Vancity Cruiser

10 hours ago, tlmgalloway said:

My travel agent said I need to show a round trip ticket when flying back into the US

Get a new travel agent. That makes no sense. 

2 hours ago, PeloAl said:

A couple weeks ago I booked a cruise on Wonder for June 2024 and the only dining time available was 5pm. That is way too early for us. My TA put us on the waitlist for my time. We prefer late dining but that’s full with no waitlist options . 
I’ve never run into this issue so wondering if anyone’s had luck getting off the waitlist

You can always chose mytime dining. Then once on board go to dining room and set mytime reservations for the time you want everyday.

Haven't seen that since 2020! Interesting its back. I wonder if that means less people are paying the ridiculous drink package prices.

On 12/19/2023 at 7:04 PM, Nathan adams said:

A little spoiled I guess. Will be my 11th royal cruise and my first one with out a 24 hour food venue.

What venues on other Royal ships are 24HR? I'm usually not looking for food after 10PM but wasn't aware Royal had any 24HR venues on their ships.

That is a pretty good deal

Has anyone gone to the caves on their own not as part of an excursion?

For views I love the wake view from the outdoor promenade deck!

40 minutes ago, F1guynz said:

Not that I can recall.

Doesn't Radiance have the loungers exclusively for suite guests on the tiered area?

1 hour ago, gi333 said:

Ok San Juan any of you has done it and with small children any bike rentals anything to make less walking?

We looked for bikes on our last trip to San Juan but only found electric scooters. Not sure you want to pike anyway as all streets are cobblestone and it would be quite rough

1 hour ago, Doug_Texas said:

If Celebrity ever matches my D+ drink coupons instead of the restrictive "happy hour" I'll be taking some of those cruises instead (I'll never make Pinnacle anyway).

Makes much more sense to save big money on booking a Celebrity cruise and paying for drinks that paying 40% more for your cruise just to get the 5 free drinks per day

Its just another way to make things seem like a deal. Its worth 299 but we'll post it at 999 and offer you a 'discount' to 799 to make you think you are getting a good deal.

Kind of like black Friday deals for TVs

September price $499

October price $499

November price $899 on sale for Black Friday for ONLY $499

1 hour ago, Terry R said:

Curious as to when you could make entertainment reservations on this cruise. Today was first day for sign in on Jan 21 cruise but it would not let me book show reservations when I hit the dropdown bar. Today was day 45 from cruise. How did it work on the Jan 14 sailing and I will use that as a guide. Many thanks for help or advise

Assuming you are on a ship that allows show reservations check back daily. It seems random. I was able to book shows about 5 days after check in opened up for Jan 13 sailing.

50 minutes ago, JohnK6404 said:

Interesting read and comparison (pricing comparison to) between Star and the new Celebrity Xcel posted by Allie today:

Royal Caribbean's new cruise ship prices are more expensive than Celebrity's new premium ship | Royal Caribbean Blog

I think Royal's pricing is outrageous but I will defend them a little here by pointing out the price discrepancy does make some sense as you are literally getting a 7 day waterpark pass included with your fare. 

23 hours ago, Jzx1103 said:

Not true at all, if you ask anyone who is a seasoned player on Royal that plays in Casino and get comp'd cruises. You'd learn that comp'd cruises aren't hard to get at all. And you'd likely only lose 33% to 60% of what the cruises actually cost to get the free cruises. The key is you'd actually have to be willing to go on the free cruises to make it worth it. For example on my Allure cruise in last August it takes 4000 pts minimum to get Icon comp'd.  Thats $20k coin in. With slot average of 85% payback percentage thats an average of $3000 in losses (I did a bit better than the avg). But by gaining 4000 pts on that cruise not only got me the Icon (which would've already costed more than $3k to book it yourself). It also got me the annual Prime cruise, plus additional mail/email/online offers. Thats minimum 3 free cruises for an $3k loss on average. So many non gamblers have no clue what they're talking about constantly spewing BS about how us gamblers lose way morethan what the free cruises cost. Truth is if you know what you're doing and know how to manage your gambling budget. You'd definitely make out like a bandit with the comp'd cruises versus paying for the cruises outright. Especially these days with the outrageous cruise fares Royal is charging. I actually kept a record. Over the past 7 years since I started sailing all comp"d on Royal. I've sailed on 18 comp'd cruises with Royal that would've costed me $76692 had I booked it myself. My total losses in the Casino the past 7 years was $31k (and there are many other comp'd cruise offers I received but didn't use because I only have so many vacation days a year)

This was a fascinating read for me as a non gambler. I was in the ignorant camp that assumed people lost 10k to get a 5k cruise. Seems like you have figured it out and have a great system going! Its not going to convert me to a gambler but thanks for this insight, it was informative and intriguing.

2 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

It's an Alaska thing.

I loved Ovation for Alaska! 

17 hours ago, NoobCruise said:

Townhouse for 7 days or a Cybertruck for the rest of your life!

Hard pass on both......

7 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Oddly, most of my sailings have been on  Quantum Class, and they are our least favorite class of ships.

Must be due to convenience?

40 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Quantum ships, by design, don't get Caribbean love like all other classes.
 

I want to get one a Quantum ship sooner rather than later, but itineraries outside of Alaska are limited. I may be stuck with a Bayonne trip

True, Odyssey (Quantum plus) is the only 'warm weather' ship of the class.

With all the hype surrounding the Icon class it made me think how seldom the Quantum class is mentioned or even recommended to  people looking for suggestions. There are folks who are big Oasis class fans (myself included), lots of folks who prefer the size and amenities (and price point) of the Voyager/Freedom class, and even a lot who prefer the relaxed atmosphere of the Radiance class. Obviously the Quantum class fill up and lots of people still sail on them and enjoy them (myself included) but I'm not sure there are many people who profess the Quantum class to be there favorite class. 

Just my Wednesday morning musing..........

23 minutes ago, Firefly said:

Cruise prices these days are insane

Correction.......Royal Caribbean new ship prices are insane. There are still deals to be had on other classes of ships

52 minutes ago, bobroo said:

The old man is sitting in his rocking chair trying to find the ambition to drag the soapbox into the good ol’ town square again. Star of the Seas has brought about many philosophical questions.

I'm here for the rant..........

I was able to book Symphony Jan 13th entertainment on Friday

Pros

 - Aqua 80

 - Portside BBQ

 - it has been 'amped'

Cons

 - Cats

 - Cats

 - Cats

2 hours ago, Geezer Of The Seas said:

After that......?

I've been finding some decent prices on Celebrity still. At least decent for todays prices......

I repriced my upcoming Symphony cruise just before final payment and the price tripled from when I booked it in early 2022. I have seen all my cruises go up in price from booking till when final payment was due over the last year but only Royal went up 3x.