Vancity Cruiser

It is possible to get off the ship without a passport. I am a Canadian citizen and am able to disembark in US ports with facial recognition so no reason why cruisers from India wouldn’t be able to do the same. I would be incredibly frustrated to be stuck in this situation.

You lost me at 'the second we set foot out of our limos'.

On an instagram post by Princess Cruises announcing a partnership with Brightline train @Matt appears in the video lol

The recent news in Haiti will not affect any upcoming sailings. The port will not be changed/cancelled. Labadee is as safe as any other port you will visit.

I am not comparing the violence. You stated that you could not party where people are being murdered in the streets 6 hours away. My point is that violence occurs everywhere ( over 20,000 people are murdered in the US every year) and while we should feel empathy for the plight of the victims of violence, it should also not stop us from living our lives and enjoying the beauty of nature.

In that case you probably shouldn't party anywhere. Not trying to be snarky but murder and crime have been a part of humanity since civilizations have been formed. Sometimes by individuals, sometimes by groups, and sometimes by those in authority. This occurs in every country in the world no matter how 'civilized'. That doesn't mean as fellow humans we should not feel empathy and want to help but I also believe we are allowed to enjoy ourselves as well. The risk of violence happening at Labadee is no higher than it is in anywhere in the US.

The hiding under bed thing baffles me. You would think he would have to be there for hours in some instances. You'd think there would be some noise at some point. Also, he wasn't missed at all during that time?

I think this is a good point for everyone who is saying Royal has to do a better job screening. If someone has never been caught/charged how are they supposed to screen them out?

If I lived within driving distance of a port that was offering them I would take advantage of the weekend cruises for sure. I'm just surprised at how much inventory is being allotted. And as @steverk mentioned, I wonder how the mon-fri sales are doing.

I'm still dreaming about a ship based year round out of Seattle doing longer trips down to Mexico outside of the Alaskan season but the dream continues to shrink as trends to shorter itineraries continue to grow. Quantum would have been a good option with her 2 solariums.

Its interesting to see the trends towards shorter itineraries. Its not just Royal, even Celebrity is getting in on the short cruise game. I'm curious if this is due to societies increasingly short attention span that even vacations are trending to short form? I'll just be over in the corner searching for longer itineraries.......

I am diamond plus with Royal and have never received a lapel pin for any level lol. I'm sure I could have gone to the loyalty ambassador and got them but I really don't care enough

NCL recently did full refurbs of 2 of their older smaller ships. And not just public areas, all staterooms were done as well and the result is brand new looking, fresh small ships at about the 10th of a cost of new vessels. I feel like this is something Royal should do with Radiance Class if they don't want to build new smaller ships. The down side of course is you still have the older, less environmentally friendly power source propelling them.

Remember when we thought stupidity was due to lack of access to information............ Turns out that wasn't the problem.

We went on it once during a 70's party on the promenade just to get a different view and they actually stopped it at its midpoint and stayed there overlooking the promenade for quite some time.

It will be interesting to see if Royal goes with a more laid back 'relaxed' design with this class or if they go for a smaller scale 'theme park' ship.

Way ahead of you! Was on Symphony a couple weeks ago but that was a sailing I had booked a couple years ago. When I repriced just before final payment cost for a standard ocean view balcony had gone from 3K CAD to 8K CAD. There are still deals to be found with Royal if you care to spend the time looking but my cruise dollars have been going to other lines for the last year and a half. I used to cruise about 90% Royal but now limit Royal to once per year. I still prefer Royal ships and entertainment but not to the point of paying the $ that others are willing to spend.

Guaranteed to find me in the solarium all day on a sea day (between snack breaks). I find a spot I like on embarkation day and I'll be in the same spot the rest of the cruise. I'll have a book in front of my face though.

I'm pretty sure she would need a refreshment package. If she is not going to use that at all either than it is most likely much more cost effective to just pay for your drinks, rather than get packages.

I was surprised they used the infinite balcony design on Icon. I wonder if it is cheaper or perhaps makes the ship more aerodynamic by reducing drag? I feel it must have some major benefit to the cruise line as most people who have cruised on edge class are not big fans of the design. I myself try to get a porthole balcony when on Edge class to still have somewhat of a true balcony.

I feel the WJ is a totally different situation. Someone is not going to hog a table for the day (I hope). I think it makes sense to claim a table there while you go get food.

Do you remember which ship this was on? I have never seen it happen and I have been on many cruises across many lines.

Yes, Eden is brutal for this

I think we all agree that chair hogs are the most annoying cruisers but following a close second are those who wander to the front of the theatre at all times during a show. This is a huge pet peeve of everyone I talk to, never mind how distracting it must be to performers. I don’t understand why they don’t close doors 15 minutes after showtime and just deny access to latecomers.

The Northstar was also out of operation on Ovation for several months awhile back. I 'm assuming its highly specialized equipment and any replacement parts would have a long leadtime.