twangster

Very sorry to hear about your grandmother. Have you cancelled the cruise already? It's possible that Royal may cancel it or give the option of a full refund if they need to make storm changes. That might be better than pursuing an insurance claim. We should know more later today or tomorrow. They are talking about possibly extending this weekend's cruise by one day which would impact your Monday cruise. December weather in Florida and the Bahamas can vary from quite pleasant to downright cold. Usually that risk is greater in January or February and often early December is a pleasant time to cruise without the oppressive heat of summer. However there are no guarantees.

With the exception of China all Royal ships use $USD on board around the world. Beer can be a bottle, can or sometimes draught on a limited basis.

Typical pub prices

Which ship? Here is a typical cafe menu on a ship with no Starbucks. Here is a typical Starbucks menu on ships that have them.

We'll know soon enough. Looks like it may graze St. Croix and run the gap between St. Thomas, St. Croix and Puerto Rico. If it does then there is little land mass to slow it down or break it up, just warm water to feed on as it makes its way to the US mainland. I saw it's around 65 mph now, so I'm expecting hurricane status soon.

Prior to 2016 there were a number of alcoholic drink packages available, one beer, one wine, one that covered some cocktails and another that covered even more. It was confusing so they were consolidated into one "Deluxe" package. Prior to 2016 sharing was not allowed. Throughout this period Royal was the only major cruise line of the big three that did not require everyone over 21 to purchase a package if any one in a cabin did. Carnival and NCL both required everyone in a cabin to buy it if anyone did. In 2018 Royal followed the others and required everyone in a cabin to buy it if anyone did. Faced with people stealing and scamming the system they relented and adopted the current policy which is now industry standard. Pricing models are based on historical trends and average consumption over the length of a cruise. These differ for short 3 night cruises compared to longer sailings so the price of the package differs for short 3 night cruises compared to longer cruises. The same would hold true for a one day package. They would have to increase the price to reflect a general trend of increased consumption for one day. I believe a one day package would lead to more binge drinking and drunkenness resulting in a lot of security and medical issues on board. That doesn't apply to everyone but a significant number of people would drink very heavily with a one day package. For this reason alone I believe they won't offer a one day package.

It's really Pinnacle that are the problem, no offensive to any Pinnacles as I hope to be there soon. Other than repositioning cruises Quantum Class rarely has this problem and Oasis class when outside of Florida doesn't have this problem. Florida has the highest concentration of Pinnacle residents anywhere. Some Pinnacles only cruise or mostly cruise Oasis class because of this benefit and since they live in Florida, why not? How will a Pinnacle react? Threaten to cruise elsewhere but will they really? Go to another line with no or some status or will they just accept the change after whining a while and get on with cruising?

Very possible. The only question is when? Probably not this year but who knows.

We've seen before each ship can deviate to reach revenue targets. Perhaps Vision is looking to specialty dining for that purpose. On the other hand, in the case of Diamond Happy Hour those drinks are paid for within Royal by the Crown and Anchor budget center. The D+ BOGO may be as well so maybe it's not the ship but C&A who is making this change. They're not afraid of upsetting D+. Removing CL while adding SL and banning D+ for example. Some ships are not offering the D+ 30% drink package discount either. Perhaps the C&A department has a budget crisis with ever more Diamonds drinking every night so something had to go and this is what they are doing as a means to keep the free Diamond Happy Hour drinks.

I think they are more inclined to make it Suite only and ban Pinnacles. Or adopt a limit on Pinnacles like they do on elite heavy sailings, something like 2 visits max per week. Problem solved. The Royal Suite program generates a lot of revenue and is in place partly because of the competition. Eliminating a suite restaurant would be a huge competitive disadvantage. It's only been around since 2016 so it's new. Three years is hardly a long time so they'll likely adapt it before getting rid of it.

No new tiers. That's been explicitly ruled out several times. Currently they handle it as the numbers present themselves. Oasis and Quantum class transpacific and transatlantics often see the 2 night rule for Pinnacles applied. At the same time D+ are banned from the Concierge Lounge but they will often expand the Diamond Lounge to more space to accommodate the numbers. Oasis in December is cheap and i expect there will be a special C&A process for that too. That's likely how they will continue until Pinnacle numbers reach a critical mass where it's a problem on most sailings. Right now it's a big problem on select sailings and a smaller issue on some more but most sailings it's manageable.

I often cruise, or rather mostly cruise without specialty dining. I'll do specialty only sometimes if I can use a BOGO or get a free TA dinner.

Is it possible the concierge in the past was using the standard BOGO previously available to all guests? Technically the D+ C&A BOGO isn't available until you are on-board. The D+ BOGO was available on Empress this month. Vision has always been stingy with D+ often blocking them out of the Concierge Lounge. I'm taking her through the Panama Canal and I'm guessing with enough Pinnacles on board I won't have CL access for 16 days. The DL on Vision is tiny.

I think the card access issue is to avoid JS guests slipping into the suite lounge and drinking for free. When they have to knock the host/hostess can ensure they are there for CK. You know people would do it and that is not a benefit of Sea Class/JS.

Correct, per cabin regardless how many >21 yo adults are in that cabin.

There was a lot more margin in cruising then. Like airplanes that flew half empty and you could get a whole row to yourself and lie down. Those days are long gone.

More cruises!

If you are celebrating a special event and want a specific restaurant at a specific time then an advanced reservation is best. Yes it costs more but it's a sure thing. You cannot convert a cruise planner booking into a BOGO on board. The whole purpose of BOGO is to offer a lower price for flexible guests. Can't get the venue or time you want, at least you didn't pay full price so you accept the alternative venue or less ideal time and move on knowing that is what could happen with the discounted price. Having said that, if you board early and deal with booking the BOGO as soon as possible, you could get your desired time and venue. If a large group books one venue they can sometimes remove that venue from the BOGO for that cruise.

Chances of them kicking Empress off on Sunday to make room? Not a bad option. Empress has an early departure to make San Juan. Give her the boot and she can have two sea days to San Juan and free up a berth at CocoCay for 2.5x the number of guests.

On Sunday Navigator is already sharing the pier at CocoCay with Empress. They could divert Empress to make room for Mariner or just send Mariner to Nassau. Both Nassau and CocoCay are easy overnight trips from Florida so either would be suitable for a Monday morning turn-around.

Feel your pain given my plans for a cruise this weekend. I might be in the air flying to Florida when they decide something. Hoping mine doesn't cancel, it would seriously mess up my crystal block strategy :)

No CK. She's not herself. #DiscombobulatedBot

No. You are paying for your drink package in the present. Prices today in 2019 are virtually the same as they were in 2016 when the deluxe package was first introduced despite rising costs as liquor and taxes have increased over the three years. Logically you are benefiting from the fact that they have reduced theft by requiring everyone over 21 to purchase the package. This has reduced their overall operating cost which allows them to sell the package at the same price as they did when thieves were stealing from them. Reducing theft lowers costs for everyone. If they did not take measures to eliminate theft the drink packages would cost much more today,

There is no specialty dining restaurant on Majesty :) Only Chef's Table which doesn't qualify for the BOGO on any ship.

Here is a recent one. Voom discount has increased since 2017 (since the cost of Voom has increased). Majesty Diamond Plus On Board Offers.pdf