accio7

Yes! One of the reasons we're looking at RCI for loyalty. Planning to do a winter Bahamas and summer Bermuda on Summit if we stick with it!

Odyssey has quite a few scheduled to hit the ABC Islands, Grand Cayman, etc... Nice to not have to fly to San Juan!
I like this one... Perfect Day, Curacao, Aruba AND Labadee!  ?

 
These are nice too!

 

I know they say Carnival is the Walmart of cruises, and I can see that in the last 2 cruises with them I've been on, but I have to admit, Guy's burgers, the French fries they serve and the crumbled bacon at their condiment bar are one of the reasons I'm going back this November.

Agree. I wouldn’t cast judgement w/o trying the 8 day ABC island itinerary. 

Yep ... Carnival Vista on the 8 night to ABC is probably my favorite cruise all time.
Carnival Paradise ... had us swearing off Carnival for several years ?

Aruba + Guys Burger Joint are a force to be reckoned with. 

I wouldn’t personally dismiss Carnival if you have never done the 8 day Southern Caribbean route on a newer class ship. I would say this experience is equal to or better then any experience we have had on both NCL and Royal. 

Havent done Anthem class to specifically compare but between Breakaway class and most of the Royal Fleet (Voyager and up classes) I would say more comparable than not.
Dining style is different with NCL being pure freestyle and Royal having some option for a more structured approach as well as the Mytime dining and specialty restaurants but apart from that its going to come down to the small things that are more quirks of an individual ship than they are the lines themselves.
If you could describe "whats important to you" in a cruise that would help narrow a compare and contrast to the relevant points.
I like both lines and sail both (along with Carnival's newer/bigger ships that also compare well).,
 

So, I have to ask...with such a large group, and no travel agent?

@accio7 I love Europe and have been to France, the Uk, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Denmark and Italy. So it will not be a bummer to visit. I originally saw this itinerary and was tempted to book but it had Jersey in there....not at all my favorite place to visit...hence why I changed it going to a better place like Cococay.
I love Ireland and Scotland so I definitely would add as many ports from there as I could.

Royal does offer a 12 night Transatlantic sailing on November 1st, 2020 from Southampton to Cap Liberty on Anthem, but does not include a Western Caribbean itinerary. Instead, you have to visit...Europe. Damnit, that sucks lol. 
Day 1: London (Southampton), England
Day 2: Paris (Le Havre), France
Day 3: Cruising
Day 4: Cork (Cobh), Ireland
Day 5-6: Cruising
Day 7: Ponta Delgada, Azores (Portugal)
Day 8-12: Cruising
Day 13: Cape Liberty (Bayonne), New Jersey

I have this weird feeling, A) European Season will be shortened, OR, B) there will be no European Season for 2020. If it's the latter, I will be highly disappointed as I have an awesome itinerary set for September. We can all hope and pray that all of this will be behind us very soon.

Of course, it'll also depend on how long the just-announced closing of the border to all but essential travel could have an impact, too, depending on how long it lasts.
Because as much as we'd like to think of cruises as "essential", they are not.
That hurt to type. ?

This is not an option due to the PVSA / Jones Act mentioned earlier by @twangster, which prohibits foreign-flagged vessels from leaving from one US port and returning to the same or another US port without first visiting at least one foreign port along the way. The stop in Canada is how these itineraries satisfy that requirement.

I wanted to start this blog by sharing our Open Water Diver Certification process on board Harmony OTS, Nov 2019. Hopefully this will help answer any questions or concerns. This will be partly live since we are still on board; if you have any questions you want me to relay, let me know! (We disembark on Nov 16, 2019)
We signed up for the excursion about a week prior to the cruise. I asked a bunch of questions, and THAT same day the excursion team reached out to the dive team. All my questions were answered that same day (appreciated the quick responses!). They also included copies of our medical questionnaire (see pictures) and asked us to send them back. The same day I sent them back, they responded with my PADI redeem key so I could start my eLearning modules. I HIGHLY recommend getting them done early (obviously...) this was a last minute decision (largely thanks to @twangster and noting some advice he posted. I owe you a beer on our next cruise...provided I get certified... ??)
Since it was a last minute decision, we spent most of the morning of our embarkation (both before and after we were on the ship) frantically trying to finish ?? Ultimately it didn’t seem like a huge deal if we hadn’t, since all open water stuff was going to be done the following day. They didn’t seem too concerned that some of our modules appeared as not complete (even though they were), they just softly reminded us to finish them and encouraged us to get them done ASAP. There are NUMEROUS glitches with the PADI eLearning app (known as “PADI Library” in the Apple store). We found the iPad to be WAY easier to use vs. just an iPhone. Even with the large screen of the iPhone 11 Pro... it still was difficult to navigate, watch videos, take exams, etc. 
Once on board, we showed up before 3:pm to prove all our pre-cruise requirements were completed, our medical questionnaire, doctors note (if needed), and PADI folder were all filled out. I would HIGHLY suggest you review the medical requirements and get all issues signed off by your MD well in advance. We had to show back up at 6pm to fit our gear (and buy what we didn’t have). They (Francois and Kelly) seemed really friendly, and probably would have let us borrow equipment had we pressed the issue, but we wanted to just buy our own anyway. If you’re smarter than we are, I would suggest going to your local PADI (or dive) shop, try on products there, and buy them in advance. Ultimately the masks they offered ranged in price from $20-120 , but they had limited options for colors, styles, brands etc. This is like going into your local bowling alley and seeing all the pretty, fancy pro gear, and then going online and seeing about 8 million different options than what was offered. You may not only save some money, but also have something that fits better or you like more. 
That was it for day 1!!
They were supposed to have us do our confined water dives on Perfect Day, but the pool was down for maintenance apparently. This meant we got a free day in Cocoa Cay! BUT it meant we had to use the on board pool (and NOT the aqua pool like I’ve heard they used in the past) for our initial confined dives. This meant our first sea day was an almost all day practicum  day and only in 4.5 ft of water ?

Day 2 (our 3rd cruise day and first sea day). We met at 6:30am at the dive shop. We grabbed our gear (prepared and fitted previously) then prepped it like they taught us, and went into the pool. There are 7 in our class and they said that is about typical for on board certification. People ranged from having previous dive experience to having none. Overall our class went until about 10:30am. At that time one of our classmates apparently gagged on something and threw up in the pool ?? Whatever, lol ?  happens. Rolling with the flow of the ocean is what cruising is all about. They did have to clean out the pool which meant lessons were over for the morning. This was kinda a hindrance since we need to come BACK this/that evening at 4:30pm for more training. 

As of writing this (I’m sitting in the hot tub in the solarium relaxing until evening class), things haven’t been too crazy difficult or hard. Super basic skills (removing mask and regulators, practicing emergency procedures etc) were all we completed. (But according to our instructors we are doing relatively well!)
I’ll keep you all updated with the thing that happen next and relay any lessons learned I thought might be useful!

Royal does offer a 12 night Transatlantic sailing on November 1st, 2020 from Southampton to Cap Liberty on Anthem, but does not include a Western Caribbean itinerary. Instead, you have to visit...Europe. Damnit, that sucks lol. 
Day 1: London (Southampton), England
Day 2: Paris (Le Havre), France
Day 3: Cruising
Day 4: Cork (Cobh), Ireland
Day 5-6: Cruising
Day 7: Ponta Delgada, Azores (Portugal)
Day 8-12: Cruising
Day 13: Cape Liberty (Bayonne), New Jersey

@RCVoyager
While I may have a difference of opinion when we are done, I would have to say it depends on the circumstances. We intentionally did it on this cruise because we were NOT cruising with friends/family. So generally speaking, I would agree with that sentiment; it would be hard to enjoy this experience AND try to enjoy the company of fellow cruisers. We have also had to curtail our drinking (which you may not believe if you read our live blog). 
 
It really depends on the individual person and your personal goals too. If your goal is to eat, drink, see all the shows, lounge by the pool or relax the whole cruise, this may not be the best fit. But if you pick this with intention, you may have an amazingly positive experience. If we could go back and rebook and plan this better, we probably would have NOT selected the UDP, the spa all week access, or The Key. (I’ll give a better review when we are done) Getting our certification has been a goal of ours for almost 9 years. To FINALLY be able to get it done, AND scuba in some amazing ports, AND have the security of a 5 Star PADI dive shop with amazing instructors, for one low price, it really is something that SHOULD be considered. You just must do your due diligence to ensure this experience fits the circumstances. 

That’s kinda what I figured. I did a search of PADI Certification on the message boards, and didn’t see much come up. I thought any info would be helpful for those trying to decide what’s best for them. 

Day 3: Nov 13 (Costa Maya Open Water Dive 1 & 2)
We were super lucky that this wasn't going to be an early morning deal! This was fortunate for us because we were dancing to the 50's theme party most of the night. Show time the next morning was 11:30 at the dive shop to pick up our gear. We picked up our gear and did a bag drag off the ship. No real logistic issues. Carrying the bag could be challenging if you would have difficulties carrying 20 lbs the length of the ship and into port. (I am by no means in perfect health and had no issues)
Once off the ship and in the port, we waited approximately 30 minutes to get sorted into our excursions. We were separated from the certified/experienced divers, but ended up heading to the same dive destination. After being herded onto a small bus (and some of us in taxis paid for by RCI), we were on our way to our dive site. The site was about 20-30 minutes from the port, but it wasn't anything remarkable. We were going to be taking a small dive boat out to the reef area and given two tanks to dive and practice our open water skills.
PRO TIP... if you get sea sick (or even think you might get sick) consult your doc about taking something prior to jumping on the boat. The water was SUPER choppy! I normally don't get motion sickness, but prepared anyway with some natural ginger pills. I'm glad I did!
Falling off the boat and into the water was pretty magical. We made our way to the descent line at the bow of the ship and followed it down. We descended with no issues (some had ear problems, but one of the dive instructors (Kelly) spent a GREAT DEAL of time working through her issues while the other (Francois) led us down to settle on the bottom). This was a perfect place to practice our first open water skills. There was plenty of sand clearings (so worrying about messing up some 10,000 year old coral wasn't an issue). With the basic skills checks completed, we were able to practice other skills (buoyancy control, and navigation) over the coral! We were about 40 ft deep and had a good amount of time in the water. 
We surfaced, and the water had grown MUCH choppier! On the down side, this meant 3 of the other students got really sick. On the plus side, we were no longer in the pool and had to have it cleaned out AND it chummed the fish!!! After resting and re-positioning most of us were ready to go down again. (one of the students was so sick, she refused to get back in the water in spite of the instructors telling her she would feel better if she did). 
Second tank on, we dived back down. This second site had MUCH more coral and far fewer sand barges. We again only dived to a depth of about 40 ft, and worked on some additional mask skills and buddy skills. We completed some more advanced skills (taking off the tank and BCD and putting it back on). But then we got about 30 minutes exploring the coral! When we were done, we practiced ascending with our buddies and navigating our way back to the ship. 
 
The trip back to port took about 30 minutes, and we didn’t spend much time there. We were rushing to get back on the ship to watch the Aqua Show and have a few drinks!
Overall Impression
- Costa Maya was an awesome place for our first open water dive.
- The sand barges gave us plenty of area to practice our skills, and the coral was beautiful. Not sure if the water is always that choppy, but take some anti-nausea medication and you should be fine. Visibility was amazing!
- The dive shop had merch (T-shirts and hats etc), a decent bathroom, and the staff were friendly. 
- We were sent out with the "experienced/certified" diver group... which actually was super annoying. They kept trying to grab our gear instead of theirs, and they were super disorganized and needy (ironically). I felt a little Sharks vs. the Jets kinda thing going on.  
- Don't wear sunscreen. They provided some at the shop which was safe for the coral!
- Collecting our gear and keeping it separated was annoying with the "experienced" group because they kept grabbing our stuff. The space to clean your gear and prep was small and cramped for the 20+ people that were all there. 
 
 

Just a reminder that there's no room for profanity on this forum. I had to remove a few posts that violated that rule.  

I'd love a Panama canal cruise that includes a Western Caribbean itinerary on one end, and a Mayan Riviera on the other.

Re: elective surgeries....I feel so lucky to have gotten this knee replacement when I did.  The surgeons that did this knee are now postponing all such surgeries.  We have just been ahead of this awful wave in so many ways...I feel so blessed.

Wow, that's insulting (to you).
The answer to your question is, no, the temperature is not enough.
The reason RC is prohibiting people over 70 from cruising (temporarily) is because people in that age range are far more susceptible to coronavirus and it is far more deadly in that age range.
Once the coronavirus threat lessens, I fully expect this rule to be rescinded.

OK, first off, while I work in the financial industry I am not a licensed broker or financial advisor! I'm just an IT guy who happens to have learned a decent amount about investing from my dad and my own experiences buying a handful of stocks over the last 20 years.
Secondly, @SpeedNoodles and @Lovetocruise2002, get ready to go beyond Bailey mode. ?
That said...
If you are serious about investing in Royal, understand that to hit that 100 share minimum for shareholder benefits you're still going to be spending about $2,200 at the current price of $22.03. That's definitely a lot better than the $11,300+ it was just a few short weeks ago, but that's still not pocket change. If getting the shareholder benefit is your only reason for buying, maybe reconsider because you'll have to take a LOT of cruises that actually pay you that benefit before you break even.
If you want to buy it because you love the company and think it's a good investment for the long term -- I'm talking at least 5 or even 10 years here, since that's always my minimum goal -- you'll want to read up on the company's financials and get some basic understanding of what's really going on under the hood. I just took a quick look at their annual SEC filing (called the 10-K, which was just published in February and covers through 12/31/19), and looked at their financials in particular (page 37 of the linked doc).
For me, I like that for the last 3 years at least they have had three times as much in assets (cash, investments, physical capital like the ships, etc.) vs liabilities (loans, credit lines, bonds issued, etc.). That tells me they are properly managing their finances, and the debt they have is being used to help expand the business and invest in ships / private islands / etc., rather than prop up their business or make it look better than it seems. That said, in comparison to Apple (the only individual stock I currently own), that's a lot of debt relative to assets; Apple for the longest time had zero long-term debt and almost no short-term debt; it's only in the last few years that they started issuing bonds and other debt instruments, and those are still a much smaller fraction of the total assets (which include a cash hoard that is just bananas).
The rest of the financial numbers looked good, too, although one thing surprised me -- It's been mentioned here a few times that the ticket bookings are basically break-even, and it's the on-board spending that drives actual profit. So I was really surprised to see that cruise fares are 75% of their income, while on-board spend is 25%. I would have expected the latter to be more like 35 or 40% if that's really the profit-driver. So I want to dig into that more and see if they break down how much profit comes off of each.
For me, this quick glance makes me think I might sell off some of my Apple stock (I bought it in 2000) and get a few hundred shares of Royal. But I want to dig deeper. I like their product from all three cruise lines, their leadership seems solid from what I've read over the last couple years, and the financials look good at a glance, but I still don't know RCL the company that well yet. Mistakes like the $18/night DBP "intern goof" and others that we've talked about here seem to happen with some disturbing regularity, and point to some possible issues that might make investing in them riskier than it already is, given the industry.

The stock would most likely be de-listed from the exchange (making it impossible to purchase through normal channels; I think the minimum price to stay listed on the NYSE is...what...$1?) well before it hit zero.