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I think someone was confused. It's Disney Cruise Lines that has Pirate Night. (However, toy swords are also banned on DCL) The whip looks to me like it might have been purchased at a port of call and RCCL politely offered to store it for them until the end of the cruise. I assume they were allowed to hold on to the hat and leather jacket, however.

Repurchased our Voom S&S two device for $20/day. Saved us $20 from when we got it on sale(!) a few months ago. I wasn't even looking for it, just got on cruise planner to see if anything new had popped up since we are nearing the 90-day mark. Funny thing, for the first time on our cruise the Voom Surf package showed up for purchase, and on average cost a dollar more per day than Surf and Stream. I know it's probably a case of one being on sale and the other not, but I had to laugh at that.

Because truthfully it is a very niche market. Those who drink beer and wine typically do so at least partly for the alcohol and those who do not consume alcohol usually are more interested in soda, fruity virgin drinks, or water. As twangster said, with limited space on a ship stocking a large variety of items with little demand isn't good for RCCL's bottom line or the desires of most of those sailing. Regardless, do let them politely know that you would like a larger selection. If there is more demand than they realize they might increase their selection. Either way I do hope that you enjoy your cruise and welcome to the boards!

Can't help but wonder how far back this puts all the other projects. If they were banking on being able to dock a ship there and unload large cargo then every delay on the pier is an equally long delay on anything they need the pier for. Then add the inevitable delays for those projects after construction begins in earnest. They say perfection is unattainable, naming the park Perfect Day may have been a bad omen. ?

I guess. But then again aren't spaghetti, lasagna, and ravioli all essentially the same thing served in different formats?

First they came for my straws, and I said nothing. Then they came for my plastic cups, and I said nothing. Then they came for my ocean cruises, but by then the internet had also been shut off to save electricity so I could say nothing. ?

Remember that the reason it is such a big deal and such an uproar is that it so rarely happens so close to the set sail date. If it frequently happened only 8 months before the sailing date it would have been met with "sorry this happened, it sucks, but it's fairly common" rather than outrage. It is far more likely to happen over a year in advance, as the cruise line wants to cancel as few people as possible and the chartering company wants time to fill the ship. I do encourage you to continue reading here and learn more about cruising before going, a lot of tips and knowledge are on this site and forum that can help things go smoothly. Trip insurance is also worth considering. A lot of things can happen and with a cruise any delays in travel can potentially scrub the entire trip.

I think Twangster's photos look more promising. That drone footage is missing a lot of buildings that are visible in his photos and without an actual date for the drone video I would say it is over a month old.

Please understand that your concerns are a bit like someone flying in to Scotland from the US for a cruise and expecting to be on a ship full of people in kilts, haggis at every meal, and bagpipes being played through the night. The cruise will be quite diverse. While I'm sure you will see more cowboy hats than you probably have in your entire life I would doubt on a ship that big that you will have trouble finding people, Texans or otherwise, that have more in common with yourself than the traditional Texas ideal.

The Questions page does not appear to have been updated in over a year. I would suggest asking questions on the board, then Matt as well as anybody else who might have an insight can weigh in.

One thing that could bring those numbers even closer is transportation. If you fly in to MCO Disney will drive you from the airport to your hotel and provide transportation throughout the entire property, as well as drive you back to the airport. For a cruise you have to pay for that. For Miami it should still be less than $30pp (the rough difference between these prices) if you arrange it privately, and probably a bit more than $30pp round trip if you arrange it through RCCL. WDW also offers complimentary baggage transfers to and from the airport, RCCL also has this but for an additional fee. So these numbers are quite close and could easily be closer after considering getting you and your baggage to/from the airport and your destination. Up until about a year ago I could look at parking for those not flying, but Disney decided free parking was just a bridge too far, so that's a wash now.

You virtually never get a credit for missed ports. As it is now with Coco Cay being a tendered port it is missed somewhat regularly. If you book something on the island, such as the water park or an excursion, and they aren't available/you don't stop then you will be refunded those costs. Cruise lines have it in their agreement that no port is guaranteed, it is exceedingly rare for them to offer compensation for missing a port outside of the port fee refund mentioned above. Enjoy your cruise!

You would be banking on there being zero delay in getting in to port (a 30 minute delay would delay the first excursion but probably not the second), zero delay in getting back from the Catamaran Sail, and that the Scuba Diving will meet at 11 and doesn't want to meet earlier and have the bus leave at 11 sharp. IMO that's a lot of possible delays for only a 30 minute window. Also to consider is whether you are going to want to go scuba diving after spending the morning sailing and where you are going to fit meals in. If it were me I wouldn't want to deal with all of that just to hit two excursions, but it is up to you if you feel the risk is low enough and reward high enough.

I wonder if Penn State had another ship chartered and for some reason it became unavailable? That might explain the late change. Explain, not excuse. Ohio State does a cruise too, they have Independence chartered February 23-29, 2019, but they announce them around a year in advance. And people absolutely pay those prices, the Ohio State one is nearly sold out. We are considering taking one at some point, my wife is a rabid OSU fan. Weird, seemed Penn State were distancing themselves from the Paterno name. Guess enough time has passed, apparently.

You know, across multiple websites I am well known for being an "apologist" for cruise lines or resorts when it comes to their changing itineraries or other such changed due to weather or mechanical problems, even drydock delays. Things happen and sometimes people get a bit too worked up over something out of everyone's control. Even with the recent Coco Cay to Miami change that was talked about I didn't think anyone was overreacting as it appears to be a problem of RCCL's own doing, but I was still trying to find some positive thing to say for the company. This is soooooo not that case. To cancel multiple cruises with only 8 months to go because someone else wanted the boats? Unbelievable. We book cruises well in advance to get the best rate, we book airfare sometimes 8-9 months in advance to get it squared way. This isn't a hurricane, this isn't a rudder breaking, this isn't some workers' strike somewhere that is affecting them, this is them choosing to tell hundreds of people to get off their boats so they can charter it out instead. Quite honestly this has soured my take on RCCL. Their response to @alamode123 will be on my mind after I take my first cruise with them in a few months (gee, hopefully they don't cancel it). I have really been hoping this could be a company I could plant my flag and show some loyalty to as we enter a phase of our lives where cruising regularly becomes an option. But is Royal going to be loyal to their own customers, or are they willing to stab them in the back for the right price? I hope for the best alamode123, keep us informed.

Sounds like they are bringing in some of the really large items that will require the pier to dock and unload. Assuming they have to close it for a day to do so then it makes some sense that they are cancelling the smallest ship so as to affect the smallest number of passengers. Not that I wouldn't be as angry as anybody at this. However I will give them credit that they did this before the final payment date.

First, welcome to the Royal Caribbean Blog forum! Unfortunately it's not an option at this point. To transfer a reservation to a TA it must be done within 60 days of booking, before the Final Payment Date, and also before it has been paid in full. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/direct-booking-transfer Enjoy your cruise!

There is virtually zero cell phone coverage between cities in Alaska, it's all wide open wilderness.

Doesn't matter, you can't transfer them. It has to be done within 60 days of booking and before the booking is paid in full (even if before the final payment date).

The money going towards upgrades should not be negatively affecting the stock price unless they are taking on large amounts of debt to finance them and/or investors feel that the upgrades are losing propositions. I don't think either is the situation, I believe (without looking at their finances) they are paying for these upgrades mostly through money they have and I think these upgrades are positive improvements to investors. I think this is related to an overall market adjustment for cruise lines, as @twangster showed with CCL and NCL. Rather, I would say if someone were looking to invest in a cruise line RCCL might be one worth further study right now with the Perfect Day project looking to (theoretically) increase revenue over the next few years. Please keep in mind I am not at this time an investment advisor and am not offering investment advice. This is my standard CYA statement when I talk about money.

Person was injured on the job and then later fired because the company claimed the injury prevented her from doing her job. I won't comment on the judgement amount, it will most likely come down upon appeal, but I wouldn't call this as frivolous as filing as suit against McD's for overcharging 30 cents on a burger.

Because you like cruising with RCCL?

That jumped out at me. Having a dock versus tendering absolutely affects the vacation experience, otherwise they wouldn't be putting one in. It's one thing to have to delay opening the dock cough-again-cough but that line is just a flat out lie, and a completely unnecessary one to boot.

So then the lounge has never been exclusive to only suite guests, and Pinnacle guests make up 10% or so of the people able to use the lounge? OP is quite welcome to correct me if I'm wrong, but the complaint seems to come down to just knowing that when you walk in to the lounge a small fraction of the people in there have not paid to be in a suite. Is there another way to interpret this?

Just curious: On a ship like Harmony how many Pinnacle members are there on an average sailing, and how many suite guests are there? Before I ever try to form an opinion I want to know if OP is complaining about a few extra people in a pool of hundreds, or if this is an actual noticeable thing.