twangster

Hamster on the spinning wheel powering database server gets a break each morning.

August on Empress 8 - 5 September on Mariner 7 to 5 September on Enchantment 8 to 5

Agreed, two years out is one thing, but not 8 months out once other cruises are booking up and prices have been tracking upwards as prices tend to do. Knowing they are passing along any 'displaced guest' costs to the chartering company isn't helping their cause. Plus during a peak demand period - March break, impacting families. Carnival is known for this, particularly with their smallest ships. No experience with NCL.

From the FAQ above. 4 & 5 Night $1,500,000 – $2,300,000+ Voyager Class However this probably assumes chartering 2+ years out and it may be a little dated. Adding costs for displaced guests and factoring in the newness from the dry dock and I bet it's more in the $3M-$4M+ range.

I never realized the extent to which full ship charters occur. Researching this led me to this page: https://www.cruisetimetables.com/full-cruise-ship-charters.html What this doesn't tell you is when the ship was chartered which leads to how many guests were displaced (and upset in the process). It will be little consolation but Royal doesn't appear to charter as much as some of the other cruise lines. I'd consider writing a letter to Royal's CEO. I think it is important for him to realize the long term impact of losing loyal customers versus the short term gain of a one time cash grab.

At this point I can't find the chartered cruise on this date. It may be that company hasn't announced it yet or it could be a private charter for a corporate event that won't be made available to the public (or maybe I just haven't found it). Most theme cruises are announced more than 8 months away so they can be marketed successfully resulting in a full ship. https://www.cruisetimetables.com/full-cruise-ship-charters.html

Royal has a website dedicated to organizations that desire to charter a ship. It's interesting that the FAQs state they don't normally consider a chart with 12 months of sail date which clearly they did in this case: Further it seems they pass the cost of "displaced" guests onto the company that is chartering the ship. http://www.royalcaribbeanincentives.com/full-ship-charter-faqs/ How far in advance should an organization charter the ship? Royal Caribbean International does not typically consider Full Ship Charter requests within 12 months of the requested sail date and/or for those sailings booked above a pre-determined threshold. Most clients charter one year in advance and some as far out as two or more years. For Re-Sale charters, it is in the best interest of the client to allow ample time to promote the charter (13 months+). The cost of displacing booked guests will be a factor for any “open” sailing and will generally be lower if the charter is contracted farther out.

Sorry this has happened to you and I can understand why you are upset. I hope you can create another vacation memory for your family.

I have a couple of stops at CocoCay in the coming months so I though I'd look at booking a shore dive there since my previous attempts at this excursion were unsuccessful when we missed our call on CocoCay due to weather. At around $60 it's a cheap way to keep current with a periodic scuba dive and even though it is a shore dive and not very deep, there is often great color and marine life at shallow depths so why not? In the process I've discovered that all CocoCay excursion are more expensive in August on Empress compared to Mariner and Enchantment in September. This is with no sales offered at the moment. The price drop ranges from 6% to just under 20%. Certified Dive - August $61, September $57 Beach Bungalows - August $265, September $223 Parasail Adventure - August $102, September $96 Ocean View Deluxe Cabana - August $293, September $247 This pattern continues with all other excursion for CocoCay. Going back into the the time machine, when I booked the Certified Dive for Nov. 2017 the price was $54 but I think there was a sale at the time if I recall correctly. The website lists all shore excursions for CocoCay here: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/destinations/shoreExcursions/subGateWayByPort/search.do?LocationCode=CCA Interesting that even the August (more expensive) cruise planner prices are cheaper than what is listed on the generic shore excursion section of the website. For example the scuba dive is $68 there: August: September (both cruises): I've also noted the slide on land isn't offered anymore. Really hoping with 3 scheduled call on CocoCay over the next two months that I'll make on at least one of them before the pier is completed. I missed the last two due to weather. Ay any rate I've captured screen shots of the current offerings so we can compare prices at some Perfect point in the future.

I'd love to but right now my Ovation Alaska cruise is priced lower for the same cabin type. July 4th in the NYC area is an expensive cruise right now! I'm going to wait and hope for a close in price reduction but honestly that probably isn't going to happen. Looks like a great itinerary though.

On the ship it will likely vary as the currency exchange rate varies. I'm thinking it probably isn't anywhere close to a wholesale rate and likely not as favorable as a consumer rate available on land. Few things on any cruise line ship will be the best that is available, including currency exchange.

Thanks for the update. Yikes, $25k for anti-venom? Wow.

I know its a lot to process and deal with in a few hours. I hope it works out for you and your family. Are you working with a travel agent? This is an example where someone who is used to working through these situations and has dealt with the before can be an invaluable resource. If you are able to find another cruise you may be able to transfer that booking to an agent. MEI Travel who sponsors this site has this kind of experience. They may not be able to assist with the original booking if its more than 60 days since you booked but you can consider them for the rebooked cruise.

I really enjoyed We Will Rock You and have seen it 3 times. Fair warning though, the first time I wasn't sure what I got myself into for the first 20 minutes. On the subsequent showings I understood the plot better and was able to catch nuances I missed the first time. If I sail Anthem again I'll definitely won't miss it.

From what I've seen on other sites it's coming right along. I'll only see it when leaving Symphony so I won't get the full effect until some future cruise I haven't booked yet.

Exactly. The small charges serve to prevent everyone from finding the most expensive wine and only ordering it. As a frequent business traveler who has bought an occasional glass of wine in a hotel bar across the country, Royal is cheaper than most hotel bars when it come to wine, beer and mixed drinks. I spent a few weeks in Plainsboro, NJ. $14 was the cheapest wine in the hotel bar and it wasn't very good. The cost for a hotel to provide a glass of wine is much lower - they don't have to load it on a ship and haul it all around ocean with them. They don't need to maintain very much inventory either. When a hotel runs low they pick up the phone and more is delivered the next day. Their cost per drink is much lower than a cruise ship. At the same hotel my nightly room rate was higher than I pay on most cruises (and it didn't include meals or entertainment). So I've come to appreciate how great Royal bar prices are compared to land bar prices. Thankfully someone else pays for my business travel.

Totally understandable.

Bummer.

And once again a live blog goes off the rails... One word. Pizza.

Plus with all the buzz that Mariner received after her dry dock, lots of people will be excited to try Navigator after her dry dock. I bet she looks great!

Cruises on either side are still available so I'm guessing it's spring break and being a 5 night cruise it is popular with families since it will be cheaper than a 7 night cruise on another ship that week.

Current indicators point to dry dock completing in early February. Dry docks and refurbs are well planned out to the minute. Odds are that another ship is scheduled to arrive for some other sort of work at that facility right after Navigator. It would be very unusual for them to extend a dry dock as it is happening. Possible but highly unlikely. In fact I bet the contractors doing the work would face stiff penalties for missing the due date. Missing by weeks is unheard of.

Don't be surprised if it opens back up. With 200+ days people will cancel reservations, other people will book them, more people cancel, etc. Until final payment due date lots of people make changes. No need to worry, most cruises sail full regardless when they first start to sell out.

I'm thinking this is a bit unusual and few people experience this type of delay. I'm betting they will start boarding as soon the maintenance is complete. The maintenance window currently ends so that boarding can commence at 4:30pm. Typically some time is built into maintenance windows to cover troubleshooting if things don't go ideally. When things do go ideally, the maintenance may finish early. In that event, they might start boarding before 4:30pm but they won't know that until it happens.

Hoping for the best and a speedy recovery.