Reputation from twangster - Page 2 - Royal Caribbean Blog

twangster got a reaction from J_Keeble in The Sudden Reduction of Half of RC's Fleet July 1

Why maintain a fleet of 30 ships when you can sail with just as many berths with fewer ships in the fleet?
That's 30 captains and staff captains, 30 sets of bridge officers and 30 hotel directors, all high paid salary positions. Do more with less.
Royal's biggest problem is selling off the older inefficient ships while avoiding selling them to a competitor who will buy a ship at a fraction of a cost and compete with Royal in the Bahamas and Caribbean where Royal makes bank. Cordella was a nice fit as they sail only in India. No overlap. TUI wants new ships for the same reasons why Royal does. So for now it remains optimal to sail the old crud into the ground while carrying passengers and generating lower profits but avoiding giving a competitor the means to take business away for the price of a song.

twangster got a reaction from ScottishRobbie in Any concerns that Carnivals sweeping loyalty program overhaul makes it way to Crown and Anchor? June 29

When you look at Carnival's old VIFP program it was pretty weak. I've been 3 cruises short of platinum for over a decade. Over that period there was zero motivation to cruise in order to advance to platinum. The only real benefit of platinum was early boarding. Carnival creates chaos for the boarding process so they can sell FTTF. Platinum and above don't need FTTF.
The one free beverage had restrictions, only available on the last day after 5pm, or something silly like that.
VIFP was always a terrible loyalty program.
What's fascinating to me is how strong the reaction has been. Despite taking away very few benefits, the customer reaction has been explosive.
Can you imagine what Royal would face if they took away the real benefits that CAS currently provides. Customer reaction would be nuclear in comparison to the strong reaction that Carnival received.

twangster got a reaction from Mike45orlando in Any concerns that Carnivals sweeping loyalty program overhaul makes it way to Crown and Anchor? June 27

When you look at Carnival's old VIFP program it was pretty weak. I've been 3 cruises short of platinum for over a decade. Over that period there was zero motivation to cruise in order to advance to platinum. The only real benefit of platinum was early boarding. Carnival creates chaos for the boarding process so they can sell FTTF. Platinum and above don't need FTTF.
The one free beverage had restrictions, only available on the last day after 5pm, or something silly like that.
VIFP was always a terrible loyalty program.
What's fascinating to me is how strong the reaction has been. Despite taking away very few benefits, the customer reaction has been explosive.
Can you imagine what Royal would face if they took away the real benefits that CAS currently provides. Customer reaction would be nuclear in comparison to the strong reaction that Carnival received.

twangster got a reaction from GatorCruiser in Any concerns that Carnivals sweeping loyalty program overhaul makes it way to Crown and Anchor? June 27

When you look at Carnival's old VIFP program it was pretty weak. I've been 3 cruises short of platinum for over a decade. Over that period there was zero motivation to cruise in order to advance to platinum. The only real benefit of platinum was early boarding. Carnival creates chaos for the boarding process so they can sell FTTF. Platinum and above don't need FTTF.
The one free beverage had restrictions, only available on the last day after 5pm, or something silly like that.
VIFP was always a terrible loyalty program.
What's fascinating to me is how strong the reaction has been. Despite taking away very few benefits, the customer reaction has been explosive.
Can you imagine what Royal would face if they took away the real benefits that CAS currently provides. Customer reaction would be nuclear in comparison to the strong reaction that Carnival received.

twangster got a reaction from TXcruzer in The Sudden Reduction of Half of RC's Fleet June 28

Why maintain a fleet of 30 ships when you can sail with just as many berths with fewer ships in the fleet?
That's 30 captains and staff captains, 30 sets of bridge officers and 30 hotel directors, all high paid salary positions. Do more with less.
Royal's biggest problem is selling off the older inefficient ships while avoiding selling them to a competitor who will buy a ship at a fraction of a cost and compete with Royal in the Bahamas and Caribbean where Royal makes bank. Cordella was a nice fit as they sail only in India. No overlap. TUI wants new ships for the same reasons why Royal does. So for now it remains optimal to sail the old crud into the ground while carrying passengers and generating lower profits but avoiding giving a competitor the means to take business away for the price of a song.

twangster got a reaction from J_Keeble in Royal Amplification: But no Playmakers added to Ovation or Liberty? June 23

The SeaPlex on Odyssey is a very different design while the earlier Q class ships have smaller pods that hang off the SeaPlex. They can't implement a PM in those small pods so it would require major modification to add a PM to early Q class. Weight is critical on a ship and the SeaPlex is at the top, so weight is even more critical. It's a pretty significant re-engineering of the ship weight and balance, so not an easy undertaking.
Liberty is another matter.They must have plans to deploy her elsewhere in the future where a sports bar is less of a thing.

twangster got a reaction from aubtfan in Safety going to Maya Chan June 22

The Mahahual area and the short distance down the coast to Maya Chan is very different from Cancun and the tourist areas a few hundred miles up the coast where most tourism related violence occurs.
This area is more remote from the big city like touristy areas of Cancun or the western larger towns of Mexico.
I have visited this part of Mexico a number of times and never felt unsafe. Maya Chan in particular has a meeting point a short walk from the port area. The Maya Chan experience includes the van ride through Mahahual down to the Maya Chan property. I was last at Maya Chan in early December a few weeks before Christmas and once again never felt unsafe.
The shuttle ride down to the Maya Chan property is not a long distance but the roads are not very good so it does take a little bit of time to slowly make the drive over bumps and potholes. However the rough roads are a testament to how remote the location is very far away from the mass tourism of Cancun.
I love the staff at Maya Chan and I'll be going again late January and probably again in February. I've been to Maya Chan a number of times. The bumpy shuttle ride is well worth the time given the great food, cold drinks and the remote ambience that is so different from the mass tourist feel of the port.

twangster reacted to MLH in Going to Galapagos!! August 8-18th 2025 June 20

Bad news!
There was a propulsion issue on an engine that required changes to the iternary due to speed limitations. They cancelled the August 10 and 17th sailings to go into dry dock.

They did offer to move to any other sailing, price protected, and a very generous FCC, so we have to push it out a year since our bingo card is full this fall and winter.

twangster got a reaction from RCIfan1912 in Pools for Lap Swmimming June 14

Not really. Royal is a family cruise line and it's very common for kids and families using the pools whenever they are open. There may be times when the pools are lightly occupied and you may be able to get a few laps in but you will always need to be mindful of someone else jumping in to float in your way. There are no designated "lap times", it's a shared pool for multiple uses.

twangster got a reaction from Poolside in Quantum Transpacific Northbound April 2025 Review June 5

Some takeaways...
1. If a future transpacific has an overnight stop in Hawaii don't plan 3rd party excursions for the morning on the arrival day as you may have to wait to go through CBP clearance like we did. A number of guests had booked something and were mumbling about missing them or trying to manage being late for their 3rd party excursions.
2. For these very long cruises the cost of Voom can be prohibitive but if you need to be connected it can't be beat. GigSky or any other services that leverage the onboard cellular for data connectivity may be a less expensive option on these long cruises but, depending on your cabin relative to the onboard microcell, it may not work all the time. If you truly want set it and forget internet connectivity, Voom is worth the price.
3. I had no issues using corporate VPN and staying connected day after day. Once in awhile my VPN would drop but it does that on land sometimes too.
4. I've done so many Caribbean cruises. It was great to venture out to experience a different part of the world. I really enjoyed this transpacific more than the transatlantics I've done. I've already booked two more transpacifics.
5. I probably spent too long trying to figure out which side of the of the ship would be best when I booked this. I chose port side for the sunsets. The sun is hot near the equator which meant the afternoon sun was very strong on my balcony. It was too strong at times and I had to retreat inside and close the curtains to keep the cabin cool. I'm going to try the sunrise side of the ship for my Australia bound transpacific. I tend to get up early so that will be a sunrise cruise. Hopefully the morning sun won't be as hot.
6. Quantum has a fantastic crew. I don't recall ever having a negative crew interaction. Well done.
7. A tidbit from Captain's Corner. The fuel bill for this repo from Australia to Hawaii was around $1.5M USD. The headwind we encountered added roughly $10k USD per day to that fuel bill, on the days we had to battle the wind.
8. I often see questions about the Pacific and how rough the seas may be. The name of the ocean should itself be a hint to the answer. Any large body of water can involve swell based on weather systems active at the time. The Pacific is no more or less prone to rough seas compared to any other large body of water. I can't recall any days that took any guest out of action during this voyage. Don't fear the Pacific, as its name suggests it can be quite peaceful.
9. The non-smoking casino was outstanding.
My first transpacific was a success and I look forward to returning for another.
I hope this has been informative and I thank you for viewing,