twangster

Suggest you look over some recent cruise compasses from past guests on Adventure: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass?ship=281 Even if you don't find your itinerary a lot of times will be similar on another itinerary.

Cruises 5 nights and longer in North America usually have lobster on a formal night. Shorter sailings and other regions typically do not.

Sales apply differently to different ships and sale dates, it's not a flat discount applied across all cruise planner items. If the drink package or an excursion is selling well, it won't be discounted. For someone on a week later it might be. It's been like that for a long time.

From a documentary about Royal Caribbean and it's history I saw while sailing on Symphony. They deemed the final price too high to continue with Grandeur.

No. Victoria is on an island and it would take too long to see her leave Victoria. I plan to be at the bridge in Vancouver when she arrives.

Correct. I think she leaves Victoria at 2pm.

Right. The "bang for the buck" wasn't there when Enchantments costs soared above initial estimates when they first started thinking about it. They found it wiser to put the money into new ship builds. The bigger the ship is, the more complex a task it is to stretch it. With the earlier (smaller) ships it was easier.

Welcome to the message boards! Entertainment varies by ship. Freedom class and newer have better entertainment featuring Broadway style main theater shows. Voyager, Freedom and Oasis class have an ice skating rink with ice skating shows that are quite enjoyable. Oasis class have an Aqua Theater with swimming and diving shows. On the older and smaller ships the entertainment varies from pretty good to not in wheel house. The best entertainment in my opinion is on Oasis class ships. Have things changed since 2010 on Royal? Yes. Like all cruise lines they have optimized many things to maintain pricing close to what it was in the past and eliminated waste. Room services features a better menu with some great choices but that comes with a $9 fee per order (not per item).

There are rumors of a stretched version of Oasis in the works but rumors like this often prove to be false.

Looks like Ovation just arrived into Victoria. Webcam: http://www.bigwavedave.ca/webcams.php?cam=10 While we don't have Victoria on this itinerary this will be a critical port of call for Ovation this summer since it keeps the Seattle based round trip cruises legal with respect to the PVSA.

The adventure begins... currently sitting in the Delta Skyclub in Salt Lake City waiting for my connection to Vancouver. The plan is settle into my hotel room and take the Canada Line into the city. I hope to catch Ovation's sail under the Lion's Gate Bridge tonight.

Nowadays they probably would have been called Voyager Plus. Take a Voyager class ship and stretch it. If you ever sail one that is exactly how they feel.

It was initially 100. It's proving to be quite popular so I suspect they are finding ways to expand beyond 100. I suspect with the new pricing that is becoming common it may be tiered now. $19.99 for the first 100, $24.99 for the next 50, $29.99 for the next 50 and so on. I've seen it as high as $38 per person per day. Seems rather crazy but if people buy it they'll keep adjusting the pricing and quantity I suspect.

Enchantment went over budget and took longer than expected to stretch. They had plans to stretch her sisters but they abandoned those plans when Enchantment didn't go as planned. Since that time Royal hasn't had the stomach for it.

I'm not sure I follow everything but it sounds like the WS guarantee is the same price as the JS category. That could change any minute, like when the very next person books one. If the WS and JS are the same price, book the JS and secure the floor or cabin you want. There may be accessible JS that you can't see in inventory that the WS will end up in.

You don't have to buy two. Solo cruisers can take advantage of this deal and pay the advertised lower rate as opposed to $63 in your example. In December I cruised with a 20 year daughter. I bought the deluxe drink package, she didn't since she was under 21. Same application of the BOGO. I assume anyone who qualifies for a medical or religious waiver would also benefit from the current approach. The SO would not have to buy it at $63, but the advertised lower rate.

Northstar reservations are available in the cruise planner.

You'll probably be okay but if they say something you are technically non-compliant. Worst case is they gate check it for free. Depending on the aircraft it may have to go in the overhead lengthwise rather than wheels in first. That is less efficient and consumes the space of two carry on bags.

Internally the ship will be "normal" temperatures but absent of the humidity of the Caribbean. If she is used to visiting the main theater in short sleeves when cruising the Caribbean she will likely be comfortable doing the same in Alaska, as long you don't have to walk outside to get there.

Thenford Grey may be different though. They may customize your tour based on numbers in your party. Contact them and ask.

When ever I have requested to be dropped off somewhere other than the ship I have been responsible to find my way to the ship.

"Seattle's Best" is a Starbucks brand (subsidiary). Some people actually prefer it. It's a personal taste/preference thing.

When Symphony was in Barcelona I arrived shortly after 10am and it was boarding.

Here is an old capture from previous years: Note how it says "Price Shown Reflects Your Discount". This also is a source of confusion since many people just see the $47 and do the math in their head "$47 for the first and half of $47 for the second one" but they've already done that math before displaying the price with the discount already applied.

You break out the emergency bee bee gun and start shooting holes in the balloon. Just kidding... The company that makes them have them in operation around the world including Disney parks. Presumably they have safety mechanisms and vents to control ascent in the unlikely event of a "rope" break. I like their version of a floating bar: