Babsy47

This is an odd one and perhaps a good lesson for new cruisers. I make my booking, pay my deposit, and then immediately go online to make sure the booking is appearing in my upcoming cruises on the website. Sometimes it takes a few minutes to appear, but it never takes more than 30 minutes. This enables me to confirm that all is good. I would assume that TAs do the same. I have had it happen that I booked and a payment did not go through. Within 24 hours, I figured out that the booking did not go though because I could not see the booking on my upcoming cruises. RC does mess up (and has for me several times). It takes some diligence to make sure that there are not problems. I would assume that a TA would engage in that diligence, but this one appears not to have done so. I feel your pain and frustration; anyone would be upset at the situation.

For our April 14th cruise, it is also down to a far more reasonable amount than it has been for just the pass. The cabanas are still really expensive.

Hi All, I am trying to figure out the best solution to the following situation and would welcome insight! Hubby and I are D+, but we do not drink thus we spend our D+ drinks on things like bottles of sparkling water (I know . . . highly exciting). We have a Star Class cabin for us, one of our kids and spouse, and two grandkids (who are tots). We have an adjoining CLS with another kid and spouse. Kids and spouses do drink, but are not Diamond. Thus, we have two adults with 5 drinks a day in Star Class who do not drink (and never use all of our D+ drinks even when not in Star), and two adults with no drinks in a CLS. I am the organizer and deal with the Genie, so I'm thinking that I kind of need to stay in the Star suite. Should I: (a) switch son and Hubby on the reservation; (b) switch son and DIL for husband and me on the reservation (I do not even know if I can do this); or (c) hope for the best given that we have the Royal loft and adjoining CLS and my experience has been that Genies and others have been fairly accommodating about kids using my D+ vouchers in the past. I already reserved the UDP for CLS kids and it is now more expensive. So, I'm thinking that I would need to cancel that and change the UDP person/people if I change the cabin assignments but this is still less than a drink package. Thoughts would be appreciated!

I think it can be hit and miss. We had six of us, four in Star class and two not. We got charged for some drinks. No idea how or why some were charged and others not.

I know that this is an utterly stupid question but . . . What is a slot pull?

We recently saw the show on a 3-night Allure sailing. It was tons of fun!

As the planner for a larger family, here is what I get out of Star class: 1. No need to plan meals and shows in advance; 2. One person to answer all questions and arrange food. 3. Easy on and off the ship; 4. No need to worry about family spending wantonly on whatever food and drink they desire; 5. Easy access to activities and nursery arranged by genie. To me, the genie is a personal planner and problem solver making the cruise a true vacation for me! I’m not sure there is anything special to ask for; just look at what the ship has to offer and let the genie know what you want to do and what you want to eat. They then tend to turn these wants into reality.

My app did not work on my last ‘Navigator cruise. I had nothing at the terminal other than my ID and passport to check in. I did not have any problems at all. I was in a suite, but I do not think that made any difference. The entire check in process took about 5 minutes.

My only knock on this ship (other than pricing) is appearance. To me, the ship is ugly. Once boarded, it doesn’t matter in the least. But, I feel like in the zeal to pack so much onto one ship, aesthetics got very short shrift. I prefer RC to Disney. But, you have to admit that those Disney ships are just beautiful from afar. The Oasis class started the path down less than beautiful ships from the outside. This one seems to complete the journey.

Amazing photos. Awesome blog. Thank you for taking the time to bring us all along!

Here they are an allure!

I’m on Allure. We did not attempt our stop today. But they did get in the aqua show tonight so all is good.

I would absolutely do the whole cruise if it comes around again. Sadly, we have another two years to retirement. I’m crossing my fingers for another one in or after 2026! Also, it would be awesome for someone to blog it!

It’s interesting. RC will need to sell 5 Oasis class, 4 Quantum class, and 2 Icon class every week. That is more than 55,000 people a week. Perhaps there are this many people who can pay current prices indefinitely, but it seems a stretch to me. We shall see.

The prices for both the Icon and Star stun me. I enjoy cruising with my kids and grandkids, but these prices prevent me from considering these ships. For the price, I can get the family nice accommodations at Xcaret or Hawaii or Paris or Baja Mar or on and on. My cruising days may be over come 2025. I booked two Star Class cruises a long, long time ago for 2024. For September 2024, I paid less than 2k per person for the 4bdr Villa Suite on Harmony — less per person than an inside cabin on the Icon ships. for April of 2024, the Royal loft was about 3.5k person on Oasis. Just for comparison., we are doing week on Disney Fantasy before the Royal Loft week. I just booked. Two connecting deluxe ocean cabins (close to the size of a RC junior suite) ended up about $1,600 per person.

I’m not much of a MDR fan, but the Indian dish is generally quite good. Specialty dining is almost always good. I’m doing a weekend cruise with my son here shortly without the UDP, but we will have CK. We will see how it goes!

Recently, our Chops experiences have all been on Navigator. Every Chops meal has been excellent. We seldom eat meat other than fish, but both hubby and I found the petite filets great. On Navigator, I much prefer Chops to Jamie’s. Izumi is hit and miss on Navigator; sometimes great, but occasionally not. Hooked, however, is a winner for fish people.

With the Icon Star Class pricing (stratospheric), excluding the Supper Club seems absurd (and penny pinching).

Ok, I’m a minority. I love Wonderland. I’ve generally go twice per cruise! The dirt vegetable thing is my favorite dish on the ship. Just goes to show that people are different!

Those are some amazing food pics!!

For a cruise last week, I booked several activities such as Pickelball, Sushi making, and spa. None showed in the app. What are the best ways of keeping track of or not missing these activities? Print out the schedule and bring it?

Yep. My son, DIL, and grands are going on a three day cruise on Navigator in a couple of weeks. They asked if I wanted to come. $1,300 for a basic ocean view cabin is just too rich for an old ship for 3 nights for my old bones . . .

We did this on the Navigator last week. We ended up paying just under $80 for two people with some sale along the way. They taught us how to score the game, the rules, and provided basic instruction. We ended up playing with another couple, and we had about 1.5 hours. It was good fun!

As to the acronyms, I believe HRH = Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando! I love that place!

I don’t get it. Why cut back on entertainment when charging so much more for the cruise? It really does hurt the brand and that causes long-term harm to revenue potential.