Rayma

Let’s speculate! The reasons to order a new smaller class of ships could be: 1) The European Union is setting a price for cruise ship emmissions. It will be cheaper to operate in Europe with a more modern ship (lng etc) - or a carbon neutral ship. "In practice, shipping companies have to purchase and surrender (use) EU ETS emission allowances for each tonne of reported CO2 (or CO2 equivalent) emissions in the scope of the EU ETS system." https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/transport/reducing-emissions-shipping-sector_en 2) The smaller ships that are used in Europe are the oldest and probably the ones which emit the most emmissions per passanger. Even if it would be possible, there is no bussines case to do expensive technical updates for these old ships. 3) There propably is public money & funding available for these greener cuise ship projects. This would make it easier to make the case to order new ships, even when Royals balance sheet isn’t in a perfect shape after the pandemic. Some 70 million € for developing a carbon neutral cruise ship consept by 2025: https://yle.fi/a/3-12327243 . Royal is "in": https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/shipbuilding-refurb-equipment/royal-caribbean-group-meyer-turku-team-climate-neutral-ship-goal . Meyer Turku shipyard has no orders after Icon 3, so there is a pressure to get new orders in. The shipyard has developed the Voyager class, Freedom class, Oasis class and Icon class, so there is a history of developing revolutionary ships with/for Royal - and a history of Royal Promenades . So: old ships might be a no-no businesswise in Europe in not so distant future, many European ports can’t handle mega-ships, it might be easier to develop a smaller prototype using new advanced engine technology, there might be public money available for development of a green cruise ship and the shipyards are really in a need for orders… My guess is that project Discovery will see the daylight in a few years!

My best guess is that they charge for popcorn because it is a super messy food. Imagine the mess if there would be a FREE popcorn stand in front of a show venue! 2.50$ reduces popcorn eaters (and the mess) by like 98 %. Still, those who really want popcorn are able to get it with a quite nominal fee.

We were on the Odyssey with a 10 month old and agree that the baby splash zone was okay and very nice to have. One negative side is the location in the same area as the main pool: music was played on a nightclub level when the band or the DJ was playing. Not cool for the babies in my opinnion. Gave Royal feedback, but don’t know if there is anything they can do.

The very first concept drawings of Silja Serenade (a.k.a Grandmother of the Seas - mother to Voyger/Freedom class and grandmother to the Oasis class ) from the 1980ˋs had a mysterious ball above the promenade. The myterious ball was not on the final thing so bumer, no clue what it was suposed to be . It still looks familiar, doesn’t it! Source & an interesting read for ship nerds: https://valkeatlaivat-blogspot-com.translate.goog/2018/11/silja-serende-special-laivan-tulevaisuus.html?_x_tr_sl=fi&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=fi&_x_tr_pto=wapp

From our experience the unlimited dining package is an excelent choice! My wife has several food allergies and those has been taken care so well, that the dinning experience in speciality restaurants is one of the main reasons we choose a RCL cruise as our holiday destination. Eating in a restaurant with long list of allergies is often quite stressfull - specially when travelling - but on RCL it’s one of the highlights of the vacation. While celiacic disease and allergies are not the same, celiacic disease is quite well known and should not require so much explaining. Some of the food alleriges my wife has causes an anaphylactic reaction, so those needs to be taken care of as seriously as celiacic disease. She is allergic to all grains (among other things) except oats. We have had UDP on Allure 2018 and on Oasis 2019 and we hade 4 meals in speciality dinning restaurants on Allure 2019. The experience in MDR on Allure was good (our waiter Rachelyn was totally awesome), but the food was way better in places like 150CP and Giovannis. MDR allergy food was quite... plain. We did inform the restaurants about the allerigies beforehand (personally onboard) and I recommend you to do the same. Email to speciality needs goes only to MDR as far as I know. We did the email as well, but I don’t know if it does anything.

Here you go: http://swimmingpigs.photostockplus.com/albums/ On our tour in december 2019 they told us to take a picture of the sign with the link. I guess they don’t send any links afterwards and I don’t think collected our emails. Pictures are quite pricey, but I bought two of them. I was first worried when I didn’t get the link to download the pictures after submiting the payment ? ... the link came after few days by email. Clearly the system is not automatic. We were the first group in the morning and I felt the pigs were most interested to swim in the beginning. Many of the pigs had returned to their shelter when the next group (from NCL) came. The excrusion was great fun and a highlight of our cruise! Highly recommend!

Sailing on the Oasis and got the email - the itinerary is changing because of Allures problems. I guess Oasis and Allure can’t be in the same port. Orginal itinerary was St. Maarten -> Puerto Rico -> Labadee and now its flipped the other way around. However, the times we are at the ports are longer and in my opinnion better. Labadee is unchanged i guess, from 7am to 4pm. Arrival to Puerto Rico is at 1pm and departure 9.30pm - I like the idea of evening departure. St. Maarten stop is now from 8am to 6pm, which is nice. The timetable in the email talks still about St. Maarten, but in the text part they are talking about Charlotte Amalie. "...Then, we’ll make our way over to Charlotte Amalie where you can unwind while taking in harbor views, explore colonial landmarks like Blackbeard’s Castle, or sip on some local lager at a quaint microbrewery." We are on the Allures Western Caribbean sailing as well and I was waiting to visit Roatan. Bummer. But maybe we "the real deal swimming pigs" from Nassau ?.

Eh, maybe some Russian roulette with which cruise will be cancelled in November/December? I’m booked for the December 1st cruise, so the answer you got worries me... No emails about changes in itinerary for my cruise, so for that part the information you got seems to be correct.

We were on deck 6 front on the Allure last March, cabin 6172 (near the elevators). Found it to be a great location and booked about the same location for dec Oasis cruise. One deck down to Promenade and two decks up to Cental Park, so stairs are a good option. Even two decks from entretainment place, so again, no need to wait for the elevators after a show. Still, elevators were close so solarium and the pool deck was just one elevator ride away. We had the deluxe drink+ultimate dinning-package combo and got some smoothies from Vitality cafe and mostly ate at Central Park, so distance to MDR wasn´t an issue. There is not that many interior rooms on deck 6, so not that much traffic on the hallway. The only con of the location I can think of is that our balcony railing glass was quite dirty when we arrived. It got a bit better after it was cleaned by the room attendant. Maybe - just maybe - rough seas will get more salty water to the balconies on the lower decks? (Still on deck 6, so quite high from the sea level).

Hi all, After booking two cruises for december 2019 I decided to do some research about Royals campaigns that happened 2018. History doesn´t maybe repeat it self, but isn´t there a good chance that Royal repeats same kind of campaigns next year? ? I guess many of you have the feeling that some kind ofsale is going on whole the time. Maybe the list below gives an idea of if the "sale" is something extraordinary or just normal. The list is made looking a balcony cabin for a 7 day caribbean cruise. Shorter cruises have different discounts and suites normally get bigger savings. But the logic seems to be the same, so the list works for other cabins and shorter cruises as well. Sorry - the date is written day.mont (1.2 = 2 february). For example "cruise planner 30%" means typical cruise planner ”discounts up to 30%” campaign. "kids free" is kids for free. Don´t take this listing too seious! ?The dates and information is from this blog and something might be missing. Dec 2017 28.12 Sail Into 2018 -> -30% + 75 $ savingsJan 2018 4.1 Wave Seasons offer -> -30% + 50 OBC or Sart wandering 175 $ OBC if no right to cancel 5.1. Sip, Tpur amd Cruise -> Cruise planner -30 %18.1 Seeker Sale -> -30 % + 75 $ savings + 75 OBC19.1 Epic sale -> -30 % Cruise planner26.1 Cyber Sale -> -30% + 75 $ savings + 75 $ OBCFeb 2018 2.2 Score More Savings -> -30% + 100 $ savings2.2 Cruise planner sale -> 30 %7.2 WOW sale -> -30 % + 75 $ Savings + 125 $ OBC16.2 Countdown to cruise -> Cruise planner -30%23.2 Winter escape sale -> -30% + 100 $ SavingsMarch 2018 1.3 Tour & explore sale -> 25 % shore excursions1.3 Kids sail free -> -30 % + kids free + 50 $ Savings 8.3 Double Up Sale -> 75 $ instant + 75 $ OBC + -30 % + kids free16.3 Lucky Saver Sale -> -30 % + kids free + 75 $ savings16.3 Sip, tour and save -> Cruise planner -30 %30.3 50 % off second guest + kids free + 75 $ savingsApril 2018 6.4 Cruise planner -30 %20.4 Dive & discover -> 50 % off second guest + kids free + 75 $ savings25.4 Cruise planner sale -> -25% shore excursions26.4 Deals & Thrills sale -> 50 % off second guest, kids free, 100 $ instant savingsMay 2018 1.5 Wow sale -> -50 % second guest + 125 $ OBC + Kids free9.5 Sip, tour and stream -> cruise planner -30 %17.5 Maycation deals -> second guest -50 % + 75 $ savings + kids sail free24.5 Memorial day sale -> second guest -50 %+ 75$ savings + kids free25.5 Memorial day sale -> cruise planner -30 %Jun 2018 1.6 June offer -> second guest -50 % + 75 $ savings6.6 Double up sale -> second guest -50 % + 75 $ OBC + 100 $ savings8.6 Summer countdown -> cruise planner -30 %22.6 Cruise planner -30 %July 218 3.7 4th of july -> cruise planner -30 %2.7 4th of july -> second guest -50 % + 75 $ savings + kids free +fall bonus 100 $ savings20.7 Explore More sale -> second guest -50 % + kids free + 75 $ OBC25.7 Wow sale -> second guest -50 % + 125 $ OBC + Kids free27.7 Set sail & save -> -30% cruise plannerAug 2018 1.8 second guest -50 % + 50 $ savings9.8 Savings back in session -> cruises -30%, beverage packages -30%, shore excursions -25%, speciality lunch -20 %9.8 Back to cruise -> second guest -50 % + 100 $ savings17.8 Adventure sale -> second guest -50 % + 100 $ savings24.8 Endless summer sale -> Cruise planner sale (-30%/-25%)24.8 Dash deals -> second guest -50 %, 75 $ savings30.8 Labor day weekend -> second guest -50 %, kids free, 75 $ savingsSep 2018 7.9 Tours, drinks & internet -> -30% cruise planner14.9 Rush into adventure -> second guest -50 % + 75 $ savings + kids freeFall into savings -> -30% cruise planner Oct 2018 2.10 Wave october sale -> second guest -60 % + 75 $ savings10.10 Countdown to cruise -> -30% cruise planner11.10 Fall savings -> second guest -60 % + 75 $ savings18.10 Double up sale -> second guest -60 % + kids for less -30 % + 75 $ savings + 75 OBC26.10 Daring deals -> second guest -60 % + 75 $ OBC26.10 Sale before you sail -> 30 % Cruise planner saleNov 2018 1.11 second guest -60 % + kids free + 75 $ savings9.11 Ready, set, sail -> - 30 % cruide planner9.11 Fall adventure sail -> second guest -60 % + kids free + 75 $ savings22.11 Cyber weekend -> second guest -60 % + 200 $ savings + kids free23.11 Cyber monday -> Cruise planner - 40 %Dec 2018 6.12 Wave offer -> - 30 % 11.12 Dec the deals -> Cruise planner -30 %14.12 Seasons savings -> -30 %, 100 $ savings ... So are we seeing next a ”Sail into 2019 sale"? ? Maybe a wave seasons offer in cruise planner after that? Let´s see!

One newbie question more! If I have the ultimate dining package, is it possible to use the 35$ ala carte credit in the main dining room for the upcharge items?