Vancity Cruiser

I actually stayed in 7658 the last time I was on Radiance. It does not have obscured views but the balconies above look down onto yours. 
The bigger balcony was fantastic though!

Now I want to know what they are planning to put into the bag! 🙂

I have recently retired, so I have plenty of time.  I've been told there are 3 phases of retirement. Go-go years. Slow-go years. No-go years.
I'm determined to enjoy my go-go years. My father managed a credit union and taught me to save for retirement from day one.  Therefore, I can afford to enjoy these years and plan to see as much as possible. I choose cruising because it offers great value in travel.  Yes, it is expensive. On the other hand, taking a road trip to a national park is surprisingly expensive too.  Hotels are routinely $200 per night-or close to it. Tours, food, entertainment...it's all expensive and adds up in a hurry.
I'm sure we can all find cheaper travel, but I'm not looking to be miserable just to leave a large inheritance.  With luck, my last check (written to the undertaker) will bounce. 🤔

$30,000/year.
Two Star class week long sailings for my family of 5.
There, I said it. 
 
P.S. please keep buying almonds.

My budget? YOLO Book It! Not aware of any budget
Hubby's budget? $0
Our actual budget? Somewhere in between those two 😁
 
Jokes aside, as our girls are getting older, we realize how limited our time is as a family of 4. That has prompted us to up our number of cruises to as often as we can swing it. I am the limiting factor. Because I am a teacher, I can only go in March, July, August, December. So the last few years, that is when we cruise. While the cost is high right now, we don't plan to back down either because we won't get this time back with girls. A year from now, I might only have one kid sailing with us (cheaper), and soon after that, it might just be Hubby and I (even cheaper). So things like that will affect how much, and what we spend on as well.

You should get a prorated discount as you lose an hour of time on the ship

I turned my survey in for this cruise last night.  Something I've never done before is to give several 2's and 3's (on a scale of 0-10), but I did here.   I actually gave out a 0 for one of the restaurants.   In the comments section I made sure to emphasize that my issues were not with anyone on board.  My issues were based upon the fact this ship cannot handle to crowd that was put on it.
When asked the chances of me booking another cruise within 12 months, I scored it a 6.  When asked if it would be with Carnival, a 2.  
I doubt anyone cares, but as a customer with 20 cruises under my belt (9 of which are on Carnival), they should care.
I didn't get nasty, stomp my feet, or say never again.  I did make my points which are valid.
It will be interesting if I hear anything from them.

Absolutely Tony, I am thankful that we are able to do trips like this.  My post was not meant as a complaint.  It was meant as a question as to whether or not this stuff happens on Royal's big ships.  We did this on the cheap and took inside staterooms because this was our second major vacation of the year (did 2 weeks along the Pacific Coast, Yosemite, Muir Woods, and Lake Tahoe and some of those places were incredibly crowded as well).
During the course of the week, we learned of ways to avoid some of the bottlenecks, but much of it could not be avoided.  My wife, son, and I did a lot of stairs.  My m-i-l can't, so oftentimes we would be sure she was safely on a lift, and then we would take the stairs, but when going from deck 6 to deck 14, it's not always what we wanted to do.
I did not mention in my first post that my m-i-l was pushed, at one point,  by a male adult able bodied passenger who did not think it necessary to wait his turn.  I saw it happen and since she didn't fall, I chose not to escalate the situation.  It almost appeared as though he wanted me to do so.  Had she fallen, I would have not had a choice in the matter.
We are no doubt blessed to have these opportunities, but don't want to be in situations where we have to rely of the goodness, or even proper behavior of others, in order to take a vacation and not be inconvenienced or in my m-i-l's case assaulted in huge crowds of people.  If this is what mainstream cruising is becoming, we will probably pass or take small ships like Windstar, ect.  We would have to go less often due to cost.

The Oasis class ships don’t seem crowded at all for the most part. The exception is always going to be the elevators and the buffet regardless of the size of the ship. If you are able bodied then the stairs are always an option. As for service, that’s hit or miss depending on the ship and the venue. I’ve had entire cruises with exceptional service across the board and others that were pretty bad. In late 2023 it’s all about managing expectations. If you pick apart every aspect of your cruise regarding service, food quality (and the list goes on) you will find plenty of flaws and room for improvement. IMHO time is better spent focusing on the fact that you are fortunate enough to have the ability to afford a vacation  that many families are not able to take. 

I think pain and suffering began when the chef made a seafood cake that had olives in the recipe…YUCK!

Your 6 year old self, you mean?

I am sorry this happened to you.  But as a dental professional, I am having a hard time believing that you biting an olive pit would cause your implant to fail unless it had issues prior. I think even if you try to get further compensation, you may have a tough go of it.
No implants are not infallible, the crown breaking, maybe. The implant itself failing, unlikely without an underlying issue.
 

You should get a prorated discount as you lose an hour of time on the ship

As long as they keep the promenade. That is the thing I miss the most when cruising other lines.

As long as they keep the promenade. That is the thing I miss the most when cruising other lines.

As long as they keep the promenade. That is the thing I miss the most when cruising other lines.

The described experience with Iglu doesn't at all reflect a typical one with an actual travel agent, not an online travel consolidator agency.

There’s always the pin as well. I am certain to get flamed for saying this but the pin is obnoxious. I wouldn’t be caught dead with that Pinnacle pin on. I don’t want that kind of attention. 

I suggest Malarky.
And for those of you having a hard time determining if another passenger is Pinnacle, be patient, they will likely tell you. 

It’s just a couple hours per night and you still get the Diamond drinks so what’s the big deal? IMHO the Diamond/Crown lounge is pretty crappy anyway. I will trade you my D+ status for 1/2 of your drink vouchers per day and you can enjoy happy hour in that place. Anyone, anyone?

You should get a prorated discount as you lose an hour of time on the ship

It wouldn't surprise me

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.

It wouldn't surprise me

You should get a prorated discount as you lose an hour of time on the ship