twangster

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Once ships are 20 years old they have to dry dock every 2.5 years. It is an absolute requirement to maintain their certificate to operate. Mostly these are technical dry docks performing the maintenance required so the ship remains certified to sail. They may replace a cracked window in the Windjammer or a broken tile on a floor somewhere. They might paint the pool or do some other service in guest areas while the ship is down but mostly these dry docks are done because they have to perform scheduled maintenance to the hull, engines, propulsion, etc. as required.

Thanks to the double points promo I reached my second free cruise pretty quickly. My next milestone free cruise is going to take a lot longer to reach. With the current state of affairs I am sailing other lines more and can't justify the rates that Royal charges. There is a reason to continue earning points but as it has always been, it doesn't make sense to make points earning a priority or the reason to cruise. Cruise for the love of cruising on whatever cruise line or itinerary looks best in that moment. I'm boarding a Royal ship today. I booked a studio cabin as it was the only semi-reasonable rate I could find. The rate for a non-studio cabin was ridiculous. I'm not cruising for points but then again I never did specifically cruise just for the points. Who knows, maybe in 2026 or 2027 I'll have reached the next milestone for another free cruise. Time will tell.

CV is everywhere around us. In schools, at church, on public transit, on airplanes, ubers, everywhere because people are infected with it and people are spreading it everywhere. Fortunately the current strains don't seem to be very impactful. Are public schools and universities notifying any one? Are churches? Nope. Why should cruise lines be held to a different standard? I flew recently unrelated to cruising. People on the other side two rows back were coughing and hacking the whole flight. Should they have stayed home? Can't say, I don't know why they were traveling and don't really care. Turns out I didn't catch whatever they had. On my uber ride home how would I know if the last ride had a common cold, flu or any other virus? Perhaps their germs were all over the door handle and seat belt. That's life. I took a cruise over Christmas. It was 18 days long with no major cities to debark anyone. A common cold of some sort went around the ship. Some people isolated themselves for a few days, some went on business as normal, coughing in the theater, in the MDR, etc. What it was, a cold, virus, something else, didn't originate on the ship. It was on land, maybe caught in an airplane or at church or at school or at work. It probably went through the church, work, airplane, hotel, etc. too. Should someone's work should have done something about it? Maybe if they did the bug would have never made it on the ship to begin with. Putting the onus on schools, work places, churches, etc. to regulate health concerns isn't how our society works. It shouldn't work that way on cruise ships either.

Celebrity has long been unfriendly to solo. The upcharge to book Always Included has always been based on double occupancy with pricing based on two guests but a solo guests can't drink for two and doesn't get two wifi devices despite paying for it. Briefly during the restart there were some solo breaks because ships were leaving at 25% occupancy but those days are over. For a solo cruiser Silversea is thousands less to the Galapagos compared to Celebrity, at least when Silversea offers a reduced single supplement which they do from time to time. Celebrity has always been the least favourable brand in the RCG family for solo guests. I don't see their unfriendly ways for solo guests spreading if it hasn't already.

Cruise pricing is dynamic and influenced heavily by supply and demand. When a category of cabin such as 4B has ample empty cabins the price for this specific category can be lower than another category such as a 3B cabin which is a cabin that can sleep 3 or more guests. It's all about how well a specific category is booking. "Balcony" is not a category, "interior" is not a category. Consequently it is very common to see a discrepancy between actual categories such as 1B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B etc. If you had priced this cruise the very first day it opened you would have likely observed that cabins for two guests, such as 2B or 4B would have been lower than cabins for more than two guests such as 1B, 3B, or 5B, etc. Over time as various categories start to book up the demand factor is applied to each category independently of any other category. For your cruise, in a month's time the cabins for 3 or 4 guests maybe nearly sold out (because there are fewer of them) and their price may be much higher than the current rate on that day for a cabin that holds two. On the other hand if these same cabins aren't being booking the rate can go lower than it is today to stimulate bookings. There is no fixed price for any cabin. There is the rate on the day the shipped opened for booking and there is today's rate or what they call the prevailing rate. You may see it as "whacked out", I see it as an opportunity to find deals since my schedule is flexible. Since I am okay in any type of cabin I can play the dynamics across many types of cabins from interior to suites. They all fluctuate independently of each other and some days they drop rates to stimulate bookings, but they only drop rates for categories that aren't booking as well compared to a category that is booking well. The rate you booked was the prevailing rate on the day you booked. At some previous point in time it may have been higher or lower. We'll never know. At some future point in time it may be higher or lower. You'll only know if you check often.

Plus on day one most of the smokers haven't found the smoking lounge (casino) yet. By day two they have.

^ This By definition a NextCruise future cruise or book later certificate is NRD or Non Refundable Deposit

Royal has a strict policy that once booked you can't make changes to the free cruise. Choose wisely. Having said that... my original 700 free cruise was using the $2,400 for a JS in Alaska. That cruise was whacked by the shutdown. They allowed me to change and my replacement cruise was subsequently whacked by the shutdown. They allowed me to change it a 3rd time and it changed completely. I don't know how much deviation from policy is still be allowed given the pandemic is over but I can say whenever I have interacted with CAS for my free cruises they have been fantastic to work with. There are rules but they walk you through it and might show some tolerance to vary. YMMV.

Your free cruise cert will be on file within a day or two of the 700 cruise. You don't need to wait to receive the paper cert to redeem it, just call CAS and explain you need to talk to someone regarding your Pinnacle free cruise. They'll transfer you and you can ask all the questions you want or if you know already you can book it long before the paper cert arrives. Back before the shutdown the processing time was 8 - 12 weeks before your "kit" and cert arrived. After the shutdown it was way longer than that. In many cases the cert didn't arrive for months. Royal seemed to loosen the policy on the 6 month redemption window as a result. I don't know if that is still the case. When shopping for the free cruise remember during a mock booking that CAS discounts such as balcony discounts don't apply. Do the mock booking like you have no status. That is likely what the pricing will resemble.

As far as earning points, the general wisdom with Royal and free cruises is that if you pay nothing, you earn nothing. Casino comps notwithstanding, for the most part if you pay nothing out of pocket you don't typically earn points. Having said that, Royal can be inconsistent as we all know. For my 700 certificate I paid nothing by selecting a Caribbean, 7 night, balcony cruise. I wasn't expecting points. I won a RoyalUp and therefore I had added revenue to the booking. I earned points for that cruise. For my 1050 certificate I used the $2,400 option and paid something more that the $2,400 to make up the difference. I earned points. In fact I earned double points due to the double promo that was in effect for the dates involved with this cruise. If you surveyed 1,000 Pinnacle you would likely get close to 1,000 different outcomes. This is absolutely a YMMV item.

Congratulations!!! Caveat on my response - Royal may have changed things since my 700 cruise in early 2020. That's 4 years ago. My how time flies. This may have changed. My 700 cruise ended 1/16/20. My certificate had an issue date of 1/17/20. The expiration is listed as 6/17/20 or 6 months later. The certificate has to be redeemed within 6 months but the cruise does not need to be sailed or taken within the same 6 month period. This is where Royal can be a little inconsistent... go figure. The general policy seems to be the cruise must sail with 12 months but some interpret that as 12 months from the date you redeem the certificate, some view it as 12 months from the issue date. YMMV. If you don't like the answer when you try to redeem it, thank them and try another time, you never know. Here is the back of my certificate from 700: All the details are in the verbiage at the bottom which is hard read as a web image attached to this post so here is an image to text scan: *The complimentary cruise is based on double occupancy and applicable to any cruise on which the 700, 1050, 1400, 1750, 2100 (extending every 350 Cruise Points) cruise points are earned or after reaching your milestone before the expiration date or the offer will be considered forfeited. Cruise does not include taxes, fees, air transportation and/or transfers to the port of embarkation or disembarkation; or items of a personal nature (including but not limited to, shore excursions, gratuities, some meals and beverages, photographs,service fees, and medical service). This Certificate is redeemable only by the person named on the Certificate and is non-transferable. Certificate cannot be combined with other promotions or Crown & Anchor Society benefits. One Cruise per household. Offer is subject to stateroom availability at the time of redemption request. Redemption request must be submitted to Royal Caribbean no less than ten (10) days prior to sailing. If you have already booked or reserved your Cruise through another channel, this Certificate is null and void. Certificate is applicable to a new or existing cruise booking that meets the restrictions stated in the Cruise Certificate Details; cruises within final payment are ineligible. Prior to contacting us. please select your ship and sailing date based on the Cruise Certificate Detail. Changes, transfers or cancellations are not permitted for any reason once the reservation has been made. Guest will not receive a refund or credit of any kind for a cancellation or change. Complimentary cruise includes cruise ship accommodations, ocean transportation, most meals, some beverages, and most entertainment aboard the vessel. Offer applies to: 1) Up to Balcony stateroom categories on up to 7-night Caribbean sailings or $2,400 towards the purchase of a cruise at 700 or 1050 Cruise Points; and 2) Up to a Junior Suite category on up to 7-night Caribbean sailings or $3.200 towards the purchase of a cruise at 1400 Cruise Points and above. Offer is subject to availability. Specific cruise and cruise dates to be determined by Royal Caribbean in its sole discretion. Complimentary cruises are non-assignable and non-transferable and may not be given, bartered, sold, or exchanged for cash. Cruise may not be upgraded, and no substitution by the Crown & Anchor Society member will be allowed. Complimentary cruises provided are subject to the terms and conditions in the Royal Caribbean International guest ticket cruise contract It can be withdrawn at any time and cannot be combined with any other offer. Travel agent commission will not apply. Gratuities will be charged at the time of reservations. Offer does not apply to any ships in their first 365 days of service and holiday sailings. All rules that apply to guests purchasing a cruise apply to the Certificate holder, including the terms and conditions listed in the brochures and Cruise Ticket Contract. Royal Caribbean International 18062278 • 3/7/2019

Ward, This site is a cruise fan site and not affiliated with the cruise line. No one here has the technical details regarding the type of glass used anywhere on the ship.

A $200 deposit will get your a future cruise certificate. The ship and sail date can be picked later. You have 60 days to pick a ship and sail date in order to gain any of the NextCruise OBC offer. If you wait until day 61 to pick a ship and sail date you get no NextCruise OBC. Your $200 is applied to the ship and sail date to deposit the booking and make it a confirmed reservation. I would not recommend waiting until day 59 to pick a ship and sail date. If you want to get the benefit of the NextCruise OBC pick a ship and sail date by day 45 - 50 at the latest. You have one year to pick a ship and sail date. If you wait one year plus one day your $200 is lost and you have nothing.

Spectrum was built specifically for the Chinese market. She was the fourth ship built in the Quantum class. Quantum was deployed to China after an initial deployment in America but sending Quantum to Asia wasn't the original plan, it was an afterthought. Ovation and Anthem have spent the least amount of time in China among the Q class. I don't think the presence of a deck 13 on this class is related to any region. I've yet to hear any sound reasoning behind the inconsistency.

Not all cabins are equal. There are cabin that can only hold 2, there are cabins that have a capacity of 3 and there are cabins that can hold 4 guests. At times they won't allow 3 passengers to book a 4 passenger cabin because that results in a berth going empty. You can't put 3 passengers in a cabin that only has bed space for 2. If the 3 person cabins are sold out then sometimes they won't allow a party of 3 to book because tomorrow a party of 4 may come along and then there would be no more cabins to sell them. You can try to call them, sometimes revenue management might allow an exception, but that is far from a sure thing.

IME food is basically the same on all ships. Love it or hate it, the food is created from the same fleet standard recipes and fleet standard items. Nearly all ships are supplied from the same warehouses supplied by the same food distributors in bulk. If the food doesn't work for you on Royal that is perfectly acceptable. We all have different tastes. Someone else may love the food I dislike. Someone else may dislike the food I love. That is fine, we are unique individuals. However to be perfectly honest and blunt the food quality has declined considerably on Royal over the past 18 months, for my personal tastes and I do now struggle at times on Royal when I did not three years ago. As a result the number of my Royal cruises has declined and I am now sailing other lines on an increased basis. No one who loves Royal's current state of food should feel insulted by my personal views, we are different unique individuals.

Cruise Summary I've waited a few days to post a summary so I can properly contemplate the experience. In summary it was amazing. With my creative thoughts warmed tonight with a glass of Endurance Scotch I am ready to summarize this voyage. I've enjoyed some special bucket list cruises on various lines to great destinations. This experience on the Silver Wind to Antarctica has surpassed them all. We had some great weather on this voyage but I have the feeling that the experience would be pretty fantastic with or without the weather we had. I was pleasantly surprised by the condition of the Silver Wind. There is no disputing her age yet I was pleased with the ship and how it has been updated. The premium internet plan and the consistent internet experience throughout the voyage given the challenges of internet at sea well away from populated areas was a pleasant surprise for this tech geek. When I considered Antarctic itineraries I initially focused on Antarctica exclusively. Fortunately I realized if I was going all this way, investing in this vacation as required, I should explore the greater area. This was a great itinerary that included the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, Elephant Island and Antarctica. All of them are special in their own way and all of them worthy of being included on this special voyage. Boots on the ground in the Falklands, South Georgia, Elephant Island and Antarctica with a surprise visit to iceberg A23a. Enough said. Christmas in South Georgia, New Years in Antarctica. Does it get any better than that? On the way home at the hotel in Santiago with new friends made on this voyage someone asked the best moment of this experience. In truth there wasn't one, there were many best moments. Being in a special place is all well and good but I learned the value of a great zodiac driver while in the Galapagos. That lesson holds true in the Antarctic. Great guides are equally important and our expedition team were all pretty great. They all have impressive resumes and their passion for their work is hard to miss. They were a large part of making this experience what it became. I am quickly becoming a fan of Silversea expedition cruising. The Captain along with his bridge and deck teams were also a significant factor in the making of this experience. They all did a phenomenal job. Food is subjective. I try to refrain from reviewing food because my tastes should mean little to anyone else. I can't recall a bad meal and there were some pretty great meals on board. How do they keep food fresh as long as they did? The only meals that I was not enthused about were the two lunches in The Restaurant that were basically buffets. Generally speaking the food in The Restaurant where I ate most of my meals was perfect for me. As far as my camera kit for this sailing I think I did pretty good. When you own a boat and pull into a marina there is always someone in the marina with a better boat. Photography is somewhat similar and I sometimes had some "PE" (photographer envy) seeing what other guests had in their hand. Despite that I think I did okay and I'm pleased with the results. I watched the ship provided video again before sitting down to write this summary. I am so glad they provide the video. Justin did a great job with it. Every time I watch it the memories come flooding back. This was an incredible experience and I enjoyed presenting it here. I hope you have found it informative and I thank you for viewing.

Nailed it and exactly why it's there. Consider that just over 50% of a typical sailing involves folks who have never sailed Royal before. That is thousands of people who might have seen a flashing marketing photo or video with a bionic bartender. That's cool! Right? That is the target of the BB and why it exists. As new to cruise and new to Royal are window shopping which cruise line to book a flashy gimmick is attractive to many. Even if most of those guests with their first cruise complete look back and reach the same conclusion, the BB fulfilled its purpose. It sets Royal apart.

Expedition cruising only works with small loads such as <250. Expedition cruising works best under 200 guests, at 229 last week it felt crowded and the volume of guests impacted the ability of the expedition team to deal with everyone compared to a prior expedition cruise with only 98 guests on board. I don't see Royal Caribbean International ever doing expedition cruising. Expedition cruising is so far from the mass market nature of RCI it would not be a good fit and would cost substantially more than the mass market cruiser would pay. Silversea expedition cruises cost a lot of money, substantially more than the non-expedition "Classic" ships in the Silversea fleet. Celebrity expedition cruising in the Galapagos is pretty close to the same price as Silversea in the same region so there is no secret sauce to offering a budget expedition cruise. You can't do expeditions with large numbers, it just doesn't work given the time it takes to load zodiacs and deal with large numbers of guests doing wet landings on shore in places where local regulations often don't allow for more than 100 passengers on land at any given moment. This is exactly the appeal to expedition cruising. Expedition cruising involves small guests populations and that just isn't the RCI way of how they generate profit.

There are a couple of... "it depends" answers to your question. Since you booked a US airline leaving from Vancouver then you will almost assuredly do CBP clearance at YVR airport in Vancouver. This airport can also have long CBP processing times at certain times of the day so give yourself lots of time before your flight coming off the ship in Vancouver. If you booked a Canadian airline such as Air Canada to fly home they can sometimes connect in a Canadian city first which is where you may or may not have pre-clearance for the next hop into the US. If such a flight connects in Toronto for example, Pearson airport is notorious for having long CBP preclearance wait times. I am including this for anyone else who may read this post. If you have Nexus then you cut a lot of time off the process in both Vancouver or Toronto. Global Entry only (not Nexus) does help a bit but you still have to do the standard initial security line with only GE. Nexus card holders get sort of a TSA Precheck like security queue which at certain times of the day can save 30 minutes or more. Sometimes the Nexus card hardly saves any time, it depends on the volume at that moment. Flying from YVR to MSP is essentially a domestic flight when you do CBP clearance in YVR. Fifty five minutes is a "legal" domestic connection but starting to verge on being a tight connection these days. At MSP for some reason I always connect at far flung ends of different terminals. Even traveling solo and being pretty efficient as a frequent flyer I don't like a 55 minute connection.

Royal does charter a separate train that operates from closer to the airport in Anchorage to the cruise ship dock in Seward. It sells out quickly and may or may not offer gold star service with dome cars. You can call Royal to inquire if there is availability. It leaves later in the day on the premise that fly in guests arriving the day of the cruise can still use their charter train service. As a result you get to the ship later in the day, such as early evening. The train booked direct with the Alaskan Railroad that leaves from the main or "downtown" public train station still operates as it did pre-CV. I like getting to the ship earlier in the day so I've always booked direct with the railroad.

"Excuse me, there's a snail in my soup. "

At least you get Sky Class drinks in the lounge from 11am to 11pm on select ships. Not so all ships. Another makes-no-sense approach to the Royal Suite class program.

During this exhibition I also dislike the folks that insist on waving their napkins in the air flinging whatever morsels of food from dinner are on them to all the neighboring tables. Please don't.