Vancity Cruiser

23 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Yeah that was very, very slick by Royal Caribbean. Oddly we have never eaten these places and we were on Oasis last summer. We do eat at specialty restaurants, just never got around to these. Oasis doesn't have the Mason Jar. Playmakers we wanted to but never got around to it. 

I have not eaten at Mason Jar but have many times at Playmakers and Portside. Still good value for the money, especially Portside.

On 8/17/2023 at 12:42 PM, teddy said:

What do we do with all these pitchforks and torches now? 

 

 

Well we could realize that while we were all distracted by potentially having to pay for pizza Royal raised prices for Portside BBQ, Mason Jar, and Playmakers.

3 minutes ago, teddy said:

They are extremely impressive athletes

All the aqua shows are worth watching because of this. Its like when the Olympics are on you end up watching sports you would never otherwise watch. I enjoy the aqua show for the impressive feats of athleticism. 

Hi there. I have a step son around the same age in the same situation. You can have charging the seapass card turned off but then then he wouldn't be able to get drinks or anything. However, if you get him the refreshment package it will show that on the card and he will still be able to get any drinks covered by that package (staff do not run the card through when they see the package on the card).

20 hours ago, Tomtexas said:

If anyone has a  Royal Caribbean's Certified Vacation Planners they could recommend please let me know. I'm not looking to use travel agent.

There is no difference between a Royal Caribbean Certified Vacation Planner and a travel agent. Either way there is no cost to you as both are paid by the cruise line, not you.

4 hours ago, NWCruiser said:

Thank you...did not know that they stopped entirely.  We have sailed round trip from Vancouver to San Francisco for a couple nights on the Explorer in 2018. The ship sailed full and we thoroughly enjoyed our time.  The itinerary included stops at Astoria and Victoria.  Unfortunately, Royal stopped the route after that and we along with others here have been (and still are) hoping they will return the itinerary as it was one roundtrip sailing close to home that went to a warmer climate for a few days.

I know this is a Royal forum but FYI Princess does this itinerary once a year in the fall. 10 night roundtrip from Vancouver with 4 stops in California.

8 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Does this mean my cruise goes on forever?

This is the latest cost cutting measure by Royal. They will no longer be having someone change the elevator plaques.

11 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I think this is the thing that causes me the most resentment about the cuts and changes to perks and amenities.  They try and make you think it is somehow going to “enhance your experience” when it’s really a reduction of service.

Kind of like Norwegian getting rid of all their big shows months ago to make room for exciting new opportunities, only to have radio silence on entertainment ever since?

3 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

This can and will happen. I sail (ed) when there is a larger population of Jewish pax. The Bistro on Oasis class was closed for the entire week I sailed, in order to be turned into a kosher restaurant. If the money is right, they will close it down to be used privately.

I had this experience as well. Unfortunately this resulted in a LOT of children shouting and running around through the solarium around meal times.

Consumerism at its finest lol. We know about 1 more Oasis class and 3 Icon class ships (the first of which hasn't even gone into service) to the tune of more than $5B. But you know.....what about after that?

Reminds me of vacations when my kids were little. I know we already went mini golfing, swimming, water skiing, to the amusement park, and had pizza and Ice cream but now I'm booooooored.

38 minutes ago, bobroo said:

It makes me smile to see that there are others who are saying  "Icon isn't for me" or "Icon not at this time", it's good to see that I am not alone.

I have a smallish list of of things that I don't like about Icon that go beyond the current pricing and stateroom offerings that are turn offs, on some future thread I'd like to bounce these ideas off of others here and see what all 'ya alls think.

Its interesting. I truly believe that Icon's targeted consumer is the non-cruiser, not the experienced cruiser.

3 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

On Allure in February, the CD staff were removing underage cruisers from the venue before it started.

On Oasis in January, the CD actually stopped the show to wait for children to leave after several announcements. 

6 hours ago, CrimsonCruiser said:

but is it worth it lol

I've put it on my list for the first time but....is it worth all the hype?

Like others have said, it is subjective. Personally I love it, extremely entertaining.

48 minutes ago, Sunnymer said:

For anyone following along on this….after the last update, gratuities had been removed. THEN today I received another email that gratuities are due and they have been readded to our account. Currently holding with customer service again

Of all the cruise lines, Royals shore side customer service (including for TA's) is the absolute worst. And apparently the IT as well. What a pain, especially since you know the cruise could be cancelled over a stupid error like this

13 hours ago, Southsider said:

6) Barr montenegro was ships first visit to this port. why no KOTOR.  don’t bother getting off ship 

2 hours ago, Thumper44 said:

But I'm wondering if anyone remembers the rumors and speculation pre-Covid when they were talking about a long list of projects?

I remember that. There was talk of 5 different Perfect Day locations. There were also sightings of surveyors and engineers at Labadee just prior to the shutdown as well that may thought meant added amenities planned for there as well.

40 minutes ago, Bmac said:

Thanks for replies.

Yes I understand the onus is on me to make sure I have all the proper documents but this caught me off guard as I've never heard this before. My travel company got back to me and gave me a way to work through this. It is not without risk but the risk is small. What he recommended (which all responsibility falls on me) is to obtain a transcript of my criminal records and to fill out the application for a TRP visa and bring these with me to Vancouver. He explained that I can apply for a TRP visa right at the border so if I can't enter with just my passport I'll have all the necessary paperwork to get a TRP visa right there  and being as I've done all the legwork they usually just have you pay the application fee and let you go through.

Also if when I get my transcript and the offense isn't listed it's no longer a problem. I will bring everything with me regardless and hope for the best.

I understand what you're saying but I think that a travel agent who has more than likely encountered this before which the gentleman I spoke with said "it happens all the time" would have some type of FAQ page with something like this posted on it to make their clients aware.

I suspect it won't even come up, however, the advice to have everything ready to go is prudent. If you have filled it all out, and the offence was 33 years ago, I'm sure that you won't be denied entry. You will also have documents to prove you are leaving by a certain date as well. They get more squirrely if you are coming for an indefinite stay.

5 minutes ago, dr martini said:

the 3/4 night cruise market esp has been a revelation, really almost a shocker to me with the last few announcements from royal and celebrity moving even more hardware capacity into the florida weekend

This has been a surprise to me as well (especially 2 Oasis class ships) although if I lived within driving range I'd be all over it as well.

I'm seeing an interesting trend in that the cruise lines rush to the bottom (how much can we cut and still have people sail?) has produced a large crack in customer loyalty. Cruisers are more willing to try other lines as their favorite things are cut by their preferred line (even though all other lines are doing the same cost cutting). All ships seem full across all lines so they are not feeling any pain of losing loyal customers but it will be interesting to see where it goes in the future.

And does MSC finally become more appealing to more cruisers as they get priced out of their preferred brands?

6 hours ago, Plumlee2028 said:

I Guess my Reflection ABC cruise is getting cancelled next year.  Was April 27-May 5, which is now bookable on reflection as short cruises...

 

EDIT: There is now a Beyond sailing at the same time, that wasn't there previously.  Looking like a ship change is all.  Happy to try the Beyond. 

I would be quite excited for this switch. I would say you got a significant upgrade unless Reflection held a specific meaning to you

11 minutes ago, CruiseRoyalDad said:

Never been on her, we started with the Allure which we loved. Came back to another Allure, did a quick Anthem to Bermuda, then Symphony. Though I've never sailed her, the Oasis holds a special place in my heart for giving birth to the finest class of ship at sea to date. Having been amped, and given the right itinerary, I'd be on Oasis faster than you can say ICON!  I'll go ahead and ruffle some feathers, Quantum Class falls far short!!! 

I've sailed Oasis both pre and post amplification and she is my favorite ship by far (except for that dang cats show). I agree with you about Quantum class for warm weather but they are great for Alaska. Loved the temp controlled Solariums that allowed swimming while the weather was inclement outside. I sailed another line to Alaska a couple weeks ago and just assumed the solarium would be temp controlled but it was not  

Interesting take in the article that Norwegian is getting rid of all these production shows to "make way for new exciting shows". Seems more like a money saving move to me.

3 hours ago, Pooch said:

Does any other religion have this requirement?

I grew up in a 'hyper-calvinistic' Christian home (extra credit if you know what this means) that was super heavy on legalistic rules. To this day, like many of the posters on this thread, my parents will avoid any vacation or activity that will not allow them to attend a church service from their specific denomination.

On 6/17/2023 at 4:55 AM, cedricmr said:

RC is obliged to arrange billing. If not, the towels would never return. Personally, I prefer this system rather than the removal of towels.

I don't agree with this as most lines do not follow this practice. If everyone was 'stealing' towels all cruise lines would follow this practice.

It's whatever your budget will allow. If spending an extra $150 to pick your room will mean you have to give up an excursion or other experience I would choose the cheaper cabin and spend the extra $ on experience. 

2 hours ago, Pooch said:

Wow, it’s clear I am NOT a gambler! $10,000?  $5,000? 

Haha right. All these folks talking about their 'free' casino cruises and then finding out they are dropping 5-10k in the Casino lol. 

No judgement, if thats your entertainment and how you roll good on you........I just wouldn't consider those cruises free.