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twangster

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Posts posted by twangster

  1. I saw this posted in a FB group.  Good FAQ section:

    http://www.royalcaribbeanincentives.com/general-cruise-faqs/

    The site appears to be geared around event planning, such as hosting an event on a ship or even chartering the entire ship.

    Decent fleet guide with downloadable PDFs. :

    http://www.royalcaribbeanincentives.com/ships/

    Have you ever wonder how much it costs to charter an entire ship?  I have.  Interesting.  Anyone have $11M surplus cash to charter Oasis for a week?  If so you and 6,000 of your closest friends can sail in style.

    1749495684_chartership.thumb.jpeg.cab01df5de7dbd0d18002bda720cd8ef.jpeg

  2. They swipe your Seapass card like a credit card swipe or on ships with RFID technology they hold your card against the card reader. 

    Quantum class and the Harmony/Symphony have RFID technology. 

    II's all coded in the billing system.  The DX letters on your card or sticker in some cases just lets the bartender know to make sure the billing system correctly figures out you have a package.

  3. Just now, RaleighTrout said:

    Will do.  Thanks, and I appreciate the other Majesty prices for comparison.

    Keep in mind what @DunkelBierJay mentioned earlier. 

    1 hour ago, DunkelBierJay said:

    I recommend buying now and watching for sales. You can always cancel and repurchase. I did that for a cruise last year when the cruise planner sales kept bringing the price lower and lower. The kicker is that you need to check fairly regularly and jump on it every time you see a price reduction.

     

  4. 26 minutes ago, Jay said:

    Hi. My first post. My first RC cruise is in 38 days. Yes I'm counting! Going to Cuba on the Empress. My two kids don't drink much soda. I suspect they will want one each day since it's vacation. Are the a la carte soda prices reasonable? What about buying a basic mixed drink at the bar? Or do I just bite the bullet and get the drink packages?

    Welcome to the message boards!

    There is a blog about drink prices here:

    https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/royal-caribbean-drink-prices

    Figure five or six alcoholic drinks per day to break even.  How much each of us drinks varies.  Sometimes there is value in a drink package and for others not as much. 

    See also this blog post:

    https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/01/08/answers-common-royal-caribbean-unlimited-alcohol-package-questions

    and

    https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/10/24/8-awesome-reasons-buy-royal-caribbeans-unlimited-alcohol-package

     

  5. Just now, Boston Babe said:

    I truly wish I saw that she was going into drydock, this ship sails year round out of BWI. 

    Next technical dry dock is 2022 if I'm not mistaken.  They are every five years.  They don't always do refurbishments to guest areas in dry docks, they are really for maintenance below the water line.  I'm sure they are trying to figure it out as well. 

  6. When is your cruise?  July 4th will (likely) be another sale.

    21 minutes ago, DunkelBierJay said:

    I recommend buying now and watching for sales. You can always cancel and repurchase. I did that for a cruise last year when the cruise planner sales kept bringing the price lower and lower. The kicker is that you need to check fairly regularly and jump on it every time you see a price reduction.

    ^ This.  If you book it now and prices drop, cancel and repurchase at the lower price.

  7. 1 minute ago, Boston Babe said:

    Very well put about the used cars. and being as she's not listed anywhere in the revamp schedule I'm very hesitant.  I am guess she would be replaced in the baltimore market but with what ship? Very interesting navigation in there.  I really liked the 9 day itinerary and would finally get to CocoCay.  I think I will sit on this one, there sure is plenty of time or Plan B is out of Cape Liberty or Florida. I too can't see her 5 years or 10 years, look at all the newer ships coming into play as well.

    Thanks so much Twangster!! 

    If in doubt book a refundable cruise.  As it gets closer convert it to NRDB.

  8. Just now, Boston Babe said:

    @twangster, you seem to have alot of insight regarding RC and futures for ships, I really did love the Grandeur and i'm looking at an April 2020 booking, my concern is, will she still be in the fleet?  I haven't seen anything about dry dock for her. Your opinion??

    Putting on my "I own the cruise line for day" hat on for the moment...

    I made a point of booking some of the older ships this year and even planned a glass block for Empress.  Why?  I am speculating that there is interest in getting them out of the fleet so I want to sail them while I can.  That is purely speculation on my part, I have no hard facts or inside knowledge to back that up nor can I predict a timeline for my speculation. 

    The dilemma RCI faces is trying to find a buyer that won't turn around and offer dirt cheap Bahamas cruises impacting their strategy to Wow! the short cruise market with Mariner, Navigator, Indy and the Perfect Day at Cococay strategy.   

    Vision class ships are like owning an older car.  It's likely paid off, you don't have a monthly car payment, insurance is cheap but its not as efficient as a new car, lacks some new features and maintenance costs can start to add up.  You might want to sell it off but it runs great and does its job quite handily.  There is a small market for selling older used cars and they don't fetch very good prices. 

    Throw all those factors into a bucket and if the right opportunity comes along, they would be hard pressed to keep them - in my SWAG of an opinion.

    Will they still be here 10 years from now?  I strongly doubt it.

    Will they still be here 5 years from now?  I doubt it.

    Will they still be here 2 years from now? - I just don't know.

     

  9. Just now, Lovetocruise2002 said:

    Ok then go back to your original plan...fill your time with Celebrity.  Book the same sailing that I'm on.  Get off on Friday.  Spend a day in Miami or wherever, then hop onto the Celebrity Equinox on Saturday. ?

    I try to avoid hotel stays between ships, they are expensive when you add meals and such.  Makes you appreciate what great value cruising is. 

    Besides my dog is threatening divorce if I book much more.

  10. Just now, Lovetocruise2002 said:

    3 more nights on Mariner makes it only 7 points!

    No studios available on the weekend.  Besides I've got Mariner booked in October with an aft balcony plus I've booked the RoyalCaribbeanblog.com Mariner Double Dip to Cococay Group Cruise next March.  I've also got Nassau/Cococay booked on at least two other cruises, maybe a 3rd.  Three Mariner cruises and half a dozen stops in Nassau/Cococay is enough.

  11. 15 minutes ago, Lindsay said:

    I wouldn't wear a pin if I was Pinnacle but that's just me.  Seems tacky. 

    I agree completely.   Generally speaking Pinnacles are (mostly) older people.  That's not to say there aren't younger pinnacles, but generally speaking they tend to look closer to retirement age and many of them love to wear that pin (and some do try to abuse it).  Most of them are the quiet older couple just enjoying each other's company in the corner.

    That mid 30s entitled couple with a toddler watching cartoons on an iPad at full volume so the parents can drink in the Suite Lounge? - I may be wrong but I'm guessing they weren't pinnacles. 

  12. 27 minutes ago, Lindsay said:

    How do you even know who is Pinnacle or Diamond and who is just a suite-dweller?  Do they Pinnacle/Diamond people where signs?  LOL

    You can't always, but there are certain signs such as asking the concierge some very dumb question and taking 30 minutes of their time doing so that illustrates a complete lack of cruise history or applying some profiling techniques such as people in their 30s that are possibly pinnacle but unlikely. 

    Like the guy in his early 20s looking like something that just spent 6 nights on the streets of NY on a formal night in the Suite Lounge.  There is after all a dress code suggestion.  I'm guessing it wasn't a pinnacle doing their best impression of a barefoot homeless person while everyone else was at least wearing long pants (and shoes). 

  13. 40 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

    I’m glad at least the 2 of us are on the same page. Undoubtably on a Royal Caribbean forum there will be pushback from my statement by the folks with D+ or Pinnacle status but it’s good to know that I’m not alone in saying that if you pay more money then you deserve an experience that is above the average. I don’t prefer to share the suite lounge experience with people that did not pay the price to be there! 

    D+ folks shouldn't be painted with your same brush.  They do not after all have access to the Suite Lounge.

    On these same lines, do you think too that folks who use casino rates to slip into suites should be banned as well? 

  14. Just now, JLMoran said:

    Tell her that you need two weeks to fully explore the ship and see / experience all of it, including all the shows. From everything I've read here (again, never sailed any OA-class ship), it's no lie; multiple people have said there is no way on Earth to do it all in a single 7-night trip.

    No truer words have been said by a self professed Oasis Class Denier. 

    You can't possibly do everything on an Oasis class ship in one cruise and if you try you'll need a vacation after your vacation, so you might as well do a B2B.  

  15. First of all, that 12 noon boarding time is a suggested arrival time.  I arrive pretty close to 10am regardless of the time on my set sail pass.

    On Anthem the first thing I do is visit Boleros where the Box Office is temporarily setup to make any reservations that I couldn't make online in advance.  This includes entertainment but especially NorthStar and iFly.

    Next is specialty dining if booked in advance to update any dining packages purchased.

    With that complete, visit the SeaPlex to see how the bumper car line is or what time it will start on day one.  While there take a photo of the SeaPlex schedule on the displays that you can use it to plan the rest of the cruise and SeaPlex schedule:

    Anthem 2 Day 11 Seaplex-1.jpg

    On day one only in the evening they have a special show in Two70° that highlights the technology of this room.  It's easy to miss so look at the cruise compass for it.

    It's called "Two70° Tonight" or "The Two70° Experience":

    https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/5068-anthem-112517-712-b2b/&do=findComment&comment=50344

     

  16. 2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

    This is exactly why I want try it.  Brand new...can't beat that.  But I am worried about the motion.  @twangster, how would you say it compared to Anthem?

    I'd say that's really hard to judge because the sea conditions on each were so different. 

    Looking at OA class in an L1 you are high and well aft of center.  On Allure I felt some minor motion on deck 18 (bedroom).  It didn't bother me but I heard some people mention it.  The point is - it would seem a loft on OA has potential for some motion but would that stop you from booking one? 

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