Jill

8 hours ago, twangster said:

Test load on website

 

Pretty decent prices I must say. We’re booked on one of Allure’s first sailings out of PC and paying $2452 for 4 night ocean balcony. I booked back in January 

I hope not! We’re on in late October and we haven’t seen it yet 

So what kind of questions did it ask? 

Had 3, now 2 but also have a Viking River booked so actually 3. 
 

Waiting for Europe or Alaska summer 2025 to be released in November to throw a deposit down. 
 

We aim for a cruise every 6 months. Sometimes we throw in a quick 4 nighter to bridge the gap between the bigger ones. Just to get our fix. 
 

We’re only 506 nights away from Pinnacle. We actually could make it by the time we’re 70. I didn’t think it was possible until I did the math this morning. 70 isn’t THAT old! 

4 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

Second floor of Giovannis maybe? Like where the Wonderland bar is on Wonder?

I would guess Giovanni’s Wine Bar will be where Wonderland bar was. 

5 hours ago, GrnMtnMan said:

Well, travel agent said she asked, but nothing was offered. So we had to cancel, and will attempt to get funds back from insurance. The rates for the Wonder of the Seas for the dates we could go are 60% higher (so +$6,000 for same itinerary), with inferior room locations compared to our booking (which we made in September 2022). So we're gonna try for next summer.

Thanks for the tips!

Unfortunately re-booking last minute usually means very high price as cabin inventory is low. Have you checked the Going Going Gone? 
 

Central Park, promenade and music hall. The pic is for the next sailing from the app

Well someone has to pay for that new port in Nassau lol 

3 hours ago, Qeyton Dude said:

Was on board with you for our B2B, and we got same response from the Windjammer bar staff. We had to pay for our Mimosas.  We pushed back but was told policy changed "recently" but he couldn't tell us when. We checked when we got home on June 01, policy still says 4 per day, not 4 per night. 

It’s for how many days/nights your cruise is. On a 7 night cruise, you get 7 nights/days. Day 8 is the day you disembark. 

Well we are up to 6 couples now (The Danube Dozen), I’m not too worried now about being entertained. I have a feeling we may be the entertainment. 
 

I did score an unbelievable Airbnb in Budapest. 7 bedrooms, 3 bath for $298 TOTAL for 2 nights pre-cruise. That comes to $50 a couple for both nights! It’s brand new and gorgeous and right in the middle of everything. Host has over 22k reviews so I’m comfortable knowing it’s not a bait and switch. 

So technically you get 7 days/nights of free drinks. Or whatever length your cruise is.

If you board on Sunday, the following Saturday day/night is your 7th day/night. 

They do not re-set at 4 or 5am on day 8, disembarkment day. 
 

Jumbo Shrimp is an oxymoron but they’re a great minor league baseball team here in Jacksonville

It’s also been called iskate on some ships. We saw that on one of the oasis class ships we sailed last year. We actually liked it better than the choreographed show

On 5/30/2023 at 10:16 AM, smokeybandit said:

That call doesn't necessarily mean a life threatening incident. Just a call for medical help.

We had one once that was just the result of a drunk woman falling and hitting her head. She ended up fine.

We just had one on Wonder during the free skate session. It was alpha to Studio B

I’d love to see a ship in Jacksonville. The port is about 20 minutes from the airport. Carnival is the only line sailing from here and it’s the Elation that’s over 20 years old with a capacity of about 2,000. 

I doubt Royal would build something that small. Jax can’t handle much larger due mostly to channel depth although I’ve heard it may be deepened. 
 

20 minutes ago, twangster said:

The original proposal was quite tough, meaning only battery operated ships could sail.  That was proving difficult for ferries and other ships to achieve.  Not even LNG ships were originally allowed as they are not zero emissions.  

The latest draft from January seems to soften the position potentially allowing LNG vessels.  

It may not pass in time for a 2026 implementation, but it could.  I'm going in 2024 and I'm waiting for Odyssey to open for 2025 just in case the new regulation is adopted.

Just something to keep an eye on.  

 

I’m assuming this coming November for summer 2025? That’s usually when Alaska opens so I’m already primed and ready for November. I’ll be on Allure early November so might stop by Next Cruise to get the onboard deal then pull the trigger when dates are released. 

2 hours ago, twangster said:

I'm not sure if Odyssey (or any Royal ships) will be able to sail in the Norwegian Fjords past 2025.  

https://www.sdir.no/en/shipping/vessels/environment/prevention-of-pollution-from-ships/zero-emissions-in-the-world-heritage-fjords-by-2026/

January 1, 2026 is the deadline for their zero emissions target. 

 

Well dang. May have to push Alaska to 2026 and do fjords 2025. I hadn’t heard that news. 

Ditto everything @twangster said. We did 12 nights on her last October for Holy Land cruise and we loved her! 

Now oasis class is our favorite but Odyssey was different in a good way. We actually said we’d definitely sail her to southern Caribbean and now I’m super excited that she’s taking over Anthem in the UK as the Norwegian fjords are on our bucket list. I just hope she stays there for more than one season. We’ve got 2026 in our sights. 

We had a junior suite on deck 7 mid ship hump. Great cabin! 

I would’ve liked one or two more specialty restaurants. We had a 5 night plan with 7 nights in the MDR which actually was very good! 

Yes the UK had £40 drink packages last year. My guess that was to get people back onboard. 

We’ve been with Royal since 1990 or ‘91. We honestly have been happy and at 194 points, don’t see a need to go elsewhere, for now. 

We still enjoy the big ships and all the entertainment and specialty restaurants they offer. Central Park is just my happy place. 

We are at an age (mid to late 50’s) where the “bucket list” is taking precedence. The big girls are simply too limited in the ports they go to. We sail oasis class at least once a year to the Caribbean for a “sit on your butt and eat and drink for a week.” Just did that on Wonder 3 weeks ago. Jumping on Allure in October to get us through to Icon in April. Utopia is likely in the mix and Alaska is the next bucket list for 2025. 

We have just booked our first river cruise with Viking for the Christmas Markets on the Danube for 2024. If Royal sailed the rivers, we’d likely be booked with them. 

We always book waaaay in advance and honestly haven’t seen these “massive” price hikes some complain about. Gone are the days of booking a reasonable fare 6 months out. You gotta plan twice to 3x that to get the price. 

If Royal doesn’t end up coming out with a new, smaller class (Discovery class?) to replace Vision, Radiance and ultimately voyager classes, we will start looking around. We did the Holy Land last October on Odyssey and it was fantastic and there’s a lot of the world to see but the old girls in the fleet just don’t excite us at all. I’m praying Radiance gets her face lift before we sail her in 2025. Covid really hit them hard on the cosmetics of the ships and honestly, it’s a turn off to see stained carpets, musty smells and upholstery that is too well worn. 

We’d likely go to Celebrity first but I really want a true status match on the drinks. I want my 5 anytime of day, not in a 2-3 hour happy hour at night. 

Matt just got back: 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2023/05/23/7-mistakes-3-things-i-did-right-my-royal-caribbean-norwegian-fjords-cruise

6 hours ago, wordell1 said:

I usually get off early with the first few groups. I will typically get up early and eat breakfast but I don't really enjoy just hanging around the ship on debarkation day.

We’re the same. Get off early with self assist. We don’t even eat breakfast. Get off, get in the car and find a Denny’s or IHOP 

On 5/17/2023 at 8:09 AM, JasonOasis said:

Quantum class has not flopped in the west/Atlantic region. 

By mid-fall of 2024 Royal will have 6 Oasis Class ships sailing from ports in Florida and Galveston that is a lot of capacity.  Add in Odyssey which is a Quantum Plus class ship that is a lot of capacity especially out of Florida where 5 of the 6 Oasis Class ships will be based.  I still think at some point one of the 6 Oasis Class ships will reposition to China and perhaps Royal will reposition Spectrum back to Singapore and eventually bring Anthem back home to the US.  However until demand has recovered in China to warrant a ship like Wonder Royal has decided to reposition Spectrum to China and Anthem to Singapore.  I believe this is more Royal trying to find the right balance by making sure the have the right ships on the right itineraries to meet demand. Clearly the Chinese market is a huge market however it would seem as though Royal believes putting an Oasis Class ship in China right out of the gate in 2024 is too much and would rather reposition Spectrum.  As has been discussed Singapore was the first country to allow cruising to resume and Royal was right there in Singapore with a Quantum Class ship.  Obviously Royal isn't willing to cede the marketshare they have in Singapore to another cruise line while they rebuild in China.  There options are clear they must replace Spectrum with another ship and the best ship that has nearly the same capacity as Spectrum is Anthem.

What I wonder is what will replace Odyssey on Greek Isles, Mediterranean, and Israeli cruises come summer 2025?

Glad I did Holy Land last year on Odyssey. If she goes to Southampton that seals the deal for me going to Norwegian Fjords. Had been debating between Jewel and Anthem but we really liked Odyssey so if she ends up in the UK, that’s where we’ll be 

I have this sinking feeling (pun intended) that as the smaller ships age out, Royal will push that demographic to Celebrity. Celebrity will fill the void of Vision, Radiance and even Voyager class. They will become the replacement while Royal continues to build behemoths that can sail to maybe 10 ports but begin turning a profit at 31% occupancy. I love my oasis class but cruising is way more than the Caribbean. I’ve got a bucket list to tackle! 

If that happens I’m ok with it as long as the loyalty level gives me my 5 drinks and not just a 2 hour happy hour. 

39 minutes ago, JasonOasis said:

I'm on Freedom right now enjoying a quick weekend cruise and the only thing you hear out of every child's mouth is I want to go on Icon,  Icon, Icon, Icon, they all want Icon they have no idea how expensive Icon is for their parents.  And according to Royal  Icon of the Seas continues to set sales records.  

I agree with you Icon is expensive and I still haven't booked a cruise on Icon.  Not because of the price but because I think it's going to be OVERRUN with children and I don't want to deal with that. However as long as Icon continues to sell at record pace I don't see Royal lowering the price for that ship. 

I think Utopia will be expensive then  I'm hoping it won't be Icon expensive. I'm hoping it Royal will price it a bit closer to Wonder or Symphony due to the fact it's just another Oasis Class ship.  Hopefully that along with the spotlight still being on Icon will keep Utopia prices from reaching Iconic levels.  I've got my credit card ready for Utopia I'm looking at doing a B2B but in my opinion Royal can keep Icon, I'm in no rush to get on that cruise ship. 

We were with you at CocoCay yesterday on Wonder. 
 

I booked Icon the day it  was released. Our plain old balcony was $200 LESS than this Wonder we just did that I booked 14 months ago. 
 

Bottom line: you’ve got to book as early as possible.