bobroo

49 minutes ago, Pattycruise said:

 

That is a damning picture @Pattycruise!

The Allure chips are as you can see, stamped with Allure of the Seas on them. They really can only be used or cashed in on Allure of the Seas.

However...bring your chip to to the cage of Icon, be polite, explain what happened, and smile a lot. 

An item nobody ever brings up:

 -- a 10 liter dry bag. This is a multi use item that works as a beach bag or carry all. It is also the container to put wet bathing suits in for the flight home. And, it is also the container that those with foresight put bottles of wine in before putting them into your luggage for embarkation. The luckiest of dry bags have been known to have to bottles of authentic Cuban Havana Club rum inside them during the ride home. 

I wonder why all the seagulls left Coco Cay? Their departure seemed to coincide with the redevelopment.

Come to think of it, the iguanas made an abrupt disappearance too.

There was a Coco Cay version of Sting Ray City before Covid but unfortunately not after.

<Que: Sad Trombone>

I'm thinking that Icon is such a big deal for the company that they do two this year. Both during prime audience attentiveness. During the 1st/2nd quarter and another just before the halftime show.

I'll also wager they go with existing spots they already have and no way do they manufacture something just for the game. Like, Lionel Messi wandering around and showcasing the ship. The existing ads they already have are solid on their own.

The past two years Royal has bought one 30 second ad during the Super Bowl. This year we have the release of Icon that already has some manufactured 30 second spots.

How many ads might we see this year??? 0? 1?  2?  .....More????

30 seconds of time during this years broadcast costs $7 million and few dispute the cost for the value of the exposure received--for the right ad.

Predictions?

Humph! No sympathetic posts that the Overwater Cabanas are now going to cost about $400 more. :0)

Again, having been on Odyssey out of FLL, I would have been happy if they would have dragged whoever off the stage of The Elbo Room for the week.

On older ships, Owners Suites have a wet bar.

A wet bar is a very small sink, some counter space, some glassware, but no booze or wine to put in the glassware making the whole wet bar thing pointless. Your in-cabin telescope will get more use.

That microwave in the closet? That's really a safe.

I was on the same musically disappointing Odyssey sailing. Beatlemaniacs were a headliner in main theater for two performances. Rookie (which was way more talented than a replica Beatle band could ever be) was the only band to play in Boleros. The times they did not play, Boleros was as quiet as a library, not even a DJ’d soundtrack.

They did have Rookie play the second to last night in Music Hall. And they did have the Caribbean pool band play in there on night two or three. That was it for live music in Music Hall.

Music Hall was used for If You Know It—Sing It, Majority Rules, and If You Know It—Dance It. Not to disparage these events, there were quite a few people who enjoyed and attended them; it’s just that that is not what the venue was designed for. It’s not best use for the bazillions spent on decorating, staging, lighting, and sound. It’s not what passengers were sold before they placed their deposits.

I think that future Icon and Icon class passengers should look take a close, hard look at what The New Royal Caribbean does to 3 year old Quantum class ships. They are very telling. As a matter of fact, Jason Liberty whispered a few things just the other day.

I am surprised to hear this, I've received nothing but prompt responses from royaldiver. While I can think of a bunch of plausible reasons for the delay, some sort of answer is deserved. Even if that answer is "we hand out the access codes to new students about a month ahead of time because we prefer their learning to be recent and fresh".  A phone call to Royal won't give you the immediate reaction you want but might help to press the buttons to get the response you are looking for.  I would caution against going to the PADI site and paying their fee for an access code unless you are told to do so by royaldiver or receive an email from your future instructor. If you were to be impatient and do so on your own, the $230 you pay will not be very likely to be untangled and refunded to you. 

I also understand being eager to get in the water so I if I were in your fins there are a couple things I'd be doing presently. One, go watch YouTube videos by searching Open Water Skills. I don't know if any one of them is any better than any of the others but I would watch them all. Get familiar with what the skills are, how they are preformed, what the expectations are, and the circumstances they are preformed under. I hope you'll stumble across a couple videos of real OW students in a class.  

Another step there would be no harm in doing would be going to your local dive shop and buying a mask. Your local dive shops will have a large selection of masks to chose from and give the expertise of whether they fit and how to get them prepared for diving. No need to go crazy buying expected gear. Just a properly fit mask that's low volume, brand new squishy silicone, and had the steps taken to take the film off of it. You might accessorize it with a snorkel and some defog but again; no need to go crazy. 

On 1/19/2024 at 6:56 AM, bobroo said:

I bring this up because it will be interesting to see if points show up, not by upgrading but by simply sailing on a greater than 7 night voyage. I'll be able to tell you my results soon, I leave on a 8 nighter on Odyssey tomorrow.

 

 

 

For the record, I received points for my Pinnacle cruise by just being one night longer than the 7 nights given. No upgrade necessary.

22 hours ago, Jill said:

Retractable smokestacks yes. I would assume these new ships will definitely be LNG (which is smokeless) so what would you call the smokestacks with no smoke? Lol 

They are really called funnels but are often just referred too as "stacks". So you are not incorrect.

Instead of a chimney, think of them as an exhaust that many things are vented through. Boilers release steam, the galleys vent their overhead hoods, the venting for the onboard septic tanks, fan exhaust of hot air from working areas on deck 0 (think: the ships laundry), the ships incinerator, even a LNG engine has a tailpipe. It's pretty easy to see that there are many systems aboard the need to be vented safely to the atmosphere; the spewing black smoke of unburnt fuel is what has to go.

Make no mistake about it, job #1 of a new Discovery class is all about emissions! There is ever increasing pressure from popular port areas like Alaska, Montenegro, and Northern Europe that are safeguarding their environment. It's getting to the point where Radiance class and their excellent on top of excellent turbine engine design will not be compliant a short time down the road.

I am not dismissing the importance to get under the bridges of New York, Vancouver, Baltimore, or Tampa. I am not saying the importance of the passenger experience of having a really tall rock climbing wall with waterfalls on the side or cool restaurants is not a consideration. Nor, what no one here has mentioned--draft (how low in the water  ship sits)-- is a crucial consideration.  It really is all about approaching ship builders with the question "what kind of ship can you build me with a power plant of anything other than oil?." 

Since Icon is sailing only partially filled, what's the chance RCB could keep the mods aboard for another week??? 

I mean, this live blog is so interesting I really don't want it to end.

PS. I know a good TA that can get the job done, it just takes a Visa card

49 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I was shocked at the cost for sailing on Enchantment.  I have friends who are sailing on her 6-22-24 and I thought about going along but 7 nights on that crap ship was over $5K (JS) !  ...even more once you added in grats.  No f'ing way !  

WTH?

Friends don't let friends sail Enchantment!

As a guy from Chicago and its terrible gun problem; I would welcome a walk in Nassau and the far lesser chance of getting killed….or worse.

On Odyssey now, as @Pattycruise noted we received the same notice; it looked more like the junk mail you receive on Day 1 than any of the important Day 1 materials.  We also received the blanket phone message as a reminder for the Top Tier.

I wish Royal would just come out and say they do not want to do Top Tier, Luncheons, or Up Close Entertainment Tour anymore. Because it absolutely feels that way.

7 hours ago, twangster said:

 

There is a reason to continue earning points but as it has always been, it doesn't make sense to make points earning a priority or the reason to cruise.  Cruise for the love of cruising on whatever cruise line or itinerary looks best in that moment.  

 

Chase experiences, don’t chase points!

No trip to Kona would be complete without stopping at the Kona Brewing Company.

Not very sexy, it's just an open sided pole barn which is a restaurant. But because their brews are widely distributed, you'll be able to relive your memories of your time in Hawaii just by visiting your local liquor store. 

10 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

I watched a lady on YouTube walk through the casino last night and it answered all my questions. Thanks 

Watch recent YouTube vids to see if a specific game or slot is onboard? Does it have those clandestine washrooms? Yep, these are definitely pro tips, just like researching your cabin or a whole ship tour.

Will you find table limits? What bonus BJ may have? Single zero roulette? The length of the craps table(s)? Table minimum for baccarat? Oooooo....not so much.

What would you like to know about the casino @tonyfsu21? Just ask.

Congratulations Patti, welcome to the club!

Couple things: I turned a year ago, here is my experience. As others have said you have the free cruise as the C & A footnotes stipulates. The 12 month expiration countdown meter starts on the last day of the cruise you achieve Pinnacle on. The actual sailing date can be long after the 12 month deadline.

For me anyway, there was no cruise certificate issued, even in the Pinnacle box. There was no secret redemption code, no free cruise document, no secret handshake--it really was a computer entry only a Royal booking agent can see. It was still called a Pinnacle Free Cruise Certificate.

My box took 4 1/2 months to receive and I was like a kid on Christmas morning when I opened it. So you have even another surprise to look forward to.

I used my cert to apply the $2500 dollar amount to a balcony. The issue for me is the sailing is over the 7 nights stated in the footnotes, I was happy to pay the taxes, fees, and a few hundred for the extra night. I bring this up because it will be interesting to see if points show up, not by upgrading but by simply sailing on a greater than 7 night voyage. I'll be able to tell you my results soon, I leave on a 8 nighter on Odyssey tomorrow.

Congratulations!

If I were in your flip flops; the two nights on Oasis is like kissing your sister. I'd, as @smokeybandit suggests, take that Oasis money and spend it at a nice San Juan resort; the Carib Hilton is my go to San Juan hotel if you need a recommendation.

But canceling a leg of a S2S cruise does not mean that it can't be reworked to a two week long B2B on Rhapsody. Rhapsody's itinerary will be different both cruises and cruise fare is certainly cheap enough and ya' know, as long as you are in the neighborhood, why not?

6 hours ago, Matt said:

I think you might be underestimating the redundant safety measures of Crown's Edge and the company's general risk assessment. 

Nothing is perfect, so I'm not debating that there's a chance, but I think accidental deaths resulting from dumb decisions as opposed to a regulated harness system are not anywhere the same.

Point well taken. Don’t get me wrong, nobody is going to die on the Crowns Edge. I just feel a better choice could have been made that would be fun, unique, exciting, even thrilling to more people.