twangster

I am all about trying new and different. It's one of many things I like about Royal - variety across the fleet and with itineraries. Venturing out more next year, longer cruises, some abroad. I've got a 10, 12, 13, 14 and 16 night cruises booked, on top of 3, 4, 5 & 7 nights. Those are Alaska, Asia, Bahamas, Caribbean, Cuba, Hawaii, New Zealand and Panama Canal. Looking at Norway, Med and/or Greece in 2020. I like doing things differently. Only sailing OA or QU class would get old for me. I love those ships, but I equally love smaller ships.

@Matt recently sailed Brilliance, as has @mpoole3 https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/11/24/brilliance-of-the-seas-live-blog-preamble https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/01/25/brilliance-of-the-seas-live-blog-day-1-embarkation-day I've got a B2B booked in December. I like Radiance class. Bigger than Vision class but you can see where this design grew up from. No promenade like those ships that came after but it has a great Vintages with awesome sea views, best Vintages in the fleet. The Centrum is the 'heart' of the ship. This is Serenade's Centrum but Brilliance is pretty much the same: It also has a dedicated movie theater but arrive early for seats. Other things I like: Pub Helipad Access Deck 7 Extended Balcony Cabin Outdoor Windjammer Seating

How far out? Luggage tags are typically ready 30-45 days out. It's been like that for a while.

The photo isn't a big deal, hardly slows you down if you do it at check in. Outside of your cabin will be one Seapass card. Additional ones for guests 2+ will be inside your cabin. Note not all ships have implemented this yet. Certain ships have done it this way for a while now. More ships are converting to it. Eventually all will. Royal is trying to streamline the check in process, further refinements in the near future will allow most everything in the app on your phone. Part of that is shifting the Seapass distribution from the shore folks (who are typically a 3rd party) to having the ship create the cards and distribute them. Quantum class and Harmony have been like this for a while with other ships adopting this process this year and next year. Since cabins are not always ready when you board, your SetSail pass will have a barcode that is used to scan onto the ship upon boarding and to make any purchases such as drinks until cabins are ready and you get your official SeaPass cards.

As far as the customs forms - depends on the port and it's up to US customs, not the cruise line. Port Everglades did away with the forms as a test. Cape Liberty and Galveston still use them, or did in May and March respectively. Hopefully more ports will adopt the Port Everglades test, but that is all in the hands of the government, not Royal.

Crown and Anchor benefits were discussed in another thread and I've posted a sample letter of the on board offers for gold level here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/6354-crown-and-anchor-how-do-they-calculate/&do=findComment&comment=68791 As far as the private departure lounge I've never tried to use it as I prefer a regular breakfast where offered. Location varies by ship.

I booked a cruise planner item just now and after entering all of my details, (like it doesn't already know my name so I get it to enter it twice more), it kicked me back to the dashboard and I was given the opportunity to repeat it all over again. Second time was a charm.

Good point. I cruise solo often and about 1/3 of the time the system doesn't apply the double properly. A quick call to the C&A team has fixed it every time without any hassles.

Welcome to the message boards! Try this link, it has some non-alcoholic and alcoholic prices https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/royal-caribbean-drink-prices Specialty Coffee can vary by ship. This was Freedom in November 2017.

The sight of Ovie with the cup really did a number didn't it? No, I don't think it's fake news. For a while Adventure appeared in the new app but only for a small group of users. Then it disappeared and hasn't returned. I suspect what the user captured was real. My evil twin says to piggy back off that momentum, photoshop a page based in Asia and make it look like I booked Spectrum, then post that to CC. Get everyone over there in a frenzy. I won't though, that would be mean.

The evil part of me wants to put my photoshop skills to use. "Look what I just booked! Grand Suite only $50 per night!"

Not that I am aware of. Depending how far out the cruise is, stuff opens up as people cancel and makes changes. Also, check with a travel agent. Sometimes inventory is assigned to agencies and not bookable on the Royal website. Many months before final payment due date the cabin I secured on the upcoming Royal Caribbean Blog Alaska Group Cruise wasn't available on Royal's website but I had no issues booking it through MEI Travel. I am often surprised how inventory varies between TAs and Royal direct.

Any Presidential visit even domestically in the US tends to cause local disruptions. Nothing unique to the current administration, this has happened for a while. Talk to your airline. In the end it is out of their hands but it may give more insight to your risk. I always try to fly in the day before just because. I'm a million miler on a US carrier. Over the years I've seen all sorts of delays for all kinds of reasons. When it comes to my cruise, I plan to be on the ship as long as the ship is there and ready to accept me. The cost of a hotel is worth it to me. I am booked on two Singapore based cruises in 2019 and will be arriving the day before.

Woohoo! Setting a reminder for that date.

In the 1st post from my Liberty live blog I included a picture of the Cafe Promenade display case with their small sandwiches. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/5671-liberty-22518-7-nights/ On Freedom class (all of them) Cafe Promenade was my default lunch spot. I love the small sandwiches which are great light lunch item. I did the WJ a couple times for lunch but consistently found small lunch lines in the Promenade and they change the sandwiches daily, rotating through a couple different types of sandwiches day to day.

Welcome to Gold!

Welcome to the forums! When is your flight scheduled to arrive? The day of the cruise or the day before?

Investments into items that will generate future revenue are generally a good thing when done responsibly and with the appropriate business analysis. Perfect Day at CocoCay is a relatively small investment compared to the numbers involved with adding Harmony, Symphony or Spectrum into the fleet. All three companies are adding new ships and the notation about overcapacity is playing into the valuation. You can't just keep adding ships forever. At some point port capacity and ability to optimize loads will limit revenue potential. That is what the analysts are cautioning investors about - overcapacity. RCL is shifting some capacity into Asia rather than putting a ship like Spectrum into the nearly saturated US market. The potential to move an Oasis class ship into Galveston if the locals can upgrade and add a terminal to accommodate it may help move some capacity around the US. It will be interesting to see how Ovation plays out in Alaska - that's a shift in capacity right there. Putting ships like Mariner, Navigator and Indy into the short FL cruise market even if each is briefly there is another example of shifting capacity. Perfect Day plays into that, potentially complimenting or even being a prerequisite to support those bigger ships in that short cruise segment. That potentially makes the Perfect Day investment justified and viewed in a positive way.

Stock valuation is a fickle beast and variations beyond the control of the senior executives likely keep them all up at night. One quick analysis is to compare trends against the competition. This comparative trending can illustrate external forces impacting the whole industry. That being said let's see how the big three are doing over 12 months: It appears all three peaked in February and have trended lower since. It appears they all track each other to some degree. This suggests to me that the emotions, whims and predictions of the markets are the primary factors driving stock valuations for the industry as a whole. They are all being painted with the same brush. One opinion here: https://seekingalpha.com/news/3361660-cruise-line-stocks-lower-morgan-stanley-warning Carnival (NYSE:CCL) and Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL) trade lower in early action after Morgan Stanley warns on overcapacity in the sector and foresees a potential slowdown in the second half of the year related to hurricanes. The investment firm also points to the negative macro mix of higher oil prices and a strong U.S. dollar as potential margin pinchers. CCL -4.29% premarket to $60.62. RCL -2.51% to $103.84. Last year was a bad hurricane season. That has likely caused some jitters and has the markets being sensitive to the potential for a repeat while at the same time oil prices have caused equal concerns for airlines as it has for cruise lines. Stock markets are very speculative so it seems that is the primary factor driving stock prices - speculation.

Are you looking to book cruises originating in the US or cruises originating from a UK, European or Asian port? I know that MEI has been granted special waivers to allow international guests to book RoyalCaribbeanblog.com US group cruises. Those so far have been US originating cruises. Consumer protection laws, taxes and other items like gratuity billing are very different around the world. Certain restrictions and limitations are in place to ensure they are in compliance. A phone call or email to MEI with the specifics of what you are trying to book may be the best way to answer your question.

Welcome to the message boards! My bet is they have scheduled the tour knowing that the majority of participants will be ship guests. They have chosen a time to start the tour based on having done this many times in the past and their experiences with getting their customers from the ship to their base. You might contact the tour operator directly and talk it through with them. They know their home town, the walk and if a cab would be better.

I saw what you did there.

Cruising solo does offer its advantages. I've done some great excursions that as a family or even a couple would break the bank. If the drink package works in your favor, having to buy only one certainty makes a big difference and a care free vacation without thinking about it when you feel like a drink. Cheers!

For my next San Juan cruise, after the cruise I may plan a trip down to the "El Monstruo" zip line then spend a night before flying home.

Has hubby clued into the concept that you've been surreptitiously planting subliminal thoughts into your kids for months now?