Mike.s

14th October 2024, Voyager

You'd think that Royal would of put out a statement apologising for the probelms with a potential resolution timescale, simply not acceptable for the issues to be going on as long as they have for any company especially one worth $15Bn

Just seen the APEX pricing for 2024 out of Southampton, ouch, £300pppn for a porthole balcony, even including drinks that's a lot

Sadly we don't get the opportunity to reprice if you've booked from the UK, unless you've booked via a US Travel Agent.

Just had an email from Celebrity that 2024 sailings from Southampton will be available to book from 15th November and that Apex will be their UK based ship. So hoppefully Royal will release on the same day

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/holland-america-line-removes-need-for-pre-cruise-covid-testing Holland America have also dropped testing for all on cruises under 15 days, no need for vacination or testing, come on Royal, time to catch up with the rest of the industry. Perhaps they will announce something later this week when the release their latest business update.

If you're refering to items in the cruise planner (drinks, excursions etc) you can add them to your basket and leave them there when you log off, they should be there when you log back in.

It will be charged against your account, just present your seapass

I managed to add it to 2 existing bookings , both were a few months old. It's certainly worth a call, you'll never see a price as low as £43 on the cruise planner.

Found these for P&O and Princess, backs up your viewpoint the Royal is charging more than others for their drinks https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/po-cruises-drinks-prices-menus/ https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/princess-cruises-drinks-menus/#more-13823 Once you factor in the free Diamond and above drinks Royal may be cheaper but if you are just buying the odd glass of wine/cocktail they're pretty expensive.

Not really a bar but when we travelled on Sihouette, Cafe Al Bacio was the hive of activity, always packed, great vibe about it.

If I read this correctly Carnival now only requires testing on cruises over 15 days, all cruises of 15 days or less don't require a test, regardless of vacine status, it feels like normality is returning Carnival has sent out a communication to booked guests, letting them know about the changes: “Consistent with the evolving public health guidelines, we have continued to update our protocols over the last several weeks.” “In summary, vaccines, proof of vaccination, and testing for unvaccinated guests, are no longer required on cruises of 15 nights or less. However, we encourage all guests 5 years and older to take a pre-cruise test within three days of their cruise.” https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-cruise-line-drops-all-protocols-for-most-sailings/85738

We were in Stavanger on May 17th this year sailing on Anthem. The town was full of parades with the majority of locals all dressed in national costume, it was fabulous. The tourist shops were open but many of the larger stores were shut.

It's not a balcony, it's a cabin with an opening window. They've had very mixed reviews on the Celebrity forums.

Can book in the UK, but the prices have scared me off!! £3220 for a surfside suite, even an inside cabin was over £1100

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/article/royal-caribbeans-new-icon-of-the-seas-will-be-worlds-biggest-cruise-ship-with-room-for-nearly-10000-people/ar-AA139VVa Over 250000 tons and 7600 passengers, too big for me but I guess I'm not it's target cruiser

Just seen it on the UK site, hope the prices aren't indicative of what we'll pay, £450 per day for the cheapest suite is laughable.

Not before time, hope it's successful and if it is Royal adopt this approach “Team members monitor sun lounge usage and if they observe a seat that contains a towel or personal belongings but appears to be unoccupied, a notification is placed on the chair indicating the current time.” The notification is usually a piece of tape of a small sticker which is used as a visual sign that the guest is absent. The policy ends: “If the chair remains unoccupied for 40 minutes, the contents are removed and held for the guest’s safekeeping.” Guests’ belongings will be removed from the lounger after 40 minutes have passed if the passenger doesn’t return. https://www.express.co.uk/travel/cruise/1682376/carnival-cruise-chair-hogs-holiday-nightmare

Thanks @Matt, just booked my time dinning for our September 2023 cruise, never been able to book anything earlier than 7:45 before, now I know why.

We're interested in a cruise to the Galapaogos on Celebrity Flora, however my wife is concerned that it appears many of the excursions are based around snorkelling. As she's not a strong swimmer she's concerned that she might have to miss many of the trips. Can anyone offer an insight on the excusions that are included as part of the cruise?

Sadly they're too focussed on big ticket items that probably rarely get bought but have a huge profit on them.

Just added it to our Explorer cruise from Venice, now trying to add it to one from FL next February. @Steve C where did you see the flyer, despite being on the Royal mailing list we get virtually nothing from them.

Same for the UK, smallest note is £5 (with the exception of Scotland), has to be exceptional service to tip £5 for a drink!! Not sure the crew would be happy with a Scottish £1 note, most shops in England don't like accepting them, cue an outburst from our Scottish members

Interestingly the flyer says Europe, Caribbean or further afield, assume it's only for bookings made in the UK.

So is it available on only the ships listed or all ships, we're sailing on Explorer in 2023, hopefully that would be included?