to go at some point either way. Not a big deal. What will make it a big deal for us is if they change the policy in place right now that allows you to change ship/sail date for $100pp penalty.

Very simple. Create a contest in which Royal Caribbean give one lucky person a lifetime cruising pass. Enter the contest. Rig things so that I win the contest. Resign in shame. Keep the pass.

Air2Sea is just a travel agent. Airlines cancel the flights and Air2Sea does its best to keep you on schedule. Sometimes it doesn't work

So.......drum roll............. I did it!!!!!!! I'll get into more post trip. But the psychological effects of many bad hard tight years vs the long anticipation vs reading too much of people's opinions vs the build-up vs the need for it to be perfect after a really long time, etc. Well it made the perfect storm. If it wasn't perfect it at least could have been in my head. Not living up after a decade of not being able to go anywhere was terrifying. You could right a book on it. Lots to say. Nothing bad. Will be updating. Wasn't planning on buying internet and broke down an hour ago and did. Didn't want to deal with the real world (and the cost), but it's hard to not look at your phone. Who sang that song that goes.........etc was driving me crazy. Little things like that get to you. Unfortunately, the real world came with an issue. The pet hotel left a message that my little 9lb boy is not eating. He gets like that. We told them. 2 pages of typed information and instructions. They know where we are and said they understand if we can't call but they are looking for ideas to get him to eat. We are trying to figure out if with T Mobile and wifi ( if and how ) we can call and potential cost? At sea now. St Thomas tomorrow. DH is messaging with T Mobile rep right now. OK he is telling me rep is saying to download whatsapp and we can call over that via wifi and not accrue any costs. This sound right to anyone?

We can only hope. In addition to the Panama Canal, the larger "mega" ships can't access the Baltimore port in North America nor Montenegro in Europe (just 2 examples).

There is a company called Bags and Go that offers this service in Barcelona. I definitely remember seeing their signs at the port and I vaguely remember reading a post by someone somewhere that they had used the service and it had worked well. However, I have not used them myself so can't vouch for them personally. This is the link to their website if you want to check them out: https://bagsandgo.com/en/

Not same experience here, 11 weeks this year, 5 different ships, food might not be 5 star, but it is still good, occasionally a meal is sub par but not regularly.

Thank you, both! First time B2B and excited! Also, I think I posted this under the incorrect header, but I very much appreciate the responses! Happy Cruising, everyone!

Thanks for clarifying, never knew that. I’ve only ever parked in the garage (and only ever done one B2B).

If parked in the terminal parking garage. Some of the terminal 1 overflow lots are not as generous to B2B.

Congratulations! Thanks so much for bringing us along. Have am amazing celebration. Following....

Many companies don't, especially the big ones.

We've always opted to stay onboard in Nassau (other than our first time where we did a short walk, bought a t-shirt or two and went right back onboard). Last week when we visited on Oasis, we decided to try something new. Found a tour operator online on the other side of the island that ran dive boat excursions (where you could snorkel, SCUBA or SNUBA depending on the package you chose). The dive shop picked us right up at the port, drove us the 30 min or so to their facility (which was not fancy and under construction so not impressive but I look forward to seeing what it will become) and got us loaded onto their morning dive boat excursion. I think there were 15 of us or so; mainly from the resorts. What a fun experience!! We chugged out a ways from the shore to beautiful blue water with coral reefs where we snorkeled, etc, etc. At one point the staff even brought us to an area with sharks and fed them while we watched onboard. We did SNUBA and they were great with us. After the excursion was over, the bus brought us back to the port. We were back to the ship by 1pm or so to enjoy a full afternoon onboard. In short, getting away from the resorts and canned experiences was a lot of fun. We got to see more of the island and had a wonderful morning. We definitely see Nassau in a different light now.

I'm kind of surprised they keep updating the app... considering how perfect it is.

Happy to hear pup is eating. Nothing can ruin a trip like worrying when you can't do very much.

There ya go ! That's what I wanna see !!! So happy that you are having a good time.

1. More food options outside the Facejammer opening times. There are times we were at a show/otherwise occupied or just eating later and it was disappointing to find the 'Jammer shuttered. I totally understand that a full buffet maintained 24 hours isn't feasible but it would be nice to have a mini self-serve food option with ample seating open later for those off times (say a simple salad bar, a few grill options, a few basic desserts, tea/coffee station). I know we could hit up Sorrento's or the Promenade Cafe during the later hours but one can only eat so much 'za and the food options at the Cafe were pretty meh (and the line could be really long with nowhere to sit to eat). 2. More transparent pricing in advertising. It's always frustrating to see "balcony from $899" only to find its always more like $1499. Just advertise the actual price without having to have a PhD in Royal Math. 3. Just include gratuities already. Stop giving people the option to remove gratuities from their mess tornado 2 year olds because they are not "using the facilities as much". 4. Less tacky weird fitting t-shirts in the shop. I mean, c'mon. Anyone else ever seen that sequin monstrosity? Is Elton John on board? And what in the actual hell is up with those "spirit jerseys". 80s linebackers, your shirts are back! Oy. Oh, and we need more logo pens. I freaking love pens.

Welcome home!

Short update: Made call yesterday via wifi no problem. Baby boy is showing "no signs of stress and is a sweetheart". We told them he is super picky eater. Left him with 4lbs of pre package deli chicken and cheese. Told them to mix in his food, but hasn't been working. We said start hand feeding him the deli separately from the dog food. He never says no to a slice of chicken or cheese. LOL. Hand feeding works best. He's 2 and a half but still a baby in many ways. Told them if they run out to buy more and we will pay upon return. Today is St Thomas. Was planning to make our own way via taxi to Megan's Bay (about $45 less than excursion). Still waking up. Late night last night. Comedy show and then love and marriage show. Had a blast but up till 1am. So this morning is a slow start. LOL. Again, full review to come Thanks all!

Thanks for the well wishes! Cruising has a special place in our hearts, because I actually proposed on a cruise a little more than 11 years ago. Then life happened, and then life paused for a while, and finally we took our first cruise since then (this time with our son) just this past fall. Garrison Brewery is right in the harbor walk area, and Alexander Keith (originally from the 1800s, I think) is just a bit further away. There are a few other good options up around the citadel: Propeller and 2 Crows.

I'm not saying thee aren't any such cabins, just not that many across the fleet. For those types of suites I can see why Royal need to do this. If someone cancels the UFS at day 91 that could be really difficult for Royal to sell. Seriously if I am paying $42k for a suite then a $4.2k deposit isn't a problem.

That's a good question ! Supposedly, your MTD reservations are cancelled immediately but 100% of the time, when I have done this, the MTD still shows up in the app....but that doesn't mean much, TBH. I would just ask the person who is making the specialty reservations for you what you need to do to make sure you aren't double-booked...then let the fates take you wherever they will....

They can sell any liquor they want while in port and Texas waters, not just Texas liquor. The law / rule is that they can only sell liquor that was bought from a Texas distributor and has Texas tax stamps while in Texas waters. They can sell Mexican Taquila in Texas waters, for example, as long as it was bought through a Texas distributor and has a Texas stamp. Having said that, they effectively have two liquor cabinets for ships homeported in Galveston, one for liquor and beer they bought from a Texas distributor, and another cabinet for liquor and beer they bought from another distributor / wholesaler. When the ship leaves port and reaches international waters, they lock up all the liquor and beer with Texas stamps and bring out the other liquor and beer.

Agree that it sucks about losing the ability to book a refundable JS but the amount of the deposit really doesn’t bother me. More up front just means that I will owe less at final payment.

Agreed. Other than the JS change, there's no change to the suite price, just how much you have to lay out when you book it and place a deposit. I see this as a change to reduce "suite hogs", and maybe they make a few extra bucks on cancellations.

I don't see this s being hugely impactful. JS being NRD is a slight bummer given that a JS isn't really a suite on most ships.

Their ships sink more than Royal Caribbean's and they have cowardly captains. That's the only difference I know of

I've been twice, and I just can't find stuff to do. I'm sure the resorts are beautiful, but I can do the same type relaxing on the ship with my drink pkg so we aren't getting off the ship. I'm hoping everyone else gets off so I can have less crowds on the pool deck! Jane