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CruisinUpinLife

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  1. Haha
    CruisinUpinLife reacted to twangster in Allure to Texas   
    Oasis UP in 2022.  
    By doing an ATS while I am younger the 67,000 extra steps shouldn't be an issue.  Still wish it was closer to SL/CK though.  
    The NextCruise agent asked my dining preference.  Seriously? MDR?  I said  "My balcony... every night  ?".  
  2. Like
    CruisinUpinLife got a reaction from Geoff P in Royal Up Bid   
    Also, GTY rooms are the same way-make sure you are 100% comfortable getting at least that room any where you see that room on the ship.  GTY reservations are cheaper but will not be worth it if you are not ok with getting whatever you are dealt.
  3. Thanks
    CruisinUpinLife reacted to twangster in Allure to Texas   
    They are on the website.
  4. Thanks
    CruisinUpinLife reacted to Sparkymedic in Allure to Texas   
    Schedule out. Just booked aqua theater suite 2 bedroom. 
  5. Wow
    CruisinUpinLife reacted to Mariner2001 in Who would ever let go of your child, even if there was no glass there?   
    The surveillance video from the ship was leaked and aired on a TV program in PR yesterday. It clearly shows him leaning over the railing and sticking his head out the open window before he leans over to pick up the child.     Also, per the local media (several sources), the prosecutors stated that there have not been any offers or negotiations for a plea bargain. The prosecutors said that a plea bargain has not even been considered yet, although this possibility has not been discarded. 
  6. Like
    CruisinUpinLife reacted to twangster in luggage in room   
    Can you "nest" any pieces?  Put a smaller suitcase inside a larger suitcase then slide the larger suitcase under the bed.  
  7. Like
    CruisinUpinLife got a reaction from KristiZ in Rain forecast for the entirety of my cruise!!   
    I would highly recommend you use a reliable to you source for weather at the ports for your trip.  Royal does have a great weather team but not sure their app is the best tool given it's not always accurate with activities, etc.
  8. Like
    CruisinUpinLife got a reaction from Jax in First Time Star Class 8 night Holiday Bahamas Cruise Anthem 12/20/19   
    Yes, the MDR holiday meal experience was not that great.  I wish they would just make what they normally make.  I feel like it's because they do not make a lot of the holiday items any other time of the year.  They should just stick to what they are good at, which is not ham and turkey.
  9. Love
    CruisinUpinLife reacted to TxCr in Allure to Texas   
    We hope so too!  We have our TA ready to grab some rooms for our families. 
     
     
     
    Then we have to wait two years.  So it goes...
  10. Like
    CruisinUpinLife reacted to twangster in Allure to Texas   
    I have a standing request with NextCruise to call me if they open for booking.  They may not be on shift when it happens though.
  11. Love
    CruisinUpinLife got a reaction from WAAAYTOOO in First Time Star Class 8 night Holiday Bahamas Cruise Anthem 12/20/19   
    Yes, the MDR holiday meal experience was not that great.  I wish they would just make what they normally make.  I feel like it's because they do not make a lot of the holiday items any other time of the year.  They should just stick to what they are good at, which is not ham and turkey.
  12. Wow
    CruisinUpinLife reacted to Matt in How Royal gets you to spend more.   
  13. Like
    CruisinUpinLife reacted to 12thman in How Royal gets you to spend more.   
    Interesting article about how Royal gets us to spend more on our cruise.
    businessinsider.com   How Royal Caribbean gets customers to spend more money
    Mark Matousek 5-6 minutes Royal Caribbean International emphasizes add-ons during the booking process to increase revenue. They make onboard expenses seem smaller at the time of purchase and change the way customers think about their spending habits once they're on the cruise. The phenomenon is explained by a behavioral-economics theory that businesses use all the time. Sign up for Business Insider's transportation newsletter, Shifting Gears, to get more stories like this in your inbox. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. How much should a TV cost?
    It seems like a simple question, but it can be difficult to answer. Of course, it depends on factors like size and quality — but once you've determined those, it's still hard to figure out what the price should be without referring to other TVs you seen, owned, or read about in the past.
    Even then, a $700, 55-inch Samsung TV might seem more or less expensive based on context. If you're spending $3,000 on speakers, furniture, and video game consoles to accompany the TV, paying $700 for the screen itself might seem like a bargain.
    But if you're browsing at Best Buy and see the $700 TV next to a $500 TV, the $700 one may seem more expensive.
    This tendency contradicts a classical economic theory that says the values we assign to goods and services don't change in different situations. So if you value a TV with the capabilities of a 55-inch Samsung model at $700, you'd be willing to pay up to $700 for it in any context.
    We think about prices in reference to other prices
    But behavioral economics, a hybrid discipline that fuses economics and psychology, suggests otherwise.
    In 1979, the psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky released an influential paper called "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk" that introduced the idea of a reference point as a benchmark to evaluate investments.
    Reference points can arise from several factors — for example, you might compare a TV against other TVs in a store, the last TV you bought, and the total price of the goods and services you plan to purchase in addition to the TV.
    Read more: A former Royal Caribbean employee reveals the one question you should always ask cruise ship workers
    Michael Bayley, the CEO of Royal Caribbean International, uses reference points to increase how much money customers spend on the company's cruises by emphasizing pre-trip purchases. The idea is that spending $100 on a drink package, for example, will seem less expensive if you by it alongside a $1,500 cruise ticket.
    If your reference point for what that cruise should cost is $1,800, then buying the drink package to make your total pre-cruise expense $1,600 still feels like a deal. And once you're on the cruise, you're less likely to consider the cost of the drink package when buying other items, meaning you're likely to spend more overall.
    "What we found is if you spend $100 before you sail, that's spent and gone — you don't even put it in your budget for when you're on vacation," Bayley told Business Insider during a 2018 interview. "So every pre-cruise revenue dollar that we generate will often generate 50% more onboard revenue for that customer."
    The strategy worked, and it was one of the reasons Royal Caribbean doubled earnings in the three years after Bayley became CEO at the end of 2014.
    Businesses influence how we think about prices
    Royal Caribbean is far from the only business that uses reference points to influence your spending behavior. Walk into any store, and they're everywhere.
    "These are used on price tags, these are used in advertising, this is used inside retail stores on signage — all of which are ways to try and get you to anchor on a particular price, so it is against that price that you would then evaluate the current offering," Priya Raghubir, a marketing professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, told Business Insider.
    When a bookstore runs a "buy two, get one free" promotion, it's encouraging you to use the price of three books as your reference point for buying two. So even if the total cost of the books is more than you would have been willing to pay if each had been discounted separately, you still feel as if you're coming out on top.
    And when a clothing store advertises a $20 discounted shirt by urging you to compare it to another one that costs $40, it wants you to use $40 as the reference point for that particular shirt, even if no other store would sell it at that price.
    Raghubir says that being aware of your tendency to use reference points still won't make you immune to pricing strategies designed to increase your spending, not even for the economists and psychologists who study them.
    "These biases are really strong," Raghubir said. "Even if you are aware, you are unable to control their influence."
  14. Like
    CruisinUpinLife reacted to AshleyDillo in Figuring out RCCL's Math   
    @Lovetocruise2002 nailed it.  That lowest price is based on double occupancy in the cheapest room allowed (interior GTY).  It won't let you book solo and get the GTY..so you need to fake the 2nd person in this case to allow it and just get the port taxes refunded for your phantom 2nd passenger when they "no show" ?
  15. Like
    CruisinUpinLife reacted to SpeedNoodles in What's missing from my check list?   
    Ooooh, good one. I forgot to bring them last week on Navigator, and I was PISSED!  I even like them out at sea - never know when you'll spot a whale, dolphin, interesting sea bird, or Kraken #nottherum.
  16. Thanks
    CruisinUpinLife reacted to WAAAYTOOO in Aft balcony rooms   
    It's not so much about "venues" as it is about the ships' superstructures.  Both the Voyager and Freedom Class ships have steel superstructures that rather obstruct the views from the aft cabins.  I have booked aft cabins on both Voyager and Freedom Class ships and I still enjoy the extra balcony space but the Vision and Radiance class ships do not have such superstructure obstructions.
  17. Like
    CruisinUpinLife got a reaction from NJCruisers in NJCruisers Freedom of the Seas Nov 17th Recap   
    This was a great review of FOTS and the itinerary.  I am on on her final pre amp voyage on Jan 5th.  I cannot wait!  Different itinerary for us but seeing all the reviews about the ABC islands has me wanting to do that itinerary sometime in the future as well.
  18. Like
    CruisinUpinLife got a reaction from Geoff P in Disney World Express Service -Start/end time   
    730am may seem ambitious but that is what it will be assuming no issues getting to the port.  Being that you booked with RC, they are going to prioritize getting you off and on your way.  You may even meet in a particular location for this shore excursion on the ship so that they can be as efficient as possible getting you off and loaded into the transportation vehicles.
  19. Wow
    CruisinUpinLife reacted to mook1525 in 4 In a Small Room   
    True Story.
    4 of us stayed in a interior cabin on... Majesty of the Seas.  granted, it was our very first cruise so we thought all rooms were pretty similar in terms of size and kids were still young - 2 and 7.
    We had no problem with a room.. it was doable. 
     
     
  20. Like
    CruisinUpinLife got a reaction from teddy in GTY stateroom   
    Note that they issue GTY rooms whenever....there is no set date.  I noticed mine several months before our cruise.  From what I've read on here, it's anyone's guess when it will be assigned.
  21. Like
    CruisinUpinLife reacted to CHRIS WONG in Hello! I Am A Crew Member!   
    How do I look?
     
     
  22. Like
    CruisinUpinLife got a reaction from ChessE4 in Best Deck   
    Another thing to keep in mind are that some decks do not allow one to walk from the front to the back of the ship due to a venue or something of that nature.  If you would be bothered by this or have mobility issues, you might want to make sure you are on a deck that allows you to go the full length of the ship.  Otherwise, just make a note that you always need to take the forward or aft elevators/stairs and you'll be just fine.
  23. Like
    CruisinUpinLife got a reaction from ChessE4 in Advice for a newbie?   
    I have done the Snuba experience at St Maarten.  The water was a little cloudy because they had just had rain during the night which means run off.  However, we still had a wonderful time and got to see a lot.  The couple that run the company are amazing.  My husband had a little more challenging time this time (have done snuba 1x before) but he also didn't take a piece of advice about the mask tightening that he should have.  If you follow their instruction, you will do great!  You will get off the ship, meet the company staff, then take a short boat ride to your location.  They give instructions on the boat and you jump into the water from there.  Enjoy!
  24. Like
    CruisinUpinLife got a reaction from S0nny in Will it be ‘Harmonious’? - Harmony of the Seas... live blog?   
    You two seem like FUN people to cruise with!  Enjoy!
  25. Like
    CruisinUpinLife got a reaction from KristiZ in Empress of the Seas November 15-23, 2019   
    This is a great point and the reason why we need ALL the posts....plus more information only helps everyone, particularly those waiting to cruise.
    Have a wonderful trip!
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