twangster

For many of us that doesn't help. Quite a few people including myself can not successfully subscribe to marketing emails. I didn't much worry about it before, but now I'm excluded from Royal Up because no one at Royal can figure out how to fix it.

Judging by his comments I suspect he has advanced to at least an age 21 mentality through this life lesson.

That's how I see it. Back filling for Vision and Radiance class disappearing over the next 10 years. Sadly that is the trend in cruising. NCL has Haven, MSC has Yacht Club, Celebrity has The Retreat. Royal dipping it's toes in with Spectrum suite only area. If anything Royal is behind the trend. On the flip side those who have positioned themselves in preparation for the coming depression will have great opportunity to cruise cheaply when the masses stop and they are desperate to fill the ships.

Saw it. No words. #timetogrowup

Working for me. Phone or laptop.

Great blog. Thanks for writing!

Given the reaction of many in the lounges and volume of real Scotch being consumed I'm hoping they don't change their minds.

It's not uncommon on ships with a public 'Viking Crown Lounge" for that area to be the night club or silent disco venue with something going on most nights. Harmony and Symphony have "The Attic" that is multi-use and usually functions as dance club/night club by night. They also feature the "RED" party in Studio B on one night. I totally get why they stripped the dedicated night clubs out. Ship real estate is valuable and that was wasted space most hours of the day.

It's been removed. For a while you could circumnavigate around the website and use the old URL. In some cases like if you cancel a cruise planner purchase it brings you to a page where it offers the link to sign waivers but if you try to use it doesn't work.

I had to cancel two refundable bookings. Each had a $250 deposit. The two deposits were charged separately as two distinct $250 charges. Here is how Royal refunded them: Only explanation I can think of is that their credit card agreement must contain some verbiage that provides greater relief for processing multiple credits under specific amounts compared to simply refunding the original charges. Or... their IT department strikes again.

Typically, yes. They do on 3 night Enchantment sailings in the Concierge Lounge that Suite guests can use. In theory each ship can create it's own rules to some degree so it's not guaranteed but I'd be surprised if they didn't.

Adventure is somewhat unique in that the space allocated to Izumi on the promenade was formerly not a restaurant space with a pre-existing kitchen to leverage. They couldn't retrofit the special ovens used for hot rocks absent of any kitchen infrastructure without losing a lot of seating area so it ended up without hot rocks and no Hibachi, much like Quantum class. On ships where Izumi was retrofitted into an area of the Viking Crown lounge there was enough space to allow hot rock ovens. On Mariner they went full Hibachi on deck four but it looks like Navigator is going to use that space for Hooked and leave Izumi in the VCL (with hot rocks). It makes for a very confusing and inconsistent experience. If they used a different name for Hibachi that would go a long ways but the availability or lack of hot rocks still creates a lot of confusion.

Given that Mariner currently only does 3/4 night sailings at the moment, the "Suite Lounge" wouldn't be very of that if full suite guests didn't get this benefit. Might as well rename it the "Pinnacle Lounge". Also, the happy hour drink menu has been changing on a number of ships - new single malt Scotch offerings have been noted on more than one ship recently.

Bingo. Any day on any ship is better than a day on land. With this mentality I've climbed the C&A ladder very quickly even if the ships I've sailed didn't have bumper cars and zip lines. The MDR menus are pretty much fleet wide standard and I'm not cooking it, so... The only thing to watch for when sailing solo and you see what appears to be great rate is to watch for Guarantee cabins that *most* of the time require double occupancy. Sadly my cruising buddy that I book such cabins with often decides at the last minute that she can't come, or her mother is sick, or her flight was cancelled, or...

All beverage packages when purchased onboard have to be purchased for all remaining days. However, each cruise is different. On day one upon boarding they usually have a table setup promoting the beverage packages. I stop there and ask "What is the last day the drink packages will be offered?". On a 12 night transatlantic it was day 5. On Oasis in November for a 7 night it was day 3. On Vision recently for a 7 night it was day 2. On Navigator in December for a 9 night it was day 4. Never assume, always ask onboard, it varies by ship and cruise length. The D+ discount can be used regardless what day you purchase as long as the beverage package is still being offered. NO D+ discount on drink cards (10 drink card, 10 draft beer card) - those are not 'beverage packages".

In my experience studio cabins tends to run around 75% the price of a similar double occupancy cabin. The industry is largely built on the concept of double occupancy and they factor onboard spending into pricing models. One person in any cabin isn't going to spend as much as two people buying drinks, in the casino, on photos, in the spa, specialty dining, excursions, gratuity charges, etc. For this reason studio cabins are not half the price of regular cabins and they are limited in availability to maintain the pricing model validity for any given ship. Also keep in mind you only get single C&A points in studio cabins. Paying that extra 25% as a solo in a normal cabin nets you double C&A points. On a 'price-per-point' basis that 25% more is like taking two cruises in terms of points earned so if you are watching your status and trying to climb the C&A ladder consider that.

Strongest pours I've encountered are the Diamond lounge and those are free drinks. As @CGTLH points out they likely won't know what kind of package you have until after the drink is made and you hand them your card. Holding a single bill in your hand as you place your order is likely a bigger factor.

'Discover Scuba' is a course framework offered by PADI, one of the larger diving certification organizations around the world. https://www.padi.com/courses/discover-scuba-diving Some Royal ships have PADI 5 Star dive shops on board so they can offer PADI based courses. There is likely a PADI dive shop in a nearby city that offers the same 'Discover Scuba' program in a local pool. Doing it in the Caribbean is a whole lot nicer. I don't know that there is any dis-qualifier that says you can't take it multiple times, or that me as a fully certified diver can't take it, but you do have to sit through the same classroom lectures as outlined by PADI before you get to the diving part. They won't just let you turn it into a poor man's scuba diving excursion as a way to dive cheaply compared to being certified and actually diving. While it's geared for uncertified divers it's nothing like a certified dive and very limited in scope, depth and what you'll see compared to the real thing.

There are many different insurance plans and providers. You would need to check each one to determine what is and is not covered by each.

In days of old when there were not a constant stream of sales and promos, the stockholder benefit provided more than it does today. The cruising industry has changed significantly over the years. It's a lot more competitive and margins are thinner. Just like C&A loyalty discounts that don't always work or can't be applied to every sale, stockholder discounts can't either. The margins aren't there anymore to cover them. They can't sell cabins at a loss even for shareholders. On the bright side, as an investor, they aren't selling their cabins at a loss.

It's not automatic anymore. Another 2018 enhancement. If you book over the phone request an invoice by email when booking. If booking on the website, call with the booking number and request an invoice. Another travel agency advantage as most agencies send you an invoice.

Any construction delays cost any business doing construction a hit to revenue. The pier delay is costing them money. It’s the islands. Nothing completes on time. Delays are inevitable. When I heard May 2019 my first though was that’s too aggressive, it’ll never be complete by then. Now we’ll be lucky to have a pier by May 2019.

Cheapest. I always get a kick out of people who are convinced one side is better. 99% of the time you have land on both sides. For a few hours before entering the inside passage land might be more visible on port but more marine life might be visible on starboard. I did a suite with large balcony once Southbound Hardly used it - too cold. Having done interior cabins twice in Alaska I’d rather splurge on excursions which are expensive in Alaska rather than on a balcony or a bigger balcony. Hint - sitting on an excursion I was lifted up higher compared to the guy with a balcony next to me because my wallet was fatter . Helicopter to a glacier I’ll never forget. I can barely remember using my balcony. Consider a location close to stairwells so you have quick access to outer decks on either side of the ship. Where ever you are, go to the outer decks outside to see both sides You never know what side a whale might appear on, or what side has a better view at any given moment Staying in your cabin is a terrible idea because you miss half of it especially at a glacier. Most of the time you will be in channels with land on both sides so ship motion isn’t a big thing. You can encounter some waves during the open ocean sprint into the inside passage for a few hours. Or you might have no motion. If you or your SO is sensitive to motion and the thought of being anywhere but midship is a source of stress, stay midship but the potential for motion is greater in the Caribbean.

Here are examples of Royal OBC showing up and being spent in the cruise planner months before sailing: On this cruise I had $75 of Royal OBC to spend. In this case I had $100 OBC and used it towards Voom internet: In this case I had Next and other OBC totaling $231. I could have just left the OBC alone and once on board used it towards on board charges. EDIT - and the next logical question is... If I spend my OBC in the cruise planner then change my mind and refund that purchase, what happens to the OBC? It becomes immediately available for you to spend on something else.

Usually any OBC offered by Royal will be available to spend in the cruise planner. Sometimes a travel agency will offer their own OBC incentive that is usually available onboard on or after day two of the cruise.