foxrunner

No I get @twangster tagline.  THANKS!

On 3/16/2023 at 9:52 AM, KellsBells71 said:

 

  The only complaint that I had was that the bed was very hard; too hard for me so sleeping was an issue.  Couple of days we slept with the balcony door open and some days I actually slept on the balcony on the chairs.  I don't sleep at the best of times, so having a balcony was great.

 

On your next cruise ask for the mattress topper. Your stateroom attendant will put it on free of charge. These come standard in Jr. Suites and above but are available in any room. They make a world of difference for us. Thanks for the great report!  

To me one of the things sets apart  land vs cruise vacationing is that your costs can be fixed on a cruise. Most of us overspend on vacation any way, the drink packages have built in price certainty. Everyone has their own way of vacationing so just do your thing. 

We fly in a day early, but not everyone has the work flexibility to make that work. Looking at all the teachers, 1st responders, etc.. that have rigid time off and set work schedules.  If you have to fly in day of, use the great tips above to minimize your risks, and I'd add bring carryon luggage only to that list. Have a great cruise and try not to stress about getting to the ship. Ultimately most of these problems are not controllable. 

Not sure because we haven't tried it. We are going on Freedom in 30ish days and I'll let you know. My question is how will they clean the rooms if they are given more stateroom and the majority of people request early or late??

On 3/11/2023 at 9:02 PM, Rackham said:

So Prima 3 & 4 will be about Freedom-class size while 5 & 6 will be slightly larger than Quantum Ultra?

Will be interesting to see what's next for Royal as ships age out of the fleet. Though from what I recall, Royal has enough cabin capacity coming online over the next several years that they could retire both Vision and Radiance classes and end up with more capacity than before 2024.

The capacity is one thing but what about price? If royal phases out the older smaller ships where is a customer going to find a value based cruise? Maybe they don't care given the financial stressors brought on by the pandemic.  I would think they would want to hold on to the value mass market cruisers instead of having them migrate else where. 

Interestingly NCL isn't positioning itself to attract these customers either. Maybe the whale tail or those Euro lines will win?? 

Thanks!

Great early post knewby. 

None of my sailings list this option yet. I wish they would do more bundles at a discount, like bev internet and dining. Even better you choose 2 items from the cruise planner and get an additional 5% off, 4 get 10% kina thing. 

Additionally I highly recommend both of these experiences. Especially the free options. The free ones book quickly so you want to book it right after you get on the ship. I don't love heights and both of these were awesome! 

132 Days to Go!

Wifey and I can't wait!!!

Hoping for a price break, but the price is up a grand on a balcony room. 

404 Days to Go!

Too early?

Wifey and I can't wait!!!

Hoping for a price break, but the price is up a grand on a balcony room. 

The vibe here is spot on. No stupid question and honest answers. Matt and the moderators walk the tight rope well of debate vs disrespect.  

13 hours ago, ScottD said:

We ordered 3 entrees between 2 of us each night with no issues last week 

How filling were the 3 entrees between the two of you? Subjective I know, I can put it away and my wife gets full looking at food. Did you typically eat all three courses? We haven't cruised post new menu and I was always more than satisfied in the MDR. We didn't tend to order more than one entrée unless the waiter suggested it.

We need to branch out and give other lines a try. The familiarity of Royal and understanding the "game" make that challenging. This website doesn't exist for other lines and the ones that do are not my cup of tea. Civility respect and acceptance are hard to find in the world wide sewer.  We will retire in a couple of years and that will give us the time to try new lines and better locales as well as off peak cruising. Royal is also starting to price us out and if that continues we will need to go elsewhere. We don't cruise suites so it isn't like we can move down in category to save. 

On 1/6/2022 at 12:30 AM, SpeedNoodles said:

We can't even get first responder discounts.

No teacher discounts either. 

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

They're both just fine

Agreed! If the price difference matters to you then go Mariner. The onsite logic is that the price "savings" can be used for your next cruise. We've never gone 9 nights and I'm jealous! If you probably will not cruise again because of other plans then go all out on Oasis. 

Will do! I'm the regular mid 50's white dude with the bombshell wife!

On Allure they have an omelet station in the  Solarium. Now that was prior to the change from Wipe Out to El Loco. Omelets are also in the MDR and Johnny Rs.

We stayed in #34 and it was pretty quiet. The park has a kind of background noise from all the people having fun. Our attendant was also very attentive but that is probably luck of the draw. All of the cabanas are close to each other so a loud group next door would be an uncontrollable factor as well. I don't think we picked our cabana though?? 

My wife and I will be on that sailing! Same plan minus the Bahamian family.

Cheers! 

Hello,

We could do a ghost booking but that doesn't give you all the discounts. We have just called and ask to reprice. The last time the Royal rep intimated that we could check without calling. I understand that the reps are sometimes misinformed. FYI we are not using a TA. 

TIA! 

36 minutes ago, Capitono3 said:

I don't think the changes are to bad. A little change is a good thing (I hope)

The only thing for us is some nights include a lot of spicy food and we are not spicy food eaters. 

As for times in the mdr we went on a back to back and the first week it averaged 75 mins the 2nd week at the same table we had new servers and we found we were waiting longer in-between courses.

People talk about options and yes there are some but we go on a cruise for the mdr experience. Not the buffet for dinner. If Royals Specialty prices were more in line With Carnival or Princess we might be tempted to go more.

Even Princess specialty dining is a lot Cheaper than Royals and just as good. We usually go to one specialty restaurant  per cruise and mostly Chops. 

We are 115 point Diamond and mostly go on Royal but lately we have gone on other lines. Didn't particularly like Carnival but their fast venues were better than Royal. Princess was as good as Royal. NCL was in between Carnival and Princess. We are still loyal to Royal and love the Oasis class and Quantum class.

 

Welcome to the boards!

We also cruise for the MDR experience. We will try out the new menu this summer. Judgement reserved until then.  

We also tea proudly and bring tea onboard. The ship tea isn't bad though, not Tetley for sure. Welcome to the boards! We are a gently bunch, so don't be afraid to ask questions. 

45 minutes ago, steverk said:

I'm totally with you. I've now sailed on at least one of every RCI class that are still in service.  Freedom and Voyager classes are my absolute favorites. Room enough for activities for everyone.  Small enough to still be friendly and intimate. 

I hope RCI creates something similar as they age out. As twangster mentions, there's plenty of reasons why they might not. I hold there are reasons that they might. Only time will tell. 

We have only sailed the big girls for the following reasons. We want longer cruises and have a school schedule. I'd like to see the intermediate ships that you are talking about go on 7 day cruises with more interesting itineraries. We live in the North East and that is also a gating factor. 

As a lowly Platinum move the complimentary drink voucher to Gold 1 per day, Platinum 2 per day, and Emerald 3 per day. You don't need lounge access with the new voucher system. With the new menu give 3 lobster tails vs the two complimentary at Platinum level. Rename Platinum Ruby to reflect the lobster benefit.  

If you are sailing out of a port like Seattle they have a luggage valet service that takes your bags to the airport. It is wonderful because you can spend the day in the city without your luggage. With littles it would be even better. If it is available and call Royal the fee is nominal. We like to have breakfast in the MDR on the last day. Fuel up for the day of travel. Be sure to relax on your cruise, with the littles you are going 24/7. Don't make your cruise too full of activities. The simplest things like being at the pool will be a treat to your children. Go grab an ice cream for lunch, they will love it. Try not to over program, freestyle a day or two. If you can plan a date night with your spouse, take time for yourself as well. Have a great vaca!