bobroo

You've seen the Poseidon Adventure, right?

Yo' Dude... --Unaffiliated paying passengers book the inaugural sailings (or yearly Presidential Cruise) because they know they are going to get free crap every single day of the cruise. Yes, that branded swag is responsible for filling a ship. --Bloggers, Youtubers, TA's, influencers are on these inaugural sailings because their cruise fares, dining packages, or experiences are wholly or in part complimentary from Royal Caribbean. And for the portions that are not a give away; they are a business expense. The large part of Royal Caribbeans marketing strategy is for bloggers, Youtubers, and influencers to do the marketing work for them and thus the invitations they receive for advance bookings before they are opened up to anyone else. Who turns away a party invitation when you are considered a VIP? --A dirty little secret: Yes, pre-cruise, and for the first 3 days of a cruise; every single person who has purchased a drink package has getting their money's worth on their mind. But as the cruise progresses, those same drink package holders regress to much more moderate state of consumption. Not that they don't consume, it's just far less than days 1, 2, and 3. The polish wears off and the uniqueness of just ordering a beverage becomes normalized. I challenge anyone to have a conversation with a bartender onboard and ask them about the overall quantity they serve and the intensity of business on the first 3 days of a sailing compared to the last 3 days of a sailing. --The majority of folks who read this blog daily drink like fish. They are also adults. Adults who have chosen a cruise line that the cruise fare is slightly above average. They are adults who can well afford this type of vacation and do so a few times a year. That's why you don't see the problems on Royal that the lower priced cruise lines have-- they simply have better customers. And for the instances these better customers "get out of hand"; their "get out of hand" of singing Karaoke poorly, loud talk at a hot tub, or even flashing their boobs during Quest......SO WHAT?????

Perhaps there is a gig job for @Twangster to take Royal's already goofy system of room categories and create something that integrates all these new rooms with some sorta sense?

I will save my negative comments for a later time and after more details are revealed. But I do have to say, congratulations Royal on creating a unique family environment! Quit trying to compare yourself to Disney or as a poor man's Disney option. Branding Royal as an "instead of" is an idea full of faults. However, creating an alternative that is exciting and appealing but for different reasons than what Disney offers....that's a winner! Congratulations Royal Caribbean!

I think it will be a bubble tea stand and the pearl shape is a reference to the pearls of tapioca at the bottom of your bubble tea.

For just about every Caribbean port I have a favorite local restaurant or bar that I like to go to; sometimes it's even a shop or local merchant. These places have such a close association in my mind with each port I can go to these places time and time again. If I stopped in a port and did not go to it's associated bar, restaurant, or shop it is a major bummer. Doesn't everybody do this?

There are so many ways that Royal Caribbean is out of touch with 2022 but when I got this news today I really have say: THANK YOU ROYAL CARIBBEAN!!!!

I’d felt better about the travel authorization if a single person other than the one Royal Caribbean terminal employee cared to look at my receipt for paying the fee. Not one single person in Bermuda did over the past three days. I think other countries are going to notice the far greater per cruise ship passenger and cruise ship crew member dollars Bermuda collects and correspondingly raising their fees by “Oh, $40 a person too.”

It is harder to get inside a Costco than enter or leave Mexico via a cruise ship.

Yesterday Bermuda ended it’s required mask policy in the cruise terminal. You can call the $40 Bermuda travel Authorization fee a visa or you can call it extortion. I believe that Royal should just add this fee to to the port taxes and fees we are already paying. Then there would not be an issue of turning away passengers at embarkation.

Chops will be $99 a person and dining packages will not be accepted. Reserve your seats as early as possible; like all dine-in restaurants on Feb 14, it will be a very busy night.

What I use is actually not allowed by definition because it is surge protected. But I have gotten away with it for 25 plus cruises. The most important thing about outlet expanders or any other electrical device you want to bring onboard is that it does not have a cord. Objects that have a cord will get red flagged every time. Second most important thing is that the additional receptacles are two, three, maybe four. More than that? Naughty table. A "charger" (for a phone, camera, laptop, etc. etc.) even though they have a cord are all OK, not a problem. You wanna bring something else electrical with a cord? Here is a recent picture of a naughty table at the end of a cruise on Symphony, beginning to see a pattern??? Incidentally I am going to make it a point to take pictures of naughty tables after every cruise, I think they are funny! I'll post a collage of them sometime in the future. My adapter is a Belkin Model BZ103050 TVL and was under $20 from Amazon. One nice feature is that whole thing rotates. The USB ports? An underwhelming amount of amps; almost unusable.

The issue I see with this adapter is the receptacle on the top in your picture. Royal's US outlet style (properly) has the ground on the top. Due to Royals outlets are close to the desk surface, I don't think you will have much clearance to plug in anything to the top receptacle. Here is a recent picture from an Independence oceanview for reference. This situation is going to be by-and-large the norm for inside cabins, oceanview, balconies, and even jr suites across the fleet. Grand suite and above? No adapters necessary, there will be plenty of outlets in many different places in those type of cabins.

Strong suggestion: Do NOT buy the UDP!!!! I'm doing a 12 nighter on Enchantment over Thanksgiving myself. I am looking forward to the voyage exactly to the same degree as I am looking forward to my other bookings. On the other hand, will the absence of all the bells and whistles that every other ship in the fleet has add up to a complete downer? In my case maybe not so much. I am much more likely to be upset that the furnishings have never been updated. But how about others? Those 50% who are Pre-Gold that will be onboard? I think they will be receiving the short end of the stick.

I think we all can agree that Enchantment is the bottom of Royals fleet. And, if news broke tomorrow that Enchantment was sold or bound for a one way trip to Turkey, no readers here would surprised.

All 'ya alls know any two adjoining rooms with their balcony partition open is preferable in many, many ways to some "connected rooms" designation, right???

I absolutely refuse to wear my pin. A small part of it is the embarrassment of being a Crown and Anchor member and I'd rather not let people know that I am one of "them". The larger part is I don't want to pull rank so I don't have to wait in line at embarkation or to get into the MDR; and I don't need to sit in a special seat for a show. I don't fret over the free amenities that are supposed to arrive in the cabin. Now I am just surprised some of those things even arrive at all and am more impressed if they get the brands of the booze correct. I've been around enough to know that you don't necessarily need to spend money on keys, suites, and genies to get some of those perks and sometimes it's a matter of knowing who to ask and more so how you ask because being calm and smiling a lot can open a lot of doors no matter who you are. After all the years and all the sailings, I'm not owed anything..... I'm just happy to be back onboard the boat.

Anyone sailing out of Florida over the next 5 or 6 days should be taking a hard look at Cruise With Confidence.

Would anyone arriving on the coast of Texas at the crack of dawn want to look anything but friendly??? You know what they say about every pick up truck with Texas plates.....

Without question Colon, Panama is the worst port Royal stops at. For many the upcoming Panama Canal group cruise is going to be an eye opener.

I think Coco Cay needs a short term lease on a dozen or so green sea turtles from that sea turtle farm in Grand Cayman. It'd be a win-win-win.

Just an FYI: Royal has given away leftovers at Labadee on a daily basis for years. At the end of the day you can see the locals lining up at the entrance gate just outside Nellies Beach. Royal has owned the property for some 35+ years and there have been many, many, many tried and failed attempts all across Haiti to create resorts and vacation destinations. Royal has been the only successful one. So as far as an employer and economic impact on the country as a whole, Haiti has done very well with Royal purchasing a dilapidated, old resort way off in the north of the country where no one ever goes. Now this is just me talking smack, but at some point when Royal has its' debt under control and they have completed their onshore venues at Paradise Island and Vanuatu; I think we are going to see a spectacular remodel at Labadee. Spectacular because Haiti is a near perfect 1/2 point between Florida and Mexico. Also because there is already a dock in place that is deep enough for Oasis class ships that is only 6 or 7 years old. And exceedingly spectacular because Haiti has far less hurricane potential than the Bahamas. And, unlike the Bahamas which is made of sand, Labadee is made of rock and boy can we build some sturdy foundations for whatever your imagination can dream up. The sky will be the limit.

Why they don't have the same solar powered shuttle busses that they have on Coco Cay is anyones guess.

Being a habitual DL user myself, let me tell you the upmost important difference. Over the pandemic, Royal changed the vendor of the espresso machines in the lounges. While I would say the change has been for the better, there is still room for improvement. That being said; I'll guarantee you the DL will have a operational espresso machine, the SL? Maybe not so much. In the mornings with everyone diamond and above AND all the crew members with stripes coming into the DL for the free hooch, the DL machine gets quite a workout. Surprisingly I've found ships recently that even have them running on debarkation day! But if you are looking for continuity or some type of homogenous structure across the fleet? Forget it! Different ships have different rules.

Thank you for sharing!