twangster

Many excursions will meet in the theater. Groups will be escorted to a tender much like the buses on Radiance. Depending on group sizes multiple excursion groups might share a tender. This of course impacts self-explore guests who just want to tender, likely leading to the warning that 7:30am starts peak tender operations. If two excursion groups have consumed 2/3 of one tender then the remaining seats will be filled with guests who have queued up and are waiting for a tender. As a result non-excursion guests can face some wait time while they ensure excursion guests get to shore promptly. Some excursions feature a boat that comes directly to the ship to pick up guests. Scuba diving, snorkeling, other water based excursions often fall into the category. It depends if the excursion boat is suitable to dock beside the ship to load guests. Some small snorkel boats are not. Guests with suite or concierge access can often get tender priority from the concierge. Diamond access for tender priority varies by ship. On Anthem at CocoCay Diamond didn't do anything for me, I had to get a ticket just like a pre-gold did. Coming back to the ship there is typically no differentiation. Excursion guests coming back queue up with everyone else. Queues on land to return to the ship can be lengthy.

It appeared for Ovation today. It wasn't there a few days ago. I'm 300+ days out so not surprised I couldn't make reservations yet.

Other terminals or those close by are used by many different cruise lines. Royal operates many ships from Miami and some days there is more than one ship in port. Plus sometimes ships based elsewhere call on Miami as a mid-cruise port of call, stopping for the day. All of this exceeds what the new terminal will handle, especially on weekends. While the idea sounds interesting I can't imagine it not having a significant impact on port operations. Weekends are when the port is busiest for cruise ships. Traffic for tens of thousands of cruise ship guests would be a nightmare likely causing arrival and departure delays. I was in Toronto and worked on the TV crew for it's first Grand Prix event. The road changes and closures then had a significant impact and that wasn't on an island and used fewer public streets. Cool idea but I would expect strong opposition to this on weekends at the busiest cruise port in the US.

I know you have been looking at Mariner reviews. @Lovetocruise2002 will be on Mariner in August and I'll be on Mariner in September. Look for scopes and a live blog. I'm excited to see the Amped up Mariner.

Looks like s fund raiser of sorts. Guess they are banking on people willing to pay higher rates in the name of the event and to visit "Paternoville Coco Cay". For sure. I wish there was a website that tracked partial ship charters or large group events.

I saw that too. They probably fell into the trap that many people do. When you are looking at a ship and start looking at activities the Royal site can drift away from a particular ship and display activities from other ships. It's not obvious if you don't notice where you have been led on the website.

Why would Royal do this to existing guests this close to sail date? Million dollar question. My only wild guess is that an interim payment is due for Spectrum and they lack cash reserves to make that interim payment. How do you come up several million on short notice? Charter a ship. I've joked before that there is a surprise cruise planner sale every time they need to make another payment for the ship that's being built at that moment. Same effect. Quick way to generate cash flow that's cheaper than borrowing the money. There are sale events every week now it seems. Why? If Royal can fill all their ships and booking are so strong, why the need for so many promos and sales? Ships sail full but often some of those cabins are filled at basement rates at or below cost. The cabin beside you may have paid twice what you paid or half what you paid. Despite their policy they don't discount to fill the ship - they do. Look at Alaska right now. End of August Radiance $499 pp. Less than half of the normal price for that cabin mid-season. They can't fill the ship so discounts are happening. Florida residents benefits from FL rates and specials that come and go. Matt got a suite on Brilliance at balcony rates that isn't available out of state. Michael Poole has bragged about single supplements being waived that weren't for out of state residents. That's how they fill ships. They don't market those specials, if you happen to be on the website and find them, winner! With a charter all cabins are sold from Royal's perspective. If the charter company can't fill the ship, the charter company takes the hit, not Royal. If the charter company sets the price too high, they face the consequences and they absorb all risk. This FAQ is very telling if you read between the lines: How should the client price the staterooms in a Re-Sale Full Ship Charter? The client is responsible for determining the pricing model for a Re-Sale Full Ship Charter program. Due to anti-trust regulations, Royal Caribbean International cannot legally advise the client how to price staterooms on a chartered sailing. Current retail pricing may be used as a guide but is a snapshot of the pricing on a particular day. This pricing would never apply to the entire ship nor would it remain constant throughout the booking life cycle for the sailing. In other words part of Royal's secret sauce is knowing how and when to adjust pricing on a cabin by cabin basis, on a day to day basis, on a sailing by sailing basis. Absolutely they could, but choose not to. They sort of elude to that when they suggest they don't typically charter within 12 months of sail date. That 'policy' wasn't followed in the cases of Enchantment and twice on Navigator for March 2019. BTW - I found the charter for Enchantment. https://happyvalleycruise.com/ - Just in case anyone is wondering... who would charter a ship? The other oddity for chartering a ship with only 8 months to sailing is that the charter company has only 8 months to market and fill the ship. Royal needs two years to work their secret sauce. Why on earth would a charter company take the risk and try to do this on such a compressed time schedule? Seems risky to me.

Should have put a hold on it. ?

I'll likely be hung over from a last night with BigSoberRon on Symphony but we can try! I was just going to use Lyft from Miami to Port Everglades getting off Symphony at my leisure since there is no point getting to Serenade too early. I might need to find a laundromat though.

I'm hoping the letter is just the initial offer. As Royal wades through the hundreds of impacted guests on a case by case basis hopefully we'll hear better news for @alamode123.

Hmmm... "Son, it's better you don't come so we can get the drink package" - you know you cruise too much when...

? Don't rush it, see what develops with Royal. It's eight months away. My teens are all (sort of) grown up. I understand exactly the dynamic going on but hopefully Royal will come through for you. Having said that, it occurs to me how not only have they alienated a past guest, they've alienated a next generation of cruisers. Wall Street should be excited by that... not.

Well in that case, YOLO. Or maybe WHID? Or possibly WCGW? It's refundable so I have some time make sure it works (I might be moving in July). Ok @Lovetocruise2002 - balls is in your court. Will you come and entertains us with cow stories?

? I've been accused of acting like a 12 year old. Can someone add me to their cabin using Kids Sail Free?

Exactly why I do B2B or S2S. I have 4-5 hours of flight time to reach Florida. Granted that is less that from the UK but airfare isn't so cheap domestically within the US either. In September I'm sailing 3 ships that are all short cruises but leaving from different Florida ports right after one another. Coming off Symphony TA I'm sliding over to Serenade since I'll "be in the neighborhood". In December it's a Brilliance B2B with a slice Navigator for dessert. In January a shorty on Indy before returning to Brilliance for the 2019 SuperBowl Group Cruise. If I'm ponying up for airfare, I might as well find another ship to cruise on before flying home. I'm curious. What does you group dislike about Southampton? The itinerary or the embarkation port? Easy solution though, cruise solo. It's easier to satisfy a party of one ?

Some of us accept an imperfect cruise whether it be ship, itinerary, time of year or crew. I'd rather be on a cruise that isn't perfect than to be at home in my far from perfect home office.

Live vicariously through others by reading live blogs and watching periscopes along with copious amount of alcohol.

(3) is out of their hands. That's our government at work.

I watched a review of a ship recently where the person noted the arcade games were in the $1.50 to $2.00 range. SeaPass card only. You'll want to consider placing restrictions or limits on your kids Seapass cards because they can burn through a lot of money quickly in the arcade. Almost like going to the casino.

Somewhere along the way I got the name Rudy Navarro added to a contact list for Royal. At the time Rudy's position was SVP Sales Trade Support and Service. Unsure if Rudy is still there or occupies the same position. Can't hurt to call corporate and ask for him. This was from 2016.

No need to tell me how much your original cruise fare was but the Panoramic Ocean View on the Mar. 11, 2019 sailing of Mariner is around $1,625 for a 1L cabin on deck 12 for 3 adults. It's actually the cheapest OV category, even less than an OV Guarantee. Cheaper than interior too. Is this very far off your original fare? (Granted 1 less night) Mariner just got out of her dry dock and is getting rave reviews. She is the same class of ship as Navigator. Cabin 1852 is open with direct forward facing panoramic views. It will go fast though. Perhaps Sharla can place a hold on it while you consider your options.

Contact Michael Bayley's office and suggest this resolution. Explain your situation and how you would like to remain a Royal Caribbean guest. Seems fair to me.

Interesting. Absent for Radiance GS but present for Brilliance GS.

Now I'm more motivated to cruise with you and apply a few adult beverages.

I was wondering it tracked cruise fares in terms of: Close In = higher price, far out = better price